Dark Jezter
First Post
"Mr. Nicholson, how do you roleplay women so well?"
"I think of a man, and take away reason and accountability."
"I think of a man, and take away reason and accountability."
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Roleplaying female NPCs (DM's)
- Thread starter Tinker Gnome
- Start date
helium3
First Post
Galeros said:
When I first started DM'ing, I had only two modes for playing female NPC's. Insane and Hysterical. I've branched out since then and have included a couple more archetypes like wizened crone, aristocratic and in charge, cute & evil and kick-ass quasi-lesbian. From my experience the two most difficult things about playing female NPC's are using a more feminine voice without sounding like a raspy drag queen and playing a female NPC that's trying to be flirtatious.
Tinker Gnome
Explorer
Vorput said:
Okay so maybe we do more.
But seriously, good responses guys and gals.
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
I don't really find it much of a problem with female NPCs. I just adopt different mannerisms and change my tone and timbre of my voice a bit. If anyone has thought it hasn't worked, they haven't complained yet.
Demiurge out.
Demiurge out.
OpheliaWhispers
First Post
Melkor said:
I am a woman and I have never had a hard time roleplaying males. I think my players can attest to that. I think, though, that it is easier to be a woman playing a male NPC or PC because we don't seem to get weirded out as much over it. The reason probably being that we (women), as roleplayers, live in a male dominated roleplaying world. I personally have never played in a female dominated group, but maybe some of you have. But from my own personal experience I think that roleplaying a man is made easier by the many men that I game with. I get to see how they handle situations and the like (and have many different examples of this from the many different men I game with) and that gives me a good sounding board to go from.
Hip-hip-hazzah for female roleplayers!
Quickbeam
Explorer
As a DM, I find that roleplaying consistently different, unique NPC personalities is more challenging for me than handling the roleplaying of opposite gender NPCs. I actually believe that's true for most of the members in both of my gaming groups as well. We've been fortunate to avoid many of the pitfalls associated with cross-gender roleplaying and I rather enjoy playing characters of the opposite sex from time to time.
genshou
First Post
I used to only play male PCs. Then I starting DMing. My first game was a StarCraft game that used a d6 system. After a while the game petered down to only one player (a Terran ghost), but he wanted to keep going. An important NPC at the time (a female Terran siege tank pilot who started out with the opposition and followed him when he left the Confederacy) eventually became a love interest when the campaign went solo. That was my first opportunity to really play a female character, and it worked great. Granted, there were a few uncomfortable moments playing out some scenes when my best friend and I are both male and heterosexual, but things still went great.
Since then, I've had no problem GMing female characters and even including a bit of romance in my games. I've even played some female PCs very successfully.
Since then, I've had no problem GMing female characters and even including a bit of romance in my games. I've even played some female PCs very successfully.
BlackSilver
First Post
Maybe it is because of my life experiences, and- well, everything else, but I have no problem with playing (as PCs or NPCs) female or male characters.
It is a role-playing game. Tough barbarian women are played as tough and mean, perhaps a thicker tone to my voice and a more up right posture. Small men with softer personality traits are played much like the soft woman with no real voice, shy and timid. (These are just two examples.) I do not try to do a deep male voice, I only try to convince my fellow Players that I am in character right now.
Be consistent with your characters, don’t allow the scene or the place in the game to be lost because something thinks your big rough barbarian is just a little to high pitched, let them know through action that you are doing the best you can consistently and you challenge them to do the same.
It is a role-playing game. Tough barbarian women are played as tough and mean, perhaps a thicker tone to my voice and a more up right posture. Small men with softer personality traits are played much like the soft woman with no real voice, shy and timid. (These are just two examples.) I do not try to do a deep male voice, I only try to convince my fellow Players that I am in character right now.
Be consistent with your characters, don’t allow the scene or the place in the game to be lost because something thinks your big rough barbarian is just a little to high pitched, let them know through action that you are doing the best you can consistently and you challenge them to do the same.
Herobizkit
Adventurer
I am male. Here me roar.
I am currently DMing a solo advanture with another male player. Before the campaign started we had watched the full-length anime feature "Tenchi in Tokyo" and the first three seasons of "Ranma 1/2". For some reason, we thought the concept of one guy being fought over by several females would make for a funny story. So, he made the "hero", and I got the lucky job of DMing three (soon to be four) love interests.
I don't have any issues at all role-playing female NPCs. Some conversations get really weird, but neither of us get 'weirded out' by them. We're both 'mature' gamers (late 20s) and taking an RPG to what can be expected in movies rated 18+ isn't a big deal.
I am currently DMing a solo advanture with another male player. Before the campaign started we had watched the full-length anime feature "Tenchi in Tokyo" and the first three seasons of "Ranma 1/2". For some reason, we thought the concept of one guy being fought over by several females would make for a funny story. So, he made the "hero", and I got the lucky job of DMing three (soon to be four) love interests.
I don't have any issues at all role-playing female NPCs. Some conversations get really weird, but neither of us get 'weirded out' by them. We're both 'mature' gamers (late 20s) and taking an RPG to what can be expected in movies rated 18+ isn't a big deal.
Orryn Emrys
Explorer
If you cannot get past your self-conscious preoccupations, you have already lost a great deal of versatility as a game master. Interestingly enough, I used to play female characters with relative frequency, and as a DM I have never had problems with their portrayal. Granted, I have to accept that some aspects of the feminine mindset will always be a mystery to me, but people are people, and plenty of source material for characterization can be found all around me.
In my earlier years of gaming, crossgender play was quite common... but then, female players were few and far between and always played female characters. Then, seven or eight years ago, one of my female players decided to play a male elven character. The group was a large one, and very mixed, and her PC was never feminine... but her portrayal of an elf wasn't volubly masculine, either. In any case, it soon led to a great deal of confusion, as people tended to mix up their pronouns and miscommunicated numerous intentions and directives. After this debacle, I gently encouraged my players to retain characters of their own genders for a time... and it apparently stuck. Nowadays, my players, many of whom are roleplaying purists, simply assume that their portrayal of their character will be more accurately perceived by their peers if they avoid the crossgender complication. It is, after all, in the reception and imagination of your fellow players where your character truly comes to life....
The only awkwardness of the type described above that has ever arisen in my games had nothing to do with actual genderbending... quite the contrary. As I said, many of my players are purists, utterly devoted to the development and portrayal of their character(s). Well, I am a DM about 90% of the time, and it was an unusual occasion in which I overheard my mother, who has been one of my better players for much of my twenty-year gaming career, admit to the DM of a game in which we were both involved that her character was possibly attracted to my own... a course they mutually decided, to my amusement and relief, not to encourage. How's that for an unusual dynamic?
On a side note.... Interestingly enough, back when both of my parents played, they frequently played siblings but never lovers.... Their characters just never seemed right for each other.
In my earlier years of gaming, crossgender play was quite common... but then, female players were few and far between and always played female characters. Then, seven or eight years ago, one of my female players decided to play a male elven character. The group was a large one, and very mixed, and her PC was never feminine... but her portrayal of an elf wasn't volubly masculine, either. In any case, it soon led to a great deal of confusion, as people tended to mix up their pronouns and miscommunicated numerous intentions and directives. After this debacle, I gently encouraged my players to retain characters of their own genders for a time... and it apparently stuck. Nowadays, my players, many of whom are roleplaying purists, simply assume that their portrayal of their character will be more accurately perceived by their peers if they avoid the crossgender complication. It is, after all, in the reception and imagination of your fellow players where your character truly comes to life....
The only awkwardness of the type described above that has ever arisen in my games had nothing to do with actual genderbending... quite the contrary. As I said, many of my players are purists, utterly devoted to the development and portrayal of their character(s). Well, I am a DM about 90% of the time, and it was an unusual occasion in which I overheard my mother, who has been one of my better players for much of my twenty-year gaming career, admit to the DM of a game in which we were both involved that her character was possibly attracted to my own... a course they mutually decided, to my amusement and relief, not to encourage. How's that for an unusual dynamic?
On a side note.... Interestingly enough, back when both of my parents played, they frequently played siblings but never lovers.... Their characters just never seemed right for each other.
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