Personally, I disagree that any origin character should be “larger than life”. I find it takes a fair amount of suspension of disbelief when the games would have us believe our potential companions are veteran warriors or powerful mages with fearsome reputations, then they join the party at level 2 and struggle against the first bunch of petty thieves you run into.
They can still have interesting personalities and backstories without trying to tell me they are something they evidently aren’t.
OP mentions that Gale should look and act the part of a mage with ambitions to be uber powerful. I think he can have those ambitions whilst being decidedly amateur at the beginning. Then we can see how his personality develops as he actually becomes powerful throughout the game. Maybe we can influence what kind of mage he turns into?
Same goes for all the origin characters. I hope Lae'zel isn’t portrayed as commander of Githyanki forces or whatever. She should be a rookie as befitting the skills she has at the start of the game.
The one that worries me slightly is Wyll:
“Noble by birth, Wyll made his name as the heroic 'Blade of Frontiers'.”
Right. He’s a bona fide hero is he? How did he manage that exactly? I actually hope is character is a bit of a fraud or someone who just had some incredibly good luck at the right time.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not going bother me that much. It’s just unnecessary if they take this route.
