Gender Reversal in D&D

[Ogre Mage]

Male Prestige Classes

The Asha'Man in the Wheel of Time RPG is a male only prestige class.

Wizard of the Fraternal Order in the Iron Kingdoms setting is a male only prestige class/group. They are the most powerful, prestigious wizard order in the land and women are strictly forbidden.

Interestingly, both these classes as well as the Eunuch Warlock are arcane casters.

 

[Celtavian]

re

I would say it was smart marketing on WotC's part. The fact that the majority of the D&D community (take a look at the "guys and girls" poll) is male should be indication enough that there need be no more encouragement for males to play D&D. Default D&D is majority male. You really don't need to write in male dominance, the male dominant world is default D&D inside and outside of the game.

It's like the example for minority magazines and radio and TV stations. The default is white, why create an all white station unless you are truly planning on promoting racial propaganda. It serves no purpose when about 90% of the stations produce shows geared for a white or mixed audience.

 

[DWARF]

And as always, the DM can make whatever world they want to...

 

[mhacdebhandia]

The Brotherhood of Heaven's Wing is an exclusively male society of Phoenix Clan bushi in Rokugan - I believe they appear in Way of the Samurai.

Of course, Rokugan has quite a few female-only societies and groups, as well. The Reibai from Magic of Rokugan (and they're celibate), the Lion's Pride in the Rokugan setting book, and of course the Utaku Battle Maidens in Way of the Samurai.

 

[S'mon]

The "can girls be paladins" thread got me thinking. We have several PrCs in D&D that are female only (Hathran, Sword Dancer, others I'm not thinking of) but as far as I know, there's only one male-only PrC - the Eunuch Warlock from OA. And that's hardly a manly PrC!

And while there are societies like the Hathran where women are the rulers and there's a glass ceiling for men, there aren't any examples of highly patriarchal socieities (I can't think of any detailed by WotC in 3.x). Indeed, if you look at the D&D minis line, there are more female "warriors" than there are male figures!

It's odd. WotC's D&D seems to assume total gender equality (something we haven't achieved IRL yet). It's a world where women can discriminate against men, but the idea of men discriminating against women (and being cast in a good light, like the Hathran) will never ever be shown.

It just strikes me as strange.

That's Political Correctness for you. Personally I think there's a place for Political Correctness - one of my female players pointed out that WoTC's approach to art, text etc probably does make D&D 3e more approachable for female players than the chainmail-bikini style of earlier years.
Also, I was very glad to be able to buy a bunch of old WoTC Chainmail minis from SVgames and _finally_ get a bunch of fully clothed & armoured female fighter minis! I had a lot of female fighter figs already, but most were of the scantily-clad Larry Elmore-inspired bikini-model type, and I needed more variety.
IMC there are highly patriarchal cultures, mildly anthrarchic (opposite of gynarchic) cultures, cultures with relative gender equality, cultures with gender delimitation (eg female Clerics, male Fighters), the occasional matriarchy (often short-lived), one insanely misogynist demon-worshipping city-state based off a Piers Anthony story, etc. Definitely not total gender equality; most rulers are male, OTOH it's a fairly chaotic world and women who really want to be Fighters can usually find a way, though it's easier to be a Wizard, Sorcerer, Rogue, or Cleric of certain deities - some have all-female priesthoods, some all-male, most take both.
I guess there's generally a mild correlation between "Good" and "Gender Equality" IMC; and the more extremely sexist societies (either way) tend to be the more unpleasant ones, although in most instances being a man in a strong matriarchy (probably relegated to farming and other unskilled labour) seems a bit less unpleasant than being a woman in a strong patriarchy (probably either relegated to farming and other unskilled labour, or kept in a harem as a wealthy male's wife or concubine).
IMC, YMMV

 

[Whisper72]

On the same subject header, but a slightly different tangent.... what would happen to a female Hathran who puts on a genderbender belt??? Just thinking random thoughts here....

 

[Dark Jezter]

yet there is not a station for whites and there is only one for men(Spike TV).

The Playboy Channel dosen't count?

I don't know, but my only guess would be that "minorities" have more rights when it comes to empowerment of the whole than "majorities".

It's what I like to call "victimization culture." Basically, any group that used to be oppressed or persecuted are allowed to get away with things that the majority can't.

 

[SylverFlame]

I feel like throwing my two cents in here... Basically, the movement towards the "imbalance" of the gender tables in DnD started when WotC took over the line from TSR. If you check out the ADnD 2e PHB released by WotC they have a section of about two or three paragraphs explaining their movement to "gender neutral" pronouns, which consisted of a mixing the male and female uses. This has extended to the present all-female orders in PrC and such.

Also, from a game design aspect it makes sense. People tend to make homebrew races/classes that they think would be cool. Also, many people tend to imagine their characters in those roles. Since many players are male and many of those players have male characters, this means an increased likelyhood of "male type" PrCs in the homebrew enviroment. So, WotC could be argued to be balancing the playing field.

I should state that my assumptions above are just that; assumptions. I have no inside information on WotC's reasoning on this point nor do I have hard and fast numbers concerning the male player to male character ratio. Hopefully that holds up somewhat.

 

[Trainz]

I don't think there would be any problem in creating a male only PrC, cult, or whatnot. I certainly wouldn't have a problem with it, and "DISCRIMINATION !" isn't the first thing that would pop in my mind.

The first thing that would indeed intrigue me is WHY such a society is male only. This can have interesting RPing ramifications.

All that said, would such a PrC be fun in a game ? That I don't know. The posts in this thread make interesting observations.

 

[Tonguez]

yet there is not a station for whites and there is only one for men(Spike TV).

Heres the NBC Schedule for Tuesday, May 18

8:00 PM NBC SPECIAL: THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS GAME SHOW MOMENTS 2
9:00 PM LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
10:00 PM LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
11:34 PM THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO 2713
12:37 AM LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN 1902
1:36 AM LAST CALL WITH CARSON DALY 364

Conan Obrien, Jay Leno and Carson Daly - so it seems like the white males out there are covered
and of course the Klan does have a TV station...