Cross-gender PCs

[mhacdebhandia]

I dont think I've ever had a rule against it, but to me it's just odd to have a grown man sitting across the table trying to put forth a female persona.

As DM, I often have to play a female PC, more out of necessity than desire to do so. So I guess on those occasions, I'm the grown man sitting across the table playing the female persona.

I just never really fantasized about being a chick. Sure, I've often wanted to be Lara Croft, Tomb Raider... like being in the situations and locations that she's been in. The hot chick part, not so much.

Lots of people don't choose to play a given PC based on what they fantasise about being.

I have never in my gaming life played an idealised version of myself, or played someone with whom I particularly identified, or played someone who had a life I wished I could have. I get that a lot of people do, but it's never been something I wanted to do.

I've never played a female character long-term, but that's not because I'm not comfortable with it; I guess it's just that I create my character to suit the specific game we're playing, and I haven't yet come up with a character who made more sense as a woman than as a man. That said, I've played in plenty of games with men playing women and women playing men, and it's never been an issue - with good, competent players, I don't think it ever is an issue.

 

[Ukyo the undead]

Lurking off...

Many of my PCs were female.

In fact, my first PC was a female cleric of Mi Shakall in Planescape, who had a child of a god and died in very inglorious battle in the Realm of the Dread (Ravenloft). To these days I still wait for the day that I will play as her son and somehow rescue her body and specially her soul ,from thet demiplane.

My second PC was a female warrior, but she didn't last very much. My third was a uncharismatic male cleric who died trying to prevent a demon from taking his world.

My last female PC was a female ranger/rogue specialized in quick draw with her sword.

I'm wandering a little, but one thing hat I want to point out is that playing a PC of the opposite gender really helped me to get in character, specially if I'm playing a warrior type.

Lurking on...

 

[Brown Jenkin]

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.

I can see this being an issue in a historical campaign. As you said modern day is different. So is D&D though, or so the game has made clear since at least 3.0 (I forget if 2.0 had sex stat modifiers) with both males and females accepted fully as adventures. If the DM chooses to set up a campaign world to have gender roles/biases then so be it but the default right now is a gender neutral world.

 

[The Green Adam]

OK a confession...

This bugs the hell outta me. I can't stand when males play females or vice versa.

Now anyone who knows me, really knows me, might be shocked. I let my players play wildly bizarre aliens, cyborgs, unusual fantasy races, the very young, the very old and everything in between. I hate limiting my players style or creativity. That said, whenever a player wants to play the opposite sex I discourage it. Actually I cringe and then I discourage it.

Why?

First, in the 30+ years I've been gaming I think I've seen a decent, in depth and realistic portrayl maybe once. Maybe. Its almost always some horrible exaggeration, either way to slutty and oversexed or dramatically feminist to the point where feminists are saying "Please...just chill". That or there is no indication that the character is a different sex then the player except that its listed on the character sheet.

Second, its seems like a wasted opportunity if you have both genders sitting at the table, not to have them interact with each other with their nature mind sets. Its just so much more fun when you see different people who think differently approaching the same problem.

AD
"That was a hell of a thing."

 

[Brown Jenkin]

First, in the 30+ years I've been gaming I think I've seen a decent, in depth and realistic portrayl maybe once. Maybe. Its almost always some horrible exaggeration, either way to slutty and oversexed or dramatically feminist to the point where feminists are saying "Please...just chill". That or there is no indication that the character is a different sex then the player except that its listed on the character sheet.

Once more the question becomes what is an accurate protrayal. I understand the exagerated issue, but how does playing a normal person without exageration count as being no difference. And if there isn't a difference how is this wrong?

 

[SACERD]

I will chime in here.
Like some of the other posters I have never....ever....seen someone do a decent job of playing the opposite gender.
As for what I consider an accurate portrayal of a opposite gender...well thats easy.
Make it known that you are not your "real life" gender and make me forget that you are not not the gender of your character.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I wonder how many people who state that they haven't ever seen the opposite gender roleplayed convincingly/realistically, might ever have considered elves, dwarves, sorcerers, paladins, bards, and so forth to've been so. I'm pretty sure this has been asked or pondered before in this thread, but ooh and it makes me wonder.

 

[SACERD]

LOL I have not pondered that but I don't believe in elves, dwarves or magic, however I have met and married folks of the opposite gender.

 

[Aus_Snow]

. . . or, for that matter, personality types at odds with the player's. Skills, strengths, weaknesses, biases, beliefs, all that stuff, again when they're totally different from the player's.

It just seems to be a particular sticking point for some DMs. I mean, fair enough, but I still don't get *why*.

 

[SACERD]

. . . or, for that matter, personality types at odds with the player's. Skills, strengths, weaknesses, biases, beliefs, all that stuff, again when they're totally different from the player's.

It just seems to be a particular sticking point for some DMs. I mean, fair enough, but I still don't get *why*.

Well personality type is easy, just don't act like yourself the other stuff is represented through game mechanics.