Male rolepaying females

[Tharos]

How do you guys do it?
In my gaming group, there had been 3 attempts at roplaying girls, and all were kinda awkward (One was even from myself, lasted 2 sessions). Our DM sure roleplays female, but it's not the same time as acting as a female 100% of your playtime.

[Talon Sky]

I tend to not allow it in my games. It's simply awkward and there's no real reason for it unless the player is wanting to play a seductress....which just leads to a lot of "I hope he doesn't show up tonight...." kind of feelings.

[Esser-Z]

I have no problem with it. Roleplaying is all about being something you aren't, y'know?


(Says a guy who tends towards female PCs)

[JadedDM]

As the DM (and male), I am required to roleplay quite a few females (unless I want to create a world where everyone but the PCs are male, that is). I do that by just playing them as people.

[Zaydos]

I've failed horribly at it. Most of my important/recurring NPCs are male because I make a very awkward girl even when DMing. I'm actually trying it right now in a PbP because I'm enough of a role-player to feel I ought to be up to the challenge. So far... nothing to comment.

[herrhauptmann]

Meh, I'm not good enough at roleplaying to create a believable woman and play her from session to session. Oddly, the women players I've known haven't really roleplayed their female characters any better than I would've.

I did try once, and actually was slightly successful. Female bard (in AD&D ravenloft), played her as naive, innocent.

Think it's really important however, for male players to not make their female characters really ummm, loose and easy. Unless you're in an BoEF game.

[Yuki Akuma]

I don't play females.

I play characters who happen to be female, biologically speaking.

The trick is to play a person, not a sex.

[B]Think it's really important however, for male players to not make their female characters really ummm, loose and easy.]

Pretty good advice, for the most part.

Unless you're playing a Coure Eladrin and it makes total sense for her to be a total flirt.

<.<

[Tyndmyr]

As the DM (and male), I am required to roleplay quite a few females (unless I want to create a world where everyone but the PCs are male, that is). I do that by just playing them as people.

This. If your world is remotely close to realistic, it really shouldn't be that much of a stretch.

That said, I have seen the horrible fail kind of cross gender roleplaying. The kind where the player has a portfolio of half naked pictures of his character he wants to show everyone, but that nobody really wants to see. Don't be that guy.

[Zanatos777]

I don't play females.

I play characters who happen to be female, biologically speaking.

The trick is to play a person, not a sex.

<.<

This basically.

[Jack_Simth]

How do you guys do it?
In my gaming group, there had been 3 attempts at roplaying girls, and all were kinda awkward (One was even from myself, lasted 2 sessions). Our DM sure roleplays female, but it's not the same time as acting as a female 100% of your playtime.

In and of itself, it's not important.

When it becomes important is when it comes up... but that's more a matter of 'sex in an RPG is creepy' (including related issues, such as body image, bathing privacy issues while traveling, social status, pawing drunks, et cetera) regardless.

[Kaun]

It's such a regular occurance with our group that i bearly even notice it any more.

Now i think about it never was an issue?

What exactly is making it so awkward?

[BobVosh]

I have no problem with it, and have a friend who normally does it. However his female characters all tend to be like Fiona from burn notice. Crazy gun bunny types.

The loose M as F characters are just annoying, as /\ has said.

However I don't roleplay men hitting on my friend's female character. That just would get weird, I would imagine at least. Besides we roleplay to get away from romance issues, and get to murdering people to take their stuff, or uniting kingdoms under our benevolent tyrannical rule. So it doesn't come up much or matter.

[Orzel]

It's not that hard. I have no problem with it. As long as you do get silly or weird, it can be a great experience.

One of my best characters was female... the official "mother" of the party.

[Zanatos777]

It's such a regular occurance with our group that i bearly even notice it any more.

Now i think about it never was an issue?

What exactly is making it so awkward?

Honestly I only bat an eye at it now when one of my (male) players goes through 10 characters in a campaign and 8 of them are women. That strikes me a odd but in that case I am more concerned with his poor roleplaying and stupidity. Or the case where a player decided to play a japanese schoolgirl in a Cthuluhu game...

I do know some people weirded out by men playing women but otherwise no one bats an eye.

[Frosty]

Y'know, it boggles me how people can roleplay a creature that eats brains for sustenance (mindflayer) and bends reality with his own mind (Mindflayer Psion) yet have trouble roleplaying a vanilla human of the opposite gender.

[El Dorado]

I've never had a problem roleplaying females. My favorite character was a female drow fighter-mage that I played for almost three years. The trick is to decide what kind of character you want to play (arrogant, idealistic, condescending, etc) and then go for it---same as you would for a male character. Gender is totally secondary.

[Tira-chan]

Well, I'm a girl who plays guys sometimes, so I don't really see any problem with it. In fact, I managed to take my group at Gencon quite by surprise when I ended up with a male paladin by chance, and decided to run with it instead of taking the DM up on his offer of changing the character's gender. As has been said, it's about playing a person, not a gender - a 'woman,' not a 'female.' If that makes sense. I know personally, I don't find guys any harder to play than girls, but maybe it's because I write a lot? Plus, I usually use third person instead of first person when roleplaying, so that might help.

[Strawberries]

Hmm...what about females players rolaplaying as males? (is feeling left out)
EDIT: whops, Tira-chan ninja'd me. I'm not feeling left out anymore.

My first couple of characters were females, and humans, because, well, I'm female (and human), and figured I'd start easy.
Now I go with whatever the character strikes me as. I don't see the issue, really. Why would it be awkward?

Oh, and as a female, I'm curious about what you guys think that "acting female" entails.

[Tasroth]

Okay, I've given up quoting people cos by now I'd be quoting most of the thread.

Like so many others have said, it's a matter of playing a person - gender is simply one of their qualities. I've had to do it as a DM often enough.

As it happens though, as a player, two of my four characters have been female. Including the one in our current 4e game, when one of the other male players is playing a female character. Combined with the two female players both playing female characters, the girls in the party outnumber the guys.

And it didn't even get weird when the DM was roleplaying a ship's captain who was hitting on all the female PCs. Well... not too weird anyway.

[TheThan]

In a real life gameing group, I imagine its always going to be awkward. Unless the player is really effeminate or the whole group is ok and comfortable with it.

The Internet however provides a certain amount of anonymousness that a guy could easily pull it off and nobody would notice.

[Satyr]

The games I'm in probably put more emphasis on interhuman relations than others, and stuff like romance and relationships sometimes overshadow the main plot; I am also quite used to cross-gender players, and it is almost never an issue. I mean, when Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, both major parts were played by men, kissing scenes and all. Why should this be a problem now, for a hopefully more enlightened and open-minded modern society?
So, I had rounds where I flirted with other players in character while both our girlfriends where there. It was fun. But it somewhat requires that one doesn't take this stuff too serious.

[Tyndmyr]

Hmm...what about females players rolaplaying as males? (is feeling left out)
EDIT: whops, Tira-chan ninja'd me. I'm not feeling left out anymore.

My first couple of characters were females, and humans, because, well, I'm female (and human), and figured I'd start easy.
Now I go with whatever the character strikes me as. I don't see the issue, really. Why would it be awkward?

Oh, and as a female, I'm curious about what you guys think that "acting female" entails.

Complaining about the color of the boots of speed, mostly.

[Yukitsu]

Most of my characters wind up ambiguously gendered anyway due to odd campaign shenanigans, so I don't think anyone would notice if I was flip-flopping between genders on a session by session basis. Then again, I failed a gender test IRL, so what do I know?

[The Glyphstone]

I personally don't do it, mainly because I worry (too much) about becoming That Guy Who Plays Girls Badly. No objection to my players doing it, but then I've only ever had one try, and he RPed so thinly that you wouldn't have been able to tell the character was a guy or girl.

[Yuki Akuma]

Y'know, it boggles me how people can roleplay a creature that eats brains for sustenance (mindflayer) and bends reality with his own mind (Mindflayer Psion) yet have trouble roleplaying a vanilla human of the opposite gender.

Mindflayers don't exist. You can make up whatever you like about them.

Women exist. You can't make up whatever you like about them.

I don't see why this is a difficult concept.

[Tyndmyr]

Then again, I failed a gender test IRL, so what do I know?

Er, study harder for next time?

[Dr.Epic]

How do you guys do it?

How I play them? Lat two panels of this comic and fourth panel of this comic.

For a serious answer, just play them like any other character.

[AslanCross]

Since I'm used to playing females as a DM anyway, I was okay with it when I played a girl. I've only been a player twice, each handling two characters. The first was with a male personality Warforged and a female artificer, the second was a female paladin/swordsage and a male wizard.

My groups didn't have problems with me playing them, either. Both of my female characters tended toward the action girl archetype. (Okay, the artificer was more of a Tykebomb/Wrench Wench.

Did I roleplay them well? Can't say.
Was my group fine with it? Yes. (Probably because the brunt of the "annoying roleplayer" ire went to the male changeling rogue who was trying to look cute by putting on fox ears.)

[Yukitsu]

Er, study harder for next time?

I don't think study really can change your gender. >_>

[The Big Dice]

There's a good little article on the differences (and similarities, but mostsly differences) between guys and girls in gaming here.

Most of the people who engage in what I call cross gender roleplaying seem to end up playing either a guy who just happens to have boobs, or someone who may as well be asexual. That's not always the case, though. In an online chat based RPG I take part in I'm fairly cautious about the gender of the other person. That girl you're hitting on might be the guy from the Make Love Not Warcraft episode of South Park...