> > As far as Babs Gor is concerned, her inclusion is partly practical.
>Praxian society has very few options for women
> > other than Eirithan healers, so BG provides an outlet for female players and
>female PCs who want something else to do.
> > My Praxian campaign has too many female players to squeeze them all into
>Eiritha.
> Babs is not a practical deity but a fanatical one. Even if there were a
>pressing need for the Paps to have temple security,
> Babeester Gor would be as likely to provide it as the Shargashi at the Old Wind
>Temple. Moreover if your concern is that
> Praxian society offers women too few roles then it seems odd to provide a major
>alternative in the form of one of
> bloodthirsty axe-murderers.
>
> Better alternatives would be Daka Fal, Yelorna, the Star Witches, the Serpent
>Dancers, the Wind Singers, Oakfed, the Red
> School of Masks, Zola Fel, Lightning Boy, Grandmother of Spiders, Night Woman,
>Raven, White Princess, Evening Star,
> Morning Star, Redwood, Father of Independents and Hyena.
> If your PCs wanted to be outlaws, then they could worship Dark Eater, Malia,
>the Sunset Society or the Wild Hunter.
I disagree with Andrew's statement that Praxian society has very few options for women other than Eirithan healers. Now, if your campaign is highly focused on combat, I might agree with that as a statement about your campaign (depending on which rules you are using), since women generally do not play a direct role in combat among the Praxians. But they play a huge role in things like peace negotiations, deciding where the clan will go, deciding where it will stop, deciding when to wage war (but not how), forming alliances with other clans, approving marriages, accepting bachelors, etc. Additionally, HeroQuest offers female characters the ability to participate in combat through sidekicks. So, if you are playing HeroQuest, the combat limitations are not much in the way of character limitations.
Also, I agree with what Peter has to say on this. I'd add two great spirits to the list that Peter provided. The first is Helpwoman. She's especially useful for anyone who wants to go off from the clan (i.e. PC's). She has all sorts of magics that are useful for surviving in the wilderness.The second is Horned Man. Following him requires you to become a shaman, of course. And I'd re-emphasize Daka Fal. Ancestor worship is a powerful thing, especially if you pose puzzles to your players. The ancestors are wonderful sources of information (and prejudice, and lies, and misunderstanding, and everything else that comes with human communication).
In terms of occupations, here is a list of ones that work for the Praxians' standard female gender roles: nomad (the norm, in all senses), gatherer (for poor families), healer, leader, spirit-talker, softcrafter (worker in bone, leather, felt, and fur), and groundman. Women have just as many as men.
One clever way to play a goups of women would be to have them all be members of a single Rhino clan. Rhino clans are generally a single extended family, so this would be the mother, her girls, her sister, maybe her sister-in-law, her mother-in-law, etc. Then add the khan of the clan as the mother's sidekick. This would just reflect that that the queen has the dominant personality between the two of them. Also, some sacred bands are mixed gender and form an alternative to living in a clan. Some of them even have their own herds and family life.
In either case (Rhino clan or independent sacred band), they generally travel with clans from other tribes, since they have problems surviving on their own (in particular, in protecting their herds from raiders). Negotiating the terms of those alliances are good role-playing opportunities. It also allows the narrator to move the players to a place that the narrator wants, by having the allied clan's leaders decide to move on from where they are.
Chris
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