Let’s take a moment to discuss character design, and in particular the question of gender.
As you may already have noticed, some Majesty 2 heroes will be the opposite sex of their counterparts from Majesty 1. For example, Majesty 1 Paladins were women – running around all crazy, swinging a huge sword, rooting out Evil. In Majesty 2, the Paladins are beefcakes in bright and shining armour, rooting out that same Evil – just as zealously! – in every nook and cranny. Of course this doesn’t mean that all Majesty 2 heroes are blokes, nay. For another example, the Rogues are girls (they were guys in Majesty 1). Elves too are now represented by the fairer sex. (In Majesty 1 they were effeminate and blue-skinned, but still recognizably male.)
Of course there is nothing terribly wrong with switching the sexes of some of the characters, but everything has an explanation, and perhaps you might be interested in hearing the rationale. – Why is it, for instance, that we transformed those beautiful Paladin girls into hulky beefcakes!?
As far as narrative continuity, one need not be greatly concerned: the events of Majesty 2 happen in the distant future, from the perspective of Majesty 1. Many centuries have passed in Ardania, and naturally, many things have changed. The traditional female order of the Paladins has evidently passed into history, and after the Paladin deity Dauros came back from a long and well-deserved tropical vacation, a new order came to be. Or perhaps the service to Dauros gradually changed, with the “sisters” being replaced by “brothers” over the centuries. As you can see, design changes like this can be easily explained by the writer. In any case, let’s assume that at some point in history, some well-armoured men banished the ox-eyed maidens from the Temple to Dauros, to become known as Paladins in their place.
But let’s get to the design concern that motivated the changes. Sometimes these kinds of adjustments are made for purely cosmetic reasons – to strengthen and refine the aesthetics of the original, that sort of thing. But in Majesty 2 there are other reasons why heroes of some classes (including Paladins) are members of a certain sex. The main thing in this case is that the system for educating Templar heroes differs from the system in Majesty 1. In the past it worked like this: players built, for example, the Warriors Guild, then built the Temple to Dauros, and after that could hire in the Warriors Guild either an ordinary warrior or a Paladin. In Majesty 2 it works slightly differently. After building the Warriors Guild, players can hire Warriors as usual. But after building the Temple to Dauros players have two ways to create Paladins:
1. You can pay for the education of a level 1 Paladin in the Temple to Dauros. In this case you just get a new hero – a “green” level 1 Paladin, fresh off the boat, all ready to rush around beating the hell out of all things Evil and otherwise unsavory.
2. You can choose one of your hero-warriors, and do him the great honor having him ordained a Paladin. If you go this route, after his re-education you’ll get a Paladin of the same level your Warrior was, and the Warriors Guild will have a new “vacancy”. This means that if you had a level 10 Warrior, you’ll get a level 10 Paladin. The Paladin will also keep all his armour and weapons – everything the same level that the Warrior had.
In this case, the development in gameplay obviously required that Majesty 2 Paladins be male. In Majesty 2, Paladins are so-to-speak “high-grade Warriors”, and it would be more than a little worrying if after the initiation rite we got a female Paladin. That would be one heck of an initiation, eh?
By the way, here’s a list of the other classes in Majesty 2 that can serve as the base class for Templar heroes:
Rangers can become Archers of Helia (in the Temple to Helia) or Beastmasters (in the Temple to Fervus).
Warriors can serve Dauros (and become Paladins) or Krolm, becoming then Blademasters after the initiation rite.
Clerics can become Light Priestesses of Agrela or Dark Sisters of Krypta.
Note that after certain initiation rites, the hero can dramatically change appearance. For example, after the rite of dedication to the Sun in the Temple to Helia, the skin of the Ranger – future Archer of Helia – becomes darker, his hair bleached white, and his eyes become blue-green and slightly transparent, the sign of Helia’s gift of far-sight (so he can pick out his target at a great distance).
Well, now you know everything there is to know on the question of why Paladins are dudes. Feel free to discuss today’s entry on the official Majesty 2 forum, or offer other topics for discussion. Come, talk, ask. That’s it for today. Talk to you soon!
