A commonly held view of the Nineteenth Century is that women were second-class citizens with few rights and little influence. This is only partially true. The power and influence of women was often tied to wealth and power. Women of Society in England could wield considerable power through their orchestration of social events. Other women influenced society through social reform movements, women like Florence Nightengale and Josephine Butler. Other women, however, were able to strike out on their own and make a name for themselves.

The January 2000 issue of Gourmet includes an article by Jan Morris called Women Who Wandered. In this article, she briefly describes several lady adventures, who were freed from the normal social constraints that bound women and made names for themselves. These are women who can inspire female players who want to develop realistic Victorian women who can adventure with the best of characters.

Women were slowly creeping into a variety of professions, despite the normal barriers imposed by a typically patriarchal society. Mary Kingsley was an explorer who became one of the leading experts on West Africa. Florence Baker accompanied her husband, Sir Samuel Baker, on his explorations of the Nile in the 1860's. Marianne North was a naturalist and painter who undertook to paint all the flora of the world, traveling to the depths of Brazil, Borneo, Ceylon and India. Isabella Bird was a travel writer who came to support medical missions in undeveloped parts of the world.

At the same time, these women are described as being feminine. They dressed in accordance with Victorian decorum, as befitted women. Ms. Bird was offended when a journalist wrote of her that she wore man's garb when riding, when in fact she wore skirts as was proper for a woman. Female characters can be adventurers without being unladylike, and without waiting behind to watch the house while the men go exploring.