DA4 - Beginnings, Backgrounds and Origins

If they do this then it is probably going to be more like DAI and not DAO, so I'd rather not have this. DAO worked well because it allowed you to get a real sense of your background and grounded you in the world you were about to operate in so you could truly role play your character as part of that world. DAI was peculiar because if you were already familiar with the world then in the case of the Dalish in particular I was asking how the Keeper even knew of the Conclave and why did she think it important to send you all the way from the Freemarches to spy on it? If you were a new player then the small description told you practically nothing about who you were or the group you were from. Yes, it allowed you greater freedom to role play your character as you wished but you had less of a sense of actually having grown up as part of that world.

I would prefer this. I keep saying how I think starting as a slave in a provincial household would be a good way of introducing you to the region you are in. Also, bearing in mind that the Qunari are currently rampaging across Tevinter, after establishing your function as a slave on that estate, the place could come under attack from the Qun, simultaneously causing everyone to have to flee but also explaining how you achieve your freedom in the chaos that follows. So there you would be, a non citizen starting from the bottom of the social order with no home and no connections. How much more powerless could you be? The only way is up. Plus no one would have ever expected you to amount to anything so they definitely would not see you coming.

Agreed. I seem to recall there was some wording in their Twitter feed to the effect that it was show casing factions we would be working with, not ones we would actually start as. I personally did not like the way they handled the different race/faction origin in DAI but if they were to manage it like DAO it would require a lot of resources to be expended on backgrounds that people might not even choose very often.

Also, so far as factions like the Executors or Sicarri are concerned, I would rather find out more about them in the game than be jettisoned into their faction from the beginning. The Executors in particularly have been so mysterious that you can hardly be considered one of them without knowing a lot more than we have currently been given. True there were Inquisition soldiers who joined them willingly but presumably they were given more than a few lines of explanation of why they should give their allegiance. Also, they did so of their own free will, whereas it would have been forced on me without me knowing if I really wanted to be part of them.

Now it is just possible the Sicarri could be used as a background because of the fact revealed in Tevinter Nights that they are largely from slave families that are held hostage to their loyalty. So that would give a logical explanation as to why you might be working for them and then it can be left to you whether you care enough about that family to remain loyal. However, the one drawback is that they are a known faction and it would not be entirely unexpected for a hero to emerge from that group.

To start off as someone who is literally without power and who "they will never see coming", you do need something of a blank slate with no actual faction to begin with. This is why I still hold with the idea that you would start as a slave, simply trained in a profession, which would vary according to your class, and then take it from there.

I know. I’m not looking forward to seeing them ruin the Inquisitor like they have ruined other past protagonists when making them NPCs like Hawke.

Maybe DA4 could have 2 Protags one with connections to the Inquistor/Inquistion and one that follows/serves Solas maybe a Slave that Solas frees that way you could see views of the games overall Story events from both sides.

The only backgrounds I will accept is Human PC is Tevinter and Qunari PC is an actual Tal-Vashoth.

I rather expect that the only background we’ll have is “Lord of Fortune”, we’ll be an adventurer for hire employed by the Inquisition. How we will have become Lords of Fortune or to be in Tevinter will likely remain unexplored

I like the way you can choose Shepards background and psychological profile in ME1. If there cannot be any kind of origin stories in DA4 then something like that would be nice especially if you could have special quests and dialogue options based on those two choices you make at the beginning of the game.

Seems rather limiting in terms of character personalization. For example they'd have to be boastful, greedy, lacking morals, etc. It'd be like if Purple Hawke was the only option. 

This is why I have repeatedly stated that I think a slave would be the best background for us. They could be any race (yes I am sure that casteless dwarves can be slaves without offending the Ambassadoria) or class because slaves are trained in combat, etc, and even mages can be slaves. They could offer a few personal details that could vary from person to person, such as whether we were born into slavery or kidnapped from our home in the south and sold into it, or captured in warfare, and also perhaps the household we started off in, which could slightly effect what sort of dialogue options are offered. Then have us achieve our initial freedom in the chaos of the Qunari assault on the mainland. After that the only direction is up but we will have started off as a nobody with nil reputation, no status and no useful contacts.



The Lords of Fortune (I appreciate they are not actual lords) seem to either undertake quests of their own volition or are commissioned by others. In the latter case, how do people know who to hire if they are not advertising themselves? Not only that, but professional treasure hunters who spend time rooting around in ruins looking for ancient artifacts are exactly the sort of people Solas is going to keep an eye on in case they turn up something that either he needs or could be a threat to him.

Hero of Ferelden: Awesome
Champion of Kirkwall: Awesome
Herald of Andraste: Awesome
Lord of Fortune: Awful

We’re a video game protagonist. We all have luck on our side. It was luck that the Warden survived the Joining or even that Duncan was there during our origin. It was luck that had Hawke go from rags to riches, etc.

“Like the others, you were strong, and swift, and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn’t. Something nobody else saw but me. Can you guess? Luck. Was I wrong?” - Cortana

There is not really an equivalence here.

Hero of Ferelden - a title earned by deeds - for most of the game you are known as "the Warden".
Champion of Kirkwall - a title earned by deeds - for most of the game you are known as "Hawke".

Herald of Andraste - a title earned because they blundered into where they weren't wanted - for most of the game you are known as "the Inquisitor" but also "Herald" as a rallying cry.

Lord of Fortune - a guild you can belong to. Actually it is going to be interesting to discover exactly what title they are going to give us to go under. Even if we do end up a Lord of Fortune, I really hope they don't end up calling us "the Lord".

Titles imply power and a key element of the next game is the theme of power/powerlessness. We have to be covert and inconspicuous to avoid Solas from killing us in our dreams. I am not opposed to a nickname/codename to hide our identity for extra security though.