The Warden

The Warden is the player-controlled protagonist of Dragon Age: Origins. This character will hail from one of six social classes ranging from casteless dwarf or landless elf to Fereldan noble or even dwarven royalty. After playing through one of these origins, he or she will join the Grey Wardens during the events of Dragon Age: Origins and may even rise to the rank of Warden-Commander in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

Dragon Age: Origins
As the origin story is played out, the protagonist is recruited by Duncan, leader of Ferelden's Grey Wardens, to aid King Cailan Theirin and his troops against an incoming army of darkspawn at Ostagar. This is where the main plot of Dragon Age: Origins begins. The Warden's primary mission is to gather an army and defeat a Blight; however, political tensions, disruptions and numerous other distractions (and inspirations) are bound to cross our hero's path.

The actions and words of the Warden are always chosen by the player, and have a wide range of outcomes (both for the story's end and for the fates of the Warden's allies, enemies and rivals). Unlike many other RPGs, the cumulative result of these choices is not tracked by a single meter or bar; rather, each companion has a meter reflecting that individual's reactions to the Warden's decisions.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Six months after the conclusion of Origins, the Warden can return. He/she is now the Warden-Commander of Ferelden, and the Wardens have been given Vigil's Keep - formerly the seat of Arl Rendon Howe - as a home base.

Character creation
The player begins by selecting a gender, race (human, elf or dwarf), and class (warrior, rogue or mage); the mage class is unavailable to dwarves. The next step is to select the character's background; depending on the chosen race/class combination, only one or two of the six backgrounds will be available. These are Human Noble for human warriors and rogues, Dalish Elf or City Elf for elven warriors and rogues, and Dwarf Commoner or Dwarf Noble for all dwarves; elven and human mages invariably share the same origin.

Then comes the option to customize name, physical features (only above the shoulders) and portrait, and choose a voice set. Attributes and skills are selected next. If playing as a warrior or rogue, talents are selected; mages select spells instead. Finally, the player selects his or her preferred difficulty level and the story begins.

First name
A default name is offered according to the origin and gender, but this can be changed to whatever the player chooses (with a limitation on length ).

Note: No one will call the Warden by name, but it does show up in some dialogue choices.


 * Male
 * Human Noble: Aedan
 * Human Mage: Daylen
 * Elf Mage: Alim
 * City Elf: Darrian
 * Dalish Elf: Theron
 * Dwarf Noble: Duran
 * Dwarf Commoner: Faren


 * Female
 * Human Noble: Elissa
 * Human Mage: Solona
 * Elf Mage: Neria
 * City Elf: Kallian
 * Dalish Elf: Lyna
 * Dwarf Noble: Sereda
 * Dwarf Commoner: Natia

Last name
While the player can select the first name of the character freely, each origin imposes a fixed surname:


 * Human Noble: Cousland
 * Human Mage: Amell
 * Elf Mage: Surana
 * City Elf: Tabris
 * Dalish Elf: Mahariel
 * Dwarf Noble: Aeducan
 * Dwarf Commoner: Brosca

Note that six origins have been mentioned, but seven names are listed; this is because both human and elf mages follow the same origin story in the Circle Tower.

Starting abilities
Each character has automatically 'spent' two skill points and one spell or talent point. During character creation the player spends one more skill point and two more spell/talent points. The automatic levels depend on class and origin. On the Xbox 360, the Warden gets one additional rank in Combat Training.

Level
As is typical for role-playing games, a character's level indicates the progress of the character's career and personal power. When the character "levels up", certain things are automatically increased (health and stamina/mana), while other things (talents and attributes) must be manually increased, unless Autolevel is activated. There is a "hard" level cap of 25 in Origins. Since enemies do not re-spawn, there is only enough content in the game (including DLC) to complete it between levels 17 and 24 (depending on how many side quests and codex entries are completed). A well-used rogue can gain the party significant experience over the course of their adventures by picking locks and disarming traps. In any case, level 25 can be reached by donating profusely to the Allied Supply Crates in the Camp.

In Awakening, the level cap is raised to 35; this increase also affects The Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt DLC.

Equipment
Player characters have the following equipment slots:

Warden-restricted items
Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening

Quotes

 * Morrigan: "'Tis cold in my tent, all alone..."
 * Warden: "Then get a thicker blanket."


 * Sten: "Interesting strategy. Tell me: Do you intend to keep going north until it becomes south, and attack the archdemon from the rear?"
 * Warden: "It'll never see this coming."


 * Warden: "They will bow before my might."
 * Guard: "Eh, Then it's good to have you sir."

Trivia

 * According to certain Circle apprentices, the Warden once bedded a lady pirate and three greased nugs.
 * Hawke is related to the human Warden (actual or 'potential') from the Mage Origin through their mothers, who are both from the Amell family. This Warden's mother's name is Revka, according to Leandra in Dragon Age II.
 * The nobles (human and dwarf) are the only Wardens to have their surnames (or indeed, any name) spoken by Origins NPCs; the rest are addressed at the most (as "Grey Warden", "Warden" and/or "my Lord/Lady").
 * A Dalish Warden imported into Dragon Age II will be referred to by Merrill and her clan as "Mahariel".
 * Dialogue in Dragon Age II implies that the Human Mage Warden has at least one sibling, as Leandra says that he/she is only "one of [her] cousin Revka's children."
 * The Warden is a Dalish elf in BioWare's default canon.