Have You Played A Character Of The Opposite Sex?

Gavken · April 20, 2009, 09:00:25 AM

I agree with the poster above ... this is a question that gets trotted out very frequently.

Yes I have played characters of the opposite sex. Is it any more difficult than playing an elf, dwarf or some other wierd race - nope.

Why do I do it? The definition of the game is a Role-Playing game. The idea is that you play someone different to yourself an have adventures. If I wanted to restrict myself then I wouldn't have the oppotunity to explore so many different areas and voices that I would not normally have. Does it make a difference or create a problem in game - nope.

I really never understand why people have a problem with this. Its not as though you're doing it in a LARP (in which case I'd be worried).

Gavin

flyingmice · April 20, 2009, 09:24:43 AM

All the time. If I don't have a strong idea for the character, I'll flip a coin.

-clash

Kyle Aaron · April 20, 2009, 09:26:09 AM

Quote from: Drohem;297573Have you ever created and played a character of the opposite sex of you, the player?

How often do you do this?

Yes.

Lots of times.

Quote from: DrohemWhat's the attraction?

The same as the attraction of playing a skilled martial artist, a devout Moslem, a dwarf, or whatever - it's someone different to me.

I'm happy to play me as a character, even not souped up. That's the foundation of many of the stories I enjoy, where some Earth man goes to some alien world and kicks arse - or as it'd be for me, tries to kick arse. But GMs and fellow players frown on that. So - if I'm not playing me, I'll play someone different.

Quote from: DrohemI have a hard enough time in real life reading females that I feel it would be disingenuous for me to attempt to portray a female character.

And I can't read Moslems or martial artists or dwarves. But hey, this is a game session, I'm not auditioning for So You Think You Can Act, if my performance is really bad then the rest of the group will laugh at me - that's nothing new

Tommy Brownell · April 20, 2009, 09:34:25 AM

Just as NPCs...though I have had male players play female PCs in my games before.

Drohem · April 20, 2009, 10:50:44 AM

I want to thank everyone for their responses.

Just to be clear, in the OP, I meant a character that you have played in the role of a player and not as in the role of the GM. Clearly, as a GM, you are required to play the role of opposite sex characters when necessary.

Pseudoephedrine · April 20, 2009, 11:13:29 AM

Yeah, I played a female character once. It was during one of the numerous times we've split the party, and a female NPC became a PC because she was one of the few characters available to play. She died fairly quickly (unfortunately) when she sacrificed herself to kamikaze a beholder, but I pretty much played her in a similar way to the way I would a male character.

I have played plenty of female NPCs when I GM.

Seanchai · April 20, 2009, 11:22:42 AM

One of my ex-players played females all the time. We teased him mercilessly, so, to make up for the teasing, I played a female character in one of our Exalted games.

Seanchai

flyingmice · April 20, 2009, 11:37:51 AM

Quote from: Drohem;297627I want to thank everyone for their responses. Just to be clear, in the OP, I meant a character that you have played in the role of a player and not as in the role of the GM. Clearly, as a GM, you are required to play the role of opposite sex characters when necessary.

I don't really see much difference. I GM far more than I play, but I use the same skills to play an NPC as I do playing a PC. All of the guys* in my group play either sex as they wish.

-clash

* Both males and females, I mean - we have both. I'm from New England, where "guys" is an unsexed group. I've seen one woman calling out to a group entirely composed of other women with "Hey guys! Wait up!" fairly frequently. "Guy" in the singular is, however, male.

KenHR · April 20, 2009, 11:46:07 AM

I played a two female characters back in high school in different campaigns. One was a cleric, the other a fighter, both were more than capable (the fighter was actually the party's most kick-ass combat type). Nothing ever got weird or creepy, though we never really RP'd the types of situations that might have made it get weird or creepy.

I honestly can't remember why I chose to make them female. It just seemed to be right for what I'd rolled.

Benoist · April 20, 2009, 11:51:00 AM

Quote from: Drohem;297573Have you ever created and played a character of the opposite sex of you, the player?

How often do you do this? Was only one time? Do you do it all the time?

What's the attraction? Is it the challenge of trying to get into the mind of the opposite sex? Or is it trying to get in tune with the yin or yang in you?

Yes, I did once. A female elven sorcerer related to a Dragon NPC in the campaign. She was a blast to play.

I think there's a strong challenging incentive in playing a female character, because it's very, very easy to fall back on stereotypes. It's much harder to play a convincing character, especially when the other players look at you from the other side of the table and see a guy with a beard.

I was satisfied by the results. It was a really fun experience.

As a side note, I actually know a good friend of mine who just plays female characters all the time. He is not particularly effeminate himself, isn't gay, and I can swear, he does an AMAZING, believable job at playing his female characters. There are people like this.

J Arcane · April 20, 2009, 12:19:02 PM

I create the character that comes to mind. If it feels right that it should be female, then it's female. I just play the character how they imagine them in my head. I don't have any real problem with stereotypes, because I don't really possess any particular stereotypes about women. I don't have any issues with sex, because there's no sex in my games, as I play for fun, not titillation.

It's just another character like any other, there's just a different mark on the sheet.

Drohem · April 20, 2009, 12:32:46 PM

Quote from: flyingmice;297635I don't really see much difference. I GM far more than I play, but I use the same skills to play an NPC as I do playing a PC.

Well, I was just curious about a person's choice when the are on the player side, that's all. Obviously, there is no functional difference when playing a character of the opposite sex when you are behind the player's or GM's screen.

My questions were more about if and why you have personally made this choice when playing a character.

flyingmice · April 20, 2009, 12:54:11 PM

Quote from: Drohem;297653Well, I was just curious about a person's choice when the are on the player side, that's all. Obviously, there is no functional difference when playing a character of the opposite sex when you are behind the player's or GM's screen.

My questions were more about if and why you have personally made this choice when playing a character.

My earlier answer was from the player POV. I do so approximately as often as I run male PCs. No special reason other than half the world's population is female, and I figure they ought to be half the characters. My wife is the same - she runs males as often as she runs female characters. The rest of the group lean more towards running the same sex, but not heavily.

-clash

GlauG · April 20, 2009, 01:31:08 PM

The people in groups I've played with who seem most comfortable with playing characters of the opposite gender are those who have a romantic partner of the opposite gender. I doubt there's any exciting correlation there, it's just a quirk of the groups I've played with, but it amuses me nonetheless. I seem to have started playing female characters when I get to play rather than run these days, but there's no rhyme or reason for that one. I have an equally large number of male characters I've played, and I don't do anything "weird" with female ones...

1of3 · April 20, 2009, 03:52:57 PM

I do it all the time.