Girl DMs!

[dave_o]

So, I'm curious. How many Dungeon Mistresses do we have on the boards?

Does it change the dynamic of the group at all? How're your players, gender wise? Mostly dudes? Mostly dudettes?

Is it tough being a girl DM? Easier?

I'm just curious. This isn't meant in a sexist way, at all. I love the girl DMs! Buttercup's one, for sure (methinks). Maybe she'll offer some insight, at least.

 

[Dr Midnight]

We just had our resident gamer chick go all DFem on us for her first time behind the screen. She did a hell of a job, and really showed great instincts for the craft.

Visit her story hour for the game, called ADVENTURES ON THE SNAPDRAGON

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

The only female DM I've ever had was at the D&D open this year at Gen Con. She did a really good job of running a pretty straightforward scenario and making it pretty interesting. The monsters we fought were represented by candy and we got to eat whatever we killed, too!

 

[masque]

4 vs. 2...

*waves* Um, hi, just peeking out of the Nat20 board for a bit...

I'm the DM of my group (yeah, I'm female, but it seems pretty silly to say that given the context).

My group is mostly gals; 4 of us (including me) versus 2 of them. These are my two dorm-roommates, a guy I know from club and his girlfriend, my boyfriend, and me.

My group's wonky anyway, so I wouldn't say a 2-to-1 ratio really changes the dynamic. What really changes the dynamic is when you live with two of your players in a 20 by 25 room. *sigh*

It's not any tougher or easier because of gender, but the people I game with are my friends--not just game-friends, but the really cool kind--so it's really nice. Well, with an exception, but I'm not going there. I find it extremely difficult to plan any adventures for these people (oh, the plans they have ruined...), so I end up running it off the cuff and having tons of intragroup interaction. Another factor is that of the five of the, three are new to RPing, and I'm trying to ease them into the system.

 

[Leah]

I am I GM in an RPG club. I started by GMing a game for friends (all female), before I ever really played. After joining the club and playing for a couple of years, I am now GMing a couple of games, and hope to GM a few Living games soon.

My players are ... about half & half. I used to be the only female playing in a group for more than a year, but then i introduced my friends and now I'm we've got an equal ratio.
In the whole club its about four guys one girl. Before I joined it was about one girl thirty guys!

My twin sister also GMed for a short time.
but still, its mostly guys as regular GMs in the club.

Does anyone find they are treated differently? It has been a question I've heard around. I don't feel anu different as a GM, but when I was the only female player, a lot of bawdy talk was subdued because of my prescense.

 

[applenerd]

I've never even played in a group that had a girl in it. Do you feel that girls have a different play style than guys? My group is pretty into hack and slash with the occasionally unexpected bit of role playing. I would guess that girls would be a bit more into the role playing aspect (which I would definitely welcome in my group!) but I suppose there are all types. What have your experiences been?

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

She's not online right now, but randomling is a good friend of mine, and a female DM to boot. She had a bad experience with one group, but hopefully she'll start another one at some point...

She can tell you about her experiences, but I found her to be imaginative and creative, although not that strong on combat tactics...

 

[Joker]

There was a thread on this a couple of weeks ago. I'd post the link but I'm poor so I can't be a community supporter to do a search . But some1 else might .

 

[Shadowdancer]

I've never even played in a group that had a girl in it. Do you feel that girls have a different play style than guys? My group is pretty into hack and slash with the occasionally unexpected bit of role playing. I would guess that girls would be a bit more into the role playing aspect (which I would definitely welcome in my group!) but I suppose there are all types. What have your experiences been?

Well, our group is two guys, two gals. Neither of the gals have ever been DM, nor do they want to be (although I think one of them would be a natural). Anyway, both of the gals are just as much into the hacking and slashing as the guys are. In fact, I think they both prefer that part of the game to the roleplaying part, although both handle roleplaying well enough.

And all of us are in our 40s.

 

[Buttercup]

Yeah Dave-o, you're right that I DM. My group has one female player and three males right now. When I DMed online a few years back, there were two female players and six male.

Does it change the group dynamic? Hmm. Well, since by definition I can't play in an all-male group, I guess I couldn't say. But I've played in games that had male DMs and female DMs, and actually, the women seemed *more*bloodthirsty, if you ask me. Every male DM I've played with was obviously (to me, at least) trying to keep the party alive regardless of their stupidity. The women were just downright evil, let me tell you. No quarter.

All the people I presently play with are into both role playing and combat. As a DM, I think I can tell a reasonably good story, but I think I might actually be better at the mayhem. I'll have to ask my players what they think.

One thing that is harder for women, IMO, is finding a group to play with. Women aren't generally comfortable answering ads to play with complete strangers. There's a personal safety issue we are always thinking about that guys don't have to deal with. For example, I saw a post on the Wizards boards for an RPGA group in my area that is looking for new players and DMs. Since I'm pretty much self taught, I've been thinking about contacting them. I'd like to see what more formally trained DMs are like, and I'd certainly like to meet some other local players. But I'm pretty nervous about putting myself in a potentially scary situation. I answered an ad one other time, and the guy was just a complete freak. Fortunately my husband was with me, but I'd rather not do that again, and my husband really isn't interested in playing in another game.