Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Herald@Large 06-09-06, 04:00 PM	NOTE: This is *not* a thread about running gay/bi/lesbian characters. This is a thread about male players running female characters, or female players running male characters. 'Kay? Now then: I'm female. Over the 25+ years that I've played D&D, I've run a vast array of characters, with a gender split of about 50-50. With one exception, no one has ever had a problem with me running male characters. However, I've encountered *very* few cases of a male player running a female character *believably*. Almost always, the character is run as a man-hating Amazon, or as an insatiably man-hungry nymphomaniac. Even experienced male DMs often have trouble running a "believable" female NPC. My questions: 1. Has this been your experience as well? 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Let the fireworks begin! :D
Sorcen_Anenooata 06-09-06, 04:22 PM	In my experience, women seem to be able to figure men out better and easier than men can figure out women, of course there are exceptions but thats not my point, it may be because men are simpler or just that men are more expressive, i guess is the word. Also the male ego will prevent playing a female character believably for fear of being called gay or girly, also the reason for the joking stereotype of amazon or nympho when a male does choose to play a female character. Anyway just my opinion and theories, could be wrong dont take them to heart.
Dipteran_Legacy 06-09-06, 04:29 PM	as a writer, and a gamer, I dont beleive it is that men are any "simpler" than women-many great male authors can realistically portray female characters in books. However, from my D&D experience, most guys simply play girls as one of two things 1-their female character is some extension of their own sexual fantasies, hence the "man-hungry" type, or... 2- they dont really put any thought into the fact that it's a female character, and run it just like their tough, male characters, simply because they want to "play something different" or "not be closed minded"(aka they think they're cooler for playing a girl) then again, I rarely game with girls, and the girls I've gamed with werent very serious players. these are just my expreiences, I definately know there are some girls out there that are great gamers. However, while I am sure that a few guys could play a good female, I dont think very many could. I dont think it has to do with any level of understanding, like I said before, as I myself have written stories with(at least as far as I beleive) some very beleivable female characters. Personally, I'd be uncomfortable playing a female simply due to my experiences with other players playing a girl. It would bring back unpleasant memories(and, with my deep man-voice, it would be difficult to come off feminine without going over-the-top)
myusernameis 06-09-06, 04:39 PM	1. Not particularily I come from a very open minded group. Most of the people are comfortable enough with themselves to play the opposite gender fairly well. 2. Nope, there is no way in hell I am disallowing someone from playing another gender if they want, I'm more worried about people playing tauric creatures with abandonment issues. 3. Yes I do so quite often, I find it easier just to play as you feel without focusing on steriotypes. 4. Well enough to keep the image of the character being of it's gender in my mind but not so over the top as to make me want to hit them.
Bruunwald 06-09-06, 04:42 PM	I've played several female characters. At least three of my male friends have played female characters at one time or another. My wife plays at least one male character, but though I've had a great many women/girls in my games, she is the only one I've ever known to have. To answer your numbered questions: 1. I have never, not once ever, played, nor seen played a female character by a male, who treated that character as a man-hating Amazon or a nymphomaniac. Not once. I've read somebody complaining about a man playing a female as a nympho once before - on these boards. But that's about it. Totally opposite your experience. As for believability, I can say all of us males played our female characters fairly. I suppose any woman could (even if she were lying for spite) make an argument that none of us did it "believably," but any person of another race or gender, on either side, could give somebody who tried the same amount of grief and sound convincing, even if they were just doing it to seem important. 2. I've never put gender restrictions on players. 3. As a player I have run a couple of females. As a DM, obviously, I have run many. 4. In most every case I remember, the person playing the character did an admirable job, comparative to their normal playing style. My wife, for instance, loves anime, so her male elf ranger had a sort of fem-tough-guy-in-drag style appropriate to your more quirky anime characters. He was more asexual than anything else, being a loner and the quiet type, but had that longsword slim-guy physique. She was intentionally gunning for androgyny, and for several sessions we did not reveal to the party what his gender was. That's my best example, because it's the most unique. I think I played my female characters admirably well. The other guys were more modest roleplayers, and so they didn't really play their females much differently from their males, except when dealing with the advances of male characters. Now, the interesting thing about all of this, to me, was not that any of us would play a female (that seemed granted to most of us, and most of us never gave the others even a second thought when they chose a cross-gender). The interesting thing to me was the one guy who acted like we were weird when we did it. I was the first this guy ever played with who chose a cross-gender. Suddenly, this guy I had known for years and years starts grilling me about why I was doing it. Literally for three sessions, this guy would not leave it alone. He was always acting suspicious, asking stupid or inappropriate questions, laughing nervously, and verbalizing his puzzlement at it all. Finally, everybody ganged up and asked him what his problem was. Faced with the ultimate knowledge that only he had a problem with it, he finally backed down. Probably not coincidentally, this was the same guy who then ever-after, had his gnome and dwarf PCs grab the butts of and make advances on every female in the game, NPC, PC, and even female-controlled PCs. Also probably not a coincidence, before I brought in the ladies to my games, this guy had never played with a female gamer before.
celtredleg 06-09-06, 04:46 PM	My experience has largely been similar to the OPs. I still allow crossing, but do so with little expectation that it will go well.
Whisper_Swiftblade 06-09-06, 04:47 PM	I don't think men are any simpiler, and no affence but if you look at everything from a stricktly genetic standpoint at how simular the two genders actuly are (and it is kind of creepy) you start to realise that to think of one gender or the other in sutch a way is pretty ignorant. Also every female player I have ever played with played with played a female pc, and while I haven't played with a female pc personaly (I am male) it is not for any particular reason, it just never occured to me that I should.
Darkuwa 06-09-06, 04:48 PM	I don't allow cross-gender play when I DM just cause it sometimes gets confusing, and its easier for me to get 70 different NPC's to act properly towards the character. I don't mind playing with people who play a different gender as long as they don't go overboard with it. I was in an Mirc DnD game. It was a big thing, pretty freeform with like 400 players. Half the guys played girls and 99% of them played lesbians. I didn't stay in that one long. I always play male characters, I did get hit with a belt of sex change for a few months though, and I guess I did okay.
Solik 06-09-06, 05:02 PM	1. Nope. I've had guys play women, and one woman play a guy. It worked out fine. But, our games have been almost entirely devoid of remotely-sexual aspects (or much of anything where gender played any real role), so it's never really been a problem. It simply never came up. 2. Absolutely not. 3. I have, often. I generally find female characters more interesting than male characters, really. Not because I like to pretend to be female, mind you, but because, well, I like women :p Not to mention, most heroes I've read about, seen, and played have been male, so it gets kinda old. I also enjoy the play-style of dextrous characters, singers, dancers, and the like, which lends itself more naturally to females to me. 4. As I said in #1, it's simply never come up. That said. In my first group (all male), I played a female character. That was a mistake. I got a lot of stupid cracks about it, and I later found out (after the game sort of evaporated) that the DM was planning to do crazy things to us with demons -- including, apparently, impregnating my character with demon-spawn. Hooray. Every other group has been quite mature about it, though. Nobody thinks it's weird or whatnot. I would kind of like to see some male-female issues come up just to see how the alt-gender players pull it off. However, the most obvious way of doing that is via romance, and I don't think any of us are comfortable attempting that :p I might be okay with it as DM, but I'd end up escaping to third-person descriptions of what "she" (the NPC) is doing / saying instead. I don't mind creating female characters and writing about them, but I'm not about to get in-character and start fawning over my male players (or worse) :p
erc1971 06-09-06, 05:03 PM	1. I have never, not once ever, played, nor seen played a female character by a male, who treated that character as a man-hating Amazon or a nymphomaniac. Not once. I've read somebody complaining about a man playing a female as a nympho once before - on these boards. But that's about it. Totally opposite your experience. As for believability, I can say all of us males played our female characters fairly. I suppose any woman could (even if she were lying for spite) make an argument that none of us did it "believably," but any person of another race or gender, on either side, could give somebody who tried the same amount of grief and sound convincing, even if they were just doing it to seem important. I have on occassion seen the nympho or lesbian female PC played by a male character - but over 90% of the men playing female's I have seen have, as you put it, played them fairly. I have not seen it become a problem, unless the person playing the opposite gender did it to indulge in childish fantasies at the gaming table. It has been over 10 years since I have ran into a group of gamers who either put alot of sexual innuendo into a D&D game, or were rather explicit about what happened when 2 people got together. So, with a more normal and PG rated game, most of those things are a non-issue, as there isn't much of a rise out of "...and the next morning..." On the comment of beleivability. Perhaps us guys do a poor job of playing women, that is entirely possible. But, on the few occasions I have seen women play male characters - despite trying to make them manly, heterosexuals - thier characters had the flame turned up so high, they burned down forests just walking through them! :eek: I play both male and female characters - I like changing gears between characters, it freshens things up a bit, and keeps me from getting bored if I play the same thing too much. I don't care if others cross gender when I DM, as long as it is not for the nympho lesbian fantasy thing. Eric
Puca 06-09-06, 05:09 PM	Just as a joke, Id like to recall what the Jack Nicholson character said it that movie when he was asked how he writes women so well: “I start with a man; then I take away reason and accountability.” _____________________________ In my opinion and experience, it isnt that men dont play women well. There are two things: One, women (some women, remember, my experience) cant take it. They are inordinately aware of the “male lens” through which the female persona is being presented, and frankly, cant get past it. Two: some guys (some guys, remember, my experience) arent playing females so much as usurping the table and turning it into a perverted group-therapy session, either for their repressed homoerotic issues or their latent misogyny. It doesnt occur with women playing men because, men are less likely to have the same defensiveness about how women see them. (How women see them is a punchline, not a problem.) And women are less likely to have issues that they work out in roleplay. (Because they, ya know, share their feeling and stuff.)
Mystic Mouse 06-09-06, 05:13 PM	I have a strange group; first they are all male, and second they only play female characters (always). I have made only a few female characters in my day (I think I could count them on one hand, with a few fingers missing). They tend to play what they want women to be like. They have a "natural" attraction the women, and the characters they make reflect their tastes in women. When I DM, I often get critisized that my female NPCs aren't "real" enough for them, since all my female NPCs care about is education, career, family, relationships, amongs a hundred other things. I have always been under the opinion that all people, reguardless of gender, have the same wants and needs in life; it's just how we were raised and what gender roles and predispositions we have that determine the specifics. If it is any indication, they also say my male NPCs are not man enough either. :P Not having the luxury of built in social skills, I have patterned my NPCs on the behavioral traits that I have seen expressed in others. I have a high level autistic disorder called Asperger Syndrome. My particular autisitc gift is an affinity for languages and patterns; my "hook" has always been the study of human behavior and psychology (as opposed to those autistics who have a special connection to say... mathematics, a la Rainman. Who was not "high-functional" btw). I have found that most people have absolutely no idea why they act the way they do, except to know for certain that you (the viewer) have absolutely no idea about them "personaly", so you can't possibly be a good judge of them. Creating "real" people can be very difficult depending on the audience you have before you. The best at this are often the good stand-up comics, who show this in their excellent portrayals when they perform drama. It basically comes down to the fact that men are not the most cerebral of creatures when it comes to those they find potentially sexually attractive. As the old saying goes: A man looks at a woman, and says "She's perfect!"; A women looks at a man, and says "He's got potential." I look at them both, and say "WTF!"
Sorcen_Anenooata 06-09-06, 05:22 PM	oops i hit the refresh button and erased all my writing, luckily i hit the printscreen button in time to save the image :D I just wanted to add that my previous post was not meant to be offensive or complimentary to either gender. I myself, being male, always play male characters out of preference and because I do not belive I would play a female character correctly, granted when I DM I have to play female NPCs, which is in part why I am interested in psychology to learn more of the female mind and understand things better. My girlfriend gives me strange looks sometimes because I have a habit of asking questions about her actions and thoughts on things, luckily she understands why I do it and answers as best she can, she has even begun asking the same to me and learning about the male psychology. Anyway no offense to anyone. :D
Tempest Stormwind 06-09-06, 05:43 PM	I am the only player I've gamed with to do cross-gender characters. They're not my majority, but keep reading. All of my characters, whether male or female, have a full backstory before they see play, and I make an effort to make it believable. I started off pretty badly, but not as bad as you suggest. My first character ever was male and perfectly fit the "paranoid rogue" stereotype. My first *female* character (my first foray into cross-gendering) was essentially indistinguishable from the male character I'd previously played except from the jokes that the party pulled on me (I'm a skinny, agile fellow in real life, and one of my short, stocky fellows routinely calls me a female elf. The fact that this chacter was a female half-elf wasn't helping -- especially since his stocky dwarf decided to get his point across to her by picking her up and carrying her offscene during any of my usual overacting sequences. To this day, my friend still turns to me, throws on a dwarven accent, and says "Now where did I put it..." as a joke.). I should note she wasn't a nymphomaniac nor was she a man-hating amazon. She *did* have elements of the amazon (namely, the bravado and prowess), but I wouldn't describe her that way. As I said, she mostly fit the paranoid rogue role -- her gender had a minimal impact on her roleplaying (just on how the party took it). I've learned a lot since then -- mostly by playing male characters. However, a few years ago, I set out to make a simple character experiment that might see play later. Something happened while writing this character -- it literally felt like I was in the backseat in a haze while someone else was doing the typing. About ten minutes later I had a full backstory, written as a series of journal entries (which is a style I'd never used before), from the perspective of a female halfling. An extremely believable one, too. This is odd, since I'd started out with a human male in mind, and had until that point actually disliked halflings. She isn't an amazon or a nymphomaniac, but neither is she their polar opposites nor is she defined exclusively in terms of her gender. She's a complex character, like me in several ways but my polar opposite in others. To date, she remains my favorite character, and I've played as her in many games (not all of them D&D), including my current one. Some were continuations of earlier stories, others aren't (she started in a generic world, but this current one is in Eberron -- and it turned out, despite predating Eberron by years, I just needed to change a few names and she fit like a glove). Playing her is really easy for me -- a few moments centering myself and I'm in the backseat again. The joke is that I have a split personality. I don't. I consider this the mark of a well-roleplayed character. I'll still play male characters, particularly if I'm in a group that can't get used to the idea of my 6'1" bearded countenance playing a 2'8" halfling lady (or if I'm playing in a game that disallows psionics; in 3.5 that's pretty much the only way to handle her). This is an advantage of gaming using OpenRPG more frequently than gaming face-to-face, by the way. But none of my other characters (so far) have had that sense of immersion and realism that she has. None of them have ever had that magic moment of character creation, either, and I'm led to believe I'm relatively unique in having it happen that way... anyone else have that happen to you as well (as an off-topic)? This doesn't stop me from choosing female more often than male when I play video games, though that reasoning is completely different than my reasons for choosing genders in D&D. For the video game, the reasoning looks something like this (http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20040601).
Solik 06-09-06, 05:46 PM	This doesn't stop me from choosing female more often than male when I play video games, though that reasoning is completely different than my reasons for choosing genders in D&D. I hear that! :D
Tharivol 06-09-06, 06:16 PM	My girlfriend gives me strange looks sometimes because I have a habit of asking questions about her actions and thoughts on things, luckily she understands why I do it and answers as best she can, she has even begun asking the same to me and learning about the male psychology. Anyway no offense to anyone. :D That may give you insight into each other's psychology and mindset, but I fail to see how it would give you any universal insight into all women or men any more than your own mind does. Anyway... 1. Has this been your experience as well? Not at all. Interestingly enough, my campaign setting has an NPC who fits the man-hating Amazon description rather well, but she's completely insane, incredibly evil, and considered to be one of the most significant threats to world peace. Most other NPCs want to stop her, and most of the ones that have any actual plans, inclinations, or ability to do anything about her are also female. She is not the typical woman, and is not meant to be, but she is the only thing remotely close to what you mentioned. 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") Not at all. In fact, gender roles are a somewhat important factor in my setting (not all or even mostly traditionally patriarchal societies--there are varied and interesting cultures), something of which players will be warned beforehand if it ever actually gets used. I'd expect players to choose the gender for their character that fits, to them, most interestingly into the world. 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? Yes. Actually, if I had to count, I think I probably have an almost equal number, but with a slight preference for females (I'm male). 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Perfectly fine? Every character is an individual. I find it interesting that your first question is essentially "Were they all stereotypes?" and your last is "Did they play the opposite gender right?" For one thing, PCs generally shouldn't be the typical anything. For another, is there really such a thing as the "typical man" or "typical woman"? I know women that I have everything in common with and men that I have nothing. I don't think that I play male characters and then women, they're all characters. All are crazy, flawed, and nothing like any person that I've ever seen.
General_Ridley 06-09-06, 06:28 PM	I've never seen it work, except for in very short periods of time where there is little required roleplay (this came from the DM). Myself, I have run a female character, and in my opinion, I did terribly. Human anti-paladin with a bent for complete and utter depravity, a fondness for jail (I kept a count of how long I'd spent in jail and did everything I could to push the envelope insomuch as what I could do without earning a death penalty), and with a great fondness for ordering people around, and a somewhat stupid habit of attempting to kill things at the slightest offense (almost killed the king because I deemed the artwork in his parlor offensive to myself, but fortunately he had had his guards remove my weapons before I was allowed to enter his parlor because he didn't like the look in my eyes). I did nothing to indicate that my character was a woman, and as a group we seriously considered using a girdle of gender-change on me simply so there could be no possible abuse of the character by myself. From that character, I have learned that I am in no way, shape, or form ready to play a female character. I'd recommend at least having someone to walk the player through the finer points of gender psychology before running a character of the opposite gender if you suspect there may be an issue.
The_Normal_Anomaly 06-09-06, 06:51 PM	I haven't seen any good female role-playing from my group, but that may be because my DM has nega-omnipotence where he sees himself as all knowing and refuesd suggestions and a player who tried it was a metagamer rogue who, of course, got innuendo thrown at him the whole time for his choice of gender. I am sure that some people would do it well, and I feel that I could also. I do wonder, how would the Drow factor in here?
Herald@Large 06-09-06, 08:10 PM	I'm back, and I'm delighted to see that others have had "better" experiences than I. I'm even more delighted at the intelligent discussion and lack of flames! Anyway -- most of the guys I've played with have played male characters. I'll admit my view of their play of female characters has been highly colored by the over-the-top play of a minority. Mostly I remember one male player who ran a succession of female wizards who were basically clones of each other: vile-tempered, foul-mouthed, man- and woman-haters, and aligned right on the edge of Chaotic Stupid. Makes me wonder what kind of family life he had growing up ... :rolleyes: I'll also admit that in all the times I've run female characters, no male PC has ever tried to "hit" on her. Maybe it's because my fellow players learn very quickly that I'm at the game to play, not to gossip about clothes and boy bands, or to hunt for a boyfriend, or to act out my sexual fantasies. :D I don't think of myself as a "girl gamer" -- I'm a gamer who happens to be female.
Shiikeras 06-09-06, 08:36 PM	I always play male characters. I just don't want to worry about whether I'm doing it right or not. I usually read books fro inspiration on female NPCs, and then just give them the same attitude. Or, play a female dwarf. I can't imagine them being very 'female'. "Yes, there are dwarven women. They're just hard to recognize due to the beards."
obrysii 06-09-06, 08:55 PM	I have played several female characters, and at least one other male in my group have played a female character. They (and I, I hope) played them maturely, and by that I mean, believable.
Ics 06-09-06, 10:23 PM	I'm female. Over the 25+ years that I've played D&D, I've run a vast array of characters, with a gender split of about 50-50. With one exception, no one has ever had a problem with me running male characters. However, I've encountered *very* few cases of a male player running a female character *believably*. Almost always, the character is run as a man-hating Amazon, or as an insatiably man-hungry nymphomaniac. Even experienced male DMs often have trouble running a "believable" female NPC. My questions: 1. Has this been your experience as well? 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Let the fireworks begin! 1. I am quite happy that I have not (although i can see how that might become the case). In my experience, male DMs and players alike have played their females both maturely and well. 2. No, but I have noticed that my players tend toward their own gender. However, i would recomend that a newbie play their own gender, unless they were really gung-ho about it, simply to allow them to ease into the game without having to worry about playing their character "right" (although i do tend to agree with Tharivol for the most part on playing a PC of a certain gender "correctly"). 3. Yes i have, and she was my favorite character thus far as well. She was a human dragon disciple, and I have never spent as much time developing a backstory as on hers. 4. I've never had a female play a male (and never had a female DM either, so not even an NPC), but the males I've seen play females have done a pretty good job.
Colonel Talarei 06-09-06, 11:02 PM	i have palyed 2 female characters that were (i think) played fairly well. The first was a wizard who actually ended up being married to another pc. another that started out as a barbarian and later became a general in very powerful male dominated army (that was different for because she had a lot of adversity when dealing with other soldiers in the army)
Eladrinstar 06-10-06, 01:10 AM	I a male. I have played female characters, and male characters as often. I have never been afraid to interact with females. Back in kindergarten, when people were scared of "cooties", I had female friends. I understand both genders, and cringe when my father says "Let me drive, men should drive" to my mother. That never goes well. Ever. One time I was playing with some people who were related to me somehow (3rd cousins?) and I created a female character. They still think I'm a sick pervert. One of my usual fellow players refuses to play a character of the opposite gender. Nothing wrong with that. Except when he DMs. No female NPCs. Except for ones who don't say anything. Remember, the gender barrier is created by society. If you despise the idiocies society sometimes forces upon us, cross gender roleplaying should be easy. We shall prevail! I'm rambling now. Someone stop me.
zae 06-10-06, 01:51 AM	I am a male who frequently plays female characters. However, I don't do it to satisfy a lesbian obsession or anything. Seeing as most games I play in or run are online, most DMs and players assume I am female. Possibly this means I do a good job at it - then again, when meeting people on MSN they assume I'm female too, so I guess I just come across that way. Since then I've attempted to be a little more masculine in the way I typ, but it's hard without knowing exactly what gives people the impression. It's been suggested by a psychologist (one I used to have frequent appointments with, not just a friend studying psychology) that I might have "Sexual Identity Disorder" though (and other friends just saying "Well, mentally you're a girl. We can declare you an honorary female."), which would possibly mean that when I play male characters, I'm cross-sex gaming. Dunno, I really don't give it that much thought normally. Tabletop, if I play female characters, people usually forget and say "he" (because they see a male, complete with beard and curly moustache. I could wear the dress of my choice and the facial hair would give it away. Online, all they have to go by is the character portrait, the character description, and possibly clues from how I type.) and it doesn't really bother me. So, actually answering the questions in order... 1. Has this been your experience as well? Not particularly. Though I have met a fair number of guys who play girls like they wish females were. Whatever floats their boat, I guess. 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? Never. I try to impose few restrictions on anything, but gender would be a little pointless and annoying to restrict. If any individual character turns out bad, I tell them what's wrong with the character and ask them to change it/create another. If it's a problem with the player, then I ask them to leave. 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? Frequently, regardless of which gender people decide to declare me for the purpose of gaming. 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Usually, some of the best I've seen is when people don't think "I'm playing (gender), how do I play this? What is (gender) like?" and instead just play the character idea they thought of. Often, the cases of "Coin time! Heads I'm male, tails I'm female." work well, because it's just an aesthetic thing, and the character remains mostly the same at the end of the day. Hope this helps. EDIT: Also of note, while a few of my female characters have been lesbians, it is not representative of the majority, and it didn't play much of a role in the game either. Likewise, I've played gay males and straight members of both sexes. It isn't that big a deal unless that's the basis of the character. Now, I do know one girl who plays about as many males as I do females, and the majority of hers are self-admittedly "designed to fulfill my girlish fantasies of gay bishounen, with or without tentacles." But in only one case does she lay it on thick, and that's a joke character. Essentially, there's a difference between saying "I'm going to play a female, so what should I do to make them girly?" and "Well this is my character idea: ________. Oh, and I think I'll make them a female." Likewise, a difference between "I'm playing a gay character, so I had better ________" and "Well, here's the character. Oh, and they're gay if it comes up." It's just like the difference between making a build focused on maximum AC then writing a character description based around that, as opposed to writing a character concept, then optimising a character sheet to fit the concept.
geekling 06-10-06, 06:49 AM	1. Has this been your experience as well? Nope. Like Bruunwald the man-hating Amazon, or as an insatiably man-hungry nymphomaniac seems to be more of an urban legend or some nightmare scenario cropping up on forums like these. Not something I've ever witnessed with the group of people I play with. I can't even imagine any of those guys coming up with something of that ilk. I'd say that they're all too mature and well good players to want to impose on the other players enjoyment of the game to pull a character like that. But that's not really based on the unbelievable female played by a male, as much as it is an 'extreme' character. There is a distinct tendency toward creating reasonably likeable characters that the other characters would want to associate with - regardless of gender of the player or character. We don't have any crazy sociopaths, or extreme loners either... One could speculate that perhaps, with having a female player in the game that they would avoid the nymphomaniac type as to not offend me. But frankly I doupt it. I just can't see any of them playing something like that even if it was all guys. 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? Yep. About 50/50 male/female characters. If you want to go freudian it may even be an expression of my own sexism... but for frontline melee characters I default to playing males. For characters filling other roles in the party, I go with my own gender and play females. In the current games (there's two of them) in one I've got a female gnome rogue/spellthief in the other male human fighter. 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Now, we've currently got three different gendered characters in those two games. One is my Ivan, so I'll leave him out of it, even if I might not think I'm doing a too bad job of his characterization. (- With a little help of the dice, his int checks are uncanny... we're talking 5 times out of 6 rolling a natural one and never higher than a 9. Which rather fits with his 'not the brightest bulb in the box - not stupid as such, just not used to thinking but to follow orders' concept of this natural born grunt.) But let's talk about the females, the ones where the players are males. They're not doing bad at all, really. And this is me judging it as a female. They're both people rather than just a gender. If that makes sense? One's though and through practical, may possibly seem a bit 'mannish' at times for the sheer lack of girly tendencies, but it fits with the character. Oh, and get's suitably irritated at Ivan trying to be a gentleman - which just fits perfectly and is extra fun as the player is my boyfriend... :P The other one on the other hand, is a girl... and is girlish... It's really rather cute to watch our 16 year old wizard dealing with the insecurites of prooving herself to a group in which she does not quite fit - yet... (Simple case of noble born, raised to have an inflated opinion of her own breeding - and well the rest of us being common ruffians, soldiers, sundry adventurers that get down and dirty when the going gets tough. Not quite the company of which she is accustomed, not a single dance master among the lot of us. :P Or something like that.) While all at the same time trying to hide that she's got the biggest crush ever on one of the other characters - our 'there's neon-signs flashing the word HERO and a big arrow pointing at him floating over his head' character. And he (the player) does pull it of admirably if I say so myself, I've been a 16 year old girl with an awkward crush on an older guy. I recognise myself at times in that character, which is as far as I'm concerned a mark that he's doing a good job.
DrakoShade 06-10-06, 07:38 AM	To date, I've played males with one notable exception-- and that didn't have a sex at all. Looking back, most of my "male" characters are androgynous in themselves. I've played one of the "macho, screw-anything-that-moves" types purely to get the group off my back about the long-haired pretty boys... and I hated that character more than anything. One of the guys I game with has never played a male. All of his characters are women, and every single one of them is both a man-hating lesbian AND a nymphomaniac. The only female player in our group usually plays women, and the one male she played was as homosexual as the guy's female characters. Personally, I wish that the other players (and the DM) would just leave sexuality out of it. The best moments in our games (for me) come when my androgynous evoker and the party's androgynous necromancer went on without the fighter or druid to do some business in town, spell golems out of existance, etc...
DIESCUMDIE 06-10-06, 08:37 AM	There is a distinct tendency toward creating reasonably likeable characters that the other characters would want to associate with - regardless of gender of the player or character. We don't have any crazy sociopaths, or extreme loners either... This would sum up the vast majority of players in games I've been in. When they have been awkward its tended toward the psychotic rather than perverted. Other than that people tend to play their own gender but not always. I've played female characters, but it hardly amounted to more than a different character sketch and a falsetto voice. I know people (but dont game with them) who like to play perverted characters, but personally I like to play sex games with my girlfriend rather than a group of friends
MiZaRiZ 06-10-06, 08:42 AM	1. Has this been your experience as well? Mostly, the type I normally see is "nymph". No it’s not the race but the way of behaving. 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") I never DM, mostly because I like to play and the boys loves to be the top of the world. And the person who is doing it for the time being don’t believe in that you can play a opposite gender, but for some strange reason I am allowed to do it but he believe that it will a more dynamic game play if I say in the female role. 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? Sorry can’t say that I do… I have only been playing for some years and it has always been with the same group. 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? The barmaid always want to be laid, the townsfolk always want to get in my pants. But besides that its okey, at the time being I am playing a lvl 30 chosen of Mystra mystic thourge and I am about to be married with the paladin of the party, or he wants to and I don’t, and he is one of the biggest men in Cormyr so many people wants he hand, but the players are great playing the gender role but I don’t know alot about cross.
Dhavaer 06-10-06, 08:51 AM	1. Once, but only once, I got something similar to the 'man-hating amazon'. 2. No. 3. Close to 100% of the time. I have great difficulty playing a male character as a player, only slightly less so as a DM/GM. I've attempted to play a male twice, both times I had great difficulty relating to the character (which was a little odd the second time, given it was a 'play yourself' game). 4. I don't find a lot of people play opposite gender characters. The only one that I can recall was the bad one, so I guess the others were good enough to have slipped my mind.
Fleet_Halfelven 06-10-06, 11:03 AM	Now, I do know one girl who plays about as many males as I do females, and the majority of hers are self-admittedly "designed to fulfill my girlish fantasies of gay bishounen, with or without tentacles." But in only one case does she lay it on thick, and that's a joke character. Hah! You've got my number! I am surprised, though, that you don't find my prostitute or my sex-bot to be 'laying it on thick'. But then again, both of them have a personality outside of 'this would be funny, Oh, and it likes killing things because it's stupid'. __________________ I would say, though, that I tend to get a character concept, and the male or female aspect of that is generally wrapped up in my original concept. Knowing my characters, I can't actually imagine them being a different gender. Of course, my characters tend to have quite strong sexuality, and gender (or gender identity) is just as important there as sexual orientation. I also just thought of this, but all of my soft toys save one, for my entire life, have been male. The one that was female, I made female because I decided that one of my tigers needed a girlfriend, but I always kinda regretted making her female, because she was clearly (to my mind) supposed to be male. It could just be that my mind, when thinking up characters, has a tendency to make them male. Of the few characters taht I have which could be gender-neutral (two kobolds, an imp and a winter wolf), three of the four are male, and the winter wolf, I haven't decided on yet, and probably never will. In these cases, it's definitely not a case of me choosing a gender - it's just that they come across as 'male'.
Ongorth 06-10-06, 11:25 AM	I would like to note that one can play a character can both be an extreme as well as a well rounded believable character. You see, I play one of those nympho characters. I've played her for a couple of years now. Frankly, I don't see how this is in any way unbelievable or a bad thing. She has hopes and dreams, she has highs and lows, she has a clearly defined philosophy of learning (to me, as the player, not to herself obviously), she has a realistic emotional curve and she has plenty of definition for quirks and characterization. Oh yeah, she is custom designed to my ideals of female beauty, she loves sex and dodges commitment. I tend to have a fairly high opinion of myself, but even though she's not my best character (best defined as both the personal joy I have in playing her and the group response to her being played), I'd venture to say that she may indeed be a better character then many other people have ever played. When you roleplay, you get to play on your fantasies. That's a good thing. Another character I play is a witty, charming knight who loathes authority and always finds ways to talk or fight his way out of the manipulations of others. This is very much a fantasy of mine as well, as I am not witty or charming. I submit readily to authority, even when I shouldn't. The mere fact that he fulfills this fantasy doesn't make him a character, so long as he is a character beyond the fulfillment of the fantasy. And thats the thing. Shoving your fantasy down someone's throat, no matter what that fantasy is, is going to be a bad thing. There should be no set way to play any character, male or female. Characters can play against type and still be believable characters. This is part of the fun of roleplaying. I've found that so long as the logic of the character is consistent, that the character always seems realistic. The further you deviate from what is sort of the "accepted truths and trends", the tougher it gets to design the logic, but its very doable. So I am going to venture the following conclusion. This crossgender fantasy roleplaying "problems" comes from three main things: 1) Bad roleplaying that draws attention to the weak points of the character design 2) Shoving a personal fantasy down the throats of the other players 3) Designing a character with an incomplete logic that is inconsistent with itself and/or the game setting And none of these are exclusive to cross gender fantasy characters. Cross gender fantasy characters may exaggerate these points, however.
Jayr 06-10-06, 11:44 AM	Has this been your experience as well? No. In my experience, cross-players tend to split into two groups: female anime fen playing anime pretty-boys, and boys playing high Charisma female spellcasters who don't behave 'femininely.' The former is self-explanatory, and the latter I chalk up to the fact that it's a fantasy cliche for male spellcasters to be old and wise, whereas the females are young and sexy, which is a more appealing cliche. It probably helps that I mostly game with anime fen. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") Of course not. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? Currently, yeah. My character's a male NE human transmuter 5/darksoul (spellcaster PRC) 3. I made him male so that the other PCs wouldn't try to rape him (this being an evil campaign.) It did not work. He is a bit of a pretty-boy, but has muscles, short hair, and a very nonbishounen personality modelled after Jeffery Dahmer. Only once have I played the stereotypical gay bishounen- a human flame shugenja/fire savant, complete with waist-length red hair. In defence, the other members of the group were a gay ganguro gnome cleric of Ultiu named "Fridge," a talking eagle, and a heterosexual human sorcerer who specialized in lightning magic and, due to his high Charisma, ended up unwillingly involved in a love triangle involving Fridge and my character that ended up destroying the material plane. Ah, good times. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Well, I've never seen an outrageous stereotype, but charcters' genders generally tend to be forgotten except in RP-focused or mature games. I, myself, think I play male characters fairly well, and do so often. I've been told I can't play female characters well, though :) It's probably because I have a rather masculine outlook towards life and most of my friends are male.
Mentalmegabody 06-10-06, 11:49 AM	Hmmm... you know, there was sexual discrimination on the first edition of DnD :D I find it quite funny :P I am not a chauvinist nor am I close-minded though... There still is some profit in choosing the right gender. I will point out a few. - Drow Female (usually means higher social standing) - Any good female (for riding unicorns) - Good-looking female (if you want to choose classes from the Book of Erotic Fantasy or the Nymphology-book by Moongoose Publishing. There are others aswell, but I'm just too darn lazy... Any of you read the blue magic spells or the spells in Book of Erotic Fantasy? I got them from my friend on .pdf
gedgaroo 06-10-06, 03:02 PM	On the males are simpler, and thus easier to play... It's not really that men are simpler, but that women are more astute when it comes to people. Women tend to interpret emotions and (non-sexual) hidden meanings better. Men just don't so much. This means that often you may have females playing better in cross-gendered roles. In my experience, males playing females play them as shy, often asexual people. Part of the reason for this is that my group generally creates very gregarious males. They'll have very specific traits that are highlighted. The most obvious being the semi-crazy, very smart, centaur with no common sense. He blunders around, never really succeeding at anything. As a matter of fact, the centaur is played by the same player controlling the quiet, controlled very wise female. In my experience, healer females tend to be kinder and more in tune with people whereas healer males are arrogant or too pious.
pres_man 06-10-06, 03:56 PM	1. Has this been your experience as well? No, but sex (the act not gender) rarely is an issue in the games, thus those characters aren't really allowed to surface. 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") No, but I do prefer if people do play their RL gender as it makes it easier to remember to use the correct pronoun. Currently have a female player playing a male half-elf. As the male half-orc in the party says, "So you are not a girl? Well, I can't tell the difference." 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? Once, I played a female dwarf paladin. She was neither a male-hater or a nympho. Mainly she was a proper lady most of the time, unless faced with demons, and then she was cussing bad-arse mofo. 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? As with all roleplaying different players have different abilities. The problem is how do you say a person is playing a certain gender incorrectly, especially if they are playing a non-human race. We just don't have any real reference and the fact that for humans there are wide ranges of characters within a given gender, it is hard to say that someone is acting outside of their character's stated gender.
Bill Lumberg 06-10-06, 05:49 PM	Years ago my then-girlfriend decided to play a male character. I found it annoying when it came to pronouns ("What do you mean 'she'? My character is MALE!"). Other players found this annoying as well. I also found it hard to keep in mind when she was interacting with NPCs. It was too long ago for me to remember if she played male characters well. She was also new to the game. I would probably not allow cross-gender characters because of the above and I have doubts about men playing female characters well. This is just speculation on my part because I have not seen this done in any of my games. In the vast majority of games I played in sex was never an issue. The fun was in doing things that you CAN'T do in real life. (like blow things up and kill without being arrested). I suspect this is something that is more common with younger players. (I am 36).
Tharivol 06-10-06, 05:58 PM	On the males are simpler, and thus easier to play... It's not really that men are simpler, but that women are more astute when it comes to people. Women tend to interpret emotions and (non-sexual) hidden meanings better. Men just don't so much. This means that often you may have females playing better in cross-gendered roles. Oh, so it's just that females are better in general. :ahem: Yeah, about that... Once, almost two years ago, I was at a park with a large group from my school. Freshman Retreat or somesuch nonsense. I heard a voice. I could not tell what the voice was saying, and it was not familiar to me, but I was still filled with utter rage. I now know of the person to whom that voice belonged. I only had to hear his voice to interpret his emotions and meanings. I understood him well enough. My initial reaction was completely right, and I will do everything in my power (which isn't all that much) to defend people from him whenever I can. I have a small group of very good friends. Two females and maybe four males. I have never asked any of them for advice or help with dealing with people. None of the other males has ever asked me. One of the females comes to me to help her deal with people, especially love interests, all the time. I listen to her, and, even without actually meeting the guy, I can respond. She sometimes gets mad that I don't tell her what she wants to hear, at which time I point out that I actually did, and she goes away happy (she's a bit insane). I've never given her bad advice, at least not according to her. The other girl will come to me, get mad that I didn't tell her what she wanted to hear (she's actually right about it, a bit harder to please), go to the other males in turn, be told each time exactly what I told her, get mad at each of them, go to the other female, be told what she wanted to hear, follow that minority opinion, get hurt, and come apologize to me saying, "I should have listened. You were right again. I promise to listen to you next time," and then I play the recording of her saying those exact words last time. I certainly don't mean to imply that males are universally better judges of character, but I'm posting some evidence contrary to females being either. :rant:
Xaean 06-10-06, 06:07 PM	I don't put up gender restrictions when I DM but for inexperienced roleplayers I recommend characters of their own gender. Playing cross-gender is still a bit difficult to those who have never before played RPGs. I also think women are better at playing men than the other way round. In many cases women played by men have a certain involuntary commedy around them, e.g when they want to seduce male NPCs. For myself, I can't really boast with any believable female PC. My only female PC is a lesbian amazon - while such people exist in the campaign world, they are the archetype of male player's female PC. In general I think those players who have also Dmed for some time are better at playing cross-gender, as they already have experience at playing both male and female characters.
metamind 06-10-06, 06:37 PM	1. Has this been your experience as well? Running a "believable" female NPC? Maybe, I'm not quite sure what you mean by beleivable. 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") Yeah, if you're a guy, your halfling wizard/rogue or whatever is also a guy (and vice versa) 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? Nope. 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Let the fireworks begin! :D Not that I ever let it happen, but the guys in my group would play as nymph sluts.
hiryuu 06-10-06, 06:58 PM	NOTE: This is *not* a thread about running gay/bi/lesbian characters. This is a thread about male players running female characters, or female players running male characters. 'Kay? Now then: I'm female. Over the 25+ years that I've played D&D, I've run a vast array of characters, with a gender split of about 50-50. With one exception, no one has ever had a problem with me running male characters. However, I've encountered *very* few cases of a male player running a female character *believably*. Almost always, the character is run as a man-hating Amazon, or as an insatiably man-hungry nymphomaniac. Even experienced male DMs often have trouble running a "believable" female NPC. My questions: 1. Has this been your experience as well? 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Let the fireworks begin! :D Most people, for lack of a better word, are stupid. Men are stupid, women are stupid. We're all human beings and we nearly all try to make statistics prove our point (such and such are stronger, weaker, dumber, smarter, etc.) when all it really looks like is back and forth bickering. A male character should be played just like a female character with the following exception, and vice-versa: female character may have a larger chest and rounder body parts. That's it. That's the difference. Anything else is by society's design for the preferred role or ideal of a given gender.
Jaeron Dalur 06-10-06, 07:07 PM	Since I seem to be the only self-admited "bad" roleplayer here I thought I'd throw my opinions into the ring. First. what I mean about being a bad roleplayer. I seem to be unable to play any sort of belevable character that isn't in some way, a subset of my personality. My most successful character, Jæron d'Alur, (who has been remade time and again in different party roles, social standings, and races) is quite a bit like me (or at least, how I see myself). He almost invariably perfers non-violent solutions to problems, is Neutral Good (very chaotic with regard to personal freedoms, and very lawful with regard to responsibility, and "fairness"), keeps low-key (even being the bard, he's more of a voice of reason and negotiator than the outgoing gregarius type), and doesn't trust easily. Essentialy, he is an idealized version of me. I find it dificult to play a character that I cannot identify with. I have played many female characters, but none that I would call at all girly, nor none that I would call masculine. The same is true of my male characters. None, no matter if it is straight or gay (and I have played all permutations of male/female, straight/gay) has ever been promiscuous or derogatory toward the oposite sex, not because of any moral or ethical concerns about playing such a character, but because it is too much of a pain in the ass to constantly try and think counter to what is easiest for me. I honestly think that most "problems" resulting from cross-gender roleplaying is that many players really are *not* very good at roleplaying (or at least nowhere near as good as they think they are). The stereotype of the lesbian PC of the male player and the gay male PC of the female player, I think, results largely from the fact that it is much easier to NOT roleplay a different worldview than it is to play one you already have. A player using their own mindset as the base of their character should be the assumed norm. There is enough to worry about for a character in D&D (views on different races, reactions to magic, outlook on fictional world events, dealing with how your character sees magic, etc.) that trying to imagine what it would be like to find your own sex sexually attractive (or the opposite sex if you are gay) is just a bit much to ask for most people. To alot of people (myself included), the whole point of playing cross-gender is to change others' perception of, and reaction to, your character, and not necesarily your own perception. It's when others demand/expect that the PC act like a "real" member of the gender being played, that many of these "problems" happen, largely due to over-playing it to compensate for a lack of ability to meet others' standards of 'reality'.
ORC_Paradox 06-10-06, 07:31 PM	Never for a table top RPG. Very recently, however, I decided when presented with a choice to play a male or female in a video game, I'll pick female. If I'm going to be looking at the same icon throught the game, might as well make it a pleasant to look at for hours on end. :D
MADGator 06-10-06, 07:54 PM	1. Has this been your experience as well? In the uh....5+ years I've played, I haven't seen anything like that, from either male or female players. I've seen many odd and eccentric characters, but sexuality has never been a big issue in any game I've played. (I will admit that some of my frinds have told me of a sentient suit of very nice full plate they once made that happened to be homosexual.) 2. DMs, do you put gender restrictions on your players? ("You are female, therefore your character must be female") Not that I know of. Every group I have played with self-segregated their characters to their own sex and gender. 3. Players, have you ever run a character with a gender different than your own? Nope, can't say that I have. Nor have I had any desire. I think the best roleplaying or acting comes from playing a character who has a bit of you in them, or that you can relate to. Sort of finding yourself in them, and them in you. As well as I relate to women, and although I prefer their company, I don't have any desire within myself to act as if I'm one. 4. Both DMs and players -- when someone has run a different-gendered character, how well do they do the characterization? Overall it have been a bit of a mixed bag. All the DMs I have played with were male, and usually they played female NPCs that were somewhat flat. Not 1-dimensional per-say, but just sort of a generic NPC meant to fill a certain role. What sex they were rarely played a major role other than where they fit into society. In some ways that makes sense European society in the Meieval period was a patriarchy. The only DM who tended to play deeper NPCs actually was bisexual and somewhat efeminate. Interpret that as you like. If there was any stereotype his characters tended towards, it was that of the diva. As for men or women being more or less complicated, I think the misunderstanding come from different world views. Men tend to focus more on how things are. As long as his needs and some of his wants are being met, a man will generally be happy. Women, on the other hand, are more concerned with perception. They may not be the greatest, but if everyone else believes them to be, they are often satisfied with that. There are of course exceptions either way.
drtompki 06-10-06, 08:12 PM	I have played both, though I tend to do men more often than not. Basically, I always look to have a backstory for each character; If I have no reason to choose otherwise my default choice is male. Believe it or not, I don't play my women as man-haters, man-eaters, or nymphs. My female characters are usually more refined and more conservative than my male characters. When I DM I give my players the option to either role for sex or choose on their own. They choose to roll more often than not, because that goes along with everything else that I have them do. I have a list of weaknesses that they have to roll for as well, which leads to more interesting characters and more fun roleplay. These weaknesses have degrees (most are minor, only the ones that roll major weaknesses, which represents 10% of the weaknesses, cause real problems). The only time that I had a guy play a nympho chick was when he rolled sex as female with a major weakness of attraction to opposite sex. (for those wondering, I did get one guy that rolled moderate attraction to same sex and minor attraction to opposite sex as weaknesses.
davethebrave371 06-10-06, 09:25 PM	In my experience, males play females like either a) absolute hoorz or more likely b) insane for some reason. Like, crazy. Not like a "she's a krayzee biznaztch" but like you'd play a madwoman. Someone who had lost her mind. I can't drive this point home enough. They'd do things like...shoot off spells or psionics into trees, rant about various foodstuffs, or other inane things. But that may just be the people I hang out with, seeing as roughly half of their male characters are just as crazy. Now, I met one guy (only gamed with him a few times) though a group of female gamers that I used to game with (I was the only guy before him) who could play only one type of character: the paranoid rogue. However, he did have rather distinct personalities for the male and female varities (unfortunately, no variety at all for different races, or so I was told later). He was boring, but not stereotypical. On the flip side, the female gamers I've played with tend to play the "Amazon" type, if by Amazon you mean strong (of personality, if not of stats) women. Which, to me, makes sense if you're going to be a Paladin or a Fighter or a Ranger or a Barbarian, for sure (not that you can't play a sickly little weak man as a barbarian who just goes crazy sometimes, or what have you). Another type I find very common among women is the "cold, calculating, skilled" woman. Almost emotionless (of course, one of the characters being played this way was an Elan, so that was likely just her superb RPing). I do tend to find that women play men more often than they play women, however. And better than men play men. As to TS's aside, I had just such an experience writing up the character that is still to this day my favourite character, a NG Sun Elf Necromancer (this was before 3.5, and definately before Eberron, when the Aereni showed up and went, "HEY LOOK AT US! WE'RE YOUR CHARACTER AS AN ENTIRE SPECIES!") We both share eerie similarities in character creation, no? I like this thread.
Wharin 06-10-06, 10:50 PM	My only problem with Players playing the opposite gender is when they have a problem with me using the wrong pronoun to describe the character. Way back when, the girl in our group played a guy, and one of the guys play a girl. And heaven forbid I address/ refer to the character with the wrong gender attached. Not sure what the big deal was... maybe they felt I was attacking their RP'ing skills, or something
pres_man 06-10-06, 11:13 PM	As an aside issue, how well have you seen women play female characters well and how often have you seen men play male characters well? I'm curious because I have a lot of female players (7 players, 5 female) and one tends to play their characters (always female) a bit too "butch" or too "dainty" then I feel is "realistic". I think this comes from the fact that she tends to be a bit of a drama queen in RL and thus likes to play characters that tend to standout (usually in a negative fashion unfortunately).
davethebrave371 06-11-06, 12:45 AM	My only problem with Players playing the opposite gender is when they have a problem with me using the wrong pronoun to describe the character. Way back when, the girl in our group played a guy, and one of the guys play a girl. And heaven forbid I address/ refer to the character with the wrong gender attached. Not sure what the big deal was... maybe they felt I was attacking their RP'ing skills, or something I know. Man, one of the two female players in my group plays a man. It doesn't help that this young man is quite a fop, and more feminine than most women I know. All six of us mistakenly say "her" all the time. At least the other female had the foresight to play a woman (though she has a man character as a back-up).
Someone 06-11-06, 02:12 PM	Never for a table top RPG. Very recently, however, I decided when presented with a choice to play a male or female in a video game, I'll pick female. If I'm going to be looking at the same icon throught the game, might as well make it pleasant to look at for hours on end. :DIts like you read my mind. And as a DM, you aren't really afforded the luxury of only one gender characters. If the adventure calls for interaction with a female NPC, then you're pretty much playing a female character. If the adventure calls for interaction with a male NPC, then you're playing a male character.
Thurbane 06-11-06, 04:24 PM	Almost always, the character is run as a man-hating Amazon, or as an insatiably man-hungry nymphomaniac. You mean there are other types of women out there? I seem to keep running into one of those two archetypes... :D
AaronDireBear 06-11-06, 05:08 PM	I played a female Wood Elf Ranger who specialized in Kukris and hunted demons. At 26th level she had Devastating Critical with Kukris and had acquired a +7 keen, axiomatic and holy kukri of Demon bane. my most survivable character ever....
Coridan 06-11-06, 05:54 PM	Personally I only ever make characters that I would prefer to become should I get sucked into the D&D world I'm playing in (damn cartoon has ruined me forever =) ) and thus I always play male characters. I do have two PCs in my group who tend to genderbend a lot though, and one I had to outright ban from playing female characters due to his "nymphomaniac" character. One is a female who tends to play males and another is a male who tends to play females. Generally the female plays the males a bit better (although she tends to play them as effeminate gay males) and the male plays all his characters as selfish material-wealth obsessed CN characters (regardless of his character's alignment) which could be construed as an accurate portrayal of females =p
Zyrusticae 06-11-06, 05:54 PM	Hmmm... Well, from my experience... Actually, I have none, as I'm the only guy in my group who ever plays female characters. :P Truthfully, I play them the same way I play all my characters - according to their personality, background, motivations, and so on. I don't discriminate based on gender except where it's logical. I have a strong aversion to all things stereotypical. I have a tendancy to play 'feminine' guys and 'masculine' gals, The guys being 'feminine' based on their sensitivity, etc., and the gals being 'masculine' relative to 'real-world' women (which is natural considering how dangerous the DnD world can be). For one reason or another, this makes it really difficult to tell if one of my characters is male or female based entirely on their looks (I do draw them regularly). My two favorite characters - my half-dragon/half-lizardfolk psi warrior (sigged), and my monk/pyrokineticist - are almost 'butch' by comparison to what most people consider feminine. Fal (shorthand for my half-dragon character), obviously, doesn't have mammaries (which, for some reason, people have a hard time comprehending), and a rather 'boyish' figure. Most people are hard-pressed to tell her gender at first glance, and even moreso with her personality. For some reason, I just find it more amusing than if she were a male character. (He's a girl!?) I've never met someone who plays a similar character, and rightfully so. She's far from being physically attractive (unless you're into that kinda thing... *ahem*) and is effectively a 'male' in stereotypical society terms except for her biology (though obviously not in lizardfolk terms). Same thing with Kanya (my flame-tosser) - she's flat-chested (wrapped up) and her hair is cropped short (she's trained to reduce everything that can give her a disadvantage in combat), but she has an adorable voice and face which clashes with her tough and well-defined body. Her personality is of someone who has been through a lot but refuses to let anything get to her - most of the time she acts 'cutesy' and child-like for the sake of being comfortable, but can get rather scary when she's serious. Especially when she elbow-slams a poor, hapless goon in the face and leaves them suffering third degree burns in that same spot. :D Anyways... uhm... I'm not what sure I can add. I'm certain many people are already looking at me as the insane, eccentric wierdo I am. :blush: