So here is a scenario I thought up in case I were to ever make an alternate quest for Dragon Age: Origins.
Here's the scenario...
You are one member of a team of four, consisting of:
- One Templar with Sword and Shield and Two-Handed training.
- One Templar with Dual Weapon training.
- One Anti-Mage (a mage who uses anti-magic spells like Mana Clash, Dispell, etc. This includes Glyph of Neutralization, which naturally comes with the other glyphs. Also Healing spells.)
- One Legionnaire Scout.
So you would pick one of these characters to make the decisions for, but you could control the others as you would regular party members.
You are commissioned by the Chantry to go to a village (population 200) in Ferelden and hunt down a maleficar who was reported to be near that village.
You have no phylactery for this mage, as he was never a mage of any circle. You have only a vague description of him.
You arrive at the village to find it being terrorized by moderately strong demons, and your team kills the demons easily through a proper use of team tactics.
You hear of the maleficar from the villagers and that the demons were summoned by him.
With information from the villagers, The Legionnaire Scout tracks the maleficar and reports that he is three miles away in a cave.
The team sets out for the cave. Halfway there they run into the maleficar. Before a battle can ensue a villager runs up and says the village is almost overrun by demons.
The maleficar confirms that it was his magic that summoned the demons.
He warns that if you pursue him further, the village will fall, and he runs in a direction that is away from the village.
You will be able to track him down, but only if you go after him right away.
Indeed the village will fall unless you go back to defend it, but you may not find the maleficar again in this case, and who knows what he'll do next?
What do you do in this situation? Do you go after the maleficar, or do you go back to save the villagers? If you do both you'll have to split your team up, and that might result in both the maleficar killing his pursuers and the demons killing the protectors. So if you split them up, which ones do you send to deal with what threat and why?
Questions about this scenario are also welcome. Believe it! (talk) 21:08, November 2, 2012 (UTC)
I help the village, because I like killing demons than mages. --87.95.81.124 (talk) 22:13, November 2, 2012 (UTC)Lord Rahl
- But what if the maleficar goes to another town right after and unleashes more demons? Believe it! (talk) 14:24, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
Well then I go to that town and kill the demos. Easy.--87.95.33.91 (talk) 15:12, November 3, 2012 (UTC)Lord Rahl
- But with no way to track the maleficar you cannot know what village he went to until after hearing word of its destruction. :) Believe it! (talk) 16:57, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
Then it's bye bye village. There are always more.--87.95.33.91 (talk) 18:33, November 3, 2012 (UTC)Lord Rahl
- What if the next place he goes to is Denerim, or Amaranthine, or Highever? :) Believe it! (talk) 03:23, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
They can be rebuild. --87.95.3.33 (talk) 08:49, November 4, 2012 (UTC)Lord Rahl
Can I help the maleficar to wipe out the party, wait for the demons to go back to the Fade, then take control of the village (or what's left of it), strike a bargain with the maleficar to learn his/her powers, then probably kill the maleficar? -Algol- (talk) 23:00, November 2, 2012 (UTC)
- No. Your entire team is morally upright and pious. ;p Believe it! (talk) 14:24, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
- Maybe there are only two options, maybe there are more depending on how you play. Splitting the team up is an option as others here have done, but how you split them up makes all the difference in winning or losing. Also you can romance, but all party members are hideously ugly. :p Just kidding. Believe it! (talk) 16:57, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
Since the mage in the party has anti magic burst, send them after the Maleficar and one shot him with mana clash before rejoining the party at the village bar newly renamed in their honour for annihilating the demons. ----Isolationistmagi 23:43, November 2, 2012 (UTC)
- EDIT: Actually, after reading the original post more carefully, just mana clash him as he starts running and then go kill the demons in time for an afternoon pint. ----Isolationistmagi 23:45, November 2, 2012 (UTC)
- What if the maleficar resists Mana Clash or is able to cast Spell Shield first? (EDIT: Or what if his health is too high and can't be killed in one Clash, like a boss?) That leaves your Anti-Mage all alone with a more powerful mage. :) Believe it! (talk) 14:24, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
- He doesn't have spell shield active because that was not part of the scenario you laid out- and a a single mana clash is actually enough to take out an extremely powerful boss like Gaxkang, so I'll leave my solution as is. ----Isolationistmagi 21:52, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
- The scenario doesn't lay out a lot of things that you would still have to plan for, such as the maleficar using blood magic, or even traps. Gaxkang can only be one-shot'd under perfect circumstances such as with Wynne using a few buffs including VotS, Shale's party buff, and with hexes on Gaxkang. The Anti-Mage is not Wynne and does not have Shale's support. The Maleficar is also not Gaxkang and has more experience using spells and defending against magic than he did. Don't forget that Mana Clash can fail at times. Believe it! (talk) 03:23, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
- Easy enough, the Scout and Anti-Mage track the maleficar and take him down with Mana Clash, while the templars deal with the demons. The tanking templar Taunts the demons followed by Holy Smite (the DA2 version right?) and the dual-wielder spams abilities at a chokepoint against any other encroaching demons. Eventually (after about 30-60 minutes by my guess) both pairs regroup. If the Anti-Mage has Crushing Prison it would be even easier. A fun idea nonetheless, I'd look forward to more scenarios. RShepard227 (talk) 00:30, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
- Are two Templars enough to deal with a swarm of demons? Remember what happened at the Circle Tower. This is all for DA:O. Thanks for taking interest in my scenario. ;) Believe it! (talk) 14:24, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
- It all depends on how many demons are there, what abilities the maleficar has, and what healing items/abilities are available to the party. I like the concept, but there are a lot of loopholes for people to exploit. That is, if the whole purpose is to force one choice or another and not have Third Options everywhere. RShepard227 (talk) 05:59, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
- Are two Templars enough to deal with a swarm of demons? Remember what happened at the Circle Tower. This is all for DA:O. Thanks for taking interest in my scenario. ;) Believe it! (talk) 14:24, November 3, 2012 (UTC)
- You clearly know nothing of Gaxkang. He is one of the ancient forbidden ones along with Xebenkeck, Imshael and the Formless One. They are (at least) approximately 2000 years old. Though all that experience didn't seem to help him or Xebenkeck much. Also from what I've seen templars seem mostly useless against blood mages and demons. Their powers don't seem to work against blood magic (maybe because of the lyrium they drink) and the mental effects that lyrium has on them renders most of the ones I've met all but useless against most demons. The anti-mage and the legionnaire would likely be your best shots at success. Vampire Damian (talk) 15:56, November 29, 2012 (UTC)
If it my job to hunt maleficar, than I hunt the maleficar. Defending some village is not my responsibility nor my problem. --R0B45 (talk) 05:28, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
- That may not apply in the wake of the Mage-Templar War. With the mages and templars divorced from the Chantry, the leash-jerker of most Thedosians, they're open to far more criticism and bad PR (whereas before everything they did was the Chantry's ruling a.k.a. "the Maker's will" and not to be questioned). Abandoning a defenseless village to the demented fancies of demons just to hunt one maleficar may spin bad PR, and it may support the mage resistance's case that the templars have become vicious Blood Knights (trope, nothing to do with blood magic) that care only for the eradication of the magi, encouraging them to provide aid and asylum to even blood mages, if not rally more civilians to take up arms on their behalf and enable the Second Imperium. Hell, if you mismanage Amaranthine in Awakening, you get that whole sector of Ferelden pissed at the Wardens for several years, and the Wardens' importance/pseudo-impugnity is recognized throughout Thedas. My point is, bad PR travels far even in a world where nations are still separated by horseback and the sea. So, if OP's whole point of this was to force a choice between the two, I choose the village. RShepard227 (talk) 05:59, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
- And what? Leave said maleficar to do the same to other people/villages? The needs of the many beats the needs of a few. Besides, not doing the job you were sent to do does not look good for you at all. I would rather trust someone who gets the job done than someone that goes and saves cats from trees.--R0B45 (talk) 09:17, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
- A fair point, if a little rude-sounding. I'm well aware that the job comes first, but in order to repeat his threat elsewhere, he'd need to attack another village of at least 200 or more. Chances are he's not gonna find a village of that size. Lothering was probably 200 people, and Honnleath 150- for perspective. There are a lot of maybes involved in letting him go, it may be he gets 20 deaths under his belt before he's finally cornered. I'm probably a little colored on this issue because it's so comparable to letting Balak go in Mass Effect 1 (I let him go, as a terrorist with his following slaughtered he's no threat, but the bombs he left behind were. Plus you know who he is now and can track him later, a news report at the very least shows there's a BOLO for him so he won't be hijacking asteroids anytime soon). Granted, the templars don't have that luxury in the DA universe: no phylactery, so all the warning in the world to large villages in the area probably won't do much. And the purpose of my comment was just to discuss the long-term result of going after the mage with no consideration for who's going to suffer, not immediately order abandoning the job because someone's gonna get hurt at your expense. Incorporating what you said, the templars end up looking bad no matter what they do, so it's better to kill the mage and get back to help if you can, like Ezzy says below. RShepard227 (talk) 17:32, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
Well, since the original purpose of the mission was to hunt down the maleficar, I would complete that objective first; saving the village is a secondary concern and can be handled later. If all of the villagers die in the time it takes to kill the blood mage, then that sacrifice is unfortunate but necessary. EzzyD (talk) 09:25, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
I would continue Hunting the Mage with my whole party as the village would not be his last if I do not ensure his removal from existance. However, I would do my best to go back to the village asap afterwards in the hopes of saving as many as possible if I can. Mage Captal (talk) 23:45, November 4, 2012 (UTC)
Believe it!: Wow! So many good replies. Thanks to all who are participating.
@RShepard227 You don't know how many demons there are because you're not at the village, but you have a decent guess. The villager who ran after your party tells you the village is being overrun. Also, prior experience tells you that the village won't survive such an attack. You know the maleficar can summon demons, so it would be safe to assume he knows blood magic as well. You should assume he is very powerful. There are no loopholes, but I think you mean unknowns. There are unknowns it's true but, such is life. :D There are third and fourth options. I'm just curious as to what people would do and why.
Regarding your reply to R0B45, the Mage-Templar war isn't really part of the scenario, and if it were, this is still Ferelden we're talking about, which may have remained civil in this matter and is mostly just uninvolved. But even if the war has touched Ferelden, R0B45's option would still play in the Chantry's favor because they would be stopping the mage that caused that village to be destroyed. The team would be justified in bringing justice to that mage, and the destruction would be blamed on the mage that caused it thus fueling the anti-mage sentiment, thus support for the Chantry. Also, while PR is something to consider, we must also remember that as far as this team goes, "Ours is not to wonder why. Ours is but to do or die." You can follow the Chanty's orders to the letter and let them worry about the spin. But, if you let the malefica get away, there may be someone your team will have to answer to. Then again, there may be this if you let the village fall to demons and let those demons escape into the countryside. Same as if you take the risk of splitting up your team to deal with both threats (even if you are successful in stopping both). The Chantry's potential for hypocrisy is another issue that we may consider or ignore. After all, your team is best suited to know how to deal with the situation, and only your team would know the story. If you felt it necessary, your team could spin the story in favor of whatever action they take. Omit certain details? Or maybe that would only lead to more trouble. ;)
@R0B45 You actually make a good point. The Chantry told you to hunt the maleficar, and so that is your main objective. However, there are some other things to consider. Shouldn't innocent life be protected if possible? Also don't forget that there are cases of maleficar getting away from Templars all the time, your case would not be the first or the last. Also, what is more important, one maleficar or dozens of demons? Remember that each one of those demons can cause more havoc and death than a maleficar. Plus, your team now knows that the maleficar looks like and some of what he can do. Your report would still aid in his capture later. Also, Templars are generally sworn to protect against magic of all kinds, even those of demons. So while I doubt there would be any serious repercussions in just going after the Maleficar, you still may be haunted by the thought of if there was anything else you could have done to make things end in a better way.
- Hunting the maleficar is protecting the innocent, is it not? Otherwise, why would I be sent to hunt him? And might I ask how the demons got there? I understand why people like to be selfless about this sort of thing, but in the grand scheme of thing, far worse things could happen if you forgo a chance to eliminate a threat. A maleficar has the power to summon even more demons, and being a blood mage, would very likely be finding people to sacrifice in rituals, in order to prepare for the next encounter, by which point he may be too strong to defeat. Furthermore, blood magic can be used to control others. If he managed to control a companion of mine on top of his aformentioned power-up, I would most certainly lose the fight and he can continue harming "innocents".--R0B45 (talk) 21:48, November 6, 2012 (UTC)
@EzzyD Logical and well stated. Your choice would lead to the village being destroyed and dozens of demons roaming the countryside. The destruction would spread, but at least no more demons would be summoned. My guess is that the Chantry would commend you for bringing the maleficar to justice, and then they would blame the deaths of all those innocent people on the maleficar who summoned the demons. But you might be haunted by the thought that maybe there was a way to stop the maleficar and save the town.
@Mage Captal The best you would be able to do is kill any demons that remain in the ruined village. Most demons would have set out in different directions across the countryside. Believe it! (talk) 19:06, November 6, 2012 (UTC)
If there were more to it, like for example the companions have opinions on the subject, things might've ended up different than I said earlier. In DA:O when I got to Redcliff, I wasn't going to defend the city at first, but eventually decided to do so because it was important to Alistair. Perhaps to spice it up you could also include what the other 3 think about the situation? --R0B45 (talk) 22:04, November 6, 2012 (UTC)
Given that a village of 200 is "overrun," not just a couple of Desire/Pride Demons, it's even debatable as to whether the full party can even fend them off. With this point, I'm writing off the village as an unfortunate loss and going after the mage. And if the maleficar can summon this many demons without breaking a sweat, it's all the more important that he die. Forget doing it simply because it's your job or to avenge the lives lost, he's just too frakking dangerous. RShepard227 (talk) 06:35, November 7, 2012 (UTC)