anyone to bored to read previous comments, know that they are including some playable missions for female characters. THEIR IS NOT going to be a main female character as they are not willing to practically remake the storyline because it is based and designed SOLELY for the purpose of realism. Back then men were dominant and females were boring, with little rights ( sorry, its history) {except for a few [joan of arc etc]} anyways they are in fact adding dogs so ya lets go pointlessly discuss over there cause thatâs awesome and this is a dying thread
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I think this, along with third person, will be a focus of some section of the modding community for some time. Companions are among the most popular mods on the Skyrim Nexus and some of them are wonderfully voice acted.
Sigh!
This still going on even after the dev team said that the main character will be male?
Wish people wouldnât always try to put modern values on/into areas where they have no relevance.
YesâŠthere have been cases throughout history of women warriorsâŠBoudicca,Aethelflaed of Mercia and others butâŠthese have been rare cases.
Yes,history âŠuntil recently has mainly been written by men(Not even 100 years here in the UK that some women got the vote)and I am sure many deeds by women have been overlooked etc. but the very fact that some have been documented throughout history in a male dominated society would tend to make out that they are the exception rather than the rule.
I have backed this game as a viscount backer though it might not show it as got code for previous pledge a couple of hours before I upped my pledgeâŠbutâŠas a backer of any level I would be disappointed if we suddenly had a large chunk of the budget diverted to what is in effect a fantasy and whimsical/knee-jerk addition.
Played in a few persistent worlds loosely based on historical fantasy etc and must admit it always irked me the number of super-human strength females etc. that went about their adventuring business with no thought to semi-historical accuracyâŠwomen in general,in medieval times and even in the fantasy of TolkienâŠdid not fight in any great number nor were they trained to do so!
If funding allowed in the future I am not against a female role but such might not be appealing to the modernists hereâŠas any female protagonist type role would likely involve them being a spy/assassin typeâŠi.e an earlier Milady(from Dumas)âŠi.e they would be using their âcharmsâ to get what they wanted and put their victims in a vulnerable place.
Just waiting now for someone to request flying mounts!
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The thing with this time period as you know I presume is that women were treated as a 2nd class, as unfortunate as that is itâs historically accurate. A female in this period could only extend her prowess by marrying into a more fortunate and powerful family, men used to subjugate women and assume that they were less intelligent. The honest fact is and we should all know this, each individual is only as intelligent as their education whether that be in a place of learning or just from life lessons. Women were usually conspirators in many a plot as men would be less likely to suspect them to be capable of coming up with such complex ideas and we men are weak prey when it comes to the sexual prowess of a powerful woman who could quite easily use her abilities to charm her way into just about anywhere. Donât get me wrong there will always be exceptions to the rule (Joan of Arc), but the vast majority of women in this time period were domestic in the lower classes and then in the higher classes used as a political token. Hopefully though with this female character War Horse studios can provide an interesting and probably more challenging way for the players who wish to play as a female character. Also I second what J0n Shannow says, Iâve played many games with a female lead role and itâs never been the deciding factor for me when I play a game. In an Rpg I mainly play as a male but depending on the type of character I may create a female. Other games like tomb raider, mirrors edge have been games Iâve thoroughly enjoyed.
I donât think a playable female character for the entire game is an essential feature. It would require a lot of effort and might be hard to write plausibly in a late medieval combat focused setting. Making it enough contend for itâs own game.(Which I would definitely play)
But i am concerned that âthe active role of women in medieval timesâ will be underestimated in the game since the gaming industry has a history of ignoring or poorly portraying women.
The problem with 2nd class citizens in an actual feudal society is thatâs basically everyone (edit:actually most people werenât even citizens at all). Noble women were miles above almost everyone else and while they may not have had the same rights legally as there male counterparts and theoretically had a father or husband as guardian they did have actual influence. There are lots of female authors in the middle ages. Since the male noble class mainly had the task to be able to fight when needed, women had more time to learn how to read and deal with administrative tasks. They could represent there relatives if they were at away (war for example) or be the regents of there children until they come of age.
lots of history was written in the 19 century when people really didnât think much of women wanted to be reassured in there believes.
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Although I like games with playable female characters - for me it doesnât make any sense if the character is not visible in 3rd person view, which is obviously not the case here.
ok im trying not to be rude but iâm really SICK of all this lamenting about customization of characters (in particular gender and race) in context in which that do not have any sense⊠just to please a small (but ultra-vocal) part of the player base you drain a lot of resources from the overall game for something most of players will not even experience\care⊠Aside from that there are really a lot of rpgs that lets you plays as a female or black or elven out there so please if that is what matter for you stick with those, but these devs are aiming for something different for once, this aim to be a ***realstic
*** open world medieval rpg and i think that is actually the point for most of the backer.
PS: english is not my first language and so if my post seems a bit too direct or brusque i apologize that was never my intent.
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Warhorse have already confirmned that you will be able to play a female charater for her own set of quests.
Also reaslistic by whoâs view point, there have been alot of flase assumtions about the role of women on this thread based on, it seems, nothing more than Hollywood lies and old now disproven ideas. Plus not to mention most of if not many og the RPG games out are tales of utter fantasy, like Fallout, Elder scrolls, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy etc. etc so why should you not be able to play the lead as somehing other than just a man?!
No a Medieval woman of that period would have not normaly fought in combat; there are of course a few excpetions at this time/later on e.g. Joan of Arc; and lets not forget there is documented accounts of Celtic and Viking women fighting just like the men.
Even though women fighting hand to hand on the battle feild had ceased at this time, they where part of the war effort; after all you did get camp followers and at re-enactment events women are allowed on the feild in battle displays; as archers or part of the gunning crew as that is one of the roles they played during war.
My groupâs quite strict about keeping to the correct gender rols at events; I am not allowed to do any sword training untill the public are gone.
I really canât see this aversion to having a playable female charater if her and her actions are being portrayed in a realistic sense, not all women stayed at home cooking and cleaning. you only have to read some Geffory Chaucer to see that they where not all weak willed things who had no power in the home, there are also plent history books documenting that the some of the previously presumed roles of women in Medieval society are utterly false.
So no we arnât going to be able to play a âfemaleâ version of the blacksmiths son/his story but there are quests to be played as a seperate female charater.
I canât comment weather people from other nations would have fought in wars in Europe or England, as I donât kow enough yet about military history and my personal interest tends to lie with the everyday lives of people,but would there have been cultural mixing, yes.
The Crusades had been and gone and there where Arabian people who had come to England with English noble men, brining aspects of thier culture with them, spices/ways of cooking, artistic styles too eg. Blackwork embroidary came to England just after the Crusades, which originated with Moors and Arabs (even though it did no become âwidly popularâ untill 1501 with Katherin of Aragons interest init), again itâs mentioned by Chaucer.
History and the roles of the people in society/culture are always quite so black and white as some people think they are.
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time and place, just a reminder when talking about âthings that happenedâ
donât bring up examples of vikings when youâre talking bohemia 1403.
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What not bring up the valid comment that women used to fight, and also backing my other comments I made argument against false presumptions that for some reason women had no place/role on the battle feild after then when they did.
Especially since I was replying to a comment made by someone who seems to me, to be under the false assumtion that itâs not accurate or realistic for a female charater to be available in the game. Their logic again seems to be based on false and outdated historical views on womens role in Medieval society; that strangly TV and Hollywood still seem keen to peddle as âtruthâ to the masses, much like they still like to pretend that Medieval food was bad, or that the houses where filthy, the people had not table manners etc. non of which is true.
To me your comemnt is being picky for the sake of it @213
At the end of the day there is no reason for a playable female charater not to be included and as I said before no she might not be able to fight hand to hand but they did have roles on the battle feild, yes even in the 1400âs, not all women stayed home baked.
For someone to claim itâs not ârealistcâ to have a playable female charater in a Medieval RPG is just ridiculose, I have enough history books on the Medieval period at home to know that itâs entirly feesable for one to have her own set of quests.
The records of viking women fighting with the men are all from the sagas, and these canât be considered to be very reliable historical sources. From archealogy there are very few proof that women would ever have fought among the men, it was likely far more common they were taught to fight to defend their homes as the men would often be away and somebody had to look after the farm.
As for Joan of Arc, she never actually fought anyone, she just led the army and stayed well away from the actual fighting though modern depictions would have her put in the middle of the fray. And Iâm quite positive that women were extremely rarely, if ever, part of an armyâs fighting force to any degree at the time. Thats just how it were.
The medieval ages were a time of strict roles, not just for the genders. And women were no warriors, if that happened it must have been extremely rare, as there are so few records, and these there prove it was something generally unheard of at the time. A womanâs role with an army would proboably be prostitues, cooks, servants, possibly physicians. But I wouldnât know too well on that particular subject.
All this has likely already been brought up in this thread, but I feel it might need to be hammered in some more. 
Iâm quite happy to see the side-story with the millerâs daughter, Iâm sure looking forward to playing it myself.
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I believe ive said a couple of times in this thread, that at this time the position of women was very low, with the rise of christianity in nations women became quite low in many societyâs, now im not saying that women never fought i suspect some may have depending on there fatherâs opinions but they would most likely have done it in protection of there home as a last resort.
During this time, i would also guess there use as spyâs and assassins could be possible.
I will say though before roman occupation, i believe some of the galic and celtic tribes did have female fighters, which were known for there skills, but that was way before the game.
And thatâs exactly why we donât give the player the option to choose sex. Playing a woman would be a completely unique and different story to tell. Thatâs where the ârealismâ comes in because we cannot make two distinct open world RPGs at once - the story and the world reactions are not unisex. Unfortunately some people take the word ârealismâ alone and craft their own interpretation along the line of âwomen couldnât do anything but give birth and stay at home cooking and knitting while men fought battles, forged stuff, grew beards, made politics or worked on fields and oil-massaged other women.â No, thatâs a male power fantasy in medieval setting. And even if so, then there would be interesting female stories to tell, which renders such take on realism-as-argument as logical falacy. As Dan has described it once - you either tell story of Jaime Lannister or of Brienne of Tarth. You cannot choose just one and put in an arbitrary sex switch. It just doesnât work. Brienne having same opportunities and getting same feedback from various social entities as Jaime is just wishful thinking.
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Well as I said I I never said women fought as in on the front lines with swords or billhooks etc.
I said they where part archery line and on gunning crew, which did happen in Medieval battles. W
eather you like to pretend itâs not true because it suits your personal view on history; thatâs up to you, but it does not change the facts.
If it had not happened in battles in 1400âs then we would not be allowed to have women on the archery lines or on the gunning crew at battle re-enactments like Bosworth etc. no I canât fight in the front lines with a sword but thats fine Iâm happy with my bow and practising with a sword and buckler when the public have gone.
We did a dispaly at Warwick Castle this easter as part of the Trebucet show, I was part of the archery line in that and we had two females on the gunning crew,
This is not just in England either, I also have a book on a Sweedish re-enactment group and they also have women archers and on the gunning crew.
Camp followers where not just cooks and whores.
This is what I have been trying to say, as have many others on here.
I want the exsperience of playing a female character in KCD to be different and not just a arbitray âsex swapâ main charaterwith ambiguiouse asexual dialog and identical story line. Part of why I like playing Fallout, is the diff reactions you get playing as a woman and a man. Infact I wish they had devloped that further than they had done.
I donât know why the missconception that Medieval women did nothing more tha just give birth ansd bake etc. still persists.
I read plenty of history books on Medieval history, partcularly around the time of teh Wars of the Roses, not to mention that I do historical re-enactment ranging from the 1000âs to the 1500âs. and as I said before, my group is VERY strict with historicly correct gender/social roles when the public are about, so I know women where archers and gunners as there is no way they would allow us to do somthing like that that if it was not correct.
When the publics ntot there they are happy to teach me how to weild a billhook or sword etc.
Heck we canât even machine stich our kit if the seems are visible one i.e the hem or sleeve cuff etc., we have to hand stich them for authentisity
I think they should stop discriminating against women and just accept female soldiers. When I look at (almost) any reenactment group, there are usually other things that is a bigger problem than genderrolesâŠ
Overweight and age are usually clear âerrorsâ
Just say" we donât want to discriminate against women in the year 2014" and get on with it.
Doing things unhistorical is OK, at long as you are clear about it and why⊠like the simple fact that we donât actually kill each other⊠that combat rules usually rule out specific historical things that is dangerousâŠ
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Where does your re-enactment group get your historical sources from though? Iâve done quite a bit of studying on history through school and my own interest, how people lived and how society worked were always what I found most interesting, and I never ever found any records that women would be part of any fighting force in the medieval ages save for some women whom aided the defense of their homes in sieges.
I know of a group of women who were knighted for their valour in a siege, though I canât remember where they were. Thats about it though. I doubt there were any women in actual armies.
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That was it!
Cheers. 
The same place as most people do and all the other re-enactment groups that do this from history books, we have at least two people who have history degrees in the group too.