Equality in the DnD world

[Thornir Alekeg]

Men tended to dominate in my campaigns. Women of power existed and were accepted, but were not the norm. Women definitely had to work harder to prove themselves.

As for the PCs, it depended upon the player. I had one woman in my group who played a very young sorceress who had grown up in a privleged family that didn't approve of her powers. She played the character as a rather sheltered girl who batted her eyelashes at the men in the group to get her way. Two other women in the group played very different characters who were much tougher and tried to act more like "one of the guys." It was so much fun to see the sorceress suddenly do or say something to bring out their "girly" side.

And if I wanted to have even more fun, I would have female NPCs flirt with the men in the party. Never managed to get an all out cat fight, but it came close on occasion. And if the men responded to the female NPCs, they paid for it for a long time afterwards.

The men in the group, and their characters were completely off balance and confused...hmm not that different from reality.

 

[William Ronald]

I run the Realms in my game. Someone here already mentioned the witches of Rashemen and female Drow, and, on the flip side, I submit for your approval (or disapproval, whatever) the kingdom of Calimshan, where women indeed are second class citizens.

I DO think that women in the Realms get portrayed more as sex objects than the men do. And that annoys me. Again, just my opinion.

I find this an annoying as well. However, to counter Calimshan -- a place where slavery is legal -- I will mention the current Queen Regent in Cormyr and I seem to recall a few cities with female rules. As for Tethyr, it has a dual monarchy where the more powerful partner is a queen.

Women do seem to get portrayed more as sex objects in the Realms, particularly in the art work. This may have something to do with the game designers and artists than the setting itself.

 

[was]

In my campaign, they're all equal. Class is the important factor, not gender.

 

[painandgreed]

IMC, in general they are equal, but there are still social separation of roles by the fact that there are differences between the sexes. For most countries the the PCs would be from, women are equals in the law with men havign as much say over their lives as men. In some cultures, it may be more than others and the larger the society and the less likely the loss of a childbearing female is to that society, the less the emphasis on roles.

 

[MonsterMash]

Case by case for different cultures.

 

[dren]

There's only one matriachial society (a particular elven tribe) and plenty of egalitarian societies, but most are overwhelming racist, sexist and intolerant. It's much more fun to play in stereotypical environments in which there is a bias agaisnt the non-majority then happy, friendly ones where there is no societal conflight. ymmv...

 

[The_Universe]

They're mostly equal, but there is some societal segmentation. Men, for instance, are better represented in the armed services, since they just don't have babies. Some women don't, but no men do. As such, they're typically deemed vital to the survival of the nation, and, except in special cases, discouraged (if not outright forbidden) from pursuing military service.

Other than that, economic and political power seem to be roughly shared by men and women of the various fantasy races.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Total equality in our world. In fact, our next DRAGON LORE release is titled FEMME FATALE and is a compilation of female-only character classes and magic items geared for female gamers. My wife said it was about time someone geared a release for gamer girls and who am I to argue...

 

[Kuld]

It’s definitely a case-by-case basis IMC. I have always tried to create a diverse array of peoples and cultures throughout my campaign (mainly regional). Humans primarily, because they are the most numerous and diverse race but also, dwarves, elves, kobolds, you name it (loosely following an average/mean alignment). These differences could be subtle or dramatic.

The easiest traits to recognize are those of gender roles, hostilities towards races, social ranking, etc… I find that it keeps the PCs on their toes and ebbs stereotyping encounters. All characters, whether they’re PCs or NPCs, are affected and it’s up to them to either deal with it or do something about it.

 

[Tonguez]

My wife said it was about time someone geared a release for gamer girls and who am I to argue...

um so why does that pic on the cover appeal to the gamer boy in me