One game ends, another game begins

[owlmoose]

Kasia Brosca finished Dragon Age: Awakening tonight.

For the first time ever, I earned the epilogue where Sigrun stays with the Wardens (even though I maintain headcanon that she stayed with both Sereda and Elissa, too), but Nathaniel decided the Wardens weren’t for him and left to seek his fortune. Does that mean I don’t get “Finding Nathaniel” when I import this save into DA2? Boooooo. Particularly irritating because this was supposed to be the canon that sets me up a Bethany/Nathaniel future. Anders… well, he and Kasia became fast friends almost immediately, but we all know how that’s going to turn out, regardless of epilogue cards. Sigh.

And thus ends my Dwarf Commoner Dragon Age playthrough. Kasia has no need to track down Morrigan, and I don’t particularly want to play Golems again, so this is it. I’m going to miss my spunky, outspoken dwarf girl. I see plenty of future for her in fic and headcanon, but as far as playing her game goes, I am done. Until I recreate her for my Mac, perhaps…

But first, my thoughts turn to DA2, which is next on the docket. (Interspersed with the Mahariel game I started on my Mac the other day, and also replaying Sereda Aeducan on the Mac -- literally, I could do nothing but play Dragon Age for months, which is a little scary.) My main goal for this playthrough is to support the Templars — I’ve never done that, and I am very, very curious to see the differences. Other things I have not done: played a male Hawke, played a warrior, sent Bethany to the Grey Wardens (or Carver to the Templars, but I’m pretty sure this not going to be a mage game), romanced Isabela past the first hook-up, romanced Merrill or Sebastian at all, played a purple Hawke, rivaled anyone other than Merrill or Fenris…

Obviously, I am not going to get all that into one game. I find myself very likely to play at least once more after this, to follow up on my Mahariel, so I don’t have to catch everything, and there are some things I don’t feel super-compelled to ever do (romancing Merrill, for example, or rivaling Varric). I am pretty convinced I want to play m!Hawke, and I had hoped the Isabela romance would be next, but my current concept is a Hawke who believes in Andraste and in law and order, leading them to feel that, at least in Kirkwall, supporting the Chantry and a strong Circle is best means toward keeping the most people safe. (Note: this is not necessarily what I believe. But I think it’s reasonable for a certain sort of Hawke to believe it, and I think it’ll make for an interesting role-playing experience.) And I have a hard time seeing that sort of Hawke in a friendly romance with Isabela, and I have my doubts about rivalmancing her. So I’m not sure how that’s all going to end up. Anders rivalmance, maybe? That, I am curious about.

The other thing I’ve been thinking: a devout and law-abiding (within the restrictions of canon) Hawke could make an excellent setup for a Sebastian romance. But that means playing f!Hawke again, and much as I love f!Hawke, I really did want to get the experience of playing as male.

So (and I salute you if you slogged through all that), opinions? Is this my best opportunity for an all-out Sebastian romance game? Or should I roll up the m!Hawke warrior I’ve been planning all along and just see where it goes?

(Crossposted from two posts on Tumblr.)

Comments

[cumuluscastle]

Either way I am interested in reading about the outcome as you experience it. I have never really had the heart to support the templars, but your logic makes excellent sense. I say stick with male Hawke. Then again, although I haven't met Sebastian personally in a game, he doesn't sound very interesting to me, so I am a little biased.

[owlmoose]

In truth, I'm not that interested in Sebastian either. But I have many Tumblr friends who love him, and there's a part of me really curious to get to know him a little better, try to see what they see. On the other hand, I'm not convinced that this kind of Hawke -- one who isn't likely to challenge him very much -- is likely to bring out much that's interesting. So I will probably stick with my male Hawke plan. I won't have time to start until tomorrow at least, so I have time to think about it still.

[sarasa_cat]

I haven't tried romancing or rivalmancing Seb yet but from what little I've YouTubed, I can see it being fun when roleplaying certain kinds of Hawkes. Seb's religion-vs-revenge conflict seems like it would make an interesting story. The question I have is what kind of Hawke will I crafting to romance or rivalmance him... Haven't yet decided.

[sarasa_cat]

Go with the m!Hawke and do something else romance-wise that you haven't yet done?

One of my current Hawkes in Progress (HIPs?!?!) -- Garrett "the Dude" Hawke -- is a seemingly easy-going purple male rogue who, deep down, is a devout Andrastian, who believes that the Circle has an important purpose, and who sleeps better at night when he believes that Law & Order is at work. I'm not sure who he'll support during the end game, but he's far more templar-leaning than my other Hawkes. He's about to have a torrid rivalmance with Anders. From a headcanon POV, they bond over Andrastian faith and Hawke's deep respect for the charitable things that Anders does, but devout!lawful!Hawke feels that Anders has been led astray and he wants to pull Anders onto a more morally "correct" path. Haha. We know how that will turn out. ;) Anyhow, he's been fun so far because the game's story feels *very* different with this Hawke.

[owlmoose]

Except for being a warrior rather than a mage, that does sound a lot like the Garrett concept that's been running in my head. I can see how the story would feel very different with that set of assumptions, rather than my two f!Hawkes, who both tended toward being a little more chaotic (Marian with the goal of helping the most people, Marissa with the goal of making her fortune and keeping herself out of the Gallows -- before she caught the mage freedom bug and grew more altruistic) and definitely not religious.

I like the point that this particular Garrett and Anders bond over their shared faith -- it's pretty clear that Anders is a frustrated believer, probably the most devout of the companions besides Sebastian. He's always made me think of a lapsed Catholic, who wants to believe in the doctrine but can't stomach the way the current hierarchy practices his faith.

[sarasa_cat]

Anders reminds me a lot of people who grew up in deeply devout communities (supposedly the Anderfels is super-devout) and leave during their formative years due to a non-negotiable issue, but who long for the sense of belonging and purposeful living that is commonly felt in devout communities. (Of course, Justice-Anders is a bit different from Anders in Awakening, but Dude Hawke didn't know Anders back then.)

Anyhow, Dude Hawke was originally created for an Anders rivalmance and something about a joking/purple religious guy who wants a lawful society naturally lent itself to this.

I also have a hardly started female warrior who is probably going to get matched up with Seb. She is also a devout believer, and I think she'll have a big life crisis at some point when she sees how bad the Circle in Kirkwall really is. Not sure how that will work out and I haven't yet done the research to meta-game Seb's outcomes to decide whether she will romance or rivalmance him.

These are my only two devout Hawkes so far.