Let's Play Dragon Age: Origins! (Spoilers and large images: Update 15)

[Arbitrarity]

Not having Awakening, but on my 4'th playthrough, I was considering what might make Dragon age more fun. Having read quite a few Let's Plays in this forum (Chiasaur) I decided it might be fun to try one myself. I think I have the attention span to finish a DA:O LP, though I'll probably summarize most of the interactions.
Spoilers ahead, obviously.

By popular demand, we are playing as Carrot Ironfoundresson! A human raised among dwarfs, who is, culturally, a dwarf. A good cop, a likable fellow, and in no way at all devious.

Introducing Carrot Cousland Aeducan Ironfoundersson! Thinner than the real thing, not much I can do about that, tragically.


Chapters currently up:
1: Intrigue and Dueling
2-3: A Mission, a Betrayal, an Escape, Ostagar and the Joining
4: Resolving a Cliffhanger, Climbing a Tower, and another Cliffhanger
5: Awakening and Lothering
6: Lothering, Leliana, and Sten
7: Meet the Team, Denerim
8: Arriving at the Circle.
9: The Fade
10: A Detour
11-13: Getting on Track, Elves Elves Elves, Awakening and Elves
14: Sten, Flemeth, and Orzammar
15: Jarvia and the Deep Roads
16: The Anvil of the Void
17: Loose Ends
18: Redcliffe Village
19: Redcliffe Castle
20: Haven and the Urn of Sacred Ashes
21: Denerim and Howe's Estate
22: The Alienage
23: The Landsmeet
24: Redcliffe and the Truth
25: Endgame

Annoyingly, the thread title no longer allows me to announce updates that way. So check regularly.

[chiasaur11]

Play as Carrot Ironfoundson.

[The Rose Dragon]

Female dwarven noble rogue.

Refuse to accept Leliana to your party in the inn so you can get the "Oooh, pretty colors" line from Steve Valentine.

Go with Harrowmont in Orzammar. Save the Circle of Magi. The rest I leave up to you.

[Cogwheel]

Originally Posted by chiasaur11

Play as Carrot Ironfoundson.

This. A thousand times this.

I have never played or seen Dragon Age, so I have no idea what to expect, but this is a great idea regardless

[Dienekes]

Originally Posted by chiasaur11

Play as Carrot Ironfoundson.

This is actually possible with the "adopted" mod

[Flickerdart]

Carrot would be the best Dragon Age character ever. Would Zevran be the Nobby Nobbs, I wonder?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Originally Posted by chiasaur11

Play as Carrot Ironfoundson.

I second the motion.

[Gralamin]

Originally Posted by chiasaur11

Play as Carrot Ironfoundson.

This. Just this.

With Mods use the Dwarven Noble or Dwarven Commoner background. With out Mods, we can settle for the Human Noble.

[Avilan the Grey]

Carrot on the side...

I find the female dwarves in this game remarkably cute - yet - spunky.

Female dwarf, noble rogue?

("Carrotina"? )

[Zenos]

I Nth Carrot Ironfoundson.

[Arbitrarity]

By overwhelming demand, Carrot it is. I'll be looking for that adopted mod.

I wonder if I should go genderswapped or not.
Anyways, I'll take Rogue, because most people don't appear to care too much about class, and hopefully the transcription will be odd. I'll pass it off as luck and an overwhelming series of odd coincidences.

It does however, look like I need to actually read some Diskworld books. I KNOW. QUIET. Research time!
(also, Spell resistance... Agh, last time that was hard enough... 30(spellward)+4(ancient elven gloves)+6(robes of the gifted)+4(antivan leather boots)+48?(dweomer runes)+4(key to the city) = 96 Arrrrgh. If only I could be visually a human)

[Cogwheel]

Originally Posted by Arbitrarity

It does however, look like I need to actually read some Diskworld books.

You'll thank us later

[SolkaTruesilver]

Originally Posted by Arbitrarity

By overwhelming demand, Carrot it is. I'll be looking for that adopted mod.

I wonder if I should go genderswapped or not.
Anyways, I'll take Rogue, because most people don't appear to care too much about class, and hopefully the transcription will be odd. I'll pass it off as luck and an overwhelming series of odd coincidences.

What kind o rogue?

Archery? Dual-Weilding?

Hmm.. how about a dirty fighter who tries to pass of as a mighty warrior, and he use low-tactics? The pragmatic fighter all the way (a little like my own current char. But that one is a Dwarven Noble Reaver/Barbarian, with a single point in Poison Use to be able to throw poison capsules when sourrounded by ennemies. The combination is awesome)

You might go for Duellist/Assassin combo, except if someone here has something else to propose.

Who to you want to hump? Zhevran, Morrigan or Leliana?

[Arbitrarity]

Dual wielding duelist assassin male human rogue dwarf noble origin, abusing any tricks necessary that I have the patience for. Same build I just soloed insanity with, I suppose. Romance is mostly out due to embarrassment (on Carrot's part), but I'll give nice gifts to everyone and see what they say, and see how things develop. ("Dear diary: Leliana really seems to like me. She even invited me to her tent, but alas, subtlety is lost on me")

I think I'll arrive at Orzammar as if I was just sent there as a guard assignment. Makes the relationships rather odd, I suppose I'll fluff that.

I imagine I'll actually play like Alistar, because he is basically Carrot. Straightforward, simple, noble, kinda innocent.

[xp194]

The thing with Carrot is that he appears to be all innocent, but it's very strongly hinted that there's this very savvy undercurrent that he hides from people until it suits him. Like, in the Fifth Elephant, he returns to the Watch to find Fred Colon having made a horrendous mess and goes all Drill Sargeant on Fred and Nobby, in order to get them to shape up. It's remarked that he uses nastiness like a claw. When he doesn't need it, there's no trace it was ever there.

Also, there are his 'roundabout' threats that he simply must know what those people he is talking to are thinking.

You should... uh... probably bear that part of his character in mind

[Calemyr]

If you're really going to play a Carrot-style character, here are a few tips:

1) Always play the friendly, idealistic, and honorable everyman role. Even when he's being devious, Carrot still seems to be nothing but absolutely honest, to the point that even those closest to him are left wondering if he even realises that his open and honest statements could be interpreted in other ways (such as threats).

2) Backstabs are not his style. Despite his mentor and superior officer doing everything he can to teach Carrot the art (and it is an art) of dirty fighting, Carrot is still driven by something core to his being to approach combat from an honorable (and in Sam Vimes' perspective suicidally stupid) mindset. That said, he's only lost one fight and has otherwise proven an unstoppable fighter (including clearing out an entire bar full of big, drunken adventurers very early on in his career). Being an assassin is probably not the best for that characterisation, though a bard could work very well (Carrot is nothing if not inspirational).

3) Carrot doesn't particularly want to be king, preferring instead to work as a city guard and getting on with an honest day's work. When in a pinch, however, he always rises to the occassion and will at times use his rumored lineage as added leverage to get what he wants (though, again, nobody is exactly sure if he is doing it intentionally or not).

4) Carrot is loyal to his friends, without a shadow of a doubt, as well as his city. It's hinted (again, it's not explicitly stated) that he's been manuevering his superior officer up the political food chain against his will, for the officer's benefit as well as the city's. This may have an influence on his actions regarding Alistair.

5) Although Carrot is over 6 feet tall, he still considers himself a dwarf in every way apart from genetics (even then, it's a slow acceptance of this fact). He is not a human raised in a dwarf mine, in his own mind he's a dwarf with a human body.

In short (too late), Carrot is the unrivalled master of the Alternate Character Interpretation. He's either the nicest, friendliest, most honorably man alive, living in a city of cynical thieving bastards, or he's a talented chessmaster who manipulates people into doing the right thing without ever letting on that he's manipulating anything. Either way he's a good man thriving in a setting that chews up good men and spits them out.

[Domochevsky]

Ok, i can tell this LP is only going to be for those who have already played it and read the discworld books.

[Calemyr]

That's just one of the risks of trying to model a character after such a distinctive personality without having read the material. But you're right, I'm sorry and I'll shut up.

[Arbitrarity]

Indeed. I just read the Fifth Elephant (of course, this is where he loses a fight. Badly), as the only related Diskworld book in my library, and I'm inclined to agree with your points, Calamyr. I shall do my best to make things accessible, so literal interpretations of the situations, rather than Chia's rather liberal interpretations.

So, rules: Always be forthright, honest, idealistic. Fighter it is. Champion/Templar, which solves the spell resistance problem. Appear entirely honest.

[SolkaTruesilver]

By the way, when you try to save the Mage Circle, does Wrynn always automatically attacks when you have Morrigan with you?

Because she did in my game, and I had to contend myself with my mistress rather than with 2 spellcasters

[Smiling Knight]

Carrot! Carrot! Woohoo!

[Kish]

Originally Posted by SolkaTruesilver

By the way, when you try to save the Mage Circle, does Wrynn always automatically attacks when you have Morrigan with you?

Because she did in my game, and I had to contend myself with my mistress rather than with 2 spellcasters

Wynne attacks if you say you agree with Morrigan that the magi deserve to die, and don't intend to help them.

Because...um...yeah. If you say you disagree with Morrigan, Wynne won't attack you. Morrigan is likely to disapprove, but hopefully you were expecting that when you decided to bring the Circle-hating apostate to the Circle tower.

[Flickerdart]

Originally Posted by SolkaTruesilver

By the way, when you try to save the Mage Circle, does Wrynn always automatically attacks when you have Morrigan with you?

Because she did in my game, and I had to contend myself with my mistress rather than with 2 spellcasters

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I had Morrigan and Alistair with me, in addition to her, and she didn't seem to mind. Then again, I was a Mage, so maybe her familiarity counts for something.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Originally Posted by Flickerdart

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I had Morrigan and Alistair with me, in addition to her, and she didn't seem to mind. Then again, I was a Mage, so maybe her familiarity counts for something.

I was trying to take a neutral side, and not contradict Morrigan too much. But then, Wrynn said: "You friend is an apostate?! She must die!!!" and.. things got out of hand...

[Kish]

I would venture that you should have considered the implications of "not contradicting" "You're not really going to help this preachy schoolmistress and these pathetic sheep, are you? They all deserve to die," a little more.

Also, Wynne. Not Wrynn.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Originally Posted by Kish

I would venture that you should have considered the implications of "not contradicting" "You're not really going to help this preachy schoolmistress and these pathetic sheep, are you? They all deserve to die," a little more.

Also, Wynne. Not Wrynn.

But...

....

But she got boobies, and shows them. Therefore, she must be right..

[xp194]

Originally Posted by SolkaTruesilver

But...

....

But she got boobies, and shows them. Therefore, she must be right..

Personally, I'd trust the woman wearing proper clothes. She obviously wants you to actually listen to her instead of spending all conversation staring at her rack... :-p

[Arbitrarity]

Episode the First: Intrigue and Dueling

Spoiler

An unusual assignment. Vetinari sent me off to a foreign country, this "Ferelden". I've been asked to set up a diplomatic embassy with the dwarves (not dwarfs; very strange) to help establish order in the country, something about uniting the dwarves and humans to stop a Blight. Supposedly a favor for the human king. These dwarves are quite odd, they keep speaking as though I was directly related to them. Must be a cultural thing.
Anyways, I've arrived at my quarters with Constable Gorim. A good dwarf, he can be a bit overenthusiastic.



A feast, you say? And a tournament? I might as well sign up, might help me gain some respect here.

Who's this lady by Bhelen's room?

A good friend of the local lord? Alrightmovingon

Walking through the streets. A lot of merchants, my. Everything seems to be in order here.



What's this? Are you threatening this scholar, sir? Cease and desist.



I wonder who these people are.

Alrightmovingon


Encountering the local sons of King Endrin, Trian and Bhelen. Trian seems rather hostile.

Ugh. Moving on to the Provings.



I can walk through the streets myself. I know I'm an ambassador, but I really don't need armed guards.

The "Provings" are citywide trials by combat, to decide the favor of the ancestors. A strange custom, but I figure anything that gets me more authority or respect here is good.



Sir, I'd like to warn you that I'm fairly dangerous. If you'd like to surrender...

I suppose not.

Sir, please reconsider opposing me....




Now we're returning to the palace for this feast.
What's this? You'd like me to speak up on behalf of surface dwarves? Of course I'll do that!



Meeting with Duncan, a visiting "Grey Warden". They appear to have the same mission as I do, dealing with this "Blight". I look forward to working with him.


I'm presented to the king, and given an honorary commission. Doesn't look like it will conflict with my duties as an officer of the law.


Apparently my first job as a commander is to locate his sons. Important work. After finding them, I send Trian off. Bhelen seems to have something to say to me.





What? An assassination plot against me? Why?


Look, I won't act without more substantial proof. I'm a policeman, I'll give Trian a chance to explain what's going on.

Still too large screenshots? I think I'll pare them down to 960*600 next time.
Any feedback is appreciated, as I have no clue exactly how this is supposed to work. Images loading for people? Character not too out?

[Flickerdart]

Photobucket will automatically resize them. I find the 800x600 setting to be sufficient for my needs.

[Arbitrarity]

Originally Posted by Flickerdart

Photobucket will automatically resize them. I find the 800x600 setting to be sufficient for my needs.

Definitely not happening. I'll have to figure out how to do that, I just uploaded all of those now. Also, I have 1680*1050 res, which isn't equivalent in ratio to 800*600. 960*600 will probably be used in future.