Okay, I'll bite. What "believable differences" would distinguish a female character from a male character?
Cross-gender PCs
- Thread starter blargney the second
- Start date
Okay, I'll bite. What "believable differences" would distinguish a female character from a male character?
Wombat
First Post
Cross-gender playing can be tricky, but it is quite doable -- any GM worth his salt has to be able to do it, eventually, simply because half of the world has a different set of chromosomes from those of the individual behind the screen...
The problem, both with men and women, is a tendency towards parody rather than true roleplaying. Then again, many players are like that anyway even with their own gender, even if they do not recognize it...
The problem, both with men and women, is a tendency towards parody rather than true roleplaying. Then again, many players are like that anyway even with their own gender, even if they do not recognize it...
Dragonbait
Explorer
This topic always surprises me. Do people ban female players from playing male characters? What about the ethnicity or sexual orientation of the character? Could a straight white male play a gay asian male, y'know, as long as the dude ain't playin' a chick? It all seems so silly to me.
I have seen the gender-bending characters since I started gaming. I never thought anything of it until message boards taught me that it was Wrong(TM) (just like certain styles of play are wrong, anthropomorhic races are wrong, mixing sci-fi and fantasy is wrong, certain systems are wrong, and so on).
I know one player who is against males playing females. When he GMs, all good females are passive victims. He has NEVER made a strong female aside from one evil one who was the lowest ranking bad guy. The one time he didn't have a problem when one of the other players created a female character was because said player was openly gay.
I've been part of an online gaming group for over a year now, and -I'm- the unusual one in that I am a male who plays all male characters. All other 12 players gender-bend often or even exclusively. I've only seen one player make their character overtly-sexual (visually, at least, with a massive bust) and yet the character herself is very well-rounded and normal.
I have seen the gender-bending characters since I started gaming. I never thought anything of it until message boards taught me that it was Wrong(TM) (just like certain styles of play are wrong, anthropomorhic races are wrong, mixing sci-fi and fantasy is wrong, certain systems are wrong, and so on).
I know one player who is against males playing females. When he GMs, all good females are passive victims. He has NEVER made a strong female aside from one evil one who was the lowest ranking bad guy. The one time he didn't have a problem when one of the other players created a female character was because said player was openly gay.
I've been part of an online gaming group for over a year now, and -I'm- the unusual one in that I am a male who plays all male characters. All other 12 players gender-bend often or even exclusively. I've only seen one player make their character overtly-sexual (visually, at least, with a massive bust) and yet the character herself is very well-rounded and normal.
Starbuck_II
Explorer
Usually the banning is entirely sexist and male chavinist.
Females get to play males, but the males can't handle the males playing females.
It is possible there are phobias involved or they have an ideal of what woman should be like and if the male isn't playing the female "right"; then they can't allow it at all.
Really, I've met masculine females, feminine males, and neither was gay. It was just how they were.
They were offbeat and different I'll admit.
Wow, that GM has a issue with strong woman?
I've only played a female once myself.
Well, there was the time my 1/2 Dragon human was turned female from a cursed ring, but really can you tell (other than I guess boobies I was given)?
RefinedBean
First Post
Now I miss one of my favorite characters, a transgendered elf beguiler who had six different disguises, three women and three men. It was always fun to start a session off with a d6 roll, to see who I would be (so to speak). I've gone and made myself sad. 
But generally, I've never had a problem with opposite-gender pcs. DMs HAVE to RP other genders, and most players I know can handle themselves quite well.
I'm sure if you're stuck with some bloated sack of manflesh at a local convention, and he's playing a slutty little female rogue...well, that's disconcerting. But to outright ban it? Man, y'all must have been burned way too often...why put such a limiting rule into place otherwise?
But generally, I've never had a problem with opposite-gender pcs. DMs HAVE to RP other genders, and most players I know can handle themselves quite well.
I'm sure if you're stuck with some bloated sack of manflesh at a local convention, and he's playing a slutty little female rogue...well, that's disconcerting. But to outright ban it? Man, y'all must have been burned way too often...why put such a limiting rule into place otherwise?
Hella_Tellah
Explorer
I run a game set in Victorian London, so gender roles are particularly important to my game. I have 3 men playing men, 1 woman playing a woman, 1 woman playing a woman cross-dressing as her dead brother (one of the finer character concepts I've seen in a while, although this short description does her little justice), and 1 man playing a woman. None of them has problems portraying a gender, but some of them have problems with anachronism, and that bleeds into gender issues quite frequently. Bluntly put, Victorian culture was very sexist, and sometimes it's hard to get in that mindset. I want the male characters to be shocked by a woman in trousers, and I want the female characters to be appalled at the ingallant behavior of a man who would not help a lady descend from a carriage.
My players have no problem playing a character of a particular gender; it's when that gender is defined by a different set of cultural norms than our own that it becomes difficult. And I rather expect that, really--it's fairly hard for me to imagine owning a human being, or living in a world where the germ theory doesn't exist, or being ruled by the edicts of an individual rather than a system of laws. Plotting changing gender roles across history is a wide-ranging field of study (one of my undergraduate advisers specialized in the study of ancient women), and I can't expect every gamer to be a historian. Maybe it's easier for people who run games set in the present day, I don't know.
TL;DR: Roleplaying gender in a society you didn't grow up in is straight up difficult, no matter what your real-life gender may be.
My players have no problem playing a character of a particular gender; it's when that gender is defined by a different set of cultural norms than our own that it becomes difficult. And I rather expect that, really--it's fairly hard for me to imagine owning a human being, or living in a world where the germ theory doesn't exist, or being ruled by the edicts of an individual rather than a system of laws. Plotting changing gender roles across history is a wide-ranging field of study (one of my undergraduate advisers specialized in the study of ancient women), and I can't expect every gamer to be a historian. Maybe it's easier for people who run games set in the present day, I don't know.
TL;DR: Roleplaying gender in a society you didn't grow up in is straight up difficult, no matter what your real-life gender may be.
Fallen Seraph
First Post
Note opinion piece here:
Hella Tellah brought up a very good point with his post. Gender and Gender Roles are not a pre-determined genetic thing like Sex. They are a product of culture and the environment in which we are raised.
It is less the actual Sex of the person that is the issue, it is not growing up with the same Gender Roles being reinforced upon you. Males get Male Gender Roles enforced on them, Females, Female Ones. As such it can be difficult to adapt to this difference in Gender Roles and how it can affect personality that can cause issues with roleplaying.
I honestly wouldn't be too suprised that people brought up as Gender-Neutral as possible would have a easier time playing either Sex.
Hella Tellah brought up a very good point with his post. Gender and Gender Roles are not a pre-determined genetic thing like Sex. They are a product of culture and the environment in which we are raised.
It is less the actual Sex of the person that is the issue, it is not growing up with the same Gender Roles being reinforced upon you. Males get Male Gender Roles enforced on them, Females, Female Ones. As such it can be difficult to adapt to this difference in Gender Roles and how it can affect personality that can cause issues with roleplaying.
I honestly wouldn't be too suprised that people brought up as Gender-Neutral as possible would have a easier time playing either Sex.
Last edited:
El Mahdi
Muad'Dib of the Anauroch
Actually, none of this statement has been confirmed. There is strong evidence for and against this statement, but nothing definitive.
Stated as your theory or opinion, then it would be correct.
Stated as fact, not correct.
Betote
First Post
Maybe it's because I mostly GM but, having rp'ed elder demons, genderless golems, oozes and primal deities... Well, I don't think "a girl" is too much of a challenge 
Also, one of the reasons I play RPGs is to experience the world (or "a" world, at least) from other people's eyes, so limiting myself to one or another kind of characters would be kind of frustrating.
That said, the only problems I've experienced with players/GMs roleplaying characters of the opposite sex (or sexuality) have had a lot more to do with that specific player/GM's views and general behaviour than with any other thing. So, the general advice I'd give would be "If you're a jerk, don't try top be someone different".
Also, one of the reasons I play RPGs is to experience the world (or "a" world, at least) from other people's eyes, so limiting myself to one or another kind of characters would be kind of frustrating.That said, the only problems I've experienced with players/GMs roleplaying characters of the opposite sex (or sexuality) have had a lot more to do with that specific player/GM's views and general behaviour than with any other thing. So, the general advice I'd give would be "If you're a jerk, don't try top be someone different".
Fallen Seraph
First Post
W00t! I am correct, ie: edited it was my opinion
Similar Threads
