Roleplaying Games

This page is for non-computer Roleplaying Games. For online gaming, see Gaming.

Overview

Roleplaying games are games in which players take on the role of a character and attempt to achieve certain goals/quests as that character. Although the term is also used for a genre of computer games, this page is about the face-to-face kind of RPGs, including Dungeons and Dragons and other games of that kind.

Issues

• Invisibility
• Essentialism -- some people believe that women are evolutionarily designed to dislike roleplaying games.
  • On Gender and Gaming by Jonathan Tweet
• Condescension -- playing down to women roleplayers
  • Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the D&D Game
• Objectification
  • Usually in art (note: the male version has shirt and pants) but also in gameplay (see Pimp the Backhanding)
• Here with my boyfriend
  • Conventions such as Gen Con have events aimed at non-gamers who attend. Most of them are aimed at women, including a couple of sexualized "courses"

Women in Roleplaying Games

Writers/Designers

• Jenna K. Moran - Freelance author for White Wolf who wrote large portions of Exalted first edition and parts of second edition as well as an independent game designer who wrote or worked on In Nomine, Ex Machina, Nobilis, Chuubo's Wish-Granting Engine and Weapons of the Gods.
• Jess Hartley - Freelance Writer for White Wolf. Her own personal blog.
• Monica Valentinelli - Freelance Writer. Does a lot of work in the indie scene. blog
• Mur Lafferty - Freelance writer and podcaster. Her website.

Publisher​s

• Lee Gold - Publisher of Alarums & Excursions, the first magazine devoted to roleplaying games.

Further reading

• On gender disparity in RPGs (blog post by John Kim)
• Why geeks get a bad name on Feminist Geeks, discussing sexism in D&D forums online
• Sexism in D&D and EnWorld (now with solutions!) - discussion of sexism on a popular D&D forum
• Blogger Dorothea Salo has reflected several times on sexist experiences in tabletop and email RPGs:
  • The sickening grunch
  • Assumptions much?
  • Gaming and the non-grunch
• Dovearrow's blog about feminism and gaming

Timeline of Events

2005

Chris Crawford using "Evolutionary Psych" to explain why women don't like shooting games. [1]

2008

On Gender and Gaming by Jonathan Tweet