Personally, I'd feel somewhat uncomfortable allowing someone that young into my group, girl or not, unless accompanied by a responsible adult and/or legal guardian.
I've had a somewhat similiar situation crop up in which a 17-year old girl wanted to join a game I was running. I believe I was 23 at the time and most of the other players were older folks in their 30s and 40s (both guys and gals), half of them married, with one guy being around 18-19 and in college. The girl was introduced to us by her aunt (also a player), so as long as she was around, it was all good and no one saw any problem in inviting her to games.
As it turns out, the girl had been in a previous situation in which an older married couple invited her into their home to role-play, hang out, play cards or video games, etc. And the seemingly normal husband guy turned out to be a real creep, according to her, making sexual innuendo and gestures that could be construed as unwanted advances.
The wife seemed oblivious to the situation, though, but when the stuff hit the fan (the girl told her family about it, threats were made, maybe even of the litigious sort), the wife accused the girl of making everything up and sided with her husband. Of course, it was all he said, she said, and no charges were ever brought up. The thing is, the couple have continued to invite other young girls into their home and that kinda creeps me out and makes me wonder just how oblivious the wife actually is concerning her husband's predatory behavior.
Well, to make a long story short, eventually the girl and I became fast friends and really seemed to hit it off, much to my own initial misgivings about the whole thing (I was worried about falling into the exact same trap) but over the course of a year or two, and with the blessing of her aunt and family (really nice folks), we got to dating. The age difference was always in the back of my mind and, of course, how it looks from the outside looking in.
She's my ex-gf now, but in retrospect, it was kinda of a chancy thing. By the time we started dating, she was 18, so everything was legal and it was a bit funny in that she was sort of the initiator in pursuing a relationship (I'm no lady's man by my own admission), but the fact that she approaches you first doesn't excuse any factor for being legally underage. Consent is not an excuse in court. Had she been any younger, I definitely would have backed off. These days, I'm a little older and a little wiser, and have a career to think about, so if the same situation happened to crop up again, I'd choose to be just friends and leave it at that.
Well, this is just my own personal experience. If I were DMing a tabletop group again nowadays, I'd definitely not allow anyone that young into the game unless accompanied by a legal guardian or a trusted adult family member. If I was a player, I'd bring my concerns up to the DM and the other players in private as the presence of a player that young (without adult supervision) would make me somewhat paranoid and uncomfortable.
I've had a somewhat similiar situation crop up in which a 17-year old girl wanted to join a game I was running. I believe I was 23 at the time and most of the other players were older folks in their 30s and 40s (both guys and gals), half of them married, with one guy being around 18-19 and in college. The girl was introduced to us by her aunt (also a player), so as long as she was around, it was all good and no one saw any problem in inviting her to games.
As it turns out, the girl had been in a previous situation in which an older married couple invited her into their home to role-play, hang out, play cards or video games, etc. And the seemingly normal husband guy turned out to be a real creep, according to her, making sexual innuendo and gestures that could be construed as unwanted advances.
The wife seemed oblivious to the situation, though, but when the stuff hit the fan (the girl told her family about it, threats were made, maybe even of the litigious sort), the wife accused the girl of making everything up and sided with her husband. Of course, it was all he said, she said, and no charges were ever brought up. The thing is, the couple have continued to invite other young girls into their home and that kinda creeps me out and makes me wonder just how oblivious the wife actually is concerning her husband's predatory behavior.
Well, to make a long story short, eventually the girl and I became fast friends and really seemed to hit it off, much to my own initial misgivings about the whole thing (I was worried about falling into the exact same trap) but over the course of a year or two, and with the blessing of her aunt and family (really nice folks), we got to dating. The age difference was always in the back of my mind and, of course, how it looks from the outside looking in.
She's my ex-gf now, but in retrospect, it was kinda of a chancy thing. By the time we started dating, she was 18, so everything was legal and it was a bit funny in that she was sort of the initiator in pursuing a relationship (I'm no lady's man by my own admission), but the fact that she approaches you first doesn't excuse any factor for being legally underage. Consent is not an excuse in court. Had she been any younger, I definitely would have backed off. These days, I'm a little older and a little wiser, and have a career to think about, so if the same situation happened to crop up again, I'd choose to be just friends and leave it at that.
Well, this is just my own personal experience. If I were DMing a tabletop group again nowadays, I'd definitely not allow anyone that young into the game unless accompanied by a legal guardian or a trusted adult family member. If I was a player, I'd bring my concerns up to the DM and the other players in private as the presence of a player that young (without adult supervision) would make me somewhat paranoid and uncomfortable.