How to Build Solas from Dragon Age Inquisition in DnD
Love him or hate him, Solas was certainly one of the most interesting and compelling characters in Dragon Age Inquisition. His burning desire to see elves return to their former glory was admirable, and his skills as a mage made him an asset to just about any party. His most distinguishing feature as a character, though, was his connection to the dream world of the Fade. If you’re wondering how to build a DnD character like this dreadfully good Dragon Age mage, read on!
Picking a Class and Subclass
This is honestly where there’s the biggest debate as to Solas’s character, because there are two wildly different directions we could go. I think one is a much better representation of Solas, but I’ll present both.
One thing Dragon Age players will notice is that Solas is one of the smartest characters in the game. His knowledge of magic, spirits, and many other things is impressive, and his role in the story is the magical expert. If that’s what you’re going for, Intelligence would likely be his highest stat, and if you’re making an Intelligence-based mage in DnD, you’re going to be a Wizard. Like all mages in Dragon Age Inquisition, Solas is great with shielding spells, so Abjuration Wizard is a good fit if you want to focus on that. To emphasize his scholarly pursuits, the Order of Scribes might also be a good fit.
The Wizard isn’t a perfect fit for a few reasons. First is that mages in Dragon Age Inquisition brought two important things to the table: support and control magic. Sure, Dragon Age mages could blow things up, but Rogues probably had better damage, and no other class could heal. Wizards are great with control magic, but notably have almost no healing spells. Second, playing a Wizard doesn’t really play into Solas’s connection to the Fade and status as a traveler through the world of dreams. There’s a class and subclass combination that does this much better than any Wizard.
I think the best fit for Solas would be a Circle of Dreams Druid. Druids are great at support and control magic, and the Circle of Dreams especially has excellent healing ability. Druids are nature-based casters, and the connection to the world of dreams is a great fit for a character based on Solas. The catch is that Druids are Wisdom-based casters, so Intelligence would likely be a secondary stat at best (which might be difficult, as Dexterity and Constitution are pretty important to Druids too). That said, a Druid’s connection to nature might give them superior insight into some things the party is dealing with, and the Circle of Dreams has a special connection to the world of dreams.
Druids have great support, control, and utility skills, but they lag behind Wizards with pure damage. Both classes are great in control and utility roles, but if you want to be a great support character, Druid is better; if you want to blast things with destructive spells, Wizard is better.
Picking a Race
This one’s easy: pick an Elf. Solas would probably be a High Elf, but any type of Elf could work.
If you want a character with a connection to nature but don’t want to be an Elf, Firbolg might be a good option. A case could be made for any of the fey races, like Fairy, Centaur, Satyr, Harengon, or any of the Goblin family.
Background, Alignment, and Personality
There are two backgrounds that would work here: Outlander and Hermit.
Outlander would be a good fit if you want your character to be a part of a group, like a tribe or remote village. This background gives proficiency in Athletics, which probably isn’t that important for a character based on Solas, and Survival, which could be useful if you want to show off your tracking and foraging skills.
Hermit is probably a better fit for Solas himself, but would mean that this character did not grow up in a group and mostly stuck to themself. That might work for your concept, but don’t feel stuck with that if your story idea involves a group. This background gives proficiency in Medicine—not super-important for this build—and Religion, which gives this character more expertise with creatures like fiends and celestials, as well as the various gods active in your world.
Solas’s alignment is probably a topic I could write a whole article about. He lives by his own set of rules—he always acts in favor of the elves, but in a way so ancient that many living elves don’t live that way. This set of rules often puts him at odds with the rules most of society lives by. I think this would make him lawful, since he has a strict set of rules for himself, but a case could be made for chaotic, since he regularly breaks the rules most of society lives by. You might even split the difference and have him be neutral on the lawfulness scale. He doesn’t seem to have a strong preference for either good or evil, so he’d probably be neutral on the morality scale. Truth be told, don’t worry too much about alignment. There are no penalties for acting out of alignment, so you can mostly do whatever you want. You can also change your alignment if you find yourself playing a different way than you initially thought. Just go with what feels right for your character.
Solas is the type of character who lives his whole life for an ideal—in his case, the restoration of elves to their former glory, but your character could easily have a different ideal. This makes him a bit of a lone wolf. In cooperative games like DnD, lone wolves can be problematic because you need a solid reason to work with the party. Make sure you think that through. You don’t want to do anything crazy like turn against the party after you beat the final villain. If your party is on board with some tension and betrayal, though, this can make for a great story—just be careful not to anger your fellow players.
About the Author
Brandon Gregory
Brandon Gregory is a web developer and writer in the Kansas City area. He's been playing TTRPGs since 2020 and is involved in the disability-related TTRPG podcast Tales from the Crips. He's into classic movies, mental health, and, of course, DnD. Also, he's in a band. One time, they rocked so hard it killed a man.