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<blockquote data-quote="Peni Griffin" data-source="post: 3414901" data-attributes="member: 50322">I was the eternal outsider.&nbsp; Never mind my sad story - you've all lived it.&nbsp; Kids today have it easy, I'll tell you - there's nerd cliques in junior high school now!&nbsp; When I started college, in fall 1979, I realized that higher education is a potential sink into which the rejects of America's high schools can drain, accumulate, and form their own likeminded ingroups.&nbsp; So I spent the first week or so reading all the announcements and going to all the mixers that sounded remotely like the stuff I liked, hoping to find the people I could get along with.&nbsp; One of the announcements was for &quot;fantasy roleplaying games&quot; in the Student Union Building on Sunday after lunch.&nbsp; I didn't know what that &quot;roleplaying games&quot; meant, but &quot;fantasy&quot; meant Tolkien, Nesbit, Morris, Lewis, McKillip, Dunsany, and all the other writers who took me out of the fields I knew.&nbsp; So I showed up at the SUB after lunch on Sunday.I may not have been the only female student there - I vaguely remember a young woman who left when told she couldn't play a troll - but I was close.&nbsp; Everyone was excited because something they called the DMG had just come out.&nbsp; People shoved dice into my hands.&nbsp; I rolled them and wrote down numbers.&nbsp; They said:&nbsp; &quot;That looks like a thief.&nbsp; What race would you like?&quot;&nbsp; I said I wanted to be a dwarf.&nbsp; One guy - Tony - said I'd have to be a guy because dwarf women were very rare and stayed&nbsp; under lock and key producing babies.&nbsp; This sparked an argument about the biology and culture of dwarves (probably beards were mentioned) which suddenly ended when the tall guy with the cigarette reading the DMG in the back of the room said:&nbsp; &quot;Let her play a female dwarf.&quot;So with some more directed die rolls and a borrowed PHB and a pamphlet called the Arduin Grimoire I rolled starting money, height, weight; hair, skin, and eye color; and selected equipment for Alendil, the first of many female dwarven thieves I would run in my AD&amp;D career.&nbsp; Meanwhile, Tony announced that he was rolling up a dwarf, too.&nbsp; The tall guy with the cigarette told us that we all met at the door of the dungeon and should introduce ourselves.&nbsp; I don't remember Tony's dwarf's name, but his first action was to sidle up to Alendil and start hitting on her like a stereotype from one of those beer commercials apparently designed to make you swear off alcohol forever.&nbsp; So I looked him in the eye and said, nice and loud:&nbsp; &quot;My name is Alendil.&nbsp; I'm a lesbian.&nbsp; If you ever lay a hand on me, I'll cut off your ***** (bleeped for the sake of Eric's gramma) and preserve them in salt.&quot;Tony sputtered and turned red to the roots of his greasy hair, the room erupted in laughter, the tall guy smiled behind his cigarette.&nbsp; In that moment, I became queen of the geeks, and I've never looked back.&nbsp; The ones who weren't my friends didn't want to face me in a fair verbal combat and the ones who were my friends knew I didn't need any special treatment to hold my own in the game.I haven't seen any of those guys in years, but my social life still centers on the gaming group.&nbsp; My tastes have matured, but not fundamentally changed.&nbsp; I don't care what system I play, because the core of the game is social - stepping into a character and playing her from my gut, stepping out of her and being me again.&nbsp; You can do that in any system as long as you can get people together for the game.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Peni Griffin, post: 3414901, member: 50322"] I was the eternal outsider. Never mind my sad story - you've all lived it. Kids today have it easy, I'll tell you - there's nerd cliques in junior high school now! When I started college, in fall 1979, I realized that higher education is a potential sink into which the rejects of America's high schools can drain, accumulate, and form their own likeminded ingroups. So I spent the first week or so reading all the announcements and going to all the mixers that sounded remotely like the stuff I liked, hoping to find the people I could get along with. One of the announcements was for "fantasy roleplaying games" in the Student Union Building on Sunday after lunch. I didn't know what that "roleplaying games" meant, but "fantasy" meant Tolkien, Nesbit, Morris, Lewis, McKillip, Dunsany, and all the other writers who took me out of the fields I knew. So I showed up at the SUB after lunch on Sunday. I may not have been the only female student there - I vaguely remember a young woman who left when told she couldn't play a troll - but I was close. Everyone was excited because something they called the DMG had just come out. People shoved dice into my hands. I rolled them and wrote down numbers. They said: "That looks like a thief. What race would you like?" I said I wanted to be a dwarf. One guy - Tony - said I'd have to be a guy because dwarf women were very rare and stayed under lock and key producing babies. This sparked an argument about the biology and culture of dwarves (probably beards were mentioned) which suddenly ended when the tall guy with the cigarette reading the DMG in the back of the room said: "Let her play a female dwarf." So with some more directed die rolls and a borrowed PHB and a pamphlet called the Arduin Grimoire I rolled starting money, height, weight; hair, skin, and eye color; and selected equipment for Alendil, the first of many female dwarven thieves I would run in my AD&D career. Meanwhile, Tony announced that he was rolling up a dwarf, too. The tall guy with the cigarette told us that we all met at the door of the dungeon and should introduce ourselves. I don't remember Tony's dwarf's name, but his first action was to sidle up to Alendil and start hitting on her like a stereotype from one of those beer commercials apparently designed to make you swear off alcohol forever. So I looked him in the eye and said, nice and loud: "My name is Alendil. I'm a lesbian. If you ever lay a hand on me, I'll cut off your ***** (bleeped for the sake of Eric's gramma) and preserve them in salt." Tony sputtered and turned red to the roots of his greasy hair, the room erupted in laughter, the tall guy smiled behind his cigarette. In that moment, I became queen of the geeks, and I've never looked back. The ones who weren't my friends didn't want to face me in a fair verbal combat and the ones who were my friends knew I didn't need any special treatment to hold my own in the game. I haven't seen any of those guys in years, but my social life still centers on the gaming group. My tastes have matured, but not fundamentally changed. I don't care what system I play, because the core of the game is social - stepping into a character and playing her from my gut, stepping out of her and being me again. You can do that in any system as long as you can get people together for the game. [/QUOTE]

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