cross gender fun?

[TBoarder]

One other point I should make:

I obviously allow all sorts of gender shenanigans in my game, and play in games with crazed queers crawling the walls -- however, I wouldn't allow stereotyping play, even when non-cross-gender. *

I enjoy playing with stereotypes. One character that I'm playing is a DM's dream, a stereotypical swashbuckler who loves rescuing damsels in distress, romancing beautiful noble women, and getting into trouble as often as possible. The difference is... the character is a woman.

I thought it would be fun to turn the stereotype on its head. Imagine the beautiful princess's reaction when she finds out the brave hero who rescued her from the fire-breathing dragon to win her heart is actually a heroine. It never gets trashy though (much ). It's meant to be fun, and the DM and most of the other players realize that. She's a DM's dream character in that she's so easy to send out on adventures. All she needs are innocents to defend or damsels to rescue and she's there. No need to get over-complex with how to tailor the adventure to suit her motivations, her motivations are already tailored to adventure.

She's easily the most fun character I've been able to play, not because she's a woman, not because she's a lesbian, but because she's always in the middle of things, always seeking adventure, always trying to be a hero, but most of all, always trying to enjoy life.

 

[Sialia]

i recently decided to try to play a female character. what a mistake. while i love the character, the maturity level of my group is very quickly leeching the fun out of playing her. i've alreday heard the "female bards are sluts" joke over three dozen times in about four sessions. *sigh* i'm already considering retiring her and playing something else. oh well ...

~NegZ

Oh! That is too sad! No no no--do not let them get away with it. Teach the sexist bastards a lesson. Gender discrimination is not funny, sexual harassment is not cool.

All you can do is NOT be a slut. Be a powerful, strong minded clever and amusing character that they depend on. Rise above them until they feel ashamed of themselves for being crass idiots.
Never stoop to their level.

You can do this if you find your female strengths. Look around for some female role models to emulate.

The following literary heros are wonderful females who do not tolerate sexual harassment or gender stereotyping, and, without getting soapboxy, have the inherent ability to make men recognize their own jerkhood when they deserve it.

Xena
Becca Valentine (from Andromeda)
Romi (from Andromeda)
Mary Poppins
Rebecca Fogg (Secret Adventures of Jules Verne)
all of Terry Pratchett's witches


Ok? Next time somebody pulls some kind of crap on you, think something like, "what would Julia Child say?" Or Miss Manners. Or Dame Judi Dench. Queen Elizabeth. Emma Thompson.

If you know in your heart that you are a woman of substance, that your virtue and your honor and your sexlife are yours to control and not at the mercy of the idiots you have to work with, they will soon know it, too.

And if they can't get the hint, it's time to find a new gaming group, not a new character.

 

[William Ronald]

Sialla has a valid point.

Perhaps spreading rumors about the PC to gain revenge would work. Perhaps convincing people that the other PCs are boors would be appropriate. Possibly hinting that they are diseased might work.

A bard is in an excellent position to build or destroy reputations. Among the Celts, the bard was held in esteem. Perhaps it is time for a bit of good old fashioned bardic satire.

Also, charm spells can be used on the offending PCs. Possibly convince a PC that you are casting another spell. (In 2e, a person could be tricked into not making their save for a spell. For example, by convincing someone that he is getting a healing spell.) Have the charmed PC act in an embarassing manner. One good form of revenge would be to have the charmed PC strip in a public place. (Whether or not the players and the PC can take a joke is an appropriate question to ask.)

Seriously, Negative Zero, I think the problem is that the players are acting a bit immaturely.

 

[Fenes 2]

With all that "slut" bashing going on, I have to ask: What is wrong with playing a woman that has an (over)active sexlife? Why is it ok if I play a male womanizing swashbuckling bard, but not ok if I just switch genders on that concept? One's a man's man, the other's a slut? After how many affairs becomes a woman a slut in your eyes, and a stereotype?

I can play the stereotypical orc-hating dwarf or elf, but not an amazon that dislikes men? Or a bard that likes men? Do you ban the hardened mercenary that seeks r&r in the next whorehouse after each adventure as well? Do you ban swashbucklers as well just to avoid the stereotype of the Don Juan?

 

[madriel]

I've never played with anybody whose PC's main character concept was their sex life.

"My PC is a slut/lothario (insert race, class, gender here)."

I did play with another female player whose female rogue would screw anything male that didn't run away fast enough - but she kept it lowkey. It was only one facet of her character's personality and usually only came into play during r&r at an inn.

A one-note character is annoying whatever the schtick.

 

[Fenes 2]

Yup, a one-trick pony is annoying. But it seemed - from the tenor of some posts - that even low-key "sluttiness" would not be acceptable, no matter how competent, multi-facceted, funny or intersting the PC was.

 

[madriel]

If I'd experienced some of the horror stories firsthand I might be a little gun-shy of gender switching myself. If you know a group can't handle a cross-gender character in a mature and respectful manner, I suppose I could see issuing a blanket ban for that *specific* group.

Well, it's getting late and i'm getting incoherent, so I'm off to bed. I'll post the rest of my thoughts later cause they weren't making any sense to me.

 

[S'mon]

I think it's clear from this debate that some GMs have personal problems with male players playing female PCs, and this would be the case however the female PCs were played. While I'm one of those who would be reluctant to play in a game with a GM who had such issues, I think it has to be accepted that different things suit different people, and it's silly to condemn such GMs for their position, especially if their regular players are having fun. Eg I wouldn't want to play in Angelsboi's campaign but I'm sure it's a great game for its own players. Likewise my game might not suit Angelsboi or Teflon Billy - different strokes for different folks.

 

[Fenes 2]

Back to original topic...

In honor of the topic starters request, some funny events from my gaming and DMing memories:

- My very first AD&D character, Briareos the Bard, was a swashbuckling skirtchaser if there was ever one - and happened to fall into Nyannichuan (of Ranma 1/2 fame) during an extradimensional sidetrip on his second adventure. From that point on, his womanizing ways were subject to the weather and other local conditions, since a bit of cold water would turn him into a woman. Karmic justice for the rest of the campaign, which went from level 4 to 16 and spun several years and during which he never found a cure.

- The very first girdle of sexchanging was found in our first campaign by a dwarven cleric - who promptly used 2 charges of a ring of three wishes to change back. Years later, at Gencon, I mentioned that story to a player before a game started, and 2 hours later it was said player's dwarf that tried a magic belt without identifying it first - instand female. I still wonder if the DM had overheard us, or if it was just chance.

 

[Pielorinho]

I don't necessarily think that a guy shouldn't ever play a Woman of Loose Morals (WOLM). But I do think that a guy should think carefully before doing so.

I've not seen it done very often. And when I *have* seen it, the WOLM has been pretty unconvincing. She's come across as a grotesque, girly-mag caricature, a distorted fantasy of the type of girl that the socially-maladjusted player wishes would land in his lap.

D&D is about wish-fulfillment, sure, on some level. But watching players act out their sexual fantasies can have a high ick factor. And as uncomfortable as it is for me, a guy, to watch it, I think it'd be unbearable to watch if I were a woman. I'd be thinking, "Jesus! Is this what he thinks *I* should be like?"

If a guy can play a WOLM with a rounded personality, with panache, and without thinly-veiled resentment toward women, cool. I'd be happy to let a guy play such a character. But I'd put a stop to it pronto if it became icky.

(I play in a game with a woman who plays a MOLM. Her character, however, isn't screwing everything that moves: instead, he courts and seduces a likely woman in each town we're in. And his sex life is only one aspect of his character. The ick factor is pretty minimal.)

Daniel