OK, so if Hawke left Kirkwall with the Mages, how and why did he start investigating the Red Templars? A Viscount Hawke being ousted by them for looking too closely makes sense. But as I recall Hawke was not initially investigating Corypheus, but only stumbled on to Corypheus still being around through investigating the Red Templars.
Also, a Non-Mage Hawke was at Ostagar, and will straight up say without any player input that 'Cailan was betrayed' indicating that he thinks Loghain is a traitor, so how does a Non-Mage Hawke justify working with the man he thinks betrayed his King and ensured the defeat at Ostagar?
1. Viscount Hawke was kicked by the Templars from Kirkwall as Hawke says in DAI – probably this is why they go to investigate things. 2. Why Hawke worked with Loghain? Probably because of Hawke spoke with Loghain, and saw, he's just a Warden now, like the Inquisitor saw. It is more personal, than in the Inquisitor's case, but still, people can deal with it for a goal... Like the Cousland Warden...or... any Warden.
Adam Howden “And then his sword is level with my chest, and I let it come, because it is only steel and cannot hurt me, for I am not of mortal men.”(Anders' short story) Source
I go with Cassandra. She seems to be the moderate one of the bunch. Leliana wants to force a lot of change faster than Thedas is ready for it and Vivienne goes on a power trip. With Cassandra change comes at a pace.
There's no better chance for a radical change than after such a crisis, chaos. If someone wants real changes, then should go for Leliana – Cassandra is a wasted opportunity.
Well... just random: Fylimar (nobody voted for her yet)
Nobody had voted for Space yet either, so why not choose him? With both Space and Fylimar having voted for someone who has not yet voted, it was likely their target would simply vote for them. Anyway, if OG does vote for Space it would seem that Pela will now have the deciding vote.
Why not Space? Because I simply don't have two votes, and I tossed a coin.
Was a good wall of text. I respect and appreciate the level of thought and personal investment you and others with the same playstyle can bring to their characters. Reading your "wall of text" (not really, it suited the level of description you needed to make, I think), I get alot of ideas for future playthroughs. Not as in copying your actions, but more the technique of it, the "empathic analysis" of "what would my character really do at this specific point, given his personal history, abilities, people he cares for, beliefs".
Hopefully it will help me ignore, or at least not consider it "losing" anymore, whenever I see a "Greatly Disapprove" now. If you celebrate it, you have a merry Christmas and thanks for your input.
(I, of course, invite anyone else to continue to contribute their thoughts.)
RP-ing. (It happens, I look for the approvals, especially in the first pt-s – but I rather not go so far, that it demands acts, which ones are out of character: for example, I'll not )
In DAI I do not really interest in the companions' approval, if I need some love from them, I help them in their personal quest.
In DA2 I just prefer to avoid killing Fenris (it means high friendship/rival approval) – after Hawke fought to save him – not mentioned: I do like Fenris, and I don't like to kill my companions... In romance with Fenris, we should go to 100% approval for a fulfilled romance – but I still can 100% befriend him as a radical pro-freedom Hawke... it also quite believable in RP-view, seeing, that Hawke saved him from Danarius – and Fenris helped Hawke for years. Rivaling Aveline was great with my eternal outlaw blood mage Hawke – and he rivalled Varric as well (didn't fully succeed: ~50%). He lost Isabela (preconception was: Hawke will not help her in the Artifact, not because Hawke is that lawful, but because of why she let herself blackmailed by this shitty slave-trader, instead of killing him (if she asks Hawke to kill Castillon – he would happily say 'yes'...) – but this Hawke was also not good to "make people better" (in fact: with people at all... – red Hawke with lots of purple rare blue) he was not able to earn Isabela's trust to return with the Koslun. (Aveline said to him: "Don't lose your friends too, Hawke" – act2, after Leandra's death). This Hawke was the most fun to play.
In DAO I never lost any companion, and mostly they like my Warden.
Funny that you mention the Aveline dialogue after Leandra's death; that was one of my favorite written dialogue choices. I don't really like Aveline, yet I like how she just brushed off his accusations as "Hawke is angry and confused", rather than actually give Hawke a bone and take some responsibility for not detecting the evil mage. Even if wrong, it felt like a very human thing to do. That precise moment is one of the reasons I've been reexaming my playstyle (in RPG's) lately. It felt so... right, so satisfying, at that moment, to pick the angry (and disapproving) reply to Aveline instead of the one that I knew would yield either no negative disposition or positive one.
My problem is that while I do create (in my head) an "image" of my character's personality, how they'd react to X, their sexuality, morals and viewpoints, I have a problem sticking with it throughout the game. Do you just remember all the interactions you've had with characters in your playthrough, write it down, or sort of... make it up as you go along, but try your best to stick to your mental image of how your character would be as a person, and how they'd react?
Depends, mostly if I know the game, I start the character with a plan – and try to go with it through the whole game, with only little refinements in the nuances. Warning, wall of text incoming (little detailed explanation):
With this red Hawke I felt, he leads my hand. I planned rivalry with Fenris – but after the start, I saw, that despite their disagreement, there is a mysterious chemistry between them (seemed Fenris adores his decisions made at his tempers), and I changed my mind in the middle of the act1. It was my most radical mage – and the easiest friendship with Fenris, what started with a huge rivalry. AND: Hawke' personality didn't change in my mind, I just saw, I was wrong as I imagined some companions' reactions, including Fenris' (while I played DA2 before many times, including Fenris rivalry and friendship, romance and not romance too). Also: it was my strong head canon: this Hawke loves the blades – and proud of his ability to use... so: they're sparring a lot, and Hawke appreciates Fenris' wine – while he's totally okay with The Hanged Man's rat-urine as well.
This happened to Carver and him as well: I thought, Carver will annoy him – but not: I found out, he trusts Carver (he trained him – in my story), just both of them are too ass to speak about it. So: he brought him to the Deep Road (it was more complicated: the first plan was Grey Warden, but Hawke was sooo ass to him, so, there was a point in game, when I thought, he will leave him guarding Leandra's skirt... and it happened almost. And then Hawke "told" me: this is wrong: HE trained Carver, Carver is HIS fucking ass brother, and he knows, he's a great warrior, and he can't just leave such a good warrior – and also: he respected Carver, just loved to tease him.) – and slowly formed a friendship between them.
Aveline's rivalry... about especially CARVER, that she prevented Carver's joining to the Guards – when Hawke KNEW his brother would have been a great one (probably better than Aveline) – and in the light of what happened in the Deep Roads, he was more angry of Aveline – and he thought: Aveline is a hypocrite – and never forgot to remind her... still didn't hate her: he was also bad at nurturing his anger: if he didn't kill someone immediately – if it depends on him – this person could live a very long, fulfilled life. Short-tempered, but not revengeful.
Varric's rivalry was about Hawke considered Varric gossipy ("my private life isn't your story"), Varric called Anders whateverhisname possessed mage, and about Varric's "humans in skirt, one's like the other" view about mages and Templars – when it was HIS life – and in my imagination (this sometimes showed in game too) – they had a different kind of humour, Hawke offended people sometimes unintentionally as well. No problem, if I pay a beer, it will solve our problems... – seems Varric appreciated it...
What I would change? Maybe, he would not lose Isabela... but I also see: what happened, can fit him.
Future: I should say: I never sacrificed Hawke. I can't. Until this one... He's not in the Inquisition (I didn't play long ago...) – but I see: he wouldn't let the Inquisitor (or anyone) decide, what he should do. So: I figured... he will stay. He wants to die? Of course NOT. Does he feel responsible? He's not that person... But Stroud saved Carver's life – and just look at this Nightmare: he rarely saw a bigger challenge, how he would be able to resist? He also don't believe, he can lose a fight... not a chance...
Sorry for the long answer – this Hawke is my most detailed character.
RP-ing. (It happens, I look for the approvals, especially in the first pt-s – but I rather not go so far, that it demands acts, which ones are out of character: for example, I'll not )
In DAI I do not really interest in the companions' approval, if I need some love from them, I help them in their personal quest.
In DA2 I just prefer to avoid killing Fenris (it means high friendship/rival approval) – after Hawke fought to save him – not mentioned: I do like Fenris, and I don't like to kill my companions... In romance with Fenris, we should go to 100% approval for a fulfilled romance – but I still can 100% befriend him as a radical pro-freedom Hawke... it also quite believable in RP-view, seeing, that Hawke saved him from Danarius – and Fenris helped Hawke for years. Rivaling Aveline was great with my eternal outlaw blood mage Hawke – and he rivalled Varric as well (didn't fully succeed: ~50%). He lost Isabela (preconception was: Hawke will not help her in the Artifact, not because Hawke is that lawful, but because of why she let herself blackmailed by this shitty slave-trader, instead of killing him (if she asks Hawke to kill Castillon – he would happily say 'yes'...) – but this Hawke was also not good to "make people better" (in fact: with people at all... – red Hawke with lots of purple rare blue) he was not able to earn Isabela's trust to return with the Koslun. (Aveline said to him: "Don't lose your friends too, Hawke" – act2, after Leandra's death). This Hawke was the most fun to play.
In DAO I never lost any companion, and mostly they like my Warden.
I know from playing a mage, that she will overlook you being a mage if it's politically expedient for her. From a RP standpoint, that's of course not logical that non-mage Hawke would know that, so I realize that's a RP'ing inconsistency on my part. I'm playing my non-mage, Bethany-in-Circle, WarHawke as fearful of his sister's safety to the point that he feels the mages CANNOT win, so he's banking on his help winning Meredith's favor the point that she (Meredith) will spare Bethany. Imagine you had a beloved sibling held captive by a corrupt war leader who demanded you helped kill the rebels, or your sister gets executed as a rebel... My WarHawke joins the templars because "best way to protect Bethany" means a choice based almost entirely on fear. Fear of not knowing excatly where Bethany is, if she could already be held and surrounded by templars. "Best" in this sense, is not rationally best, and certainly not morally best... it's best in the face of fear of losing your sister. A fear that makes him feel defeated. That he has no choice.
Or, that's been my reasoning in the 2 out of three WarHawke playthroughs I did. Did a WarHawke playthrough where I allied with the mages, too.
I see the reason to do anything Meredith asks for Bethany – until she demands her death. In the opposite: I see the reason of Mage Hawke to siding Templar Carver – not because of agrees, but because of whatever Hawke thinks about Carver's decision being Templar – but still can afraid to face with him in the battleground. And I think this highly applicable of Bethany's case, because she chooses the mages. During the battles also Hawke only has chance to keep an eye on Bethany, if supports her against Meredith. If Hawke goes with Meredith and the Templars, Hawke loses sight of Bethany for a while – and can't be sure what happens to her.
3. Feels that the best way to protect Bethany in the Circle is to ally with the established power structures, rather than revolt against them. I've mostly played mages, though, and I feel wrong siding with the templars as a mage (did it very first playthrough).
Why turn against Bethany is better than support the Annulment as a mage, who isn't a part of the Circle? Supporting Meredith means the Annulment. Annulment means: she sentenced Bethany death. Her "reason" to do: "People will demand blood" (she says) – so: pure revenge on people who did NOTHING, pure revenge on BETHANY.
I always wondered, how Hawke can think: Bethany in safe in the Circle... Karl, Ella... and after Alrik died: Karras (if Hawke didn't kill him) – and Meredith herself seems very unstable (not because of the lyrium thing, but at all, it was clear in the full game. That little reassuring letter from Bethany (I'm fine brother/sister) isn't the best proof everything is okay... With Bethany in the Circle, I never saw, why a good reason to support Meredith's madness. Meredith was never about protecting mages – if we listen to the people (mages and templars both) at the Gallows we will see, what is happening. And the Annulment. Hawke doesn't see the future, that saving Bethany will be the option. The only reality at this moment: every mage including Bethany sentenced to death. Seems this like: I support the execution of my sister – to protect my sister.