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[LaztRezort]

Going into the game, I had a particular character type in mind for my PC, and tried to approach the game in a true role-playing style.  Having just finished, I want to share some thoughts on how well it worked out.  Warning:  there may be spoilers in here for those who have not completed the game.

Originally, I planned my PC to be a Don Quixote type:  naive, romantic, foolishly heroic, impulsive, etc.  Also, I envisioned my PC having real character development during the course of the game.  I was curious to see how far a video game would accomodate a play style such as this, since games are necessarily fairly limited in this aspect.  I think, however, it worked out pretty well.

As a human noble, tragedy strikes early in the game, and this necessarily hardened Schirm (the PC).  To him, becomming a Grey Warden was accepted as a way to achieve heroic status, and to see justice served to Howe.  He did not take the Blight all that seriously -- after all, he was destined to become a hero in his mind.  Acting the part of hero, and trying to impress others, was his early goal.

Through a large part of the game, Schirm was infatuated with Leliana, and lavished gifts upon her.  Sadly, she never seemed to return his romantic gestures, but valued him as a friend.  Morrigan somewhat disturbed and scared him, with her pragmatism and hard world-view.

A major turning point for Schirm was in Redcliff castle, with the possessed child.  The gruesome decisions that had to be made there started to shake him to reality.  Also, learning of the true history of Leliana had an effect on him, and afterwords he never again sought her out as an object of romance.  His naive view of the world was beginning to crumble, and surprisingly he began to find comfort with Morrigan's pragmatism.

During the search for the Sacred Urn, it finally dawned on Schirm:  his attempt to play the part of chivalric hero has been shallow, and nearly tragic.  He had a responsibility to try to end the blight, and perhaps a means to do so.  Idealism be damned -- if Fate would use him thusly for its own ends, then he would have to learn to use others.  No matter the cost.

This eventually led to him to foce Alistair into marriage with the queen, seeing it as the only way to end civil war.  It also led him to use Morrigan in the end, to save his own life, instead of volunteering for an otherwise heroic self-sacrifice.

There are many other imaginative pieces of Schirm's story I could add, but my point is that DA:O actually came close to my vision of a true-roleplaying experience.  The story, and my main protagonist, along with his gradual development from a naive idealist to world-heavy pragmatist, came together like an actual literary piece of work.  And it just seemed to happen somewhat on its own (with a little help from the ol' imagination, of course).  Kudos to Bioware, IMO job well done.

Did anyone else experience anything similar?  Did anyone else's character seem to actually change over the course of the game, character development matching time with the story's tempo?  Did the story have a deep impact on you, such as a well-written novel?

p.s. sorry about all that text

[Wintermist]

Nice reading, thanks for posting it! I've nothing to add at this point myself though.

[Mordern]

I enjoyed playing my elf similarly. Started out he just accepted becoming a Grey Warden to avoid being arrested and executed for killing the noble's son in the opening of the game, and he took every chance he got to be difficult with humans and whatnot. Visiting the Dalish, however, he discovered the history of his people and decided to stop being so childish and to take a stand for Elven rights. I was actually rather impressed that the ending mentioned that because of my example as an elf, elven status improved significantly and even the Dalish were welcomed into human lands.



It's nice to have a game where the world reacts not just to what you do, but how you do it.

[Maria Caliban]

My role-playing goal was to play a good person and a bad ass Grey Warden who was devoted to Ferelden and the Chantry. I simply used Leliana and Wynne as my moral compass, and kept Morrigan as content as I could while constantly pissing her off. (Only once during the game could I use my high persuade to suggest I was right in my actions – somewhat disappointing)

[Kalfear]

heh, I always play the true heroic paladin figure first and formost (with a taste for the ladies, the more the merrier till hes taken).



For the most part DA:O let me play that role!



The Flemeth encounter was the one exception, I couldnt decide if killing her or not was the right choice so when I left her alive and my group with me basically all objected influence wise, thats was one of the few times I redid something to please the game.

Killing a dragon was just bonus

[Juztazinja]

Granted, its interesting to see I am not the only, I suppose... "oddball".. Who plays exactly as though it were their alter ego. I finally managed to get my collectors edition, busy getting the downloadable content as I type this. But!
Seeing as I know rather nothing about the lore or tale, I plan to play the stoic, silent, slightly confused, rather violent character. Tossed into something he has no idea of, no clue as to what to do, just shrugging and going wherever this fantastic tale leads him, allowing for his own tale to become a part of the game. This is what makes the game truly beautiful, the fact that the tale almost evolves around you.

Should be interesting going in, completely clueless, and totally pissed off! Let the blood flow! "In war, it does not matter who is right, but who is left..."

[Mystranna Kelteel]

I role-played an overly cunning Dalish elf. Proud of her heritage, no love of humans or the Maker / Chantry, but she knew how to get people on her side either way. She fell in love with Leliana, lightened up a bit, or at least became a little more tolerant of such things.

[RosaAquafire]

I enjoyed reading about your experiences!



I also role-played very devotedly throughout my first playthrough, even making choices sometimes contrary to what I, the player, wanted to do or to see. I found it did wonders for my immersion.



I played my character, Aeriani, a city elf, as being a person who just wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible. The game implies that her mother died from seeking out trouble with humans, so Aeriani's motto throughout her life growing up was "don't get noticed." She always found herself apologizing for the humans who came to the alienage and telling her friends and family to just try not to make them mad. She idolized the idea of her mother and that strength, but she was terrified of what she could lose by becoming her.



I also played her as being incapable of telling a lie and just assuming that everyone else also was. She'd tend to take everyone at their word unless they'd given concrete proof they couldn't be trusted. Even then, anyone who said they'd changed and begged for mercy was given it.



My goal was to see her change into something harder, to see if that could happen naturally.



For a very long time, it didn't. Aeriani developped a sense of justice after the events of her wedding, but her desire to do the right thing was often at odds with her desire to never stir up trouble. Most of the time she would try to mediate or negotiate to avoid having to fight (despite not being very good at either.) When possible, she'd defer important choices to other NPCs or to her party members.



Aeriani developped feelings for Alistair very early on. She found his easy smile a welcome change to all the harried and desperate people she'd known throughout her life growing up in the alienage, and she was eager to be near him. She also felt a connection to Leliana. At first, though, she was too serious and shy to really get attention from either of them.



Alistair's influence slowly wore at her, though, and she developped a self-concious but growing sense of humour. She started to joke with her companions with a small smile. She appreciated Wynne's guidance and felt terrible for Zevran (who seemed torn between resenting her pity and pitying her back) and adored her dog, but she never really connected with any of the others she recruited to help fight the Blight. Her relationship with Shale, especially, was tumuluous and sour.



She was deeply affected by the events of the Deep Roads, however, which was the last of her major quests. She couldn't help but wonder if all the pain could have been avoided if Hespith had fought Branka, stood up to her, instead of being an enabler. She began to realize that in doing just that back home, she'd allowed her people to be hurt and abused by their human overlords, and began to wonder what she could have done differently.



These seeds were still growing when she arrived in Denerim and heard that the alienage had been purged by Arl Howe, as a direct result of the choices SHE had made on the day of her wedding. She erupted into guilt and anger, savagely ripping through Howe's household to kill him. It only got stronger as she went through the alienage. She wouldn't be Hespith, not this time. She was going to save her father and her people. She kicked down doors, she yelled, she went looking for fights. It was like something had broken open inside of her and she finally felt able to be who she was.



When she pulled her father up from his cage, he told her that she was so much like her mother and how proud she would be if she were here right now. For the first time, Aeriani was pleased to hear that.



But finally feeling like she had come into herself as a person made her desperate to hold on to this new life and all the things she had gained on the path to it. Instead of being willing to sacrifice herself, despite knowing that it was her duty as a Grey Warden and the right thing to do, she allowed to be talked into manipulating Alistair into sleeping with Morrigan. She couldn't bear to die, not when she finally knew who she was ... so she let Morrigan have her demonchild, and there was never really a happy ending for her. She was haunted thereafter, wondering what cosmic mistake she'd selfishly made to keep herself and her love alive.



I found it all happened very naturally too, especially in the Alienage section. My mouse clicking just went naturally to the more aggressive options where I'd been choosing the most neutrel ones all game. I was amazed at how, after all the work I'd done threading her mommy issues into her character, there was that line that affected her entire makeup so deeply in the climax of her homecoming plot.



I agree with the OP: Kudos to Bioware. I'm so looking forward to RPing my way through this again.

[Mordern]

Good stories all. I definitely agree about the Alienage Section: Coming back as a City Elf was absolutely wonderful roleplaying potential for my character to see just how much he'd changed since he had left. When he'd left, he'd been a sarcastic and lazy thug. When he returned, he was much more responsible, though just as sarcastic(What can I say, I like Bioware's sarcasm dialogue). He actually started looking towards the greater good of his people instead of just making a day by day living and all.



Shame he didn't get a very happy ending.

[Hizuka]

I don't have the energy to type up a long story right now, but I just finished with my first game, starting as Human Noble. He started courtly, chivalrous, with a huge desire to prove himself and gain glory and all that, but needless to say had a burning desire for vengeance by the end of the Origin. Howe was going to die and he was going to die screaming.



By the end, while he executed Logaine, there was no anger, just a traitor paying the price for his actions. (In fact, he briefly considered taking Logaine into the Wardens until someone went berserk...)



In the end, he sacrificed himself for his people, his friends, and his love. Too bad I didn't get to hear the song she wrote and compare it to the one she sings after you're done with the Dalish.

[Benndak]

One thing I admired about Dragon Age was the ability to shape your character's personality. I'm an avid RPer, myself, though I'm not much in the mood to type a large paragraph at the moment. But, regardless, I played my City Elf as a cynical, sarcastic...ah, can't find a word for it. He acted purely on impulse and was filled with bloodlust like never before when he discovered the body of an Elf in the Arl's palace. And coming back to the Alienage later was brilliant as well, and wonderful for my own character development. He ended by accompanying Sten back to his homeland, and the two wandered. A perfect ending for me, honestly.



Oh, and kudos to Bioware - your sarcasm dialogue is jawtastic.

[LaztRezort]

I'm going to start my second play through this weekend, and I've been debating what origin to try this time. I think everyone's comments here have convinced me to try as a City Elf. There seems to be some good RP potential there. My second char will probably be more on the dark side of things. Hopefully I'll get to experience more of Zevran, Sten and Shale, who I pretty much ignored/missed out on the first play.

[Pyrusx]

"Really? Not even a Pony?"

I played an elf mage. Since mages live in the tower most their lives I plaed him as quite sheltered at first; someone who was well behaved and followed the rules. When Jowan asked for help, and explained his reasons was actually when things began to change. First it was disbelief that even the Templars would be that harsh. Then Jowan actually turned out to be a blood mage. He was too shocked by this to even argue and swore revenge on his one-time friend. The Grey Wardens weren't really his choice, but it was the best way out of the situation.

Started off with Leliana in the group, but she also quite quickly proved she wasn't a right fit, and was swapped for Zevran; someone with a much more fitting mindset. Actually ended up pursuing all three romances, Zevran's by accident, but when it came up figured what the hell and went for it, and ended up with Morrigan, pretty much the perfect match.

The character quickly became a ruthless pragmatist, always looking for the best resources to end the blight. Behlen presented the strongest ruler; Branka offered golems. The reavers offered both power and a force he might have been able to use to fight the blight. Not knowning the results of breaking the keeper's curse lost him some expected werewolf allies after convincing the keeper to end it.

Oddly enough, after the events of Redcliffe, recommending the wife be sacrificed rather than wasting time and resources running to the mage tower and making a deal with a demon to aquire blood magic, it no longer seemed appropriate to kill Jowan. His fate was left to the Arl and with nothing said in his defence, Jowan was put to death. Fitting, but ended up making me wonder if he'd have been more use alive, or if he'd just go into hiding.

The slavers in the alienage were let go, with the slaves, because it was more beneficial to avoid the fight and get the evidence. Howe was killed on the spot. Loghain almost had his life spared at Riordan's suggestion, but with Alistar's strong opposition to the idea, well, off came his head. I/the PC was kind of pissed off that there was no way to cook Anora's brain inside her skull for being a traitor, though.

Of course, by the end, there was no way he was interested in dying to end the blight, amusingly making Alistar swear he would. When Morrigan offered her alternative there was little choice. One last night with her, but she'd leave either way; at least this was one more guarantee. Pretty sad that's the way it had to be, though.

Since they defeated the blight, none of the choices at the end presented options I could see my character going for (almost went with releasing the mages, but they pissed him off, plus he came to understand somewhat why they were locked in the tower - most were too weak to be on their own), so he said he wanted nothing. Pretty amused with Alistar's response.

While there were a few things I was pretty disappointed with (lack of certain options; e.g. no one ever seemed to comment on my being a blood mage, I didn't even notice anyone mention my family was still in the alienage,  let alone still alive, so it suprised me to learn I'd just sent my father into slavery), overall I thought the game was excellent and a great experience. Already deciding on how to start my second run!

[Wissenschaft]

You guys make me want to play a city elf now.