Can homeboy read and write?

Gameplay
#1

Seeing as how we’re still in the thick of the “dark ages” for the most part, will Henry (PC) be able to read and/or write? It seems pretty far fetched that a blacksmith’s son would be able to, since so few people did. Parallel to this thought, would he be able to interpret a map? Granted maps are very intuitive to us, but then again we know how to read and write… intuitively.

If so, would there be a mechanic for learning? Or bugger history and just say he can read? I think it’d be interesting to deliver a message to a town, not knowing what it said (even if you could see the script). But if you had learned how to read, you would se that it said “Kill this fool once he delivers this note.” Maybe that’d be chintzy, but it doesn’t seem appropriate that this layman (see: blacksmith’s son) would know: How to ride a horse, shoot a bow, use a sword, read and write, be adept at interpreting maps, and all the while being pretty good at it all for such a young man.

I think it’d be neat to receive a slip of paper and it being jibberish until you pay someone to teach you how to “read”.

If not, it’d be interesting to see how they incorporate all of the knowledge this kid has into a lore friendly way

2 Likes
#2

you think a grown adolescent cannot read a map without training?

1 Like
#3

I suggest you take the time to view this 30 minute mini documentary. It’s narrated by one of the Monthy Python legends and is presented in a funny way, however the information might amaze you.

7 Likes
#4

Yeah he aught not be able to read/write. It would make sense that he would have to learn how to a little. Not sure how they will acomplish this.

#5

The dark ages and the renaissance are both concepts ex post facto. Partly romanticism from the 16th,17th century, “Era of Enlightenment”. I mean people in general have not changed in a substantial manner neurologically since the dawn of modern man ( in a fundamental way ) , but everyone in their own plot in some nonspecific part of spacetime tend to think they are bloody special.

Part of the human condition I suppose.

P.S: Terry Jones is a good man, like his enthusiasm and approach to medieval history. One of the many problems with history is its preoccupation with the history of elites, because its easier and obviously folk like celebrity gossip.

#6

Well the preoccupation with elites and national politics is easily explained but to put those in context it’s often good to learn something about the life of the everyman. The lives of elites are documented well with reason.

#7

How? Young Henry was a bright little boy, and the local priest was a nice old man. He saw in Henry the potential to become the protagonist of a video game, and taught him how to read and write. Then he conveniently got killed by the bad guys. That’s how.

2 Likes
#8

I understand the reason, i’d just like some balance in the matter :D. Which now you get.In earlier times… well try reading Gibbon for example.

#9

He reads in a book in the alchemy minigame. Therefore he should at least be able to read…

1 Like
#10

Seems reasonable to think he can read. A smithy as accounts. What it buys, what it sells. Even perhaps formula for different kind of steel, not sure about the last bit.

Blacksmiths where treated with some reverence even awe and fear. The more superstitions would make them to be some sort of magi, arcane metal whisperers in earlier times. By that I mean pre Charlemagne, Iron age era or so. Though such beliefs to not vanish entirely, they morph.

My point is that a blacksmith was not just a metal beating brute, he was also a man of knowledge and intelligence.

#11

We don’t know how to read and write “intuitively”… We all were taught how via parents or school.

#12

I think this is a topic, where you have to choose game over realism. It may be slightly unrealistic, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

2 Likes
#13

Thanks for the video! Very interesting.

#14

Eh hem. This is not the dark ages. Even if you accept that term it doesn’t go past 1066 AD. I guess @Quatermain already said this but I had to say it again. I’m pretty sure Henry would have some primitive reading skills and the idea that an intelligent person would not be able to recognize names and labels on a map, even if they didn’t know how to read, is completely absurd. It’s not like people have evolved since then.

#15

Reading a map is not quite easy if you do some trekking you know… Now we have convention like nord is up in the map, we have compass, we have path marked on map with number and we also have sign on tree and stone to confirm that we are on the right way, and still some people manage to get lost without a gps. So I think reading a map is not quite easy as it would seem…

Anyway I’m agree that we need a compromise between realisim and game mechanic so I can just roleplay that Henry don’t have a map but it knows his land and he can navigate through it without problems and in game mechanic is reflected by have a map =)

1 Like
#16

Yeah a peasant probably wouldn’t have a map in the first place but that’s a concession we have to make for the sake of the game I think. I was talking about being able to see the terrain features and recognize village/castle/town names and landmarks, not telling which compass direction you are facing. They did use signs on roads though and as the word “orient” is derived from the Latin word meaning east, I believe maps were originally “oriented” in that direction using the sun. Of course an “uneducated” person might not know this but they would still be able to make out the previously mentioned things.

#17

Maybe it’s just simple symbols or something so he knows what to do step by step?

#18

That would be possible… but there is still much text…

#19

To paraphrase Ghorza gra Bagol speaking with her apprentice regarding blacksmithing," Blacksmithing is more than reading a book, it’s more of an instinct." Or something like that :smiley:

#20

Sure its unusual for a blacksmith to be able to read, but every character has to have some sort of perk.

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