Varric Tethras is many Faces of Thedas: Varric things—friendly rogue, quick wit, teller of tales—yet he’s no scattered, flighty fellow. Those who get to know this dwarf may discover heart behind his wit, a bit of roman- Mary Kirby ticism within even his most sordid tales, and a surprising depth of loyalty in his friendship. Despite hardship and Talks Varric pain, Varric can find humor and joy even in the midst of Mary Kirby has been writing for the Dragon Age world grim combat and heartbreak. Look to him after a bloody for six years. When Dragon Age games are being made, battle and you’re likely to find him making a joke about major characters like companion NPCs are assigned his wounds. (“Dear Varric, please learn to parry. Love, to specific in-house writers at BioWare whose job it is your innards.”) to create and maintain the voice and vision for those Wherever he goes, Varric makes friends, learns the local characters through the long development process. stories, and gleans the choicest scuttlebutt. Wherever Various writers may write lines for characters other he goes, his prized and distinctive crossbow, called than their own during the design and development of Bianca, is sure to be at hand. Wherever he goes, he plots, conversations, and banter but it is the job of each seems to encounter trouble and treasures worth telling character’s dedicated shepherd to check over every line tales about later on. and make sure it is consistent with the character. Mary Kirby’s imagination has given voice to fan-favorite Whatever else Varric might seek in life, he is always characters like Varric Tethras (Dragon Age II) and the seeking a new yarn to spin and cohorts worth drinking Qunari warrior, Sten (Dragon Age: Origins) to. Surely your PCs are worth a toast or two, no? Kirby is an experienced pen-and-paper roleplaying- game player in addition to being an accomplished game “I know everyone in this town worth knowing.” writer. She ran a homebrewed D&D campaign right up until she started working at BioWare. Her first pen-and- — Varric, Dragon Age II paper RPG was Shadowrun. (“I still get a little choked up thinking about Trollish Street Samurai,” she said.)

1 Faces of Thedas: Varric Spoiler Warning Spoilers ahead! This Faces of Thedas entry doesn’t reveal every secret of Varric’s story—if you’ve played Dragon Age II and its DLC you’ll notice some instances where we’ve chosen to allude rather than define—but it does describe certain twists and revelations that come to light in other Dragon Age media. The Varric who appears in your Dragon Age RPG campaign may differ from the Varric we meet in, say, comics like The Silent Grove. Your RPG campaign’s Varric might make different choices during Dragon Age II’s period of history than you made in your most recent play through that game. We’ve chosen to minimize some spoilers by leaving some stories to be told in their own media but, still, beware of spoilers within.

Thankfully, Kirby was happy to answer a few questions MK: We had gone to Orzammar in Dragon Age: Origins, about writing and developing the character of Varric but we hadn’t seen much of the surface dwarves. for Dragon Age II: Varric gave me a chance to explore what their culture would be like. He’s very much not a traditional dwarf and that’s sort of the point. From his perspective, Green Ronin: What was your inspiration or aim tradition is a trap. A source of regret and frustration for Varric as a fictional character? How did the that’s ruined the lives of people he cares about. He’s Varric we know emerge during the design and a rogue more in the sense of being a con man than a production of Dragon Age II? pickpocket. Be careful if he tries to sell you a bridge anywhere. Mary Kirby: When I first met Varric, he consisted of nothing but the description, “Dwarf who narrates the game.” That was enough to hook me. I loved the meta- GR: What does Varric want? Why might he fictional angle of writing the guy who’s writing the join with (or oppose!) adventurers on quests game’s story. throughout Thedas? We knew he would be a surface dwarf and we knew he’d be a rogue because we wanted to immediately MK: Varric’s sense of responsibility is his Achilles heel. distinguish him from Oghren. Our lead concept artist, Everything he does is motivated by a desire to look Matt Rhodes, did the initial concepts for Varric in the out for his family or friends (and they all make this as leather duster with the open shirt and that became difficult as possible). But he has friends everywhere, on the jumping-off point for me in finding his voice and all sides of just about any conflict. So it isn’t that hard personality. I based him a bit on Ed Bloom from Big for Varric to get roped into just about any adventure on Fish—if he’s not outright lying, he is at least telling the the grounds that someone he plays Wicked Grace with story the way it meant to have happened, but is none- asked him to participate, just this once, and it’s really theless sort of loveable despite everything. important…

GR: How much do you need to know about a char- GR: Any advice for players and GMs trying to acter before you’re ready to write their dialogue get into character as Varric? Any guidance on his or behavior? Did you create a lot of background style, methods, or demeanor? lore for Varric? MK: Varric doesn’t use very formal language. He’s MK: I am terribly detail oriented and will construct a always among friends, it’s just that sometimes they character’s entire life story up to and including their don’t know they’re his friends yet. He’s a showman. favorite foods before I write anything, even though He’s always in control, charismatic, confident, even if absolutely none of that may ever come up in game. For he doesn’t feel it. Varric tends to avoid direct confronta- Varric, I invented a whole messy, tragic family history tion whenever he can. Hate the Merchants Guild? Hide for House Tethras and, of course, the untellable tale of from them. Family problems? Just stay at the Hanged how Bianca got her name… Man and don’t go home. But his sense of responsi- bility will always drag him back to eventually deal with whatever he’s been ignoring or hiding from. He’ll GR: How did the existing lore of Thedas inform always talk his way out of trouble given the chance and your writing of Varric? Was he built to reinforce or resort to Bianca only when necessary. defy some existing ideas about dwarves or rogues?

2 Faces of Thedas: Varric Hallard told his sons, “and setbacks only mean you took Background a jaunt down one wrong road, not that you’re done.” House Tethras earned its exile from the great dwarf city After Hallard died, Varric’s older brother, Bartrand, of Orzammar by fixing the outcomes of otherwise honor- took on Hallard’s duties in the Merchants Guild. able Provings. Of course, it takes more than a rigged bet to Bartrand ran the family merchant business, pushing ensure the outcome of a Proving—at least some combat- House Tethras ever higher up the social ladder while, ants must have been in on the action for the fix to work— behind the scenes, Varric looked after the family and its yet only the once-noble dwarves of House Tethras paid retainers. Each seemed suited to his position. the price for the skullduggery. Some number of dwarven Lady Ilsa, mother to Bartrand and Varric, did not weather combatants who threw their bouts went undiscovered well the trauma of her family’s disgrace. She sought and unpunished. The theory among some of the nobility solace in liquor and smoke. Varric strove to curb the was that such combatants either could not truly betray worst of her drunken rages, to keep her from becoming the Proving, because the Ancestors see and influence all a public scandal. He cared for her when her excesses on the Proving Ground and so their combats only end made her ill. Varric and Bartrand were never exactly as they should, or that crooked combatants would close—more like colleagues than brothers. pay some other price, in time, when the Ances- tors decreed. Varric has come to see the world differ- ently than his family does. The Deep Roads In the meantime, the nobility of the great were never home for Varric, they were a dwarf city of Orzammar made an example legendary and ancient place of stiff nobles of House Tethras to warn anyone else who and forgotten treasures. They were a place would meddle in the cherished tradi- of risk and opportunity, worth the occa- tion of the Proving. The message sional venture, but home was where was simple: Those who would the drinks were, where the laughter undermine the Proving have was, where his friends were. no business being dwarves; out with them. Yet Varric holds no real grudge against the dwarves below. His Varric was born three years father made a mistake—either in after the family’s exile, into committing the crime or in getting the surface world of the caught—and the dwarves in Merchants Guild, where power did what dwarves the Ancestors never do as a result. Varric isn’t spoke and the great ashamed of who he is or Paragons of old were where he is, and why should the heroes in tall he be? Varric isn’t the one tales told to young who did anything wrong. dwarves. Varric, then, was raised in the Known, now, throughout fallout of his family’s the Merchants Guild for the crimes, sharing in the stories he tells of adventurous punishment for a crime exploits (some of them his he had no part in. His kin own), Varric keeps tales of were born as dwarves of the his family and his history to deep and wore their exile himself. Varric is happy to earn with shame but for Varric the renown for telling other people’s stories well, yet he shies away from world in sight of the sky was using his family’s connections for no strange outland; it was the quick coin or favors. Varric earns his normalcy he was born into. own favors, his own friends. Practi- Varric’s father, Hallard, was cally everyone who has set foot in a hard-drinking dwarf, full Kirkwall’s Hanged Man tavern has of vinegar and confidence, as bought Varric a drink at one time quick to laugh as he was to lash or another, to keep the stories out. His esteem for himself was flowing. tempered by his family’s exile but Varric’s own history is his pride for House Tethras’ wit marbled with stories. For and ingenuity seemed to never example, he tells a slew of tales about waver. “Living means risking,”

3 Faces of Thedas: Varric Spoiler: Bianca’s Maker Bianca’s true origin—though not the secret of her name—is revealed in Dragon Age II: Legacy. She was built by a clever dwarf craftsman named Gerav (ge-RAHV). Varric described him as a “greedy, brilliant, son-of-a-nug from the Carta.” Gerav’s talent was considerable but he didn’t take so much pride in his handiwork that he bothered to put his mark on the crossbow that would come to be known as Bianca. Though his primary ambi- tion at one time was wealth and he might have found true fortune making weapons, Gerav sadly got involved with an ill-fated Carta cult that drew him away from his work and, eventually, his true faculties. Thus, Gerav won’t be making any more weapons like Bianca.

the origins of his famed and fabulous crossbow, called Bianca: He won her in a game of Wicked Grace against Adventures Paragon Branka; she was a gift from an old beggar who disappeared into thin air; he bought Bianca off a of Varric crooked merchant in Kirkwall’s Lowtown, the previous owner’s hand still wrapped around the trigger; she was “There’s power in stories. That’s all history is: the delivered to him by a talking gryphon from a far-away best tales. The ones that last. Might as well be mine.” land with a promise that she’d be needed one day. —Varric, Dragon Age II Sometimes asking about Bianca simply results in Varric grinning and walking away. Varric tells the Champion’s tale with practiced aplomb, yet many who have heard it come to wonder whether The story probably most asked for, perhaps because the dwarf’s memories—and motives—match the facts Varric never tells it? That must be the one about how as they happened or the history written by organiza- the beautiful Bianca got her name. tions like the Seekers or the Circle. Who all has heard Varric’s version of events? Does he tell your campaign’s Varric & the heroes the same tale? Or does he tell their tales to some Champion of Kirkwall other audience of Seekers or mages or templars? If your campaign sticks to Dragon Age canon, Varric Varric’s life can be easily divided into three key eras: eventually comes to know the Champion of Kirkwall before, during, and after the events of Dragon Age II. It quite well. The dwarf’s fortunes and reputation change can be fun to involve the established history and lore forever as a result of their time together. Varric and the of Thedas into a campaign, weaving new tapestries Champion explore the Deep Roads together, face danger from some of the same threads. If you and your players together, get rich together, and Varric comes to be known are striving to make your Dragon Age campaign reflect in some circles as the Champion’s de-facto biographer. and react to the official canon, you can involve Varric After a falling out between Varric and his brother, in interesting ways. Your campaign can most easily Bartrand, during their dangerous expedition into the involve Varric before or after the events of that game. Deep Roads, Bartrand disappeared. Varric searched for Maybe, when your PCs meet him, the dwarf’s a minor him for a time, seeking some combination of revenge figure in Kirkwall and it’s your PCs—experienced from and closure, but with his brother gone, Varric had to take their adventures during the recent Blight in Ferelden— over control of the family’s stake in the local Merchants who are telling stories to Varric in exchange for some Guild—at least on paper. Varric seldom attends Guild piece of information he has that pushes your current meetings, is hardly ever seen in the guildhall’s cham- adventure forward. Now Varric’s retelling the tale of bers for House Tethras, and never answers his mail. your campaign to date, too, perhaps increasing the He conducts his business from the Hanged Man tavern fame or notoriety of the PCs for better or worse. whenever he’s able. Or your PCs might encounter Varric after the final Should Varric ever commit to taking over for Bartrand scenes of Dragon Age II, when the dwarf’s responsi- officially (after Bartrand’s final fate is determined, bilities and experience are greater, when the fate of his during one of Varric’s adventures with the Champion brother has been settled. Does he help the PCs defeat of Kirkwall), he hardly embraces the role. Instead, offi- some foe in the Free Marches? Does he help smuggle cial records for both Kirkwall and the Guild end up some of the characters out of Kirkwall before powerful attributing Varric’s duties and decisions to nonexistent enemies can find them? Does he offer advice for an aunts, uncles, cousins, and household pets. Varric is upcoming expedition into the Deep Roads and wish busy doing other things. them well? Varric knows people; he could be a useful ally for your PCs to know, too.

4 Faces of Thedas: Varric In the 38th year of the Dragon Age (between the PCs take on the role of the Champions of Kirkwall and disappearance of the Champion of Kirkwall and fulfill or change that story, with Varric still in place as Varric’s interrogation by the famed Seeker, Cassandra their chronicler? Pentaghast, depicted in Dragon Age II), Varric and the The most complex ways to involve Varric in your Rivaini pirate, Isabella, embark on a secret mission with campaign (and put your PCs into the action of Dragon King Alistair of Ferelden. That mission takes Varric into Age II, in a fashion) may be the most intriguing. Take Antiva, to a variety of fabled locales, and even deeper advantage of the unexplored years in Varric’s telling into the history and lore of Thedas. (See the comic-book of the tale and craft stories of your own set therein. miniseries The Silent Grove for the whole account.) That Between the years 9:30 Dragon and 9:40 Dragon, weeks, quest demonstrates Varric’s willingness to face adven- months, and whole years of adventure may unfold that ture and peril for the sake of prized allies—or a good involve Varric and your PCs but not the Champion story. He’s a valuable comrade. (and so don’t come up when Varric recites the Champi- Alternately, Varric could be an antagonist in your on’s tale to the Seeker, Cassandra Pentaghast, in Dragon campaign. House Tethras might be rivals for some Age II). Thus your characters are in step with Thedas lucrative dealing with the Merchants Guild in Kirkwall lore, they’re just not on-topic during Varric’s retelling or Varric might know something about the PCs that of Dragon Age II. they don’t want him to tell anyone—a forbidden story Finally, consider this subtler option: Your PCs play of their own. What if your PCs are tasked with getting some secret, vital role not only in Varric’s life but in the Varric to tell some story he doesn’t want told? What if story of Dragon Age II—a role so secret, so controversial someone (like a PC!) wants to take Bianca away? or dangerous, that Varric doesn’t dare include it in his All that said, an era of Varric’s life still remains: What if retelling to the Seeker. Maybe Varric knows the PCs’ your story overlaps with that of Dragon Age II? true role in the tale but doesn’t share it or maybe he’s not the authority he seems to be. (Could your PCs be in Rewriting His Story league with the Champion or the Chantry or the Circle or the Qunari without Varric knowing it?) Varric’s role as the narrator of Dragon Age II creates a potentially fascinating and peculiar relationship between If Varric is an unreliable narrator, and his whole version the lore and the facts of Thedas. Whereas other NPCs of the story of Dragon Age II is suspect, then your are easy to integrate in ways that simply define your campaign’s players have lots of room to play without campaign as part of a playable but unofficial version of necessarily defying or rewriting the lore of the game events, as described in The Guide to Faces of Thedas, Varric world. You could interpret the scenes between Varric can participate in your stories in several distinctive ways. and Cassandra Pentaghast in Dragon Age II to be true for your campaign and leave everything else open to First, consider the most grandiose ways that your doubt. The PCs can embark on adventures throughout campaign might collide with the story of Dragon Age Kirkwall and just say Varric got it wrong… or claim he II. Varric’s role in your campaign might conflict directly was protecting them from Seeker Pentaghast. with what we see on screen in that game. That’s fine. In your version of events, anything’s possible. Here are just a few ideas: Varric & Theme • Varric leaves Kirkwall for another land when he When involving Varric in your ongoing campaign, becomes the PCs’ biographer and follows them on consider the themes he brings into play with him. If their adventures. Varric appears in a simple cameo or background role, he might not make a thematic impact on your campaign. If • Varric runs off on some romance and leaves your he plays a more important part, however, you can help PCs to fill out the ranks of Bartrand’s Deep Roads maximize his effect and make him feel more like Varric expedition. by drawing on his themes. • Varric embarks on an adventure with Tallis (who Varric’s family is important to him, more important than might be a PC in your campaign) and gets himself he might admit. Depending on how much you want to killed in battle against some Antivan Crows, tinker with his lore for your campaign, Varric’s relation- spurring your PCs to get revenge. ship with Bartrand might be accounted for by Dragon Age • Varric rounds up a party of adventurers and II. But House Tethras consists of more than just Varric’s returns to Orzammar, not to clear the Tethras immediate family. A dwarf PC in your campaign could name, but to get its treacherous cohorts in the be a cousin, aunt, or uncle of Varric’s, either part of fixing scandal exiled as well. House Tethras itself or perhaps just removed from the house enough to escape exile. That creates a meaty rela- Alternately, your campaign might strive to adapt the tionship with Varric that could be fun to play out. Alter- Dragon Age II tale in a new way. Maybe your campaign’s nately, dwarves among your PCs or established NPCs

5 Faces of Thedas: Varric RPG Game Stats The following versions of Varric were built using the character-creation rules for PCs. In this case, we gave him the surface dwarf background, though keep in mind that’s not the background shared by some of his kin. Varric’s history begins outside Orzammar, but some of his family remember that place clearly. A lot of what makes Varric distinct is his personal style, which doesn’t change much even as he grows more experi- enced. To that end, we include game stats for equip- ment that Varric is likely to use throughout his career: his distinctive overcoat, the tavern he calls home, and, of course, Bianca. Home Courts & the Contacts Talent The Contacts talent has great value whether your char- acter travels throughout Thedas or dwells in a single spot as a champion or defender of that place. The game rules for the Contacts talent work well for characters of both sorts, as written. To represent the difference between a character who is at home, surrounded by a network of familiar contacts, cohorts, and allies, the GM simply sets the target number to reflect circum- stances—lower for a friendlier or more familiar venue, higher for an unfamiliar or less welcoming place. Varric, for example, gets the most use out of his Contacts talent in the Free Marches. Likewise, he finds it easier to make connections in Kirkwall than elsewhere in the Free Marches and he finds it easiest of all to secure favors and friendship on his home turf in the Hanged could have had their Provings fixed by House Tethras Man tavern in Kirkwall. all those years ago and have their social standing ques- tioned by other dwarves as a result. It’s not necessary to set default target numbers for these venues, though, since the specific NPC being The most prominent and effective theme of Varric’s approached and the favor being sought are such impor- must be about truth and tales. Wherever Varric goes, he tant factors, too, but the GM and a player can work is either gathering or telling stories. You could make one together to define a character’s “home-court” advan- adventure in your campaign into Varric’s version of your tages. Still, default target numbers do help create the PCs’ exploits, which he’s telling to someone (a nobody sense of familiarity that a character might have at home. or a rival?) in the Hanged Man. How did he come by If your campaign is set largely in one place, consider your characters’ story? How much do you and the other making a list of venues with associated default target players decide it varies from what really happened? Is numbers so a PC with the Contacts talent feels the Varric telling this story to celebrate the PCs or to throw difference between his own home court and someone off a listener who might be chasing them? else’s home court. Along with any question of truth and narrative comes Here’s a simple option. Define three “strata” of famil- a dose of mystery. Varric knows very well that the iarity: the national (TN 15), the local (TN 13), and story that’s held back is the story everyone most wants the favored venue (TN 11). Select a character’s strata to hear. Maybe Varric knows a story that’ll reveal the when the Contacts talent is first bought. For Varric, for location of a treasure the PCs seek and the only way to example, the national stratum is the Free Marches. His make him talk is to share stories from their own past— local stratum is the city-state of Kirkwall. His favored so each player gets to cook up and tell a tale (true or venue is the Hanged Man tavern in Kirkwall. false) of their character’s history. The PCs are still the protagonists of your campaign, after all, so make it Each additional degree in the Contacts talent also about them. lowers the default TN for one stratum of the player’s choice by one point. For example, when Varric earns the

6 Faces of Thedas: Varric Varric Level 1 Rogue Varric Level 5 Rogue

Varric’s starting statistics. Varric’s experienced statistics.

Abilities (Focuses) Abilities (Focuses) 3 Communication* (Bargaining, Persuasion) 4 Communication* (Bargaining, Deception, ersuasion 1 Constitution P ) onstitution rinking 3 Cunning 2 C (D ) unning valuation 3 Dexterity* 3 C (E ) exterity ows 0 Magic 4 D * (B ) agic 2 Perception* 0 M erception 1 Strength 2 P * trength 1 Willpower 1 S illpower Combat Ratings 2 W ombat atings Speed Health Defense Armor Rating C R 11 30 13 3 Speed Health Defense Armor Rating Attacks 12 50 14 4 ttacks Weapon Attack Roll Damage A eapon ttack oll amage Crossbow (Bianca) +4 2d6+3 W A R D rossbow ianca d Bayonet (Bianca) +4 1d6+2 C (B ) +7 2 6+4 ayonet ianca d Powers B (B ) +5 1 6+2 agger d Favored Stunts: Bon Mot and Lightning Attack. D +4 1 6+2 Powers Class Powers: Backstab and Rogue’s Armor. Favored Stunts: Bon Mot, Lightning Attack, and Pierce Talents: Contacts (Novice). Armor (1 SP) Weapon Groups: Bows, Brawling, Light Blades, and Staves. Class Powers: Backstab, Bluff, Rogue’s Armor Equipment Talents: Archery Style (Journeyman with Bianca), Con- Bianca and Light Leather Duster tacts (Journeyman) Weapon Groups: Bows, Brawling, Light Blades, and Staves. Journeyman degree in Contacts, he lowers the default Equipment TN for the Hanged Man by one point, from TN 11 to TN 10. When he earns the Master degree in the talent, he Bianca, Dagger, and Tailored Leather Duster could lower the default TN of the Hanged Man again (from TN 10 to TN 9) or he could lower the TN for all it’s one thing to be recognized and another thing to be of Kirkwall or the Free Marches by one. The character trusted or liked. thereby either cultivates a sprawling reputation or hones a local network. Even using these options, the specific details of each NPC can trump things like the home-court advantage. Modify the default TN for individual tests to reflect This is as it should be. On the one hand, bringing a the unique relationship between the PC and the little-known NPC to a favorite venue where the PC is NPC based on what they each think or want. Varric, trusted and popular can cast the PC in a good light. for example, might find it easy to discover that he On the other hand, no number of bawdy tales and and a dwarf of the Deep Roads have acquaintances back patting may easily prepare certain NPCs to risk in common (lowering the TN of the first Contacts their lives, even for a persuasive PC with degrees in roll) while also learning that the Deep Roads dwarf the Contacts talent. regards Varric as a disgraced nobody (increasing the TN of the second Contacts roll). Likewise, if the PC When setting the TN for a Communication (Persua- with Contacts shares certain focuses in common with sion) test to earn favors, consider the NPC’s unique an NPC—like Cultural Lore or Musical Lore, maybe— circumstances, personality, and ambitions. Asking a and that works into the conversation somehow, that low-level rogue one hardly knows to risk his life may might help the two characters discover mutual friends be more difficult than asking an experienced and well- or colleagues. This is why Contacts require two rolls— equipped mercenary warrior to risk hers—the rogue may be skittish while the warrior might hardly blink

7 Faces of Thedas: Varric Signature Items For OTher Characters As a GM, creating a signature item is easy. Instead of awarding the PCs with more masterwork or superior weaponry over time, “upgrade” their existing gear by replacing its game stats with similar but better stats while leaving the item cosmetically the same. This might happen on a predetermined schedule (which the GM isn’t obligated to reveal to a player), like Bianca’s, or it might happen whenever the GM would otherwise award a new item during play. The object doesn’t have to be a part of the character’s arsenal at the start of the campaign, either—players might grow attached to an item found during their journeys and want to see that upgraded rather than replaced. That’s fine. This process is most logical if the object in question begins play as a masterwork or superior item but that’s not your only option. Swords can be reforged by master craftspeople. Armor can be patched or reinforced with superior materials. Here are a few simple explanations for how or why an item might “upgrade” over time, rather than being replaced outright: • The item “always had” a threshold of benefit (see p. 35 of the Set 2 Gamemaster Guide) that the character just didn’t meet before. As the character gets to know the item, she gets more and more adept at tapping its strengths. • The item’s masterwork background is discovered or revealed when the item is recognized by a wise scholar or historian. (“Why, that’s the great Blade of Woe, wielded with honor during the Fourth Blight!”) • The item touches a source of great magic, some thin part of the Veil, or is even briefly contacted by a spirit from the Fade, thereby leaving it “altered.”

at risking her life again. Alternately, a low-level rogue might think himself great and hardy, with the folly of The Hanged Man: youth, while the battle-worn warrior might pick her A Masterwork Tavern allies more carefully after years of combat. Individual circumstances are vital. Anything that can be made can be made masterfully, so why not a masterwork tavern? (Masterworks are For a quick guideline for determining the TN for described in detail starting on p. 34 of Set 2’s Game- favors, you might add an NPC’s Willpower (+2 for the master’s Guide.) Self-Discipline focus if the NPC is resistant to the favor) to the default target number to get an estimate for the The Hanged Man, in the Lowtown district of the port final TN. Modify that TN up or down, then, based on city of Kirkwall, is not a handsome place, it sports no the circumstances. Consider the NPC’s previous deal- superior craftsmanship or materials, and it is not well ings with the PC. Maybe the PC has risked his life for known beyond the region. What makes it a master- the NPC in the past? Maybe this favor specifically hurts work is a delicate combination of happenstance and someone the NPC hates? Rather than assigning a bonus history. Enough of Kirkwall has been milling about in or penalty value for every possible detail, consider the the Hanged Man for so long that it has been sharpened, TN scale as a whole. How do all the details interact, in a sense, to a fine edge. Taverns, like fine wines, some- from the NPC’s motives to the PC’s home-court advan- times get better with age. tage on out. As it passed from one owner to another, over the years, Finally, be flexible. Reward PCs that cultivate rela- the Hanged Man evolved into a place that serves a tionships over multiple scenes or adventures. A failed variety of clientele in a variety of ways. The scum and Contacts roll might mean two characters have no the villains who frequent the place in search of clandes- common history, it might mean an NPC turns down tine contacts and shady dealings are kept in check by a request for a favor, but circumstances can change. the city watch who sometimes drink away their off-duty Remember, that Master degree of Contacts doesn’t hours there. Travelers in search of stories can mingle by call for a roll—it’s up to the NPC to decide when her the bar while locals looking for privacy huddle around opinion of the PC changes. Actions, sometimes, speak private tables. Whether it’s for illicit schemes, budding louder than Communication (Persuasion). romance, or a brief bar fight, the Hanged Man brings people together. In game terms, the Hanged Man grants a +2 bonus to the first Communication test each PC makes in a scene set there, provided the character has at least a

8 Faces of Thedas: Varric Varric’s Leather Duster Armor Armor Rating Armor Penalty Cost Effects Light Leather Duster 3 0 15 sp – Tailored Leather Duster 4 0 +45 sp – Lining with Concealed Pockets – – +25 sp +1 to Dexterity (Legerdemain) tests threshold of 3 for the roll (see p. 35 of Set 2’s Game- tailored, it has the usual Armor Penalty of –1. (Other master’s Guide). Characters who can’t carry them- tailored leather masterworks can be made by master selves well don’t know how to make the most of the craftspeople at the GM’s discretion at a cost of 150% or tavern’s ambience. more of normal.) The addition of a custom-made Lining with Concealed Varric’s Leather Duster Pockets costs about 25 sp (in Kirkwall) and grants the One of Varric’s most distinctive features is his ward- wearer a +1 bonus to Dexterity (Legerdemain) tests, robe. He and his fine leather duster with oversized belt since it grants a place to hide coins and cards and the like. are recognized throughout Kirkwall. Over time, even if Varric’s fortunes improve, he is unlikely to replace Bianca his coat and more likely to improve it. For other char- acters of a similar bent, here are game stats for the coat, “There was a girl, and I made a promise. Bianca is including a couple of improvements made over time. the only story I can never tell.” Use these as models for similar character-specific items —Varric, Dragon Age II in your own campaign. The Light Leather Duster is a stylish expression of light Varric’s crossbow is a marvel of dwarven craftsman- leather armor. ship, clearly the work of a master. The device sports a spring-loaded bayonet that deploys with the touch The Tailored Leather Duster is a masterwork of heavy of a switch and a multiple-bolt loading mechanism leather armor, with shining silverite buckles, custom that prepares ammunition for firing with remarkable tailored for Varric by a master craftsperson. When ease. However, she bears no smith’s mark. (Some say a worn by anyone except the character for whom it was dwarven smith that Varric once knew wanted to create

9 Faces of Thedas: Varric Bianca Level Progression and Effects

Level Damage Short Range Long Range Min. Str Reload Special Effects 1 2d6+1 38 yards 75 yards 1 Minor action Attack +1 5 2d6+2 38 yards 75 yards 1 Minor action Bonus Archery Style degree, attack +1 10 2d6+3 38 yards 75 yards 1 Minor action Bonus Archery Style degree, attack +2 15 2d6+4 45 yards 85 yards 1 Minor action Bonus Archery Style degree, attack +3

a repeating crossbow design but only one of the devices earn or require XP of her own. Treat Bianca’s bayonet as functioned properly and Varric calls that device Bianca.) a dagger that gains the crossbow’s bonus to attack rolls Bianca’s stats and various effects over time appear on and does not require an extra hand to wield. the nearby table. Each level’s stats replaces those of the Reload Note: Bianca requires only a minor action to previous level. Notice, for example, that Bianca’s range reload in anyone’s hands but in the hands of an Archery and base damage increase over time, as does the bonus Style journeyman or better (including a wielder she grants to attack rolls. Level effects are based on the enjoying a bonus degree in the style from Bianca), level of the character wielding Bianca; she does not reloading requires only a free action.

Credits

Faces of Thedas: Varric is copyright © 2012 Green Writing and devlopment: Will Hindmarch Ronin Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Reference to other copyrighted material in no Editing: Evan Sass way constitutes a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that material. Graphic Design: Hal Mangold © 2011 Electronic Arts Inc. EA and EA logo are Interior Art: Matt Rhodes, Ramil Sunga, trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. BioWare, and Nick Thornborrow BioWare logo, and Dragon Age are trademarks of EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd. Dragon Age RPG Design: Chris Pramas All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Publisher: Chris Pramas Green Ronin, Adventure Game Engine, and their associated logos are Green Ronin Staff: Bill Bodden, Joe Carriker, trademarks of Green Ronin Publishing. Will Hindmarch, Steve Kenson, Jon Leitheusser, Nicole Lindroos, Hal Mangold, Chris Pramas, Green Ronin Publishing Evan Sass, and Marc Schmalz 3815 S. Othello St. Suite 100, #304 Seattle, WA 98118 Special Thanks to Mary Kirby, Mike Laidlaw, Email: [email protected] Web Site: greenronin.com and Matthew Goldman

10 Faces of Thedas: Varric