Semi, Moustache Only (Pencil to Walrus, inclusive)
Yes, Short Styled (E.g. Goatee, Van Dyke, Greek Fringe, Egyptian)
Yes, Full Beard
Yes, Long, Flowing Beard
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A perennial survey question for everyone out there. Is your Magus bearded?
Specifically, what state of facial hair do you associate with your Magus? Some may favour different styles over their careers, but what one seems or seemed to be most quintessentially a part of your Magus' "look"?
For those with Magae, please do not apply directly (including fans of Hapshetsut, fake ceremonial beard and all), but feel free to include your favourite PC Magus.
No literary characters, please. Only PCs you've played or whom you found especially memorable or admirable.
Beard. Full, but not long. In both my character designs. One simply because he does not care about his appearence (wolf mage) and one because it looks manly and powerful (flambeau brawler). besides, all proper giants have beards.
In the 13C, did men shave? Did it vary around Europe? What about social class? Anyone have access to "A History of Male Facial Hair in the Middle Ages"? There's got to be a doctorate in it for someone.
Well I cant speak with any authority other than what I read and that wiki article, at least, seems to indicate that hair styles amongst the working class, as described, were fairly consistent. Of course any such claims are open to debate and certainly prone to exceptions and cultural/socio-economic variants and exceptions. Im sure there were hermits and poor dirt farmers who perhaps were not bothered by modes of fashion, just as we see in society today.
Since this is Mythic Europe and not actual Europe, I'd say dress and groom your character as you see fit. One of my characters is a feral upbrought Hibernian with trimmed beard but savagely long red hair (as any mythic Celtic warrior should have)
That was hundreds of years previous to the Ars era and remember, the Romans got their butts whooped by big, unwashed, bearded Germanic barbarians in the end.
One could say the barbarians were only victorious due to the decay of the empire... else they would have remained slaves or been cast back beyond the wall as it were.
The subject has come up more than once, both in relation to the milieu and the fantasy genre in general. The stereotypical wizard is bearded, often heavily so.
I'd been thinking that cultural influences would affect Hermetic fashions in this regard. Those in the Levant and Iberia, for example, probably emphasise beards due to their prevalence in the cultures of the region, whereas those in the Tribunal of the Greater Alps, with their strong Classical preferences, would tend to be clean-shaven.
Odds are most Verditius Magi are clean-shaven or have nothing more than very short beards due to the nature of their work.
Of course, unlike almost everyone else in Mythic Europe, Magi can be perfectly clean-shaven (and clean!) with minimal effort. There was a Level 5 PeCo effect in earlier editions that amounted to a perfect shave. With some modifications, it could work to smooth, condition, and trim beards or other hair.
For those who might deride the subject, hair and hairstyles have had tremendous importance in cultures throughout history. Let us not forget the Greeks who made a point of preparing their hair before battle--as did the Samurai of Japan.
Again, cleanliness was considered an essential part of civilisation by the ancient Romans. They had depilators working full-time in their baths to keep them smooth-skinned, distinguishing them from the unkempt and hairy "barbarian" peoples. The hair was plucked from beard and body, one at a time. Not what I would call a "soft" practice.
I just look at results.... Hairy barbarians FTW! (Besides, the Celtics and Vikings were cleanliness freaks too. THey just knew that men shouldn't have girly soft faces.....
Absolutely true about the Celts and Norse (Vikings were an activity subset of the Norse). Hence the tale about Cu Cullinane having to smear his face with berry juice (simulating a short growth of beard) in order to get another warrior to fight him (Cu Cullinane had an unusually youthful appearance, and his lack of any facial hair caused many to treat him as a "boy").
I personally think that members of the Order would, in general, be far cleaner than the general population. Particularly those who revered Classical and Arabic traditions, but also those of a Celtic disposition, or Norse traditionalists (there are a few in the Order).
On the other hand, many magi care not one whit about their interactions with mundanes and are portrayed in the books as anti-social and rather oddly dressed.
Also, remember that unless a magi wants to spend a season creating a formulaic spell to shave himself, he'll be casting spontaneously, and there is always the risk of botching. A sensible magus might cultivate a beard (easier to look after as they are) and simply have it trimmed by a servant every now and then.
IMS i have 3 magi, one clean shaven criamon, a corpus master so he can easily shave himself, also i've always pictured him as having a rather patchy, rubbish beard if he did grow one. Another magus, a verditius archer and hunter has giant blood and as another poster mentioned, giants should have beards, so he does. Not unkempt but hardly neatly trimmed either. The last models his dress and mannerisms on the bygone styles of rome and has short hair and a clean shaven chin.
I can see some of the more roman traditions, particularly in the big old roman covenants affecting shaven chins, cropped hair and such like, while germanic bjornaer, forest dwelling merinitae and knightly flambeau all might be more likely to affect beards of one form or another.
