Line #126 VideoGame/DungeonSiege


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bd6f7bfcc8743b3cd6677e6b80778fd7.jpg]]
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3	An ActionRPG series created by Chris Taylor and developed by Creator/GasPoweredGames, published in April 2002. It was innovative in its open character building system not restricted to preselected classes, a continuous open world with no loading screens, and having the player instruct the party ahead of time while the characters act autonomously in combat, and select individual units akin to ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}}''.
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5	The four classes are: Fighter, Ranger (archer), Nature Mage (mostly defensive magic and some offensive magic) and Combat Mage (the reverse of Nature Mage.) The ExpansionPack to ''Dungeon Siege II'', ''Broken World'', adds two more: Fist of Stone (combination of Fighter and Nature Mage) and Blood Assassin (combination of Ranger and Combat Mage.) You can also create a party of eight hireable companions (six in ''DS II'') plus a pack mule to carry all your extra stuff.
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7	The first game takes place in the land of Aranna, specifically in the region of Ehb. You start the game as a humble farmer. Unfortunately, a normally passive race suddenly [[DoomedHometown attacks your hometown]]. A dying friend of yours asks you to head over to the next town and seek help. However, it turns out the quest doesn't end there. As you gather up your forces and progress through Ehb, you find out that an ancient demonic race, the Seck (who once served under the tyrant Zaramoth the Unmaker, but that's expanded on in the second game) has returned to Aranna to seek revenge. It is up to you and your friends to destroy it and end the threat.
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9	In 2003, an ExpansionPack was released: ''Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna'', which offered a lot of new options for the player and his party (transformation spells, armor and weapon sets, a more combative pet, and new enemies to fight)
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11	In August of 2005, a sequel hit the markets: ''Dungeon Siege II''. It was greatly improved: the story was worked up, the world you travel through looks impressive, the hireable [=NPCs=] were very much fleshed out (they even got their own personal {{Side Quest}}s, although the party size was reduced from eight to six,) and the character classes were given impressive powers to turn the tide of battle. Not only is the current story worked on, but the backstory was as well. A thousand years ago, Azunai the Defender clashed with the aforementioned Zaramoth. Both of their armies fought valiantly, but when the two warriors' personal armaments -- the Shield of Azuna and the [[{{BFS}} Sword of Zaramoth]] -- clashed, the Endtime happened. The Age ended borderline-apocalyptically and a new one began. Many years later, a [[TheEvilPrince power-hungry prince]] named Valdis, the game's BigBad, got a terrible fever and with it prophetic visions. When he recovered, he went to the ruins of Zaramoth's Horns. He found the tyrants sword (now a SealedEvilInACan) and became exactly what he wanted: a powerful tyrant bent on world domination. He even created an army of evil creatures called the Morden (an appropriate name, as [[BilingualBonus "mord" is German word for "murder"]].) In a twist, you and your best friend Drevin start as mercenaries working for Valdis. Unfortunately, after you complete your first quest, things turn sour and you end up the prisoner of the people you were fighting: the Dryads. After a few quests to prove yourself, you form up a party and head back to your hometown of Aman'lu. Unfortunately, Valdis beats you to it, and [[TheDragon the Archmage]] who serves him destroys it. Inspired to revenge, you and your party seek out Valdis and destroy him. Unfortunately, the game has a DownerEnding. Let's just say NiceJobBreakingItHero.
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13	In 2006, another expansion set was added to the series: ''Dungeon Siege II: Broken World''. It's a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] continuation of ''DS II'' and wraps up the story. An evil force -- [[EvilerThanThou who is much worse than Valdis]] -- has taken over Aranna in the aftermath of your NiceJobBreakingItHero moment, radically altering it and nearly killing all of its inhabitants. Don't worry, though; your friends have survived the Cataclysm and are ready to help you once again. Which is good because this time, ItsPersonal.
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15	''Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony'' was released for PSP alongside ''Broken World'' and serves as a side story to the events of ''Broken World.'' Both ''Throne'' and ''BW'' featured crossover items, special items that could be unlocked across both games by either linking the PSP's MAC Address to the player's copy of Broken World, or by using passwords given by each game.
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17	Creator/UweBoll made a movie of the first game, titled ''[[Film/InTheNameOfTheKing In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale]]''. With Burt Reynolds as the king. And, it must be noted, Ray Liotta as an evil sorcerer.
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19	A sequel to the first two games, ''Dungeon Siege III'', developed by Creator/ObsidianEntertainment, was released June 2011. It tells the story of four descendants of the 10th Legion: [[KnightInShiningArmor Lucas]], [[PlayingWithFire Anjali]], [[TheGunslinger Katarina]] and [[MadMathematician Reinhart]] as they attempt to rebuild the Legion and defeat the woman who disbanded them in the first place.
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21	The only DownloadableContent pack for ''DS III'', ''Treasures of the Sun'', was released October 25th, 2011.
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23	!!This series provides examples of:
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25	[[foldercontrol]]
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27	[[folder: Multiple Games]]
28	* AllMythsAreTrue: Especially prominent in ''III'' regarding Azunai, Archons and the Creator Gods.
29	** Averted in the Utraean Peninsula map's main quest: While every town you visit has their own idea for what the ancient monument will do once the [[MacGuffin Town Stones]] are assembled, none of them spoke of the SealedEvilInACan waiting within.
30	* AncientTomb: A variety of these are present throughout the entire series, complete with puzzles, traps, and all manner of undead creatures and other nasty surprises.
31	* AntiGrinding: Only happens in the first game. In the second game, the enemies respawn (sometimes [[FakeDifficulty only a few seconds later]].) Also averted in III.
32	* AntiWastageFeatures: Potions are not fully consumed when used, where extra healing may be used when activating the potion later.
33	* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Especially in the second game, where amount of space in your party is dependent on the difficulty setting, and any setting above "easy" can only be unlocked by finishing the game on the earlier setting. On the plus side, the first four party members you can find all fit the 4 main classes, so it makes things a bit easier.
34	** Also, in addition to the difficulty restriction, each slot beyond the first two requires a payment to the "Adventurers' Guild" in order to be usable. Fortunately, [[MoneyForNothing gold is fairly easy to come by.]]
35	* BlackAndWhiteMagic: To some extent, with Combat Magic and Nature Magic, respectively.
36	* ClockPunk: The city of Stonebridge in DS III, and the wizards trained there especially. This is a result of the societal integration of the Goblins, who were technologically-advanced villains in the first game.
37	* ConvectionSchmonvection: Almost every map in every release of the game has either a lava-filled area or, in the case of ''III'', an area that is engulfed in flames during your visit. In none of these is the heat any problem. Actually touching the flames, however...
38	%%* CrystalDragonJesus: Azunai/[[spoiler:the Radiant Youth.]]
39	* GameMod: Lots for the first game, not so much for the second. Including remakes for ''VideoGame/UltimaV'' and ''VideoGame/UltimaVI'' (which are pretty handy, as while Dungeon Siege can easily be found on internet shops, [[KeepCirculatingtheTapes "other methods" are the only way to obtain either game]])
40	** The most famous of these is the "Lands of Hyperborea," siegelet. It had custom skills, custom spells, a ridiculous amount of story depth, a ridiculous amount of level content, an ambitious suite of new creature types that stretched the game's engine to its limits, and its non-linear nature meant that its multiplayer content drove the game through the roof in terms of replay value.
41	* ItsUpToYou: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with a little]]; in these games, saving the world isn't a one-man job. It makes for a great SelfImposedChallenge though.
42	* MasterOfNone: Going for multiple skills often results in a character that is rather weak for their level. One very early NPC in the second game warns against this, recommending to choose one of the four schools of combat (Melee, Ranged, Combat Magic, Nature Magic) and sticking with it.
43	* MedievalEuropeanFantasy: The primary setting for all three games, although the lands visited also include dense jungles, arid deserts, frozen wastelands, and roiling swamplands. ''III'' also introduces more Industrial Revolution era advances, but still retains a medieval feel.
44	* MontyHaul: Even by videogame standards. In the first and second games, you had to bring along pack mules if you wanted any hope of carrying all the loot you'd find.
45	* OneGenderRace: All Dryads are female and all Half-Giants are male. Players can only play as male Dwarves, but female Dwarves are mentioned in the dialogue. All Archons are also female.
46	* OurMonstersAreWeird: While the first game had the more "traditional" [=RPG=] monsters [[TropeCodifier in the vein of]] ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' (with some unique exceptions here and there), most of the second game's creatures could be very bizarre and unusual, especially [[EldritchAbomination the Familiars]] in ''Broken World''.
47	* RealTimeWithPause: A staple of the series, despite having very little actual value, especially in the second game.
48	* RecycledInSpace: ''VideoGame/SpaceSiege'', although it's a much more simplified game it's still based on the same engine and similar in gameplay.
49	* RuinsForRuinsSake: Especially in ''DS II'', most ruins in the games get at least a feasible explanation for their presence. The Ruins of Okaym, on the other hand, [[TakeOurWordForIt do not]].
50	* SceneryPorn: While particularly prominent in ''II'' and ''III'', even the original had a wide variety of environments that were quite detailed. Too bad the render distance was so short in the first game.
51	* SchizoTech: The Goblins in the first game have very advanced technology for a MedievalEuropeanFantasy. While you're using bows and crossbows, they have ''miniguns and grenade launchers'', which you can take and use for yourself. Strangely, they're nowhere to be found for the rest of the series, but other forms of technology still exist, such as elevators and sliding doors.
52	** They're back in the third game, having made peace with the humans in the centuries between games.
53	* ShoutOut:
54	** Some aspects of the second game draw some parallels with "Literature/TheLordOfTheRings". For example, the Battle of Snowbrook Haven is similar to the Battle of Helm's Deep (except for the dragon), and the Morden-Viir who are doing the besieging look very much like the Uruk-hai. As a matter of fact, when you get to Act III on Mercenary difficulty, after a while, the armor salesmen sells a helmet, a unique chinless helm called the "Onyx Steel Helm", that looks just like the ones the Uruk-hai wore in the [[TheFilmOfTheBook movie versions]] of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''. [[YouWannaGetSued Minus the White Hand of Saruman, of course]].
55	** The Morden's Head quest is a shout out to ''Babylon 5''.
56	** For another shout out, in the personal side-quest "Evangeline's Folly," has pretty much the RPG version of "[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Our Princess is in another castle]]." When Eva hears the second such answer, she even says "[[LampshadeHanging This is starting to sound familiar]]."
57	** The Automaton Constables in [=DS=] 3 look remarkably like [[Webcomic/GirlGenius Clanks]], right down to the triparate camera eyes, brass finish and shako hats. The only noticeable difference is Auto-constables have an ArmCannon and a two fingered claw, rather than proper hands and a minigun rifle.
58	** One of the enemies that appears in ''Legends of Aranna'', the Skitterclaws, looks a lot like the [[FeatheredFiend Carakillers]] from ''Literature/TheFutureIsWild''.
59	* SpinOff: ''Space Siege'', which is quite literally Dungeon Siege '''[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]'''
60	* StandardFantasyRaces: In the first game, you could only play as a Human and hire Dwarven [=NPCs=], although multiplayer also allowed you to play as a dwarf or skeleton. In ''Legends of Aranna'' you could hire Utraean [=NPCs=]. In ''DS II'', including ''Broken World'', the race selection was greatly expanded: Humans, Elves, Half-Giants, Dryads and Dwarves.
61	* TitleDrop: Towards the end of the first game, the Droog leader says "Journey fast, kingdom child. The [[TheLegionsOfHell Seck]] dungeon siege may soon be underway."
62	** In III, too - near the end of the game, you can get a quest to rescue some nobles from a dungeon, titled Dungeon Siege.
63	* TookAShortcut: The Utraean historian in ''Legends of Aranna''.
64	** Not to mention the Azunite Scholar (who, as it happens, has the same voice actor) in ''DS II''.
65	* UselessUsefulSpell: The first ''Dungeon Siege'' unfortunately had a lot of them. Thankfully, the game developers learned from their mistake and removed such spells from ''DS II''.
66	* UtilityPartyMember: Played with in the first game: instead of recruiting another adventurer, you can instead fill one or two of the [[PlayerCharacterCalculus eight party slots]] with donkeys who cannot participate in combat at all. Instead, their "special skill" is being able to carry twice as much {{Plunder}} as regular party members.
67	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The ending of ''Broken World''. Also happens in III by showing what the consequences are of your choices.
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70	[[/folder]]
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72	[[folder: Dungeon Siege and Legends of Aranna]]
73	* AbandonedMine: The dwarf towns of Glitterdelve and Crystwind both have mine shafts that connect the game's grassy regions to the snow lands a few levels up. They are full of Krug, minecart railways, mechanical elevators, and ExplodingBarrels.
74	* AerithAndBob: The four dominant monstrous races in the first game, in chronological order: Krug, goblins, Droog, and Seck. One of those is not like the others.
75	* ArtificialAnimalPeople: The [[LizardFolk Zaurask]] and [[CatFolk Hassat]] races were created by the Utraeans conducting magically-accelerated genetic science experiments on common lizards and jungle cats to serve as slaves for their empire, and were the only successful results from dozens of templates. After the Utraean Empire is thrown down by [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters a genocidal revolt of the Hassat and Zaurask against their creators]], the Zaurask king Nosirrom tries to create his own capable slave race, the Droc, from crocodiles, but even they break from his control and form their own society.
76	* TheAtoner: Following the loss of their empire and shrinking of their population, some Utraeans seek to atone for the sins of their people and make peace with the Zaurask. [[spoiler: It doesn't work, as the entire peace delegation was slaughtered by Nosirrom's forces, save one member who played dead. It's not clear whether this is because Nosirrom was insane, or if peace was never an option.]]
77	* AutomaticCrossbows: As indicated by the trope's page quote, Dungeon Siege's crossbows have a fast rate of fire, trading damage per shot for higher overall damage, in contrast to the real paradigm. There are even two separate classes of crossbow in the base game, one of which is even faster firing. Legends of Aranna adds a weaker Clockwork Crossbow whose projectiles behave more like arrows.
78	* BrokenBridge: To an almost ridiculous extent. In the Kingdom of Ehb campaign, the first obstacle you encounter to impede your journey, sans the various beasties, is a bridge, [[IncendiaryExponent which was caught on fire]], and then had a wagon driven across it, [[TooDumbToLive with the monsters who did the catching riding it]]. The bridge collapsed, and you end up going through an army of the dead in order to reach the other side. The loot was nice, though. It doesn't end there, of course. Both games have many, many, [[RuleOfThree many]] broken bridges, in both the literal and figurative sense. The next major dungeon afterwards is a fight through a DemonicSpider infested underground lair. The reason? A door was blocked by a rockslide. It gets cleared away later. Not that you'll ever go backwards in this game.
79	* BubblegloopSwamp: All three campaigns feature haunted swamps as their mid-story region, replete with mud, boardwalks, giant fungi, vicious wildlife, and loads of undead.
80	* CosmicKeystone: The Great Clock is one for the game's world. The Utraeans had created it to gain control over the weather for the betterment of their empire, and [[spoiler: eventually enslaved the Shadowjumper to power it after they defeated him. When he breaks out, he plans to spin the Clock out of control to destroy the Utraeans and the world along with them.]]
81	* CrystalLandscape: Present in all three campaigns.
82	** The Kingdom of Ehb's Subterranean River is a limestone cave complex which follows the snow lands, loaded with multicolored glowing crystals, [[CrystallineCreature crystalline enemies]], [[{{Morlocks}} Trog warriors]], and other cavey enemies. It also contains a temple which holds one of the keys to the Utraean Peninsula's big easter egg level.
83	** The Utraean Peninsula features two crystal caves, also following its snow lands. The aptly named Crystal Caverns are similar to Ehb's, with a Displacer platform instead of a temple. The Sulfur Tunnels are another, with far fewer crystalline opponents and more organic enemies. Every glowing crystal formation is a red or yellow not found in the other cave.
84	** The Legends of Aranna campaign has one in its final third, which is overrun with Zaurask who have tainted a magic healing well located inside. The player's party is tasked with cleansing it by killing the Zaurask presence.
85	* DeathMountain: The Utraean Peninsula and Legends of Aranna campaigns both have enemy-laden mountains to contend with.
86	** The Peninsula features Mount Utrae, which is home to a bandit leader and his army. It goes from open foothills to coniferous forest to snowy peak, then back down through more coniferous forest into swamp lands.
87	** Legends of Aranna first has the Mountain of the Dead, whose climate is dominated by the undead-infested swamp which surrounds it. It then has Mount Kreth, the polluted and scarred Goblin wasteland that is home to the Great Clock.
88	* DoorToBefore: After fighting your way through Wesrin Cross, you find yourself on the back side of the blocked gate you saw when you left Stonebridge, with conveniently placed explosives ready to clear the rubble. There's not really any reason to go back to Stonebridge at that point, though, unless you want to grab one of the optional party members you left behind on the first visit.
89	* DragonHoard: Ehb and the Utraean Peninsula both feature a huge dragon boss in caves under their desert canyon biomes, each of which guard a large hoard of gold pieces and containers full of loot. The Ehb dragons were used by the Kingdom as an execution method, wherein those sentenced to death were given equipment and a sack of gold and ordered to slay the dragon, with predictable results. The Utraean Peninsula dragon just so happens to have one of the [[PlotCoupon townstones]] in its hoard, and she needs to be killed for its acquisition to be possible.
90	* EasterEgg: In the multiplayer map, at higher levels one can stumble upon a dungeon full of giant chickens. The developers of Dungeon Siege and token Microsoft execs await, including Bill Gates.
91	** Also from the multiplayer map, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Pit of Despair]], and the infamously hard to find hidden pyramid in the desert, which leads to an entirely new island almost to reach otherwise.
92	* EmergencyEnergyTank: Rejuvenation potions, which restore a greater amount of health and mana than either other alone, are very rare to find outside of shops and can only be used once before expiring.
93	* FantasticScience: A hallmark of the Utraeans is that they have strikingly modern knowledge and technology compared to the rest of the world, up to and including genetic research and evolution, hormones, and computers. They power and apply these through their high cultural proficiency in magic.
94	* TheGoomba: Krug Scavengers are among the first enemies in the game. They are the weakest among the Krug ranks; they have the lowest hit points, carry shoddy weapons, and move slowly.
95	* GreenHillZone: The first portions of the Kingdom of Ehb and Utraean Peninsula maps are farmlands, rolling green plains, and light forest cover, and they are populated by the game's weakest enemies.
96	** Each of the above two also has a {{Shadowland}} version; the pleasant but undead-threatened hinterlands of each region's[[BigFancyCastle big monster-overrun castle.]]
97	** The Legends of Aranna campaign instead has a snowy alpine town as its starting zone. Its green hilly area is found in the second half of the story, and is home to a threatening cast of hostile wildlife, witches and their summons, and Hassat tribes.
98	* HealingWinds: Healing Wind is a spell of nature magic that creates a breeze that raises the health of the entire party.
99	* HubLevel: The Utraean Peninsula has one quite literally, in the form of the [[FunWithAcronyms Helios Utrae Basilicus]], which can be used by the player to fast-travel to towns which they are high enough level to start at.
100	** The Legends of Aranna campaign expands on their story; the Utraeans had a whole network of displacer pads which linked their empire, centered at the Central Transportation Center in their capital city of Jherkal's Crown. By the time the player's party reaches it, all but one pad there has been shut down in order to prevent hostile forces who had sacked the city from using the displacers to quickly ravage the rest of the island.
101	* LegacyCharacter: The PlayerCharacter from ''Legends of Aranna'' is the latest in a line of Heroes of Arhok. [[spoiler: Over the course of the story you find out what happened to the previous generation of Heroes, your parents.]]
102	* LethalLavaLand: All campaigns contain zones which consist of volcanic caverns located beneath stone fortifications and contain plot-relevant fixtures.
103	** The Kingdom of Ehb features [[spoiler: the Vault of Eternity, in which the Seck were imprisoned for 300 years prior to the start of the campaign, underneath Castle Ehb's dungeons.]]
104	** The Utraean Peninsula's volcanic Caverns are home to the Maljin, [[spoiler: a monstrous warrior race created by the Utraeans that invade the land when the Townstones are finally united.]]
105	** Legends of Aranna features the Lair of Cicatrix, inhabited by the undead forces of the titular skeletal centaur, as well as the lava caves under Fortress Emarard, the castle which protects and helps power the Great Clock.
106	* TheLostWoods: The Kingdom of Ehb and Utreaean Peninsula each have three distinct stages of coniferous forest levels, [[EnchantedForest increasingly enchanted with each subsequent one]].
107	** Ehb has these in the following order:
108	*** A forest that is occupied by Krug, SavageWolves, and undead, and is the location of the first BrokenBridge which forces the player to navigate through the Crypt of the Sacred Blood to reach Stonebridge.
109	*** A dark forest that is home to black wolves, trolls, demonic forest creatures, and a horde of bandits, as well as a witch's garden and a black stone castle.
110	*** A haunted forest that is home to fairies, black wolves, demonic forest creatures, cyclopes, floating skeletal wraiths, dragons, and an unsavory bonepicker merchant, as well as ancient temple ruins and a waterlogged dungeon with its own roster of dangerous enemies.
111	** The Utraean Peninsula has the following:
112	*** Instead of a direct analogue to the Ehb starter forest, there is a gigantic Great Northern Forest that can be traversed as an alternate path toward the first quest, or else hides pathways to hidden areas and contains the whole range of the above forest types under its canopy.
113	*** The Cloud Forest's terrain is expanded upon from Ehb's version, mixing grass clearings and sheer clifftops with its tree cover as it gradually ascends to being a snowy DeathMountain.
114	*** Redwood Gap is an analogue to the Temple Ruins forest, home to a similar water dungeon, the same monster set, and lots of fairies; though instead of temple ruins it contains the semi-hidden Pit of Despair level and a displacer back to the town of Lang.
115	** The only forest of this type in the Legends of Aranna campaign can be found outside Fortress Emarard, occupied by elite Zaurask forces protecting their king Nosirrom, in addition to a smattering of monsters from across the other campaigns.
116	* {{Magitek}}: The Utraeans were masters of applied magic to technology, using it to power genetic research and accelerated evolution, war machines, robots, computers, and long-distance transportation.
117	* MechaMooks: The Goblins and Utraeans fielded robotic forces. It isn't clear who developed and deployed the technology first.
118	* MoreCriminalsThanTargets: Given the number of bandits clogging certain forest roads, you could be forgiven for thinking that bandits are the country's single largest demographic group all by themselves.
119	* MoreDakka: At a certain point in an otherwise internally consistent fantasy game, you can get a minigun among other high-tech Goblin weapons.
120	* TheMovie: ''In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale'' tries to be this for the Kingdom of Ehb setting.
121	* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: Since multiplayer worlds aren't saved, multiplayer characters are able to visit various high-XP-yield locations again and again, while the more fixed singleplayer mode is trickier to pull this off.
122	** For the Kingdom of Ehb singleplayer story, the ice caves and swamps are home to witches that can infinitely summon monsters as long as they are alive. These summons grant experience and drop loot like their non-summoned counterparts.
123	** This XP-farming exploit is removed in the Legends of Aranna world, where summoned enemies do not grant XP when killed.
124	** Of note for the Utraean Peninsula multiplayer map is Iliarth Canyon, which despite being populated by mid-high level skeleton soldiers is connected directly to the low-level town of Crystwind. Skilled and/or daring newbies may benefit greatly from quick XP gain and loot+gold drops which are scaled far above their current level.
125	* PlotCoupon: There are 7 Townstones to collect throughout the Utraean Peninsula map, which all need to be united at the Utraean Circle in the town of Hiroth for the plot to progress.
126	* PollutedWasteland:
127	** As one approaches the Goblin fortress in Ehb's swamp, one can see pipes discharging a sludgy fluid from their operations below. Its relation to the undead presence is unclear.
128	** The Lands of the Great Clock are broken, dead, and rife with Goblin industrial development and magic bursts from mishandling of the Great Clock.
129	* RegeneratingHealth: Health regeneration is slightly slow, but present, and is also supplemented by health potions that instantly restore all health. The final boss also regenerates health slowly.
130	* SlaveRace: The Zaurask and Hassat were bred to serve as slaves for the Utraeans.
131	* SliceAndDiceSwordsmanship: All melee weapons other than staves use the same 1-handed or 2-handed attack animation. This results in daggers being swung as if they were broadswords.
132	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The second quarter of the Kingdom of Ehb and Utraean Peninsula campaigns are heralded by snowy forested mountain landscapes, populated by hostile wildlife, snow demons, and ice elementals. The Legends of Aranna campaign, by contrast, starts in a snow land, albeit with the difficulty turned down.
133	* SoundtrackDissonance: Very calming and relaxing music plays in the background, even when your party is in the heat of all-out battle, thanks to a lack of VariableMix.
134	* SpiderSwarm: Wesrin Cross and its analogues are full of these. The spiders range in size from rats to wolves, and there are also the demonic mucosa, which are [[MixAndMatchCritters human and spider hybrids]].
135	* StatSticks: The different classes each can benefit from an off-class weapon even if they never use it, so long as the off-class item provides magic buffs which aid their build; for example, a melee fighter equipped with a strength-boosting spell book, a mage with an intelligence-boosting bow, or an archer with a dexterity-boosting sword. It is prudent in a singleplayer campaign to shop for these items early on, lest the stat requirements of such items in later shops outpace the advancement of characters' secondary stats.
136	** Legends of Aranna expands on this by including shields that require dexterity and intelligence, used almost exclusively for their magic bonuses.
137	* SwampsAreEvil: All the game's swamps are overrun by any combination of the following: hostile wildlife, vicious monsters, witches, and undead.
138	* TooDumbToLive: A BrokenBridge in the first game is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by a party of Krug setting fire to it and ''then'' driving their wagon across.
139	* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Zaurask and Hassat were created by the Utraeans to be their slaves, but they revolted and destroyed the Utraean Empire in the process.
140	* YouCantMissIt: An inverted example is given by Overseer Ibsen Yamas in Glacern. His description of getting to Fortress Kroth implies that it's probably the game's next stage ("Just follow your nose through the ice cave and you'll get there soon enough."). Instead, the party has to fight through a full third of the game's length; through a crystal cave, a forest full of bandits, a haunted swamp, a Goblin warren, a haunted forest, a Fury cave, and a Seck commander and his legion of skeleton soldiers before finally reaching the fortress.
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143	[[/folder]]
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145	[[folder: Dungeon Siege II and Broken World]]
146	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Quite a few examples, actually: the Morden (except for the Morden refugees in ''Broken World'',) the Familiars, and the Cinbri.
147	* ArtifactAlias: The PlayerCharacter is often referred to as "the mercenary" despite ceasing to be one by the end of the first act's first chapter.
148	* AscendedExtra: [[spoiler:Celeb'hel, an [=NPC=] from Aman'lu who served as little more than an ExpositionFairy in the main campaign, [[PromotedToPlayable becomes a proper party member in ''Broken World'']], should you prevent him from [[SuperPowerMeltdown casting the will-imposing spell that was only cast twice before in history]], that is.]]
149	* BagOfSpilling: During the first playthrough (on the lowest difficulty level), you lose your entire equipment between the first act's first chapter and the second chapter. However, this is quite justified, as the PlayerCharacter has just been taken as a POW by the Dryads at this point.
150	* BloodKnight: When the normally passive Taar says she fights the Morden because she must, Finala gives the near psychopathic response that she fights them because she can and has personal reasons to do so. Ever her personal quest involves eliminating them.
151	* BloodierAndGorier: The first game had BloodlessCarnage[[note]]Unless you used the proper cheat code[[/note]]. In the second dealing sufficient overkill to an enemy causes LudicrousGibs and leaves a puddle of blood where they once stood. The expansion to the second game is set in a post-apocalyptic world with EldritchAbomination monsters and features two dungeons with very explicit blood and guts piled and spilled all over their floors.
152	* BloodyMurder: The Blood Assassin's abilities. Of particular note is the Ravaging Strike power, whose description says that disregarding their own life, the attacker pours their health and blood into a single devastating AreaOfEffect shot. Its animation is a stream of blood, and causes the user to lose 40% of their health.
153	* BrutalBonusLevel: The Mysterious Shrine, a dungeon only accessible by [[GuideDangIt completing several obtuse steps and a couple of secondary quests in order to obtain the required Set Items to unlock the doors within]]. It's filled with [[KillerRabbit murderous prairie dogs]] [[KillItWithFire that can breathe fire]] and {{Evil Doppelganger}}s [[MirrorBoss of every party member in the game, including Drevin, with stats and builds based on their Elite playable versions]] and boss level HP. Defeat the 9 strongest enemies in the base game, and you get access to the DevelopersRoom, where you can get a ton of PurposefullyOverpowered Unique items and some {{JokeItem}}s as well.
154	* BrutalHonesty: Deru after your initial meeting with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Finala]]. Quite justified too, since the PlayerCharacter worked with the Morden under Valdis, who are terrorizing Aranna and most recently nearly destroyed their hometown.
155	-->'''Deru''': She hates you.
156	* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: The first act consists of the protagonist trying to return home, and happening to help various parts of LaResistance against Valdis. The second act begins with [[spoiler:Valdis and the Archmage destroying said home]], prompting the protagonist to continue adventuring with the aim of getting Valdis' head.
157	* CaptainErsatz: Amren is really [[Franchise/StarTrek Spock]] in disguise.
158	* ChainOfDeals: There is a side quest that starts in Act I and spans all the way to Act III.
159	* ChivalrousPervert: Sartan becomes one in ''Broken World'', whereas he was the DumbMuscle in the base game's campaign. Even his rejoining quote exemplifies this:
160	--> '''Sartan''': Great; let's get moving. Hopefully we can rescue a few lovely damsels in distress while we work on saving the world!
161	* CrapsackWorld: Pretty much the point of ''Broken World''. Fortunately, this Crapsack World doesn't last forever, but [[EarnYourHappyEnding you have to defeat a lot of tough bosses to make it happen]].
162	** On the other hand, the main game had some dashes of CrapsaccharineWorld. You may think the Dryads are sweet and lovely plant girls, right? Not in this game; a lot of them are a stern and no-nonsense AmazonBrigade. For example, Warden Celia equips prisoners with Rings of Submission, which can sense your intentions before you've even thought of them and then do painful and even deadly stuff to you accordingly. When did this turn into ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''? Fortunately unlike the leaders of the novel, Celia can be reasoned with.
163	* CriticalHit: Prominently displayed in ''II'' by much larger and darker red damage indicators.
164	* DarkerAndEdgier: Also pretty much the point of ''Broken World'', but also the case for the Blood Assassin. In the lore, death magic is described as pretty nasty already. The Blood Assassin's abilities are a shade darker than that.
165	* DeadpanSnarker: Lothar's seriousness is only matched by his dislike for [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Deru]]. He employs the most SarcasmMode in his dialogue out of all recruitable party members, one notable example being in Act I after meeting Sartan for the first time. After the main character asks him if he's met Sartan before, due to them both being Half-Giants; he sarcastically mentions that all Half-Giants know each other, and that they know a secret handshake too, causing the main character to feel bad for asking such a stupid question.
166	* DeathActivatedSuperpower: The Familiars in ''Broken World'' have this. When they're killed, they come back to life three seconds later in a fiery blast, albeit only if the finishing blow leaves a corpse behind. They resurrect with only a quarter of their hit points but twice their attack power. Fortunately, it only works once.
167	* DeathMountain: Combined with StormingTheCastle for Zaramoth's Horns, which serves as TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. It's a mountain-sized fortress with a RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver sky, colossal SpikesOfDoom adorning its peak (if the map's illustration is anything to go by), and swarming with twisted fauna and legions of Valdis' strongest servants.
168	* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler: [[TheReveal It turns out]] that ThePlague is caused by spirits from Zaramoth's army possessing people]].
169	* DemotedToExtra: [[MyNameIsQuestionMarks ???]], the level 100 thief who'd occasionally spawn when a rare item drops from a chest or enemy, and was involved in the main campaign's secret secondary quest "Mysterious Mystery" by way of dropping a key item required to reach the BrutalBonusLevel, is still present in ''Broken World''. Unfortunately it no longer serves a purpose beyond being a nuisance, as there's no equivalent to said quest in the expansion; even though it can still drop the same item after being killed, it's no longer considered a key item, so it just gets put into your inventory.
170	* TheDragon:
171	** In the main campaign, the Cinbri Archmage is this to Valdis.
172	** In Broken World, the Familiar Surgeons Despular and Baelusar, who are responsible for creating all the Bound creatures that fill the Overmage's legions. [[spoiler:There's also Warden Celia, who inadvertently becomes this as she's the one rallying the Dryads into following orders from the Overmage, collecting magic with her Dryad Purifiers for the Great Plan]].
173	* TheEeyore: Amren in ''Broken World''. Heck, ''every'' elf you can talk to in the expansion is morbidly depressed, except for [[HotBlooded Finala]]. Fittingly, she is the one who rebuilds Aman'lu from scratch after the war as shown in the epilogue slide.
174	* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Shows up in this game, unlike the first.
175	* EvilChancellor: In Act III. While the PlayerCharacter is occupied with retrieving the final PlotCoupon, [[WouldHurtAChild he even kills Lord Kalrathia, the ruler]]. Thankfully, the PlayerCharacter is GenreSavvy enough to recognize said chancellor as a villain and kills him.
176	* EvilMentor: [[spoiler: The Azunite Scholar, who is revealed to be a Dark Wizard, is this. He manipulates the player into assembling the parts of Azunai's shield at the hopes of making contact with Zaramoth's sword, causing a massive change across Aranna.]]
177	* EvilUncle: It is revealed that Valdis is Evangeline's uncle.
178	* ExtremeOmnivore: Pets can eat any magic item.
179	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Celia in ''Broken World''. Given how the Dryads lost their hometown and their place to the world, she and her fellow people have no choice but to ally themselves with the villain.]]
180	* FacelessGoons: The Morden-Viir wear helmets that obscure the upper parts of their faces, showing only their jaws.
181	* GladiatorSubquest: The Aman'lu Arena in both ''II'' and ''Broken World''.
182	* HerbivoresAreFriendly: Until they get infected with the plague, [[spoiler:or corrupted by the Vai'kesh]].
183	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Valdis, full stop. He can't seem to stop himself from doing stuff to piss you off starting by killing Drevin and not even paying you. In the immortal words of [[Series/{{Leverage}} Nathan Ford, "Yeah, you should've just paid us!"]]
184	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Not actually in the game, thankfully, but the description for humans in the ''DS II'' manual reads like it could have been written by [[Literature/GulliversTravels Johnathan Swift]].
185	** In addition, the manual says that the Elves like being in control to the point of being {{Manipulative Bastard}}s, but the Elves you meet in the game show no such egotism. You'd think the manual was for a different game entirely.
186	* InsistentTerminology: From ''Broken World'': It's ''[[SpellMyNameWithAThe "The Overmage of the Cinbri"]]'', ''not'' "Dark Wizard".
187	* InsubstantialIngredients: A quest in ''Broken World'' makes mention of these. Fortunately, they turn out to be metaphorical descriptions for quest drops.
188	* ItsPersonal: The player character starts as a mercenary paid for Valdis at the hopes of satiate their love of adventure and glory. However, this wanderlust ends when Valdis kills their BestFriend Drevin and later nearly razed Aman'lu that killed the player character's parents drives them to destroy Valdis once and for all.
189	** In the expansion, the player character once again considers the [[spoiler: the Azunite Scholar, who is revealed to be a Dark Wizard as this. This is due of him manipulating the player into assembling the shield and comes contact once more with Zaramoth's sword, creating a cataclysmic event that nearly destroys various civilizations across Aranna. They spend much of the expansion hunting him while fixing the mistake that they unwittingly caused at Aranna.]]
190	* JerkAss: Warden Celia, who has no qualms about using the [[ExplosiveLeash Rings of Submission]] on her prisoners and takes considerable persuasion from Amren to even consider giving the player character a chance to prove their good nature. The events leading up to ''Broken World'' only serve to increase her cynical side.
191	** Finala the Elven machine expert also shows shades of this in her conversations with the player character. [[JerkassHasAPoint She is not entirely this without reason, however, given how the main character and Drevin worked with the Morden knowing that they were up to no good, so her hatred and mistrust towards them is justified.]] Thankfully, she does start to loosen up just before offering to join your party.
192	* JokeItem: The Fluffy White Pillow, obtained in the DevelopersRoom after watching a ChildishPillowFight happen for around 2 minutes until the Half-Giant hunted by Elves drops it. It's classified as a "club" by the game and deals 1 to 2 damage, lower than even the Cage Fragments obtained in Act I.
193	* KilledOffForReal: Drevin.
194	* KnightTemplar: The Overmage considers the atrocities he's committing as good for Aranna, and he thinks his actions will redeem him in his races' eyes.
195	* LargeHam: Valdis doesn't so much as speak his lines, but rather ''angrily shouts'' them, particularly during the conversations taking place before the fights with him.
196	** [[spoiler:[[TheManBehindTheMan The Overmage of the Cinbri]]]] in ''Broken World'', bizarrely enough. [[spoiler:He]] never acted like this [[spoiler:as the Azunite Scholar]] in ''DS II'', [[spoiler: being at most a ColdHam during the scene after the final boss]].
197	* TheLeader: The PlayerCharacter is this to the assembled BadassCrew as acknowledged by Deru and Vix.
198	* MeaningfulName: Just like the Morden, Valdis's name also has a hidden meaning. It is derived from "valde", the Latin word for "great".
199	* MonsterCompendium: In the base game, you first have to kill five monsters of a specific type to gain information on it, unless its an EliteMook or a boss. In ''Broken World'', on the other hand, you only have to kill a monster once to get the info.
200	* MoodWhiplash: The side quest "Sartan's Suspicion." [[spoiler:When Sartan finds out the leader of the underground resistance movement is the same officer who imprisoned him back in Windstone Fortress, he [[RevengeBeforeReason kills the officer in a moment of vengeful anger]]. When the other soldiers [[WhatTheHellHero call him out on it]], Sartan [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes it]] and you set off to [[TheAtoner rescue some imprisoned soldiers so he can set things right again]]. However, even though the rescue mission goes successfully, the other soldiers [[ForgivenButNotForgotten only sort of forgive Sartan, and tell him he'll just have to live with his guilt]]. Uh...[[ShaggyDogStory yay?]]]]
201	* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch:
202	** An early sidequest revolves around a Haku tribe that ''doesn't'' want to murder and devour everyone else.
203	** In Act III, during your trek through the DungeonTown of Darthrul, a secondary quest will have you come across two Morden Riders and a Klask who are tired of the barbaric ways of the rest of the Morden after being exhiled from their home as punishment for arriving late to the siege of Snowbrook Haven due to their leader's faulty map causing them to take ''two weeks'' to reach their destination. The PlayerCharacter even [[LampshadeHanging comments]] on how uncharacteristically civilized they're acting for their race. They ask for retrieving supplies from lockers spread throughout the districts so they can travel without issue, eventually settling on taking a vacation on the [[ContinuityNod continent of Ehb, the setting from the first game]].
204	* NoodleIncident: In ''Broken World'', Celeb'hel wants to cast a spell that will [[AGodAmI allow him to impose his will on the world]]. He says that this particular spell was cast twice before in the history of Aranna, but the Ancestor of the Azunites says that neither casting had the intended effect; [[TakeOurWordForIt we aren't told what exactly happened]].
205	* NotSoAboveItAll: [[spoiler:When the Azunite Scholar [[TheReveal turns out to be the Overmage of the Cinbri]], he chides Valdis for thinking he's Zaramoth Reborn. Later, when you fight and kill the Overmage in ''Broken World'', he shouts "[[BigNo NOOOO!]] But this is impossible! [[IronicEcho I am Zaramoth!]]"]]
206	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Since the PlayerCharacter is named by the player, they are always referred to as "the mercenary" in voiced dialogue.
207	* ThePlague: A plague that's spread by bites is ravaging the Dryads' island. [[spoiler: It's actually DemonicPossession.]]
208	* PurposefullyOverpowered: The items obtained in the DevelopersRoom, at least on Mercenary Difficulty (since they don't scale up with better items on higher difficulties), when they don't fall into LethalJokeItem territory, particularly the Spirit of Bolivar and [[MoreDakka Gremal Gun]]; the former not only is a fast attacking sword with +15 max damage, but also gives the wielder +18% resistance to all elements, while the latter, despite not giving any stat increases, is a ranged weapon with a 0.5 second attack speed and 1 extra meter of range, both highest of any weapon in the entire game. Get Shade's Agility and a crapton of Dexterity increasing equipment, and you got yourself a weapon that can melt through enemies solo. To obtain them, you need to know {{UsefulNotes/Colombia}}n trivia to answer a quiz and play a [[InteractiveFiction text dventure game]], respectively.
209	* RedOniBlueOni:
210	** Taar and Deru are two dryads in II who can join your party. Taar's a softspoken, [[FriendToAllLivingThings kindhearted]] nature mage, and Deru's a HotBlooded, abrasive archer.
211	** Taar and Finala, being the default mages of the party. Befitting to her calm and gentle temperament, Taar is a [[WhiteMagic Nature Mage]], and the temperamental and no-nonsense Finala is a [[LadyOfBlackMagic Combat Mage]]. Finala and the mysterical, cautious, and wandering archer Amren can also form this trope as well, given how they both hail from Aman'lu, the hometown of the PlayerCharacter.
212	** Likewise with the warrior half-giants of the party: Lothar is calm, soft-spoken, and humble, while Sartan is eager, boisterous, and always think highly of himself.
213	* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: [[spoiler:The Rogue Mage Celeb'hel you kill in ''Broken World'' wasn't actually the real one, but rather [[CloningGambit one of three Simulacrum created by the real Celeb'hel to obtain knowledge from the Overmage, Vai'kesh, and the Calennor Stronghold at the same time]]. He's still alive and well, [[FakingTheDead just in hiding]], and requests you to retrieve the Soulstones of his clones so he can obtain their knowledge.]]
214	* ShellShockedVeteran: Throughout the course of both campaigns, Vix becomes this. Not only did he [[WarIsHell suffer the horrors of war]], he had his personal squad infected and killed by the Plague before his very eyes, and witnessed both the fortress he was a warrior for ''and'' LaResistance befall the same fate as his comrades, turning him into one ''extremely'' paranoid if HotBlooded warrior. ''Broken World'' has him witness the effects the [[WorldSundering Second Cataclysm]] had on the world and the [[BodyHorror Bound creatures]] spawned from it, [[SanitySlippage snuffing whatever sanity the man had left]]. Most of his dialogue in the latter involves him being a NervousWreck who says the party are all gonna die a horrific death, and right before entering the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon City of the Cinbri]] in Part 3, he has a vivid war flashback. His portion of the WhereAreTheyNow ending even has the narrator explain that he never recovered from his mental scars, being last seen charging into a pack of Klasks while shouting Xeria's name before disappearing.
215	* StormingTheCastle: Happens at the end of each act:
216	** In Act I, you storm the Plague infested Windstone Fortress, which is home to the Temple of Xeria at the heart of the fortress.
217	** In Act II, you infiltrate the Morden-occupied Snowbrook Haven in the middle of TheWarSequence.
218	** In Act III, the very last dungeon is Zaramoth's Horns, which is a mountain-sized fortress which is home to Valdis' base of operations, with his own personal temple located at the very top.
219	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Deru has the most vitriolic conversations with other party members, particularly with Lothar and Finala, who both have zero tolerance for stupid questions and her "treasure hunting and adventure before everything else" attitude. Sartan becomes this in ''Broken World'', as Deru has mellowed out a ''lot'' since the events of the main campaign.
220	* ThePollyanna: Sartan is this in ''Broken World'', which is even noted in the WhereAreTheyNow credits sequence, where the narrator explains that he's helping the Dryads in the Outpost cope with their losses. He provides the more humorous dialogue this time around as well, although party members note how his joking is a bit ill-timed and in poor taste.
221	* TheWarSequence: The siege of Snowbrook Haven, which is a fight between the Morden and the Humans of the Northern Reaches. The Morden are succeeding in the siege, [[SpannerInTheWorks until you come in and thwart their plans]]. [[spoiler:[[DiabolusExMachina And then out of nowhere]], a singular Crystal Shard is jolted into the middle of the remainder of Snowbrook Haven's forces atop the castle, [[ForegoneConclusion leaving your efforts to saving them null, much like the people of Windstone Fortress beforehand]].]]
222	* ThirdPersonPerson:
223	** The Hak'u talk like this, combined with BuffySpeak, such as referring to Dryads as "tree ladies".
224	** Inexplicably, out of all Half-Giants, Sartan is the only one who talks like this.
225	* TokenEvilTeammate: The Blood Assassin Ressa, in the form of a WellIntentionedExtremist.
226	* TreetopTown: Eirulan, home city of the Dryads.
227	* TrueCompanions: Although there is a limited interactions between potential companions due of its limitation in regards to recruitment, they show but good camaraderie towards one another despite their differences. This shows in the epilogue that narrates their fate, such as Taar and Deru helping Evangeline rebuild her kingdom.
228	* ShopFodder: The Gold Chalice found in one of an underground shelter in Act III, despite having its own unique model and inventory icon, serves zero purpose besides being sold for a paltry sum of 1000 gold.
229	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: In Broken World, even though a lot of peoples' friends and loved ones have been turned into murderous Bound creatures and insane [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Rogue Magi]], said people still get mad at you for killing the Bound creatures. As a matter of fact, only the first questgiver in the game and the elf in Aman'lu who's responsible for rebuilding the city sees the wisdom of [[IDidWhatIHadToDo what you needed to do]].
230	* WhatTheHellHero: Much of the first few parts of act 1 are spent having characters chew you out for being Valdis' stooge. Oddly enough, once you get back to your hometown, the only one who antagonizes you over it is the resident JerkAss ([[WhatTheHellHero though not without a reason]]).
231	* WorldWreckingWave: A thousand years before, when the Sword of Zaramoth shattered the Shield of Azunai, it caused one of these, burning the entire southern half of Aranna into a vast desert that became known as "The Plane of Tears" and [[EndOfAnAge ended the First Age]].
232	----
233	[[/folder]]
234	[[folder: Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony]]
235
236	* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: The Agallans were far more technologically advanced than previously shown. Creating {{Living Statue}}s, incantation shrines and water-powered mechanical bridges aren't their only feats. [[spoiler:Not only are there just straight up {{Killer Robot}}s in areas related to Agalla, there's also the Megalith, a giant machine that powered the FloatingContinent of Agalla]].
237	* BlessedWithSuck: [[spoiler:Malith took reins of the throne of the Agallans after the Betrayal, the coup of the king of the Agallans, but was forever cursed by his last words to be bound to it for all of eternity, even after Agalla sunk to the bottom of the sea for millenia]].
238	* BigCreepyCrawlies: Scorpions of abnormal size, giant low-poly spiders, and Scorpitaurs.
239	* CompositeCharacter: The Vagar are essentially the Hak'u by way of the Morden, while visually resembling dark-skinned Vai'kesh. A race of tribal humanoids who worship an {{Evil God}}ess who were peaceful before being driven mad by her increasing influence since the [[WorldWreckingWave Second Cataclysm]] happened, leading to them suddenly becoming organized instead of segregated into remote tribes. Much like the Morden, they went to war with the Citadel of Drahn in the Fallen Kingdom region utilizing crude catapults with Armored Bugs (Durvlas in all but name) and bulky humanoid beasts as their muscle, laying a siege that left only a dozen soldiers alive in a tiny hall of their citadel.
240	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Dying doesn't result in you having to reload a previous save point or losing your gold, instead all that happens is that you lose any {{Status Buff}}s you had and having to restart the current level from the entrance you came from.
241	* DiscOneFinalDungeon: This game's got a couple of them in Act I:
242	** The first of them is the Black Tree, a pivotal location to the {{Main Character}}s' initial motivations. It's home to the Black Druid, the first major boss of the game. The story takes on a massive shift past it.
243	** The ''actual'' dungeon that closes off Act I is the Fortress of Doom, where you fight Dreadlord Bloodshadow. Once you defeat him, you'll enter the Fallen Kingdom.
244	* FetchQuest: What most of the game's quests devolve into. The Agallan Trials in particular being the most JustForFun/{{Egregious}} example, which have you thrudge through three different dungeons to collect {{Plot Coupon}}s, with the fourth one being purchased from Neeloc the goblin in a separate island.
245	* FloatingContinent: [[spoiler:What Agalla ultimately is revealed to be. It was sunken into the bottom of the ocean after the First Cataclysm one millenia ago, but is brought back up into the skies as TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon]].
246	* GaidenGame: The game's events take place between the end of ''II'' and the start of ''Broken World'', in a separate setting from either of them, known as the Broken Lands.
247	* HardLevelsEasyBosses: The levels themselves aren't very long to begin with, but they provide a higher challenge than the handful of actual bosses the game has, what with the claustrophobic level design that funnels you into facing hordes of enemies in a confined space. That, and unlike every other game in the franchise, there's no HealthDamageAsymmetry at play, meaning the big {{Boss Battle}}s aren't that much tougher than standard {{Elite Mook}}s.
248	* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: 95% of the enemy designs and weapons are taken straight from the first two games. The Vagar and Malith herself are some of the few new designs made for the game. ''All'' of the music is taken from the previous games as well.
249	* OrcusOnHisThrone: [[spoiler:Malith spends the entire game sitting on the throne inside the Chamber of Agony, orchestrating her return by using her increased influence upon the Vagar who worship her to collect magic for her, much like Zaramoth before her. {{Justified}} in that she's been stuck there for the last thousand years thanks to the curse that was placed upon her, meaning she can't physically leave in her current state.]]
250	* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: Thanks to the lack of AntiGrinding, you'll gain experience normally whether you're under or overleveled compared to an enemy.
251	** As soon as you enter [[ShiftingSandLand Eshadune]] in Act I, you can head to the Ancient Monument dungeon, which has level 29 [[BigCreepyCrawlies Scorpitaurs]], which can be taken care of with relative ease from long range with either magic or ranged weapons. They give out a ton of experience, even while fighting them at the intended level, which means killing 5 of them will net you a level up more often than not.
252	** As soon as you get access to the boat in Act II, instead of sailing to Bloodmist Isle, you can immediately head back to the eastern rocky shores of the Broken Lands for two optional dungeons: The Depths of Despair and the Forbidden Shrine, both of which house the highest level enemies in the entire game, higher level than even the FinalBoss.
253	** Located at TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, [[GoodBadBugs for whatever reason]], all three of the LivingStatue bosses (Elegy, Regret, and Mourn) respawn infinitely. They're all guarding doors that load separate sub-areas, meaning that once you beat them once, you can just open the door behind them and return to respawn them without having to wait for their internal respawn timer to expire. They drop guaranteed Unique items, which are not only [[InfinityPlusOneSword statistically the best in the game]], they also sell for the highest amount of money.
254	* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: Taar and Eva from ''II'' appear as recruitable party members.
255	* TitleThemeDrop: The ''Dungeon Siege'' main theme plays in the north region of the Broken Lands known as Eshadune, which is reached once the MainCharacter has braved through the [[DiscOneFinalDungeon Black Tree]] and started going on their quest to figure out the Vagar's history. The remix used for ''DS I'''s final fight and the JustifiedTutorial in ''II'' also reappears in the Chamber of Agony, the final room before the FinalBoss fight with Malith.
256	* ThirdPersonPerson: Scuttles and Neeloc, both goblins, refer to themselves by their own name.
257	* UndergroundMonkey: To an almost ridiculous extent. There are about two or three dozen unique enemy models, and all of them are recolored or outfitted with new armor at least 5 times throughout the course of the game.
258	* WolfpackBoss:
259	** The {{Necromancer}}s in the Windstone Abbey are a quartet of minibosses fought at the end of the Defiled Sanctuary portion of the dungeon, located all at the center of the very last room. Their long range spells are quite nasty [[EarlyBirdBoss for how early in the game you fight these minibosses at]], especially because of their HitboxDissonance making dodging them harder than it looks.
260	** One of the last obstacles before entering the Chamber of Agony in the Ruins of Agalla is a fight against four [[EliteMook Chosen of Malith]], MultiArmedAndDangerous Vagar that specialize in Death Magic, followed by a fight against [[LivingStatue Mourn]].
261
262	----
263	[[/folder]]
264
265	[[folder: Dungeon Siege III]]
266	* AntiVillain:[[spoiler:Jeyne is more delusional than evil.]]
267	* BagOfSharing: ''Dungeon Siege III'' allows any character to access the shared inventory at any time. Also, to a certain degree, the storage chests in ''II'', which can all access the same inventory regardless of which town you are in.
268	* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler:Jeyne Kassynder]] falls under this as she initially calls herself "The Living Saint of Azunai" in order to gain support from the church in her crusade against the 10th Legion. She secretly still worships [[spoiler:the Archon's Creator Gods]] but eventually begins to believe her own propaganda thus [[StartOfDarkness beginning her leap over the edge]].
269	* BrotherSisterTeam: Lucas and Katarina.
270	* CameBackWrong: This is what happens when [[spoiler:one tries to resurrect a creator god with the intention of using it to destroy.]]
271	* CanonName: In III, we learn a bit about the canonical PC of DS I -- no first name, she's referred to as either "the farmer" or "Lady Montbarron". She's also the ancestor of Lucas and Katarina.
272	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: When it's revealed that the Dapper Old Gent, a terrorist who's the ArcVillain of the Stonebridge storyline is actually [[spoiler:a former Legion mage]] you are given the choice of having him join the Legion at the cost of betraying the ReasonableAuthorityFigure who's been helping you take him down.
273	* ContinuityNod: The third game is full of them.
274	** You can plunder the crypt of the heroes of the first game.
275	** When trying to guess a password for a magickal door, your character will come up with several references to enemies from the first game.
276	* CorruptChurch: [[spoiler:According to all the stories Azunai was a pretty swell guy, his Church is a whole other matter. The Azunite Church appears to want complete and unquestioned domination of Ehb. So it appears that they stoked Jeyne's ego a bit and let her believe her own propaganda and even gave her an army. They have her declared Apostate and try to have her killed when she decides to give up her attempt to rule Ehb and help rebuild the Legion for all the evil she did.]]
277	* DeadpanSnarker: Lucas is not afraid to let loose with this whenever he's the active sidekick during conversations.
278	* ElementalPunch: Reinhart's standard attack in his Dynamic stance is a lightning-punch powered by his magic gauntlet. Anjali's last move on her string of standard attacks while in her Human stance is a fire-punch.
279	* EscortMission: III has a fun one: You have to keep four unkillable (but not undefeatable) sentinels occupied so they don't kill Phineas. The sentinels prioritize you, it's a more or less stationary fight and it's not long, so it doesn't outstay its welcome.
280	* EvilUncle: It's revealed that [[spoiler:Jeyne is Queen Rosalyn's aunt.]]
281	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:The Dapper Old Gent]].
282	* FormulaicMagic: Reinhart's specialty is [[ImprobableWeaponUser being good enough at math to kill people]].
283	* FullContactMagic: Reinhart uses a PowerFist and is able to channel entropic magic.
284	* GenreSavvy: If Reinhart isn't the chosen player character, he states that he didn't come to the gathering in the beginning because he could tell that it was an obvious trap. He then apologizes for accidentally insulting you.
285	* {{Gonk}}: One of the quests in the third game involves dealing with a particularly ugly human who everyone thinks is a Krug and is the victim of misaimed FantasticRacism because of it. Because of this he's chosen to hide in a jailcell to avoid dealing with people.
286	* TheGunslinger: Katarina dual-wields a {{Handcannon}} and a shotgun in close quarters and uses a rifle for range.
287	* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:You can cause this for Jeyne by pointing out that Hugh Montbarron didn't come to the Mournweald to ambush her but for a place to hide. This, more than anything, makes Jeyne realize that her entire quest for revenge was pointless and she essentially killed her own Creator Gods with her own selfish pride.]]
288	* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Several characters/[=NPCs=] in III, most prominently Lucas. Interestingly averted with Anjali, although only the late-game helmets are actually displayed, otherwise she just has helmet hair.
289	* HeroicBastard: Katarina
290	* HotWitch: Leona and Katarina.
291	%%* IncendiaryExponent[=/=]KillItWithFire[=/=]WreathedInFlames: Anjali and most archons.
292	* InNameOnly: III has many controversial departures from the previous titles' gameplay.
293	* JeanneDArchetype: Jeyne Kassynder is a villainous example.
294	* JudgmentOfSolomon: You can do this to settle a land dispute for a quest.
295	* KillTheGod: [[spoiler: You fight a corrupted creator god as the FinalBoss.]]
296	* KnightTemplar: Jeyne Kassynder.
297	* ManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:The Azunite Church]] appears to want to put [[spoiler:Jeyne Kassynder]] on the throne so that they can be this to her.
298	* MechaMooks: Stonebridge has an army of these. They tend to be very sarcastic.
299	* MercyRewarded: [[spoiler:Spare Rajani, and she'll eventually realize how crazy Jeyne is and help you defeat her.]]
300	* MoreDakka: Katarina's final ability with her rifle.
301	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:You can inflict one of these on Jeyne Kassynder after you defeat the corrupted Creator God by asking her why the Mournweald allowed Hugh Montbarron and his Legionnaires in. You then proceed to point out that they were only ''looking for shelter'' and the Creator Gods granted their request. Jeyne realizes she essentially betrayed her own Gods in her blind quest for revenge when she used the Seed of Creation to kill Hugh Montbarron. She subsequently realizes that her entire quest was pointless and she essentially killed her Gods over a petty grudge.]]
302	** You can also tell her that [[spoiler:the gods allowed Montbarron's army in as a test of faith for Jeyne, to see if she would put her mortal desire for revenge above her commitment to her gods.]]
303	* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Anjali, the playable archon. Nearly every other archon swore allegiance to Jeyne, Anjali was raised seperately and joins the legion, which pits her frequently against her sisters.
304	* MysteriousWaif: The Radiant Youth. It is implied that [[spoiler: he may be Azunai]].
305	* OneWingedAngel: Rajani and [[spoiler:Jeyne]] reveal their true forms when they are faced with enough pressure.
306	* TheParagon: Dungeon Siege 3's heroes, depending of your play style. Play your cards right and at the end, every faction they met will follow them. Hell, you can even convince a [[spoiler:bloodthirsty genocidal borderline psychopath to tone down her hatred for your faction, repent for her crimes, and make her work for you.]]
307	* ThePurge: In DS3, the 10th Legion and their descendants are hunted down due to their role in a palace coup 30 years ago.
308	* RazorWind: Lucas' Wind Shear ability will unleash a wave of air towards his foes.
309	* RelationshipValues: Your companions each have their own Influence stat that can increase depending on your dialogue choices, and getting their influence high enough will grant you stat bonuses. Interestingly, while they can and will call you out if they disagree with your choices, you can't actually ''lose'' Influence. Each companion has their own general leanings for Influence.
310	** Lucas is a KnightInShiningArmor who believes in fighting for justice and obeying the letter of the law.
311	** Anjali is a PragmaticHero who favors swift, brutal justice for anyone who opposes the Legion and ''really'' wants Jeyne and her minions dead for what they did to her people.
312	** Katarina is a LoveableRogue who approves of cunning, sly choices that ensure big rewards.
313	** Reinhart is a NiceGuy and DeadpanSnarker who approves of being a smartass and choices that help improve the power and publicity of the Legion.
314	* {{Reincarnation}}: Near the end of the story, it turns out that [[spoiler:Anjali is the reincarnation of an old friend of Rajani, who died when the archons first came to Ehb.]] The Radiant Youth speculates that it may have been [[ThePlan a plan on the part of the Creator Gods]]
315	** [[spoiler:Jeyne]] tries to pull something similar. [[CameBackWrong It isn't pretty.]]
316	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Jeyne's massacre of the entire 10th Legion is basically revenge for the murder of her father, the King.]]
317	** Also, [[spoiler:The Dapper Old Gent is a former Legion mage who's been waging an underground guerrilla war on Stonebridge.]]
318	* SaveTheVillain: [[spoiler:This is deconstructed. While sparing Jeyne gives the Legion a much needed PR boost, Jeyne herself either [[AndIMustScream is imprisoned in a pitch black prison cell forever]], lets herself be assassinated, gets exiled from ''the entire dimension forever'', or is declared apostate by the Azunite Church.]]
319	** You can also do this to [[spoiler:The Dapper Old Gent, on the basis that as a Legion mage he'd be useful to have on your side.]]
320	* SexyBacklessOutfit: Anjali in Archon form, particularly in the artwork for ''III''. Subverted in that it's not really a backless outfit, but her actual skin when in that form.
321	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: III can be pretty idealistic... if you want it to be.
322	* StanceSystem: All four characters have two different stances they can switch between, each with their spells and different attack styles.
323	* StaticRoleExchangeableCharacter: The characters you don't choose show up later in the story to join up with you as companion characters with some reason as to why they weren't at the gathering in the beginning.
324	* TheStoic: Anjali, except for the occasional BlackComedy quip.
325	* TeleportSpam: Playing on Hardcore as Anjali or Reinhart.
326	* UndyingLoyalty: Odo, Jeyne and [[spoiler: the Gent]] in 3. [[spoiler: Archons]] in general are also pretty devoted to their dead gods.
327	* VerbalTic: Katarina tends to end her sentences with "yes?/no?"
328	* ViolationOfCommonSense[=/=]GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the third game, at one point you have to enter an area filled with volatile gases, which can be set off by the slightest spark, even if you're [[PlayingWithFire Anjali]], who has no attacks which do not involve fire.
329	* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:All Jeyne wanted was justice for her father's murder.]]
330	* WhatTheHellHero: Your current companion will call you out whenever you make decisions they disagree with. Most notably, [[spoiler:agreeing to Roslyn's proposal to capture Jeyne alive instead of just killing her will earn you an earful from both Lucas (whose lost his entire family except for his half-sister to Jeyne) and Anjali (who is obsessed with getting revenge on Jeyne for her crimes).]]
331	* WhiteAndGreyMorality: Everyone has their reasons for doing what they do/did.
332
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Context VideoGame / DungeonSiege