Sfdebris.net

There is a theory I've seen on a number of videos on YouTube which is DA4 will have Origin Stories like DAO but with the twist that you will not be restricted by race or class but rather by faction. The basic theory goes as follows: You will choose to play as one of 4 Factions with the first two being the Antivan Crows Crows and Grey Wardens along with two factions that are relatively new (for anyone who has only played the games) the Lords of Fortune and the Executors. There's also the possibility of Qunari and other factions being part of the Origin Opening but what I want to focus on is what this means for the player character.

In DAO and DAI your origin/backstory determined your race and what you could play as with Origins giving you 6 possible origin stories and DAI 4 back stories (never shown in game due to pacing issues). Focusing on DAO if you choose to play as a Dwarf you would have two backstories, if you played as an elf you have 3 backstories and human gave you 2. Five of the 6 tied into the story of the main game while the 6th tied into the main overarching story of the series.

While I do understand why certain classes where locked behind certain backstories it always bugged me because I really liked the origin of the Human Noble and the Dalish Elf but my preferred class is mage and it annoys me how I can only play as one or the other. This is why I'm honestly completely onboard for the Factions Origins Theory as every faction has mages, rogues and warriors as well has having every race.

This would mean that you could play as whatever race or class you want and it would make sense in every origin story. Want to play as a Elven Rogue in the Executor Origin, go ahead. Want to know what life is like in the Qun but want to play as a human warrior, knock yourself out. Want to start the game as a Lord of Fortune Qunari Mage, you can do that.

Obviously there would have still have to be some origins that are locked behind certain classes. Like playing as a Mage in the Qun would mean your character's mouth is sewed such and you are bound by magic to obey so, yeah, THAT would be a... interesting origin. Also I don't think the Antivan Crows have any Warrior or Mages in their ranks so if you would have to play as a Rogue Exclusively but I could be wrong about that. But the Wardens, Lords of Fortune and the Executor have no such limits as far as I know and ALL factions have every known race in their order so if you have a race that you prefer to play you can play as said race in every origin.

I honestly think this would be great as it gives fans something they've been demanding return to the series and gives you even more freedom to play the game as you see fit though with their still being a few limitations here and there.

Thoughts?

Thoughts? Good for RPG, bad for worldbuilding.

Riedquat wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:50 pm Thoughts? Good for RPG, bad for worldbuilding.

Hm, why would it be bad for World-Building? After all, like I said, all these factions have every member of every race and at least 3 of them have one of every class so does that hinder World-Building?

Winter wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:17 pm

Riedquat wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:50 pm Thoughts? Good for RPG, bad for worldbuilding.

Hm, why would it be bad for World-Building? After all, like I said, all these factions have every member of every race and at least 3 of them have one of every class so does that hinder World-Building?

Too open; some combinations would, even if possible within the setting, be highly implausible. Worldbuilding (and storytelling as a whole for that matter) benefit as much from dealing with convincing restrictions as well as exploring possibilities. And with fewer restrictions anything might happen and nothing becomes particular interesting or unusual.

I mean, your change requires the entirety of the whole Mage background of the setting to be removed. So yeah, it would be better for gameplay but remove a defining feature of the setting.