Diving back into the world of Thedas with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, many long-time fans will have had their Rooks carefully planned out in advance. With four playable races to choose from, there was hope of a repeat of the unique backstories seen in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition. However, The Veilguard instead takes a different approach to character background, with mixed results when it comes to roleplaying.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.]

Thedas is a vast and multicultural world with various countries, nations, and city-states, all populated by four humanoid races: human, elf, dwarf, and kossith who are often referred to as Qunari. Rook can choose from any of these lineages in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with their team also being made up of a mixture from all over the world. However, the latest installment in the Dragon Age franchise differs in the way it treats race, with some of the rich history built up throughout games and other media seemingly lost along the way.

Veilguard’s Race Options Feel Purely Cosmetic

The Narrative Impact Of Lineage Has Been Watered Down

When creating a character in any Dragon Age game, save Dragon Age 2, picking which race to play used to have a big impact. This was most obviously seen in Origins, which had six different backgrounds between three playable races, but also in Inquisition, which tied race with background and surname. However, in The Veilguard, Rook’s race barely comes into play, with only a handful of mentions from other characters or unique dialogue options. While the shift to factions is a fresh approach, it does create an odd absence of impact as NPCs fail to react to Rook’s lineage.

How Race Impacted The Story In Previous Dragon Age Games

Rook’s Race Barely Comes Into Play

The Veilguard adopts a similar approach to Inquisition, using faction in place of race for backstory. However, while the Inquisitor’s race could lead to several unique interactions or war table missions, there are precious few moments where Rook’s race actually matters. This is a departure from how the protagonists' races played a role in previous games, with Origins being the most obvious example, as the Warden’s race impacted several areas and NPCs' dialogue would change accordingly.

Non-human Inquisitors faced significantly more pushback from the Chantry once named the Herald of Andraste.

Nothing quite matches the gut punch of returning to the dwarven capital of Orzammar when playing as Brosca and being told that their visit is being recorded as their first time in the city. This is because, despite growing up and living in Orzammar their whole life, Brosca, as a casteless dwarf, didn’t count as a member of dwarven society. And plenty of examples of insults can be thrown at both the Dalish and city elf origins that highlight the inequality elves face when living in Ferelden.

Both the dwarven commoner and city elf origins in Dragon Age are recruited by Duncan under similar circumstances. Brosca and Tabris are saved from certain death at the hands of those in authority by Duncan conscripting them.

Using race to set the different versions of the protagonist apart is largely abandoned for The Veilguard, which leans more heavily on which faction Rook was a member of before the game. Elves seem to fare slightly better out of all the lineage choices with multiple references to the Evanuris being “my gods” or “our gods” when speaking about them. However, there are some circumstances where race should come into play, where it is frustratingly ignored, and whether Rook is human or dwarven is less important than if they are a Lord of Fortune or a Veil Jumper.

Rook’s Faction Choice Has More Bearing On The World

There Is A Disconnect Between Race & Faction At Times

When creating a Rook for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the character creator will walk players through the process, starting first with race/lineage. However, the most important aspect of creating Rook comes with choosing a faction which will determine their backgrounds and certain aspects of their backstory. While race takes a backseat compared to previous Dragon Age titles, there are plenty of unique dialogue options tied to Rook’s faction, such as a Grey Warden Rook having extra options when dealing with Mayor Julius of D’Meta’s Crossing.

However, there is inconsistency with the backgrounds provided by the factions, with some working well for particular races better than others. For example, a Grey Warden Rook’s backstory doesn’t touch on their childhood or how they ed the Wardens, making them a good fit for any race. This is in stark contrast to playing as an elf with the Shadow Dragons, where Rook could have Dalish Vallaslin but will then casually mention in a conversation with Tarquin that they are the adopted child of a Tevinter general.

Every faction in The Veilguard will give Rook a different last name, such as Mercar for Shadow Dragon or Thorne for Grey Warden.

This background for Mercar is the same regardless of what race is chosen, although an elven Mercar will make an offhand comment about staying home often as a child so they wouldn't be mistaken for a servant. Likewise, the Mourn Watch background says that Rook was found and raised by the faction, with a dwarven Rook able to joke with Emmrich about getting extra history lessons instead of magic classes. But otherwise, the race makes little sense for a faction of necromancers, and yet no one bats an eye at a dwarven member.

Realistic Depictions Of Racial Tensions Are Gone

Rook Is Judged By Their Faction & Deeds Rather Than Race

However, Rook’s background isn’t the only area where race seems to have little impact, as racial tensions throughout Thedas have apparently vanished. A Qunari Rook can freely move around Minrathous, the capital city of the Tevinter Empire, with no issues. This is frankly bizarre considering Tevinter has been at war with the Qunari for decades. Likewise, an elven Rook faces no problems despite many elves living as slaves in Tevinter.

Taash, Bellara, and Davrin also face no issues as the team travels throughout Thedas and interacts with multiple cultures. Perhaps people are meant to assume that the horrific abuse leveled at Qunari or elven Inquisitors and Wardens is something that only happens in Ferelden and Orlais. But the fact that the elven gods are the ones causing so much suffering and no one brings this up perfectly highlights that this is a storytelling issue rather than peace on Thedas.

With a world as rich as Thedas, which has been created over 15 years by games, books, and comics, it is disappointing to see one of the core aspects of its worldbuilding completely ignored by an installment that could have cleverly highlighted it. Racism is a delicate and controversial subject that Dragon Age has always called attention to skillfully through the interaction of its four races. However, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, rather than weaving the tension into the plot about the gods, instead sweeps the topic aside, weakening the narrative as a result.