Monsters, Women, Glory, and Gold!
- Thread starter SHARK
- Start date
Voadam said:
Er, ah, ahem. Of course, that is to say, what I MEANT is that EN World is a nice, civil place to have polite and intelligent discussions on D&D-related things. Not AT ALL like the chaotic mess you find on UNsenet. Nope, not at all.
Keep it down, idiot. Are you trying to get me in trouble?
WSmith
First Post
I recently read through the Hackmaster PHB. And although it makes fun of it's use of only male type pronouns, there is a much more serious issue implied. First, it states that women are not by any means inferior and the ladies of Hack can hold their own and excell ever moreso. But more importantly, we are all talking about a game. A GAME! We are not reading the Federal Government's Employee's handbook. RPG material does not HAVE to cater to all people at all times. That is why there are so many different suppliments and game worlds out there.
Now, the White Supremacy Game POS that was posted is offensive and not funny, not even by a longshot! That is the kind of garbage you should concern yourself about turning people off to RPGs. But to insinuate that this thread is borderline offensive, is riduculas. All the women I have ever met that play RPGs over the years are not the kind that would get offended by the use of the male pronoun, or images of chainmail clad Amazon fighters, or even the term "voluptious."
Now, the White Supremacy Game POS that was posted is offensive and not funny, not even by a longshot! That is the kind of garbage you should concern yourself about turning people off to RPGs. But to insinuate that this thread is borderline offensive, is riduculas. All the women I have ever met that play RPGs over the years are not the kind that would get offended by the use of the male pronoun, or images of chainmail clad Amazon fighters, or even the term "voluptious."
Re: "voluptuous and beautiful women" ?!?
While I understand the hope that more gamers will embrace the game, and not just women, the bottom line for me is that this game is supposed to be a fantasy.
I don't know what would qualify as an appropriate fantasy for most women, but I suspect that the other fantastic elements of D&D, like slaying great monsters, wielding huge swords, traveling to hellish, bizarre or dangerous places, and coming face-to-face with abberant humanoids don't rank very highly.
But consider that in D&D a woman can have the "perfect" body, whatever they decide that might be, and wield a two-hander with devastating effect. In other words, "I look great and can still kick butt." Sounds like modern girl power to me.
--- John
Mistwell said:
While I understand the hope that more gamers will embrace the game, and not just women, the bottom line for me is that this game is supposed to be a fantasy.
I don't know what would qualify as an appropriate fantasy for most women, but I suspect that the other fantastic elements of D&D, like slaying great monsters, wielding huge swords, traveling to hellish, bizarre or dangerous places, and coming face-to-face with abberant humanoids don't rank very highly.
But consider that in D&D a woman can have the "perfect" body, whatever they decide that might be, and wield a two-hander with devastating effect. In other words, "I look great and can still kick butt." Sounds like modern girl power to me.
--- John
Melan
Explorer
What SHARK said. I might add that I, personally, get rabidly disgusted when confronted with "celticesque" fantasy environments - but your mileage might vary. I also get bored when I see yet another PC world with no real conflict (or minimal conflict, or conflict where one side is completely good (usually the treesie-woodsie do-gooders) and another is completely evil). Conan's world isn't like these - it is a world of unbridled passion, of madness and decadence, common brutality. And it isn't about a noble fight for good and tolerance, or even equality - Conan is just opposing the completely evil ones because they stand between him and something else. A lot like D&D adventurers, actually. 
As WSmith pointed out, Howard could be considered the anti-Tolkien - maybe even the anti-Marion Zimmeron Bradley. Oh, and this is why I like it so much.
On women and "pulp fantasy": my favourite pulpy fantasy is Rhiannon's Sword by Leigh Brackett, who was a woman. And, guess what, the novel has a strong and beautiful woman in it - Ywain, namely. [As an aside: the book is very good and highly recommended for reading and mining for ideas.] I rest my case.
On chamail bikinis: I wonder why nobody complains about treating males as objects - after all, they are just as scantily clad as the women and represent evil stereotypes...
So, the best solution: if you don't like it, avoid it. I know I definitely avoid Marion Z Bradley.
As WSmith pointed out, Howard could be considered the anti-Tolkien - maybe even the anti-Marion Zimmeron Bradley. Oh, and this is why I like it so much.
On women and "pulp fantasy": my favourite pulpy fantasy is Rhiannon's Sword by Leigh Brackett, who was a woman. And, guess what, the novel has a strong and beautiful woman in it - Ywain, namely. [As an aside: the book is very good and highly recommended for reading and mining for ideas.] I rest my case.
On chamail bikinis: I wonder why nobody complains about treating males as objects - after all, they are just as scantily clad as the women and represent evil stereotypes...
So, the best solution: if you don't like it, avoid it. I know I definitely avoid Marion Z Bradley.
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