Nobility for the Ladies

[Roman]

I am playing in a campaign using the Legends of Excalibur: Arthurian Adventures setting. It is a blast to play and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anybody. Combined with a good DM it generates great stories - if I had more time I would start my own story hour for the campaign, but alas time is scarce.

In any case, the campaign setting has scrapped the alignment system and replaced it with a new concept called the Nobility, which has substantial in-game impact. Nobility for mortals is rated from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 100 and apart from fueling certain abilities a certain level of nobility is required to play some base classes and many if not most prestige classes.

For knights, acquiring the desired level of nobility is not necessarily easy, but it is not too difficult provided that the character behaves in the appropriate fashion. Characters can gain nobility for actions such as telling the truth even when it harms you, protecting the honour of a lady, continuing to fight honourably even when opponents play foul, showing mercy to your opponents, etc. and for knights many of these actions give double the normal nobility gain.

It seems to be rather difficult, however, to gain nobility if you are playing a lady - and I mean a lady in the medieval sense not simply a women who behaves in the same way as a knight. This makes it very difficult indeed to get into some prestige classes. More specifically to our campaign, one player playing an elven minstrel (sort of a bard-type character) would very much like for the lady minstrel to become a Lady of the Lake and has good in-game reasons for it too. Unfortunately, the minstrel's nobility just keeps on declining...

In any case, I thought it would be interesting to see whether you guys and gals could provide some ideas as to what could a lady (such as our lady minstrel) gain nobility for? Not many enemies are going to be surrendering to her whom she could show mercy to, nor is she going to participate in much direct combat to fight honourably in... What could she do to gain nobility?

I am not sure whether the player in question reads these boards, but I know our DM does, so if this thread generates some interesting ideas in the matter, the DM might (or might not) decide that some of them are acceptable and suggest them to the player. I am just trying to be helpful and generate ideas... he is the boss!

 

[Nifft]

I am utterly unfamiliar with the mechanics, but I can easily see ways for a Lady to be merciful in victory -- social, political and otherwise non-combat, but victory none the less.

If the Lady were to trick an opponent into an embarrassing situation, but then allow him to save face such that he were taught a valuable lesson yet not lowered in the eyes of his peers, she'd have been merciful in victory.

Also, as the recent American election has illustrated, it's not necessary to be in melee to fight dirty. She can resolve 'obstacle' situations honorably, but the specifics would be social, political, etc.

Hope this helps, -- N

 

[Tonguez]

I'd assume the minstrel is a charisma based character if so then I'd award nobility (which sounds cool btw) on the basis of how charming, persuasive, kewl the minstrel lady is (eg say she gets 'His Lordship' to give the PCs access to the 'Locked Room'). I'd also give bonus nobility if she composes a new ode in honour of 'His Lordship',

 

[Gilladian]

Then there's always the whole courtly love thing; if she offers her favor to higher nobility knights she should receive some bonus for publicly acknowledging and supporting their high nobility. If she uses her skills to help a man raise his nobility, hers should also go up by some factor. If she is honest, godly and kind, then her nobility should increase. Allowing herself to be placed on a pedestal and following the proper courtly behavior should raise her nobility; it isn't easy to always be perfect!

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

I think placing some emphasis on charity would be an excellent way for a Lady to gain nobility... whether it be towards orphan children, poor peasants, or the knights she surrounds herself with. Acting in a selfless and charitable manner towards those that are in need should get her some brownie points so far as the Nobility goes.

 

[GSHamster]

Googling seems to suggest that "generosity, decorum, beauty, modesty, obedience, prudence and chastity" were the virtues for noble ladies to aspire to.

That seems like a reasonable list for medieval ladies, while being significantly different from the male/warrior list. So give your bard nobility points when she takes actions that improve the virtues above.

 

[Tinner]

Favors

Ladies of the period commonly granted favors to show their support for specific knights and noblemen.
Perhaps by "hitching their wagon" to the right knight, they might gain a percentage of his nobility gains?
Additionally, the court was very much the domain of the ladies. Courtly gossip was a popular pastime for them. Using such gossip to your advantage without being catty or dishonorable should earn nobility. Holding great events, dinners, etc would also earn nobility.
Women held the keys of the households as well. Being a good steward of the house's finances, and even turning a profit on the estates goods and services would earn acclaim and nobility.
Marriage and courtly love were huge status boons to a medieval lady! Publicly conducted romance would gather great nobility to a lady of the court, provided she can avoid scandal.
Charity was always considered noble, and appropriate for a lady. Giving goods to the poor, or assisting the church would earn nobility as well.
Hope this helps.

 

[was]

Showing charity, helping those in need, treating people courteously regardless of
their station...etc...

 

[Timeboxer]

Googling seems to suggest that "generosity, decorum, beauty, modesty, obedience, prudence and chastity" were the virtues for noble ladies to aspire to.

That seems like a reasonable list for medieval ladies, while being significantly different from the male/warrior list. So give your bard nobility points when she takes actions that improve the virtues above.

I have to admit that having different standards of Nobility for "ladies" and "men" kind of bugs me.

That said, however, the angel/whore dichotomy was actually very prevalent in the era you seem to be working in, and the "angels" were, sort of, the moral standards to which everyone aspired to, and so on. Courtly love is a bit tied into this, I think.

So possibly you could write up a list of virtues, or something, and then arrange it so that A) doing great service to a virtue (preferably publicly), or 2) getting in trouble because of adhering to a virtue, gets you Nobility.

 

[GSHamster]

I have to admit that having different standards of Nobility for "ladies" and "men" kind of bugs me.

That's true enough, and I don't think it would work in any game but an medieval Arthurian one. However, the problem isn't so much nobility for females vs males, but more for fighters vs non-fighters. After all, a female fighter could pretty much follow the male code and be okay.

In an Arthurian game, the assumption is that the men are fighter types. It would probably be just as hard for a male non-fighter (say a monk or priest) to gain nobility as a female non-fighter. But the concept of a "noble lady" who isn't a combatant is very common, and should be achievable.