In Mythic Sicily, you need to know how to use your fists

Most magi, when they head out into the world, take shield grogs with them. The average shield grog has light armor and inexpensive weapons, but some go further. The point man may be sheathed in metal, to soak up damage. No-one calls them on this, because in most places, a nobleman’s retinue dresses and acts like this. If anything, they are a bit lightly armoured.

This is interfering with the mundanes in Sicily.

By decree of the Emporer no-one in Siciiy is allowed to carry weapons. This includes “sharp knives” of the sort ususally carried as tools and cutlery in other places. Even his own retainers are forbidden from wearing armour outside his fortresses: they need special permission, which is rarely given.

If you kit up in Sicily, then you are treated like a man who is walking through a mall with a machine gun. The people with the legal obligations to maintain the monopoly of force turn up, and they are the direct, selected representatives of the Emporer. There’s no convoluted chain of feudal obligation here: the guy in charge of your area is a direct, selected representative of Frederick II.

So, a character in Sicily either needs a way to hide their gear, using magic, or to make havoc with whatever’s close to hand. This means that the Brawl skill, which is a sort of emergency spare in most campaigns, is a vital skill in Mythic Sicily. It’s the skill you use when you grab a nearby tool as a makeshift weapon.

How do shield grogs work when they don’t have armor? Against other humans, quite well, because most of them don’t have armor either. People are all sort of squishy, and you do the best you can with leathers. Against monsters? Things are tricky. You need to find ways of hiding gear, or getting out of the way of attacks.

Will Sicily become the home of whatever passes for martial artists in the Order? After a few generations, wouldn’t your covenant think that high-level Brawl training was a good idea?