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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 267346" data-attributes="member: 3820">Female Role ModelsNightfall has a good list of important female characters, but since most of them are evil, I figured I'd play angel's advocate: Of the three good-aligned gods, two are female, and both have militant as well as nurturing aspects. (Not counting demigods; of the female demigods, one is good, three neutral, one evil.)The sole Titan to take the side of the gods was female. Nerith Alia is the chancellor of probably the largest "wizard's guild" in Ghelspad, and a potent diviner to boot. Very much a force for peace (to the point of suppressing evocation and necromantic magic). The most notable paladin outside of the paladin-churning-out factory of Mithril is female (Ariniel the Swan Knight, of Madriel), and the leader of the Order of Silver — another mighty paladin — is also female (Daelia the Silver Lion).Hollowfaust probably would never have become a city if the most compassionate of its founders, Carthylla the Anatomist, hadn't argued so passionately to grant protection to the refugees that came there. There's Meerlah Madilehna, Alliastra Denier, Oberyn Amethyst, Ialorne the Falcon Queen, Alia Vensir, Zarra, Dayne Blackburn, Nabila Silverheart... ahem. What I'm getting at is although there are female villains and female victims in the Scarred Lands, females do not have a marked tendency to be either. (Nor are the heroines of the setting utterly perfect, as arguably is a problem with other fantasy settings.) It has to be admitted that there are places in Ghelspad where women have a rougher time of it (Lageni and Hedrad come to mind), but there are other places where rape is punished much more vigorously than it is in our own world (Shelzar and Hollowfaust are two off the top of my head), and some career options open to women only (Albadian sorceresses in particular). The Scarred Lands draw some inspiration from darker fantasy where violence against women and misogyny is treated as part of human nature, though certainly not an acceptable one; somewhere between Fritz Leiber (who, bless 'im, had plenty of females who consistently got the better of his heroes) and George R.R. Martin. However, the books don't ever try to play these themes off for a laugh (I'm thinking Jack Vance here). As far as opportunities go, I'd say there's little to worry about; check out Piratecat's Scarred Lands story hour for some evidence of female newbie gamers having fun in the setting. The darker elements of fantasy are decidedly there for those who choose to utilize them, but female characters are not mandated to have less fun or fewer options than male characters by any means.</blockquote>

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