l have a character that is somewhat based on the gerudo from zelda botw(dark skin,red hair,comes from village of all females),and l decided to make this to ask for advice on how to play this character in a way to avoid "issiums" (other then not to play them) (l am a straight white male,and l dont want to be a stereotype/raciest when playing this character,so l am asking for advice.) (would just playing this character and not bringing up the skin colour/sex (should l censor that word? if l need to,plz tell me mods,and l will) work?)
thanks for the advice everyone! l agree completely!
For one you are playing in a fantasy realm where the real world sort of ideas fade away.
As for what you're saying here ya you're allowed to play something you're not in this game, it's why we have orcs and elves with mystical spells. It's worthy of being subconscious of some of the racist things but the best away around it is simply to just, make a character without caring about that stuff by fleshing them out and really considering what there envirement teaches them. If they feel like a person you've avoid making them a stereotype
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Marvarax andSora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
Best advice for playing a character of a different sex/race/species from you is to make them a character first, and their sex/race/species as just a background thing. Nobody goes through life thinking to themselves "I am a brown-skinned female, I better make sure my every word and gesture reflects this about myself." They simply live their lives and do what they have to do regardless of their sex/race/species, save in those cases when a specific situation dictates they act otherwise.
In a typical dungeon crawl it won't matter that you're a straight white male playing a brown-skinned female. She'll shoot her bow/swing her sword/cast her spells the same way anyone else in her position would because that's just what adventurers do. For the most part, sex/race/species have no impact on that. If you have to disguise yourself to gain access to a high society ball and pass yourself off as a Classy Lady, then you may have some issues. But honestly? Outside your table ribbing you, it shouldn't be a big deal. Don't fixate on the character's gender, just play her the way you think she'd play and go from there. If your DM is allowing crossplay in the first place you should be fine.
I've been crossplaying almost exclusively for over fifteen years now. Admittedly this was all online word games, no face-to-face stuff, but as a technically-male person with extensive experience 'being a lady' in games with others? You'll be fine. Embarrassed sometimes, sure, but after you get into the swing of the character crossplay issues should fade into the background and disappear.
Good luck, and good on ya for being willing to step outside your comfort zone with this character. Hope your game goes well.
Race, sex, gender, sexual preference, etc. That’s not who a character is. They may make up part of what that character is, but not who. If you play the character for who (not what) they are, the rest just happens.
So you’ve mentioned a few things that the character is, but nothing about who they are. So who are they?
With a character like yours, you could explore what being from an all-female village might mean for their worldview or how they interact with others, but you don’t need to hammer on it constantly. Let their actions and choices reflect who they are, and the rest will feel natural. Also, chatting with people from diverse backgrounds or even reading up on different perspectives can help avoid stereotypes without overthinking it. And sometimes, if you’re just feeling stuck, places like kik seura are great for finding inspiration or connecting with others to brainstorm ideas.
If your character's race / gender / identity is something you regularly need to think about in the game, in how it informs your role-playing choices, then great.
If your character's race / gender / identity is something you are regularly expecting other people to have to be thinking about and paying attention to, you might be playing a stereotype or not being the most respectful in your portrayal of the character.
I have played opposite sex characters many times over the years. Never been an issue. It is a fantasy world. Only if you start using overtly stereo-typing would I see an issue.
Do what you want to do, it is a fantasy game. I will say that from all my years playing that when someone plays a gender opposite of their own it usually comes off stereotyped and a bit tacky. However, DM's are pretty much required to play all roles to some degree, but usually the NPCs aren't constantly exposed to the player group all the time via mannerisms and dialogue like a player character would be so they can get away with a cliff notes version so to speak.
I remember one of my first, if not first, D&D characters was female (I'm not) and when looking down the proficiencies, I asked if anyone else could cook. When nobody else could, I declared I would. The reaction was that the actual female player would get upset, presumably for gender stereotypes, but gender stereotypes had nothing to do with it.
Looking back at all the times I played female characters, the characters were never particularly feminine. I never did a voice. I don't think ever did anything stereotypically feminine. I am fairly certain I never fell into any typical gender roles. It was always this a character, may with a portrait, maybe not, and changing the sex/gender on the character sheet wouldn't have made any difference in how I played.
In the example you are providing, I would focus on the cultural aspect of your character. I am not familiar with the Gerudo, but in a village of all women, I wouldn't expect any gender norms. Any job can be done by anyone. If there are gender norms in other parts of the world and your character is not aware of that (the village is isolated), that may be a surprise and cause unexpected tension. If the village is not isolated, that will be less of a concern. This, I think, is where the heart of the character is, not in being a woman, but in being a traveler from another culture, examining common assumptions with alien eyes.
In my experience it doesn't matter. Literally in my game when people play someone of a different gender we keep getting confused on what gender the character is, because while it's an interesting thought experiment, there isn't any difference between genders beyond physical attributes.
You'll likely play the character exactly like you would have played a male version of the character.
So go for it or don't. Unlikely to change the game in any meaningful way.And is unlikely to come up during game.
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l have a character that is somewhat based on the gerudo from zelda botw(dark skin,red hair,comes from village of all females),and l decided to make this to ask for advice on how to play this character in a way to avoid "issiums" (other then not to play them) (l am a straight white male,and l dont want to be a stereotype/raciest when playing this character,so l am asking for advice.) (would just playing this character and not bringing up the skin colour/sex (should l censor that word? if l need to,plz tell me mods,and l will) work?)
thanks for the advice everyone! l agree completely!
No, gods no.
For one you are playing in a fantasy realm where the real world sort of ideas fade away.
As for what you're saying here ya you're allowed to play something you're not in this game, it's why we have orcs and elves with mystical spells. It's worthy of being subconscious of some of the racist things but the best away around it is simply to just, make a character without caring about that stuff by fleshing them out and really considering what there envirement teaches them. If they feel like a person you've avoid making them a stereotype
Marvarax and Sora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
Best advice for playing a character of a different sex/race/species from you is to make them a character first, and their sex/race/species as just a background thing. Nobody goes through life thinking to themselves "I am a brown-skinned female, I better make sure my every word and gesture reflects this about myself." They simply live their lives and do what they have to do regardless of their sex/race/species, save in those cases when a specific situation dictates they act otherwise.
In a typical dungeon crawl it won't matter that you're a straight white male playing a brown-skinned female. She'll shoot her bow/swing her sword/cast her spells the same way anyone else in her position would because that's just what adventurers do. For the most part, sex/race/species have no impact on that. If you have to disguise yourself to gain access to a high society ball and pass yourself off as a Classy Lady, then you may have some issues. But honestly? Outside your table ribbing you, it shouldn't be a big deal. Don't fixate on the character's gender, just play her the way you think she'd play and go from there. If your DM is allowing crossplay in the first place you should be fine.
I've been crossplaying almost exclusively for over fifteen years now. Admittedly this was all online word games, no face-to-face stuff, but as a technically-male person with extensive experience 'being a lady' in games with others? You'll be fine. Embarrassed sometimes, sure, but after you get into the swing of the character crossplay issues should fade into the background and disappear.
Good luck, and good on ya for being willing to step outside your comfort zone with this character. Hope your game goes well.
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Race, sex, gender, sexual preference, etc. That’s not who a character is. They may make up part of what that character is, but not who. If you play the character for who (not what) they are, the rest just happens.
So you’ve mentioned a few things that the character is, but nothing about who they are. So who are they?
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With a character like yours, you could explore what being from an all-female village might mean for their worldview or how they interact with others, but you don’t need to hammer on it constantly. Let their actions and choices reflect who they are, and the rest will feel natural.
Also, chatting with people from diverse backgrounds or even reading up on different perspectives can help avoid stereotypes without overthinking it. And sometimes, if you’re just feeling stuck, places like kik seura are great for finding inspiration or connecting with others to brainstorm ideas.
One possible way to look at this:
If your character's race / gender / identity is something you regularly need to think about in the game, in how it informs your role-playing choices, then great.
If your character's race / gender / identity is something you are regularly expecting other people to have to be thinking about and paying attention to, you might be playing a stereotype or not being the most respectful in your portrayal of the character.
I have played opposite sex characters many times over the years. Never been an issue. It is a fantasy world. Only if you start using overtly stereo-typing would I see an issue.
Do what you want to do, it is a fantasy game. I will say that from all my years playing that when someone plays a gender opposite of their own it usually comes off stereotyped and a bit tacky. However, DM's are pretty much required to play all roles to some degree, but usually the NPCs aren't constantly exposed to the player group all the time via mannerisms and dialogue like a player character would be so they can get away with a cliff notes version so to speak.
I remember one of my first, if not first, D&D characters was female (I'm not) and when looking down the proficiencies, I asked if anyone else could cook. When nobody else could, I declared I would. The reaction was that the actual female player would get upset, presumably for gender stereotypes, but gender stereotypes had nothing to do with it.
Looking back at all the times I played female characters, the characters were never particularly feminine. I never did a voice. I don't think ever did anything stereotypically feminine. I am fairly certain I never fell into any typical gender roles. It was always this a character, may with a portrait, maybe not, and changing the sex/gender on the character sheet wouldn't have made any difference in how I played.
In the example you are providing, I would focus on the cultural aspect of your character. I am not familiar with the Gerudo, but in a village of all women, I wouldn't expect any gender norms. Any job can be done by anyone. If there are gender norms in other parts of the world and your character is not aware of that (the village is isolated), that may be a surprise and cause unexpected tension. If the village is not isolated, that will be less of a concern. This, I think, is where the heart of the character is, not in being a woman, but in being a traveler from another culture, examining common assumptions with alien eyes.
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My houserulings.
In my experience it doesn't matter. Literally in my game when people play someone of a different gender we keep getting confused on what gender the character is, because while it's an interesting thought experiment, there isn't any difference between genders beyond physical attributes.
You'll likely play the character exactly like you would have played a male version of the character.
So go for it or don't. Unlikely to change the game in any meaningful way.And is unlikely to come up during game.