The Maevaris Tilani Discussion Thread

There is one thing that mitigates against her actually being a party member: Spoiler from Tevinter Nights

For all you Maevaris fans, the star she was based on. I know the original Mae wasn't trans but she was amazing and they use some of her one liners in this video. She was 79 when she made the recording. Listen through it to the end and pay attention. It is a scream. If Maevaris is only half-way as good as this it will liven up a dull day.

She's so clever and glamorous. 😭😍 Mae West was one of my earliest crushes and if Mae Tilani's even, like, 30% of that plus being a super wizardess dwarf appreciator?? i'M GONE

Well surprise surprise Varric is back and i assume as a major character ("I´ve got your back) so what does mean for the widow of Varric cousin Thorold? Both could be companions but i hope that only Mae is one. For Varric i would prefer as less screentime as possible.

I still don´t like the idea that Varric is back but maybe his reason why is in Tevinter could be that he is helping Mae because she lost her
home in Ventus (the former Qarinus) to the Qunari.

Of course everything is possible (like Bodahn and Sandal not appearing visual in DAI after several hints in DA 2) but to be honest i would be shocked it Mae isn´t in DA 4.

If you mean as a specialism, to be honest I've always thought of Maevaris as a Battlemage (DAA), based off her appearance in the earlier comic series where she engaged in a lot of lightning magic when in combat and didn't mind mixing it at the forefront of battle. The description for Battlemage says:

"Some mages specialize in spells that permit them to engage in combat from afar. Battlemages, by contrast, prefer to wade into the fray alongside their blade-wielding companions, close enough to read the fear in their opponents' eyes. Their spells are primarily concerned with personal preservation as well as control of the elements...."

That is how Mae struck me in the comics. Not afraid to close with the enemy and face them down. Also it says the Battlemage's primary spells are connected with control of the elements. We haven't had a true Battlemage since DAA, so bring it on with Maevaris.

To be honest in DAA I did make Anders a Battlemage on top of his Spirit healer specialism. That was an awesome combination. I have found it rather disappointing how much specialisms have been limited as the games have progressed. Our companions were limited to only one in DA2 and then they did the same with the PC in DAI. I had a lot of fun mixing and matching specialism in DAO and DAA.

Funnily enough I never did that. I still wanted the specialisms to be appropriate to the character and I could never see Wynne agreeing to be a shapeshifter or a blood mage. I really only got into mixing the specialisms in DAA because there were more to play with.



I preferred DA2 to DAI in that respect. I wouldn't have minded people being limited to only one spec if they were unique to that person.

I'd love to see unique companion trees again, like in DA2. Then Mae's spec could be something all her own.

Considering the actual likelihood of any given character with a relevant backstory or accrued influence in a world with Earth-like demographics being transgender, I'd definitely say that it's a little forced in the sense that it would probably never happen organically.

That said, four games in, and with the crazy up-prioritization that bi-and-homosexual characters have already had since the beginning, one transgender companion at this point doesn't really seem strange or unreasonable. I'll raise a brow when people inevitably start calling the franchise transphobic for even thinking about not featuring one per game going forward though. Unless Bioware actually does it, in which case yeah, that'll be forced as hell. Though based on the trailer and promotional art it already looks like they've completely abandoned the gritty realism aspect of the franchise's roots.

Never heard of 'Maevaris Tilani' before, so I'd question the idea of her being "well-established", but if she's a big deal in the books or something I wouldn't know. No idea what kind of person she is.

Her bio gives me Vivienne vibes, with a large and notoriously traditional system of power uncharacteristically allowing her a prestigious position in spite of her obvious controversy because she theoretically earned it by "playing the game" to the point of being "both feared and respected". That approach always seemed really vague and cheap and did a lot of damage to Vivienne's likability and believability in my eyes. But I guess it's entirely possible that Maevaris can pull it off with better and more specific and believable writing.