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This is my rambling, somewhat incoherent basic ideas for how a Dual PC story-line could work in DA4 and sorry for the wall of text. 

 

In a dual-PC setting the game should be relatively balanced in Story Quest time, though slightly in favor of the new PC, I'm thinking about a 10-20 Percent difference between the two.  So in terms of story content alone the Inquisitor gets about 40-45 percent and the New PC gets 55-60.  Unlike with Geralt and Ciri in TW3 these characters don't have an immediate back-story or connection to each-other and in order for this system to work, you need time for new players to define who their Inquisitor is, just as much as we all will need time to define the new PC.  The game would take the form of something in between DA2 style game-play and DA:I.  Divided into "chapters" Parts 1 and 2 would be pretty story structured (but should still allow for limited DA:I style exploration) and Chapter 3 will be the calm before the storm and open up the full DA:I exploration style experience for both PCs (and allow for freely switching between them outside of Non-Story missions where before you switched between them after key plot points).  In order to facilitate 2 PC's, the explorable Zones would be split between them ... so for example "Arlathan Forest" for the Inquisitor PC and "The Hundred Pillars" for the New PC. The Inquisitor needs a smaller team, so 3 Companions.  The New PC is just starting out and needs LI's so 6 for them ... making for a Total of 9 with 3 of each class. 

 

The Inquisitor's story line revolves around going undercover in Tevinter as one of that Paavos household's slaves.  The character has an easy in with Dorian and it would allow the player to experience Tevinter society from a high society slave's perspective (plus in general it's these upper class citizens that would be the only ones that would actually have a Qunari slave.  It would be the ultimate status symbol having a member of your country's greatest enemy willingly subservient to you).  Letter's from LI's left behind and the Inquisition (if it still exists) would be addressed to Dorian (because he was their friend and was part of the inner circle it would be less suspicious for him to get them) which would allow the Inquisitor to keep in touch with those left behind including the Inquisition (if it still exists).  These letters would be unvoiced, but they would include a dialogue wheel to allow for chosen responses in return letters.  As for the Inquisitor's big in game decisions, they should revolve around this premise "The greater a hero you are to the people of Tevinter, the higher the risk is of being found out by Solas' network".  The Inquisitor is there in Tevinter to pursue Solas and keeping a low profile should be inherent to it's success, so impactful decisions should revolve around this (and change the ending slightly dependent on you decisions).  Do you save a town from destruction and risk being revealed, or do you abstain, leaving those poor people to their fate but secure your cover (or something in between)?  Do you execute a person who recognized you, or find another solution with more risk?  

 

The New PC (regardless of their Origin story) should eventually find themselves at the bottom rung of Tevinter society (either through betrayal, bad luck, ... those sort of things) and all honesty (considering the setting) they should have less options for Race variety (featuring Humans and Elves with choice of playable Origin stories).  The New-PC should revolve around the slave rebellion story-line and will allow the players (in contrast to the Inquisitor) to get a perspective of the lowest levels of slavery in Tevinter. They shouldn't be the leader of this movement, but rather that role should go to Calpernia who is the most avid (potentially living) proponent of Radical change for Tevinter society that we've met so far (even if she was part of a radical world ending cult before).  Their early game Antagonist should be Dorian (not as a villain, but as a member of the ruling caste and one who has competing goals). The New PC will eventually become one of Calpernia's adviser and a chief enforcer, with their decisions revolving around: who should your movement ally with, how dirty or fair your politics should be (do you assassinate targets for example) and ultimately in the end "helping" in the Decision of who leads after the revolution is complete (the PCs themselves should not be an option for this, though depending on how events progressed you should still have the option of choosing Dorian). The new PC's primary focus as a Teviter native, should be Tevinter ... as should their tough decisions. 

 

Both of these stories should start bleeding together due to the Qunari War/Invasion/Occupation of Minrathous in Chapter 2 (which I kind of like the idea of it being partially triggered by the combined efforts of Dorian's attempted reforms and Calpernia's/New PC's attempts at Revolution and the temporary weakness these create in Tevinter). Dragging both characters into the other's narrative (Inquisitor being involved in Tevinter, New PC being Involved with Solas).

 

Honestly ... that's all I got atm, tell me what you think!   

[Absafraginlootly]

I definitely would prefer this to a single inquisitor protagonist, and it would let us see two different perspectives on Tevinter.

 

I like the idea of the Inquisitor having to balance the big picture and the little picture: Move on to maintain secrecy, or defend the village from X and risk the main mission. It would be good if there were consequences to reflect this eg. if your too big a hero then a main quest down the line is negatively affected because they saw you coming, if you focus only on the mission then you have an advantage on that main quest but it means letting a bunch of people die. Or you can try to strike the balance between and hope you don't go to far.

 

I also like the idea of the New Protagonist being involved in a slave rebellion and working with Calpernia.

[CardButton]

I definitely would prefer this to a single inquisitor protagonist, and it would let us see two different perspectives on Tevinter.

 

I like the idea of the Inquisitor having to balance the big picture and the little picture: Move on to maintain secrecy, or defend the village from X and risk the main mission. It would be good if there were consequences to reflect this eg. if your too big a hero then a main quest down the line is negatively affected because they saw you coming, if you focus only on the mission then you have an advantage on that main quest but it means letting a bunch of people die. Or you can try to strike the balance between and hope you don't go to far.

 

I also like the idea of the New Protagonist being involved in a slave rebellion and working with Calpernia.

Yeah I like this concept for a number of reasons.   

 

1.  The Deep Cover angle will work for any Inquisitor of any race, even those who kept the Inquisition, because the Inquisition is no longer the Inquisitor's tool to do with as they please.  Remember in order to preserve the Inquisition it must become subservient to the will of the Chantry and while whichever Divine you have elected will help you anyway they can, they themselves are still limited in what they can do by the will of the Chantry (Vivienne Divine proved that they can't do just anything they want).  While the substantial spy network at the Inquisitions disposal could be indispensable (and this choice should be reflected in game), the military is almost entirely useless if in fact Solas is in Tevinter (the Southern Chantry is not going to send troops into Tevinter for any reason, it will be seen as an act of war). The Inquisitor slipping away would essentially force them to veer away from their own standard tactics (that Solas knows) and adopt Solas style tactics to thwart Solas. 

 

2.  The Deep Cover Angle makes it so that the Inquisitor will not be THE Hero of DA4.  They may help from the shadows, but ultimately their purpose there is a "pursuit story" like Geralt's was from TW3.  The choices they can make in that endeavor may not in fact be all that heroic either.  The New PC story is set up in such a way for them to eventually become a "Hero of Tevinter". They will be the famous one in the end and while they won't become THE leader of Tevinter, I kind of like the idea that they do become someone influential and who takes on a lot of responsibility on their shoulders.  They would get the choice in the end of becoming Calpernia's and/or Dorian's (they should have an option for both to work together to change Minrathous) version of Lelliana or Cullen (or something in between). This isn't them creating a new world order/leader and then just leaving, its them creating a new Tevinter and then staying to support that decision (it is their home after all).

 

3. This is a big one for me.  The Inquisitor PC in Tevinter would be the PERFECT outlet for exposition and setting dialogue that should not be thrown at a Tevinter Native PC. The Inquisitor is the Outsider's perspective, they need the most information about Tevinter ... the New PC is Tevinter born and raised, an Insider's Perspective (THEY SHOULD ALREADY KNOW THIS STUFF!).  This would be an easy way to prevent the whole Dalish/Temple of Mythal fiasco again, allowing new and old players the chance to get the information they need, but it actually making sense for a PC to talk about.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

While I like the idea of a dual protagonist game, I am not a fan of your version of it. 

[CardButton]

While I like the idea of a dual protagonist game, I am not a fan of your version of it. 

OK!   This is just something fun I've been messing around with on the side, so I am open to cool ideas.  What would you like to see in a Dual-PC deally for DA4? 

[CardButton]

Like I said before this is really just a thread for me to kind of vent ideas I find cool and see what folks thoughts are about how they want to see a Dual PC setting are, so over time I plan on occasionally adding additions here and there for fun (maybe I'll use something similar in a DnD campaign or something).    Anyway ... here's my thoughts on how the Inquisitor's combat could work in a Dual PC storyline.

 

I do think the Inquisitor should get some form of prosthetic, although it should be limited in capabilities.  The mechanical components (especially if Bianca were assisting) would not be all that difficult even if the end product remains rather unsophisticated (I like the idea of somewhat more primitive version of Furiosa's arm from Fury Road).  The ability to make it move should be only the magical part and honestly I found the notion interesting that it be facilitated through something like lyrium tattoos.  Namely, this thing should be functional, but still suck for the Quizzy to use.  Game-play wise the arm should be dysfunctional and it "might" show this through a similar mechanic Bioware used for the Anchor during "Trespasser".  It could malfunction in combat.  The arm could straight up break and need repairs. The Inquisitor could occasionally flinch while using it, slowing them down.  These are just a few basic ideas that could make the player feel the pain of the Inquisitor fighting with something new and potentially painful to use.   

 

As for the Inquisitor's regression of level ... at a setting standpoint a LEVEL is only representative of a characters proficiency using a preferred combat style, character level (and talent trees) don't actually exist in the world.  If they need to learn a new combat style or re-adjust everything they knew in order to facilitate a new tool/limb than of course they would drop in level, because they are less proficient in how they fight.  As for skills (even if you're a mage) you still would have to re-teach yourself how to use those skills in regards to that new required tool/limb, because you are now simply incapable of using them the way you used to.  Stats are a better point, but the Inquisitor did lose an important physical part of their body and even stats like Magic, Willpower and Cunning again only really refer to how efficient a character is at utilizing those stats in regards to their preferred combat proficiency.  Since the arm would be new and the Quizzy is still trying to learn how to use it properly, then mental stats would take a hit just like physical stats would.  

 

The solution then is relatively simple ... the Inquisitors starting level would be reduced, but not down to level one.  Level would grow slower (as it realistically would using a prosthetic) and if combined with a "dysfunctional arm mechanic" (that allows for the mechanical components to be improved over the course of the game), the Inquisitor would simply hit harder (but more unpredictably) early game than your traditional new PC.  Late game (with the slower growth on a higher base) and the ability to improve the prosthetic, the Quizzy would naturally balance out (though, that being said the Inquisitor should probably start with their specialization). Ending up with perhaps slightly higher stats than they had in Inquisition, but an arm that still has a chance of causing pain and flinching.   

 

The Inquisitor's "unique" game mechanic would revolve around upgrades to the arm (perhaps much like how Bianca worked in DA:I) allowing the player to choose a balance between more reliability or more damage for its components.