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The Fairer Sex in RPGs
Eileen Anderson
Women gamers are different. If you don't believe it, consider
why there are
so few female players in our games (most groups could count up the number of
female PC'S on one hand of a snake). The issue of why male PC'S significantly
outnumber female PC'S is a complex one, but if you consider fantasy gaming
for a moment you can quickly see a few of the ways in which we are closing
out our PC sisters-at- arms.
The fantasy setting can be a pretty grim place for women. Fantasy games as a
rule are based on the heavily male-oriented medieval European era. Between
the fact that this era provides little in the way of role- models for lady
PC's, and that the rule systems typically give women short shrift,
femaleplayers have a deuced time finding a character they can relate to.
Typically, game rules suggest that women can play any of the characters that
were designed for males. Unfortunately, they don't go the step further and
provide the information or background women need to make the character type
their own.
Given this situation, what can she choose? A bastardized male character? A
seamstress with an evil glint in her eye? It's true that most women of this
era had few rights and little status, but history reveals dozens of women who
stepped out of their traditional roles and made names for themselves as
fighters, leaders, pirates and adventurers.
A study of women who actually fit the adventuring model is helpful for GM's
and PC'S who need believable background information.
VIVA LA DIFFERENCE
All adventuring souls differ from their fellow men in some
manner.
Adventuring females, because of the vast differences in lifestyle and
mindset, are even more different. Use that difference to tempt your female
gamers back to the table with characters that sing with life and excitement.
Typically, women of the day had to fight for every inch of respect and
ability they gained. Any mage or soldier who wanted to teach a woman would
have had to fight multiple prejudices. Remember that in this era women
weren't considered willing or able to make a long-term commitment to
learning. Given that a teacher can only take on a limited number of
apprentices, he's bound to pick the type of students he thinks will go the
distance. Additionally, the whole idea of training a woman was vaguely
blasphemous - a teacher might find himself run out of town with or without
his person intact. So what happens then to make a woman become an adventurer?
And how does she learn her skill?
THE SIGNIFICANT EVENT
Joan of Arc, a shepardess of 16, began to hear voices,- those
of St. Michael,
St. Catherine and St. Margaret. They insisted that she must help the French
Dauphin, Charles VII, who was being kept from his rightful throne by the
English. This young farmgirl journeyed in male clothes on a mission to get an
interview with the Dauphin. She succeeded, and even convinced him to provide
her with troops. After a string of successful battles which she generaled,
Charles VII was crowned in 1429 while Joan stood at his side. Joan probably
received training at arms from her soldiers after she was granted leadership.
She attributed her astonishing ability as a general to her privileged
relationship with the angels, as any cleric would. Her phenomenal success may
have been too frightening for the world at large though, for she was later
tried and burnt at the stake for sorcery and heresy. Charles VII did not step
in to help her (And she probably didn't look anything like Ingrid Bergman!).
AMBITION
The real king Arthur is believed to have lived in eighth or
ninth century
Britain. The events in the life of his sister, Morgan la Fey (Morgan of the
Faeries), is largely a matter of speculation. But if the legends are to be
trusted, she makes an interesting role model. Morgan (also later called
Morgana) was probably heir to Britain's earlier goddess- based religion. As
such, her self- image would be different than that of a Christian woman.
Morgan was also raised in a noble house and probably learned her sorcerous
arts from the priests and priestesses of her religion. Not satisfied with
this small share of power though, Morgan hungered for the airy reaches of
high sorcery. She knew of one such master - Merlin.
Merlin may have begun to teach he his art, unaware of the strength of her
will. Eventually, the legend tells us, she stole all of Merlin's power,
trapping him in a crystal cave, and became a mighty force in the land.
UNDENIABLE ABILITY
Mary Read was disguised as a boy from her birth in 1680. Her
mother had been
caring for a male baby who died. To avoid the shame of an illegitimate baby,
Mary was raised as that boy. Mary fought in Flanders and in the Caribbean
dressed as a man. She joined a pirate crew and became one of the most famous
pirates in history. Eventually, the well-known pirate - hunter Woods Rogers
was sent to capture her. She and another woman, who was also disguised as a
man, were the only ones who didn't surrender when their ship was finally
taken in 1720. Mary received a long sentence and died in prison.
SOCIETY'S CHILD
There are many more stories of heroic individuals from
Cleopatra to Queen
Bess, but there are also memorable groups of women. These women are worth
noting because, coming from societies that placed fewer limits on them, they
could more easily slip into the adventuring mentality.
- The Amazons were a famous band of female warriors who allowed no men
in their country (Asia Minor). They were fierce fighters and fought
against the Greeks in the Trojan war. One of Hercules 12 labours was
to steal the girdle (a piece of armour) of heir queen. That
probably explains why they fought against the Greeks.
- Early Celtic (pronounced Keltic for everything except the basketball
team) women fought alongside men and were rulers and owners of land. It
was a mother's job to train her sons for battle and parentage was traced
maternally. The women were reputed to be formidable fighters. Once
again, the goddess-based religion of these people was a significant
factor in their culture.
- The Vikings, who conquered and terrorized everybody from Russia to
Byzantium, also had their women fight by their sides in their early
history. In later eras, women maintained the farms and ran the
households while the men were out raiding. Viking women could own
land, speak out in council and divorce their husbands without shame.
GETTING THE STORY STRAIGHT
It's perhaps even more important for a female PC to have a
strong background
for her character to draw from than a male PC. The better a player
understands her lady adventurer's motives, the better she'll be played and
the more interesting she'll be.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
- What qualities made this woman break out of the traditional
role?
- Does she have some exceptional ability?
- Did a particular event drive her to break out? (A desire for revenge?
The need to fend for herself in hard times?)
- Who, if anyone, taught her? (An eccentric ex-mercenary father? Did
she steal her spellbooks from the mage she cooked for?)
- And how did the viewpoint of her teacher or that training affect her?
- Was she raised by a more female-tolerant culture? How will that
affect her dealings with a patriarchal society?
- What dramatic internal conflicts will her beginnings inspire?
Bringing it all Together GM's can find rich story material in the encounters
between adventuring males and females. The female crusader, Bradamant, in the
16th century Italian classic, Orlando Furioso, saved the life of the Saracen
Prince, Ruggerio, and fell in love with him.
The entire novel revolves around their struggle to overcome societal and
internal prejudice. Bradamant is nicely contrasted with the Saracen
damsel-in-distress, Angelica. Another literary resource on this topic is the
Tain Bo Cuailnge (Toyn Vo Ko-ling-e). This ancient collection of Irish oral
history was compiled in the 12th century but dates back centuries before that
time.
Medb (pronounced: M've), the Queen of Connocht, figures largely in the story.
A powerful ruler and general of her own armies, she was also the daughter of
the High King of Ireland. In the story Medb goes to war against her own
husband (and his people) because of an insult to her pride (a grave matter to
the early Irish). Medb is clever, resourceful, confident, and of course,
proud. Strictly speaking, the female PC's you design are going to come from
different backgrounds than male PC's.
It's not hard to imagine the third son of a wealthy family foregoing familial
responsibilities to find adventure. It is difficult to imagine a woman of the
day doing the same, unless some significant event or ability drives her to
that decision. Find the things that motivate your female PC and you'll have a
wealth of experience to draw from and enlarge upon in her encounters.
Every player wants to have interesting and life-like characters to play, and
nobody wants to play in an RPG that is hostile to him or her. If these issues
are handled successfully, much of the debris that litters the road to female
participation in gaming will be removed. And everyone will benefit from it.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
There are many books about legendary female adventurers from
reference works
to novels and short stories. Here is a sampling.
- The Warrior Queens (1988) Antonio Fraser
- Medieval Women (1975) Eileen Power (editor: M.M. Poston)
- The Amazons of Greek Mythology (1972) Donald J. Sobol
- Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism (1981) Marina Warner
- The Rebellion of Boudicia (1962) Donald R. Dudley & Graham Webster
(Celtic women who led the rebellion against the Roman invaders)
- The Histories (1972) Herodotus (translator: Aubrey de Selincourt;
revisor: A.R. Burn) (Particular interest: Tamyris, Semiramis &
Artemisia, three queens)
- The High Kings (1983) Joy Chant (includes good description of the
lives of Celtic women)
- The Aeneid (1984) Virgil (translator: Robert Fitzgerald)
(Particular interest: Camilla and Dido)
- The Mists of Avalon (1982) Marion Zimmer Bradley (women of the
Arthurian myth)
- Morte d' Arthur (13th century) Thomas Malory (the original if
romanticized account of King Arthur; translation by John
Steinbeck is easier to read).
- The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (1983) Barbara G. Walker
(all sorts of women throughout history)
- The Tain (Tain Bo Cuailnge) (1986) author unknown (translator: Thomas
Kinsella)
- Orlando Furioso (1983) Ludovico Ariosto (translator: Guido Waldman)