male playing female PC

[Kahuna Burger]

One of the characters I wrote up was a high-class, nineteenth-century courtesan in Atlanta who had gained power by catering to the city's financial and government elite.

...

he still insisted that a prostitute character was wholly inappropriate.

Well, ya know if he can't tell the difference between a courtesan and a prostitute... Such a character could easily be played as the consumate diplomat and power broker (with a heavy dose of knowing how to play people off against each other) and would (IMHO) be wasted on someone who would use the "I'll sleep with you for X" strategy.

I was thinking for a while of playing a courtesan/bodygaurd (I was happy to see that idea mentioned in Plot and Poison, but annoyed that a mention was all it got) but eventally decided against it simply because I knew the DMs (and players) I was dealing with at the time would likely not grasp the difference between a high power courtesan/concubine and a dock whore...

It got me thinking, though, about how, although most character concepts can be shoehorned into either gender (the reckless fighter, the antisocial druid, the abandoned-as-a-child-and-seeking-revenge paladin), some concepts are inherently gendered (the Vietnam combat vet, the lothario with a string of unknown children, the Civil-War-era-courtesan). When I DM, I hope to give folks as much freedom as possible to design a character they find compelling; limiting gender can eliminate some character concepts entirely.

Probably the best overall reason for allowing cross gender play. Other character types are the reason some Dm's seem to outlaw it. I'd rather restrict specific character types than all those that require cross gender...

Kahuna Burger