Appendix: Social roles§
Gentleman (♂)§
You start with 3 role tokens.
Your title is Mister.
You must…
- act warm and welcoming [or be a libertine]
- uphold the honour of your family and those in it [or be a bully]
- display good judgment [or be a fool]
Your manner is…
- Pragmatic
- Caring
- Acerbic
Your best accomplishment is…
- Riding
- Dancing
- Shooting
Your age is 20 to 49.
Quick facts§
You make your income from rents. You have land, and tenants who farm it.
You’re a gentleman, not a peer. That means you don’t have a title, and don’t sit in the House of Lords, but are definitely part of polite society.
You were probably educated either at home by a tutor, or at one of the posh boarding schools like Eton, Harrow, or Rugby, before going to Oxford or Cambridge.
You may spend your days in social visits, hunting, riding, accounts and improvements to his estate, or visiting your club in London, probably White’s or Boodle’s.
You spend your evenings in reading, correspondence, dancing, and hosting and attending dinners.
You, in particular, are not as perfectly suited for society as you might look. What makes you a little bit of a misfit? That is, why did magic find you?
Officer (♂)§
You start with 2 role tokens.
Your title is Lieutenant, Captain, or Major, depending on your rank.
You must…
- are gallant towards ladies [or be a rake]
- display valour in the face of danger [or be reckless]
- enforce and uphold the law [or be a blowhard]
Your manner is…
- Lighthearted
- Guarded
- Haughty
Your best accomplishment is…
- Riding
- Shooting
- Fencing
Your age is 18 to 27.
Quick facts§
Britain is, and has been, at war with Napoleon Bonaparte. Most soldiers and sailors are pressed into service, with very little choice in the matter.
Officers buy their position, either from their own money or with that of a wealthy patron. This leads to a quality of leadership exactly as good as you’d expect.
Many army officers are assigned to militia regiments that don’t leave England’s shores, but protect it in case of French invasion. Naval officers spend years at sea, but then have long periods of shore leave.
You’re expected to know how to shoot, fence, and ride, but carrying weapons isn’t something you do in polite company. You can wear a sword on formal occasions.
Many people will be interested in your war stories, if you have any, but they probably want them edited to make them seem more heroic and less gruesome.
An officer-magician would be expected to never use magic to kill; the only honourable thing would be to use it for logistics.
Clergyman (♂)§
You start with 2 role tokens.
Your title is Reverend if Anglican, Father if Catholic.
You must…
- enact charity and concern for the least [or be haughty]
- offer sober counsel [or be pompous]
- set a good example of Christian morality [or be hypocritical]
Your manner is…
- Dreamy
- Rambling
- Serious
Your best accomplishment is…
- Languages
- Natural Philosophy
- Comportment
Your age is 23 to 40.
Quick facts§
The state religion is Anglicanism. Catholicism is legal again, but looked down on.
There are a few other strands of Christianity in England: Methodism and Quakerism are the two biggest.
A vicar is expected to set a good moral example for his parish. This includes setting an example of matrimony.
Even among the clergy, excessive religious feeling or taking religion too literally is looked at as weird in this period.
A vicar makes his living off of a farm parcel attached to the church, and stays at the church at the pleasure of the local landholder.
Three hundred years ago, the four estates were the nobles, the peasants, the Church, and magicians. Now those lines are old and muddy, but it can’t be appropriate for a man of the cloth to also be a magician.
Dandy (♂)§
You start with 2 role tokens.
Your title is Mister.
You must…
- crush someone with the perfect bon mot [or be cruel]
- reveal some gossip before anyone else [or be desperate]
- win, or lose, a great sum gambling [or be a cheat]
Your manner is…
- Quiet
- Passionate
- Familiar
Your best accomplishment is…
- Dancing
- Comportment
- Fencing
Your age is 18 to 27.
Quick facts§
This is an era of highly demanding fashion: trousers are getting long, wigs are out, waistcoats are in.
A man of fashion is expected to be able to converse well, be up on the latest in poetry and literature and art, to ride and drive a carriage well, and to be able to lose at cards gracefully.
Britain is at war with France, so fashion must not be too French, but dandyism itself is best understood by the French. A decade or so later, Balzac will write that dandies “all partake of the same character of opposition and revolt… dandyism is the last splendour of heroism.”
No matter his income, a dandy must live beyond his means. You can pay your debts later; you must impress now.
The London season, when all the fashionable people would be back in Town, lasts roughly the first half of the year, from maybe February to late spring, early summer. The rest of the time, the fashionable set go to Bath or Brighton or the countryside.
Living as you do, every edge is valuable. And magic is the ultimate edge. But how can you not be seen to cheat by it?
Lady (♀)§
You start with 3 role tokens.
Your title is Miss.
You must…
- choose an honorable path over an easy one [or be prudish]
- demonstrate your accomplishments [or be proud]
- make those around you feel at ease [or be insipid]
Your manner is…
- Pragmatic
- Haughty
- Familiar
Your best accomplishment is…
- Dancing
- Music
- Languages
Your age is 18 to 24.
Quick facts§
The goal for any young lady is a good marriage. You’re not property, but you’re hardly free, and society expects you to go from your father to your husband.
To attract a husband, wealth, charm, beauty and accomplishment are all valued.
You also need to seem morally spotless, and this means the rest of your family has to appear moral, too.
Finally, you have to be able to meet eligible men. Balls and socializing aren’t just for fun, they’re a way to secure your future. You are a saleswoman, and your product is yourself as a wife.
Society puts ladies up on a pedestal, though. You always decide the degree of acquaintance, you are implicitly responsible for managing social events, and you are seen as more “pure”.
There was a time when ladies in waiting would practice small magics for the court. Perhaps it might be appropriate again? Or perhaps you dream bigger.
Companion (♀)§
You start with 2 role tokens.
Your title is Miss.
You must…
- show your accomplishments [or be presumptuous]
- make the lady you attend shine [or be duplicitous]
- place yourself second [or be haughty]
Your manner is…
- Guarded
- Passionate
- Caring
Your best accomplishment is…
- Conversation
- Thrift
- Comportment
Your age is 20 to 26.
Quick facts§
A paid companion is not a servant, but is not part of the family. Everyone keeps up the polite fiction that you’re a live-in friend who gets an allowance.
You’re too genteel to work for a living without really acknowledging a loss of status, but not genteel enough to have your own source of income.
Most companions’ exit strategy is a good marriage. Being with a more prestigious family might give you a chance to meet more eligible bachelors, and if you can turn your charms on, you could be set.
You really have to be at the beck and call of your employer. If she wants to go to a ball, you go. If she wants to stay in, you stay in. If she’s a bore, you still have to find her funny. At least publicly.
It’s likely that you’re an orphan or one of too many children for your parents to take care of. Either way, you probably don’t have much of a home to go back to.
Your options were constrained when you became a paid companion. Now, suddenly, they are opening up. What dream deferred might magic enable for you?
Ward (♀)§
You start with 2 role tokens.
Your title is Miss.
You must…
- assist the family proper [or be ungrateful]
- do as you’re told [or be willful]
- be seen and not heard [or be putting on airs]
Your manner is…
- Dreamy
- Lighthearted
- Serious
Your best accomplishment is…
- Dancing
- Comportment
- Listening
Your age is 16 to 21.
Quick facts§
You don’t have to be an orphan to be a ward, but it helps. There’s no formal adoption, but often a wealthier relative will take over the raising of a kid, particularly if they have none of their own.
You might have some land or money of your own, but you have no control over it. Your legal guardian has total control of it until you come of age. The only thing that keeps them in line is social pressure and the over-worked Court of Chancery.
You can’t marry without your guardian’s permission. If you have some wealth, odds are they’ll want to marry it into their family.
Legally speaking, your father got to decide who would be your guardian in the event of his death, and when you could be legally considered of age. You could challenge either, but that rarely works out.
Is your guardian predatory or honestly trying their best? Either way, you’re almost certainly not treated quite like a real child. Almost more like a servant sometimes.
You have so little control over your life, legally and practically. Magic is a way out, but you know what happened to “uppity” young women who too clearly showed their magic. You’ll have to be careful.
Spinster (♀)§
You start with 2 role tokens.
Your title is Miss.
You must…
- be thankful for the gifts of others [or be a blatherskite]
- you provide a compassionate ear for others [or be two-faced]
- keep a confidence [or be a liar]
Your manner is…
- Quiet
- Rambling
- Acerbic
Your best accomplishment is…
- Music
- Thrift
- Writing
Your age is 25 to 39.
Quick facts§
A lady can’t propose, but she can always refuse. Have you never gotten a proposal, or have you refused all that you’ve gotten? Either way, why?
A woman’s ability to own property outright is limited. You’re probably living off of a married sister, a male relative’s largesse, or in very straightened circumstances.
You don’t have to be very old to be an old maid, but you do have to be past where you’d reasonably expect a proposal.
You often end up as a locus of gossip; whether people trust you or not, many people assume that no one will listen to an old maid.
You’re expected not to take part in things that are for people looking for marriage, like dancing and flirting. Playing cards or moralizing are more what people would expect from you.
Marriage is a powerful state for a lady, but perhaps magic, carefully guarded and practiced, can put you in an even better position.
Invalid (⚥)§
You start with 2 role tokens.
Your title is Mister or Miss.
You must…
- avoid strenuous activity [or be paranoid]
- get others to stay in with you [or be a mooch]
- show gratitude for favors and assistance [or be entitled]
Your manner is…
- Quiet
- Passionate
- Rambling
Your best accomplishment is…
- Conversation
- Natural Philosophy
- Writing
Your age is 18 to 49.
Quick facts§
There’s any number of things that can leave one an invalid: consumption (tuberculosis), ague (malaria), gout, or more. Health without modern antibiotics or sanitation is a fragile thing.
There are also those rich hypochondriacs who can afford to pretend to be ill. You’re not one of them, but that doesn’t prevent people from doubting the reality of your illness.
The big new medical discovery is “nerves”, but the exact details aren’t entirely understood. People suffer from attacks of nerves, or have to protect their fragile nerves.
Doctors come in three flavors: physicians for the rich, surgeons for the middle, and apothecaries for the poor. None are particularly effective.
Life expectancy is into your seventies if you can live past childhood, but for an invalid that may be a lot shorter. Medical treatment is mostly just supportive.
Some of the greatest magicians of the golden age were invalids, but they never seemed to heal themselves with magic. No one knows why, and the able-bodied tend not to even wonder.
Upper servant (⚥)§
You start with 2 role tokens.
Your title is Mister / Missus (whether you are married or not).
You must…
- do what’s needed before you’re asked [or be controlling]
- maintain precedence and order downstairs [or be self-important]
- advise those upstairs when asked [or be foolish]
Your manner is…
- Pragmatic
- Serious
- Haughty
Your best accomplishment is…
- Comportment
- Listening
- Thrift
Your age is 20 to 49.
Quick facts§
There’s as strict a hierarchy downstairs as upstairs. The upper servants are the butler, housekeeper (always “Mrs” whether married or not), valets, and ladies’ maids.
Service is an honourable and desirable form of work. As an upper servant, you have a good living situation and good pay, and enjoy status among the household and town.
You are expected to be your employer’s right-hand managing the downstairs staff, so they don’t have to directly. Valets and ladies’ maids especially often act as confidants of their employers.
A competent and experienced upper servant is rare and precious. Your employer should value you, and try to keep you happy, and trust you.
You have more time to yourself than the lower servants; a downstairs office, some time to sit and read improving books or enjoy some other perquisites.
Many of the greatest magicians’ upper servants were, in fact, fairies. Lord Ramsay in the 14th c. kept a fairy seneschal, who knew how to greet and serve fairy guests. Could you do as well?
Lower servant (⚥)§
You start with 1 role token.
You are addressed by your Christian name (or a more common name your employer gives you, if your Christian name is too unusual).
You must…
- do as you’re told [or be willful]
- keep a confidence [or be a gossip]
- put your own needs last [or be obsequious]
Your manner is…
- Dreamy
- Caring
- Acerbic
Your best accomplishment is…
- Skulduggery
- Inconspicuousness
- Listening
Your age is 16 to 25.
Quick facts§
Among the downstairs folks, you’re at the bottom: a footman, housemaid, groom, kitchen maid, or similar.
You’re up before dawn doing the work that makes the house function. You’re abed after the rest of the household. The work is not easy, and you don’t have weekends off.
You’re not committed to a life in service at this point. You’re trying to see if you can get ahead this way, but if you can’t, maybe you’ll work a farm, or try to learn a craft.
Footmen are in short supply, as many able-bodied young men have been pressed into service by the army or navy. Maids have had to pick up a lot of the slack, and do work that’s not always considered feminine.
You’ve got a little space to yourself, and less time: the only real holidays are from St. Stephen’s Day (December 26) to Twelfth Night (January 6).
The old stories say that fairies always seem to take a shine to the lower servants. They often feel a sympathy for those who are good and clever and must work for a master.
Vagabond (⚥)§
You start with 1 role token.
You are addressed by your Christian name, or perhaps merely as “you there”.
You must…
- flake on a promise [or be willfully indigent]
- offer odd jobs [or be inept]
- show gratitude for charity [or be toadying]
Your manner is…
- Guarded
- Lighthearted
- Familiar
Your best accomplishment is…
- Skulduggery
- Inconspicuousness
- Bargaining
Your age is 16 to 59.
Quick facts§
Vagrancy is a crime itself, but if you’re unattached and poor, everything you do is criminalized anyway.
You can also support yourself with odd-jobs, from tinkering to manual labour, but many people probably turn their noses up at you anyway.
There are basically three kinds of punishments: fines, transportation (to Australia), and execution. Poaching is a capital offense. Theft of more than 40 shillings worth is a capital offense.
Sleeping rough and making do with what you can is a hard life. But it’s better than the poor-houses, where you work in what amounts to slavery conditions.
There’s no organized police force, but local bailiffs and magistrates can form posses to look for people they want to apprehend.
If anyone has kept up a tradition of magic since the golden age, it’s vagabonds. Of course, most of them are probably just trying to make a bob off a fool, but maybe there’s some real wisdom there?