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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 487314" data-attributes="member: 5137">A flat is a character that the reader can grasp in one go. For example, you might say "an angsty loner necromancer with a terrible temper". A cardboard character (which is different) is an extreme of this, and also has no real "depth" of character.A round is a character who has hidden elements which nonetheless make sense. For example, you could make your angsty necromancer round by giving him some interesting background elements that change his behavior under certain conditions, like an unrequited love or a desire to change his ways. These would not be immediately visible, but would fit the character in a plausible manner.Flats are exceedingly useful for plot devices, foils for PC development, and other supporting roles. For example, Batman's butler is an excellent flat. Although flats are often seen as stereotypes, they don't have to be - they just have to be reasonably succinct, and reasonably predictable/stable.Rounds are useful for complicated emotional relationships with PCs, generating interest in a storyline, and villains. Virtually every villain I've ever made has been a round <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.Honestly, there isn't any single issue which plagues every male trying to roleplay a woman. There are plenty of subtle differences in social behavior and delivery - most male roleplayers (the ones who aren't really butchering it) miss a few or exaggerate them, and others pick up on this. The trick is to observe, observe, observe. Find what you're missing, and introduce it into one or two NPCs. Then learn to tone it down until no one consciously notices it, but it's still present.The biggest issues I've seen (and the most common) are: the female is too horny (femminine lust tends to be more subtle in execution than masculine lust); the female comes on too strong (which is fine individually, but isn't very common); the female is too idealized.One of my players is particularly guilty of the latter: every female he has ever played has been an idealized mate. They also tend to alternate between being horny hedonists and Catholic abstainers - 99% of all women are somewhere in the middle of that. The result is that his female characters simply aren't convincing, unless you're a fourteen year old male.Hm. One other trick I can suggest is to give the female a serious quirk or two, something that makes her a vibrant archetype, and that has nothing to do with her femaleness. For example, one of my female NPCs in a Marvel Avengers game was Rahne (at 40 years old) - I played her as a sweet-natured, motherly figure with a really sharp Irish tongue. Players were quoting her "What are ye, WEAK!?" for weeks. Another GM I know has exactly one female NPC in his current campaign, and she's a one-eyed, one-armed samuraii who can parry bullets. Almost no one really thinks about his performance of her as a woman - she's just too cool in too many other ways.</blockquote>

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