The Bitch Rule is an option that makes a female PC or NPC very moody. GMs may make this a requirement for all females. Other alternatives are making it an insanity, disease, or curse. The Bitch Rule works best for chaotic characters because they seem to have what it takes to work.
The following are the steps to develop a moody female:
| Die Roll | Moods & Attitudes |
|---|---|
| 1 | happy, cheerful, optimistic, helpful, friendly |
| 2 | self-pity, unhelpful, brooding, pessimistic |
| 3 | pissed off, vengeful, cruel |
| 4 | playful, energetic, daring, foolhardy, practical joker |
| 5 | vain, proud, lazy, bored, omnipotent feeling |
| 6 | restless, impatient, takes control, urge to get on with things, roll 1D6 for obsession check |
Needless to say, running a character with all of these different attributes which change all of the time tests the player's ability to role play to a maximum.
The Bitch Rule initiated in Salina, a chaotic neutral human. Because of her great contribution to the game, a profile of her is below.
Physical Appearance: Salina is 5' 6" brunette with grey eyes. She has remarkable stats (all above 10, INT 17, DEX 18) (honest, that's the way she rolled it...). She is a real "babe". The longer you are in her presence, however, the more you realize that her charisma is not quite up to her atractiveness.
Family & Childhood: Her mother died in childbirth. Her father is a rich/feared/respected merchant/trader/smuggler who bought his title and measures affection in monetary terms. To increase Salina's value, she was educated by private tutors and given anything money could buy. She discovered books and power as a substitute for friends and affection.
Reasons to Adventure:
General: She lives whim to whim. She has chronic PMS mood swings (aka The Bitch Rule). She is self serving. All of her likes and dislikes are subject to change at any time, though a respect for books and talent and an attraction to jewelry are pretty consistent. She tends to dislike being dirty and loathes stupid people unless they have something she needs from them. She is a sort-of female Q (from Star Trek TNG). The party puts up with her often dangerous moods because she is a really good mage.
Adventure examples: Has a casual but regular relationship with 'Irnar (a NPC mage who "pops" in every now and again to stir up trouble with the characters). She keeps the relationship for what she can get out of him and because he learned some pretty INCREDIBLE moves after being abducted by a goddess of love. 'Irnar is totally into the physical aspect of a relation and since Salina is a mage with the best atractiveness in my campaign, she wins out. Salina has been known to disappear (teleported by 'Irnar) during the middle of her night watch and reappear with melting snow in her hair. Or completely soaked with water, or in one case with grass stains and rope burns. The party has yet to find out what she does on her little side trips. One time she disappeared for three days then reappeared with no explanations, but she was in such a good mood that the party counted their blessings and did not press the questions. Besides, they desperately needed her since they were about to do battle with an Orcish army.
One time, another mage in the party got Salina mad at him, so he cast a Globe of Invulnerability around him for protection. Salina, recognizing the spell promptly threw a dagger +2 at him as a "subtle way of saying "get out of my face" and continued on her way without losing hardly a beat.
Another time the party had to pay a toll of one magic item each to a very old black dragon (I was sorta hoping they'd try to fight the thing) and Salina, in her helpful, cheery mood promptly offered the other mage to the dragon saying "If you let us pass, I'll give him to you" (note: said with a disgustingly cheery voice). The other mage had to do some quick talking to get out of that one. He did get some help from the good cleric who was "appalled" that Salina could do such a thing.
The party encountered a pool of whimsy healing water once. Salina got mad at one of the party members for being stupid, and promptly pushed him in. (The party at the time did not know the effects of the water.) Well, the fighter immediately got healed of all of his hit points, got a whimsy (I don't recall what it was) and drowned because he was wearing metal armour. Two members of the party finally fished him out, but they had a dickens of a time resuscitating him. The episode ended by everyone having a pool fight and pushing someone else in. (All went in except Salina.)
In another adventure, the party was right in the middle of battling an awesome mage (Le Morte by name) and Salina suddenly got bored and sat down to do her nails. The party, without a mage to help them out, really got whomped on, had to give in to Le Morte's demands, and lost a Horn of Dwarf Summoning they had spent several months (real time) trying to get in order to call the Dwarves to battle against the impending evil of a powerful anti-paladin (Sheol) who is still trying to take over all of the land.
Well. There you have some of the endearing characteristics of Salina. The party she runs around with may not like her all that much, but with players like her, the GM's job of making things difficult for all the players is made a little easier. ("With characters like her," quipped the Cleric named Candice Preach, "who needs adventure?")
This background is brought to you by
Morgan the Slightly Chaotic
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Ch14-Bitch-Rule.php -- Revised: January 27, 2021.