What's the Pawn Lore?

[Lux]

I've read they're supposedly emotionless but they seem to display plenty of emotion. Care, kindness, concern, empathy, embarrassment, eagerness, joy, sadness, etc. Is it just will they lack? They seem to be capable of acting on their own but it does seem like they have a particular weakness to mind control. What gives?

[Slackerdude74]

They just seem like people who were born to help the Arisen, and that's it. I'm sure there's more to it, but that's all I get from it.

[White Rider]

Originally posted by Lux:

Is it just will they lack?

Yep. They lack free will. They exist solely to be allies of the Arisen. They are just another cog in the machine that is the cycle.

Though pawns an Arisen get really close to can have some of that will sort of rubbed off unto them.

In the true ending with your pawn at max affinity, they state that you have bestowed upon them a fraction of your will.

In DD1, the ending essentially gave your main pawn free will.
In DDDA there was a character that iirc was a former pawn of another Arisen.
(That last one might be coming out of my ass. It's been a long time since I played the first.)

Edit: if anyone can clarify that last point I'd appreciate it. I can't actually remember much other than the main plat points and even then that's fuzzy.

[Knavenformed]

This discussion kinda goes into hard spoilers
But they imprint to the Arisen, DD:DA did a better job of quite literally picking up your playstyle's worst aspects as a foreshadowing to the true ending

And the true ending of Dogma 2 also helps with your question a bit

[Sergeant_Braken]

Originally posted by White Rider:

Originally posted by Lux:

Is it just will they lack?

Yep. They lack free will. They exist solely to be allies of the Arisen. They are just another cog in the machine that is the cycle.

Though pawns an Arisen get really close to can have some of that will sort of rubbed off unto them.

In the true ending with your pawn at max affinity, they state that you have bestowed upon them a fraction of your will.

In DD1, the ending essentially gave your main pawn free will.
In DDDA there was a character that iirc was a former pawn of another Arisen.
(That last one might be coming out of my ass. It's been a long time since I played the first.)

Edit: if anyone can clarify that last point I'd appreciate it. I can't actually remember much other than the main plat points and even then that's fuzzy.

There's actually at least 2 former pawns in the first game (excluding your main pawn in the ending). One was in the game from the start, the other added in Dark Arisen.

[Player Zer01]

around other people they express no emotion. if you do the phantom cart side quest it goes into depth with it.

[The 5th Seraph]

Originally posted by Lux:

I've read they're supposedly emotionless but they seem to display plenty of emotion. Care, kindness, concern, empathy, embarrassment, eagerness, joy, sadness, etc. Is it just will they lack? They seem to be capable of acting on their own but it does seem like they have a particular weakness to mind control. What gives?

They're made to be as human as possible, but the talk of them being emotionless is trying to cover for the limitations of the AI.

Lore-wise they don't have a soul until their Arisen completes their task and dies... at which point the pawn kinda transforms to look like the Arisen did in a kinda weird doppelganger sort of way. Apparently even if they were completely different originally. It is a bit surreal honestly.

[Knavenformed]

Originally posted by Sergeant_Braken:

There's actually at least 2 former pawns in the first game (excluding your main pawn in the ending). One was in the game from the start, the other added in Dark Arisen.

The Witch girl is a successfully human transferred Pawn
Olra is the Pawn of Ashe (Daimon)
The Dragonforged in Dogma 1 still has his Pawn the Fool for company
There's a small theory of the Salvation leader being the Pawn of Grigori

[Lux]

So basically they're normal people who just have a lack of free will when certain things, like the Arisen and Godsway, come into play?

[White Rider]

Originally posted by Lux:

So basically they're normal people who just have a lack of free will when certain things, like the Arisen and Godsway, come into play?

They don't lose free will when the dragon appears and the Arisen is chosen. They just don't have free will at all. Then during the cycle; if certain conditions are met then they might gain free will and become normal people.

[D. Flame]

Capcom forgot the lore over the past 12 years.

[White Rider]

They are sort of like drones.

I can't remember exactly who says it but one of the characters in the outskirts camp at the start of the game mentions that the pawns used to just huddle around the rift stone. They basically don't work, almost like they don't have any batteries if the Arisen doesn't exist. They just... wait.

[D. Flame]

Originally posted by White Rider:

They are sort of like drones.

I can't remember exactly who says it but one of the characters in the outskirts camp at the start of the game mentions that the pawns used to just huddle around the rift stone. They basically don't work, almost like they don't have any batteries if the Arisen doesn't exist. They just... wait.

The Seneschal was supposed to basically be the DM of a real life DnD game, the Arisen was the player character interviewing to be the DM's replacement/successor, and the Pawns were the NPCs of the game.

[Karkarov]

Originally posted by Sergeant_Braken:

Originally posted by White Rider:

Yep. They lack free will. They exist solely to be allies of the Arisen. They are just another cog in the machine that is the cycle.

Though pawns an Arisen get really close to can have some of that will sort of rubbed off unto them.

In the true ending with your pawn at max affinity, they state that you have bestowed upon them a fraction of your will.

In DD1, the ending essentially gave your main pawn free will.
In DDDA there was a character that iirc was a former pawn of another Arisen.
(That last one might be coming out of my ass. It's been a long time since I played the first.)

Edit: if anyone can clarify that last point I'd appreciate it. I can't actually remember much other than the main plat points and even then that's fuzzy.

There's actually at least 2 former pawns in the first game (excluding your main pawn in the ending). One was in the game from the start, the other added in Dark Arisen.

There are 4 pawns in Dogma 1 other than the ones you summon/your main pawn.

Selene, pawn given her own will by her Arisen (who is now dead)
Orla who is whatever his name was (Daimon now) pawn.
The Dragonforged still ha his pawn.
And the one everyone always forgets... the leader of the Pawn Guild in Gran Soren is the King's Pawn who he just kicked out cause it reminded him of his failure as Arisen etc.

[Smug Kot]

I hate how DD1 actually explain this stuff and here is just half-cooked.