Playing cross-gender PCs

[S'mon]

I'm male, I play female characters. I tend to play tough-ass female fighter types rather than cute fluffy or leather nympho seductress types (I've seen other guys recently play cute fluffy Rogue & haughty aristocrat Wizard female PCs, no nymphos since high school though). I find that playing a female warrior can bring more emotional depth and interest to what might be a very simple fighter PC, I can be in touch with my caring sharing feminine side and slaughter legions beneath my mighty blade at the same time! Also tough-ass fighter types are the females I tend to relate best to IRL, don't know if that's relevant.

 

[S'mon]

I'm uncomfortable with overtly gay male PCs in a medieval setting who are promiscuous. Theban Sacred Band types would be ok, I reckon I could deal with male homosexual romantic love if it ever came up IMC (I recall a creepy GM once tried to make my 'hoplite' PC homosexual), but I'm not GMing any cottaging activities even in a PBEM. Since (plausible) lesbian characters tend to be all about the relationship rather than random nookie they don't pose the same problem, my greatest female fighter PC had a deep love for another female PC in a Midnight campaign, although I don't think she felt lust as such. Being Midnight it ended tragically with a failed rescue attempt.

 

[Kri8or]

In my group our only female player regularly plays male characters. Several players, one gay, two straight, have played females recently. I personally have only ever played male characters, but I did play a gay character in a modern Vampire game. He was a very straight laced government agent who was very much in the closet but could only feed on males. I don't think anyone in the party ever found out, even out of game, but it was a very helpfull tool for me to work out his motivations and try to understand his decision making process in a given situation rather than using my own.

(Long time lurker, first time poster. Hello all!)

 

[Kuld]

Do NPCs count

I've never played a female character as a PC. Well, I haven't played a PC since maybe '93 (high school). Back when we used to alternate DM duty. Since then, I have been full time QB. Every once in a while one of my male players builds a female character though...

Edit: Due to my sausage finger misspellings...

 

[tarchon]

I think I've done it twice - one was a goofy DC Heroes thing but the other was pretty normal, as halfling alchemists go in Warhammer FRP.

 

[the Jester]

I play lots of females- slightly less than half. Hmm, let's see- my most recent five pcs have been:

Yolanda, epic alienist (female)
Neverbeard, dwarf rog/rng/ftr (male)
Pepto, halfling rogue (female)
Sarcastro, half-elf bard (male)
An elf monk whose name I forget (female).

 

[MonsterMash]

I'm male and have played female characters, but I don't often do it. In the Judges Guild Wilderlands setting I use I'd be tempted to play an Amazon warrior and in most medieval settings I'd favour males as it tends to be that there would be discrimination in their favour.

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

I be male and about half of my characters have been female. For most of my characters, sexuality simply doesn't come up. I think it has only come up for four characters, really. Strangely enough, three of them were female, but I attribute the first two 'frisky' characters to teenage hormones.

My Amazon warrior went wenching once and commented that the priestess of the group had a nice posterior. My Priestess of Bast was most decidedly not picky (only qualification being they were 'cute', regardless of race). My prima-donna bard/cleric of Sune was decidedly against naughty touching, feeling rather adamantly that that would hurt. Finally, though the group’s fighter had the unwarranted reputation for being a ladies man and a partier, my Paladin seemed to get the most nookie of the group (and celestial nookie at that). Course, he was just relieving some tensions when the opportunity presented itself.

My wild mage hit the ‘change gender’ wild surge twice in the same campaign, so it really wasn’t sure what gender/sexuality it was. I adamantly state my fire elemental has no naughty bits to speak of, and thus has no gender, despite being named George.

What has freaked me out a bit in the past:
-Roleplaying the ‘encounter’ (complete with dice rolling to rate the ‘performance’ and xp)
-the wearing of a t-shirt depicting the chest of an endowed female by a male player to remind the DM that he was playing a female character.

 

[Lord Igor]

Exactly half my characters are female. I simply alternate between male/female. My last character was male, so the next will be female.

Most players in my all-male group play female characters from time to time. One player never plays female characters (but he's new so give him time), while another uses the same 'gender rotation' as I do.

In true roleplaying parties playing a opposite gender character can be a nice challenge, while in hack'n slash games noone gives a flying rat's @** about gender as long as you can 'slay the treasure, rescue the dragon and steal the princess'.

 

[Gez]

I do have a slight problem with people playing cross gender characters, but it's mainly due to the vast majority of players being incapable of doing so without adding an aspect that is either annoying or creepy.

I've never gamed with anyone that comes from your "vast majority".

This includes, but is not limited to:

1. Speaking in falsetto
2. Unnecessary flirting with NPC of the "opposite" gender. Just because you're a guy playing a female doesn't mean you have to be "easy"
3. Playing female characters as stereotypically sensitive, or playing male characters as stereotypically sexist

Never seen 1.
Only case of 2 that I can remember was with a female satyr in a Changeling game. (And she was bi.) She was also "unnecessarily" engaging in drinking contests and in top-lung bawdy singing.
Never seen 3 either.