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Female-friendly game design?
- Thread starter Olgar Shiverstone
- Start date
TanithT
First Post
To focus on the game aspect of what makes it work for me, what I want from the GM is quality storytelling, solid characters and well thought out world background and setting. Cliche story or setting tropes turn me off, especially if they're mostly about how this gender always does this and that gender always does the other thing. Overused PC or NPC character tropes, male or female, are also not much fun. I prefer good quality, logically consistent backstory and setting that will allow me to suspend disbelief and enjoy my participation in the story.
From the other players, I want pretty much the same thing. Not that every one of them has to be a published writer, or a super accomplished roleplayer who stays in character with elf ears and a fake English accent all the time. Actually that would probably get annoying, though I could deal with an overenthusiastic rp'er better than a total min/maxer, hack and slasher, Munchkin powergamer who had no idea what a character backstory is or why anyone would want one. A reasonable balance is good, preferably leaning more on the "good storytelling/decent roleplaying" side.
I really, REALLY don't want to sit at a gaming table where there is open contempt or hostility or weird treatment of a female gamer. If I don't get the general impression that my presence is totally normal and I'm accepted as just another gamer, it is No Fun to sit there knowing that I'm getting some version of the hairy eyeball, weird remarks or uncomfortable extra attention from the other players. I'm moving on.
If I didn't like nerds and geeks I wouldn't be one myself. So I can totally hang with people whose social skills are not perfectly polished, and stereotypes aside, there will probably be at least one at the table. But there are some lines that will make even a fellow nerd uncomfortable if someone crosses them, so if you get up into my personal space and make me feel creepy for whatever reason, I'm not going to want to play at the same table as you. I don't, for example, particularly want to game with these guys.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zng5kRle4FA"]Summoner Geeks[/ame]
Most likely you don't either, regardless of your gender.
The mechanics I'm fairly indifferent to. If they're complicated, but the world and character building in the source material is good enough to make it worth my time to spend a couple hours studying the rules, I'll happily hit the books. If it's not, I'll be down the hall playing something else.
I don't honestly think that you could substantially redesign any games to suit me any better, because you can do good quality storytelling and worldbuilding in just about any of them. Or not. The question isn't how the game is designed, but how it's actually played.
From the other players, I want pretty much the same thing. Not that every one of them has to be a published writer, or a super accomplished roleplayer who stays in character with elf ears and a fake English accent all the time. Actually that would probably get annoying, though I could deal with an overenthusiastic rp'er better than a total min/maxer, hack and slasher, Munchkin powergamer who had no idea what a character backstory is or why anyone would want one. A reasonable balance is good, preferably leaning more on the "good storytelling/decent roleplaying" side.
I really, REALLY don't want to sit at a gaming table where there is open contempt or hostility or weird treatment of a female gamer. If I don't get the general impression that my presence is totally normal and I'm accepted as just another gamer, it is No Fun to sit there knowing that I'm getting some version of the hairy eyeball, weird remarks or uncomfortable extra attention from the other players. I'm moving on.
If I didn't like nerds and geeks I wouldn't be one myself. So I can totally hang with people whose social skills are not perfectly polished, and stereotypes aside, there will probably be at least one at the table. But there are some lines that will make even a fellow nerd uncomfortable if someone crosses them, so if you get up into my personal space and make me feel creepy for whatever reason, I'm not going to want to play at the same table as you. I don't, for example, particularly want to game with these guys.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zng5kRle4FA"]Summoner Geeks[/ame]
Most likely you don't either, regardless of your gender.
The mechanics I'm fairly indifferent to. If they're complicated, but the world and character building in the source material is good enough to make it worth my time to spend a couple hours studying the rules, I'll happily hit the books. If it's not, I'll be down the hall playing something else.
I don't honestly think that you could substantially redesign any games to suit me any better, because you can do good quality storytelling and worldbuilding in just about any of them. Or not. The question isn't how the game is designed, but how it's actually played.
Last edited:
Libramarian
Adventurer
IME, women tend to enjoy playing specifically against type more than men. There tends to be a larger personality difference between player and character when the player is a woman. Women enjoy getting their Chaotic Evil on now and again. They also tend to be flirtier and make more sexual references.
Men tend to subtly punish this kind of exploratory roleplay by constantly remarking to women how manly their characters are or how different they are from their normal personality. Teasing, basically. Not even spitefully, just as a reflex.
So I will agree with the OP that it's mostly a social issue. I think women are both more inclined to exploratory, against-type roleplay, AND more sensitive to conflict/judgement and interpersonal tension. So a lot of men just don't have the social skills to make women feel welcomed and comfortable enough to enjoy RPGing as much as they could.
I guess what you could do is try to make it as easy as possible for women to GM and form their own groups.
Men tend to subtly punish this kind of exploratory roleplay by constantly remarking to women how manly their characters are or how different they are from their normal personality. Teasing, basically. Not even spitefully, just as a reflex.
So I will agree with the OP that it's mostly a social issue. I think women are both more inclined to exploratory, against-type roleplay, AND more sensitive to conflict/judgement and interpersonal tension. So a lot of men just don't have the social skills to make women feel welcomed and comfortable enough to enjoy RPGing as much as they could.
I guess what you could do is try to make it as easy as possible for women to GM and form their own groups.
Lady Chaomii
First Post
For those of you too vague to notice my name; I am a female gamer. And I will vouch for the truth in the fact that female gamers do have a tendency towards casual gaming (However, as always, this is not the rule and there are many MANY exceptions, myself being one of them). HOWEVER, if you want to make Roleplaying Games more female friendly, you should be looking at the setting, NOT the mechanics. I mean let's face facts here; roleplaying games are not casual games. Trying to fiddle with the mechanics of a roleplaying game to make it casual is like trying to optimize a main battle tank to make it fit into the back of a sports car.
In our game, it is interesting because the roles of men and women in the setting have been reversed, given that it is meant to be a matriarchal society; essentially empowering women. (Note: If you use a matriarchal society in your own game it's important not to just take Medieval Europe and blast it with an epic level enlarged mass Rule63 spell. Do you really think that in a world dominated by women, men would be treated like house wives tasked with cleaning the house and looking after the children? Of course not. However this is a topic for another day.)
Empowering women is an easy way to make a setting more female gamer friendly, but is in no way a necessity mind you depending on how true to life you and your players wish to make the setting. Perhaps there are woman exclusive mages' guilds or baring that, perhaps the archmage of the capital city is a woman.
Doesn't mean you can't empower males too though, and you could even still have a bit of discrimination in the setting (But you must be very careful about this and make sure the players are ok with it), though said discrimination should be reserved for villains. One game I played an important antagonist was a woman hating misogynist, and our female fighter relished the opportunity to crush his head in with her greataxe. Even if you do use discrimination, be very clear in making your players understand that these are the views of the character and not you as a DM, and be subtle about it, rather than overt and offensive.
Another big thing is to never ever EVER restrict a female gamer to a female character, EVER! Don't even bring it up. And this goes for male players too. In my own game that I DM there are 4 male players and all of them play female characters. If a player asks if they are allowed to play a character of the opposite sex, just laugh and say "Why wouldn't you be allowed to play a (fe)male character, that's just ridiculous," because that's exactly what it is.
Last pointer of this directionless post is probably the most important of all. Never make assumptions and never make (overt) allowances for female gamers. The biggest challenge for female gamers is to not feel like the black sheep at the table, and making changes to the game just for them is the most counter productive thing you can do. But that doesn't conflict with everything being said in this thread. You -can- make changes to make a game female friendly, just don't make it painfully obvious that "You're doing this just because there are female gamers in our group". And in cases where it's inherently obvious, such as the implementation of a matriarchal society, just don't say it out loud.
So to sum up this post; giving female PCs and NPCs the power they deserve is a very good way to making female players feel comfortable in the setting, males don't have to be subservient just because there are women with power, discrimination can also be used but tread carefully when doing so, women are allowed to play male characters and vica vera and finally; giving female gamers special treatment in order to make them not feel like the black sheep of the group is counter producive.
In our game, it is interesting because the roles of men and women in the setting have been reversed, given that it is meant to be a matriarchal society; essentially empowering women. (Note: If you use a matriarchal society in your own game it's important not to just take Medieval Europe and blast it with an epic level enlarged mass Rule63 spell. Do you really think that in a world dominated by women, men would be treated like house wives tasked with cleaning the house and looking after the children? Of course not. However this is a topic for another day.)
Empowering women is an easy way to make a setting more female gamer friendly, but is in no way a necessity mind you depending on how true to life you and your players wish to make the setting. Perhaps there are woman exclusive mages' guilds or baring that, perhaps the archmage of the capital city is a woman.
Doesn't mean you can't empower males too though, and you could even still have a bit of discrimination in the setting (But you must be very careful about this and make sure the players are ok with it), though said discrimination should be reserved for villains. One game I played an important antagonist was a woman hating misogynist, and our female fighter relished the opportunity to crush his head in with her greataxe. Even if you do use discrimination, be very clear in making your players understand that these are the views of the character and not you as a DM, and be subtle about it, rather than overt and offensive.
Another big thing is to never ever EVER restrict a female gamer to a female character, EVER! Don't even bring it up. And this goes for male players too. In my own game that I DM there are 4 male players and all of them play female characters. If a player asks if they are allowed to play a character of the opposite sex, just laugh and say "Why wouldn't you be allowed to play a (fe)male character, that's just ridiculous," because that's exactly what it is.
Last pointer of this directionless post is probably the most important of all. Never make assumptions and never make (overt) allowances for female gamers. The biggest challenge for female gamers is to not feel like the black sheep at the table, and making changes to the game just for them is the most counter productive thing you can do. But that doesn't conflict with everything being said in this thread. You -can- make changes to make a game female friendly, just don't make it painfully obvious that "You're doing this just because there are female gamers in our group". And in cases where it's inherently obvious, such as the implementation of a matriarchal society, just don't say it out loud.
So to sum up this post; giving female PCs and NPCs the power they deserve is a very good way to making female players feel comfortable in the setting, males don't have to be subservient just because there are women with power, discrimination can also be used but tread carefully when doing so, women are allowed to play male characters and vica vera and finally; giving female gamers special treatment in order to make them not feel like the black sheep of the group is counter producive.
nedjer
Adventurer
Seems I can't XP Lady Chaomii right now 
There is a bunch of RPGs which already make a point of appealing to female players, including Buffy and Witch Girls. I don't know how well they do this, but there are links to them - and others - in this recent list: RPGs for Kids and Big Kids.
There is a bunch of RPGs which already make a point of appealing to female players, including Buffy and Witch Girls. I don't know how well they do this, but there are links to them - and others - in this recent list: RPGs for Kids and Big Kids.
Stacie GmrGrl
Adventurer
I don't think game mechanics themselves play a part or factor in how females react to a game... it's atmosphere, within the setting and around the table that's key, IMO.
Personally I like story centric games, the kind of games that explore both the world of the game and the individual characters of the game. I do prefer game systems that put an emphasis on this, like the Cortex+ games Smallville and Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, or some FATE games like Strands of FATE or Diaspora or Dresden Files, but I also love Fantasy Craft and Legend of the Five Rings and Earthdawn and Fading Suns and Werewolf and Geist and the upcoming Mummy for nWoD looks amazing...
I love rpgs... but it's not the games I have a problem with. It's unaccepting, discriminating and ignorant people who are unwilling to accept others and treat them bad I have a problem with. when I say ignorant, I mean the people who make assumptions with a lack of knowledge about something or somebody because they have either not been taught, or they really don't care, or they refuse to learn and in the process they make decisions that hurt and harm other people and bring them down and they choose to act like this.
I mean no insult to anybody here on these forums, I love you all...
one of the best things about the Smallville game is that it focuses on Relationships, and it is designed for character Drama... and it does very well any type of game or TV show where the main cast and show story focuses on Drama and interpersonal conflicts... it's perfect for Buffy, Star Wars, Charmed, 90210, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, playing Disgaea and setting it in the Evil Academy, and of course Smallville to just name a few shows that you could do with it. It's my personal favorite game, it hits all my buttons and dare I say it hits all my female buttons as well.
So, if a game like D&D comes across as boring to someone you know...try a different game.
Personally I like story centric games, the kind of games that explore both the world of the game and the individual characters of the game. I do prefer game systems that put an emphasis on this, like the Cortex+ games Smallville and Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, or some FATE games like Strands of FATE or Diaspora or Dresden Files, but I also love Fantasy Craft and Legend of the Five Rings and Earthdawn and Fading Suns and Werewolf and Geist and the upcoming Mummy for nWoD looks amazing...
I love rpgs... but it's not the games I have a problem with. It's unaccepting, discriminating and ignorant people who are unwilling to accept others and treat them bad I have a problem with. when I say ignorant, I mean the people who make assumptions with a lack of knowledge about something or somebody because they have either not been taught, or they really don't care, or they refuse to learn and in the process they make decisions that hurt and harm other people and bring them down and they choose to act like this.
I mean no insult to anybody here on these forums, I love you all...
one of the best things about the Smallville game is that it focuses on Relationships, and it is designed for character Drama... and it does very well any type of game or TV show where the main cast and show story focuses on Drama and interpersonal conflicts... it's perfect for Buffy, Star Wars, Charmed, 90210, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, playing Disgaea and setting it in the Evil Academy, and of course Smallville to just name a few shows that you could do with it. It's my personal favorite game, it hits all my buttons and dare I say it hits all my female buttons as well.
So, if a game like D&D comes across as boring to someone you know...try a different game.
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