> > However there is a bigger problem with many of the
> keywords
> > and that is they assume a male character.
If that's a problem, it's that they assume a male character *without saying so*. What's presented is the culture as a whole, no suggestion of gender bias, and no reason to assume it one way or the other.
> While it is just
> > possible that Dara Happen women generally learn
> dagger combat
> > the idea that Tarshite women are usually
> proficient at axe and
> > shield combat seems incredible.
Actually I'd put that the other way round. Darra Happan women get told "no, you're female, sit still in your own quarters and be good". I'm surprised they get to learn dagger. But that a Tarshite girl gets the same opportunity to learn axe as a Tarshite boy - sure, why not? She may be less inclined to use that opportunity, but it's there if she wants it. And she spends the winter listening to her dad and his mates describing their last fight in loving detail while mending the shield. She'll know far more about axe and shield combat than a DH boy.
You know, I think a lot of this problem stems from the confusion between homeland and occupation we touched on earlier. Most Heortlings are farmers: but that doesn't mean we should be moving abilities from the Farmer keyword to the homeland one. Certainly not if it means giving a Heortling sage the same spear&shield ability as a warrior!
Suppose we take the Homeland abilities as those you get massive exposure to while growing up in that culture, without necessarily taking part in them yourself. And then drop the level of that keyword to be lower than the occupation one. You don't use an ability as lead by choice if it's just something you've grown up with, not something that's part of your job, but you know the basics. Any non-drivers on the list? RR? I bet you still know what I mean by a hand-brake turn. And you probably know what needs doing to start a car and move it ten yards forwards, even if the attempt would be slow and painful.
Then the gender issues usually get covered by those hidden keywords Mike was refering to earlier, and by choice of profession. (DH male and female seem to me to be separate homelands! segregation and so on). So your average Heortling woman gets a gender keyword that includes things like "endurance", "patience", "able to give birth", "able to suckle a child". Heortling men would get a gender keyword that would include "strong", "boastful", "able to father a child", "bearded".
His likely profession is "farmer". Her likely profession is "steadwife", which would cover "spinning", "weaving", "cooking", "childcare", and so on.
Now, all those skills were also in the homeland keyword, as things you get exposed to as a child, just at much lower levels than you'd get as a profession. Look after your baby sister: stop playing under the loom and pass me the shuttle of red wool: watch daddy mend the wall, and pass some more gravel. But if later on you ask a male carpenter to mend a loom, he knows what one looks like, because he grew up next to it.
"Farmer" would include fyrd combat (a different thing from the style used by a warrior). "Steadwife" wouldn't. But both would get basic knowledge of spear&shield from their homeland.
What do you reckon, is this a step in the right direction? We end up with a homeland keyword that's very broad but lower level, and a professional keyword that's more concentrated, plus very specific gender keywords, many of whose abilities are at "you've got it or you haven't" level.
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