Character sex

[Ghost Archer]

As sort of a follow up to Supreme's Poll on Ethnicity, I am curious how many players choose to play characters of the opposite sex?

[nblade]

For the most part, I really if ever play the opposite sex. Moslty its as GM. As a player, I don't think I ever really do.

[Kara Zor-El]

Originally posted by Ghost Archer
As sort of a follow up to Supreme's Poll on Ethnicity, I am curious how many players choose to play characters of the opposite sex?

I took a male character over for a limited time once while the original player was unable to play. And the only reason I did that was because he was the team leader, and they'd already been through about five. lol

[Monolith]

I have played both female and male characters numerous times. Playing a different sex gives me a wide-range of role-playing possibilities and tends to spice up a game that is too full of characters of one type of sex.

[Zeropoint]

I am male, and I've played some female characters. I didn't really try to do anything different, and they seemed to work as characters.

This leads me to one of two conclusions: Playing a character as a person first and a gender second brings them to life, or: I don't know enough about women to notice when I'm doing something wrong.

I've never gamed with any women (alas) nor have my fellow gamers played women very often. Do any of you have insights as to how the four different gender combinations work out?

You all probably know this already, but as a related final note: in the movie "Alien," the part of Ripley was originally written for a man, and not re-written for Sigourney Weaver.

Zeropoint

[Koshka]

I'm female, and normally play female characters for two reasons: 1) One of the other gamers I know locally is really, really creeped out by cross-gender gaming, and 2) Everyone around the table/in the online chat room is going to use female pronouns about my character anyway, so I might as well make the character female. (Maybe if I got into an online game where everyone involved didn't already know my gender ....)

There have been times when I've played a male, though. The most recent example was in a Golden Age game -- I had an idea for a brick who would be a legitimate 4-F, and, well, the draft was male-only.

[Zeropoint]

I don't really understand why watching someone else roleplay a cross-gender character would bother someone, but I suppose that if it does, accomodating them is the best choice for the sake of the game.

On the other hand, I have played with some rather immature young men running female characters, and found the results to be a bit...well, immature.

Changing subjects a bit, what's "4-F"? What draft?

Zeropoint

[Monolith]

Originally posted by Zeropoint
Changing subjects a bit, what's "4-F"? What draft?
Koshka was discussing a Golden Age Champions event. The draft would be for World War II. 4-F was a designation given to men who, for whatever reason, did not pass their physical exams, and thus were not eligable for the draft (night blindness, poor hearing, flat-footed, etc).

[GradonSilverton]

I cant bring myself to play female characters...unless a necessity as a GM.... one too many overweight GM's trying to play the SEXY female while eating Pizza......

Need I say more!?!?!?

[Zeropoint]

I concede that that could be a problem.

Zeropoint

[TheEmerged]

I have a longstanding rule of "taking turns" between male and female in computer games (including MMORPGs).

In person, however, I'm almost always the GM unless we're playing DnD (one of my players is the usual DM, as he's better at designing fantasy worlds than I). Then, it depends on the rest of the gaming group. There are two of them that, if I played a female character, wouldn't stop being NFBSK about it -- so if they're planning on being in the campaign, I have to play male characters. Which is unfortunate, since in the last campaign I envisioned the wizard/elemental savant character as female before they committed to joining so I had trouble giving him a personality of his own after that...

[lemming]

My current PC is female. Out of 27 PCs, 11 are female, 15 male.
The 27th is an energy being made from two men, one woman.

[keithcurtis]

I most recently played a female character at Dundracon. That's my quote on the home page (February 21, 2003). I got some good comments about characterization. Admittedly, they were more for adhering to genre than portraying a real female.
Other than that, I have played a smattering of female characters over the years: an assassin, a Dark Champions-style archer, and a few one-shots.

Keith "Hello, Bahamas? This is Wonder Woman!" Curtis

[Pol Rua]

I play to the characters. I mostly play males. However, if the concept only works for a female character, fair enough.
I had one character who could've gone either way - kinda like the Ripley story - but I eventually came up with a name, and well, it was a great name, so I went with it.

For the most part, it makes little difference.



_________________________________________________
Pol.
(a boy)

[zornwil]

As a PC never have played a woman, not because of any overt refusal, just not too comfortable with doing so in the past and needed a strong concept to grab me, which finally did recently, but then the game really never got going for which I earmarked a female character. She's an NPC I really liked as GM, I imagine I'll still get a chance to employ the character.

[Alibear]

I'm the same as the poster above me. I've never played a woman because I tend to imagine male characters more. I have designed a character called Gladiatrix for the next time I get a chance to play in a supers game.:)

[Syberdwarf2]

I mostly play my own gender, but I have absolutely no problem playing a female part. In one long-running campaign, my GM asked everyone to come up with backup characters. You see; the GM was pretty much "by the book", and we had a tendency to get our PCs killed. He also asked that we try to go for something different, as we had all been on our second or third characters for that campaign, and all the PCs were starting to look alike. I said "no problem". Instead of a mentalist/ninja from Japan, I slaved over the character sheet and handed him a female sonic-based energy projector from a family of Mormons in Utah.

It worked out nice, because when the time came for me to leave for the service, we worked towards both characters falling in love, getting married and having kids. They both retired from the group, and presumably both are now leading normal lives. The really fun part was playing out the courtship, lover's quarrels, and sex scenes.

My GM, as a joke (payback from some unknown slight?), required ME to play both PCs simultaneously. Especially during sex, love, and fight scenes. Needless to say, there were more than a few players on the floor laughing, because I didn't back down for a minute. I played up both PCs to the hilt.

[Agent 537]

Originally posted by TheEmerged
... There are two of them that, if I played a female character, wouldn't stop being NFBSK about it ...

NFBSK? That's one I haven't run across before. Translation, please?

[Lord Mhoram]

I split evenly. I've also played nongendered aliens (twice). I just go with whichever gender suits the personality that came to mind when building the character.

Of my most recent (and near future characters) 4 of 6 are female. One of which is my avatar.
My wife tends to play females, but has played a few males in her time. Usually because most guys play guys, and she wants a few female characters around.

In response about playing the opposite gender, I've alway tried to play a person first, gender second, both for male and female characters. I've been told I play women fairly well, and I'm sure that is why (that and coaching from my wife). :-)

[TheEmerged]

Originally posted by Agent 537
NFBSK? That's one I haven't run across before. Translation, please?

Sorry, I let an acronym from another board (snopes.com) sneak through my filter.

NFBSK = Not For British School Kids. It is used in place of [censored] so the audience knows the poster censored themselves as oppossed to being censored by a moderator.

Basically, I was saying the two individuals mentioned would behave in a manner I find inappropriate.

Another acronym from that board I'm fond of is YOMANK -- You Owe Me A New Keyboard. Great for those times ROFL isn't strong enough but ROFLMAO is overkill...

[Supreme]

I've played women a couple of times, but I usually shy away from it. I find that I don't play them as well. Sometimes its better to do no service than bad service to an idea.

I should also add that I had great fun running a game once where the minds of a male and female PC got swicthed. It was loads of fun!

[BNakagawa]

I have an inordinate fondness for catgirls.

If you only count the human characters, then I play a roughly 50/50 mix.

[Zeropoint]

I have an inordinate fondness for catgirls.

Who doesn't?

Wait...if everyone has a given degree of fondness for catgirls, then that degree couldn't be considered "inordinate" anymore. So, you must like catgirls even more than THAT.

Ecchi!

Zeropoint

[lemming]

Originally posted by BNakagawa
I have an inordinate fondness for catgirls.

If you only count the human characters, then I play a roughly 50/50 mix. Originally posted by Zeropoint
Who doesn't?

Wait...if everyone has a given degree of fondness for catgirls, then that degree couldn't be considered "inordinate" anymore. So, you must like catgirls even more than THAT.


Having seen a lot of BNakagawa's art while in college, yeah I can vouch for his inordinate fondness for catgirls and other fuzzy things.:D ;)

[Trebuchet]

My gaming group is regretably all male, so if we all played same-sex characters it would be rather monolithic. I and one other player run female characters, and it's worked out fairly well. It's also kind of amusing that we break stereotypes in that my character is currently the team leader and his is the team brick. More gender diversity would be good, but I don't know many good female players. (Actually I hardly know any, much less good ones.)

On the other hand, I know a female gamer who has never played a female character in her life and she's been gaming as long as I have (25 years). I can't even recall her ever running a female villain when she GM'd.

[Delthrien]

I've generally stuck to playing male characters over the last 20 years (... there's that feeling of getting old again....). I think it's due mostly to a desire on my part to avoid "getting it wrong."

Usually, I'll try to do at least minimal research in assuming a role, but that is generally centered on details regarding the assumed profession or social background. Not being female, I thought that the absense of a "Female Perspective" on my part would be too much of a hindrance.

Then I ended up in Dan Simon's Wildcards game and got thrown into the deep end.

I assumed the role of a female character that had previously been played by someone else. To make a new situation (for me, anyway) odder, that character was embroiled in a romantic relationship with yet another PC.

At least it's not a Porn HERO game... ;)

[lemming]

Originally posted by Delthrien
Not being female, I thought that the absense of a "Female Perspective" on my part would be too much of a hindrance.

It helps me that I'm married, and volunteer at a cat shelter. I get a lot of female perspective that way. (though I played female character long before that, I think I do a slightly better job now...)

[Derek Hiemforth]

My character mix over the years has been about 60% male, 40% female. (Our gaming group has usually been all-male, so if at least some of us didn't play female characters, there wouldn't be any.)

[Hermit]

I prefer to play my own sex, but have tried running women as a PC a few times for online games (Folks knew I was the player so nothing weird, honest). I also have a cast of several ladies as GM of course.
When it comes to F2F games, I do find it's a bit trickier to treat someone with a baritone as feminine. :)

[Chaosliege]

I've played female characters before, both in groups and on MMORPG games. They have tended to not work out for me in MMORPGs, as too many of the people online start hitting on you(No, I'm not kidding).

[Deejmeister]

Originally posted by Lord Mhoram
In response about playing the opposite gender, I've alway tried to play a person first, gender second, both for male and female characters. I've been told I play women fairly well, and I'm sure that is why (that and coaching from my wife). :-)

Crowning cross gender roleplaying moment: I was playing the only female character in a Vampire game when the storyteller's girlfriend joined the group. After the first session she pulled me aside and said: "You play female characters better than I do. Stop that!" :D

[steriaca]

This is intresting. I myself have played a crossdresing superhero named "The Damsel". One of theas days, I tempted to do a Digital Hero writup on him.

[DrSavant]

I am a male and have played, as a PC, male and female characters. In HERO mostly male ,though my last female character was a blind brick named "JADE" (used radar to find people in combat- DareDevil)
I do have to admit that I have never played an openly GAY male superhero, though I heard there were plenty in comics.
I think the other male players wouldn't understand, so I haven't done it. Forgive me.

[Trebuchet]

Originally posted by Deejmeister
Crowning cross gender roleplaying moment: I was playing the only female character in a Vampire game when the storyteller's girlfriend joined the group. After the first session she pulled me aside and said: "You play female characters better than I do. Stop that!" :D

That's a great story, though. I've played the same female character exclusively for 12 years, and I think I have a pretty good handle on her female personality. But it wasn't achieved without plenty of discussions with my girlfriend. (In some cases I was too nice. I'm currently writing a short story about my character that features some other girls who have been kidnapped and gangraped. When one of the rapists comes into the custody of these girls, my girlfriend was quite adamant about what the result would be. I won't give gory details, but let's just say it involves knives and male genitalia. Shudder!) :eek:

[Tasha]

I only rarely play male characters when I run a PC. I just don't enjoy playing male characters as much as female ones.

When I GM, I of course run both genders. Although I have an easier time with the female ones.

Tasha :)

[ShelleyCM]

Originally posted by Tasha
I only rarely play male characters when I run a PC. I just don't enjoy playing male characters as much as female ones.

When I GM, I of course run both genders. Although I have an easier time with the female ones.

Tasha :)

That's SO true. Since I end up playing both male and female characters when I run, I've just never wanted to play a male character in someone else's game. (I think I did *once* -- and only in a game where being female was a serious liability -- icky GM. Shudder.)

-Shelley

[MuscaDomestica]

Out of the past 7 or so characters I have 4 were male 3 were female. I usually only play female characters when it fits the the character concept. I haven't had too much of a problem with other players other then the first time when my old roomate constantly talked about rapeing my character... not that fun.

[Grymlynn]

Well, I gues I'm one of those where someone playing cross-gender gives me the heebe-jeebies. Probably because (as I haven't gamed with any of you) EVERY single time it was a typical round gamer boy with no clue how an actual female would act or react. When I got older, and finally ran into a group of adults, there really wasn't need for cross-gendering because we had two (to three) ladies already involved. One of them always played very big, body builder / dwarf types, though. When I run, I try and do the female gender justice, and I've had no complaints (although one guy told me if he wanted the kind of grief I was giving him, he'd go talk to his girlfriend...). I've never had a desire to play a female as a PC, whether there were girls in the group or not. I still have a hard time with it, though.

[Super Squirrel]

I thought I was done playing female characters but recently my character idea I proposed for an online game, the GM felt it would be better as a female then a male so I went with female.

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by Super Squirrel
I thought I was done playing female characters but recently my character idea I proposed for an online game, the GM felt it would be better as a female then a male so I went with female.

Is that Cas or someone else?

Keith "He-man" Curtis

[Fortunatus]

As a GM and a player, I've played rock creatures, insectoid aliens, vampires, living brains, intelligent fungi and all sorts of other things. Male or female, human or whatever, it's all good. And, I've received good reviews from my wife and other women regarding my ability to play female characters. Go figure. I suppose it comes from viewing women as -GASP- human beings who are generally made happy or sad by the same things that elate and deflate men.

Still, it's true that I usually don't play female characters in F2F games, primarily because nobody remembers to refer to my character as female and I get all the "she's cute, but the beard has to go" jokes I can stomach within an hour or so from some of my less open-minded friends.

-Conrad

[Kara Zor-El]

Hiya, Conrad!! Welcome to the lists!! :D

[Fortunatus]

Hey there, Kara. Thanks for the welcome.

[Hitchhiker]

I once took part in a game where a guy played an elven woman. She had a COM of 30 (guessed), so there were "unusual" situations from time to time.

Personally, I've never played a woman before. But a very cool robotic guy.

[Beetle]

I've ended up playing female characters because our group felt that every team needs a least one female, and I was willing to cross genders (the whole group was guys). Plus it was something different.

Still, it's something that I'll be more reluctant to do in the future. There's just too many ways to do it wrong. I'm currently playing a female character in a Champions game, but it's an updated version of a charcter first created in 1986 (the great Black Arrow!) There was a similar thread to this on the old boards, and Tasha had some very good, interesting and thought provoking comments on the pitfalls that men have in playing female characters. I hope that I'm more thoughtful about, and better at, playing a female now than I've been in the past.

[EAfenris]

I have played a few characters as female. I normally don't but I have been told I play one well. I chalk it up to being raised in a house with 5 other women and only one younger brother.

Right now I am truely blessed, 1 male GM, me, 2 other female gamers, possibly more if my friend gets her coworkes to come. WOOT! ;)

I enjoy role playing with them, they lead to more "role" playing and less "Roll" playing. More involved stories come from our sessions. Surprisingly they are not skiddish when addressing "horror" or "dark" situations. It kinda refreshing.