mistergone
First Post
Hahaha oh man.. is this thread still going on? Uh, I think the original poster has long decided on what to do with his male player playing a female character. Yet still here you all are. Is it taboo to point out the blatantly obvious on messageboards? I really don't know, I'm still kinda new. Would it be bad form to mock all of you? What if I did but didn't type it out? Ah, but seriously...
I don't allow people to play evil characters in my games either. I'm guessing someone else has brought up this point also by now. My games aren't exploratory theatre or group therapy sessions. (Though I must say, the act of roleplaying and socializing with people in a group can certainly be theraputic, but that's something we take from it privately, eh?) I don't even recommend that people new to my games try out something wildly new to them (unless it's a new game to all of us, then, well, duh), because I want them to play their best, and to play well. If Gamer Johnny always plays an elf, and really doesn't like to play anything but elfs, and I have elfs in my game world, then sure, Johnny can play an elf. He likes to play elfs, he's done it before, he's prolly good at it, at the very least, he knows all their abilities and whatnot. But Johnny wants to play an evil female elf? No go. Johnny can work out that with another DM.
I offer up this Real Life case, as a cautionary tale about why I personally don't allow just anything to be played in my game. Once upon a time, I was running a Mage game. Yeah, I was a White Wolf geek for a while. I had a pretty good chronicle going, and had just wrapped up the first story arc, and was moving on to the second. Well, I looked around and decided to wrangle up some new players, to mix in with my current players, New story arc and all. So a few people responded to local ads in game shops. Well one guy contacts me, and we talk, and he seems cool, so I have him come over for the next game. On the phone he told me he wanted to play a Cult of Ecstacist, which for those of you who don't know, are basically mages that cast their magic through the use of vices. You know, hallucinogens, other drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, whatever makes them happy, so to speak. (Mage, I think, out of all the Storyteller games, is the most "adult".) So, before the guy ever came over, me and my roommate (also a player in the game) are kicking back and joking about some of the people who have gamed with us in the past, and I say "Watch this guy is a screaming freak and wants his focus to be masturbation." And we have a good laugh followed by some lewd speculation and laugh some more but eventually we move on to other topics, etc... Game day, and the guy shows up. I get out the rulebooks and have the fellow start making a character. Most all of the other players (including a female player) were already there, and we were all getting ready for the game, going through whatever pre-game rituals (claiming the best seat in the room, pre-rolling dice, reading up on rules, full contact sparring (two martial artist roommates)), when the new player pipes up:
"My focus is gonna be masturbation, is that cool?"
Silence fell over the room. You could hear a couple dice tumble over. A rulebook page flutter. A roundhouse kick pause in mid air.
"What?" I think I said. He repeated what he had said, then added something about how he had it figured out.
"You're joking, right?" I asked. No, he said, and then he stood up and proceeded to put his hand in his pocket, so as to explain as how the character could make it subtle when he wanted work magic.
"Get out of my house." I said. And despite a couple rather angry protests, he was out the door in less than a minute. We didn't game that day, instead, we sat around and alternately laughed about the whole thing and were weirded out by it. And this, my friends, is just one of too many instances where I have seen the nice friendly hobby of roleplaying go HORRIBLY WRONG.
Can you fault me then, for being wary of gamers who want to explore "alternate" ideas in my games? Would you allow such a thing to go on in one of your gaming groups? I defy you to not agree with me that my caution is warranted. Can you really now tell me that I should allow someone to play something I am uncomfortable with in a game that I am running? Eh, maybe you can, but you won't change my mind.
I don't allow people to play evil characters in my games either. I'm guessing someone else has brought up this point also by now. My games aren't exploratory theatre or group therapy sessions. (Though I must say, the act of roleplaying and socializing with people in a group can certainly be theraputic, but that's something we take from it privately, eh?) I don't even recommend that people new to my games try out something wildly new to them (unless it's a new game to all of us, then, well, duh), because I want them to play their best, and to play well. If Gamer Johnny always plays an elf, and really doesn't like to play anything but elfs, and I have elfs in my game world, then sure, Johnny can play an elf. He likes to play elfs, he's done it before, he's prolly good at it, at the very least, he knows all their abilities and whatnot. But Johnny wants to play an evil female elf? No go. Johnny can work out that with another DM.
I offer up this Real Life case, as a cautionary tale about why I personally don't allow just anything to be played in my game. Once upon a time, I was running a Mage game. Yeah, I was a White Wolf geek for a while. I had a pretty good chronicle going, and had just wrapped up the first story arc, and was moving on to the second. Well, I looked around and decided to wrangle up some new players, to mix in with my current players, New story arc and all. So a few people responded to local ads in game shops. Well one guy contacts me, and we talk, and he seems cool, so I have him come over for the next game. On the phone he told me he wanted to play a Cult of Ecstacist, which for those of you who don't know, are basically mages that cast their magic through the use of vices. You know, hallucinogens, other drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, whatever makes them happy, so to speak. (Mage, I think, out of all the Storyteller games, is the most "adult".) So, before the guy ever came over, me and my roommate (also a player in the game) are kicking back and joking about some of the people who have gamed with us in the past, and I say "Watch this guy is a screaming freak and wants his focus to be masturbation." And we have a good laugh followed by some lewd speculation and laugh some more but eventually we move on to other topics, etc... Game day, and the guy shows up. I get out the rulebooks and have the fellow start making a character. Most all of the other players (including a female player) were already there, and we were all getting ready for the game, going through whatever pre-game rituals (claiming the best seat in the room, pre-rolling dice, reading up on rules, full contact sparring (two martial artist roommates)), when the new player pipes up:
"My focus is gonna be masturbation, is that cool?"
Silence fell over the room. You could hear a couple dice tumble over. A rulebook page flutter. A roundhouse kick pause in mid air.
"What?" I think I said. He repeated what he had said, then added something about how he had it figured out.
"You're joking, right?" I asked. No, he said, and then he stood up and proceeded to put his hand in his pocket, so as to explain as how the character could make it subtle when he wanted work magic.
"Get out of my house." I said. And despite a couple rather angry protests, he was out the door in less than a minute. We didn't game that day, instead, we sat around and alternately laughed about the whole thing and were weirded out by it. And this, my friends, is just one of too many instances where I have seen the nice friendly hobby of roleplaying go HORRIBLY WRONG.
Can you fault me then, for being wary of gamers who want to explore "alternate" ideas in my games? Would you allow such a thing to go on in one of your gaming groups? I defy you to not agree with me that my caution is warranted. Can you really now tell me that I should allow someone to play something I am uncomfortable with in a game that I am running? Eh, maybe you can, but you won't change my mind.
