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Post by colfoley on Jun 6, 2019 3:44:21 GMT
Something I have been musing lately and think it would make a good discussion is how will our protagonist in 4 be special and unique. Afterall even the most mundane protagonists have something in the story that makes them especially suited to deal with the antagonistic forces in a story. This is especially relevant in DA 4 since the Inquisition is looking for someone with a very specific set of skills to oppose Solas... who is an uber mage.
My only ground rules are:
A. This is NOT a thread discussing whether or not the Inquisitor should be the protag. There are already TWO threads exploring the topic and this thread does not preclude the Inquisitor not being the protag.
B. Since these ideas aren't mutually exclusive then you can give multiple answers.
So to start here are some options.
Bloodlines: something in the hero's DNA/ blood makes them worthy to oppose Solas. This could be some family history that ties into stopping him, like your family could be the keepers of a secret which makes you oppose him. Or your blood can have power enough to stop him. Alexios/ Kass are good examples.
Keeper/ Discoverer of Ancient artifact: Some device which either gives the user a special power set (the spear of leonidas) or some device the antagonist needs (orb of destruction) which the protagonist is in possession of.
Magic: this can be if the protag has been exposed to the fade or is possessed by a spirit which gives them their powerd.
Chosen One: the fates, the universe, the gods themselves or more likely just the antagonist has conspired to make the character the destined hero to save all. The Inquisitor.
Training/ circumstance: The character is some sort of professional or has had a life time of training that makes them uniquely capable, or just the circumstances has forced them into the role. Hawke, Geralt.
History with/ idologically opposed to the antagonist: Probably the most vague but anyone who has some history with Solas or that how their story is constructed could make them uniquely suited to 'talk Solas down'. This could be someone who has made their own terrible mistake in the past that they are trying to make up for.
Other:
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Post by phoray on Jun 6, 2019 4:17:04 GMT
Oh, I understood Idealogy differently.
I thought it implied a character that would have time to breathe and develop into a person in the game. And because of what they stood for and supported so far, would be innately the right person at the right place to lead an affront against the bad guy. Like a rebel leader with strong morals and made hard choices to earn being a leader.
I see the first four options as being an iteration on a macguffin
Training could also be a macguffin, but only if it's rushed over. Like if the trials we pass for access to the Urn of Sacred ashes WAS the _-only-_ thing that helped us win, it may as well be a Macguffin
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Post by Frost on Jun 6, 2019 4:54:27 GMT
History with/ idologically opposed to the antagonist: Probably the most vague but anyone who has some history with Solas or that how their story is constructed could make them uniquely suited to 'talk Solas down'. This could be someone who has made their own terrible mistake in the past that they are trying to make up for.
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Post by vertigomez on Jun 6, 2019 5:21:12 GMT
Magic (sort of) - our character is possessed. This could happen at the beginning of the game or later on, and we could choose to fight it or embrace it. Our actions and motivations throughout the story determine whether we become more of a Sigrid-from-JoH or Vengeance!Anders, whether we're in sync with the spirit or end up corrupting it, whether we're determined to separate ourselves from it and get our bodily autonomy back or learn to live in harmony as a new being. I want shades of NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer because I always do it's such a fascinating concept.
(Noot that that has anything to do with Solas, aside from the Wisdom spirit/Pride demon thing.....)
Other than that I just want to be a normal motherfucker who gets plunged into the middle of the Tevinter/Qunari war and slave uprisings and ten thousand spy networks and just desperately tries to keep their head above water. Basically Hawke, who I still think is the best DA protagonist by virtue of being a relatable Almighty Janitor Failure Hero 👌 and not someone with a Very Fancy Official Title in charge of a paramilitary organization.
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Post by Hanako Ikezawa on Jun 6, 2019 5:32:05 GMT
I voted Chosen One since you put the Inquisitor in that group.
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Post by vertigomez on Jun 6, 2019 5:43:01 GMT
Chosen One: the fates, the universe, the gods themselves or more likely just the antagonist has conspired to make the character the destined hero to save all. The Inquisitor. Training/ circumstance: The character is some sort of professional or has had a life time of training that makes them uniquely capable, or just the circumstances has forced them into the role. Hawke, Geralt. I don't know that I'd describe the Inquisitor as a Chosen One, though. Only Andrastians seem to think that. Otherwise they're just a person with some combat/magic background who stumbled into a room and caught the wrong ball at the right time. Training and circumstances and the Mark as a magic MacGuffin.
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Post by Gileadan on Jun 6, 2019 6:01:04 GMT
No freebies from fate please, I prefer my protagonists to earn their hero status without training wheels. This includes bloodlines, magic, artifacts, chosen one. Being ideologically opposed to Solas would probably qualify half the world or more for this job. Training and circumstance it is. Ideally, the training and circumstance happen in the game itself, i.e. we start out as just another mercenary/adventurer, pull off some quests (ideally through player skill) that most of our colleagues couldn't, and eventually stumble onto Solas's plot, and since no one else competent enough to fix it seems to be on the horizon (as per the standard situation in most BioWare stories) our protagonist sighs, shoulders his weapon and gets to work.
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Post by Blaze on Jun 6, 2019 7:56:41 GMT
none of the options is on par. how about an excellent sense of dramatic timing, and good hair! =D
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Post by Ieldra on Jun 6, 2019 7:59:10 GMT
Training and circumstance would be my first selection, too. It leaves the most space for my imagination, and I dislike the idea of being destined for something (by whom, really?).
Having said that, I greatly like magical extras, but only if we can keep them after the end. I hate Trespasser's ending because we couldn't.
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Post by apollexander on Jun 6, 2019 8:11:24 GMT
How about different origins for each of these options?
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Post by gangrelbeckett on Jun 6, 2019 8:35:50 GMT
I would really hate if we are forced to play as the chosen one (So no Inquisitior) again. Training and circumstance would be also my pick.
We start as competent merc, adventurer or why not as a pirate captain? I think it would be awesome to play someone from Felicisima Armada. This would also fit very well in finding unlikely allies in the fight against Solas. You can also play as any race and Bioware could focus like Hawke on one cool backstory/Origin. And at the end of game the playercharacter is terror of the sea and command as mighty Admiral the biggest Armada of ships that Thedas have ever seen.
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Post by cribbian on Jun 6, 2019 8:54:54 GMT
Training would be my choice aswell.
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Post by LogicGunn on Jun 6, 2019 9:18:16 GMT
All of these would make for an interesting unique point. I especially like the idea of training-some kind of Dalish or Qunari savant with expertise in an old, forgotten magic or a hermit of any class with a singular obsession. Or...A LITTLE HELP FROM SANDAL!
But I chose artefact-I think it's going to take some powerful old elven artefact to get the advantage over an elven god.
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Post by formerfiend on Jun 6, 2019 14:41:59 GMT
Personally I don't want to play someone special in any way beyond being combat-capable & generally competent. And just generally, in the right place at the right time, or wrong place at the wrong time, or wrong place at the right time - however that works - to get entangled in the plot.
Which, to be fair, is pretty much the case for all the DA protagonists. For all the potential Wardens, nothing really makes them special beyond that Duncan happens to be visiting their general area at the time & they're capable of surviving the joining. Nothing special about Hawke beyond Hawke just stepping into situations(well, discounting Legacy). Even the Inquisitor was just a person who stepped through the wrong door at the wrong time.
I'd just prefer us being where we need to be to get entangled in the plot, an said entangling in the plot, doesn't involve us getting a special power that makes us required to fix the world and shackles us to the plot the way the Anchor did.
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Post by Pounce de León on Jun 6, 2019 15:05:28 GMT
Fuck the special flowers! Let's have a character to play from the roots. Chosen Ones have been overdone.
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Post by Giant Ambush Beetle on Jun 6, 2019 16:39:59 GMT
I've always wanted to play a non-special protagonist who was not gifted any special abilities, but who had to work his/her way up by blood, sweat, hard work and a little luck.
I am reeeeally tired of all those characters in movies or games who got special powers by accident or sheer luck, there is no feeling gratification or progress, they just go everywhere flash their shiny undeserved badges, let their superpowers loose and do whatever they want with little consequences or character development. That always make my eyes roll, those power fantasy shticks are sooooo passè.
Heck, the protagonist does not even have to be the main hero or something, I'd be perfectly happy to experience the story of Solas bringing the veil down, and/or a Qunari invasion and/or Elven insurgence from the eyes of a mere foot soldier mercenary who has to follow orders and fight for survival, one who is really in danger and vulnerable all the time. Over the course of the game he or she could turn into a veteran who is granted more and more responsibility slowly increasing the stakes.
The longer I think about it the more I prefer this gameplay over the power fantasy trope, you don't have to become a godlike entity in every game to make it fun.
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Post by SwobyJ on Jun 6, 2019 17:49:11 GMT
Bloodlines: Sorta. Don't want a focus on it, but man, we're going to Tevinter of all places, regardless of race selection I'd have to be open to its involvement.
Keeper/ Discoverer of Ancient artifact: I don't really like this for this time, I feel it is more of a DAI thing.
Magic: Yes, and I'll elaborate. I don't want 'magical magic magic' stuff to be a focus for all of DA, but I'm okay with it growing for now in the series (DAI-DA4-maybeDA5, DA2 was gonna have something, and DAO more minimally had Warden Joining), until moving further into other things (tech/gadgets, reality hacking, whatever).
Chosen One: No. Or rather, DAI was a Chosen One that was a 'mistake' of 'fate' (or the invisible and unprovable Maker), but this time I want someone who doesn't seem at all to be chosen by anything, but by the end its revealed that all the chessmasters of Thedas were manipulating every move of their rise/successes the whole time - even beyond anything Solas to the Inquisitor. Cue I dunno, a conclusion and/or DLC where we've finally broken free of those chains in glorious narrative and visuals, as opposed to the more tragic relationship between Inquisitor and Solas.
Training/ circumstance: Sort of, yes. At least I want this to be the basis this time.
History with/ idologically opposed to the antagonist: Eh, don't care.
Here's what I want: Something in relation to the Dreamers, to the point that with changes to Thedas, it mixes the dreams with reality. This may or may not play out mechanically for combat and otherwise. Whatever lets us manipulate our environment for very interesting scenarios, beyond the 'open world event' stuff that came with the Mark in DAI. I do want a power, but not the same as a visibly glowing power from a body part, but something more internal to our heart and/or mind.
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Post by Iakus on Jun 6, 2019 18:22:58 GMT
I chose training.
Nothing inherently wrong with being a "Chosen One" in a story. But there should be some tangible reason why a character can survive all the situations the hero will inevitably find themselves in on their quest besides Plot Armor.
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Post by vertigomez on Jun 6, 2019 19:09:29 GMT
the protagonist does not even have to be the main hero or something, I'd be perfectly happy to experience the story of Solas bringing the veil down, and/or a Qunari invasion and/or Elven insurgence from the eyes of a mere foot soldier mercenary who has to follow orders and fight for survival, one who is really in danger and vulnerable all the time. I would love this. I've often thought it would be cool if we could start as a little no-name spy, and over the course of the game we could shift allegiances (or not). Or through the use of dialogue options and certain quests, our character could "reveal" to the player who we're really working for..... if that makes sense. We could be an agent for the Qunari or Solas or the Executors or the Inquisition or the 'Vints or the Fog Warriors! We could be a DOUBLE agent! That would be fantastic. Like, we'd ostensibly be taking orders from someone (we're not the head honcho), but ultimately we can decide who to be loyal to.
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Post by PapaCharlie9 on Jun 6, 2019 19:42:46 GMT
I vacillate between an anti-Chosen One average joe that kind of just stumbled into historical importance — where his special trait is the complete lack of any kind of special trait — OR a super smart and capable loyalist whose special trait is her dedication to duty, embodied in the Shadow Inquisition, where her handler is Charter. A loyalist totally opposed to genocide and fascism (whether the Qunari, Tevinter or ancient elven kind) and therefore motivated to end Solas once and for all. Though still open to a moral dilemma where the greater good, like defeating the Evanuris released by Solas’s botched ritual, and service to duty, might mean a temporary alliance with Solas rather than killing him out of hand. I’ve obviously put more thought into the second option.
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Post by Gileadan on Jun 6, 2019 19:44:40 GMT
The longer I think about it the more I prefer this gameplay over the power fantasy trope, you don't have to become a godlike entity in every game to make it fun. This. I'd really love to start as Private Asshole and maybe end up as Sergeant Asshole instead of going from Big Special Cheese to Super Big Special Cheese To The Max.
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Post by themikefest on Jun 6, 2019 19:47:41 GMT
A good hairstyle to start. haha. It would be something that hasn't been seen before that would cause Solas to pause for a moment to maybe rethink on what he will say to the main character to get him/her to understand what he's doing.
Anyways. To the poll, training so that the main character can at least say they believe they have prepared to face Solas
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Post by gangrelbeckett on Jun 6, 2019 19:57:42 GMT
This. I'd really love to start as Private Asshole and maybe end up as Sergeant Asshole instead of going from Big Special Cheese to Super Big Special Cheese To The Max. Love this post but i fear that not everybody gets this reference.
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Post by vertigomez on Jun 6, 2019 20:13:37 GMT
If we go with training, I want a Rocky Balboa training montage complete with Eye of the Tiger
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Post by witchcocktor on Jun 6, 2019 20:27:25 GMT
Buh I don't wanna be special at all
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