Cross Playing: What's the Appeal?

[Malimar]

Harem Protector. Book of Erotic Fantasy.

....I READ IT FOR THE ARTICLES!

Eunuch Warlock in Oriental Adventures, too.

[Zanos]

Eunuch Warlock in Oriental Adventures, too.

First party to boot.

[Âmesang]

I'm lazy. Seriously.

Often times the characters I create are based on characters I've created elsewhere, whether from my artwork, a video game's character creation mode, or both; so I might have a character, male or female, with a particular appearance, personality, and skill set, and think that character could work well at the table.

Sometimes it's due to circumstance; my current character is a female dark elf antipaladin/assassin originally created for Storm King's Thunder—I was inspired by Against the Giants to play a drow seeking to form a union between the drow and the giants, but I didn't have any pre-painted drow figurines and my only unpainted elf figurine at the time happened to be female… which worked out well considering the drows' background and the name I chose, Variolus; however if I had had a male elf figurine instead, I would have been playing as a male drow.

Speaking of which I've purchased quite a few female pewter figurines in recent months… but that was primarily to balance out the numerous pre-painted plastic male figurines that I got years and years ago. I think the only pre-painted female figurines I had was an elf wizard and a harpy. Some of these new figurines have inspired me to create female characters in the future, such as a human barbarian with a sword, shield, large fur cloak (and not much else; yay for Unarmored Defense?) and an elf bard with a fancy guitar. On the other hand I also picked up a male halfling figurine since I didn't have any halflings …and this guy's got an eyepatch so that could be the start for something, plus I still like some of the plastic figurines like the medium-sized minotaur and the male dwarf cleric.

Some of the talk regarding "men with boobs" made me think about the personalities of my female characters and hoping that I've strived for some variety. Quintessa, the noble-born chaotic evil human sorceress is a typical flirtatious femme fatale sort, but also vain, conceited, selfish, self-centered, and egotistical; when it comes to interpersonal relationships she can be a giant tease but it never gets any farther because, in her mind, no one could possibly be good enough for her, being (as she'd put it) a "perfect reflection of the Suel Imperium during the Age of Glory." Variolus is much the same way, but replace any flirting with a totally condescending attitude; actually I'm not sure what's worse—being bluntly told you're a pathetic life form to your face, or having it revealed by otherwise sweet, eloquent words.

The neutral human ranger, Den Bloodsoul, could be considered a "man with boobs" in a way because she very much has a "strong, silent type/no nonsense/survival-of-the-fittest" mentality, only speaking if what she has to say is either important or sarcastic, being a very heavy drinker and smoker, preferring to settle disputes with her fists, and having lived much of her life by herself in the wilderness relying only on her wits; after all, when you're beset upon by a pack of hungry wolves they're not going to care about anything but how tasty you are so all that matters to her is strength… and so one aspect I wanted to roleplay out was how she would deal with working with others, putting her trust in them, and eventually learning that there's more to life than the simple, biological act of "living."

I once played a farmgirl-turned-paladin who had a very "mother bear" kind of feel to her, standing by her friends and fighting for those who were weak, poor, helpless, hopeless, &c. However I feel that came more from her lawful good personality (emphasis on good) and her down-home, Clark Kent-like upbringing. She wasn't a stick-up-her-butt, "lawful stupid" paladin, as she still had a sense of humor, enjoyed a tall ale (in moderation), and opted for diplomacy and non-lethal attacks whenever possible (but also understood that sometimes lethal methods were the only option).

I just like to design and draw female characters. I leave it more for online games rather than table games, tough.

This, too, as touched upon above; honestly I need to start drawing male characters more often…… actually I just need to start drawing again period—haven't drawn much of anything in a couple of years; but first thing on the table would be to draw a new illustration of Variolus (instead of borrowing this), something unnaturally svelte to match her high Dexterity, good Strength, and poor Constitution—I imagine in my head slender arms, slender legs, with a very inhuman grace that would be reminiscent of a long-legged spider slowly crawling a web towards its prey…

[8BitNinja]

Harem Protector. Book of Erotic Fantasy.

....I READ IT FOR THE ARTICLES!

Have you read the flavor text for Lawful Neutral? It's hilarious.

There is a video where someone actually takes about three hours going through the whole thing.

[digiman619]

Harem Protector. Book of Erotic Fantasy.

....I READ IT FOR THE ARTICLES!

Eh, I prefer the Book of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. It has better rules for that. Fun fact: When I got it, I was not expecting that book to be about the adult content it was; I thought it was a book on half-breed races.

[Frozen_Feet]

Harem Protector. Book of Erotic Fantasy.

....I READ IT FOR THE ARTICLES!

You better, because the only remotely sexy picture is on the cover.

[Stealth Marmot]

Have you read the flavor text for Lawful Neutral? It's hilarious.

There is a video where someone actually takes about three hours going through the whole thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFR36BfY9bc

[Delta]

I tend to gravitate toward female characters around a 2:1 to 3:1 ratio and I've actually thought about the "why" a lot but haven't really come up with an explanation beyond "I tend to find them more interesting"

One aspect is that I like to genderbend somewhat, when I come up with a concept, for some reason, I instinctively try to make it the gender you wouldn't expect at first glance, and, well, the majority of common fantasy/hero stereotypes are male by default. I'm sure you could psychoanalyze the motivation behind that for a while but in the end it comes down to what a said above, it's more interesting to me this way.

[Marlowe]

I swear. We have this thread every three years or so.

It's like some people don't understand that it's a ROLE-PLAYING game.

[Delta]

But to be fair, it has been a pretty civil thread from what I've seen with no one calling out cross-playing or whatever. Discussing what kind of characters you play and why you like playing them is a pretty valid topic of discussion for a roleplaying board in my opinion.

[Maglubiyet]

I swear. We have this thread every three years or so.

It's like some people don't understand that it's a ROLE-PLAYING game.

For some people it's just a combat-simulation game. What pokey bits the individual pieces may or may not have is less important (read "irrelevant") than the boom-kapow stats.

[Zanos]

I swear. We have this thread every three years or so.

That is actually ridiculously long. If i had a discussion on the same topic every 3 years in real life I would consider that infrequent, and the internet moves way faster.

[S@tanicoaldo]

Have you read the flavor text for Lawful Neutral? It's hilarious.

There is a video where someone actually takes about three hours going through the whole thing.

Wow, I didn't expect YOU of all people to have read this book :p

To be fair some of the spells in this book are quite interesting. If I was a real magic user I would like to have some kinky spells.

[Cluedrew]

I agree with Zanos, I've been here over two years and I thought I had seen ever re-occurring topic on the thread by now. This is the first cross-playing thread I have seen that has covered the "why" (unless I am forgetting one). The "what", as in define cross-playing, and "how", don't be offensive, have been covered but I think that is all I have seen.

[Akal Saris]

I was playing D&D for close to 15 years before I played a female character, and even then it was in an online game, so it wasn't even like I was cross-playing a character with my usual gaming group. The funny thing is that I'm typically a DM, so I had been doing female character voices for 15 years, but I still felt sort of unsecure/"uncool" about cross-playing, like...D&D is already the kind of game that gets you teased in middle school, do I really want to take it a step further? So yeah....lack of self-confidence more than anything else kind of held me back from trying it out.

When I did finally play a female character, I decided on it because I had a really cool character concept in mind, and I wanted to explore my roleplaying skills some more. She ended up being one of the most fun & memorable characters I've had the opportunity to play, and it was great timing, since I had been getting burned out on D&D. But even now (9 years later) I've only played 2-3 female characters in RL games, simply because I've played so rarely compared with being a DM. And honestly, most of them are in hack & slash games where gender has never come up at all anyways.

I should mention that as a DM a few of my players are female, and one of them has made it a point to always cross-play as a male in the 15+ years that I've been gaming with her. By now it's a point of pride for her :P

[Delta]

And honestly, most of them are in hack & slash games where gender has never come up at all anyways.

Although interestingly, it was with those games or gamers from such groups that I've encountered the most trouble when playing cross-gender characters, even though it technically shouldn't matter at all there.

[Honest Tiefling]

Many reasons. But first, does gender matter? I would say...Yes and no. A lot of settings (and games!) don't delve into gender a whole bunch. Male or female, doesn't matter, so meh. But some do, to varying degrees of success and failure. Sometimes it can be an interesting tool, and sometimes the setting just needs to be set on fire and forgotten.

Myself, I consider it a challenge, and one most roleplayers should consider, especially if they wish to DM! If you do not feel comfortable as the other gender, perhaps this needs to be addressed in order to DM a proper game, or it's a challenge to overcome. If you can't portray 50% of the human population as a DM, that's an issue. Sadly, a lot of it boils down to mimicking speech habits of modern day society, but it's hard to convince players to think beyond that, and harder still to manage it.

My characters are male or female depending on the setting and concept. For instance, I once played in a game where my character was from a matriarchal society, so a male feeling that seemed more appropriate to bond with the fellow men of the group than being a lady with societal privileges. If gender isn't a thing, I might just end up rolling a die, because eh, whatever. I once got so lazy I just decided that my character was androgynous and maxed out bluff and never settled on it.

Or more honestly, if I've found an interesting picture that works for my concept that is more then just conventionally pretty (for the ladies) or conventionally grizzled (for the gentlemen). Lazy? Probably!

[8BitNinja]

When I did finally play a female character, I decided on it because I had a really cool character concept in mind, and I wanted to explore my roleplaying skills some more. She ended up being one of the most fun & memorable characters I've had the opportunity to play, and it was great timing, since I had been getting burned out on D&D. But even now (9 years later) I've only played 2-3 female characters in RL games, simply because I've played so rarely compared with being a DM. And honestly, most of them are in hack & slash games where gender has never come up at all anyways.

Those are most of my games. The group I'm in doesn't really care about roleplaying. Most of us have come from CRPGs (I play Skyrim a ton, and I love me a good JRPG every now and then), so First Lieutenant Gary the Orc Fighter is less of that and more just "Fighter" or sometimes even just "Tank"

That might be a reason why I don't care.

[WhismurWanders]

For me personally, its mostly to bring a little variety into the party. Just like you wouldn't want a party built from too many people of a single class, it adds to the adventuring flair to having a few people of differing genders along as well.

My IRL group is all guys, who play all guys (except me, for the most part). They looked at me kinda funny when I made my first female character with them, but they shrugged it off soon enough when the GM found out he couldn't bait me into playing a slutty character without designing the character that way specifically.

It's saved our butts a few times too. I don't have to make Willpower saves at increased DC whenever the barmaids try to flatter the party into paying more for food and drink, or when a scantily clad priestess was using doe eyes while attempting to steal the McGuffin we had just retrieved.

[Esprit15]

To me, it just feels more comfortable and natural playing a female character. Maybe it helps distance the character from myself and feel more unique, rather than feel like "Me, but with [TRAIT]." I'll tend toward guys in my IRL group, since RP is less common and so one's sex is less relevant, but even then not always; I'm currently playing a female character who used to be an NPC.

[2D8HP]

I have dim memories of playing female characters years ago, I guess I just had some character concepts, but I don't remember exactly what.

Lately I've only played males even when the character has been an expy of a character that was originally female in the novel.

The closest I've got to playing a female character lately was about a year ago when another player noticed that I hadn't put an entry for "gender", and asked me which my PC was (I hadn't yet filled in eye color and other things as well), I snarkily replied "half-Elf", (an OOTS and DM of the Rings reference), but that didn't suffice for the other player, so I told him, "Why don't you tell me?".

[Segev]

I'm not sure what the big question here is. I mean, sure, playing somebody cross isn't fun all the time, but it can be. I mean, there's a class in D&D with a feature built around being particularly cross during combat. The barbarian is a fairly popular class, too.

[Honest Tiefling]

It's saved our butts a few times too. I don't have to make Willpower saves at increased DC whenever the barmaids try to flatter the party into paying more for food and drink, or when a scantily clad priestess was using doe eyes while attempting to steal the McGuffin we had just retrieved.

A smart DM would have a duo of a scantily clad priestess and her bodyguard with chiseled abs you can grate cheese off of. It's actually worked with quite a few female PCs (Some also played by females, some not).

[Segev]

A smart DM would have a duo of a scantily clad priestess and her bodyguard with chiseled abs you can grate cheese off of. It's actually worked with quite a few female PCs (Some also played by females, some not).

So... he's an animated object that's a stone cheese grater? I didn't know female PCs liked kitchen gadgets that much...

[Honest Tiefling]

So... he's an animated object that's a stone cheese grater? I didn't know female PCs liked kitchen gadgets that much...

Try saying that around some women with d4s on their hands...

[8BitNinja]

I'm not sure what the big question here is. I mean, sure, playing somebody cross isn't fun all the time, but it can be. I mean, there's a class in D&D with a feature built around being particularly cross during combat. The barbarian is a fairly popular class, too.

In that case, I cross play every time the Tomb of Horrors gets pulled out.

[neonchameleon]

First, I'm more like a human woman than I am an elf. Why not ask me what the appeal of playing an elf is?

Second when I RP it's to be someone else. Why should I restrict that to men? It's interesting to try to put yourself in the shoes of another - indeed it's a big part of the fun of roleplaying. And if those shoes happen to be stilettos I could never walk in IRL or ballet slippers that's still part of the fun. And changing things I find adds layers to my character as I need to think about things while some concepts work better with one gender than the other.

Third I've been one of the players at the table when the following happened (and heard yet another account of the same phenomenon from someone else in real life):

I'm transgender.

Playing female characters in D&D is a way to be my real self, as a girl. I don't care if the people across the table see a guy sitting there. Roleplaying is a great outlet when you can't share that side of yourself in public.

All the this. I'm a trans woman too, and "cross" playing was one of the first steps towards figuring that out for myself. I started playing mostly men, because I was a "guy." And then I played a woman character, and it fit so much better, and I didn't know why.

So then I made a rule for myself - I would alternate every character I made between being man and a woman, to "keep it even." But then I realized I was resenting all the male characters I played, because they were really just getting in the way of the characters I wanted to play.

And eventually, along with all the other things going on in my life, I finally was able to realize why that was the case. If I hadn't had that chance, if DMs and GMs had told me I couldn't "cross-play" because it was weird, I would be in horrible shape today.

For some people it's trying out new things. For others it's telling different stories. For some of us, it can save our lives. Literally. So please, don't knock it.

And one thing I don't want to happen is for GMs or players to think that cross-playing is something that's weird and shouldn't be done - RPGs can be a useful tool here. If I play a female character in some games that makes it less unusual when someone has an actual need to play characters that don't match the gender they present as.

[Thajocoth]

In MMOs, they've found in studies that crossplaying is very common in part because a female character is likely to receive more help from other players. Men tend to like this boost, as it makes things a little easier, while women who're very used to receiving more help offline, tend to like being left alone more, which a male character allows for. It was years ago when I read this study, so I don't have a link for you, but the study was done with World of Warcraft when it was at the height of its popularity.

More personally, I've used this sort of thing to try to better understand other perspectives than my own. (Other opinions too.)

[Draconi Redfir]

personally it's kind of a "sepperation from the author" type thing. The less the character has in common with me, the less likely the character is to just wind up as a bad self-insert. And Sex... that's a pretty big difference to work with.

As a result, any time i make a male character, he winds up just kind of being an avatar for my own thoughts and opinions, it's very hard to give him his own desires or character that i don't already innately share.

When i make a female character however, she actually grows on her own, the sepperation i have with her means that i'm able to play her as her own unique person, she can have hopes, dreams, and knowledge i don't have, she can have spunk and personality, where all my male characters are just really bland. Female characters just have more CHARACTER for me yaknow?

[SaintRidley]

If given the opportunity, I play a changeling every time. Who needs to be tied down to a single gender? Not I.