People that play the opposite gender

Sometimes you just get an idea for a character and part of the idea is that character being a particular gender? It's not some complicated sex thing, it's just playing a character you think would be a neat idea.

You can be immersed in the character because your characters aren't exactly like you in every way. If I can stretch my imagination enough that I can pretend to be a dragon man then I can stretch my imagination enough to pretend to be a lady.

I roleplay characters of other genders all the time. Basically every roleplayer I have ever known, male or female, does it. It isn't a big deal, and I don't know why an odd subset of Veeky Forums treats it as such.

I might be male, but I interact with women as part of my daily life. I have female friends and family members, I experience and enjoy a lot of female characters in fiction. Given all that, I don't find it that much harder to roleplay a female character than a male one. Sure, it takes a bit of extra thought, but that's what makes it interesting.

Most guys don't. They play dudes with tits. It's just putting an F on a sheet instead of an M for most. Very few roleplayers are actually good enough to play the other gender, though many think they are good at it.

Let me tell you a secret, user.

I'm not actually a wizard in real life.

I used to do this all of the time as a teenager, arguing that only a loser would mind. Play men, women, whatever.

Spoiler: I'm a tranny now.

>I can be fully immersed in a female character about as easy as I can be immersed in a barbarian or a wizard
>Choose a class: warrior, ranger, woman, barbarian, wizard

Same as asking why a poor person IRL roleplays a rich playboy in a game, or why actors play a role in a play or a movie.

>that spoiler
what the fuck

I meant only that playing a woman is no more different to my actual being than being some fantasy trope that people have no problem pretending to be

You do have to agree user that female actor acting a woman is more believable in a play.
But you do make a point.

You laugh but there was a version of Unearthed Arcana which included a parallel version of the Fighter class for women. It had a lower max strength, low attack progression, but the ability to cast spells which charm and beguile men via sexuality if the character is not Lawful (because only sluts would so such a thing).

>Is it to create the perfect waifu/husbandu ?
Yup
>I don't think even gay people do that.
That's where you're wrong.

I agree op, everyone on Veeky Forums should only ever play carbon copies of themselves, including the personality, abilities, background and appearance. Gosh, how could a game of pretend work if someone decides to play as something they aren't?

This may be true.

I know, right? It's shocking. But I still love roleplaying as one.

Go to /lgbt/ you sick fuck

only half true

most players can't roleplay their own gender either

I've also seen one woman try to play a man. Her attempts at replicating masculine behavior are laughable, especially her attempts at being intimidating.

I do it if it's appropriate to the character or the campaign. Sometimes, the elven dignitary has to be a princess because that makes the most sense and is the more interesting party composition.

Usually, though, even when playing a woman would be playing the stereotype straight, I find it's more interesting to gender-swap them right back, though - It plays closer to my comfort zone and tends to bring up somethign interesting, even if the characterization becomes a camp gay rock star.

oh no question that a female actor will portray a female character more believably the majority of the time
i'm just saying it's not unheard of

I'm not against playing a female, but I've yet to think of a concept that really demands it. I don't usually think switching M to F on my character sheets would bring anything more to the table, so I don't do it.

>Now I am not one to judge, but why do people do it ?
>I mean how can you be fully emerged in your character and roleplay the character when he/she is a different race?
>Is it to create the perfect thug/hoe?
>I don't think even black people do that.

If you think about voice acting, a huge number of young male voices are done by female VA's.

>Now I am not one to judge, but why do people do it?
Because sometimes being female suits the character concept better than being male.

That's mainly out of necessity, because children's voices and puberty don't go hand in hand.

A female will roleplay a female more believably than she will roleplay a male, yes.

>but why do people do it ?
Because they dream of women who aren't total shit. Either that or penis envy.

> A female is more of a stretch to play than a fucking different species

Lolkay

And acting in general was in a lot of places done exclusively by men.

I tend to roll randomly for what gender the character is during character creation. For me it's about coming up with an interesting person. Sure I have to like the person I'm playing to some degree but gender really doesn't have much to do with whether I like said person or not. I never really saw it as a big deal.

(random pic)

Male and female brains are different and we have real world examples to compare to. When the real world dwarves show up, then you might have a point.

That woman needs to understand weight distribution and rooting

No, he has a point without real-world dwarves showing up, because the entire point is that dwarves would be far more different by virtue of not even being real.

A person is likely going to roleplay another gender better than they will a species that spends most of its time underground and lives for multiple centuries.

>spends most of its time underground
[insert basement dweller joke here]

Too bad, because she has a nice frontal split.

Not that it actually matters for a kick, but heh!

I mean.

Considering I'm playing a character whos not me at any given time, its pretty easy to put myself in their position to think and act as they would despite a few natural barriers. I never personally create waifus/husbandos or whatever, I just create a character I think would be interesting to see in the setting or could go through a lot of development in conjuction. I don't make titty monsters or do gay shit if thats what you're asking.

I guess having a lot of sisters probably helps me to see and think a little as woman would through mere observation. Because they're all around different ages too, that helps me paint the age mural if I play a female character too.

I'm also an aspiring novelist, so I kind've need to see through the female perspective to write female characters so being able to roleplay them half the time kind've keeps it all active and alive.

There are cliches I play into for inspiration as I role play. These cliches are often tied to a certain gender. Often I will have the whole character fleshed out, pause, and realize that it paints a stronger image in my head to have the character as the other gender.

>lonely wandering dwarf ex-soldier and exile is male
>vain but haunted ex-antipaladin struggling to withstand sadistic inclinations is a female
>filthy homeless drunkard inventor is a male
>caring, motherly paladin desperate to hang on to what few bonds left in her life is female
>macho, chivalrous monk luchador is male

>I mean how can you be fully emerged in your character and roleplay the character when he/she is a different gender ?
I mean how can you be fully emerged in your character and roleplay the character when he/she is a different race/species ?
I mean how can you be fully emerged in your character and roleplay the character when he/she is a different social class ?
I mean how can you be fully emerged in your character and roleplay the character when he/she is from a different culture ?

One tries one's best.

>play female characters
>play what is essentially a female version of myself, a stuck up arrogant whore

No fucks were given, the group got bitchy when I played a guy and I ended up as super gay arbitrator in DH.

These may also be true.

Most of the times that I've seen women play men, they come across like effeminate soap opera characters. I think in general that most people, when playing the opposite gender, basically play some idealized version of that gender with very little understanding as to how they actually think or act.

I play characters with totally different backgrounds, personalities, and interests than my own. It's more challenging and fun anyhow.

Admittedly I am not exactly a leading expert in the field of how guys think. I usually end up playing them like women except with a compulsive need to prove they're the best at everything when there are two or more other men around.

I roleplay male characters online because harassement is real. I don't want to have people mainsplaining me, giving me stuff because they pursue my favors, accuse me of being here for drama and attention, or ask me for pictures.

Sometimes I just feel like the character I thought up fits better as a woman. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Girls do it all the time, we just get our man panties in a twist when a guy does it. It's really kind of stupid.

I've seen plenty of girls play male characters in oWoD and coming off as downright scary.

One of them narrated a rape scene, too. The guys' jaws dropped halfway.

Out of curiosity how much does mansplaining come up and does it come from guys you can tell are assholes already.

It comes from people who are assholes. It comes from people who are nice guys, but just awkward. It comes from people who are trying to be nice, but fails.
The thing is, hiding my real gender is usually a better idea, and playing a male character does that - while I'm sure some guys can play realistic females, they are a minority, so people usualy link convincing females with female players (maybe through wishful thinking).

I'll admit I tend to flinch when I see a guy playing a female character from past experiences, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Not usually, though.

I did something like that when I tried GMing a group on Roll20. I used an androgynous screen name, they assumed I was a dude, and I just didn't correct them.

Different characters.

My male clerics are either basically gay, or sometimes father figures.

Female medics are usually nicer than their "harsh, fed up doctor trying to chorale his patients" male counterparts.

Evokers and summoners are male. Diviners and transmuters are female.

Any of those can change, but that's just based on preference.

also I'm a closet tranny

>"how can you be fully emerged in your character"
I'm never trully emerged in any character I play. What kind of psycho fuck you are to emerge in unreal things? Are you mental?

I dunno, I haven't had a good enough idea for a female character yet but I'm not really against the idea

I don't really factor in all that self-obsessive identity shit, I just like fun characters

She sounds like a cocktease. Or she has rape fantasies.

Do you ever play non-spellcasters?

>She sounds like a cocktease. Or she has rape fantasies.
Do you say the same when a male plays such a scene? When the barbarian of your group slaughter orcs, do you assume the player has genocidal tendencies?

There really isn't any discussion to be had here. "We're already pretending to be someone/something we're not, so what makes this any different?" can't really be argued against in any good faith.

Nope.

She wasn't being a cocktease, the guys were creeped out.

You're the kind of moron who assumes anything a woman does to you is for the intent of titillation, are you?

Because if I sat down at the table and said "my cleric is a warrior nun, also he's a guy", I'd get weird looks

I pity any girl that ends up in your group

>"my cleric is a warrior nun, also he's a guy",
>Bridget in a suggestive pose.jpg

I feel sorry for you, user. Must be tough.
God bless!

Because when the DM said: "hey you guys, wanna play drows in the underdark?" I rolled a female so I could boss everyone around, because fuck it, that's how I like to play: like an insuferable cunt.

Weeell, I mean, I kinda would. If a guy narrated a detailed rape scene, like, I wouldn't assume he was necessarily a rapist, but I'd be pretty confident what his preferred porn keywords were.

>I think the only way someone can act out a thing is if it's a fetish for them
It was a sabbat game, are you that fucking virginal that you can't imagine anything being done other than through the lens of your sexual frustration?

>mansplaining
What does this mean?

Because Adepta Sororitas, user. Completely fucking crazy nuns in glorious power armor using preposterous flamethrowers, defending a faith that makes no sense, fighting every-fucking-one from aliens to their own people, in motherfucking space.
Everyone else is small time.

mansplain
manˈspleJn/
verbinformal
gerund or present participle: mansplaining
(of a man) explain (something) to someone, typically a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing.

It's a common practice to assume that female players are beginners, and that we need help. It comes from goodwill, but it's often frustrating.
Explaining so often lead to another kind of mansplanning, in which a male, who is not familiar with the daily issues we encounter based on our gender, will then try to either explain to us that these issues don't really exist or could be easily avoided.

Dude, it's a chick playing WoD and rape was included in detail. It doesn't get anymore stereotypical than that. Unlike the other guy I wouldn't automatically say they had a rape fetish, especially since I wasn't there and therefore don't know all the details, but don't pretend like this assumption is something totally outlandish.

How can I be fully immersed in my character and roleplay when my character is a master swordsman and wielder of arcane magics?
I just don't get it Veeky Forums.

>someone using this here and they're not ironically shitposting

I'm triggered desu.

It's common practice to assume that players you haven't played with might be new and explain things to them.
Just tell em that you know how the game works, it isn't such a big deal.

Well, devil's advocate here, for the sake of discussion.

Fighters and wizards, elves and dwarves, Martians and Neptunians--these aren't distinctions one encounters in the real world. There's no wizard against whom you can compare your character. Men and women, however, are real, and their relationships (on a personal and societal level) are significant. Hence why it's a bigger deal than playing someone unlike yourself in other ways.

I facepalmed when reading OP's question, but it's tru that at no point a wizard will just sighs when seeing one of us roleplaying him, and starts complaining we're both clichee and missing the point.

Nice mansplaining.

>Explaining so often lead to another kind of mansplanning, in which a male, who is not familiar with the daily issues we encounter based on our gender, will then try to either explain to us that these issues don't really exist or could be easily avoided

You forgot the part where they also try whenever there's an attractive woman around.

So its just explaining. Why do you need to vigorously try to find a problem where there isn't any?

For all my characters, I flip a coin. Heads, female. Tails, male.

As for how to play a gender which you do not natively identify with, it's an exercise in empathy and pattern recognition. Two things any human with a functioning mind should be capable of experiencing on demand.

If you use 'mansplaining' every time someone disagrees with you, it loses any meaning.

Some people might talk down to you because you're a woman sure. Some people might just be honestly trying to help.

Lumping them in a big pile doesn't help anyone.

Personally, I find that I can better express certain aspects of characters with a different gender.

A male that is 'cute' or 'silly' or even just very emotional would be seen as effeminate, and not taken as seriously as a more stoic and rational character. A female could be stoic and rational too, but I'm able to more easily express things that would be considered effeminate and weak with a male character.

Yeah, forgot to mention them though. I played a heavy weapons fighter who was a big buff guy. A ranger/scout who was an elf. I have a few friends who really like front line/leader characters, another who likes rogues, another who loves his sorcerers, so I end up as support.

>Team ends up as sausage party
>People want more variety
or
>Some joke is thrown during character creation
>Out of it, Wert decided his new character will be female to poke another joke out of the situation
or
>Dryads are female-only race
>The starting archery bonus is too much for Luke to resist his munchkin urges
or
>Paul lost the bet
>He now plays character picked by other player
or
>When filling his sheet Bart realised this would work better with female seductress, given how most important NPCs are going to be males
>He now plays as smoking hot femme fatale instead of swift James Bondesque
or
>Ian is rolling character
>Rolled out female
or
>Veronica saw Zatoichi remake
>She decided to put the concept of brother disguised as geisha on its head
or
>Veronica doesn't want to play as yet another musculine action girl
>She just makes a guy if she was playing as one with tits already
or
>Carol doesn't feel like playing yet another health slut
>Out of pure spite, she makes the type of character she usually heals, obligatory male
or
>Joanna had to play for Paul when he was unable to show up on game
>Ends up running his character and he got to play hers

I could keep going with this for ages, and those are just my personal experiences as GM.

Motivation is not in question. The tendency to be condescending is subconscious in many cases--they're not thinking "oh, I'll show sugar-tits the ropes".

Critically, though, you've kinda missed the point. You don't understand why it's hard to just tell someone you know what you're doing. They won't believe you. If you press it, they'll think you're a bitch. If they think you're a bitch, they're more likely to act aggressively towards you, which does not make for a good interaction, let alone a good campaign. You really can't ignore this stuff when you're on the receiving end.

Someone assuming you're a newbie isn't exclusive to vagina owners. Likewise someone contextualizing your issues to their own is a normal *human* thing necessary for empathy and to give out advice. If you think it's bad because your experience isn't 1:1 to theirs, why draw the line at what's between a person's legs? Of course we'd never stop arguing over what's valid and acceptable since almost everyone's experience is different. This is why mansplaining as a thing is derided as a buzzword you can hide behind whenever you don't like what someone has to say. You don't erase lines in the sand by drawing your own.

>how can you be fully emerged in your character
Number one, it's immersed.
Number two, this argument could also easily be applied to characters of a different race or species, different background, or theoretically even a different skillset.

You don't really know what it's like to be anyone other than yourself, though you can usually make pretty educated guesses about people who differ from you in a few aspects.

I'm any event, I occasionally play female characters (mainly for variety, though sometimes I feel a character would work better as a woman).

>Is it to create the perfect waifu/husbandu ?
>I don't think even gay people do that.

Holy loaded questions, batman!

If I'm going to play as Vasquez anyway, because nobody is too eager to be the fighter, why don't just play as male? At least no NPC is going to give my PC shit for being "unlady-like"

>Critically, though, you've kinda missed the point. You don't understand why it's hard to just tell someone you know what you're doing. They won't believe you. If you press it, they'll think you're a bitch. If they think you're a bitch, they're more likely to act aggressively towards you, which does not make for a good interaction, let alone a good campaign. You really can't ignore this stuff when you're on the receiving end.
Exactly. The guy is full of good intention, he just doesn't realise he's frustrating, and there is no way to get out of it. Either you smile and endure, or you protest and you're the antagonistic one - why do you react this way when the guy was only trying to help?

So the easiest way, online, is to hide our gender. And contrary to what other posters pretended, it drops considerably the amount of people assuming we don't know what we are doing and need extra care.

You know guys do the exact same thing to each other, right?
I do think that Older Brother approach is being misinterpreted by people not often on the receiving end of it.

My contestion was entirely with the phrase mansplaining. It doesn't help people listen to you. It just makes it sound like you think men are the problem instead of it being retarded people who are the problem.

Man, I remember the first time I used my microphone on a WoW raid.

>mfw

It's a really "man towards woman because she's a woman" problem. It has... Let's say, a different texture?