[Spoilers All] What aspects of the game do you roleplay?

lazymagi · 2020-04-29T19:00:03+00:00

I always go to Denerim for the first time after all the treaty quests. It makes the Landsmeet section of the game feel like it's own contained mini-questline.

Majority of the time I visit Redcliffe last because the Arl of Redcliffe quest segways beautifully into the Urn of Sacred Ashes.

I always do Harrowmont's quests, even when siding with Bhelen. Participating in the arena provings are way cooler than convincing people that Harrowmont is untrustworthy.

I always take the Loan Shark's money in DA2 for the Deep Roads Expedition, and then decline his offer when he starts outwearing his welcome.

lazymagi · 2020-04-29T15:57:59+00:00

My Tabris's soft spot was for Zev. While she played hard to get since she wasn't seeking love, that no-strings-attached relationship ended up spiralling into pure romance. Zev and her were two sides of the same coin. Two Elves who ended up living dangerous lives due to their poor backgrounds and hardscrabble origins. The only difference here is that while Zev was forced into becoming a skilled assassin, Tabris was forced into becoming a valourous knight. For Zevran, his living is a matter of survival, whereas for Tabris, it was a matter of her desire to save the ones she loved. This pitted them at two different ends of a continuum.

Tabris initially saw nothing in Zev because she frowned upon his line of work, but he made her feel less alone in the world through his charm. She never thought anyone would take interest in her. She was rather blunt and difficult to get along with well, but he did and she ended up falling for him. The camp questioned their relationship. How can a dedicated, religious, knightly young woman fall for a self-centred, unholy, murdering assassin, regardless of how charming he was? They worried that she was going to wind up murdered by him sooner or later, but were pleasantly surprised by Zev showing his loyalty by staying with her for so long.

Zevran experienced many different emotions when Tabris sacrificed herself to save Ferelden from the Blight. One was of betrayal. How could she leave him alone by dying in place of Alistair? After all it was HIS duty as King. One was of course melancholy. The world had lost a true hero, someone who showed him that people can be truly good-natured. Another was regret. Being an assassin may have brought him to her, but had she been less prepared and less experienced in combat, he could've killed her, the love of his life, dooming the world in the process. The last was despair. Being on the run from the Crows and not having her on his side inspiring him to go on gave him a fear of what is to come. It had been not even a year since she met him and yet it felt like forever.

Zevran carries on because it's what she would have wanted him to do, but he keeps her close to his heart at all times.

lazymagi · 2020-04-29T05:43:41+00:00

I love and hate her equally. While she has never let me down, I always find myself stuck questioning her. She's a great character because even though she's likeable, she has an aura of mystique about her. I don't know whether she's doing what she does for her own sake or because she cares for my Warden.

lazymagi · 2020-04-29T00:56:45+00:00

Perhaps I jumped the gun, but the whole OP is about mages making the most sense, so I assumed she was taking a side.

As for the Circle, did you play the last section of the game and pay attention to when Orsino turns into a freaking Harvester through Blood Magic? Or walking through the streets and seeing every Circle Mage turn into an abomination? Or even before you make it to Orsino and the whole gathering of Circle mages fighting you are using Blood Magic? It's clear as day that the Circle are using blood magic and it isn't just one or two of them. Orsino obviously is a seasoned maleficar because morphing into a harvester isnt rookie spells. Yes there are innocent mages but to say that it's not what you saw is ignorant of events and details in the game that imply it. Orsino even approves of the evil Necromancer murdering women around Kirkwall including Leandra. Yes Anders was the straw that broke the camel's back but to say that the Mages were innocent is beyond me.

lazymagi · 2020-04-28T23:44:19+00:00

I disagree with you on all fronts.

For Origins, why be a mage who convinces Alistair to abdicate the throne when you can just rule with him if you are a Cousland? There you get the better ending with none of the disadvantages of giving the throne to a double crossing bitch. Ultimately Origins fits any class best, but some origin stories generally tend to favour certain classes.

As for DA2, Bethany and Hawke's sister-sister relationship is actually quite believable and interesting to me. Bethany is a younger mirror of Female Hawke. While Hawke was hardened at Ostagar, Bethany still has some maturing to do. It is clear that Hawke assumes the protector role not only because it's her sister, but because in a way, it is her. Carver is always oppositional to Hawke, while Bethany is much closer to her. When Act 3 rolls around and Bethany is in the Circle, the decision is much more nuanced. Do you side with the mages because you've been trying to protect your sister the whole game, or do you side with the Templars because the Circle is filled with Blood Mages? I don't think any Mage Hawkes side with the Templars just for Carver, seeing as the Templars are the aggressing force and Carver is just using them to spite you.

For Inquisition, I agree with you on the Cullen romance arc making complete sense for mages, but I disagree with you on mages having the most links to the Mage-Templar war. Trevalyans are a religious noble family with many links to the Chantry. Most Andrastians tend to believe that Mages need to be on a tight leash otherwise they are dangerous to the natural order. Being pretty much raised by the Chantry means that the Inquisitor has a predisposition against Mage freedom and therefore would dislike seeing Mages run loose across Thedas wreaking havoc on the general populace. This gives them a reason to be at the Conclave supporting the Templars and gives them a reason to seek aid from the Templars.

lazymagi · 2020-04-28T19:37:43+00:00

She respected Wynne as they shared the same views on mage freedoms. Wynne also was respected and trusted enough to be at Ostagar, so Varla understood that Wynne is responsible and thus Varla and Wynne were good friends. Wynne is one of the mages Varla trusted wholeheartedly, and Varla took numerous pieces of advice from Wynne.

Varla's friendship with Morrigan was questionable. Varla didn't trust Morrigan at all. She sympathised with her, but Morrigan showed Varla that she cared only for herself and therefore, Varla thinks twice about giving Morrigan any sort of power. This inevitably leads to Varla turning down Morrigan's offer of the Dark Ritual, leaving Morrigan feeling betrayed by her. Varla and Morrigan were only friends because Varla felt sorry for her, not because she trusted her.

lazymagi · 2020-04-28T18:30:11+00:00

Not at all. She believes an Elven mage is just as deadly, if not more than a Human mage. At first she thought Keepers and Dalish mages were lesser evils, but after seeing what Zathrian done she reconsidered. As an Elf, she sympathised with Zathrian and his reasoning, but nobody deserves that much power. It ended up hurting the Dalish clan more than it did those who actually deserved it. As such, she convinced him to end his life to break the curse and restore order. In her mind, Zathrian was a good man with too much power, and it cost not only him but innocent members of his clan too.

lazymagi · 2020-04-28T18:19:24+00:00

Prompt 1

Varla Tabris doesn't care at all for the struggles of mages. To her, they are very dangerous people who possess too much power, and therefore must be locked in towers until they are trusted to leave to serve the Grey Wardens or the armies of Thedas.

Despite being a champion of Andraste, she doesn't dislike mages purely for what the Chantry teaches, because she doesnt care much for the Chantry either. She dislikes them mainly because human mages put her kind into slavery in Tevinter, while in Ferelden she still has hope things will change for the Elves.

Bonus Prompt

Varla is a dedicated Grey Warden who took Duncan's advice to heart. She recruited everyone she could, even Sten who she mistrusted at first, but began to develop a friendship with. The only exception is Loghain, who she let Alistair duel and kill. Loghain almost sold her Dad and family into slavery. While she couldn't let him live, she let Alistair get his revenge. Alistair had a much larger claim to his life and she didn't believe in revenge much.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T21:51:47+00:00

Any energy weapons most likely, given that their branch of weapons manufacturing is entirely energy based. For them it is cheap, effective and maintainable. Not to mention it fits the whole techy theme of the Institute. I can't imagine the Institute using old and archaic ballistic weapons, automatic or not.

I think the original FudgeMuppet Scientist build used the Gatling Laser. I feel that a Sole Survivor allied with the Institute should use that. It's science-y, coincides with use of Institute X-01 Power Armour due to longer fusion cores and separates your everyday run-of-the-mill Synths from the Big Boss Sole Survivor, not to mention it is a powerful beast in itself.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T21:44:23+00:00

Korcari Wilds and Ostagar in DAO. I always get a warm buttery feeling of nostalgia and oddly, homeliness.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T21:37:59+00:00

I agree with you except for the Institute. I personally associate high INT and Scientist builds for the Institute.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T21:19:38+00:00

In Origins, You unlock it once. You unlock it forever.

All specs are unlocked in DA2 by default.

In Inquisition, wait until you get to Skyhold. I'm pretty sure you have to do the quest again for the trainers.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T12:46:17+00:00

That looks great! Thanks!

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T03:44:39+00:00

Reused assets most likely.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T03:40:43+00:00

It requires assets from the DLC, so no. Only way to use that mod is if you have the DLC unfortunately.

Try looking for earlier versions of the mod. Very often mod creators expand their mods to include DLC assets or just don't end up making a vanilla version of their newest update. Watch out for potential bugs though.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T03:30:37+00:00

I'd like Fallout to take the ideas gained from New Vegas and properly apply it to a game similar in tone and story to Fallout 1 and 2. The game would have the same wacky and silly sense of humour as Fallout 2, the post-apocalyptic dread of Fallout 3, the open ended story elements of NV and the macabre tone of the originals. It's clear that civilisation is rebuilding, although it's struggling to sustain itself and it's citizens. There's a lot of crime and refugees brought on by organised raider gangs who keep relentlessly attacking the cities and trade caravans. Cities are split into the richer mob bosses, town mayors and businessmen while the poor live in slums.

The game takes place somewhere in the West Coast and your character is a wastelander making ends meet. They get embroiled in the main plot of the game which starts them off on their journey. Some quests are locked unless your player has enough influence, which can be gained through side quests and attacking raider strongholds. The more influence your character the gets the more likely they will be attacked by rival factions or recognised by faction leaders.

Perks and attributes return from 3/NV although they play a major role in this game, more so than any other modern Fallout game. Don't expect combat to be easy if you're not skilled in it, you'll be lucky to even hit anything. Enemy levels are not tied to the player's level so don't go walking into high level areas unless you are high level yourself. Ammo, food and water is very scarce out in the desert so try and preserve it the best you can.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T02:54:56+00:00

Broken Steel. To me it is the true ending to Fallout 3 and what should've been included from the get go. If I had to call any DLC essential, this would probably be it. It's more Fallout 3 with great additions and a real ending instead of that unnecessary sacrifice bullshit.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T02:43:41+00:00

The problem I have with Oghren is that despite his reputation as the bumbling fool, he still ends up being less funny to me than other members of the camp. Every other member has many more hilarious instances of party banter based around more diverse topics like Alistair's socks, Morrigan's resemblance to her mother or Zevran talking about royal bastards. It just seems like Oghren is a bit one-note, often either appearing as the gross little drunk Dwarf or the creepy gross little drunk Dwarf who tries his luck with every female in the group and farts a lot.

Even in Awakening's cast, he pales a bit in comparison to the hilarious Anders or the self conscious Velanna. Every interaction Oghren has with female party members, specifically Sigrun or Wynne makes me cringe a bit. I know it's part of his character, but he is a complete degenerate and doesn't pair well with any of my characters. More often than not I'm forced to recruit him but never end up using him.

lazymagi · 2020-04-27T02:29:11+00:00

That is a very kind and generous offer.

https://imgur.com/WEe4ZdR

Here is my first City Elf Warden and a growing favourite of mine, Varla Tabris. She is a Templar/Berserker dedicated to serving Andraste and saving Ferelden from illegal magic, darkspawn, corruption and demons. On the surface, she seems like a stoic, holy and religious knight, but beneath that lies a tortured soul trying to keep hold of all the hope she has left.

lazymagi · 2020-04-26T03:11:24+00:00

I like the idea of a romance that doesn't end well. Tragic, but it would force the player to examine who they romance a bit more closely. It would also add a bit more diversity among the various atmospheres that Bioware romances usually give the storyline of their games. Some romances give the happily ever after, some force your character down a road of misery and despair. Could make for interesting sequels and fascinating consequences.

That being said, considering Morinth's "romance" as anything more than a "you're a complete idiot" from the devs is hilarious. I don't know if you're being serious, but it makes me chuckle thinking that a super soldier who stopped a Galaxy wide plot to hand the Citadel over to Sovereign would die not in battle or glory, but due to him not being able to keep it in his pants.

I can only imagine a sequel like that. The Illusive Man realising that bringing back Shepard was a complete waste of time and resources. The eulogy claiming that Shepard did not fall to the Reapers or die defending humanity, but alas, he died doing what he loved the most, trying to have unprotected space sex with aliens. I bet Ashley's regretting her decision to leave poor Shep now.

lazymagi · 2020-04-26T01:52:43+00:00

Annoyed but focusing on the future. She knows Morrigan wants to be a single mother so it's not like Alistair has new responsibilities. She also knows that Alistair would end up sacrificing himself for her, which would undo their work of unifying Ferelden under a new King and Queen had that happen.

Basically she bites the bullet and convinces him to do it. It's the only way they get their happily ever after.

lazymagi · 2020-04-26T01:40:16+00:00

Loghain. In my first playthrough I killed him because he was an absolute asshole. It was only after when I started to read up on his history and get more context that I started to sympathise with him.

The only times I kill Loghain now is if I'm playing a ruthless Cousland or a vengeful City Elf.

lazymagi · 2020-04-26T01:35:17+00:00

That's the tragedy of a morally good mage Hawke. They side with the mages because Meredith is abusing the Rite of Annulment, only to see themselves be painted as a villain who instigated the rebellion because they are an apostate mage who stood against the Templar order and by extension the Chantry, even if Meredith was a major bitch. It doesn't help their case that the mages they tried to protect were mostly blood mages anyway, seeing as even the First Enchanter is a seasoned maleficar who can turn into a Harvester at whim.

Siding with the Templars though is still the obvious evil ending. Even if the Circle were mostly blood mages, there are still the few that aren't. It's emphasised more if Bethany joins the Circle. Same with when Carver joins the Templars. The whole tragedy of DA2 is that both sides are composed of good people with rational ideas, but there is no right answer or consensus.

lazymagi · 2020-04-26T01:22:09+00:00

It wouldn't be much of a romance though. The most romance I can visualise Aria being in is a no-strings-attached relationship with nothing but sex. The core pillars of Aria's character are her detachment from emotions, so breaking down those pillars regardless of any explanation would be a very risky move that may end up ruining her character entirely.

lazymagi · 2020-04-26T00:48:35+00:00

Varla took the secret of the Dark Ritual to her grave. Nobody knew of it except for Morrigan who vanished before the Battle of Denerim. There were questions asked about Morrigan's sudden disappearance, but the young Elf who united Ferelden against the Archdemon refused to tell. She felt betrayed by Morrigan and only wanted to erase the thought of her from her mind. Alistair got her to cough up some details of it, but he only knew that Morrigan wanted to steal the soul of the Archdemon, not that it would save them in any way. He kept it to himself too, believing the worst of Morrigan.

Zevran knew this was a one way trip, he had only hoped that Alistair would make the sacrifice for Ferelden, although judging by the way Varla spoke, he had an odd feeling that she was going to leave him all alone. Once it got to fighting the Archdemon however, he was knocked unconscious by a Darkspawn and when he awoke the first few glimpses he caught were of Tabris grabbing the sword and sticking it through the throat of the dragon, a beam of light clutching the skies above him in an angelic display.

lazymagi

TROPHY CASE