Making a Character

Making a character for Belegarth can be both challenging and rewarding. It can give you a basis to design your costumes, decide what weapons to use, and it can give you something extra to do both on and off the battlefield. You don’t have to create a character. You can just show up and fight but if this sounds like something interesting to you then here are a few helpful hints.

Pick a piece of history or fantasy that intrigues you. There is so much to choose from. The middle ages was a smorgasbord of interesting people and events. The fall of the Roman Empire and Barbarian invaders called Vandals and Visigoths poured into Europe, the Caliphate conquered North Africa and the Middle East. The Franks formed the Carolingian Dynasty. Vikings, Magyars and Saracens invaded. Crusaders fought back against the march of Islam. The Byzantine Empire struggled to survive Islam. The Mongolians conquered Asia and began pushing into Europe and the list goes on and on. So weather you make a choice based on real history or fantasy pick something that interests you.

For example lets say that you are interested in Vikings. Vikings were raiders from the north that were partially responsible for ending the Carolingian Dynasty. They were known to be great sailors and explorers. If you wanted to play a Viking then your costume might include furs, your choice of weapon might be an ax and a round shield, and for fun at camp outs you might drink honey mead and sing dirges and sea chanties. 

What ever your choice might be take this as an opportunity to learn about the people, the clothing, the culture, the weapons, the cuisine, and the history of these people. Learn as much as you can and incorporate some of it into your reenactment experience. 

Maybe your choice is something more fantastic. Perhaps you are interested in playing an elf or a dwarf from a book like Lord of the Rings for example. The method is still much the same. Familiarize yourself with the character type and build your costumes and persona around it. It doesn’t change the rules of Belegarth combat but it can make it more fun for you.

Next you might want to have a trade for your character. Your trade could be a soldier or a warrior but maybe you want to be something more than that. My own character is a mercenary, a warrior for hire. You could even be interested in becoming a knight. There are groups that can take you through a whole right of passage to become a knight. If you don't want to be a warrior type then you might choose to be a trader, a pirate, a craftsman, an assassin or a thief. It really doesn't matter because in the middle ages if you didn't know how to fight then you probably wouldn't have lived long. Members of the realm often had duel roles as both temporary conscripts during war and whatever their daily job was. Securing a good position in a knights entourage was beneficial to both parties. 

For example knights needed someone to care for their horses. If a person was lucky enough to get hired into this position then he got to borrow the horse when knight wasn't using it. This put this person in close proximity to the knight and his training facilities. The knight would often use his people for sparring partners during his personal training. So the guy working the horses would pick up a few fighting skills from his knight. A wealthy knight might even provide equipment like weapons and armor for his people. The point is this. In order to survive the middle ages people either learned to fight well so they could protect themselves, they learned to fight so so and made themselves valuable to a person that could protect them, or they made themselves very valuable to someone that could them.

Your trade will also effect the battle tactics that your character would use. A barbarian type might be rash and charge in, a knight would behave honorably in battle, an assassin/thief will use sneak attacks, an archer will use a bow, and a woodsman or scout type while also using a bow will attempt to use stealth in combat, etc. 

Having a trade can give you something to do off the battle field as well. I have a friend that is a brewer. He enjoys this as a hobby and he incorporates this into his character. He brings his home made beverages to events. If you have a hobby then you might consider incorporating it into your character. Some things that you manufacture might even be profitable for you to sell.

The point of this is that it can give you a direction for arts and crafts that might interest you to enhance your character. This game can be more than just battles on the field if you want it to be.

Where ever coin jingles or plunder is promised you will find a mercenary.
Thorne