Hi, I’m pretty new to the whole music making process and especially new to this fine site but I was wondering if someone could help me… When I use certain samples, if i change the key or the bpm much I lose a lot of the sound quality. Is this something that i have to live with or is there a way around it? I know this is probably a rookie question but hey, I’m a rookie!

The loss of quality has a lot more to do with the original sample than your process.
Generally speaking, samples with any reverb or phase will sound crappy if you move them anymore than 2-3 semitones either way.
You have a much better chance if the sample has no fx, then apply some fx after you have repitched.
When repitching vocals, of course the risk is that by going to far you alter the timbre of the voice - either turning the singer into a chipmunk or Satans new best friend.
Tempo is a bit easier to control, because any artifacts can be reduced by fiddling with the eq on the offending sound or by adding some compression or gate to the new sound.
The upshot is, try anything and everything, because sound quality is very subjective. Sometimes the richest sounds are lo-fi or farty.
Have fun!