Building Gideon Nav in Legend in the Mist
I’m on a real Legend in the Mist kick right now. One of the things I really like about LitM is how easy it is to start with a character from another piece of fiction and ask a simple question: what actually matters about this person?
There are no Strength scores to calculate or classes to squeeze them into. A character is primarily four Themes, with each Theme getting a title tag, two additional power tags, a weakness and a Quest.
So, naturally, I wanted to build Gideon Nav.
I’m going to stick primarily with the Gideon we meet near the beginning of Gideon the Ninth, rather than digging too deeply the end of the first book. That gives us the sunglasses-wearing, sword-swinging disaster who desperately wants to escape the Ninth House and ends up serving as Harrowhark Nonagesimus’ cavalier.
The first question is what four things define Gideon. For me, those are pretty easy: she’s a swordswoman, she’s a prisoner of the Ninth House, she’s an irreverent smartass, and she is Harrow’s extremely reluctant cavalier.
Theme One: Ten Years With a Two-Hander
Type: Prodigious Ability, Adventure
Gideon specifically points out that she has spent ten years training with a two-handed sword, even while Harrow is trying to turn her into something resembling a proper rapier-wielding Ninth House cavalier.
That tells me her swordsmanship deserves more than a piece of equipment in her Backpack. This is part of who she is.
Power Tags:
Hit Like a Freight Train
Trained by Aiglamene
Weakness:
Rapier? Seriously?
Quest:
Prove I’m more than something the Ninth House owns.
I went with an Adventure-level Theme because Gideon is clearly beyond an ordinary person with some sword training. She is very, very good at this.
Theme Two: Prisoner of Drearburh
Type: Circumstance, Origin
Gideon’s relationship with the Ninth House is probably the most important piece of her background. She grows up there, but never really belongs there. The opening of the novel is literally Gideon attempting yet another escape.
That gives us:
Power Tags:
Raised Among Bones
Knows Every Way Out
Weakness:
Never Had a Normal Life
Quest:
Get free of the Ninth House for good.
I especially like Knows Every Way Out because it can do a lot of work during play. Gideon has spent years thinking about escape, sneaking around and figuring out places she isn’t supposed to be.
Theme Three: Galactic Dirtbag
Type: Personality, Origin
We absolutely need a Theme devoted to Gideon being Gideon.
Gideon is crude, funny, rebellious, impulsive and almost pathologically incapable of treating the extremely serious culture surrounding her with the seriousness everyone thinks it deserves.
So I’m stealing the wonderful description “galactic dirtbag” used in Reactor’s discussion of the character.
Power Tags:
Smart Mouth
Absolutely No Reverence
Weakness:
Cannot Stop Herself
Quest:
Never let this place turn me into one of them.
This is probably the Theme I would have the most fun invoking. Smart Mouth could help with intimidation, distractions or getting under someone’s skin. Unfortunately, Cannot Stop Herself is probably going to get invoked just as often, which feels extremely Gideon.
Theme Four: Cavalier Primary of the Ninth
Type: Duty, Adventure
Then we get to Harrow.
Gideon doesn’t exactly leap at the opportunity to become Harrow’s cavalier. Their relationship begins the novel somewhere between bitter rivalry and attempted mutual homicide. Still, Gideon takes the job and travels with Harrow to the Emperor’s trials. That relationship deserves an entire Theme.
Power Tags:
Protect the Necromancer
Knows Harrow Too Well
Weakness:
I Hate Harrow. Probably.
Quest:
Get Harrow through the trials and earn my freedom.
And this is where Legend in the Mist becomes particularly interesting for Gideon. Themes can develop, evolve and eventually be replaced as characters pursue or abandon their Quests. If you know Gideon the Ninth, you can probably already see some interesting possibilities for how this Theme might change over the course of a campaign.
Finally, the Backpack
Every Legend in the Mist character starts with one story tag in their Backpack.
There is only one possible choice.
Mirrored Sunglasses.
The sword is already represented through Gideon’s swordsmanship Theme. The sunglasses, though? Those are equipment. They’re also wonderfully, unmistakably Gideon. She even brings them along when leaving the darkness of the Ninth House for the painfully bright First House.
And with that, Gideon Nav is ready to play. What I really like about this build is that none of the Themes describe every single thing Gideon can do. They describe the things the story cares about. Her sword, her upbringing, her personality and Harrow. For Legend in the Mist, that’s really all we need.
