Membership in the household involves an oath of service or fealty: from squires, men-at-arms, ladies-in-waiting, pages, or similar. We also welcome the companionship of anybody who doesn’t want to be in service. This is more about persona play than compulsion.
A lord of wealth and means would gather household knights underneath him, and other men-at-arms as well. This was the heart of feudalism: in return for lands and holdings granted by the liege, the vassal would provide martial might in return. Of course this household would require more than military roles to keep administration running, especially for a wealthy lord with multiple holdings.
In our game, the rules are slightly different. Magnum Opus is an attempt to recreate a medieval mindset with the mechanics available to us. For example, landed wealth is explicitly not a part of the game. Furthermore, we also consider other aspects of the game that have particular status: service, arts & sciences, and so on.
The fundamental principle is that every sworn man would have one master (disregarding the real historical precedents of vassals with holdings from multiple lieges, because the mechanics don’t translate and because of the actual historical problems this presented). A man-at-arms in the service of his lord wouldn’t also be an apprentice to the local blacksmith, the son training to take over the position of butler from his father wouldn’t serve the lord’s table as a page, and so on.
Membership in the household involves finding a place and role that suits the interest of each member: equerry, butler, steward, chamberlain, weaver, scribe, larderer, smith, man-at-arms, squire, whatever. Members swear their service to the household and their role and take no other master. Unlike a medieval household, there is possibility for lateral movement into different roles, and anybody who wants to go their own way is released from service with the invitation to visit any time.
Those not interested in being full household members are most welcome to visit with the household. Gabriel offers martial training to all who ask, and anyone is welcome to fight with the household in melee, so long as they meet the armor standards. Friends of Magnum Opus may wear a black sash with the household badge on it.
Those interested in joining the household are encouraged to visit for a while and make sure that the mix of responsibilities and personalities is right for them. After deciding upon a role and swearing to service, members may wear the household surcoat in battle and the household tabard in times of peace.
Members in the household’s service are encouraged to find their own persona and study of history. That is, fighting tourneys or practice, garbing up for a feast, whatever, the preference is up to the individual. However, fighting with the unit on the field has certain requirements: we should all look more or less like we would have taken the field together in western Europe in the early second half of the 14th century. Anyone fighting with the unit have the following minimum standards:
- Bascinet helm
- Arms:
- 14th century spaulders and plate elbows and vambraces, OR
- A mail sleeve, OR
- Any combination of the above (3/4 mail sleeve substituting for spaulders and covering a kydex elbow, while still showing vambraces, for example)
- Plate knees
- Schynbalds/greaves
- Period boots
- Melee shields must be 2×3 and bear the household badge, painted or on a shield cover
For extra points, consider the following:
- Armored upper arms (rerebraces, mail, quilted sleeve)
- Aventail (mail or quilted)
- Aventail liner (if mail)
- Mail skirt
Documentable variations in the approximate same time and region are perfectly acceptable.