@DrFusselpulli A particularly interesting case is brewing: Prior to the rise of the guilds beginning later in the 15th century, brewing was all but exclusively a woman’s industry in Western Europe.
@SirWarriant No, they weren’t common. But VIRTUALLY 0 is still more than 0. There were VERY small numbers of exceptional figures throughout Europe (IE Agnes Hotot, who fought a duel in her father’s place, unhorsing and defeating her opponent).
From a 1348 British Chronicle:
When the tournaments
were held, in every place a company of ladies appeared in the the
diverse and marvelous dress of a man, to the number sometimes of about
forty, sometimes fifty, ladies from the more handsome and more
beautiful, but not the better ones of the entire kingdom; in divided
tunics, with small hoods, even having across their stomachs, below the
middle, knives which they vulgarly called daggers placed in pouches from
above. Thus they came on excellent chargers or other horses splendidly
adorned, to the place of tournament. And in such manner they spent and
wasted their riches and injured their bodies with abuses with ludicrous
wantoness.’
There was also the Breton pirate Jeanne de Clisson. Pope Boniface VIII discussed several Genoese women who fought in the crusades.
Because Player Characters are by their nature exceptional individuals (Henry may not be leading the army, but he’ll certainly be doing a heck of a lot better for himself than one would expect from a humble blacksmith during this era), a case CAN be made that would justify it. However as I will reiterate:
A female character in Henry’s position would face SIGNIFICANTLY more challenges than a man. At best she would face constant ridicule from both men AND other women for not minding her place. At worst she may risk assault (physical AND sexual) and murder. It would be much more difficult for her to be taken seriously both on side-quests and the main plot.
And THIS is why Warhorse shouldn’t make a female character option: Not because a female in the role would be a complete and total impossibility, but because they can’t afford the development time and money to do it PROPERLY would require. It’s NOT a matter of just swapping out pronouns. A female character following the same plot, even if the STORY stays the same, will still nonetheless face additional challenges a man wouldn’t.
@whizkid The main person making the rude remarks is you, and you’re dismissing everything everyone has tried to tell you. Someone can only repeat themselves so many times, and people get very frustrated arguing with a brick wall. I thought I’ve made myself clear that, were it practical, I WOULDN’T mind a female protagonist, but NOT if they half-ass is. I’d want them to do it RIGHT, and that would take almost entirely different NPC interactions (IE, nobles who interact with Henry one way might very well take a…different sort of interest in Henrietta). NOR would I want them to do it at the expense of crafting a deep and meaningful story for Henry.
Even AAA publishers face the same obstacles. And those who WOULD be capable, would still make generic “one-size-fits-all” NPC interactions entirely because they’d be afraid of the outcry if a female character had a much more difficult gameplay experience than a male (put it this way: Think of how pissed off people would be if someone were to make a game set Reconstruction South with a black protagonist who would be treated how blacks were ACTUALLY treated, not our uber-PC can’t offend anybody Disney Theme Park version).
) that, it seem to be true. Yes, this maybe could make an interesting game, a roleplaying game not about fights, but about the possibility to manage a bruwery, with the focus on economy and intrigue. Sadly this is really niche, maybe we could se a mod about it. I would be interested.
