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Would your group stop a woman from joining?

Would your group stop a woman from joining?


Mouseferatu said:
I've seen this sentiment before, and I really wish I knew where it came from. IME, women are no more or less likely to be min-maxers or hack-n-slashers than men.

Slightly off topic, but I'm willing to answer.

It's because every woman to join my group has always been this way. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that all of them learned the rules while playing with us. Most of them joined because they liked fantasy art or fantasy literature. They didn't know how to min-max, since they didn't know the rules. Plus, they were all about exploring the STORY behind their characters. They came up with the oddest stories(these are all real characters played by women in my groups):

"I am a pixie, with magical powers and a real trickster"

"I am a handmaiden to a princess trying to find my own way in the world"

"I am a druid, looking to protect nature and make the world a better place for animals"

"I am a cleric of an evil god, but not evil myself. I did not know that he was evil and was decieved into worshipping him."

Whereas my male friends play:

"Ugh, the half-orc barbarian who has a strength of 24 and likes to hit things with his axe"

We've actually had women kinda phase out and stop paying attention during the battle portions of the game. They'd start talking to each other as they didn't much care about the dice rolling. None of them ever really enjoyed the rules portion of the game enough to actually READ the PHB, so we'd have to tell them what their pluses to hit were each round of combat.

I've known ONE woman who actually knew the rules well enough to min-max and she knew the rules before joining our game. She still concentrates more on the story than the guys in our group and when she DMs she gets corrected by the players in it (all guys) fairly often and we've taken to giving her enemies tactical advice on how to best beat us.
 

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In the games I've run over the last 20 odd years, I've never turned a player away simply because they were female. And while making sure the gaming group works well together is a concern, I'm not so worried about any specific dynamic that may be going as much as radical changes. Every player who joins changes the dynamic so ruling out any class of players, whether female, gay, or both, because of worries about the dynamic seems pointless. The specific characteristics of the individual are more important in determining whether they will radically alter the dynamic or just adjust it a little.
 


Ottergame said:
This is Ironclaw, a furry RPG. There was my ferret, a rat sneak, a rabbit... torch holder, an otter with a big axe, and the DM had a DMPC that was a wolf mage. We also had a raccoon dragoon tagalong, also run by the DM.

Did you start this thread to discuss women in gaming, or were you just looking for an excuse to talk about your gay furry orgy game :p
 


First off, gaming groups are exempt from the Bill of Rights and any Civil Rights laws. If your group decides that your game is only open to people who wear Viking helmets for everyday wear or go to your Astronomy Club, that's your perogative. That doesn't necessarily make you an ass or means you should apologize, these are the standards that you and your partners agree to.

Secondly, if an outsider manages to beat down the door and integrate herself within the group, this does not mean that you need to change your style to fit her needs. Make sure she knows what she's in for, and then let her use her own judgement as to whether or not things are appropriate for her.

Personally I don't really care about who I game with.
 

Greylock said:
Honestly, ya know, sometimes she does have an unfair advantage. I mean, there's not another one of us players who could get away with calling the DM a "pickle-head" without some fear of retribution. ;)

Ya know.... payback's a ...... :p
 

Whisperfoot said:
I would like to elaborate upon my position by stating that male or female is irrelevant considering that the only way to get into one of my games is if you happen to be a native of Xerumtorox IX, a small moon of a gas giant in orbit around Beetlejuice. If you ain't from there, you are not in my game.

That must be one heckuva small game then..... ;)
 

Mouseferatu said:
I've seen this sentiment before, and I really wish I knew where it came from. IME, women are no more or less likely to be min-maxers or hack-n-slashers than men.

Ain't that the truth!! One of my fav characters was a hack-n-slasher! :cool:
 


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