Dragon Age (Game Series)

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Dragon Age
Logo Dragon Age Serie.png
developer BioWare
Publisher Electronic Arts
Designer Mike Laidlaw
David Gaider
First title Dragon Age: Origins (2009)
Last title Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014)
Platform (s) Windows , Mac OS , Xbox 360 , Xbox One , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , Android , iOS
Genre (s) Computer role playing game

Dragon Age is a computer game franchise from the Canadian development studio BioWare , which is located on the continent Thedas of a medieval-inspired fantasy world . Beginning with Dragon Age: Origins from 2009, a franchise was formed around the main series of computer role-playing games with additional computer games and offshoots in the comic, book, film, and pen & paper role-playing area . The trademark rights are owned by the US computer game manufacturer Electronic Arts , which took over BioWare in January 2008.

Development history

Meta-ratings
title GameRankings Metacritic
Dragon Age: Origins k. A. 91 (Win)
87 (PS3)
86 (X360)
Dragon Age 2 k. A. 82 (Win)
82 (PS3)
79 (X360)
Heroes of Dragon Age k. A. 59 (iOS)
Dragon Age: Inquisition k. A. 87 (Win)
89 (PS4)
86 (XOne)

In May 2004, the Canadian computer game developer BioWare first announced that it was working on a role-playing game called Dragon Age and presented a first demo of the game at the E3 computer game trade fair. BioWare founder Ray Muzyka described the game as the "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate ", BioWare's successful role-playing game series based on the Dungeons & Dragons set of rules . Unlike most previous BioWare games, Dragon Age was supposed to be based on a completely self-developed background scenario. The development studio described it as dark, heroic fantasy (ger .: dark heroic fantasy ) and gave as an influence, among other things, the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin on. The game remained in development for several years, during which time the studio was acquired by US publisher Electronic Arts in January 2008 . It finally appeared in November 2009 under the title Dragon Age: Origins for Windows , Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and was expanded with several downloadable content and an add-on .

Before that, in May 2009, BioWare and the role-playing game publisher Green Ronin Publishing announced the development of a pen & paper role-playing game in the Dragon Age universe. According to producer Mark Darrah, it represents a further step in the expansion of the brand into a comprehensive franchise. There is also the possibility of designing the game world in more detail. In March 2009, David Gaider , the main author of the computer game, published the original English edition of Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, the first book on the game to deal with events from the time before Origins . In January 2010, DC Comics announced a set of four action figures that were released in September 2010. At the same time, smaller games for web browsers or mobile phones were created, often in connection with the publication of a title from the main series. This was continued in 2011 with Dragon Age 2 , which also met with criticism due to some concept changes. In the same year, in connection with the publication of a download extension for Dragon Age 2 , an official film adaptation of the Dragon Age game world, the web series Dragon Age: Redemption by and with actress Felicia Day, appeared for the first time . In 2012, the anime adaptation Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker followed . In 2014, the main series continued with the release of the game Dragon Age: Inquisition .

Game world

Thedas

Theda, originated from the acronym The D ragon A ge S etting (Engl. For the Dragon Age scenario ), is a continent in the southern hemisphere of the fantasy world and a central scene of the computer game series. In Thedas are the realms of Ferelden, Orlais, Anderfels, Nevarra, Antiva, Rivain, the Free Marches and the Tevinter Empire. It is mainly inhabited by a mixture of races of humans, elves and dwarves, with humans being predominant. The elven empire that once existed in Thedas was completely destroyed by the arrival of the people from the north and its culture almost forgotten. The elves lost their immortality and are now considered inferior by the people, open racism is the order of the day. They are often kept as slaves or live in the cities of the people as second class citizens. Some elves try to escape this oppression and lead a self-determined life according to their ancient traditions. They call themselves Dalish and mostly move through the forests of Thedas in traditional tribal groups, trying to reassemble the fragmentary remnants of their culture.

The society of the dwarfs is characterized by a strict caste system, which offers hardly any opportunities for its members to pass through and is characterized by the constant competition of the family elites. The dwarves once lived in numerous underground cities (so-called Thaigs), which were connected to one another via a large network of tunnels, the Deep Paths. With the appearance of the dark spawn, however, all of them - with the exception of Orzammar, Kal-Sharok, and Kal'Hirol - were lost to the corrupted creatures. Since then, numerous dwarfs have also lived on the surface, which makes them outcasts with their underground relatives, who over time also lose their special underground sense of direction forever.

The dark spawn are one of the greatest sources of danger for the free residents of Thedas. These depraved creatures, which were once created by the magicians from Tevinter, predominantly rule the underground with the ancient dwarf cities and their connecting tunnels. At irregular intervals, however, they try to advance to the surface in a large-scale offensive under the leadership of an arch demon. These are known as corruption.

Par full

Par Vollen, also known as “the occupied north” by the inhabitants of Thedas, is a separate continent, separated from Thedas by a narrow arm of the sea. It is largely unknown and is the jurisdiction of the Qunari.

The nothing

The “nothing” (English: The Fade) is a magical parallel world to Thedas. It was considered the abode of the Creator God, the Builder, when, according to old legends, he still lived in the Golden City. Today it is mainly the spirits of the deceased and power-hungry demons who try to invade the world of Thedas. Under normal circumstances, nothing is physically inaccessible to mortals, but is "traveled" by all races of Thedas with the exception of the dwarfs in every dream. Also only with magic, especially blood magic, and certain magical ores, the so-called red lyrium, can the veil that separates the two worlds be made permeable. One of the greatest breakthroughs between Nothing and Thedas is the magical breach that emerged in Dragon Age: Inquisition .

Groupings

The church

The Church of the Builder (English: The Chantry ) is the predominant religion in Thedas. The builder is considered the creator god, who at some point withdrew from the world because of the mistakes of his creatures and has not appeared since then. Only during the rule of the magicians of the Tevinter Empire over all of Thedas did he reveal himself to the warrior Andraste, whom he announced his return if the whole world should return to believe in him. Andraste pushed back after the end of the first corruption with a large army, the influence of the Tevinter Empire and their belief in the seven old gods, where they died a martyr. The church of the builder with its center in Orlais, the female head of which bears the title The Divine, emerged from her followers. Even during periods of political crisis and in times of war, the church offers a basis that unites all countries. Via the Order of the Templars and the Seekers of Truth, which is subordinate to her, she has controlled the practice of magic throughout the continent for a long time by placing and monitoring all those with magical skills in convents that are closed from the rest of the world. After the events of Dragon Age 2, this old order collapses and the church loses its influence on the Knights Templar, and war breaks out between the Templars and the magicians. Since then the church has tried to mediate between the warring groups and to bring about peace negotiations.

In addition to the church of the builder, there is another church of Andrastian style in Tevinter, which is hardly mentioned in the Dragon Age series.

The Order of the Templars

The Order of the Templars (English: Templar Order ) was the military arm of the church for a long time. It was formed after the Inquisition's alliance with the Builder's Church to control the magic that caused the first corruption. Since then, the knights of the order have controlled the magicians in locked facilities, the so-called circles. In this way the creed of the church should be preserved that magic should serve people, not rule over them. The Templars tracked down all magical persons and brought them to the circles for training and control. There they were supposed to prevent magicians from coming into contact with demons and being subjected by them. Such demon-controlled magicians are known as abominations and are persecuted and killed by the Templars by all means. In order to be armed against the magic, the Templars use the likewise magical Lyrium Crystals, which give them special abilities. They pay particular attention to the search for and pursuit of so-called blood magicians, whom they refer to as Maleficarum (singular: Maleficar, Latin for "culprit").

For the control of the circle magicians, the Templars relied on so-called phylacteries, which were produced individually for each magician from his blood. With a phylactery, a magician can be tracked down at any time when he escapes from the circle. From the control function of the Templars increasingly developed a suppression of the magicians, which in the course of the events of Dragon Age 2 finally erupted in an open revolt that spread from Kirkwall across the entire continent. While the Church continued to strive to keep the peace, the Knights Templar broke away and began to relentlessly fight the magicians across the continent.

Circle of Magi

With the Tevinter mage aristocracy responsible for creating the dark spawn, mages are commonly perceived as a threat. The Church's stance is that magic exists to serve people, not to rule over them. Since Andraste's victory over the magicians of Tevinter, the majority of magicians lived for a long time isolated from the rest of the world in closed convents, the so-called circles (English: Circle of Magi ), where they trained their skills and were trained in the lure of demons to withstand nothing. The nothing is a spirit world to which the magicians can contact in the dream because of their abilities. There the magician can encounter the spirits of the deceased, for example. However, there also live demons that were created by the lower instincts of the people and try to seduce the magician, bring him under their control and thus ultimately achieve the transition into the living environment of the inhabitants of Thedas. Such dominated by demons magicians are abomination (ger .: Abomination ) called and tracked throughout Thedas. To prepare an adept for these dangers has always been the goal of circle training. The first transition into nothingness and the confrontation with a demon (the so-called purification) formed the conclusion of the basic magical training. If the adept did not succeed in resisting the temptations, he was killed by the guards of the Templar Order present at the examination.

Magicians who do not have the necessary personal strength, are afraid of the examination or practice prohibited practices, could also be deprived of their magical abilities voluntarily or on the order of a circle leader with the so-called appeasement process. A soothed person (English: Tranquil ) also loses all emotion and feeling for his social environment, which makes him appear cold and repellent to other people. The forced appeasement is therefore a horror for many magicians. Within the magical disciplines, blood magic, with which the magicians of Tevinter once forced access to the Golden City and thus created the dark brood, is particularly frowned upon. On the one hand it is considered to be powerful, but on the other hand it is also ominous. A blood mage (English: Blood Mage , alternate: Maleficar) is increasingly exposed to the danger of becoming an abomination, which is why the practice was forbidden by the church and is persecuted with great severity by the Templars. The only blood magic allowed is the creation of a phylactery from the blood of a magician, with which the Templars can track him down again in the event of an escape.

Since the secluded circle life and the supervision by the Templars were always associated with strong personal restrictions, there was always dissatisfaction within the ranks of magicians. Some, the so-called apostates , tried to flee from the circles or not to be forced into them in the first place. The ban on blood magic also did not meet with approval from all representatives. Over time, the tensions between magicians and Templars increased, until the Templars violently suppressed the magicians. When the renegade magician Anders blew up the church of Andraste in the city of Kirkwall, which was badly shaken by the mage-templar conflict, an open rebellion of the local mage circle ensued, which resulted in a chain reaction throughout Thedas. The plot of Dragon Age: Inquisition is marked by the battle of the magicians against the Order of the Templars.

The dark brood

According to the game world mythology, the ruling magicians of the Tevinter Empire once invaded nowhere with the help of blood magic in search of a powerful magical place, the Golden City, the abode of the builder. There they were indeed able to find that they're doing by staying a transformation through and were thrown back by Thedas from them the first of the darkspawn (ger .: were Dark Spawn ). Since they couldn't stand the daylight, they retreated underground. There they met Dumat, one of the seven old gods, whom they freed and who then took over the leadership of the dark brood as the first arch demon in the form of a dragon. The archdemon's support gave the brood additional strength. Almost the entire underground dwarf kingdom was overrun by the creatures and since then the tunnel network that runs through the entire continent, the Deep Ways, has been in their hands. When they tried to extend their rule to the surface, they could be repulsed by the newly formed Order of the Gray Guardians, who slayed the arch demon and thus robbed the dark brood of much of their strength. With the repulsion of this so-called first corruption, the dark brood withdrew again into the Deep Ways in search of the other ancient gods. Every time they can free one of them, the new arch demon takes control of the dark brood and leads them to the surface in a new wave of corruption. The plot of Dragon Age: Origins describes the outbreak of the fifth corruption.

The Gray Guardians

The Order of the Gray Wardens was originally formed to counter the threat of the First Corruption. However, the dark brood could not be repulsed by conventional weapons and magic; only with the help of blood magic was a way finally found. Since then, anyone who wanted to become a Gray Guardian had to drink the normally poisonous blood of a dark brood as an initiation rite. If he survived this ceremony, he was in future connected to the brood in a supernatural way, could sense their presence and understand their telepathic communication. Also, it is only possible for a Gray Guardian to kill an arch demon, as its soul usually passed into the nearest dark brood after its mortal shell had died. Only a Gray Guardian can take in the arch demon's soul and finally destroy him, sacrificing his own life. Since then, the order has assumed an overriding protective function, trying to stay out of everyday political issues. Its members therefore renounce all family and political ties. Once highly regarded and represented across the continent, its importance has been increasingly questioned due to the long intervals between the waves of corruption, so that its membership and former prosperity have waned. At the time of the fifth corruption in Dragon Age: Origins , the order in Ferelden had only a few members who, with the exception of two young recruits (the player character and the royal bastard Alistair), all perished in the Battle of Ostagar.

The headquarters of the Gray Guardians are located at the Weisshaupt Fortress in Anderfels.

The seekers of truth

The Seekers of the Truth were originally a control and protection organization of the church against internal and external enemies. Like the Knights Templar, they were subordinate to the head of the church and were considered their right hand. Their main task was to control the Knights Templar and to track down corrupt machinations within the order or the church organizations. Seekers could also be used in particularly difficult cases involving fleeing magicians. Its members are recruited from the ranks of the Templars, but there is also competition between the two organizations. In the course of the Templar-Magician War, the seekers as well as the Knights Templar renounce the guided tour through the church in order to be able to proceed against the magicians at their own discretion.

inquisition

The original Inquisition came into being after the First Corruption to combat the dangers of magic and heresy. After negotiating with the Church, she submitted to the leadership of the Church in the Treaty of Nevarra. From it emerged the Knights Templar and the Seekers of Truth, who supervised the practice of magic on behalf of the Church. After the seekers and the Knights Templar canceled the contract with the church as a result of the events after the magical uprising in Kirkwall ( Dragon Age 2 ) and went to war against the magicians on their own, Dragon Age: Inquisition was re-established the inquisition. Your main goal is to fight the demon army that threatens to invade Thedas through a magical breach.

Qunari

The term Qunari stands for people of the Qun . In a narrower sense it describes the people of the horned Kossith, but actually includes all believers of the Quns. Members of the people, elves or dwarves can also count among the followers of the Quns, but the Kossith are perceived as the original and dominant representatives of this group. The Qun is a code of honor that demands strict discipline from its followers and the unconditional fulfillment of its social function. The role of each individual is fixed and unchangeable. The messages of the Qun must not be questioned; if a believer fails to fulfill his duties, he will be severely punished. The Qunari do not believe in gods and have a missionary mandate to convert the whole world to the faith of the Quns. Hence the Qunari are considered a threat by the Church of the Builder. Members who have fallen away from the Qun are called Tal-Vashoth and are outcasts. They often hire themselves out as mercenaries far away from the Qunari centers or act as bandits.

Main series

Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age Logo : Origins

The first title takes place in the Kingdom of Ferelden and deals with the outbreak of the fifth corruption. The player character represents a recently recruited Gray Guardian. Through the betrayal of the royal confidante Loghain, the united army of the Kingdom of Ferelden and the Gray Guardians at Ostagar are subject to the hordes of the dark brood. The king and almost all representatives of the Gray Guardians are killed. As one of the last representatives of his order, the player character has to look for allies in order to face the arch demon militarily, kill him and thus end the corruption.

The game was released after six years of development in November 2009, one year after BioWares was acquired by Electronic Arts, for Windows , Mac OS , Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 . In March 2010, an add-on called Awakening was released . In addition, several download extensions were released, some of which ( Trapped in the Stone , Guardian Fortress , Return to Ostagar ) added new stories to the game campaign, others ( The Chronicles of the Dark Brood , Leliana's Song , Golems of Amgarrak , Witch Hunt ) designed as independent adventures were.

Dragon Age 2

Dragon Age 2 logo

The second title is about Hawke, the male or female player and champion of Kirkwall. Hawke is on the run with the family from Lothering when it is overrun by the dark brood at the same time as the events of Dragon Age: Origins . The escape route leads to Kirkwall, where Hawke works his way up from a simple smuggler / thug to the hero and savior of the city over a narrative period of several years. Hawke plays a key role in the escalating conflict between the Knights Templar and the Magi Circle, which culminates in the destruction of the Church of Kirkwall by the renegade magician Anders and leads to an open war between magicians and Templars.

Unlike its predecessor, Dragon Age 2 was released for the first time in March 2011 after a development time of 16 months, for Windows, Mac OS, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Compared to its predecessor, the plot was much more personalized to the player's character. The limitations associated with this and the short development period met with clear criticism.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age: Inquisition logo

The third title in the main series takes place after the outbreak of war between Templars and magicians. At the center of the story is the penetration of an army of demons into Thedas through the so-called Breach , which tears down the dimensional boundaries between Thedas and nothing. It arises from a magical explosion that destroys the peace negotiations initiated by the church between Templars and magicians and robs the groups of their leading heads in one fell swoop. Weakened by the ongoing armed conflict, Thedas is not ready to defend against this new danger. From the explosion, however, a survivor emerges (the player character) who has the ability to close the smaller dimensional cracks to the world of demons that are emerging all over Thedas. Following the old model, the survivor rebuilds the Inquisition to bundle the defensive forces in the fight against the demons.

Dragon Age: Inquisition was first released on November 18, 2014, for Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 . After the criticism of the predecessor, the development goal for Inquisition was to get closer to the concept of the first Origins . Also influenced by the success of the title The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim , the game world was made larger and more open.

Dragon Age 4

At the Game Awards 2018 in December of the same year, BioWare announced with a short teaser trailer that they are now working on the fourth part of the series. According to a blog entry by BioWare, it was also stated that a newly assembled team is working on the game with experienced developers who have already worked on the series and even partially on Baldur's Gate .

The main antagonist is said to be the so-called " Dread Wolf" , which appeared in the last DLC for Dragon Age: Inquisition . Accordingly, the next game builds on the part from 2014.

A release date or even an announcement for which platforms the game is being developed were not mentioned.

Offshoot

Dragon Age: Journeys

Dragon Age: Journeys was developed by EA2D as an offshoot of Dragon Age: Origins . It is a role-playing game played in the browser based on Adobe Flash . All development work carried out by EA2D on its own responsibility, in consultation with the BioWare development team to maintain the consistency of the series background. The concept was largely developed by Daniel Stradwick, creator of the label Monster's Den , while Adam Phillips ( Brackenwood ) was responsible for the visual design . The production was led by Mark Spenner and Pete Hawley, who wanted the game to be understood by the US magazine Gamepro as an independent product and not as a companion product with which they hoped to appeal to a broad customer base. The game was also aimed at buyers of Dragon Age: Origins with the incentive that items for the main title can be unlocked in Journeys .

Journeys mixes the gameplay of Diablo with Might and Magic . The player creates a role-playing character from the familiar options of Origins, with whom he then explores the game world, solves quests and carries out battles. The exploration runs in real time, via a point-and-click control in a drawn-looking, scrolling 2D landscape. The battles, on the other hand, are turn-based and take place on hexes. The graphical user interface optically corresponds to that of Dragon Age: Origins .

The first chapter of the game, The Deep Roads , was released on October 23, 2009 and is free to play. It takes place in the dwarf city of Orzammar and the surrounding Deep Streets. The developers estimated the game to last around 2.5 hours. The two following chapters and a multiplayer module should be available for a fee. However, it was never published.

Dragon Age: Legends

Dragon Age: Legends logo

Dragon Age: Legends was developed by EA2D as a companion product to Dragon Age 2 . It was a browser-based social game based on Flash, which was published on March 16, 2011, initially exclusively for Facebook, and later also for Google+ . The game was free of charge, but also included payment options with which faster game progress could be achieved (free-to-play). The playful concept came from Soren Johnson ( Civilization IV ), BioWare was involved in the drafting of the plot. As in Journey , players could unlock bonus items for the main title Dragon Age 2 in Legends .

At the beginning the player created a human warrior, magician or villain character. With this he pulled along a given, sometimes branching route until he met opposing creatures. The player could invite people from his friends list who also played the game to the subsequent, turn-based battle. After the battle, however, it took a while before these friends could be invited to a new fight. This could either be canceled by payment or the selection increased by inviting more friends to the game. The characters received experience points for successful battles and were able to learn new skills after leveling up. The player could invest the gold won in battles in the expansion of his castle, in which, depending on the expansion and time-based, useful items for the battle were produced, which could also be exchanged with friends. The plot of the game was set at the same time as Dragon Age 2 . The player character is asked by his friend Ravi, the Viscount of the city of Kaiten, to help his son Eiton, who is in trouble.

On May 18, 2012, Electronic Arts announced that it would shut down the game's servers on June 18, 2012 and thereby discontinue the game. However, it was offered for download in June 2012 in a single-player version.

Based on Legends , EA2D released a version of the game edited by Evan “PixelAnte” Miller in May 2011, titled Dragon Age: Legends Remix , which remixes the elements of the game similar to a remix in the music industry. In this version, more emphasis was placed on fast, entertaining hack & slay fights. A new storyline around the history of Viscount Ravi was introduced. With the animated flash video Dragon Age: Legends - A Legend is Born by Adam Phillips, a transition to Dragon Age: Legends was created.

Heroes of Dragon Age

Heroes of Dragon Age , developed by EA Capital Games (formerly Klicknation or BioWare Sacramento), is a free-to-play game for Android and iOS devices that was released in December 2013. The game consists of turn-based battles linked to the principles of a trading card game. It is based on familiar elements and characters from the series, but dispenses with a continuous plot. Instead, the fights are loosely connected with a rudimentary framework, which is mostly based on motifs from the games. As in the trading card game, the player acquires random heroes from which he creates a troop of up to five characters. For successful battles that take place according to the rock-paper-scissors principle and on which the player has no direct influence except through the group composition, he receives rewards with which he can improve existing characters and purchase new characters and auxiliary items. However, he can only conduct a limited number of battles in immediate succession. If the limit is reached, he has to wait some time until his quota has been replenished, or alternatively have it activated again for a fee. Figures and improvements can also be purchased through payment.

Dragon Age: The Last Court

Dragon Age: The Last Court was released as a browser game integrated into Dragon Age Keep on November 8, 2014, just before Dragon Age: Inquisition went on sale . The game developed by Failbetter Games mixes the principle of a text adventure with role-playing elements. The player's character is the ruler of the Orleans county of Serault and has to organize their court in order to uncover secrets and wipe out an old family mess. The Last Court is independent in terms of content and not linked to the games in the main series, but includes encounters with well-known series characters.

Applications

Dragon Age Keep

The Dragon Age Keep is an online application linked to the Origin online sales platform . Since Dragon Age: Inquisition, it has made it possible to import the decisions made in the previous Dragon Age games into the successor title. These can also be adjusted later.

Film adaptations

Dragon Age: Redemption

Dragon Age: Redemption logo

Redemption is a web series that was created in collaboration with actress Felicia Day and is linked to the content of the download extension Mark of the Assassin for Dragon Age 2 via the main character Tallis . The elven assassin Tallis, who has converted to the religion of the Qun, is given the task of tracking down and bringing back a deserted Qunari magician. The first of the six episodes was published simultaneously with Mark of the Assassin on October 10, 2011 on YouTube and continued at weekly intervals until November 14. In 2012 the series was also released on DVD.

Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker

Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker logo

Dawn of the Seeker is an anime adaptation by the American film distributor Funimation , directed by Fumihiko Sori . It ties in with the topic of increasing tensions between the magicians and the Order of the Templars, which were also dealt with in Dragon Age 2 . The focus is on the young Knight Templar Cassandra Pentaghast, who uncovered a conspiracy within the Knights Templar and the Magi Circle. The film sheds light on Cassandra's background and thus explains the motives for her role in Dragon Age 2 , where she first appeared as an actor in the narrative of the plot. Originally announced for 2011, the film was released in Japanese cinemas in February 2012, followed by release for the English-speaking market on DVD and Blu-ray in May, and finally also for the German market in January 2013.

Fiction

Novels
comics
  • Penny Arcade : Dragon Age: Origins , webcomic, 2009.
  • Orson Scott Card , Aaron Johnston, Mark Robinson, Jason P. Martin: Dragon Age Volume 1 , Idea and Design Works, 2011, ISBN 978-1600107740 .
  • David Gaider, Alexander Freed, Chad Hardin: Dragon Age Library Edition , Dark Horse Comics , 2014, ISBN 978-1-61655-384-5 . Comics collection, consisting of the individual publications:
    • David Gaider, Alexander Freed, Chad Hardin: The Silent Grove , Dark Horse Comics, 2012, ISBN 978-1595829160 .
    • David Gaider, Alexander Freed, Chad Hardin: Those Who Speak , Dark Horse Comics, 2013, ISBN 978-1616550530 .
    • David Gaider, Chad Hardin: Until We Sleep , Dark Horse Comics, 2013, ISBN 978-1616552190 .
  • Greg Rucka, Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir: Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 2 , Dark Horse Comics , 2018, ISBN 978-1-50670-660-3 . Comics collection, consisting of the individual publications:
    • Greg Rucka: Mage Killer # 1- # 5
    • Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir: Knight Errant # 1- # 5
Background works
  • David Gaider: Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 1 , Dark Horse Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1616551155 .
  • David Gaider: Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2 , Dark Horse Books, 2015, ISBN 978-1616555016 .
Art books

Further products

Pen & Paper RPG

The publisher Green Ronin Publishing announced in May 2009 in cooperation with BioWare the publication of a pen & paper product line for Dragon Age: Origins . In an interview, BioWare producer Mark Darrah explained this as a step in building the brand into a large-scale franchise to appeal to a wider audience. BioWare supported Green Ronin with the content design. The role-playing game is marketed under the title Dragon Age - Dark Fantasy Roleplaying . It is based on a newly developed set of rules, the Adventure Game Engine, which was designed by Publishing Director Chris Pramas with a view to making it easy for players who have never played pen & paper before. The core of the concept envisaged the development of four boxes, each of which should cover the development over five character levels, with materials for the player, game master, background and an adventure. The foundations were laid during Origins ' development work , when the final design of the game was not yet finalized. Pramas got a glimpse of BioWare's ongoing work and was able to interact with the game's designers.

The game is mainly played with three six-sided dice. Each character has eight character attributes, two more in comparison to a computer game, namely communication and perception (communication, perception). The system completely dispenses with talent tests; instead, all tests are stored for the eight basic attributes. Instead, talents give a bonus to die checks. When it comes to rehearsals, a distinction is usually only made between success and failure. Only in a few cases does it matter how well the throw succeeded. In this case, a dice is designated as a so-called dragon dice, the result of the dice decides the quality of the sample, with 1 = successful to 6 = outstandingly successful.

The first publication, Dragon Age RPG, Set 1 , was nominated in 2010 at the ENnie Awards, the audience award of the role play fair GenCon, in the categories "Best Game" and "Product of the Year", at the Origins Award 2011 in the category "Best RPG" . At the ENnies 2012, the second volume of rules, Dragon Age RPG, Set 2 for the best interior book design and the Quickstart Guide for the best free product were nominated. The Dragon Age Core Rulebook received the award for Best Game and Best Interior Design at the ENnies 2016. It was also nominated in the Product of the Year category.

Basic rules
  • Chris Pramas: Dragon Age RPG, Set 1 , Green Ronin Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-1-934547-30-4 .
  • Walt Ciechanowski, Jeff Tidball: Dragon Age RPG Quickstart Guide , Green Ronin Publishing 2011. (PDF publication)
  • Steve Kenson, TS Luikart, Chris Pramas and Jeff Tidball: Dragon Age RPG: Set 2 , Green Ronin Publishing 2011, ISBN 978-1-934547-44-1 .
  • Chris Pramas, Will Hindmarch, Steve Kenson, Mary Kirby, Lauren Roy, Logan Bonner and Zack Walters: Dragon Age RPG: Set 3 , Green Ronin Publishing 2012, ISBN 978-1-934547-48-9 .
  • Chris Pramas: Dragon Age RPG Core Rulebook , Green Ronin Publishing 2017, ISBN 978-1-934547-62-5
Adventure & regulations supplements
  • Jeff Tidball: Dragon Age Game Master's Kit , Green Ronin Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-1-934547-32-8 .
  • Chris Pramas: Dragon Age: Duty Unto Death , Green Ronin Publishing 2013. (PDF publication)
  • Walt Ciechanowski, Kevin Kul and TS Luikart: Dragon Age: Blood in Ferelden , Green Ronin Publishing 2013, ISBN 978-1-934547-33-5 .
  • Steve Kenson: The Dalish Curse , Green Ronin Publishing. (PDF publication)
Supplements
  • Will Hindmarch: Dragon Age Faces of Thedas: Tallis , Green Ronin Publishing 2011. (PDF publication)
  • Will Hindmarch: Dragon Age Faces of Thedas: Varric , Green Ronin Publishing 2012. (PDF publication)
  • Will Hindmarch: Dragon Age Creatures of Thedas: The Wyvern , Green Ronin Publishing 2012. (PDF publication)

Action figures

In January 2010, DC Unlimited, a subsidiary of DC Comics , announced the release of action figures for Dragon Age: Origins . These were four models (Duncan, Genlock, Loghain, Morrigan), which were produced in parallel to some other licensed computer game characters ( Mass Effect , God of War ).

Web links

Official sites
Related Links

Remarks

  1. ↑ cf. Origin story of the circle mage in Dragon Age: Origins .
  2. ↑ cf. last act of Dragon Age 2
  3. ↑ cf. Story of Dragon Age: Origins .
  4. ↑ cf. Plot of the film Dawn of the Seeker and the novel Dragon Age: Torn .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Metacritic : Average rating of the PC version , based on 67 articles. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ Metacritic : Average rating of the PS3 version , based on 41 articles. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  3. ↑ Metacritic : Average rating of the Xbox 360 version , based on 68 articles. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  4. ↑ Metacritic : Average rating of the PC version , based on 45 articles. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ Metacritic : Average rating of the PS3 version , based on 52 articles. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  6. ↑ Metacritic : Average rating of the Xbox 360 version , based on 75 articles. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  7. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/ios/heroes-of-dragon-age
  8. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/dragon-age-inquisition
  9. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/dragon-age-inquisition
  10. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/dragon-age-inquisition
  11. ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/05/08/bioware-announces-dragon-age
  12. ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/05/13/e3-2004-dragon-age
  13. ↑ Dean Takahashi: BioWare's founders envision Dragon Age Origins as dark heroic fantasy universe ( English ) In: GamesBeat . VentureBeat. April 7, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  14. ↑ Sean Molloy: Dragon Age: Exclusive first look at Bioware's new PC RPG ( English ) In: 1UP . December 7, 2006. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  15. ↑ GameSpot : EA buying BioWare / Pandemic for $ 860M ( Memento January 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). October 11, 2007.
  16. ↑ a b http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2009/05/interview-dragon-age-pen-and-paper-adaptation-explored/
  17. ↑ http://kotaku.com/5131391/dragon-age-prequel-novel-released-this-march
  18. ↑ a b http://kotaku.com/5461811/dragon-age-action-figures-will-probably-look-like-this
  19. ↑ http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/dragon-age-inquisition/artikel/dragon_age,46872,3080171.html
  20. ↑ a b http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-11-03-biowares-inquisition
  21. ↑ Kirk Hamilton: Dragon Age Inquisition: Trespasser: The Kotaku Review. Retrieved January 6, 2019 (American English).
  22. ↑ RPG: Bioware announces Dragon Age 4 - Golem.de. Accessed January 6, 2019 (German).
  23. ^ Author-Mark Darrah: A Message From Mark Darrah & Matthew Goldman - The Dread Wolf Rises. In: BioWare Blog. December 6, 2018, Retrieved January 6, 2019 (American English).
  24. ^ A b c John Davison: Browser Based Dragon Age Journeys . In: Gamepro . IDG . Archived from the original on October 31, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  25. ↑ http://www.eurogamer.de/articles/dragon-age-erstes-kapitel-des-flashgames-ab-sofort-kostenlos-verfugbar
  26. ↑ Griffin McElroyn: Dragon Age Legends now live on Facebook, go poke some Darkspawn ( English ) In: Joystiq . AOL . March 16, 2011. Archived from the original on March 9, 2013. Retrieved on May 18, 2012.
  27. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/google-adds-games/1100-6328521/
  28. ↑ a b http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/03/14/dragon-age-legends-the-basics
  29. ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/03/16/unlock-dragon-age-ii-items-through-facebook
  30. ↑ http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/dragon-age-legends/test/dragon_age_legends,46542,2321996.html
  31. ↑ Jordan Mallory: PSA: EA shutting down Dragon Age Legends servers June 18 ( English ) In: Joystiq . AOL . May 18, 2012. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved on May 18, 2012.
  32. ↑ http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/dragon-age-legends/news/dragon_age_legends,46542,2569111.html
  33. ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/05/12/dragon-age-legends-gets-remixed
  34. ↑ http://www.pcgames.de/Heroes-of-Dragon-Age-iPad-iPhone-257804/News/Heroes-of-Dragon-Age-Mobile-Kampfspiel-angekuendigt-1084144/
  35. ↑ http://www.pcgames.de/Heroes-of-Dragon-Age-iPad-iPhone-257804/News/Heroes-of-Dragon-Age-Mobile-Spiel-fuer-iOS-und-Android-veroeffentlicht-1100662 /
  36. ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/20/see-heroes-of-dragon-age-in-action
  37. ↑ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-03-03-heroes-of-dragon-age-review
  38. ↑ http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/dragon-age-inquisition/news/dragon_age_keep,46872,3080120.html
  39. ↑ http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/dragon-age-inquisition/news/dragon_age_inquisition,46872,3079813.html
  40. ↑ Electronic Arts : Dragon Age II: Mark of the Assassin DLC Launches Today ( English ) In: Official company website . October 11, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  41. ↑ Jessica Conditt: Dragon Age: Redemption hits DVD on Felicia Day; er, Valentine's Day ( English ) In: Joystiq . AOL . February 6, 2012. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  42. ↑ http://www.eurogamer.de/articles/2011-07-28-dragon-age-anime-erst-2012
  43. ↑ Funimation: 2012 年 2 月 11 日 (土) 、 「ド ラ ゴ ン エ イ ジ - ブ ラ ッ ド メ イ ジ の 聖 戦 -」 劇場 公開 決定！ ( Japanese ) In: Official Japanese website . September 20, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  44. ↑ Michael Sosinka: Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker - German film trailer for today's launch . In: Gamezone . Computec Media Group . January 4, 20131. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  45. ↑ Penny Arcade's Dragon Age: Origins comic debuts ( Memento from January 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  46. ↑ http://kotaku.com/5240919/dragon-age-goes-pen-and-paper
  47. ↑ http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/interviews/6727-Designing-the-Dragon-Age-Tabletop-RPG
  48. ↑ Dragon Age RPG: Design Diary 2: The Heart of the Game ( Memento from March 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  49. ↑ http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2010-winners/
  50. ↑ http://www.examiner.com/article/origins-award-winners-announced
  51. ↑ http://www.examiner.com/article/ennie-2012-nominee-spotlight-green-ronin
  52. ↑ http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2014-ennie-awards-nominees/2015-ennie-award-winners/2016-ennie-award-winners/
  53. ↑ http://kotaku.com/5524332/a-good-look-at-dragon-ages-action-figures/
Dragon Age
Computer games and official companions to the Dragon Age game series
Computer games
Main series

Origins • 2 • Inquisition

Offshoot

Journeys • Legends • Heroes of Dragon Age • The Last Court

Film adaptations

Redemption • Dawn of the Seeker

Companion products

Fiction • Pen & Paper • Action Figures