Girls Gone Old School

[Viking Bastard]

I've written here before about my return to gaming. In fact, I can't really shut up about it. It's been a little less than a year since my fiancée and two of her friends started badgering me to teach them D&D and around 9 months since we started our campaign. We play biweekly with a core group of these three girls, all born in 1987, with three more casual players who drop in every few sessions.

Two of the drop-ins had some prior experience with D&D, but the core group had none. And I mean, they had none. They had not read the novels, or played Baldur's Gate or Diablo or World of Warcraft. I had to introduce them to all the archetypes and tropes of D&D. They are all fans of fantasy, but the closest they've come to D&D-style power fantasy are Tolkien's works and Terry Pratchett's Cohen the Barbarian character.

But it's amazing how they just picked it up and ran with it. The Halfling Thief "I stab him! In the back! With my Backstab! Muhaha!" kleptomaniac, the Smite-Happy "Aaaattack! Feel the Wrath of My Mother-Effing Gods! Through my Hammer of PAIN!" Cleric and the Knowledge Check Spamming "Do I pick up anything with Arcana? Perception? Insight? Also, I need healing plz." Elf Wizard.

And they're developing a style of play that's more Old School in nature than anything I've ever played. I throw out plot hook after plot hook, setups for epic quests and character arcs, but they're just not interested. They want me to point them towards the next dungeon, so they can kill things and take their stuff.

I asked them to write down some goals for their characters and they were:
Thief: "I want to be RICH! MORE GOLD!"
Cleric: "I want a bigger Warhammer. With SPIKES!"
Wizard: "I want to be able to Blow Stuff Up more. My spells are so puny."

My old D&D group of yesteryear dropped XP very early into 3e and we never looked back. When we started this campaign, I didn't even think about XP. Last weekend, though, they came to me and asked me to allow them to track XP. They wanted to feel like they were earning their levels.

I'm not complaining. I'm just a little flummoxed. I'm going with it. In fact, I'm thinking about running them through White Plume Mountain, starting the session after the next.

They want Old School? Allright, the gloves are coming off!

 

[Mark CMG]

Congrats! It sounds like it's going great!

 

[Viking Bastard]

It is! I mean, we've had our problems and hiccups, but overall, it's going pretty well. We're having fun, at least!

But what prompted this post (and I probably should have put a line or two in the OP about) are the prejudices I see about generational and gender chasms in styles of play. The Old Folk like this and the Younglings want that; Boys want Power and the Girls want Character. I can't even claim to be above such ideas.

But: Teenage me and my friends wanted Story Above All -- Character Arcs and Self-Important Storytelling -- and sneered at Hack & Slash. Now my group of 24 year old girls just want to Blow Stuff Up and Get the Gold!

It makes me happy.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Also, something-something-something about the core of the D&D archetypes and how seamlessly the girls picked them up. There's something universal going on there.

 

[Mark CMG]

But: Teenage me and my friends wanted Story Above All -- Character Arcs and Self-Important Storytelling -- and sneered at Hack & Slash. Now my group of 24 year old girls just want to Blow Stuff Up and Get the Gold!

Ah, but they want their characters to blow stuff up and get the gold, and that just happens to be the story that satisfies them at their current level of engagement with the game. Have you had a villain escape from them yet? I dare say they sound like the type of players who would have their characters hunt that bastard down. And that's another story!

 

[GregoryOatmeal]

I run a D&D group for about four women in their twenties/thirties.

Due to stereotypes/misguided crap none of them were exposed to it early in life. But really they play exactly like the boys. There's no difference at all. Hopefully that crap about gaming being for boys dies off really soon.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Ah, but they want their characters to blow stuff up and get the gold, and that just happens to be the story that satisfies them at their current level of engagement with the game.

Well, Hack & Slash or Love & Hugs, RPGing is always about playing characters. And I fully expect their style and preferences to change over time. Mine definitely did.

Have you had a villain escape from them yet? I dare say they sound like the type of players who would have their characters hunt that bastard down. And that's another story!

No escape, exactly, but they've killed one twice now. Afterwards they were like "Wee! Can we do that again?" Killing that guy may become a recurring feature.

 

[nedjer]

I've written here before about my return to gaming. In fact, I can't really shut up about it. It's been a little less than a year since my fiancée and two of her friends started badgering me to teach them D&D and around 9 months since we started our campaign. We play biweekly with a core group of these three girls, all born in 1987, with three more casual players who drop in every few sessions.

Two of the drop-ins had some prior experience with D&D, but the core group had none. And I mean, they had none. They had not read the novels, or played Baldur's Gate or Diablo or World of Warcraft. I had to introduce them to all the archetypes and tropes of D&D. They are all fans of fantasy, but the closest they've come to D&D-style power fantasy are Tolkien's works and Terry Pratchett's Cohen the Barbarian character.

But it's amazing how they just picked it up and ran with it. The Halfling Thief "I stab him! In the back! With my Backstab! Muhaha!" kleptomaniac, the Smite-Happy "Aaaattack! Feel the Wrath of My Mother-Effing Gods! Through my Hammer of PAIN!" Cleric and the Knowledge Check Spamming "Do I pick up anything with Arcana? Perception? Insight? Also, I need healing plz." Elf Wizard.

And they're developing a style of play that's more Old School in nature than anything I've ever played. I throw out plot hook after plot hook, setups for epic quests and character arcs, but they're just not interested. They want me to point them towards the next dungeon, so they can kill things and take their stuff.

I asked them to write down some goals for their characters and they were:
Thief: "I want to be RICH! MORE GOLD!"
Cleric: "I want a bigger Warhammer. With SPIKES!"
Wizard: "I want to be able to Blow Stuff Up more. My spells are so puny."

My old D&D group of yesteryear dropped XP very early into 3e and we never looked back. When we started this campaign, I didn't even think about XP. Last weekend, though, they came to me and asked me to allow them to track XP. They wanted to feel like they were earning their levels.

I'm not complaining. I'm just a little flummoxed. I'm going with it. In fact, I'm thinking about running them through White Plume Mountain, starting the session after the next.

They want Old School? Allright, the gloves are coming off!

Rules in the background, action arriving thick and fast. Sounds great! Wish every player could state goals so clearly. Maybe one day the thief will want to steal crown jewels or the wizard might create a new 9th level spell - until then I'm just looking forward to the metaled-up mace meets rust monster encounter.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

Thief: "I want to be RICH! MORE GOLD!"
Cleric: "I want a bigger Warhammer. With SPIKES!"
Wizard: "I want to be able to Blow Stuff Up more. My spells are so puny."

I bet this would look even cooler if written in Icelandic.

 

[amerigoV]

I agree that the stereo-types do not hold. We try to make some boxes to fit people into so we can understand why girls do not what to game with early teen boys.

The reality is no one in the right might wants to game with a bunch of early teen boys