Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Got something to talk about? Be it video games, other tabletop or card games, even random stuff - this is the place to post!

Moderator: The Dread Knights

Post Reply
User avatar
Daeron
Malekith's Best Friend
Posts: 3973
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2003 7:36 pm
Location: Belgium, Brussels
Contact:

Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Daeron »

Greetings Tyrants!

If you would like to see a new woman or female character in our fluff, what kind of character would it be?

Although the fluff and lifestyle of the Druchii doesn't seem to favour one gender over another, there is still a distinction amongst the lead characters.
The Cult of Khaine had some clear gender roles (although Executioners are not exclusively men?) with Priesthood being reserved for women, it seems, and Hellebron at the helm of the entire Cult. The Tower of Ghrond was ruled by Morathi, and to avert a prophecy Malekith banished all male pursuers of magic.

On the other end we have Malekith as the one King, Shadowblade as the most bad-ass assassin, Lokir Felheart as the meanest pirate, Kouran the most loyal and pragmatic lieutenant, Malus Darkblade the biggest general and Tullaris as the commander of the Executioners.

While we're not deprived of women in the lore, we're only given two leading female characters: one with the power of seduction and manipulation, and one that's... well.. crazy.. so crazy she'll run into a battlefield with two blades for clothing.
If you would like to see a new character added, which one would it be and what role would she have in the Druchii fluff?

--

And I'll throw in my own personal favourite. Druchii have a strong military mindset. It is basically their culture. Yet throughout the main characters, we're only seen those that "stand out", either by virtue or infamy. What I think we miss, is the one level headed commander that symbolises this military spirit. And why not pick a woman for that job?
My personal choice would be a commander with a no-nonsense approach to battle, straight-up tactics that work. She'd have a heart that's cold enough to make the tough decisions without blinking, but without the killjoy that seems to enfeeble so many of our lore characters.
I'd hope for a commander with a hatred for weakness, effectively piercing through the veils of blabbermouths that would excuse their way to power instead of earn it through virtue. She'd build a stronger army by cleansing it, the hard way, from the self-indulgent filth that our society spawns.
She'd be a terror, by being mercilessly effective.

In the fluff she could play a balancing force, the one power that reigns in the crazy from the other players for power. By occupying a more balanced position, she'd be at the tipping point where one party can make itself very unpopular very quickly.

But that's all just my ideas... :)

What are yours?
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
User avatar
Haagrum
PhD in Dark Magic
Posts: 592
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:54 am
Location: The depths of the Black Library

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Haagrum »

I'm a sucker for the Sisters of Slaughter, and I will confess to a certain bias concerning a character of my own creation. In that case, we'd have a character focused on becoming the best instinctive warrior around, dedicated to the art of fighting and the joy of combat as much as anything else (without being an insane blood-mad cult leader, of course). Sure, her fighting style would necessarily require her to be lightly armed and armoured, but she would be more of a "lady of war" than anything. A bald woman wearing a daemon's-head mask isn't exactly pure fanservice, in any case, and builds on the existing fluff and models available. The main downside with that character is that she's... well, almost a good person.

Leaving Malendris aside, I would like a female Dark Elf/Exiled Aelf/Dread Elf who flew in the face of most fantasy tropes concerning women. No magician, no vaporwear battle attire, no freakishly masculine woman who's basically every male stereotype shoehorned into a female body. I'd prefer a competent commander and fighter who knows how to use every advantage she has at her disposal, and doesn't care who gets sacrificed as long as she survives and is successful. A plotter and planner without the stereotypical egomania who knows how to avoid a fight by manipulating her potential opponents, and who feels no need to demonstrate her superiority as long as she ends up getting what she wants.

Basically, I'd like to see a character somewhere between Lady Malys and Kitiara Uth Matar (without the "woman scorned" aspects of either) who fights equally well on foot or from the back of a Cold One or Black Dragon in plate mail; a skilled general and politician whose sole objectives are victory and her own advancement, who is patient enough to allow her enemies to underestimate her, and who knows and uses every dirty trick in the book without remorse or hesitation.
"The wrath of a good man is not to be feared. They have too many rules."

"Good men don't need rules. Today is not a good time to find out why I have so many."
User avatar
direweasel
Malekith's Personal Guard
Posts: 920
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:58 pm
Location: Terre Haute, IN, USA

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by direweasel »

Maybe a strong willed Shade woman with questionable loyalty to the Witch King? She could be a renegade (even more than most shades) with she and her band being hunted by the "rightful" rulers of Naggaroth (or wherever we are now), but they can never seem to catch her.

She'd be mostly for fluff and to build on the "independent" nature of the Autarii more, but I'd still say she could be statted up if you want. If you take her in your army, maybe you can't have any other named characters?
Chinese Relativity Axiom: No matter how glorious your triumphs, nor how miserable your failures, there will always be at least one billion people in China who don't give a damn.

Apocalypse Drow! Plog: http://druchii.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=75360
Jolemai
Executioner
Posts: 193
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2013 4:12 pm

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Jolemai »

Perhaps a Beastmaster? Rakarth was technically never replaced...
User avatar
cultofkhaine
Chief Cultist
Chief Cultist
Posts: 1993
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:45 am
Location: Being tempted by the Cult of Pleasure!
Contact:

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by cultofkhaine »

A Badass woman on a Cold One - champion of the knights
User avatar
Diobarach
Black Guard
Posts: 296
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2014 12:24 am

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Diobarach »

direweasel wrote:Maybe a strong willed Shade woman with questionable loyalty to the Witch King? She could be a renegade (even more than most shades) with she and her band being hunted by the "rightful" rulers of Naggaroth (or wherever we are now), but they can never seem to catch her.

She'd be mostly for fluff and to build on the "independent" nature of the Autarii more, but I'd still say she could be statted up if you want. If you take her in your army, maybe you can't have any other named characters?


I think the shade idea is a good one, never really had someone in that role as far as I'm aware.
User avatar
Darkprincess
Chosen Babe of Slaanesh
Posts: 2625
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2003 10:20 pm
Location: Wales

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Darkprincess »

Well without wishing to blow my own trumpet here, I feel I should point out that a rather impressive female character was developed by a few of us in here back in the day (around 2004-ish, initialy for the Storm of Chaos campaign) named Lonicera. She was/is a High Sorceress of the Cult of Slaanesh and we spent a lot of time developing a complete list of special rules for her. These rules would undoubtedly need a bit of revision and/or tweaking to get her to fit nicely into the 9th Age rules but I'm sure that could be done.

Just a thought - she could make a nice replacement for Morathi should GW decide to deprecate her :twisted:

As I've been away from this for a couple of years, I'm not sure if Special Characters are still a thing, but if they are, then I for one would be very happy to see her given a permanent place in the lore.

I'm pretty sure her fluff and rules are still on this site somewhere. If not I'll have to try and find all the old copies of the druchii.net monthly magazine and go through them. (Yeah I never delete anything - they're all archived here somewhere)
The Dark Princess
High Priestess of the Cult Of Pleasure


Give yourself over to absolute pleasure
Swim the warm waters of sins of the flesh
Erotic nighmares beyond any measure
And sensual daydreams to treasure forever
User avatar
Daeron
Malekith's Best Friend
Posts: 3973
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2003 7:36 pm
Location: Belgium, Brussels
Contact:

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Daeron »

We still have the monthlies on archive as well, and we haven't deleted a thing as far as I can tell. Hm. We have a pretty big database for this forum as a result ;)
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
User avatar
Duffman327
Executioner
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Newcastle, Australia

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Duffman327 »

an assassin would be sweet. although all assassins are males, it would be cool to see a witch elf rise to the challange of assassin. perhaps like a michelle rodrigez type macho girl with something to prove...
I am the Silent Wind of Doom... Whoosh!
User avatar
van Awful
Highborn
Posts: 690
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:23 am
Location: Ammerzoden, metropole at the Maas

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by van Awful »

Yes a shade would be awesome! Isnt their one in the Malus books that is pretty impressive?
I always liked they idea of named captains for units!
Nec spe, nec metu

I am an Extraordinary Druchii Gentleman
User avatar
Shadowspite
Bronze Khaine Winner
Posts: 1413
Joined: Sun Jun 16, 2002 5:32 pm
Location: The black ark Arhathalau

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Shadowspite »

If anyone's read Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold, Monza Murcatto would make the basis of a good Dark Elf character, IMO. A skilled swordswoman and mercenary general who is betrayed by her employer (who is afraid of her popularity), sees her brother (who is also her lover) murdered, and gets thrown off a mountain. She survives, horribly scarred and in constant pain (which drives her into drug addiction), recruits a ragtag bunch of misfits, and methodically pursues bloody revenge against everyone who was even in the same room when the betrayal happened.
"Sometimes, Brother... I dream that I am sane." - Uros the Faceless

Some of my minis - now on Imgur rather than Photosuckit.
User avatar
Diobarach
Black Guard
Posts: 296
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2014 12:24 am

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Diobarach »

Shadowspite wrote:If anyone's read Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold, Monza Murcatto would make the basis of a good Dark Elf character, IMO. A skilled swordswoman and mercenary general who is betrayed by her employer (who is afraid of her popularity), sees her brother (who is also her lover) murdered, and gets thrown off a mountain. She survives, horribly scarred and in constant pain (which drives her into drug addiction), recruits a ragtag bunch of misfits, and methodically pursues bloody revenge against everyone who was even in the same room when the betrayal happened.


Having some kind of visual scarring is also interesting, perhaps something along the lines of Ciri from the witcher:
Image
User avatar
Daeron
Malekith's Best Friend
Posts: 3973
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2003 7:36 pm
Location: Belgium, Brussels
Contact:

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Daeron »

Well, to be honest, most of those characters sound like a lot of fun to read on! I'd definitely buy the books :P
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
User avatar
Shadowspite
Bronze Khaine Winner
Posts: 1413
Joined: Sun Jun 16, 2002 5:32 pm
Location: The black ark Arhathalau

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Shadowspite »

But let's be honest, no matter how much effort we put in to creating a new character, Gav Thorpe would just kill her off anyway. :evil: (I am only half joking.)
"Sometimes, Brother... I dream that I am sane." - Uros the Faceless

Some of my minis - now on Imgur rather than Photosuckit.
User avatar
Darkprincess
Chosen Babe of Slaanesh
Posts: 2625
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2003 10:20 pm
Location: Wales

Re: Topic of the Week - A new woman / female character?

Post by Darkprincess »

Shadowspite wrote:But let's be honest, no matter how much effort we put in to creating a new character, Gav Thorpe would just kill her off anyway. :evil: (I am only half joking.)


Not in 9th Age he wouldn't. He no longer holds the reins of power - Gav tried (and failed, fluffwise) to kill off my special character at the end of the Flesh & Blood campaign many years ago but, like me, she's back with a vengeance!


To paraphrase Gothmog; "The Age of Gav is over. The Time of the Players has come." :twisted:
The Dark Princess
High Priestess of the Cult Of Pleasure


Give yourself over to absolute pleasure
Swim the warm waters of sins of the flesh
Erotic nighmares beyond any measure
And sensual daydreams to treasure forever
Post Reply