This is actually fairly close to the take I came up with when I decided to run an all-High Llama campaign that turned out to have 3 female PCs in it. Helpwoman was the obvious alternative to Eiritha for 'normal' Praxian women, but none of my players wanted to go for that. One decided to be a Daka Fal shaman, a second decided to be an Eirithan, and the third, who had played a nice gentle healer in the previous campaign, jumped on BG when she heard it mentioned.
Andrew
On May 3, 2011, at 8:56 AM, Chris Lemens wrote:
> Peter, responding to Andrew:
>
> > > 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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