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  1. #71
    Junior Member DevinParker's Avatar
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    A bit of a thread necro, but while reading Frances and Joseph Gies' Women in the Middle Ages, I noted a passage that reminded me of this discussion:

    "...a recent study [publishing date 1978] by historian David Herlihy of records of sales, leases, and exchanges in the period from 700 to 1200 gives important insight into the role played by women of other classes. A small but significant percentage of the numbers, varying with century and region, identified the protagonists not by patronymics - "Peter, son of Sylvester" - but by matronymics - "Peter, son of Matilda." Evidently some women were so well known in their communities that their names, rather than those of their husbands, identified the sons. The mother's family may have been long established or wealthy, or she may have had outstanding personal qualities, or have been in control of the family property." (p. 25-26)

    So that's another way to increase the profile of women in the setting - an increased use of matronymics for both PCs and NPCs.

  2. #72
    Site Moderator AndrewTall's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DevinParker View Post
    A bit of a thread necro...
    Nice one and it makes particular sense in a setting with mystical bloodlines that could easily come from either parent that give pride to the bearer (hopefully).

  3. #73
    Member nickgreyden's Avatar
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    More nerco as I haven't seen this thread...

    As to the OP, being male and playing with an all male cast, this issue has never been an issue for us and so we've never done anything like this. That being said, female rulers are female and male are male and we move on our merry little way making no fuss over or mansplaining away female rulership. In fact, as to our current game we have underway, the heir apparent to the United Lands of Cerilia is the daughter of one of our players.

    However, I'm rather troubled by the breakdown of female/male leads outside the lands of Anuire. Most of our games steer clear of that quagmire to begin with and I was originally keenly aware of all the high ranking female characters. I'm taken aback by how replete I thought other lands were filled with powerful female leaders only to find them grievously lacking.

    My inexperienced advice in this area is simple; do what you want and what your players want to do. RPG's are just a story. The DM provides the setting and the plots while the PCs provide the characters and the action. It is a collective story, the last gasps of the beautiful yet dying art of the oral traditions of old, make it the best damn story it can be!
    --Give me ambiguity or give me something else!--

  4. #74
    Quote Originally Posted by Mirviriam View Post
    ...definitely not a realistic look.

    Logically speaking - just because there aren't more - doesn't mean they aren't capable of it.

    That's bad science to make that claim, as in the real world we call that correlation & often cite that it is not the same as causation.

    Oh yea...

    I am back. Punks.

    -Mirv
    Okay, so please tell me the last time you got into full plate, or a breast plate, or even just chain mail.
    I can tell you the last time I did. It was about 3 weeks ago. The light stuff was 30 pounds, that hung from the shoulder. This requires a built up upper body strength, which means you need to have muscles that are developed to carry such weight. This is where testosterone comes into play, because testosterone allows for the muscles to more easily develop, and to be stronger and more dense.

    Needless to say, men have a higher testosterone quantity than females. That's biology. Therefore, males have a far easier time developing the muscle NECESSARY for the ability to have the upper body strength NECESSARY for the use of armor.

    Therefore yes, this is a realistic look at true limitations based on the physiology of the human anatomy. This is a direct link, aka causation, of limitations placed upon the different genders due to specific developments in the human anatomy because of aforementioned physiological adaptations.

    However, as others mentioned, there is no gender considerations in the books. So, as I said, remember it's a game, and make it fun.

  5. #75
    Site Moderator Magian's Avatar
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    This is about regents. Regents do not necessitate heavy armor wearing. As you can see from the list to the post in which Mirv was referring that there is a number of regents that don't qualify for heavy armor and yet they are regents.

    Wearing heavy armor and doing hard tasks doesn't not require the building of muscle mass as much as it requires stamina. The farm life is a good comparison to living a life of hard tasks such as wearing heavy armor daily. There are quite a few people who grew up on farms that can outdo body builders in many respects. The hard life requires stamina. Building muscle doesn't. Hence you see many fighters with huge muscle mass tiring out before the little guy who is strong and can hit hard too. Wearing heavy armor requires stamina more than muscle mass. The body adjusts to a hard task like a back pack. Yes muscle builds to compensate but not like body builders where they measure testosterone, which seems to be your argument. Any female body could compensate for a huge backpack and heavy armor. It is not out of the realm of possibility. Don't confuse modern people with the hard lifers in a fantasy world. We are soft compared to them, so yes it is a reach to get to the level they are on. It is very Nietzsche-esque in a sense that we've actually lost something by living softer, that doesn't mean we can't adjust, including women.
    One law, One court, One allied people, One coin, and one tax, is what I shall bring to Cerilia.

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