Of course, a race and class are far from all that define a player character or NPC. Other features—sex, name, age, homeland, and social status—are nearly or equally as important. Since a Viking campaign is not the standard fantasy world, the differences and effects of all these choices need to be considered.
Sex[]
The first impression most players will have concerning Viking characters is that it is a world of men. Bold Viking men stand at the prow of their ships, men fight in battles, men explore the world. Meanwhile, women stay home to sew, weave, and tend the farm. Indeed, women are often imagined as virtual servants of their husbands and fathers.
As with all things, part of this picture is cordid all the things mentioned above. There are few accounts of women warriors or explorers— but in the Viking world these things were not impossible! Aud the Deep-Minded, queen of Dublin, moved her entire household to Iceland after the death of her husband. There she claimed and ran an estate large enough to support 80 farmers. In Scandinavia, women had far more rights and responsibilities than neighboring England or the Frankish Empire.
Under Viking tradition, women had many rights. They could own property and inherit lands. Women were expected to manage everything in the household, and wives often supervised the estates while the husband was gone. With such a warlike people, there were many widows who kept the family farms and made them prosper. A woman had the right to divorce her husband. (He, of course, also had the same right.)
Women served as priestesses to pagan gods and were frequently skilled in magic. Though they were not allowed to file lawsuits or take part in the thing (the governing assembly), their influence over the men handling such matters was great. Many sagas tell of bloodfeuds stirred up or sustained by the urgings of a woman. A woman might even work deadly revenge on the slayer of a kinsman.
Still, women warriors were rare, and truly exceptional. There is no doubt that by custom, women stayed home and saw to the households and property. For female player characters in a Viking campaign, this means that though their presence as adventurers (especially warriors) is recognized as their right, it might raise more than a few eyebrows. Those more traditionally-minded may view it as improper or unseemly, while the broadminded are apt to consider it unusual but not necessarily inappropriate.
The female player character is likely to have problems when dealing with NPCs from other lands, where the rights of women are not as well established. Frankish nobles may have a hard time accepting terms from a woman warrior, and Moorish knights are apt to find the whole situation intolerable.
In the end, players and DMs should never shy from playing a female character—especially not on the basis of "it's not a woman's role." Instead, they should consider the special considerations and social obstacles that might arise as challenges and opportunities to have true role-playing encounters.
Names[]
Once a character has chosen a particular sex, a name can be chosen appropriate to that sex. Of course, players and DMs can choose whatever name they wish, but some of the Viking feel will be lost if "Fred the Viking" is used. The Viking campaign will be much more convincing if characters have authentic Viking- sounding names. To do that, though, it helps to know how Vikings were named.
Scandinavians of the time went by only one name, a personal name. Surnames were very rarely used. Of course, problems arose; how did one tell the three Thorolf's of the village apart or whether someone meant the Thorolf living in Trondlag or the Thorolf in Hordaland? This problem was solved in several ways.
The most common was to add a patronymic—" father's name"—to the end of the name. Thus, Thorolf, son of Harald, became Thorolf Haraldsson. This type of nickname could be made by adding "son" or "sson" to the father's name. (Women tended not to carry their father's name.) On occasion, the person was indicated by his home, i.e., Thorolf of Trollwood, but place names like this were not as common.
Another popular method of naming was to give the person a descriptive nickname based on some quality or deed. Judging from nicknames, Vikings apparently had quite a sense of humor. Besides obvious nicknames like "the Short" or "the Tall," less complimentary ones like "Snake-in-the-Eye" or "the Braggart also appeared. Furthermore, nicknames were sometimes ironic, entirely opposite from the truth—Thorolf the Short could actually be quite tall!
As is true with all nicknames, the person bearing the moniker generally has little choice in what he is called. His friends (he hopes !) and companions give him the nickname that suits him best. Players may also take this approach, letting their characters earn their nicknames during the course of the campaign.
Viking Names[]
To assist players and DM's in naming their characters, lists of names (divided by sex) and nicknames are presented here. The DM can photocopy these lists for use in his campaign.
Men's Names[]
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Women's Names[]
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Nicknames[]
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Age[]
Players and DMs can choose whatever age they desire for their characters. Traditionally, a Viking youth was considered an adult at the age of twelve, although it was common for him to remain at home for a few more years. In The Saga of the Jomsvikings, Vagn Akason, who had killed three men by the age of nine, joined the warrior brotherhood (the Jomsvikings) at the age of twelve.
Players are not required to begin their characters at such an early age. However, characters who leave home after age eighteen have certainly earned the uncomplimentary nickname "Coal-Chewer!"
Homeland[]
Another important part of each character's background is where he hails from. Though all were considered Vikings, there was no great bond between Danes, Swedes, or any of the other Viking nations. Giving each character a home province adds to the role-playing interaction.
Unless several separate groups are going to be playing in the same campaign world, the DM should probably assume that all characters start from the same general region. This is certainly true with beginning characters. It is not likely that a group of beginning heroes happens to include a Dane from Jutland, an Icelander, two Swedes, and a Rus. Where did they all meet and how did they get together? The mixing of nationalities should wait until the characters reach higher levels when reasonable explanations can be provided. A henchman from the Hebrides (Scotland) may become a player character (to replace a fallen warrior) or a new player may join the group while they are exploring in Iceland.
When beginning a Viking campaign, the DM may want to allow initial player characters to be from one or two of the following lands:
- Danelaw (England, after 865)
- Denmark
- Faroe Islands
- Hebrides
- Iceland (after 870)
- Ireland (after 820)
- Norway
- Orkney Islands
- Rus (after 870)
- Sweden
Once a starting land has been chosen, the DM should select a province or region in the land. Player characters will come from households in this general area. For example, the DM chooses Norway as the starting land. Looking at the map of Scandinavia provided, he decides to start the characters in a small village on the coast in the province of Stad. Therefore, it is reasonable for the initial characters to hail from Stad, More, Gaulardale, Orland, or other nearby districts. Thereafter the characters are assumed to have family and kin in these regions.
Social Class[]
Although the bulk of the Vikings were free farmers, not everyone was of equal rank. There were chieftains, kings, princes, and slaves in addition to the freemen. For game purposes, everyone is assumed to be the son or daughter of a free farmer of modest means—neither poor nor overly rich (unless the character has benefited from a Gift during character generation). Player characters never begin as slaves (since this makes adventuring difficult) and only those who have the appropriate Gift are the sons of chieftains, godar, or princes.
Proficiencies[]
If the optional proficiency system is used in the DM's campaign, player characters are allowed their proficiencies freely according to the AD&D® game rules. The following proficiencies are not available, for cultural or historical reasons:
Languages[]
During the Viking age, all Scandinavian cultures spoke essentially the same language—Old Norse. Thus, for Viking characters, this serves as the common tongue. In addition, the languages of surrounding lands may be useful to the player characters. Characters with the opportunity to learn additional languages can use the simplified list below:
- Gaelic (Ireland)
- Saxon (England)
- Slavic (Russia)
- French (Franks)
- Latin (the Church)
- Arabic (Moors)
- Greek (Byzantium)
As noted, this list is simplified, ignoring several languages and all dialects. Those who want to introduce more native tongues into their game can find more information in most libraries. Be aware, however, that too many languages can "spoil the soup," adding unnecessary complication to the experience of roleplaying.
Colorful Kennings[]
When running skald characters, players and DMs may want to brighten the characters' stories with poetic expressions appropriate to the class. The kennings (word-plays) below may be just what's needed to add that bardic touch.
Arrows — wound-bees
Axe — wound-wolf, wound-griever
Battle — clash of the valkyrie, game of iron, storm, storm of metal
Beer — pool of malt, sea of the horn
Blacksmith — pole of iron
Blood — arrow-dew, milk of corpses, river of swords
Drinking horn — auroch's spear
Eagle — battle-crane, vulture of battle
Earth — fjord of the heather
Farm land — sorrow of oxen
Fire — terror of the birch
Generous — hostile to gold
Cold — arm-fire, fire of the wave, Frodi's flour, moon of the sea, river-fire
Head — helmet-crag
Hearth-stone — table of fire
Hot iron — gold of the fire
King — giver of rings, land-demander
Man — Odin's oak, shield-wood, tree of gold
Poetry — giant's drink, mead of Odin, Odin's theft
Sea — belt of the earth, plain of seals
Shield — spear-cloud
Ship — sea-king's horse, sea-king's ski, sea-steed
Silver — snow
Sky — wind-bowl
Snake — thong of the heather, valley-fish
Spear — flying thorn
Sword — glory of battle, hilt-wand, war-flame, wound-engraver, wound-snake
Warrior — enemy of trolls, painter of the wolf's tooth, rouser of the valkyrie, spear-shaker, wolf-feeder
Wife — goddess of the needle, pourer of beer
Wind — enemy of the sail, wave-troubler
Winter — death of snakes
Wolf — horse of the giantess
Woman — goddess of the arm
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