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[Al Foley]

I was playing through Fall out 4 the other day and was thinking about Role playing in general.  And thus this thread.  How do you play your Inquisitor?  How do you roleplay them?  

 

1. Intricate Head canon built from the Ground up: 

 

Whereas you spend a long time developing a backstory for your potential character either before the game comes out or before you start a playthrough.  Coming up with intricate back stories, family histories, character and personality details to infrm how the character will react to certain situations in the game, all the way down to varying degrees of coming up with facts about the character before hand.  

 

2. Winging it as you go: 

 

Whereas you don't start with any back ground information at all, or a bare minimum (usually determined by the game itself) and you just go through the game making decisions.  The objective is to role play your characters, but instead of allowing massive character pre histories to make up your mind you let certain touch stone moments and choices through the game make the choices and inform what your character is likely to be.  For instance if your Inquisitor comes across a group of villagers and the choice is to save them or not save them, and you chose to save them, that might indivate your character has a loving and kind heart.  And might effect them in future installments.  

 

3.  The Dreaded Self Insert

 

Whereas you play as yourself.  Well yourself with either space armor or fantasy armor.  You choose.  

 

4.  The even more dreaded Celebrity Insert

Where you try and play as Jon Snow.  In either looks, or right down to their relative personality.  

 

Is there any I missed?  How do you role play your Inquisitors?  All for fun.  

 

****

 

Usually I do a combination of 1 and 2.  With smatterings of four.  Usually I base characters, rather poorly on a celebrity or person look alike but then leave their personality nothing like theirs.  I use it as a sounding board only.  And like I said, they rarely match up.  Only character that I have used as pretty much a direct celebrity import was my Inquisitor Benjmain Trevelyan, based him on Obi-Wan Kenobi.  

 

Kara Trevelyan is the strongest example of 1.  I spent a lot of time in the months waiting for Dragon Age Inquisition coming out, out of boredom, coming up with a complete character back story for her.  Family, occupation, temperment, etc.  Funilly enough she is the closest to a self inset for me, but there is a few key differences...mainly that she is a she and I'm a guy.  Also she is good with a bow.  

[Lazarillo]

I don't think I've ever done #4. I usually "work backwards". In a meta-game sense, I think of what decisions I want to have made for the "best" story, and then play a character who would make those decisions without breaking character. So from a story perspective, it's mostly #1, but on individual dialogue choices, it's usually #2 based on the character I've established to make those big decisions.

My "canon" Inquisitor actually ended up being a little bit of #3 as well, though, after Trespasser. I'd had my previous story in my head based on the idea that the Inquisitor wouldn't ever really be as important as the actual organization that is the Inquisition, and that the organization would have influence in future games, so I tried to make the biggest, most influential and beneficial Inquisition I could, only for Trespasser to come around and go "lolnope". But then I thought it would be cool to make my Inquisitor into someone who, like me, wanted to build up the organization, only to have that come crashing down. So even though he's not a self-insert of myself technically, he's still a character whose personal arc reflects my own perspective on the game's story, in a weird way.

[Captain Wiseass]

Mix of 1 and 2. I have a general backstory/personality/arc in my head, and then use that to inform my decisions within the options laid out by the game.

[Al Foley]

I don't think I've ever done #4. I usually "work backwards". In a meta-game sense, I think of what decisions I want to have made for the "best" story, and then play a character who would make those decisions without breaking character. So from a story perspective, it's mostly #1, but on individual dialogue choices, it's usually #2 based on the character I've established to make those big decisions.

My "canon" Inquisitor actually ended up being a little bit of #3 as well, though, after Trespasser. I'd had my previous story in my head based on the idea that the Inquisitor wouldn't ever really be as important as the actual organization that is the Inquisition, and that the organization would have influence in future games, so I tried to make the biggest, most influential and beneficial Inquisition I could, only for Trespasser to come around and go "lolnope". But then I thought it would be cool to make my Inquisitor into someone who, like me, wanted to build up the organization, only to have that come crashing down. So even though he's not a self-insert of myself technically, he's still a character whose personal arc reflects my own perspective on the game's story, in a weird way.

A lot like me and Kara.  Our perspective is the same on a lot of stuff.  Our life stories are similar.  Our familiar relationships.  But what we do about those things have been very different. 

[Kabraxal]

I have done the first three... Generally I start out with a self insert and just react naturally. But most runs after are either planned out far in advance or I pick a base point and let the character guide me impulsively. Get a great rang of experiences, though fewer surprises from DA than a Mass Effect. Usually I can tell how characters will feel or if I will like a character in DA regardless of my RP. I mean, I have one character that respects Vivienne but it didn't shock me or make me look at Viv any differently. Still detest her. However, both Jack and Miri were characters I didn't originally care for and expected extremely different outcomes for two RPs that revealed whi those characters truly were... Without RPing teo differing personalities, I would have missed out on two of the very best characters in gaming.

But... I do have two personalities I have yet to RP in DA:I... So who knows what may happen.

[TheBlackAdder13]

Combination of 1 and 2. Based on what I know about the character backgrounds in advance, I come up with additional backstory, personality traits/quirks, personal beliefs, etc. I don't want to make them too similar to protags I played in previous DA titles so I try to vary that quite a bit. Then I wing it as I go and dialogue/story choices prompt me to consider things I hadn't thought of before. One thing I did in advance to Inquisition that I liked was an idea I got from a thread here. Basically pick a quote from film or print -- or anywhere really -- to base your character around. I picked a Doctor Who quote basically indicating a love for travel, exploration and the whimsical. However, when I found out more about the Qunari background closer to release (I use a random integer generator to pick my character's gender, race, class, and sexual orientation), I decided I wanted to make her much, much older. So I decided that the desire to see the world caused her to join a mercenary company in the first place but her youthful whimsy gradually transitioned to a jaded, dark, cynical, utilitarian mindset about the world and human nature throughout the course of her life. (This trend continued throughout Inquisition.) 

[Al Foley]

I have done the first three... Generally I start out with a self insert and just react naturally. But most runs after are either planned out far in advance or I pick a base point and let the character guide me impulsively. Get a great rang of experiences, though fewer surprises from DA than a Mass Effect. Usually I can tell how characters will feel or if I will like a character in DA regardless of my RP. I mean, I have one character that respects Vivienne but it didn't shock me or make me look at Viv any differently. Still detest her. However, both Jack and Miri were characters I didn't originally care for and expected extremely different outcomes for two RPs that revealed whi those characters truly were... Without RPing teo differing personalities, I would have missed out on two of the very best characters in gaming.

But... I do have two personalities I have yet to RP in DA:I... So who knows what may happen.

I...actually agree with this and you do raise a good point because I have had similar experiences with ME and DA. 

[nightscrawl]

Mine is sort of a combination of 1, 2, 3.

 

I tend to play the same character multiple times. I also prefer to have whatever backstory supported by what the game tells me. For example, the Trevelyan noble (my canon) is the youngest of 2-3 children from a devout family who was destined for a life of service with the Chantry. This is the only information the game gives you, but I do incorporate that into the roleplay. I don't necessarily do a self-insert, but my decisions are usually based around my same moral compass. I develop the character's personality as I'm going along playing the game.

 

After I have done a full play and seen what the game has to offer in terms of roleplay opportunities, then I will make an effort to come up with more elaborate backstory and such and also incorporate various elements of headcanon that are woven into the game. A key element of DAI is faith. My Inquisitor is Andrastian, but is disillusioned with the Chantry as an institution. He does not believe he is Andraste's Herald and considers the idea borderline blasphemous. He has a crisis of faith based around the events at Adamant and the Fade and I was able to incorporate that into the conversations with both the not-Divine and Giselle.

 

Ultimately, I would say that the game itself helps me to craft my character. The second and successive plays are usually more "true" to that character that I have crafted as a result of playing the game the first time.

 

 

I didn't know 4 was a thing that people did.

[Kabraxal]

I...actually agree with this and you do raise a good point because I have had similar experiences with ME and DA.

Have to add that DA2 came closer to the surprise... Mostly because Isabella was deeper than what I thought she'd be and it added a different layer with her reactions in her romance. It just seems that DA characters, while guarded, don't tend to lock away a piece of themselves like Jack and Miri did.

Though, I guess DA gave a shock from my own character. In DA2 my mage Hawke Jen went hardline FOR the Templar cause after all the **** she went through. Did not expect that. And my Tal Vashoth qunari was more faithful to the Chantry than I originally built her. So in some ways DA managed to shock me a bit, but more from my character than others.

[lynroy]

Honestly, I'm all over the place. My first character for any RPG makes choices similar to those that I believe I would make if I was doing a self insert, but they aren't a true self insert. They aren't a copy/paste of me, they are only a small part of me. Each character I create takes a different part of me--personality trait, quirks, fears, insecurities, etc. I don't spend time creating a backstory before starting, I create the character and sort of 'feel' it out as the game progresses--how they look influences this. This provides me with the basics of a personality which I then build the rest of the character on. The first play through is generally the only one I roleplay because after that, my characters make choices that I as a player prefer and not necessarily they as a character would make.

 

So, I guess I wing it too? I mean, when I created that first Inquisitor I only knew it was going to be a male elf archer and the major choices he would make would be ones I would make in his shoes. Everything else, personality and such, came naturally after I created his face. Filling out backstory happens as the game progresses and I get more into the characters head.

[Fiskrens]

In general, I'd say I do like @Kabraxal, and start with no. 3 before doing more planned RPG runs following that. Doing a anti-chantry, anti-authority Solasmancer came quite naturally after that.

Now I'm doing a really devout male Trevelyan, and it surprised me with giving better RP moments than expected; specifically In Your Heart Shall Burn became almost hair-raising when the song came to a doubting hero (I've always felt it to be a bit over the top previously).

[vertigomez]

I start with a loose concept, a character archetype like "free spirit" or "bookworm", then I flesh 'em out based on what backstory we're given in the game and cram some headcanon in there for flavor. I take inspiration from music, and other characters I like from books or movies, and somehow it all comes together. I also take my cue from the companions I like best - what kind of PC would they get along with? Who would get on their nerves?

Here's my handy-dandy DA tl;dr:

Warden: testosterone poisoning
Hawke: trash lord
Inquisitor: huge schoolgirl

edit: I guess I did a liiiiiittle celebrity insert in DAO. My Warden was Malcolm Reynolds if Malcolm Reynolds was an angry dwarf who had the Feelings and said the Snark.

[Abyss108]

Mostly 2, a bit of 1. Usually, I don't really have a character until the game makes me/I accidentally make my character do something I wouldn't expect.

 

For example, in Inquisition, it was the first time I played a character that wasn't human. If I was going to play an Elf, I didn't just want to play a human with pointy ears, so I knew I was going to be an elfy-elf. But that didn't really tell me a lot other than the fact she would be religious and care about history, stick up for the Dalish etc. It was a combination of her telling Solas that other elves "didn't really care about the past" and upsetting the Dalish clan by poking around the graves (because maybe they have ancient elvy knowledge in them) that really told me who she was - she was the Elf that even the other elves thought was too Elfy. The one that thought all those hunters who were busy feeding people should really be researching the past, and that anyone who has more imminent concerns like survival just doesn't care about the important things enough. From that, I can start to figure out reasons why she might be like that, and that leads to an entire past being developed, along with the characters from that past, and then I start playing through the game with those characters (my second game is with my main characters mother...)

[Gilli]

Hmm, I either do 1. where reuse old OCs (e.g. Kita Mahariel, Haya Adaar, Kiri Lavellan) which I once created for a story I abandoned, or I do 4 5. where I try to recreate comic/manga charas. (e.g. Bruce (Banner) Lavellan, Bido (FMAB) Cadash, Greed (FMAB) Trevelyan). I find recreating celebrities (or fictional characters played by real people) creepy. 

 

My first PT is mostly to get to know the game, so I just take one of my OCs which I want to play and run with it. I do (mostly) not plan who they're supposed to romance and just run with what my chara would do.

 

For example Kita.

Spoiler

Spoiler

She, as my OC, was meant to be from a clan of people who could turn into animals. (that was in 2007) So when I started DAO for the first time (in 2014), I wanted to play her as close to her (my) origin as possible. I made her a Dalish DW rogue and chose the Ranger spec and later the Assassin spec. (yes, I could've made her a mage and given her the Shapeshifter spec, but she's a rogue, not a mage) She fell in love with Alistair, because he was nice and funny and pretty much how she had been as a teenager. (the stuff that happened with the tainted mirror made her a little less "fun") I practically played her like if she would decide all the choices, which sadly meant that I didn't harden Alistair (I didn't even know you could do that) and he broke up with her, when she made him King alongside Anora.  Oh, well, she's someone who always gets back on her feet.  I have the feeling if she'd learn about what happened with Anders and Justice in Kirkwall she'd blame herself, because she took Anders to the Blackmarsh where they met Justice.   

 

*cough* Anyway, in later PTs I just look at the other romances/PT choices and think /Who do I want to romance/What do I want to do?/ and then choose which chara I want to play.

 

Another example: My next DAI romance will be Cullen.

• I want to romance him with a elf mage.
• I haven't tried the Knight Enchanter spec yet.
• the KE spell Fade Cloak and the Winter Tree spell Fade Step remind me of phasing. Which reminds me of Kitty Pryde from the X-Men

= I'll try to recreate Kitty in the DAI CC and romance Cullen with her. 

 

Note: I never tried a 100% self insert (especially because I'm always myself and want to play someone else), but default fem!Hawke looks like me, so I just gave her my name (my second fem!Hawke got my middle name, but I'm not as sarcastic as she is)

[Seraphim24]

None of the above.

[TheBlackAdder13]

None of the above.

Care to elaborate? lol 

[IllustriousT]

2 & 3. My role-playing experiences tend to be me just doing things on a whim, based on how I feel in that moment - much like I do in life. Therefore, my PCs tend all be mood swinging b****es...or super empowered a$$holes.  

 

I love them all though  .

[ThomasBlaine]

Intricate Head-canon built from the ground up, definitely. I'd rather die than engage in any of the others. Giving your character a background that fits with the lore is half the fun.

 

Well, okay, there was the Pete Postlethwaite Inquisitor, but that was just to play with the Character Creation screen and I never took him beyond level 1.

[Ghost Gal]

Mostly 1 and 2, with an occasional splash of 4. Usually I come up with a basic background and personality idea before getting to the character creator, and then fill in as I go. Sometimes I'll also use aspects of existing characters to help inspire parts of the character, like the looks or personality quirks.

 

Inquisitor Lavellan:

 

Roleplay Method 1: Before the CC I figured Lavellan's parents were city elves who fled to the Dalish to keep their mage children from being taken to the Circle, where she became Keeper First. A lifetime of teasing for being city-born but identifying with her Dalish upbringing eventually led her to feel like, "Who cares if I'm a city elf or not? City elf, Dalish elf; in the end, we're all elves."

 

Roleplay Method 4: I'll admit I was excited to finally be able to play a pale, white-haired elf since I was fond of Aisling from The Secret of Kells (pale skin, white hair, green eyes). I was also a bit into Frozen at the time, and so wanted to make my pale and white-haired elf an ice mage. (Curse the mandatory fire and lightning spells.)

 

Roleplay Method 2: Over the course of the game little details caused me to fill in the blanks. When Solas and Sera showed contempt for Lavellan being Dalish it hurt her more than I'd anticipated, so I headcanoned that her city elf mother hated the Dalish and rejected her for acting too much like them when she was little. When Inquisitor Lavellan tells Josephine of her Clan, "All my friends are there," I wondered why isn't her family there? So I headcanoned that her mother and brother left the Dalish in a rage her being named Keeper's First. After Adamant, when Varric came running up asking, "Where's Hawke?" since Mockingjay Part 1 had just come out I imagined she sang the Hanging Tree song to console herself that night, so I expanded the backstory so that when she was little humans chased them when they fled into the forest, and her dad let himself get caught and hung to give his wife and children time to flee (and then her mom took her grief and bitterness out on the Dalish, then left the Dalish in disgust when my gal was named First). My Lavellan feels guilt about only being alive because other people sacrificed themselves for her; her father when she was little, Divine Justinia at the Conclave, and now Hawke in the Fade. 

 

And, yeah, that's how I headcanon my "canon" Inquisitor.

[Evamitchelle]

Lately I've been doing a combination of 1 and 2 for first playthroughs. I have a pretty clear idea of what my character's backstory, personality and appearance are before I start the game and then I adjust as I play. Appearance is most likely to change based on the limitations of the character creator, but I also change backstory when I get conflicting information and personality as I gain better insight in my character's motivations. I usually play the same character more than once too.

[Phoe77]

I tend to come up with an idea of my character's basic personality, demeanor, and belief system and then go through the game making choices that coincide with those aspects.  I don't actually remember ever coming up with a backstory for my video game characters, actually.  Maybe that's why I'm almost never bothered by having elements of my characters' identity be determined for me.

[Al Foley]

Mostly 2, a bit of 1. Usually, I don't really have a character until the game makes me/I accidentally make my character do something I wouldn't expect.

 

For example, in Inquisition, it was the first time I played a character that wasn't human. If I was going to play an Elf, I didn't just want to play a human with pointy ears, so I knew I was going to be an elfy-elf. But that didn't really tell me a lot other than the fact she would be religious and care about history, stick up for the Dalish etc. It was a combination of her telling Solas that other elves "didn't really care about the past" and upsetting the Dalish clan by poking around the graves (because maybe they have ancient elvy knowledge in them) that really told me who she was - she was the Elf that even the other elves thought was too Elfy. The one that thought all those hunters who were busy feeding people should really be researching the past, and that anyone who has more imminent concerns like survival just doesn't care about the important things enough. From that, I can start to figure out reasons why she might be like that, and that leads to an entire past being developed, along with the characters from that past, and then I start playing through the game with those characters (my second game is with my main characters mother...)

Hey you aren't the only one who plays Inquisitor's family.  Benjamin is Kara Trevelyan's brother who in an alternate time line was taken from her at an early age and given to the Chantry in the dead of night.  And then died at the Conclave.  But it was the reason she became so anti Chantry so anti Templar until recently and the reason her relations with her family became so strained because she witnessed them handing Ben over in the middle of the night to avoid political and social scandal.  After all Ben was a mage.  Ironically enough Ben was...while not devout per se, quite a big believer in the Chantry, the Maker, and its institutions. 

[R0bE0]

2, 100% of the time. I never create anything about my Inquisitor (or any of my PCs) until I go through the game. Usually the first time I go through the campaign with a character I'll be learning all about them - what they like, what they don't like, who they support, etc.. Then I'll usually go back, recreate them (which is super duper fun with DAI not having a transfer option heavy sarcasm) and redefine them even further, now knowing more about them.

 

I'm not huge on head-canons, as I prefer tangible canon over most head-canons. So I see people creating these elaborate head-canons without even knowing the canon of the game (ie. so many people are already going into depth about Ryder for ME:A) and it confuses me. Or, they'll create head-canons that completely nullify some of the game's canon. (ie. I once knew someone who created an Inquisitor who was one of the elven gods reborn, who was fully aware of who he was.) That kind of thing also confuses me. I mean, good on you being creative, but I'd never be able to do it.

 

I find that with a lot of games if I tend to jump to conclusions before I even play the game, I mess up. (Especially when it comes to my opinions on companions. I don't know how many times I thought, "I'll love him/her!" or "I'll hate him/her!" and been completely and utterly wrong.)

 

So yeah, not 1 at all. 3 is kind of iffy. Because for most of the time my characters do have something in common with me. Though it's not to the point of self-insertion. I tried that once in a Fallout game, and that PT only lasted a few hours before I was sick of it. None of 4 either, that's one thing I never really got. Though I don't mind people basing appearance off of celebrities. As a text based roleplayer who has used tons of celebrities as face-claims/play-bys, I'd be awfully hypocritical to say otherwise.

[Al Foley]

2, 100% of the time. I never create anything about my Inquisitor (or any of my PCs) until I go through the game. Usually the first time I go through the campaign with a character I'll be learning all about them - what they like, what they don't like, who they support, etc.. Then I'll usually go back, recreate them (which is super duper fun with DAI not having a transfer option heavy sarcasm) and redefine them even further, now knowing more about them.

 

I'm not huge on head-canons, as I prefer tangible canon over most head-canons. So I see people creating these elaborate head-canons without even knowing the canon of the game (ie. so many people are already going into depth about Ryder for ME:A) and it confuses me. Or, they'll create head-canons that completely nullify some of the game's canon. (ie. I once knew someone who created an Inquisitor who was one of the elven gods reborn, who was fully aware of who he was.) That kind of thing also confuses me. I mean, good on you being creative, but I'd never be able to do it.

 

I find that with a lot of games if I tend to jump to conclusions before I even play the game, I mess up. (Especially when it comes to my opinions on companions. I don't know how many times I thought, "I'll love him/her!" or "I'll hate him/her!" and been completely and utterly wrong.)

 

So yeah, not 1 at all. 3 is kind of iffy. Because for most of the time my characters do have something in common with me. Though it's not to the point of self-insertion. I tried that once in a Fallout game, and that PT only lasted a few hours before I was sick of it. None of 4 either, that's one thing I never really got. Though I don't mind people basing appearance off of celebrities. As a text based roleplayer who has used tons of celebrities as face-claims/play-bys, I'd be awfully hypocritical to say otherwise.

I am sticking with just general character ideas when it comes to Ryder.  Mine is going to be an inquisitive explorer eager to explore a new galaxy, wide eyed, very morally righteous...etc. 

[Al Foley]

So I suppose since others have done this I should mention my DA characters too.  

 

Malcolme Cousland: Method 2.  

 

Aeryn Hawke: Method 2.  

 

Kara Trevelyan: Method 1.