The most resilient gender conventions in roleplaying games?

[Dr TPK]

What are the most resilient gender conventions in roleplaying, in general?

Just to get the ball rolling, I will suggest that
the old, wise master/sensei, who teaches the hero, is never female.
the guards at the city gate are never female.
the messenger of low status that brings an official message is never female.
the village healer is usually a woman.
the seer is usually a woman.

Feel free to contest my suggestions, but please do tell your suggestions too!

[Mr Adventurer]

May I ask why?

[Dr TPK]

May I ask why?

Curiosity.

[Closet_Skeleton]

the old, wise master/sensei, who teaches the hero, is never female.

Are wise masters who teach the hero even a tabletop RPG convention?

If they are they tend to be in player written bios and therefore probably vary a lot.

the guards at the city gate are never female.
the messenger of low status that brings an official message is never female.

Most of these types of NPC aren't given gender.

[Deaxsa]

I'll contest the sensei claim: if the master is in good shape and not too old, or is also the seer, then he(?) can be female.

The gullible king is never a queen (but princesses are plenty gullible)

The clever fool is never female, and the clever courtier is very rarely male.

[Feddlefew]

I randomize gender whenever possible, as the need comes up.

I also have characters who don't fit into gender (or male or female) categories. Some are non-gender binary, some are hermaphrodites (both in the usual sense and sequential), and several important (non humanoid) NPCs use a radically different mating type system.

Edit:

In modern times, the gold digger is always a woman who targets rich older men.

In Victorian times, the gold digger is always male who targets spinster daughters of wealthy families, especially if they have no siblings.

[Flickerdart]

I would say that most NPCs the party interacts with will tend to be the DM's gender, just because it's less difficult to roleplay.

[Ralanr]

Not sure if this works:

Hags are never male.

[Pex]

In any home-brew and often in official published works matriarchal society males are at best serfs, slaves most often, and rest of the time killed on sight and/or food. It will never be a party mission to overthrow the Queen and liberate the male population. It is an environment the PCs must endure for an adventure arc; otherwise, it's game world flavor text.

Any organization that's male-only is Evil. Female-only organizations can be Good, Neutral, or Evil, but only female-only organizations will exist in official published works. Sisterhoods are ok but never Brotherhoods. It must be Brother & Sisterhood. The exception is naturally The Eunuch.

The town/village healer is female. The head constable is male.

Elves are always lead by a Queen with a male consort and sometimes a female consort as well.

Dwarves are patriarchal but wives are the power behind the throne.

The PC halfling is a male rogue. Important NPC halflings who are not rogues are female.

PCs never have to rescue a prince from a dragon.

In taverns, the bartender is always male. The PCs are always served by a waitress, never a waiter. The owner, if not the bartender, is male.

It's never a War goddess or Love god. A goddess can have War in her portfolio and a god have Love, but it's not what what they're generally known for. A PC thinking himself a love god is a different matter.

The god head of a pantheon is male. In a monotheistic faith, it's a goddess, often but not always only served by priestesses.

Why, yes, I do take special notice of these things. Why do you ask?

[goto124]

A PC thinking himself a love god is a different matter.

Was this intentional?

[Pex]

Was this intentional?

Yes. It's never the female player.

[goto124]

Player or PC again?

[Naanomi]

Exception: War Goddesses exist when the whole pantheon is female. Much more rare to have an entirely male pantheon.

The 'zealot blinded to the evil he does in the name of their perception of good' is almost exclusively male.

Most big monsters (giants, ogres, trolls) and savage/militaristic humanoids (orcs, hogoblins) are male by default.

[RabidKoala]

Kings are usually male. Queens are usually female. 😉

[dream]

You never see men in "bikini mail" armor

And if you have, apologies.

[YossarianLives]

You never see men in "bikini mail" armor

And if you have, apologies.

Although you do seem to see quite a few scantily-clad male sorcerers.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...def6c5af70.jpg

[goto124]

Male barbarians are a thing, but male nakedness has different implications from female nakedness.

This goes beyond RPGs.

[dream]

In any home-brew and often in official published works matriarchal society males are at best serfs, slaves most often, and rest of the time killed on sight and/or food. It will never be a party mission to overthrow the Queen and liberate the male population. It is an environment the PCs must endure for an adventure arc; otherwise, it's game world flavor text.

Countered with Lolth, Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

Any organization that's male-only is Evil. Female-only organizations can be Good, Neutral, or Evil, but only female-only organizations will exist in official published works. Sisterhoods are ok but never Brotherhoods. It must be Brother & Sisterhood. The exception is naturally The Eunuch.

Knights of the Round Table = all male & good.

Elves are always lead by a Queen with a male consort and sometimes a female consort as well.

Ever heard of Thranduil?

Dwarves are patriarchal but wives are the power behind the throne.

You've been playing with Wil Wheaton again

The PC halfling is a male rogue. Important NPC halflings who are not rogues are female.

I've seen female halflings pitched as PC plenty of times on this site.

In taverns, the bartender is always male. The PCs are always served by a waitress, never a waiter. The owner, if not the bartender, is male.

this

It's never a War goddess or Love god. A goddess can have War in her portfolio and a god have Love, but it's not what what they're generally known for. A PC thinking himself a love god is a different matter.

Artemis, Greek war goddess. PF's Golarion boast several war goddesses, including "Chaldira Zuzaristan", halfling goddess of battle

[Pex]

Player or PC again?

Yes

Countered with Lolth, Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

She's a goddess, different issue. Also, it's not about liberating the male drow population.

Knights of the Round Table = all male & good.

Not an RPG published nor home-brew convention.

Ever heard of Thranduil?

Not an RPG published nor home-brew convention.

You've been playing with Wil Wheaton again

Begone, demon, and speak not such blasphemy of the real he who shall not be named!

I've seen female halflings pitched as PC plenty of times on this site.

Rogues?

this

Not an RPG published or home-brew convention.

Artemis, Greek war goddess. PF's Golarion boast several war goddesses, including "Chaldira Zuzaristan", halfling goddess of battle

goddess of the Hunt, not War, and also not an RPG published or home-brew convention. Athena was who I was referring about having the portfolio of War but not generally being known by it. She's more the goddess of Wisdom.

[Steampunkette]

The female PC with the highest charisma is almost always volunteered to seduce the guard, regardless of sexual orientation or willingness to do so. Assuming there are multiple girls at the table. Otherwise the only one gets volunteered.

Agender NPCs exist only as semicreepy background fluff and evil advisors.

Transgender Female NPCs are almost invariably sex workers or villains. And almost always the butt of **** jokes.

Transgender Male NPCs don't exist.

Genderfluid characters are always treated as curiosities.

Bisexual Female NPCs are player love interests who often betray them.

Bisexual Male NPCcs are villains.

[Cealocanth]

The evil dragon that must be slain can be either gender, but if it is a gold hoarder and princess capturer it is pretty much always male.

Troglodytes, kobolds, goblins, gnolls, and pretty much any other bestial monster-fodder race is pretty much universally male. (Does our society think that it is more ethical to kill males than females? This is probably why you never see female mooks in modern day spy movies either.)

The wizened wizard in the party is almost never a wizened witch.

The elven archer is usually female, despite the genre convention being a male character.

The dumb fighter is always male. If there is a female fighter, regardless of her Intelligence stat, she will not be the dumb fighter that hits things until they break.

The mad scientist is always male. (Not exactly fantasy, but still interesting)

The mob boss, crafty merchant, or politician character who attempts to usurp power using coin and guile is always male.

The Dwarf is always male. Always. Even if a player is playing a female dwarf, they will always be of the druidic, priestly, spellcaster, or tinker varieties. The beer-guzzling axe-weilding honor-obsessed Tolkien Dwarf is always male.

The Gunslinger is usually male.

The Lord of All Hells is never, never, The Lady of All Hells. This probably stems from the biblical version being male, but still you rarely see people try to subvert this one.

Drow are always matriarchal and you are always hard-pressed to find a male drow.

Pretty much every Fae race is restricted to one gender or the other. Fairies and pixies are female. Fauns are male. Mermaids, Sirens, Dryads, and similar spirits are female. The Ent are usually male. Funny how you don't see this one subverted very much, with the exception of Gnomes, which are actually remarkably equally played across gender lines.

The Werewolf is always male.

The female PC with the highest charisma is almost always volunteered to seduce the guard, regardless of sexual orientation or willingness to do so. Assuming there are multiple girls at the table. Otherwise the only one gets volunteered.

That's a funny one. It's weird, actually, that when you find the need for an escort, every player at that table will pretty much instinctively point to that particular female player, even if an equally charismatic male character is available. I think there's probably some underlying thing in our society which is more willing to accept females as seductresses then males as seducers. This is probably why succubi tend to outnumber incubi 10 to 1.

[Psyren]

May I ask why?

I have to ask the same question. Even if the goal is to point out inequality trends in our RPGs or something similar, all it's going to do is invite people to chime in with a single counterexample, consider the overarching issue null and void as a result, and leave the thread with whatever preconceptions they entered with.

[goto124]

Also, what sources are we using? Individual tables can vary a lot.

I see some positive discrimination. I think.

[Felhammer]

You never see men in "bikini mail" armor

And if you have, apologies.

I was DMing a game a few years back where the Dwarven Rogue's player had mentioned wanting to find some kind of special leather armor that would help him be a better rogue. A few weeks later, they were in a necromancer's crypt and came across a create with some discarded armor. The rogue was elated to find the armor he wanted but horrified that it was of the female variety. It had thigh high boots that ended in stiletto heals, a leather thong, a revealing corset-style top and elbow-length gloves. To his credit, the player donned the armor and wore it until the campaign abruptly ended. I think being a Dwarf helped the character, since he had a really long beard to begin with, so from the front, the only thing that would look weird was that he had exposed shoulders and high heels. From the back however... Many a townfolk shot the Dwarf a sideways glance, pondering if he were a female or just a guy with a weird fashion sense (especially considering he never bought pants...)

[dream]

I was DMing a game a few years back where the Dwarven Rogue's player had mentioned wanting to find some kind of special leather armor that would help him be a better rogue. A few weeks later, they were in a necromancer's crypt and came across a create with some discarded armor. The rogue was elated to find the armor he wanted but horrified that it was of the female variety. It had thigh high boots that ended in stiletto heals, a leather thong, a revealing corset-style top and elbow-length gloves. To his credit, the player donned the armor and wore it until the campaign abruptly ended. I think being a Dwarf helped the character, since he had a really long beard to being with, so from the front, the only thing that would look weird was that he had exposed shoulders and high heels. From the back however... Many a townfolk shot the Dwarf a sideways glance, pondering if he were a female or just a guy with a weird fashion sense (especially considering he never bought pants...)

loL

Well. Most of these aren't really gender conventions; they're tropes and/or cliches

[goto124]

The player donned the armor? That's dedication. Who made the armor?

...

[IZ42]

The character who can't roleplay worth a damn is always a male beatstick. Sadly, this is me. I'm the most knowledgeable player at my table, at least with the system being used, but I find it hard to roleplay and generally play martial characters. I'm really stepping out of my norm by playing a BFC or Mage.

[Milo v3]

Whenever I make an NPC I flip a coin to determine sex, so none of this is even a possibility of being an issue for my group.

[Elbeyon]

Whenever I make an NPC I flip a coin to determine sex, so none of this is even a possibility of being an issue for my group.

I do something similar (even for my pc). When I have play a character of the opposite sex/gender I'll often ask the opposite sex/gender for advice.

[Frozen_Feet]

In taverns, the bartender is always male. The PCs are always served by a waitress, never a waiter. The owner, if not the bartender, is male.

Majority of the conventions listed here don't apply to my games, but with the above, I can only say I'm guilty as charged. Can't think of a single time of doing it the other way around.

Not an RPG published nor home-brew convention.

Pyöreän pöydän ritarit AKA Knights of the Round Table is a published RPG in Finland. Then again, I vaguely recall it having suggestions on how to incorporate female knights.

Does our society think that it is more ethical to kill males than females?

Yes.