Girls (Females) in D&D/Roleplaying

[Ed Cha]

1. None
2. Less than 5%
3. There seems to be more compassion and interaction with children.
4. Yes, they seem to be more interested in the plot than other gamers.
5. Hard to say, but I see less power-gaming among female gamers. They seem to focus more on the character and nature of their PC.
6. No, I think they know the rules just as much as most male gamers, but tend to put their priorities elsewhere.
7. There are fewer misogynistic/racial jokes and more seriousness in the roleplaying experience. Having female gamers in a group is a good thing.
8. Males and females often have different interests and hobbies.
9. Yes, but I don't know why as I've never played Vampire.
10. I don't know.
11. No, not really. Most of the female gamers I've played with have at least a basic understanding of the rules.
12. No, I've never played in an all-female game. At least 70-80% of my games have been with only males.
13. It is often the husband or boyfriend who gets the female gamer involved in a group. That has its advantages and disadvantages.
14. No, I have not seen any fighting between a gamer couple during a game.
15. From my experience, it seems that female gamers do bring in a lot of emotions from outside the game into the game itself. This can be distracting.
16. No, there does not seem to more quarreling.
17. If you're talking about the general approach to gaming, yes. I can't explain how though.

 

[Scarbonac]

Oh, perhaps I wasn't clear. See, there's a trio of single Air Canada flight attendants, one of whom is Columbian/Quebecois so she has a sort of Spanish/French accent, one who's from Trinidad and likewise has a French accent and one of whom is a former beauty pageant winner (a truth only unearthed after many years of acquiantanceship), along with a red-headed geology professor and my very, very talented and lovely wife.

I DM stewardesses. And they LOVE it. They BEG for it. And they had their Power Attacks/Rapid Shots/Maximise Power feats figured out by the end of the first combat they'd ever played.

Damn.

 

[kenobi65]

Geoffrey, I have to ask: how old are you? From the questions you've posed, it comes across (to me at least) as though you and your group are fairly young people (late teens? Early twenties?)

It also seems to me that a lot of the people who've replied to your questions are somewhat older than that.

(Me, I'm a few weeks shy of 40, and I'm among the younger players in my groups.)

 

[Wombat]

I'll give it a shot here

1. How many female roleplayers do you have presently in your campaign(s)?

There are seven of us, five male, two female.

2. Percentagewise, with how many females did you share your hobby in your own gaming history so far in comparison to the males?

I'd say that I've had about a 10% female/90% male ratio throughout my gaming history. I've talked about my gaming with as many women as men, but I have found fewer who were interested in playing, for a variety of reasons.

3. How do female roleplayers change the style of play in your groups?

Not at all. I run exactly the same games when women are present as when it is "men only". I can say individuals have had an extreme effect, but those individuals have been of both genders.

4. Do you think that female roleplayers are more drawn in to the storytelling aspect of the game? If so, why?

There is a very slight tendency towards "What's My Motivation?" amongst the females I have gamed with, something I am always happy to encourage as I hate games that are merely "These are my stats; let's kill something." But one of the most rulemongering, bloodthirsty, and least interested in the story players I ever had was female, so it kinda washes.

5. Do you think that female roleplayers are more or less immune to powergaming/maximizing? If so, why?


Nope. I've seen minmaxers of both genders.

6. Do you think that female roleplayers are generally ignorant about the rules, concentrating more on the stories and the roleplaying itself?

Not necessarily. Then again, I tend to run pretty "Rules be hanged!" games to begin with -- my campaigns focus much more on setting and story than rules.

7. Where do you see advantages/disadvantages of a group that features some/majority/none female roleplayers?

I'm of the old "Women Hold Up Half The Sky" school, so I prefer having at least some women in my gaming groups. While I have not noted a strong differentiation between male and female players (or characters) in the campaigns, I think there is something to be said about having a mix of genders at the table. If nothing else my players seem to prefer the mix to single gender sessions.

8. Why do you think that male roleplayers are the vast majority in the hobby?

Partially because rpgs came out of the old wargames, boardgames, and ubergeek traditions -- I know I did! Heck, back in my high school days I knew several seniors who I think were still worried about "catching cooties". Just as a lot of fantasy literature, until very recently, was aimed only at males (Conan, Elric, etc.), so, too, the game were marketed to males. This helped reinforce the negative stereotypes of the unwashed, socially maladjusted gamer. I think there has been very little effort on the part of the general community to break down or adjust this image.

9. Do you think that socalled "Storytelling Games" like e.g. "Vampire" draw more female roleplayers to their genre than traditional roleplaying games like D&D? If so, why?

I have noticed slightly more women attracted to Vampire, but not necessarily to Werewolf or Mage. I think this could be connected to Anne Rice, amongst others -- the literature was already there by women, marketed to women, thus the crossover to gaming was easier, especially with the emphasis on LARPing. There was a conscious effort on the part of the White Wolf people to appeal to female players, which was a real aid over TSR and WotC, which have done nothing in particular that way.

10. Are there systems/settings out there in your estimation that are completely devoid of female roleplayers? If so, why?

I find fewer women like GURPS and Champions, as well as much of anything post-apocalyptic. OTOH there are some. GURPS and Champions might be put down to rules; the post-apocalyptic might just be the "sample" I have seen. No firm data here.

11. Do you know female gamers, that, even after some years of play, have only miniscule/no knowledge of even the simplest rules? If so, why?

Yes. And I also know male gamers like this. In either case it is an interest more in the social interaction than in the mechanics.

12. Did you ever play in groups that only featured female gamers? Did you (if so, how often percentagewise) play in a group that only featured male gamers?
How do those groups differ in style?

I only ran two all female sessions, and that was by special request from some friends of mine. It was definitely fun, but it wasn't one of my standard games (this was set up as kind of a strange bachelorette party). I have played in several games (particularly in my early years) where there were no women. For the last 15 years, though, I'd say there has always been at least 1 woman at the table.

13. Do you think a lot of female gamers are drawn into the hobby because their boyfriends are already playing it, or they want to get to know a boy better in the group, rather than out of personal interest?

**shrug** I suppose that could happen. One of the women in my current group has always loved gaming, but her husband can't stand the notion. Go figger. I have never had a woman at the table because of a boyfriend, but I have had a couple of husband-and-wife-gaming-couples at the table. I put that in a very different category.

14. Have you ever seen relationships break in a group, maybe even while playing? If so, why?

No.

15. Do you think that female gamers are more prone to draw private problems/conflicts into the actual roleplaying than males? If so, why?

No. Not that I've ever seen.

16. Is there generally more quarreling in a group that features some female gamers? If so, why? Could this be also to the benefit of the gaming, e.g. problemes are being dicussed rather that ignored?

No. Generally I like giving my players moral dilemnas to deal with, so there is often a lot of discussion going on, which is something both I and my gamers enjoy. Rather than simply "Go here, kill this, take treasure" there is a lot of "Well, he seems to be guilty, but there's something about that NPC's story that doesn't sit right..." going on at the table.

17. Do you think that the general approach of a female gamer is different from a male gamer? If so, how?

I've have been told by a couple of people over the years that I am a female gamer in a male body. **shrug** Whatever. No, I don't see a strong difference in approach, but that might be put down to the women who are drawn either to the hobby in general or my games in particular.

 

[Hammerhead]

I don't really feel like answering all of those questions, but many of the games I've been in recently have featured female players, and two in particular are among the most bloodthirsty and violent players I've met. I haven't seen any real evidence of deeper character immersion; they both seem to RP to kill stuff and work off built-up aggression.

 

[trowizilla]

1. How many female roleplayers do you have presently in your campaign(s)?

2-3 out of 5-6, including myself (I'm the DM, generally).

2. Percentagewise, with how many females did you share your hobby in your own gaming history so far in comparison to the males?

Maybe 33%? I'm fairly new to this, though, so "history" basically means "a year and a half".

3. How do female roleplayers change the style of play in your groups?

They tend to be a moderating force, hushing up the guys when they're being too loud or filthy-mouthed. We do tend to band together a bit, but that may be because my main female player has been my very good friend since middle school, and because, honestly the guys I game with (not in general, necessarily) can act like sulky two-year-olds at times.

4. Do you think that female roleplayers are more drawn in to the storytelling aspect of the game? If so, why?

I'm more interested in the story, but Main Female Player gets a certain gleam in her eye when all the d6s for Lightning Bolt come up 5 or 6. She's generally more curious and involved with the story than two of the guys, but not the other one.

5. Do you think that female roleplayers are more or less immune to powergaming/maximizing? If so, why?

We're all newbies, so only one guy is really into powergaming anyway. The rest of us, guys included, like to be fairly competant, but not necessarily UBER or anything.

6. Do you think that female roleplayers are generally ignorant about the rules, concentrating more on the stories and the roleplaying itself?

Naah, we're all equally ignorant. New players = a lot of looking stuff up. If I need to save time, I'll make rulings on the fly, but that may be more of a DM thing than anything else.

7. Where do you see advantages/disadvantages of a group that features some/majority/none female roleplayers?

Some: good balance! Majority: I've never played this, but I imagine it'd be similar to "some". None: I wouldn't know...I couldn't be there! My guys get really off-topic when they don't have someone (not necessarily a girl) to steer them back toward the game, though.

8. Why do you think that male roleplayers are the vast majority in the hobby?

Well, take this scenario: Girl (me!) is into fantasy novels, etc., thinks roleplaying could be fun. Resident roleplayers at high school are pimply, maladjusted creeps that clutch their chain-mail-bikini pictures and sneak into the girl's bathroom. Girl thinks "euw", gives up the roleplaying idea, not because she doesn't want to try it but because she can't find people to game with. I think this is changing, however, especially with the rise of anime fandom among teenage girls and the internet, which can connect fantasy-minded girls to non-creepy peers.

9. Do you think that socalled "Storytelling Games" like e.g. "Vampire" draw more female roleplayers to their genre than traditional roleplaying games like D&D? If so, why?

Most of the "Vampire" players I've met were creepy guys, so no. However, a lot of girls go through a "goth" stage where pretending to be a vampire/werewolf/whatever is fairly sociably acceptable, so maybe.

10. Are there systems/settings out there in your estimation that are completely devoid of female roleplayers? If so, why?

Beats me.

11. Do you know female gamers, that, even after some years of play, have only miniscule/no knowledge of even the simplest rules? If so, why?

The females I've played with have always put at least some effort to learn the rules. One guy, though, played for months with no idea what his clerical spells did.

12. Did you ever play in groups that only featured female gamers? Did you (if so, how often percentagewise) play in a group that only featured male gamers?
How do those groups differ in style?

Nope, nope.

13. Do you think a lot of female gamers are drawn into the hobby because their boyfriends are already playing it, or they want to get to know a boy better in the group, rather than out of personal interest?

I think a lot of female gamers get drawn into the hobby through a friend, not necessarily a boyfriend, since, while a lot of us may have an interest in gaming, it's very difficult to find a group, especially since the only gamers some of us have seen have been the creepy type. It's easier to join a gaming group if you go with someone you're already close to and trust, rather than answering an ad at the Local Gaming Store. I've never known anyone to game for the purpose of "hooking up", although likings do develop at the table.

14. Have you ever seen relationships break in a group, maybe even while playing? If so, why?

Like any semi-competitive social situation, relationships can get tense, but no one has ever broken up. People do sulk and throw hissy fits sometimes.

15. Do you think that female gamers are more prone to draw private problems/conflicts into the actual roleplaying than males? If so, why?

Unless it's the "I had a bad day, let's smash some zombies" kind of problem, not really. That's pretty equal among the sexes, anyway.

16. Is there generally more quarreling in a group that features some female gamers? If so, why? Could this be also to the benefit of the gaming, e.g. problemes are being dicussed rather that ignored?

Less quarreling, really; the girls generally hush up the guys when they're getting disruptive, or when there's too much OOC talking and they can't hear me. The girls have realized that I throw random monsters at them when they're not paying attention...the guys, not so much.

17. Do you think that the general approach of a female gamer is different from a male gamer? If so, how?

My players all have very different approaches, so I don't really think it's a gendered thing.

 

[reanjr]

1. Currently 2 females playing.

2. 10-15% female during my gaming lifetime.

3. Women don't tend to change the style of play in my group. None of the commonly held preconception of women gamers seems to hold true (unfortunately, since I fit the stereotype of female gamer, though I am not female)

4. Women are no more drawn to story than anyone else, male or otherwise. (otherwise?)

5. Women immune to powergaming? Hahahahaha!!!...

6. I think people who did not grow up on board games and/or video games are poor at learning the rules. To a very minor extent, this might cause a bit of gender bias as videogames were, historically, a male-centric hobby until recently. But there is no causative relationship between women and rules.

7. In my experience women tend to stay more focused (unless there is a child attached her to her leg and/or other appendage/teat). This is of great benefit.

8. The industry, I believe, is male-dominated due to many realted hobbies being male-dominated (tainting the potential pool of gamers with a ridiculous number of men) and a matter of critical mass. If a man sees 10 women playing a game, he has an initial impression that the game probably wouldn't appeal to him (except as a way to meet women). Same thing goes for women.

9. Vampire (the majority of Storyteller games in my experience are Vampire) draws goths. The goth scene is gender neutral (or woman dominant if you count effeminate men as partial women). So you get a pretty even split on gender in those games. Again, no causative relationship.

10. Are there any games that revolve around beating your wife? I bet those would have a low number of female players. Seriously, the only thing I can think of would be a hypothetical gadget-centric game where you get all these cool tools that combine in different ways. I have no experience with such a game, but I would think you'd find few women among a James Bond sort of game or possibly a realistic, non-anime Mech game that revolved around upgrading Mechs.

11. Yes, I know both women and men who can't grasp the concept of the rules. Neither of them plays games other than role-playing so they have no background in learning game theory. It should also be noted that the math skills of these people are often lacking as well. And computer skills, oftentimes. Learning gaming rules isn't about complexity, it's about a psychological paradigm of perceiving tasks. You either learn those types of things well, or you don't, and gender has little, if anything, to say about it.

12. I once played in a group that was all female (except for me). Let's just say, I'm not into role-playing sexual fantasies unless I'm LARPing. I have often played with all male gamers. Doesn't really differ from mixed groups.

13. Do I think a lot of female gamers are drawn into the hobby because their boyfriends are already playing it, or they want to get to know a boy better in the group, rather than out of personal interest? Yes. The trick is using bait and switch. I have found that gamers may seem quite attractive to the opposite sex until they are seen gaming, so this presents a wonderful opportunity. Lure women in with raw sex appeal. Only slowly does she realize that the guy that seemed so cool is really such a loser. By then, she's been playing for a couple of weeks and - with the right DM - is too invested in the story to quit now.

14. I've never seen intimate relationships between two gamers cause problems at the table. Though I have seen games ruined due to: alcoholism, cocaine addiction, heroin addiction, work scheduling, sub-par parenting (gamer-parents who bring their unruly kids), DM having extra-gaming relationshiop problems, relocation, large dogs who weren't beaten enough as puppies, X-Files, etc.

15. Women don't bring personal issues to the game table any more than men.

16. I find that quarrels are wonderfully settled by the authoritative yelling of a mother (doesn't matter who the child is, if the gamer is a mother she has "the voice").

17. I don't see any difference in approach between women and men in gaming.

 

[Pbartender]

1. How many female roleplayers do you have presently in your campaign(s)?

Two.

2. Percentagewise, with how many females did you share your hobby in your own gaming history so far in comparison to the males?

5-10%

3. How do female roleplayers change the style of play in your groups?

One of the two women in my group doesn't seem to like playing anything but Elven Clerics in 3.5 D&D. Consequently, we don't get much chance to play anything but 3.5 D&D... But that has nothing to do with her being female.

4. Do you think that female roleplayers are more drawn in to the storytelling aspect of the game? If so, why?

No.

5. Do you think that female roleplayers are more or less immune to powergaming/maximizing? If so, why?

No.

6. Do you think that female roleplayers are generally ignorant about the rules, concentrating more on the stories and the roleplaying itself?

No.

7. Where do you see advantages/disadvantages of a group that features some/majority/none female roleplayers?

Aside from the fact that is gives the stereotypical male gamer-geek good practice at socializing with the opposite sex, I can see no specific advantages or disadvantages that are due solely to the fact that they are not male.

8. Why do you think that male roleplayers are the vast majority in the hobby?

Probably for the same reasons that most poker games are mostly male.

9. Do you think that socalled "Storytelling Games" like e.g. "Vampire" draw more female roleplayers to their genre than traditional roleplaying games like D&D? If so, why?

No.

10. Are there systems/settings out there in your estimation that are completely devoid of female roleplayers? If so, why?

There far too many systems for me to make an informed guess. Aside from the fact that I think there are systems that are completely devoid of roleplayers to begin with, it would greatly surprise me if there were any systems that have never been played by a woman.

11. Do you know female gamers, that, even after some years of play, have only miniscule/no knowledge of even the simplest rules? If so, why?

Yes, but it has nothing to do with the fact that they are women. There is a young man in my current group, of whom I could say the same.

12. Did you ever play in groups that only featured female gamers? Did you (if so, how often percentagewise) play in a group that only featured male gamers?
How do those groups differ in style?

No. Yes, in junior high/high school, because we didn't know any girls that played.

13. Do you think a lot of female gamers are drawn into the hobby because their boyfriends are already playing it, or they want to get to know a boy better in the group, rather than out of personal interest?

Perhaps, but most of them don't stick with wither the game or the boy, in my experience.

14. Have you ever seen relationships break in a group, maybe even while playing? If so, why?

No.

15. Do you think that female gamers are more prone to draw private problems/conflicts into the actual roleplaying than males? If so, why?

No.

16. Is there generally more quarreling in a group that features some female gamers? If so, why? Could this be also to the benefit of the gaming, e.g. problemes are being dicussed rather that ignored?

No.

17. Do you think that the general approach of a female gamer is different from a male gamer? If so, how?

No.

 

[S'mon]

First up, answers vary hugely depending on whether we're talking round-table or PBEM games. Women are a minority of D&Ders and a minority of my round-table players, but many PBEMs have a majority of female players, especially the more rules-light systems. So if I run a D&D PBEM I'll have some female players, a non-D&D PBEM might well have over 50% female players. Some RPG systems are unattractive to most female RPers though, even in PBEM - Traveller is the example I know best, but I expect any gun/tech-focused system like Phoenix Command would be unlikely to have many female RPers.

>>1. How many female roleplayers do you have presently in your campaign(s)?<<

1/6 players in round-table game. Maybe 1/3 in current PBEMs, which are both D&D.

>>2. Percentagewise, with how many females did you share your hobby in your own gaming history so far in comparison to the males?<<

Round-table 1/8, PBEM maybe 1/2 to 2/3.

>>3. How do female roleplayers change the style of play in your groups?<<

Round table - hm, all players affect the play style. Female players are usually more interested in character interaction than number crunching. PBEMs do the interaction much better than they do crunch, so this works well. A female-led round-table game will tend to have more RP and less hack & slash, but female players vary as much as male ones. I've had 2 female round-table GMs, one was all-RP no-killing-PCs sort of GM, the other seemed to love attacking our poor PCs with extremely tough combat encounters.

>>4. Do you think that female roleplayers are more drawn in to the storytelling aspect of the game? If so, why?<<

If by 'storytelling' you mean roleplaying, yes. Women are generally more interaction-focussed than men IRL, and have better communication skills, so this isn't surprising. Very few women value 'crunch' for its own sake in my experience, though they may enjoy hack & slash as power fantasy, most don't much enjoy the tactical wargaming stuff. There are exceptions of course. If by storytelling you mean the railroading listen-to-GM's-story style of play, no, women GMs aren't particularly prone to this IME, if anything they tend to be more aware than men of the need for player freedom to set the direction of the game.
Some male D&Ders tend towards autistic behaviour, you just don't see this w females IME.

>>5. Do you think that female roleplayers are more or less immune to powergaming/maximizing? If so, why?<<

Powergaming of the munchkinoid "uber PC build" sort doesn't seem to hold much attraction for most female players. Most female players are as capable as males at building effective PCs but trying to squeeze every drop of advantage from the ruleset seems rare.

>>6. Do you think that female roleplayers are generally ignorant about the rules, concentrating more on the stories and the roleplaying itself?<<

In general female players are just as capable as males at mastering the rules, but as I said above may be less interested in exploiting this knowledge for maximum advantage, and are definitely more interested in RP than in number-crunching even when they can crunch perfectly well should they so wish.

>>7. Where do you see advantages/disadvantages of a group that features some/majority/none female roleplayers?<<

Female RPers tend to make particularly good GMs. They are better on average at creating and playing interesting NPCs, they are better on average at recognising what the players want & adapting their game to suit the players' wishes. As players, again they enjoy and are good at character interaction and can help a lot to add dept, interest and drama to games that might otherwise be rather shallow. Disadvantages - some female players playing D&D in a typical (usually male-dominated) powergaming campaign, very much the default 3e model (look at the WoTC scenarios) may be unable or unwilling to min-max & number-crunch enough to pull their weight in a PC group when it comes to combat, leaving them and the other players dissatisfied. Some female players are insufficiently assertive to get adequate attention in a noisy group of (male) D&Ders, and may be frequently overlooked.
Conversely as GM I had a problem of being hyper-sensitive to the demands of one particularly assertive female player, and in retrospect went far too far in attempting to satisfy her (ultimately unsatisfiable) demands, which caused big problems with the campaign & the other players. I think I, a male, was too sensitive to her demands and went too far to accommodate her because she was female, but this isn't a problem with female players per se, rather with male attitude to female players.

>>8. Why do you think that male roleplayers are the vast majority in the hobby?<<

If the hobby is D&D, it's the emphasis on rules/crunch over RP. Male RPers are not the vast majority of PBEM RPers IME.

>>9. Do you think that socalled "Storytelling Games" like e.g. "Vampire" draw more female roleplayers to their genre than traditional roleplaying games like D&D? If so, why?<<

More emphasis on mood, theme & character, less on crunch. Goth chicks are more likely to RP than their mainstream peers, and they like vampires.

>>10. Are there systems/settings out there in your estimation that are completely devoid of female roleplayers? If so, why?<<

Hard-sf settings with a systems emphasis on 'cold tech' like guns and spaceships. GDW games like Traveller & Twilight:2000 don't attract female players - even if they find the settings interesting, the emphasis on tech & crunch isn't. Games that are really tactical skirmish wargames. Why - see above.

>>11. Do you know female gamers, that, even after some years of play, have only miniscule/no knowledge of even the simplest rules? If so, why?<<

No. Female D&Ders who play regularly pick up the rules at the same rate as most male RPers IME.

>>12. Did you ever play in groups that only featured female gamers? Did you (if so, how often percentagewise) play in a group that only featured male gamers?
How do those groups differ in style?<<

I've been the only male in 1 round-table game. It was very 'soft' and fluffy - lots of great RP, minimal excitement. All male groups tend the opposite - lots of combat, often not much RP.

>>13. Do you think a lot of female gamers are drawn into the hobby because their boyfriends are already playing it, or they want to get to know a boy better in the group, rather than out of personal interest?<<

I have one m-f couple in my current group, but no, IME generally not. Most regular female RPers developed their interest completely separate from male influence. However because the RPG world is male-dominated, many female RPers are girls & women more comfortable in all or mostly-male company than the average girl or woman. They are likely also less susceptible to negative peer pressure ("You play D&D? Yuck!") than the norm.

>>14. Have you ever seen relationships break in a group, maybe even while playing? If so, why?<<

No, not exactly. I've seen PBEMers form IRL relationships and break up later.

>>15. Do you think that female gamers are more prone to draw private problems/conflicts into the actual roleplaying than males? If so, why?<<

Hm, maybe. Haven't got enough evidence. Female RPers may be more likely to express RL emotions at the table, in general females compartmentalise their lives less than males do and are less likely to put their 'game face' on at the table.

>>16. Is there generally more quarreling in a group that features some female gamers? If so, why? Could this be also to the benefit of the gaming, e.g. problemes are being dicussed rather that ignored?<<

We-ell... in my limited experience the answer would have to be 'yes'. This can be good or bad, but IME was ultimately bad (see above).

>>17. Do you think that the general approach of a female gamer is different from a male gamer? If so, how?<<

See above.

-Simon

 

[S'mon]

Double Post