There's an ancient, established tradition of folk tales featuring outlaw heroes. In Australia we have Ned Kelly and the other bushrangers. The US has Davy Crockett and Wyatt Earp. And in China there's an entire genre of writing, called Youxia (literally ‘wandering vigilante’), devoted to tales about men who travel the land writing wrongs and protecting the weak. But is it possible to live this way in Mount & Blade II? To eschew the feudal trappings of land and power in favour of a life spent living on the road, fighting injustice? Yes. To roam the forests, waiting to strike out against the rich and powerful? Also yes, but to a lesser extent. And only after a lot of preparation.
The first part of our journey begins with the birth of our hero. Bannerlord's character creation offers a neat twist on the number crunching of standard RPGS. Instead of building a hero, I create a backstory. The first step is choosing your homeland. I pick Battania, a clan-based culture from the heavily-forested northwest corner of the map. I feel like I'll be spending a significant amount of time chasing bandits – or, equally likely, fleeing lordly retribution –
