#Originally I was between Lords of Fortune and Veil Jumpers

[felassan]

Some thoughts on this article from Game Informer [source]. ^^

Teia and Viago as the 'face' of the Crows/the Crow 'agents', pretty please..? 🥺 👉👈 And I hope maybe Strife and Irelin can be the same but for the Veil Jumpers..? :D

Customizing qunari Rook's horn type and material reminds me of Taash's gem-horn design

Which faction do you think has the coolest casual threads? in my mind's eye [wild speculation] it's a toss up between Mourn Watch and Antivan Crows :D

What do sword and shield warriors 'hip-fire' with?

What is a "night blade" :D

Faction selection/backstory (while not playable) determining who Rook was before, how they met Varric, and why they travel with him reminds me of the different origins in DA:O and how each possible HoF crossed paths with and was recruited by Duncan in a different way.. 🥺

Factions and groups in the world working together to save it.. it felt like there were hints of this in Tevinter Nights. In that book, we saw different groups and factions from across Thedas working with the Inquisition, with varying degrees of cooperation, on being concerned about Solas. Yet other groups were also interested in keeping tabs on him. now we see the same kinda thing in DA:TV with different groups being involved in saving the world from the Evil Gods.

"'You help them, they help you now" but first they all have serious problems you need to solve' has echoes of how in DA:O, the HoF solved a problem for each major group (Dalish elves/werewolves, Circle Tower/templars, Orzammar etc) before they would obey the Grey Warden treaties and agree to help fight the darkspawn for the final battle

Do you think that some of the voices in the Thedas Calls teaser trailer were some of the 'faces' of the factions? For example, the Antivan Crow woman speaker as the face of the Crows, and the Nicholas Boulton-sounding Warden man speaker as the face of the Grey Wardens?

Each spec being tied to a faction explains the faction symbols being on the specializations, as here. From this, we can see that the faction each spec is tied to is as follows:

Mage: Death Caller - Mourn Watch Evoker - Shadow Dragons Spellblade - Antivan Crows Rogue: Duelist - Antivan Crows Veil Ranger - Veil Jumper Saboteur - Lords of Fortune Warrior: Champion - Grey Wardens Reaper - Mourn Watch Slayer - Lords of Fortune

The Mirror of Transformation returns. Do you think that means Rook will also be able to go to the Black Emporium, like Hawke in DAII and Inquisitor in DA:I? Will Xenon the Antiquarian also return? ^^ Maybe not though, since it's said the Mirror is in The Lighthouse

I'm not sure about "If you find yourself unhappy with your lineage or your class, you can change them using the Mirror of Transformation". It was previously reported that "You can change your character’s physical appearance at any time during the game, but not their class or backstory" [source] [prev post mentioning it]. I guess one article is incorrect, but am not sure which. or maybe this aspect of the game changed in development. ^^ UPDATE: please see here re: an update/clarification from Game Informer on this. it reads:

"Editor's Note: This article previously stated players can change their physical appearance, class, lineage, and identity using the Mirror of Transformation. That is incorrect as class, lineage, and identity are locked after you first select those. The article has been updated to reflect that, and Game Informer apologizes for any confusion this mistake may have caused."

What do you think is the problem[s] faced by each faction that we have to solve? :D We got some hints about this already. For example, for the Crows, something "is amiss" in Antiva and they're trying to uncover the source. The Qunari have also invaded Antiva. For the Wardens, they just recently discovered one of Ghil's underground monster labs and learned there are 11 more (Tevinter Nights), and ominous tremors of unknown cause have been creating disturbances in the Anderfels lately. The Lords of Fortune have lost dominion over the coasts of Rivain and dragons are laying waste to their ships. The Shadow Dragons probably have the Venatori, who are still around and up to mad shit, to contend with. Arlathan Forest is currently all timewarped, reality-fragmented, awash with darkspawn and corruption etc. For the Mourn Watch.. maybe the Veil rips and weakening has caused more premature possessions of corpses and demons possessing corpses and wreaking havoc in the Necropolis, or the Nevarran politics stuff? In TN Dorian also mentions learning from a Mortalitasi mage that there are things "past the Veil of our world, neither demon nor spirit". maybe they're having problems with those things?

[source]

[spacefae]

Some thoughts about Dragon Age: The Veilguard now that I have had about 24 hours to ruminate after finishing. Spoilers incoming.

I miss the Dragon Age: Origins beginning. It felt more impactful, and I was able to connect with my hero more when I played through their origin. Getting little cards about their backstory is not enough to make me feel actually connected to my home faction.

Factions were watered down. The Mourn watch was essentially a monster of the week questline. The crows were not edgy enough (i thought there was slavery in antiva?). Lords of Fortune had no personality. I wish there was more to the shadow dragons than just "venatori bad." Let me free from slaves! The veil jumpers were fine but didn't stand out. The only faction that felt correct was the Grey Wardens.

To me, it felt like none of my decisions actually mattered in the grand scheme of the story. Minrathus vs Trevisio was impactful, but from what I understand, Trevisio is not decimated like Minrathus is after the dragon. There aren't Crows getting publicly executed. Choosing between Harding or Davrin was also impactful, but otherwise I felt like I was just riding the story.

Relationships felt like they didn't matter. I romanced Emmrich. I liked the story, but I felt like it didn't impact anything other than one endgame conversation and a single line of narration in the ending screen. I wish there was more substance. And, at least I get kissed more than once in Peepaw romance? Slow burn is fine, but at least make the pay off good. I flirted with Taash, Emmrich, and Lucanis. There could have been dialogue about choosing between them. Other than late game mechanics, relationships felt like they didn't matter. Even their pivitol quest decisions I felt like didn't matter other than Emmrich's. In previous posts, I agonized over Lichdom vs. Manfred. I did not agonize over decisions for other companions.

A friend of mine described Act 3 as a marvel movie. I didn't hate Act 3. I felt rewarded for being thorough in the game and helped ensure success in the final battle. I don't necessarily have any major issues with how Act 3 went down. Other than feeling like I was just along for the ride.

I think comedy and dark fantasy can coexist. DA:O made the political implications for your choices and involvement feel impactful, while also have moments of brevity. The general tone of Veilguard made me get whiplash when something devastating happened.

The secret ending??? Was??? What????

These are all my opinions. And I won't claim to ever be right. I spent 61 hours playing the game, and I enjoyed every minute of it, but it left me craving something a little more substantial, ya know?

[shewolfofvilnius]

New Rook time starting a 2nd run of Dragon Age Veilguard. I went back and forth between the Veil Jumpers and Lords of Fortune for a solid 5 mins before committing to the latter. Meet Safyrė Laidir.

Also TIL it's 10x harder making a character from scratch vs. basing 1st Rook on a kid from Origins.

[arcann]

thoughts about the backgrounds. nitpicky and biased.

-i do not get how we made the leap from "young wardens approved of rook's actions. wardens with connections to nobles didn't" like. did the nobles wanted the village destroyed? shouldn't the contrast be between wardens with authority over rook and this being a problem completely inside the wardens' hierarchy? why the nobles specifically?

-getting the same vibes as the lords of fortunes with the veil jumpers "oh you found a valuable map!" why would the ancient elves have a map of the places they know well when these places weren't ruins. the places which. you know. you're taking stuff from. idk that felt very indiana jones don't think about it. bellara and the elves investigating these places make sense but say a human it's uhhhhh

-another +1 to the shadow dragon background.

-no comments on the lords of fortune i'm not interested.

-the start of the mournwatch origin sounds so interesting. i think i'm gonna switch to this as my first run's background.

-the crow background saying rook just achieved full membership means they're kinda restricted to being pretty young. don't really care about the crows being the good to the qunari's bad.

[deadlymaelstrom]

Okay, I think I have an idea on what to name my different Rooks for the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard with their profile summary and backgrounds included:

Stefano d'Baldovinetti: An assassin from Antiva and a member of the Antivan Crows. Specializing as a duelist, Stefano was hired to eliminate a target in Tevinter when he inadvertently crosses paths with Varric Tethras and Lace Harding.

Meyla: A Dalish elf from the Ralaferin clan. Due to there being too many mages within the clan, Meyla was cast out with nothing but her magical abilities and wits to keep her alive. Without a place to call home, Meyla joined the Veil Jumpers to learn more about ancient elven history in the Arlathan Forest before sensing a strong tremor in the Fade.

Alfonso Maderuelo: A young, headstrong mage of Nevarra's Mortalitasi and the Mourn Watch's newest recruit. Upon discovering an intruder sneaking into the Grand Necropolis to steal a forbidden tome, Alfonso defies the Overseer and chases the thief all the way to the border between Nevarra and Tevinter, discovering them to be an agent for the Venatori.

Olelinda Varra: A surface dwarf and member of the Carta. With her quick feet, fast hands, and sharp knife, Olelinda joined the Lords of Fortune in the hopes of accumulating great wealth in Rivain. She is in a relationship with her Qunari bodyguard, Seraan.

Seraan: A Qunari mercenary and personal bodyguard for her dwarven lover, Olelinda Varra. Originally from Par Vollen, she became disillusioned with her place among Qunari society and abandoned the Qun, effectively becoming a Tal-Vashoth. After years of killing bandits, pirates, blood mages and agents of the Ben-Hassrath, Seraan was hired the Lords of Fortune as an enforcer.

Cassius Lunaris: A mage from the Tevinter Imperium and apprentice to Magister Dorian Pavus. Born and raised in Minrathous, Cassius is of the Laetans, lower-class families with no direct lineage to Dreamers. As such, he was often looked down upon by the Imperium's upper-class: the Altus. A strong supporter of the Lucerni political faction and a knack for solving puzzles, Cassius was contacted by Neve Gallus and accepted her offer to join the Shadow Dragons, hoping to reform Tevinter from within.

Vandrad Thidriksson: A grizzled Anderfels Grey Warden veteran stationed at Weisshaupt Fortress. He was Davrin's former mentor and a rival to the Hero of Ferelden. With more than 28 years of experience, Vandrad believes the ends justify the means when dealing with darkspawn and Blights. Before he inevitably has to venture to the Deep Roads for the Calling, Vandrad prepares for what seems to be his final battle.

[kenwaysfolly]

here's how i would fix dragon age the veilguard. set it 100 years in the future to achieve the utopic worldstate it presents us with (no elf oppression, no mage conflict, this has been solved off-screen but with an appropriate amount of time to make it so). solas is immortal, as is morrigan, so these events can take place at any time. even better if there's more than 20 years between blights. veil jumpers are explicitly a dalish clan and racelocked to elves. lords of fortune and crows are removed as origins. a venatori cult who wants to bring back the tevinter of old in a progressive post-slavery society makes more sense, the shadow dragons are their foils. the inquisitor has the potential to occupy a similar role as inquisitor ameridan, like the dread wolf worked with them, let's uncover stuff about the inquisition, you can find notes between them and their love interest in the codex. not sure what to do about varric's role but at least this world state is a fraction closer to making sense.

[mrs-gauche]

While I know it’s generally bad for leaks to happen (unless they are intentionally encouraged by the developer, and yes this seems to be a thing, as Mark Darrah himself even mentioned in the past), and there’s no real point in overanalyzing something that is pre-Alpha footage from over a year ago (!!)... I’m just glad it didn’t contain some major spoilers story wise, because I wouldn’t know how to avoid them until whenever this game actually releases. 😂 I’d like to know as little as possible about the story and the characters going into it.......

........That being said.. I’m a hypocrite, I couldn’t resist and took a tiny little peek 😂(and if you don’t wanna know anything until there’s something official, I completely understand, just don’t read any further now!), so all I want to say is

HOLY SHIT GUYS This seems legit and we are probably looking at the very first glimpse of REAL (pre-Alpha) DA4 gameplay footage after EIGHT flippin years, which means this game is REAL, it’s actually happening, it’s a real game that’s playable and everything and ahhhh!!! Weisshaupt?? Davrin?? A dragon?? Darkspawn?? Purple stuff??? DID YOU SEE THAT HAIR ANIMATION THOUGH??

Ahem. Okay, so with the first wave of euphoria out of the way now, how are we feeling about THIS

Hmmmmm 👀👀👀

HMMMMM

OHHHHHHH

Seems like the spirit of Joplin lives on after all?? 👀👀👀

I’ve already seen plenty of people speculating and while we should take everything with a grain of salt here of course, there was a comment on a reddit post by another (supposed) playtester that confirmed “Rook” to be indeed the protagonist’s name/title! 👀 And while this could be of course just a placeholder name for whatever it’ll actually end up being, there could be a lot to derive from this!

- As people have pointed out, “Rook” does sound a lot like a code/spy name, much like Charter, Butler, Farrier or any of Leliana’s spies

- Rook being also a type of crow, fitting in perfectly with the bird themed names like Hawke

- In slang, it’s ALSO another word for “swindler” or “deceiver”, which also reminds me a lot of how there was a Lord of Fortune in Tevinter Nights who used the name “Hollix” as part of their disguise during a mission (which btw was actually the name of Dorian’s mother’s pet nug lol)

So all of this considered, and assuming that the leaked footage might have been part of the very beginning of the game (and how the leaker seemed to suggest that Grey Warden is just one of multiple factions you can choose from!), can I just say that my speculation about how DA4 might start off with an infiltration mission of one of four factions (Grey Warden/Antivan Crow/”Veil Jumper”/Tevinter.. something), while playing as a “spy” (/Lord of Fortune?? 👀) under the alias “Rook”, might actually turn out to be true after all??? (°ロ°)

I mean.. it could just end up being a simple “choose your class/faction” at the start and that’s it 😂, but either way, if we get something resembling different “origin stories”, like depending on which faction you choose, the game starts off with a different mission (similar to what Cyberpunk did?), I think that would be an awesome concept! (Not setting any expectations here though! 😌 The game might start off at Weisshaupt no matter which faction you choose!)

But back to topic, the rook being of course also a piece in a game of chess, which was depicted on the cover of Mark Darrah’s red “Joplin” book first seen in 2016!

Which in turn also of course immediately takes us back to the amazing mind chess game between Solas and Iron Bull, referencing a real game that happened in 1851 known as “The Immortal Game”. While people have been taking Solas sacrificing most of his pieces as well as his queen (Flemythal) only to then strike the final blow and win by moving the bishop (mage) as foreshadowing and also a perfect respresentation of how both Solas and Iron Bull think and strategize, what’s interesting to note, is that it’s the turn in which Bull takes Solas’ rook that ultimately seals Solas’ win in the end. 

Now, this could mean absolutely nothing of course, but with this new information from the leaks, maybe there’s more to it than we think. 👀

Then there’s also the link to Solas’ final Tower tarot card of course...

Other than that, I just think it’ll be really cool to have a chess themed aesthetic for DA4 following the tarot card theme of DAI! Or just the idea of having a “game of minds” like the Immortal Game rather than just relying on “brute force” with an antagonist like Solas, that requires a certain level of strategic thinking and consideration from us in how we act/make decisions to outwit him, would make a lot of sense to me!

(Or we might as well reference that one Simpsons episode with the “human chess board” and cover both brute force AND strategic thinking lmaoo)

Or, even better, let us do something like the flippin “logic chess” mechanic from that glorious Ace Attorney spin off game lmaooo

Let’s bombard Solas with some hard hitting arguments. lmao

I will say though that, if “Rook” does actually end up being the title/name of our next protagonist, I’m once again very curious how the hell they’re gonna make this work in the localized versions, if they do attempt to translate the name literally. Let us pray that they’ll just stick to English for this one, or else the multiple meanings of the term will be completely lost in translation. lol Can’t wait to play as flippin “Turm” in German or “Tour” in French. 😂

[autopotion]

Ok here are my companion predictions for DATV:

Two humans, a Grey Warden and an Antivan Crow. The Warden has pretty much all but been confirmed (Davrin) and the Crow is almost certainly Lucanis or Illario. Judging from the voice clip Davrin probably hails from Ferelden or the Free Marches. Possibly Tevinter but I'm thinking Ferelden

Female dwarf rogue, also pretty much confirmed (Bellara). Sadly I don't think my dwarf mage companion theory is true. That being said, considering the new mechanical details, I do wonder if companions are going to break the typical m/r/w tradition and have more hybrid classes? In which case... Give her a little magic, Blease. I'd love it if she was from Kal-Sharok too, but idk how likely that is.

Mortalitasi skeleton. Considering how much art we've seen of these glowing skeletons I will be extremely surprised if we don't get one.

Lady Qunari/Tal-Vashoth. Same as skeleton, we are for sure getting a Lady Qunari, but that's all I can definitively say about her. Would not be surprised if she's Tal-Vashoth to finish the pattern, since Sten was Qunari and Iron Bull could be Qunari or Tal-Vashoth.

The remaining two companions I'm less certain of. Options:

Veil Jumper. I think someone has to be, right, but anything about this Veil Jumper is pure speculation. I personally feel like elf would make sense, maybe a Dalish elf... We haven't had a Dalish elf companion since Merrill!

We know that each companion represents a different faction, and I haven't accounted for two of the likeliest factions yet: Lords of Fortune and Shadow Dragons. I'm convinced a Lord of Fortune will be present in some capacity, but whether they're a companion or an option for the PC remains to be seen. I suppose Lady Qunari could belong to one of those factions, which would be cool.

Keeping with the typical DA trend, I don't think there will be a ton of crossover between potential PC origin factions and companion factions, meaning I'm not sold on Antivan Crow as an origin. We'll see though. (Just please don't be a GW again...)

This one is a stretch, but I would love an Executor companion. I'm just picturing that shadowy group concept art with a hooded figure holding a rifle... That would be so cool IMO. And it would make DATV the DA game with the most fantasy diversity among companions!

On that note I'm going back to sleep.

[vaultedvagabond]

Dragon Age Veilguard Review

I just finished Veilguard so I am gonna put my thoughts below a readmore, but my general review is the game felt amazing and was a ton of fun while missing a lot of marks I wish it hit. Full spoiler review below.

OK so first off this game /felt/ amazing. I was a rogue and lining up headshots in slow motion for critical hit kills felt so good constantly. Finding a bit of calm in combat to drop enemies in a single hit felt exactly like a rogue should feel. The entire combat system is amazing and I would kill to see Origins and 2 remade in this style.

I think a lot of the conflict and politics that make dragon age dragon age are completely gone. It makes the world feel a lot shallower and I missed it. It isn't just the struggle mages face, this game is the one that feels most removed from ideas of class. I think however poorly handled the questions and struggles that city elves, the dalish, mages, the poor everyone faces are a huge part of Thedas. Companions refer offhand to elven oppression but we never really see it.

On a similar note everyone gets along so well. I hardened Lucanis who has a Demon of Spite inside him and he was super understanding towards me. Him and Davrin have beef for a little bit but it is resolved very quickly. Companions arguing is such a huge part of DA and I really felt its absence. I think it relates to the stuff above. No one has opinions or is affected by the big societal problems Thedas has so they just instantly get along well. Like shouldn't the Lords of Fortune and Veil Jumpers have disagreements? Both raid ancient ruins and one stores and guards the dangerous artifacts while the other sells them. They even start out going "yeah we don't sell any cultural artifacts at all". I think the game would be better if we got to see these differences and if some companions had flaws.

I also think that despite the game being about the 6 factions they felt so bland to me. The Crows have the way they abuse kids to turn them into assassins erased, and they also don't really assassinate anyone. They act as a group of neighborhood watch. Similarly, the Shadow Dragons care mostly about the venatori and don't really focus on normal non cultish Tevinter brutality. I think both factions end up being defined as resisting the enemy factions and lose the interesting stuff about them. I wish that Lucanis's personal quest line involved assassination missions, maybe even make us decide between letting Lucanis assassinate someone important to the story or lose the crows as an ally. Not being able to have big text trees with faction NPCs also robbed them of a lot of depth.

My last major criticism is that a huge chunk of the game has no choices whatsoever. Choosing which city to defend felt great and was so cool and I was so ready to see what other things would happen like that. But then until the final mission there were no choices, and in the final mission my maxed faction support and all companion quests done meant there was really no risk. I much prefer the mass efect 2 style of choice where you choose between multiple people who could do it but some are destined to die vs "well if I choose a mage for the mage task they live but if I chose a warrior they die". I wish we got to shape the world more, and make more hard choices. I think that the parallel to Solas and the Regret Prison would hit a lot harder if we constantly were making hard choices and pissing people off at us.

OK now back to the positive. I can complain all I want about how few punches the game decided to take but the things they fully commit to feel great. When the game is on a roll and the writing is good its so good. I loved the companions, every one of them is so interesting and fleshed out. I loved Taash's quest specifically (I do wish the game had binary trans rep though). I really appreciated the different options for each crew member and while I think the big tangible choices are lacking the emotional ones we were offered were so interesting.

Lastly I really appreciated the fact that every side quest felt real. They all tied into the main story and that was really neat. The time spent doing side quests really felt important and I think the games strongest writing is in them.

In conclusion the game has a lot of holes in it, which is only made more frustrating by how good the game is when it is good. I can tell that the flaws were caused by studio intervention, and that the devs wanted to fix these issues too. But ultimately Dragon Age is a series /about/ games that have glaring flaws while also being so captivatingly good you cant forget them. I wont be forgetting this game, I am excited to replay it.

[cherriesandcharms]

What are your thoughts on the lack of elvish prejudice in DAV? As an elven rogue, I was pretty disappointed tbh

okay so beware spoilers below and im going to get rambly

also im assuming we're discussing the prejudice and hatred TOWARDS elves? if i got that wrong sorry for the unsolicited essay on the lack of fantasy racism lmao

im putting this below the cut bc it did get long

I will admit that this didnt cross my mind my first time through. but ur right, theres a distinct lack of "knife ear" comments. I haven't gotten far into my playthrough with my elf rook so idk how ppl react to them yet.

from what i remember there are comments from Bellara and maybe Davrin about the gods actions making things harder for elves but we dont see the evidence of this, which i would have liked to explore more

i have a couple of lore questions that i dont know the answer to that popped into my head while thinking about this:

do cities in northern thedas have alienages in the same way that the south does?

Is this something that the game doesn't show us, or do they just not exist and there is more elven integration, at least in the poorer areas we're shown (dock town in minrathous)?

with the way the class system and slavery in tevinter works, is the disdain shown towards slaves generally, regardless of race? Fenris was an elf, but his mistreatment was focused on him being a slave from what i recall

The Exalted March of the Dales was an Orlesian Chantry crusade in the south, without this kind of conflict in the north were tensions not as high between elves and other races (also potentially answering the alienages question???)?

maybe im stupid and easy to please but i can also rationalise the lack of fantasy racism with what we see in game

Factions:

the veil jumpers are lead by elves (or at least irelin and strife are our main contacts), spend all their time with elven artifacts, and primarily work in arlathan forest and are close with the dalish. makes sense we dont get racism there

the crows care more about their contracts, and again one of our main contacts (teia) is an elf, plus they're dealing with the antaam taking over the city, if ppl are gonna be racist im sure they have a target that makes more sense (sanitization of the faction attitudes is another issue)

the wardens are focused on trying to end the blight, and accept all races into their ranks anyway. i like that the first warden doesnt hate u bc of ur race but bc ur this random lunatic who strode in yelling about elven gods and distracting his wardens from fighting the blight. and then later on we're mainly dealing with Antoine, an elf (and his wife)

Lords of Fortune has Isabela and i am an isabela/merrill truther 😌(pls refer back to "stupid and easy to please") (also again, dont love the portrayal of the lords, but thats a different issue)

i feel like it makes sense that we dont get racism from the mourn watchers, theyre so respectful of the dead, i dont think u can care that much about a persons eternal rest and hate them in life

full disclosure i picked saving treviso, so in my experience the shadow dragons had bigger issues to deal with. im chill with the viper not being racist when he got blighted and is fighting a cult. but also goes back to my points about minrathous having a different way of looking at class systems

other world building points:

we dont spend a lot of time with royalty/politicians unlike in previous games. v easy to show elves being mistreated in the winter palace, or the arl of denerim's estate, but we dont get shown a lot of that in these cities

I do think it's weird that we have such a lack of bigotry to the elves with the history of the other games, and the fact that the old elven gods are tearing the world apart, it could have been explored more. however im not upset by the lack of. ambient racism

i know a big complaint that people have is that veilguard isnt as "dark" as origins, but i dont think a game needs bigotry to be a dark and confronting story

[trillian-n7]

Personal character creation has always been my favourite part of games, all the way back to being twelve and loading Baldur’s Gate for the first time. I love backstories, unique histories and tie-ins to the rest of the world. It is why I love Tav so much in Baldur’s Gate 3. I can make their backstory whatever I want up until their abduction by the Nautiloid. I have also developed a resilience to ignoring minor lines in games that contradict my own backstories. For example, my main Lord of Fortune Rook I am ignoring the Tevinter galley slave comment as it doesn’t fit with my backstory and personally doesn’t make as much sense for a dwarf anyway.

For my other planned Rooks, I had some basic concepts I was working with and am now expanding prior to playing.

Introducing Rurik Aldwir.

I love dwarves in Dragon Age so the idea of making the odder combination of a dwarf Veil Jumper appealed to me. I found a suitable dwarf to bring in from my character concept spreadsheet and started theorising. Originally he was simply meant to be a younger son on a Ambassadoria family who grew up in Tevinter, a world filled of magic, who was envious of those of who possessed magic so ventured out and eventually ends up in Arlathan Forest. It would also tie in nicely with Harding’s storyline.

But I let the idea sit for a bit. It didn’t feel complete and my husband made a dwarf concept that borrowed a lot of ideas from mine.

And then I found the small detail that brought a character concept to life.

I made Rurik in the game and played to the Lighthouse to test out his face. Once I reached there, after laughing once again at barefoot Varric, I discovered that my dwarf Veil Jumper does not wear shoes with his casual clothes.

After I recovered from my fit of giggles at so many barefoot dwarves, I began a rewrite of Rurik’s backstory. One where he had grown up around a lot of Dalish clans and where their habits seemed normal to him. So I made his mother a travelling elf merchant who adopted a dwarf baby. Therefore he spent his childhood travelling between various Dalish clans in the south. It gave him a motive for joining the Veil Jumpers. He does not feel a connection to being a dwarf yet could never be part of a Dalish clan so, feeling isolated from any people who would understand him, he ends up seeking out the Veil Jumpers in Arlathan Forest after hearing stories of their group and their acceptance of other races.

My brain, being what it is, then started working through ideas of why he was adopted and who were his parents. So a quick trip back to the character creator to adjust his looks a little and lighten his hair to a ginger/blonde and my character is now the bastard son of Bianca and Varric. He was born prior to Dragon Age 2, because I figure once those events start Varric and Bianca probably have less chances to meet up, and Varric does not have a clue.

Rurik is a younger child, with one older brother who clearly favours the looks of her husband, Bogdan Vasca. Bianca is a practical woman who has done all she can to maintain her life, family alliances and progress her career. So, knowing the child is not her husband’s, when he is born and noting the difference in colouring to her eldest, Bianca knows he will raise a lot of questions she does not want to answer and would threaten the stability of her life. So she passes the child off as stillborn and arranges with known ally, a travelling elven merchant who supplies her with crafting materials, to adopt the baby and raise him as her own and keep any connection back to Bianca a secret.

Personality wise I decided to give him the best traits of both parents. Charismatic, charming and clever with a knack of knowing how mechanical items work, he is a well-liked dwarf who tends to talk his way out of problems. I also imagine during their time travelling prior to the game he is quite in awe of Varric’s crossbow and, after have a look at it one evening, works out the details of how it was made and works to the astonishment of Varric and Harding.

Rurik is also my solution to BioWare refusing to let me romance hot male dwarves (Leske, Gorim, Varric, Renn) so I decided for one of my Rooks I would make my own hot male dwarf and romance Harding.

He is still a work in progress and might take a few more tweaks to get his face how I want it. My husband already thinks it is hilarious that I sat with various images of Varric (Inquisition version) and Bianca on the other screen for references.

I also feel everyone at the Lighthouse is constantly telling him to put some damn shoes on.

[invinciblerodent]

Far into Ver as I am, I'm kinda also having a good time thinking about all the future plans I have for my other characters I plan to play.

I think Tristan and Marcus are both also going to choose to save Minrathous, and Coris and Tanner are going to choose Treviso. (I'm not yet sure about Syl, but her whole Deal is gonna be symbolically choosing between Neve and Bellara, so I'll have to see how she feels once I get there with her.)

Tristan is a Grey Warden. He's no stranger to making uncomfortable choices that hurt people, but ultimately are made in service of the greater good- if Minrathous falls, then the Imperium also falls, and then there's nothing to stop the Antaam from expanding further and further South- first through Tevinter, then the Marches, and if Orlais falls, the entire South falls. It's unfortunate that Treviso has to be the one to pay that price, but... someone has to. In Death, Sacrifice.

Marcus, I'm also thinking of as a fairly pragmatic person- he's on the Mourn Watch, he's gonna be a scholar, and I quite like the thought of him being especially invested in stopping the Venatori in particular. They're the living representation of all the worst things magic can do: they control, they destroy, they enslave, and even beyond the immediate threat they represent, there is an ideological reason for standing against them.

Neither of these guys are thinking about the city specifically, not in the way Verbena did (honestly, to her, what Neve said there was like the fucking icy terror unzipped her spine, and there was immediately no way she would choose otherwise- it was an emotional choice, a personal choice, and one she believes in her heart as well as her mind was the closest to a right choice that she could make), I don't think they've ever even been there- but they both have their reasons for why they'd choose to prioritize it over Treviso.

While Coris, to her, Treviso is as much of a home as it is to Lucanis- and, I'm pretty sure that'll be the first moment when she looks and Lucanis, and doesn't see the hated First Talon's repulsive grandson she's been playing the nice girl for, but him, for the man he is. That'll likely be their first moment of genuine bonding, as Crows, as people, and it'll set a shaky foundation for their future relationship being something genuine, too.

And Tanner, well... I figure that she isn't one for ideology. As a Lord of Fortune, she's going to be thinking about the people, first and foremost- the Blight in the waterways, the innocent bystanders, all those who can't protect themselves. Minrathous is, simply put, far more capable of defending itself. With its military, its magic, its covert militia of Shadows, it simply has a better shot than Treviso is with its handful of assassins and people already straining under the weight of the Antaam.

Treviso is flying on a hope and a prayer, and even though in the metagaming way we can know that Minrathous, too, falls... well, at that moment, it sounds like Treviso needs the help more.

I think I'm satisfied with these choices so far, but I'll be really interested in seeing where Syl falls. She'll be a Veil Jumper, a city elf originally, and from Orlais no less- she needs a lot more developing until I can figure out where she falls in all this.

[kogiopsis]

DAV ask meme 2 4 6 9 11 !! God damn I really miss ask memes this is great.

ALRIGHT ALRIIIIIGHT

2. Which Dragon Age game is your favorite so far?

You know, it feels like going against the grain to say this but I just... love Inquisition a lot. It's got a lot of flaws (I mean, they all do) but I find exploring the open world really satisfying, the landscapes are gorgeous, the story still compels me, and I love (most of) the characters. I do think the combat can be kind of dull, but I don't play Dragon Age for the mechanics.

4. What does your worldstate look like going into DAV?

lol you sent me this just so I could ramble about my overly complex worldstate structure didn't you? I love you.

anyhow, I have three:

Primary: Daine Surana/Kenina Hawke/Kepi Lavellan, all mages. Pretty much the 'lawful good' runs, very heroic protagonists trying for the best possible outcomes. Decisions that I think will be relevant... Morrigan did the dark ritual; Alistair remained a Warden and was later left in the Fade; Kepi drank from the Well; Leliana is Divine; Celene and Briala reconciled. The Inquisition was disbanded and Kepi swore to stop Solas.

Secondary: Tohora Mahariel/Signy Hawke/Faina and Isaak Trevelyan. Tohora was a rogue, Signy a warrior; Faina's a mage and Isaak is a rogue. Lore-breaking/reluctant hero playthroughs. Yes to the dark ritual; Alistair became king; Hawke survived the Fade. Morrigan drank from the well... I think Vivienne is Divine, and I can't recall what I did in Orlais! I have not played Trespasser yet, but Faina is a faithful Andrastian, so she'll keep the Inquisition together but still swear to stop Solas.

Tertiary: Luthe Cousland/Basil Hawke/assorted Inquisitors. Luthe is a rogue (archer); Basil will probably be a mage, as that seems like the laziest path for him. No dark ritual; Alistair becomes king. I have NO idea how Basil's playthrough will go, because his defining trait is that he doesn't want to do any work, so he's going to do the bare fucking minimum and probably end in disaster. I have not yet defined all of the inquisitors for this worldstate.

6. Do you have your Rook(s) planned out to any degree? If so, would you share some details or ideas you have?

I mean, I have to play a female elf mage first, but other than that... I'm waiting for more information (video/images/pre-release of the CC, info on how Rook gets to the point of meeting Varric, etc).

Faction-wise, I think the Shadow Dragons or the Veil Jumpers are most likely. I have a good idea for a later-playthrough Lord of Fortune character, and I want to see how the Crows are characterized in-game before I design a character for that faction. The Mourn Watch is just less appealing for a first run because necromancer is the one mage specialization I'm not considering, and the Wardens... well, I know you're going to play a Warden first, so I don't want to do two of the same. :D

9. Which romance, if any, do you plan to pursue first?

If the game was released tomorrow, with no additional information, I'd just let things happen organically. Since I expect we'll get lots more character info, I imagine I'll have decided between Bellara, Neve, and Taash by the time it's out. But historically, DA romances can sneak up on me, so I don't know!

11. What's one thing you'd really like to see in this next game?

KAL SHAROK KAL SHAROK KAL SHAROK.

I've wanted to visit Kal Sharok since first reading about it in Origins, and after not getting to go there in Inquisition OR learn more via The Descent... gimme gimme GIMME. It's clear from The Descent that there's a lot of un-plumbed depth (pun intended) re: dwarf lore and I want it SO badly.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Hype Q&A

[evillesbianvillain]

its nothing fancy but id think id race and class lock some origins and add one for dwarves (legion of the dead) and one for qunaris (arishok's faithful)

With help from @antibioware

SHADOW DRAGONS

Race: human locked (if the military family backstory is kept), if not all races

Class: all

Backstory: I don't have much to say about it, but I would eliminate the part about being adopted and raised in a military family, it doesn't make sense that a supposedly noble family from Tevinter would raise a qunari or an elf as their own

GREY WARDENS

Race: all

Class: all

Backstory: definitely the one I have more to say about. Building on the original story I would go through two main paths. 1) Either implement a Mass Effect-like Ruthless backstory, in which Rook sacrifices most of their team to stop the Darkspawns, or 2) have Rook's choice of saving the village have consequences. He decides to abandon his spot and go directly again the Darkspawns, this ends up saving the village, but a group of Darkspawns manages to sneak past him and, without anyone to hold the line, they end up destroying a Warden military outpost and kill everyone in there. Rook is still seen as a hero from the villagers, but now the Wardens have an actual reason to resent him and it's not just "the higher ups are all so mean for no reason at all"

ANTIVAN CROWS

Race: human and elf locked

Class: rogue

Backstory: it should be all thrown away because of how dogshit the writing of the Crows is in this game but anyway. I'd go two paths. 1) Rook is deceived by his teammate and childhood best friend, who betrayed the Crows and tried to kill him. Rook has to kill said friend and the Crow sends him to discover who he was working for. 2) An Altair style backstory, where Rook acts on his own accord against the Antaam and his actions get a few members of the Crows killed.

THE MOURN WATCH

Race: human

Class: mage

Backstory: ok i dont actually know that much of the Mortalitasi but the baby found in a necropolis sounds so stupid and aren't they like, a noble cult of necromancer mages? I don't have much to say for the backstory, but gotta class and race lock it.

LORDS OF FORTUNE

Race: all

Class: all

Backstory: idc

VEIL JUMPERS

Race: dalish/elf

Class: all

Backstory: I would make it so Rook would accidentally activate the magic defenses of the ruins in Arlathan, causing the Veil Jumpers to lose some members and the map they were looking for.

BACKSTORIES I WOULD ADD

LEGION OF THE DEAD

Race: dwarf

Class: warrior, rogue

Backstory: you are part of a team of legionnairse of the Dead that the Orzammar has sent to Kal Sharok during the fake Blight of 9:41, to mend the relationships between the two cities. You find a weakened reign and, after Solas fails the ritual, a weird Blight starts creeping through the Deep Roads. You and part of your team are sent to the surface to look for the Wardens, but you are caught in an ambush and remain the only one alive.

ARISHOK'S FAITHFUL

Race: qunari

Class: warrior, rogue

Backstory: as a young soldier of the Antaam, in your first mission at the head of a squad, you end up underestimating the threat of the Venatori and they end up stealing important documents from you. The Arishok sends you alone to Tevinter to fix your mistake. (here you have to be part of the Qun)

I got some thoughts on how to change the Rook backstories, maybe ill write some of it later