From:	The Deb Decker <RJR96326@****.UTULSA.EDU>
Subject:	Re: Gender Benders and successful players...
Date:	Wed, 27 Oct 1993 20:59:56 GMT

>Really, now, it's not that farfetched that
>someone might want to play a character that for some reason makes some
>or all of the other players extremely uncomfortable or superfluous. Is it
>unreasonable to suggest that some guidelines for a mutually enjoyable
>gaming experience does not constitute fascism? Examples range from the
>oft encountered to the grotesquely overstated :) Would you allow a
>magically active, vampire adept in your Shadowrun campaign, if
>everyone else played a normal character? Would you accept a gamer's
>portrayal of a black superhero as an eye-rolling, watermelon-eating,
>step and fetch it? We just draw our lines in different places, I suspect.

Vampires are illegal as player characters.
No, I wouldn't mind a magical vampire adept in a campaign, provided the
proper balancing act was done by the GM and player. While it is true that
such characters can be easily abused, they can also be role-played well.

For instance, in the upcoming GURPS Ravenloft game I'm in, I play a Vampyre
prince-no powers, just bloodlust. and a lot of psych disadvantages about
becoming a true vampire. Another PC is a werewolf; another is rather like the
classic Frankenstein monster. But they are all balanced, and the campaign is
set up that the 'combat advantages' are outweighed by the role-playing
disadvantages.

It's one thing to play a character type poorly; quite another to play an
offensive stereotype. Also, I believe that most gaming groups are made up of
friends, and that peer pressure will keep someone from playing a truly offensive
character. Call it Free-Market Gaming.

>In fact, though, we are going to be playtesting some material in which
>all the characters will be female, so we will be dealing with our
>individual performances and handling of stereotypes to some
>degree.

Good.

>However, this is not something we would likely do in our
>regular campaign.

I still think it's unfair that other players be barred from playing
females in your regular game.


>since when is the equation of homosexuality with nonhuman races a
>stereotype? Honestly, it's one with which I'm quite unfamiliar.

This is NOT a stereotype endorsed by me. I recalled Tasteless Jokes middle
school gamers made when they saw the R Talsorian blurb about "if your
players can't handle the grim future of cyberpunk, tell them to go play the
game with the happy elves" and someone made a comment about the gay and happy
fairy folk. Apologies for a crude and obscure reference.

As I was thinking about it, I realized that in most adventure games, the
little things that crop up that do mark the sexes as different are left out
as extra baggage. In Shadowrun: Mr Johnson doesn't care about your sex or race
as long as you get the job done. Contacts--depends on how you play it, but
assume your contacts won't penalize you for what you are (unless, I guess, you
were an Ork sammie with Nachtmachen and Humanis contacts). In a firefight-
bullets don't check your pants before killing you. And in the Matrix and Astral
Space, you can be whatever you want.

I think some men may overplay their female characters in an attempt to remind
everyone that they were different. I know that's how I felt sometimes playing
Jaez, because most situations, her gender didn't matter--which is the way it
should be. Thinking back to the GURPS game I mentioned, I felt like that
character was not as overplayed because I didn't have to force everyone to
remember her sex. . .there were enough role-playing encounters that made it
important to compensate.

Me, personally I like those people who are both or neither in Le Guin's books.
=====

>And to the gentleman who sent me e-mail telling me to "find a
>woman"... if I needed such advice, it seems unlikely you'd be able to
>help. Find a brain, ok?

Reminds of a story a middle-aged gay Orthodox Jew recently told me: There was
this wonderful old woman who would come up week after week at Synagogue and
describe her niece, or granddaughter or other young female relative in an
attempt at matchmaking. He declined again and again until she finally asked
him what kind of girl he was looking for and he said "actually, if you had
a nice young nephew. . ."


J Roberson