The Red Templars seem gimmicky in that the only purpose they seem to serve is give Templars a blood magic counterpart,
Evil because magic corrupt thing made you do it, is just getting old.
Agreed. Though it is a feasable, tangible, and physical manifestation of how corrupt some of the Templars can be.
If not Red Templars it would have been Kirkwall's Templars. To be honest, I'm not sure which is worse quite yet.
I'm pretty sure you don't need to summon and control a demon to use blood magic.
Exactly. All you need is one little cut. Didn't Anders say something to Merrill about the first time a mage might inadvertently use blood magic is when they accidentally cut themself?
Although,I don't know how reliable the wiki can be,here's an article that implies that maleficarum draw energy from demons the same way spirit healers use beneficial spirits to protect and restore life.Also considering that the warden can only unlock the blood magic specialization by striking a deal with the demon is a bit suspicious.
http://dragonage.wik...i/Spirit_healer
You can sum up the Arishok in the same manner ya know.
The Qun Demands, I can't leave cus Qun, The Qun dictates, You all suck cus no Qun.
And you can see the conflict that it brings to Kirkwall firsthand, his belief in the Qun and its righteousness is his motivation and its literally his only purpose in life to fulfill his role as described in it.
Fenris's viewpoint is not nearly so impactful, and it can be tossed out. If he stuck to his beliefs and could not be turned to help the mages I'd be more inclined to agree. But as it is, his own core beliefs can be overwritten.
That's what makes him not as well written, not how often he says something
You can sum up the Arishok in the same manner ya know.
The Qun Demands, I can't leave cus Qun, The Qun dictates, You all suck cus no Qun.
Judging strictly on just dialogue Fenris isnt too interesting, someone can only complain about something so much before the person listening loses interest, same issue happened with anders. What the arishok does differently with his complaints is that its not just complaints its an in depth analysis of everything wrong with society, he constantly throws out points that make you say "well when you put it that way..." he is the personification of The Qun and a perfect representative of it. Fenris isnt complex at all, he was simply a tevinter slave who is now free, therefore hates mages, nothing more really
Although,I don't know how reliable the wiki can be,here's an article that implies that maleficarum draw energy from demons the same way spirit healers use beneficial spirits to protect and restore life.Also considering that the warden can only unlock the blood magic specialization by striking a deal with the demon is a bit suspicious.
http://dragonage.wik...i/Spirit_healer
Demons are one method for learning blood magic, but they aren't the only way.
This.
There were books on blood magic in the Ferelden Circle and Anders implies you can stumble upon it by accident. (Not sure how accurate that is though.)
Use of Blood Magic is never justified.
What if a bear walked in the front door and you were armed with nothing but your knickers?
This will sound weird, but whether blood magic or not being justifiable is also dependent on the type of magic. According to the Chantry and the templars, anything involving blood is considered blood magic. Some groups even outright ban studying human anatomy because they fear blood magic so much.
But the Grey Warden joining is a form of blood magic with its use of darkspawn and archdemon blood. The phylacteries templars use are also a form of blood magic. Merrill says that the spell she used to cleanse the eluvian shard didn't even require blood magic, but she lacked the power herself, Merethari refused to help her, and she lacked the lyrium to amplify her spell, so blood magic was her last option.
I think it doesn't matter if a mage throws a fireball in your face or boil your blood from within. Both would be excruciatingly painful ways to die, yet one is vilified and the other isn't based entirely on the school of magic. However, there is a huge difference giving yourself some amplified rock armor and controlling the thoughts of others and force them to make decisions they don't want to and essentially take their free will.
In Inquisition, I predict we'll be seeing four types of blood mages. Those who are "mwahahaha, I'm insane and evil!" Those who are researchers and want to study magic, but because the Circle's declared their indpendence they find themselves lacking lyrium, and only want to amplify their own spells because they lack the lyrium otherwise required. Those who are forced into desperate situations and it's a do-or-die scenario. And finally, those who fall into the category of the two I previously mentioned and then became corrupted by the power, addicted to it, and look for any means to justify it continually.
In cases where it's do-or-die, I have no problem with it. In cases where it's research, I want to take it case-by-case, is it your blood your using and no one elses and what you are researching. Nearly every other case, I don't see much justification. And those who want to use it for research purposes, I'd want them under constant observation by those with templar like abilities, and they agree to this watch before they learn blood magic to begin with.
This.
There were books on blood magic in the Ferelden Circle and Anders implies you can stumble upon it by accident. (Not sure how accurate that is though.)
That could have been there just to provide the Codex entry for it.
That could have been there just to provide the Codex entry for it.
Irving mentioning that he specifically took the books from the library in dialogue leads me to believe they aren't just there for that.
What if a bear walked in the front door and you were armed with nothing but your knickers?
You could still use normal magic though...no need for blood.
Judging strictly on just dialogue Fenris isnt too interesting, someone can only complain about something so much before the person listening loses interest, same issue happened with anders. What the arishok does differently with his complaints is that its not just complaints its an in depth analysis of everything wrong with society, he constantly throws out points that make you say "well when you put it that way..." he is the personification of The Qun and a perfect representative of it. Fenris isnt complex at all, he was simply a tevinter slave who is now free, therefore hates mages, nothing more really
The fact that Fenris looked like a FF character made me lose interest in him when I first saw him lol
The fact that Fenris looked like a FF character made me lose interest in him when I first saw him lol
Bioware went too far with the awesome.
The fact that Fenris looked like a FF character made me lose interest in him when I first saw him lol
But Fenris is such a badass!!
Judging strictly on just dialogue Fenris isnt too interesting, someone can only complain about something so much before the person listening loses interest, same issue happened with anders. What the arishok does differently with his complaints is that its not just complaints its an in depth analysis of everything wrong with society, he constantly throws out points that make you say "well when you put it that way..." he is the personification of The Qun and a perfect representative of it. Fenris isnt complex at all, he was simply a tevinter slave who is now free, therefore hates mages, nothing more really
IMO,the Arishok is simply the Arishok, he just spews crap about the Qun. He complains pretty much about the same thing. It never felt like an in-depth analysis, it was just whining about how the Qun is so much better.
Characters don't really need to have a metric ton of layers to be well written, though.
But I do agree the Arishok is a good rep of the Qun. That much, at least, is apparent.
This is so off topic
But Fenris is such a badass!!
FF characters can be badass.
But FF character designs don't belong in Dragon Age.
What if a bear walked in the front door and you were armed with nothing but your knickers?
Then your normal magic would surely surfice.
Demons are one method for learning blood magic, but they aren't the only way.
Also, I think that summary is addressing demonology.
Yes,but considering that it's practise has been almost eradicated in Thedas,outside of the imperium,now it can typically be learned by contacting a demon.While not the only method it's still the most common one. Certainly potential possession isn't the only reason blood magic is viewed a s sinister,it's more likely the fact that it requires life essence instead of mana,and could be very potent at the hands of a ruthless practitioner.
And you can see the conflict that it brings to Kirkwall firsthand, his belief in the Qun and its righteousness is his motivation and its literally his only purpose in life to fulfill his role as described in it.
Fenris's viewpoint is not nearly so impactful, and it can be tossed out. If he stuck to his beliefs and could not be turned to help the mages I'd be more inclined to agree. But as it is, his own core beliefs can be overwritten.
That's what makes him not as well written, not how often he says something
Why do you believe that Fenris' core beliefs were overwritten? He can be driven to fight for the mages by Hawke reasoning such actions as fighting against slavery/opression. Or he can simply aid Hawke because he's loyal. This same Hawke can be a slave owning, Feynreil sacrificing, demon dealing maleficar. Fenris will likely always hate mages. The fact that he's able to overlook all of this just for a minute is in my opinion impactful. Not to mention his rivalmance with said apostate Hawke.
Your elaboration on the Arishok is exactly my point. It is not that easy to simply sum up some characters as you initally did with Fenris, though you may disagree as it pertains to the little wolf.
Hope you feel the same towards the red templars in DA Inquisition.
Let's see, the knight commander went crazy and then turned into a statue after she used this, turned on her own men, shamed her order, and so that's totally a good reason to use the substance that did that to her cause I'll be careful.
Yeah, it's just as stupid.
Then your normal magic would surely surfice.
What if Ernest Hemingway held a shotgun gun to your head and told you the only way he would let you live is to perform a blood magic parlor trick?
What if Ernest Hemingway held a shotgun gun to your head and told you the only way he would let you live is to perform a blood magic parlor trick?
Really dude?
You can sum up the Arishok in the same manner ya know.
The Qun Demands, I can't leave cus Qun, The Qun dictates, You all suck cus no Qun.
You can sum up anders that way to. In fact everyone in DA2 pretty much does just that.
Anders: You know who I think is as bad as those bandits?
Everyone elsE: Andrastes ******, here we ****** go again.
The fact that Fenris looked like a FF character made me lose interest in him when I first saw him lol
Fenris grew me, but it took awhile. His initial appearance did look like a character from a current-gen FF game, but I eventually got over it.
Really dude?
I guess Emissary is feeling a little saucy tonight. 
What if Ernest Hemingway held a shotgun gun to your head and told you the only way he would let you live is to perform a blood magic parlor trick?
I'd first ask him how he managed to get a stick full of gaatlok.
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