You are only allowed to use the default Bioware protagonists:
- Female Dalish warrior Mahariel
- Mage mage Hawke
- Female Rogue Trevelyan
The other characters are at your disposal to do whatever you want.
How would you go about it? What stories and characters would you like to add/change/remove? Will you give the HOF the Ned Stark treatment? Will do a Red Wedding for Alistair?
It's your show.
My short answer is: avoid all parallels to Game of Thrones.
A new fantasy T.V. show is obviously going to be compared to it, and Dragon Age was always meant to be it's own thing (though BioWare did want to pay homage to Baldur's Gate). All attempts to be like Game of Thrones would be a disaster. A disaster for fans of Dragon Age, and a disaster for anyone who saw Game of Thrones, enjoyed it, and had expectations that this would be as good.
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Honestly, I'm not sure how you could do a DA T.V. show justice by trying to fit three different protagonists into the one show. They all have different places in the Dragon Age setting, and none of them ever interact with each other (unless you count the HoF's letter to the Inquisitor) in the games. They don't really feel like they'd have any business hanging around each other.
A TV show with those characters would be hard. Best to use your own character.
DA:O
I would prefer to cue a drunken Tidus (CE/HOF) and I would focus on his love affair with Leliana and there time traveling together..No need to repeat the game story line.
DA:I
I would fill the time between the death of Corephius and the Exalted Council and the main characters would be Divine Victoria,the Inquisitor and her/her love affair. The Inquisitor would lead a small group through Ferelden and close any remainng breaches and rounding up any rogue Templars and mages..
Recruits Loghain into the Grey Wardens because she hates him and it's the absolute worse punishment she can envision; throws herself on the Archdemon to end her own suffering and also to prolong Loghain's.
I think that people who spare Loghain to prolong his suffering are more evil than those who sacrificed him to end his sufferings.
There is no better biscuit for the Archdemon than Loghain!
The real catch would actually be that I have no idea how to produce a TV-show and therefore It would probably end in a disaster.
I think that people who spare Loghain to prolong his suffering are more evil than those who sacrificed him to end his sufferings.
There is no better biscuit for the Archdemon than Loghain!
My Mahariel would disagree. She'd say Alistair is the best meal for the archdemon. It just makes sense right? Who wants to eat a 50-year old war veteran, when there's a perfectly good virgin 20-something year old, possibly stuffed with cheese?
(Alistair likes cheese.)
I'd try to keep fairly close to the original stories but I'd tweek more of the background stories, add a couple of new characters and pair up party members romantically. I think Alister/Morrigan, Fenris /Dorian, Varric/Cassandra and Zevran and who's ever interested. Cullen I might pair up with the warden or the Inquisitor and eventually Rylen and Cullen's youngest sister would have to get together.
None of the hardcore DA fans would give a damn about the Warden, Hawke or the Inquisitor unless it's their character.
Instead, I would do a 10 episode mini-series about Maric's rebellion based on the Stolen Throne novel. 10 episodes would be enough to build up and cover:
- Maric's rise from inexperienced exiled prince to leader of the rebellion and eventually king of Ferelden
- Maric's friendship with Loghain
- the Orlesians as invaders and oppressors
- Maric gathering support
- the usurper king Meghren as a tool of the Orlesians
- Maric's relationship with Katriel
- Loghain and Rowan
- around 3 major battles involving large armies (if I remember correctly, could be more than 3)
Heimerdinger Asunder or maybe the Last Flight would be better then starring Loghain who was a asp in The Stolen Throne that wanted to kill Maric and he never was a real friend.
You left out:
Maric's love affair with that Elven bard no show would be complete without her.
Being capture by the Dalish
Meeting Flemeth.
Heimerdinger Asunder or maybe the Last Flight would be better then starring Loghain who was a asp in The Stolen Throne that wanted to kill Maric and he never was a real friend.
You left out:
Maric's love affair with that Elven bard no show would be complete without her.
Being capture by the Dalish
Meeting Flemeth.
Always funny to hear more of your headcanon and Loghain hate posting. Loghain never wanted to kill Maric, don't know where you got that from, he only disliked him at first. They may have had their disagreements but the friendship (although complicated) and mutual respect they develop is the entire basis of that book. There is no Maric without Loghain.
The elven bard is called Katriel. Mentioned in my post. The rest are plot details (and spoilers) best left for the readers.
None of the hardcore DA fans would give a damn about the Warden, Hawke or the Inquisitor unless it's their character.
That's true. That's why, I think, a successful adaptation actually has to minimize the Warden, Hawke, or the Inquisitor's roles. Obviously you need SOMEONE there, but I think a large chunk of the adaptation process is going to involve looking at the key plot events and thinking, "ok, who ELSE could do this?" Things like, investigating the alienage in Denerim, doesn't really need the Warden. Send Zevran to investigate and the Warden providing back-up. Combine the jail break with the Landsmeet. That kind of thing. You can't keep everything and you're going to get it wrong either way. Get the supporting characters right and you'll be cut more slack then otherwise.
So,You are only allowed to use the default Bioware protagonists:
- Female Dalish warrior Mahariel
- Mage mage Hawke
- Female Rogue Trevelyan
The other characters are at your disposal to do whatever you want.
How would you go about it? What stories and characters would you like to add/change/remove? Will you give the HOF the Ned Stark treatment? Will do a Red Wedding for Alistair?
It's your show.
I would go for an untold story too. If you try to do the storylines of the games, the whining will never cease - female Mahariel might be my favorite in Origins too, but others prefer male dwarven noble or female human mage. And that's just the beginning of the story - first frustration for a lot of people, who loved playing teh games and have their own established characters.
A new story in the familiar setting would be the way to go for me. Maybe in the current timeline with cameos from characters like Varric, Cassandra, Isabella ... and a few others, who are alive in every playthrough. But I would not even find that necessary.
And don't go down the Game of Thrones route - there is only one GoT, try something different. Of course, there are parallels - both universes, Thedas and Westeros, are more dark fantasy with a lot of bad things happening to nice people and a lot of deadly intrigues, but DA has far more classical fantasy elemnets than GoT so far - it has elves (who are very different from the classical Tolkien elves), dwarves (dito elves), Qunari ... that should make for an unique storytelling.
I would watch such a show for sure 
I would go for an untold story too. If you try to do the storylines of the games, the whining will never cease - female Mahariel might be my favorite in Origins too, but others prefer male dwarven noble or female human mage. And that's just the beginning of the story - first frustration for a lot of people, who loved playing teh games and have their own established characters.
A new story in the familiar setting would be the way to go for me. Maybe in the current timeline with cameos from characters like Varric, Cassandra, Isabella ... and a few others, who are alive in every playthrough. But I would not even find that necessary.
And don't go down the Game of Thrones route - there is only one GoT, try something different. Of course, there are parallels - both universes, Thedas and Westeros, are more dark fantasy with a lot of bad things happening to nice people and a lot of deadly intrigues, but DA has far more classical fantasy elemnets than GoT so far - it has elves (who are very different from the classical Tolkien elves), dwarves (dito elves), Qunari ... that should make for an unique storytelling.
I would watch such a show for sure
Dark Souls would parallel GoT better than DA, I agree with you that a DA show shouldn't be quite so dark. It should be somewhere between LotR and GoT. Not as light as LotR but not as gloomy as GoT either. There's a happy medium out there. I've had so many different wardens, Hawks and Inquisitors that I'm not too loyal to one character, although I do prefer Female mage warden and female mage Inquisitor cause you know, Cullen. There really should be some kind of POV that accurately explains what lead up to the veil, either told by Solas or some other ancient elves.
I think the only way this would work, judging by the rules of the OP, is for the games to not exist, with the storylines only existing for the show. So, going by that:
DAO would be pretty simple, but hopefully done well. I think that the Mahariel I'd use would be a bit restless and adventure-hungry, and would adapt reasonably well to being a Grey Warden (though would still miss her clan). Side with the mages, save everyone at Redcliffe, get Zathrian to lift the curse, destroy the Anvil of the Void. She'd spare Loghain due to feeling sympathy for the desire to protect one's homeland at any cost; Alistair and Anora would end up together. She would romance Leliana (initially clashing religious perspectives giving way to a nice synchronicity) and facilitate the dark ritual.
DA2 almost writes itself. Consistently pro-mage Hawke romances Anders and doesn't kill him. A somewhat tragic trajectory, but with hope at the end.
DAI is the tricky one, as a Trevelyan nonmage is not something that seems ripe for drama. Maybe having another fairly typical, adventure-hungry protagonist who winds up getting far more than she bargained for, with the Inquisition? I admit with pain that Champions of the Just is probably a better path for this plot (conscripting the templars). I believe that she would romance Josephine, recruit the Grey Wardens, reunite Celene and Briala, and turn Calpernia against Corypheus.
Who says female rogue Trevelyan is the default DAI protagonist?
Anyway, I'd pass. There's no story I'd want to tell with these characters that anyone would be interested in seeing.
Who says female rogue Trevelyan is the default DAI protagonist?
If you open a new World State in the DA Keep, it will show who the default protagonists are.
Step One: Keep the same cast
TV shows are popular because people bond/become interested in the main character and their supporting cast. If you were to do a different protagonist every season (e.g. DA:O is season 1, DA2 is season 2, etc) it wouldn't work. So either cut Hawke and the Inquisitor, or cut the Warden and backdate one of them to be the (non-Warden) protagonist. Since DA:O was the one with the "pilot pick-up", lets go with the Warden.
Step Two: Compress the time frame
DA, to date, has covered 14 years in game. That's obviously too long, unless you want to try and use make-up on your actors to make them age appropriate. Make each game story take place over roughly one in-universe year, and roll Awakening into DA2.
Step Three: The Warden can never win
All three games basically involve a plucky nobody challenging the powers that be, winning, and then gaining power and influence. That works on a game by game basis, but screws up serialised story-telling (as Bioware realised by exiling the Warden and the Champion from their homes). So the Warden does not become Warden Commander, or Viscount, or even the Inquisitor (or queen, which she couldn't do anyway because she's an elf). She remains a heroic outsider working against a corrupt or obstructionist system.
Step Four: Keep the supporting cast small
The companions should be capped at six at the most. More than that and the cast feels unwieldy, and don't have enough of an opportunity to play off each other. My choices would be Alistair, Leliana, Morrigan, Sten (proud warrior race guy) and Oghren (comic relief). Replace Oghren with Varric for season 2, and have Sten be made Tal Vashoth against his will (perhaps as a result of disagreements with the Arishok in season 2). Any other companions become recurring characters or special guest stars.
Also, write an escape hatch into each character's story in case the actor quits the show. Morrigan goes to Orlais, Leliana goes to work for Justinia, etc. Replace them with other companions if that happens (eg Dorian or Merril for Morrigan).
Step Five: Respect Your Protagonist
In this scenario the Warden, the main character and anchor of the show, is a woman from a disenfranchised minority group. You have to take that into account be true to the experience and outlook of such a character. Give her political views on alienages and militant Dalish clans. Don't let it overtake the whole character, but nor should you ignore that stuff.
Step Six: Love Triangle
Have an ongoing subplot involving potential romance between the Warden and Alistair, the Warden and Leliana, and possibly Leliana and Alistair (as is reflected in the Darkspawn Chronicles). "Will they, won't they" and "who should x be with?" are tried and true ways of generating audience interest. It would also be an interesting way of exploring the elf-human dynamic (Alistair's mother is an elf, Leliana is fairly ignorant of Dalish ways, etc). My preference would be for the Warden and Leliana to become involved, and for that to happen before the end of season, as that would add more drama to the story.
Step Seven: The Plot
Season 1 is DA:O, with a planned twelve (hour long) episode season. Tagline for the show is "What does it take to save the world?" Each treaty takes two episodes to resolve, with a two hour pilot and a two hour finale. Like the game, the goal is to stop the Blight but the primary antagonist is Loghain, who keeps trying to kill the Warden. Resolve the treaties by having the Warden make moral compromises (Bhelen is king, Branka kept the anvil, Zathrian is unwilling to die but the Warden kills him anyway, Irving let Uldredd operate as a means of strengthening the Circle, etc).
Have the Dark Ritual come up before the Landsmeet. Have Alistair do the DR as a means of saving the Warden who he has romantic feelings for; unbeknownst to him, the Warden and Leliana have become lovers. Then at the Landsmeet the Warden spares Loghain in order to ensure his forces join her own to combat the Blight. Alistair is outraged at this betrayal and leaves for Kirkwall (where he'll be re-recruited in season 2). Anora becomes queen. The Blight is defeated (in an awesome battle sequence) and the Warden is named Hero of Ferelden, while she privately reflects on the cost of victory. Final scene is a teaser of the Architect.
Season 2 covers the events of Awakening and DA2 and has a villain of the week flavor, with each villain (the Mother, Duke Prosper, the Arishok, Meredith and Orsino) taking two episodes to deal with, and all being manipulated by a shadowy unknown figure the audience is led to believe is the Architect. The reveal is that this was actually Anders all along, who the Warden met and befriended in episode 1, and who orchestrated events to start the mage rebellion. Anders dies, but not before starting the war. Season three teaser is of Corypheus.
Season 3 is DA:I, with Cassandra being Inquisitor and eventual Divine, and the Warden and crew being her primary agents.
Heimerdinger.Reread the book. Loghain wanted to kill Maric several times. The first time Loghain's Father stopped him.
Of course I hate Loghain.. I see him as the evil creature he is in the book and DA:O. First time I saw him at the meeting I wanted to run a sword through him. Same for Howe. Two baddies that needed killing.
You might want to intertwine Origins and DA2 such that they are occurring at the same time - you are following both stories concurrently. Then, after the chantry explodes and the archdemon is defeated, a fresh season begins with the events of Inquisition.
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