Seems Argenta's writing is a bit phoned in compared to the others (Spoilers)

[ahsanford]

I'm pretty deep in Chapter 4, so read no further if you don't want a big dose of spoilers.


It seems to me that some writers really dove into the task of the character stories, and others... erm, not so much.

Good Examples:

Pasqal: Here are reams of backstory, context, and vibe so that you can completely understand me, my life and what I care about. Even small chapter level asks of my character's plotline are staged, elaborate, have some 'in game cutscenes' for table-setting, etc. My game long plot is fascinating, impactful, and you, the gamer, are fully informed to help me live out my story.

Ulfar: Similar (but lighter) culture building responsbility to Pasqal... but I do have a brutal origin story that the game makers had to tell in a much more condensed timeframe. Did I mention that I also dabble at being a poet/skald as some sort of not at all tender murder spoken word champ? For how late you get me, I am still interesting!

Cassia: I don't see the universe the same way as you and you will want me around as we are going to some dope places and I can help you see it better. I also have a pretty cool origin story that gives important context to what navigating the expanse means.

Jae: Cassia in reverse. Completely pragmatic and knows how the sausage is made. You want me around because I have context for everything we go and see.

Yrliet: I have a proper game long arc that runs through everything that happens to the Rogue Trader. I have difficult decisions for the gamer to navigate and they have real consequences. I go from Ice Queen to, well, a slightly better understood Ice Queen. But can you blame me with the lifelong hand I've been dealt?


And. then. there. is Argenta.

Argenta: I am cartoonish zealot in the Dogma lane, enjoy carnage, and ho hum, may have been responsible for the most important event in the game that gave you your job. (Don't worry, I'll just hit you with that cold in Chapter 3 and never. speak. of. it. again.) By the way, my personal quest is a super amazing and immensely detailed. Here it is:

1) Go to planet.
2) Murder people in a quick battle.
3) See god. (By myself. You can't come. It was dope.)
4) Get loot.
5) The end.

I think we'll all agree playing with my character is as deep and rewarding as Pasqal or Yrliet. :-P

- A

[sleeve]

Agreed, Pascal, Yrilet, Cassia and Heinrix are very well developed and your choices really rub off on them and the interactions shape both you, the character and the story.

For max effect, put pascal and heinrix in the team, the banter is hilarious

[ahsanford]

Want to like Heinrix, but he might have been better as a regular agent / middleman of the Inquisition.

It's hard to using him if you are playing a Xeno friendly / Icono playthrough. You literally have someone in your retinue that has game-long standing dialogue options to dispose of your more 'problematic' crew members. I get that is part of his role, his character, etc. and I get how important that lane is in W40k... but for how I RP it just seems off.

Like his writing. Dislike his fit in my crew. Don't want to dismiss him, however, as he rounds out the story well.

- A

[His Divine Shadow]

The crazier thing about heinrix is that his boss is radical as ♥♥♥♥ so you’d expect him to be the same from the get go but you’ve got to nudge Heinrix towards that direction yourself.

[Megapewpew]

I mean, sisters are pretty fking nuts and their entire everything is absurdly zealous, so I was fine with it. Even her "plot twist" is extremely typical.

I actually think they did a good job with her for anyone new to the lore, she is what you expect. A few more quests that involve the ecclesiastical groups a bit more would have helped flesh out her content tho, so I agree to a point.

[rakshasa72]

I kind of think it was planned to have the RT accompany Argenta on her pilgrimage but, it had to be cut for lack of resources to finish on time. I feel like they bit off a little more then they could chew with the number of companions and, might have been better off saving some for DLC.

[ahsanford]

Originally posted by Megapewpew:

I mean, sisters are pretty fking nuts and their entire everything is absurdly zealous, so I was fine with it. Even her "plot twist" is extremely typical.

I actually think they did a good job with her for anyone new to the lore, she is what you expect. A few more quests that involve the ecclesiastical groups a bit more would have helped flesh out her content tho, so I agree to a point.

Sure, but if I'm at Owlcat, I'd see 'no, these folks really are that simple' that as a great writing challenge:

Show me a crisis of faith.

Show me Pasqal-level dissection of nuance within a deeply held truth.

If her code / ways are so rigidly set, give me a slate of small carefully stewed quests that help me understand that code or how she navigates it

etc. etc. The canon might be cartoonishly straightforward, but writers can add depth, gravitas, doubt, interpretation to it to bring it to life.

- A

[Megapewpew]

Originally posted by ahsanford:

Originally posted by Megapewpew:

I mean, sisters are pretty fking nuts and their entire everything is absurdly zealous, so I was fine with it. Even her "plot twist" is extremely typical.

I actually think they did a good job with her for anyone new to the lore, she is what you expect. A few more quests that involve the ecclesiastical groups a bit more would have helped flesh out her content tho, so I agree to a point.

Sure, but if I'm at Owlcat, I'd see 'no, these folks really are that simple' that as a great writing challenge:

Show me a crisis of faith.

Show me Pasqal-level dissection of nuance within a deeply held truth.

If her code / ways are so rigidly set, give me a slate of small carefully stewed quests that help me understand that code or how she navigates it

etc. etc. The canon might be cartoonishly straightforward, but writers can add depth, gravitas, doubt, interpretation to it to bring it to life.

- A

They definitly could have woven in more battle sister lore to build her up more I agree. Probably ran out of time. Same reason the Eldar has the same archetype as you, they ran out of time.

[Hanabi]

I actually liked the Argenta twist. It made sense and also showed how bad Theodora was playing with fire.

Keeping a sister of battle around is dangerous. They are zealous. Genuinely selfless giving their all so much that they can actually manifest powers without being psykers.

That said she should have been one of the Romantic options and her story should take more of a show more tell less approach because most of it is exposition between sessions of violence.

[Marauder]

Argenta actually seems to have been partially rewritten very late, supposedly she was very much meant to be a romantic interest initially. If that was changed well within developement it explains a lot.

[Megapewpew]

Originally posted by Marauder:

Argenta actually seems to have been partially rewritten very late, supposedly she was very much meant to be a romantic interest initially. If that was changed well within developement it explains a lot.

I doubt the romance tho effected THAT much. She might have been rewritten tho regardless. GW I would imagine would want to be the first to write a romance(if at all) of an active Battle Sister. Even tho they can be romantic, in lore we don't actually see it in any books or lore outside of very vague hinting after retirement.

I don't blame GW for saying "we don't want you to be the first" assuming that is what happened.

[Sliscus]

Yes, she's a sororitas. They are all crazy zellots. that think only of the emperor and of duty.

she's actually surprisingly three dimensional for a sororitas

[BlazingScribe]

I think part of the issue is that Argenta's arc is very subtle. She does have one, although you might not notice it unless you understand how her endings work. It isn't subtle because the changes are insignificant, it's subtle because any degree of movement within "zealous fanatic" is going to be small. There are basically three paths open to her.

1. I have been through too much and failed too many times to consider myself worthy of the Emperor's grace, and my most trusted allies keep telling me I've screwed up with good reason. Being rejected by this relic was merely proof of my unworthiness.

2. I have never failed in my righteous crusade against the enemies of humanity, only delayed. Burn the xeno, the heretic, and the false god. Come here Idira, let me put you on this pile of kindling.

3. I have made mistakes and am guilty of hubris, but that I have learned from that and am now MORE worthy for my experience than I would have been otherwise. I can now be a truly wise and capable servant of the emperor, empowered to protect his children.

Three distinct outcomes, but they're all shades of the same character she was at the start. Not much to change there honestly. You're influencing what shade of zealotry she indulges in; penitence, fury, or righteousness.

I do grant you that mechanically her side-quests are... anti-climatic? It didn't help that Pasqal won that fight on his first turn and before the boss could do anything. But if you still have Idira with you get a bit of extra fluff as they reconcile. I also grant you that Pasqal is best boy and his story sets the highest bar of all of them.

[ahsanford]

Originally posted by Megapewpew:

They definitly could have woven in more battle sister lore to build her up more I agree. Probably ran out of time. Same reason the Eldar has the same archetype as you, they ran out of time.

Goodness, an origin story, flashback, run-in with other Sororitas figures would have really helped her cause.

- A

[ahsanford]

Originally posted by Hanabi:

I actually liked the Argenta twist. It made sense and also showed how bad Theodora was playing with fire.

The twist itself was lovely! But the unveiling, timing, circumstance and aftermath of it was laughable.

They could have built up to it.

They could have written a subplot of there being a witness to the event and she's trying to track them down to silence the news.

They could have had a bad guy reveal it to us through some machinations of their own.

Heinrix could have sleuthed it out somehow.

They could have made it your very own quest chain where you have to travel the expanse to follow up on evidence, etc.

Etc. etc.

And to just dump it on you in Commoragh with nothing more than an 'I forgive you' dialogue and never bring it up again is preposterous.

- A

[Hanabi]

Originally posted by ahsanford:

Originally posted by Hanabi:

I actually liked the Argenta twist. It made sense and also showed how bad Theodora was playing with fire.

The twist itself was lovely! But the unveiling, timing, circumstance and aftermath of it was laughable.

They could have built up to it.

They could have written a subplot of there being a witness to the event and she's trying to track them down to silence the news.

They could have had a bad guy reveal it to us through some machinations of their own.

Heinrix could have sleuthed it out somehow.

They could have made it your very own quest chain where you have to travel the expanse to follow up on evidence, etc.

Etc. etc.

And to just dump it on you in Commoragh with nothing more than an 'I forgive you' dialogue and never bring it up again is preposterous.

- A

That's a good point. I'd probably have done more with it as a writer myself. I probably would have done more with Theodora's ghost and her Chaos Connection to, especially connected to the ship and it would be a building thing as the acts go on.

And I'd have Argenta and Theodora come to a head again. Not an Idara delusion but the actual warp ghost of Theodora which was hinted at in Act 1.

There's a lot of really, cool ways they could have expanded and even made Theodora a haunting character, expanding on her power, influence and more as well as the lives of those around her.