Gender Roles in RPG Texts

By John Kim < jhkim@darkshire.net>

         This is a study of the text in various recent role-playing game books, analyzing them for their
portrayal of gender roles. There has often been controversy over the position of women within role-
playing games. RPGs have a reputation for being male-dominated, and I thought one approach
would be to look at how women are portrayed in RPG texts. Thus, I conducted a study looking at a
number of RPG books from among my collection, and studied each text looking at all cases of
female characters. Collecting these, I present the results.

         I consider this important in that there are many claims regarding the cause of gender disparity
among RPG gamers -- i.e. why there are so few women in the hobby. I feel that close study of game
texts is at least one approach that should bring light on the matter. Below I describe in general terms
my findings.

         My methodology is to look only at examples of male and female characters appearing in the
text. Illustrations are interesting, but they are difficult to analyze and present. Thus I do not consider
them either way. The textual characters may be in fiction snippets, examples illustrating rules, or
background information. The greatest focus is on examples of player characters, but other characters
are also considered. As background, other comments on gender are consider as well.

         NOTE: The cases are listed below in order that I analyzed them. I analyzed the first ("The
Greenland Saga") before I had decided on making a project of the study. After that, I picked
randomly from among my collection. The first was arguably a biased choice, the sexism in it likely
helped motivate my desire to study it. Having done the work of analyzing it, though, I felt it should
be included. On the other hand, for financial reasons I was selecting from among works that I
already own rather than buying new works solely for this study. That introduces a possible bias in
the opposite direction, since I tend not to buy sexist works.

Case #1: The Greenland Saga

         This is a module put out by by Avalanche Press. Two others of Avalanche's D20 historical
series in 2001 were awarded for Origins Awards (one of them twice). It received good reviews in
Dungeon Crawler Magazine and rpg.net. I bought it thinking it might have useful material for a
related RuneQuest campaign which I was GMing.

         The adventure begins with a 7-page introduction to the historical setting for the game: 15th
century Scandanavia, and Greenland in particular. This includes a quarter-page section on women
which presents a reasonably balanced view of women's social status in the time period. However, in
terms of rules mechanics, there are only three adjustments which it suggests for D&D character
creation. These are:

Remove all weapon/armor proficiencies and spell use from clerics (to reflect Roman
Catholicism).
Females have -3 Strength, +1 Dexterity, and +1 Constitution. (This is in a sidebar which ends
with the text: "Life is not fair. Deal with it.").
Triple the cost of the Swim skill.

While each of these is individually justifiable as realistic, the module suggests no changes for bards,
druids, sorcerers, or wizards -- all of which I think have far more effect on historical accuracy than
females with average Str, Dex, and Con. So the selection is significant.

         Interestingly, the adventure itself flatly contradicts the historical introduction on many points.
The introduction describes how the Icelanders are organized in extended clans, which is true.
However, the adventure itself has the colony devoid of families or even explicitly married couples.
The only extended community described is a group of men, of which the adventure notes: "No
women are present, and the men of the Five Hundred speak often of sex and women in crude and
sophmoric terms. However, if any female adventurers or NPCs come to Brattahild with the party, the
men of the Five Hundred will show themselves to be painfully shy around them."

         Of the 31 NPCs in the adventure, three are female. The first two, Elisabeth and Sigurd, have
charisma 19 and 20, respectively. They are both beautiful, high-level, unmarried noblewomen (7th-
level Aristocrat and 7th-level Aristocrat / 2nd-level Sorceror, in an adventure for 2-4 level). The
third, Katrina, is the "long-time companion" of a man subtitled "Norse Trash", and has the following
notes accompanying her stat block:

Special: Barbarian Rage. For a period of three days, every 28 days,

Katrina is able to invoke barbarian-like rage. During this period, her
strength increases to 13 and she is also able to use the Improved Bull
Rush feat. Changing Charisma. Katrina actually cleans up quite nicely -
her charisma rises considerably [from 6 to 14] if she is bathed and out of
the presence of Snorri [her "long-time companion"]. Illiteracy. Katrina cannot
read or write, though she could learn to do so with intensive training.
Lust: Katrina is consumed with lust for any male of reasonable age and
appearance who is not Snorri. This obsession rules her actions.

And as if the reference to menstruation weren't enough, her description further notes that: "If Snorri
is not watching, she 'accidentally' allows her blouse to fall open as she leans over near male
members of the party, exposing her small and very dirty breasts."

         What is notable here is how the gender roles manifest. It is absolutely not the case of making
women conform to historical roles. To the contrary, the women have no duties as mothers or
nurturers. Instead, we have a contrast. Elisabeth and Sigurd are ultra-beautiful and powerful but
inaccessible. As the module describes Sigurd:

Sigurd's intelligence and beauty have long made her stand out among her
fellow Greenlanders. Over the years this has given her an arrogant turn of
mind. She does not suffer fools easily, and reacts with ill-concealed
contempt to what she considers silly questions or statements. There are
many frustrated suitors among the Greenlanders who will bitterly claim
that she considers herself too good for any of them. They're right, but so
is she.

The other is Elisabeth Elisabeth Camilla, a 7th Level Aristocrat and titled as "Ruthless Merchant
Princess". She appears in the beginning as the one who finances the PC's expedition. Her description
begins:

She will appear very soon after the guard departs, a rather short but
undeniably beautiful red-haired woman. In her wake will come several
more strapping young men she calls her "entourage." Intensity radiates
from her, and she is much more abrupt and focused than the genteel
Marcello, moving directly to her offer with a speed verging on rudeness.
In contrast, Katrina is extremely accessible (as explicitly noted in her stat block!), but is also
pathetic. Again, this is not caused by the historical period -- quite the opposite! There are no women
who would be normal for the period: i.e. wives and mothers. Instead there are aloof beauties and
trashy sluts.

Case #2: The Lord of the Rings RPG

         This is the core book for the "Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game" from Decipher (2002). It
presents a very simple approach to the issue of women: they don't exist. There is no mention of a
female character anywhere in the character creation or rules examples. Not only are the six character
archetypes male, all other characters in the examples as well as players in examples are male. The
game uses male pronouns for all generic references to players and characters. It ostensibly balances
this by using female pronouns for generic references to the GM position. However, the named GM
in the examples is also male.

         This approach is at least straightforward. All-male characters is implicitly assumed, and was
most likely the case in playtesting and design. Some people have suggested that this simply reflects
how the source material (Tolkien) is dominated by male characters. However, I think this is not a
full explanation. First, the RPG expands in many ways such that play need not be an exact match to
the events of the books. There are character types allowed that are minor or even non-existant in the
books. Second, by not mentioning gender at all, the rules have trouble representing what female
characters there are in the books. For example, if one creates a female of the Noble order, the
character has skills like Armed Combat, Ranged Combat, and Intimidate -- which are ill-suited for a
noblewoman.

         I think that adding real support for female characters would be more than just a token change.
Accurately representing women in Middle Earth would significantly change and expand the scope of
characters. It would require thought be given to social roles and the structure of adventures. For
example, it would bring up the question about relations among the PCs -- because in a mixed-gender
group of wanderers that would certainly be a question that arises. There is no discussion of this in
the text.

Case #3: Hero Wars

         The third case is Hero Wars from Issaries, Inc (2000). This is similar to Lord of the Rings in
that it portrays a medieval fantasy world with traditions similar to Earth. However, the mechanics do
emphasize the possibility of power through relationships such as followers and friends. Moreso than
Lord of the Rings, this allows for more traditional female characters. The question is, though, how
are women actually portrayed?

         The character creation chapter establishes three players and their PCs which are re-used
throughout the book. These are Rick and his PC Kallai, Peter and his PC Rollo, and John and his PC
Rurik. Obviously, all are male. There are female characters mentioned in some of the examples.
Below I include the complete text of these mentions:

The first is on page 34, as follows:

During the course of the game Rurik's younger sister grows up from a
pest into a helpful young woman interested in Rurik's travels. John had
originally conceived of Frieda as a tomboy who was always getting into
trouble and needing to be bailed out by her older brother. After several
 sessions, however, Frieda's role has changed from dependent to
something else. It takes a Hero Point to "buy off" her dependent role, but
John can then make her into an ally or follower for free. If Frieda grew up
to hate her older brother, she could move straight from dependent to
adversary without spending the point.

The next example is from page 35,

The players have finished a session wherein they rescued the daughter of
the king, foiling the plans of the king's brother. Kathy decides that the
king is grateful enough to become a Patron of the hero band, while the
brother has become their implacable Foe. The players are instructed to
note these new relationships on their sheets.

Then from page 121,

Rollo tries to sweet-talk his way into the heart (or at least arms) of a
pretty girl. His Fast Talk is 12W; her Chaster is 16W. Neither gets a
bump. They both roll and both fail. Rollo's roll of 15 is lower than her 19,
so his line is good enough to interest her, though not totally.

Then from page 136,

Rurik is courting Niquena, a comely lass. Kathy is running the courtship

as an extended contest played out over months of game time. Every time
Rurik and Niquena meet, they engage in another exchange, using running
AP totals. After one adventure Rurik brings Niquena a bouquet of rare
Voria's Blessing blossoms. Kathy judges that the flowers will give him an
edge of 4 for this exchange. Rurik bids 5 AP and rolls. If he wins the
exchange, his bid will be counted as 9 AP, while if he loses his bid is 5
AP. He rolls a success against Niquena's failure, resulting in Niquena
forfeiting 2x the bid, or 18 AP.

In the magic section, a female character named Dabranila opposed to the PCs is introduced and used
in seven examples total (pages 170, 173, 195, 196, 235, 236, 241). She is introduced as:

Dabranila tries to work her magic so that Kallai forgets the crime he has
just seen her commit. One of Kallai's affinities is Truth. The Narrator
says, "Dabranila performs an incantation, and you feel your memories
slipping away from you. Everything is getting hazy."
"Using my magic of Truth," Rick responds, "I remember the truth of what
I have seen." An extended contest over Kallai's memories, pitting the
sorcerer's magical spell of Forced Amnesia against Kallai's Truth affinity,
then ensues.

The last example is on page 250,

Rurik is going on the Hervald's Helm heroquest, and asks for his village's
approval and support. His family and the priest of Orlanth give him
extraordinary support, while the rest of the village approves and gives
ordinary support. There are 20 people giving extraordinary support, for a
total of +8. The rest of the village totals 260. The village support is worth
 +1, not 14, because there is a higher level of support.
The priestess of Chalana Arroy opposes the quest (objection) because of
Rurik's disrespect in the past. The priestess has managed to convince nine
others to join her protest of his quest for a -1 penalty.

So the text here at least acknowledges females as a part of the world, but it does little to support the
idea of them as PCs. Dabranila unfortunately fits the "femme fatale" stereotype of a sorceress who
enchants the minds of men. The other examples all fit into similar literary types: the innocent to be
protected, the object to be courted, the jealous type to be appeased.

         While this fits with many genres, I do not think it is required for the period or setting. For
example, historical sagas such as the Laxdaela Saga show the lives of a woman in her role as wife
and mother. Hero Wars inherently allows PCs to have power through their relationships, but this is
not illustrated in any of the examples of women. In the text, there are princesses but not queens.
There are damsels to be courted but not wives or mothers. When women have power (such as the
sorceress or the priestess), they are opposed to the PCs.

Case #4: Star Trek

         The fourth case is Last Unicorn Games' "Star Trek Roleplaying Game" (1999). This game
ostensibly portrays a future society where equality for all races and sexes has come about. The game
at least mechanically supports such equality. However, there are signs that this is not so in the
designer's eyes. For example, there are 15 one-page sections of fiction: one at the start of each
chapter. In those, about a dozen Starfleet characters appear. Of these, two are women. That is not
very noteworthy, but what is interesting is what they do. Below I include the complete text sections
where the two female Starfleet characters are mentioned at all.

The first is on page 25:

"...Open a channel, Lieutenant."

        Lieutenant Danna complied, not without a certain nervousness.
First-contact situations were fraught with peril. The six-inch scar on her
left thigh was testament to that, a souvenir of the ship's first brush with
the Matapedians. Everything had worked out okay in the end, thanks to
Captain Diamond's quick thinking. Moments like this still made her edgy,
though.

The second is on page 263:

"Shall I open communications, sir?" Communications Officer Thursen's

voice quavered slightly with the anticipation of announcing the arrival of
the Yorktown.
        "Wait until we're through the Ring, Lieutenant," Captain Foster
advised. "It won't hurt us to get a little closer to our destination."
        Thursen lowered her head to hide the slight flush that reddened her
cheek. She wondered if her eagerness to take a more active role in the
approach made her seem even more of a new recruit than her shipmates.
She admired Lieutenant Vashenka's composure and Helmsman D'wara's
complete concentration. Sometimes she thought her graduation from the
academy was a fluke. She wondered if the others felt the same way.
         Frankly, I think this text speaks for itself. Throughout the rest of the example fiction, male
characters have lots of heroic action beating aliens and so forth, while the females shiver with fright
and nervousness when asked to open communication channels. Note the emphasis on Danna's thigh
and Thursen's cheek. In addition, there are female characters included in six of the mechanics
examples in the rules. Two of these (pages 87 and 93) are examples of taking medical problems as
disadvantages. Three of them (pages 101, 103, and 161) have the character making a perception or
sensor check -- never combat or an active role. The sixth (page 104) is this:

Nurse Purvis uses her own Charm skill to resist Ensign Genchoks'
romantic overtures (i.e., his attempt to use Charm on her), since they
wouldn't make a good couple -- his blue skin tone clashes with her
uniform.

I think it is safe to say that there is a trend going on here. While females are ostensibly given
equality in the background as described, there is a definite tone in the text which opposes this.

Case #5: Deadlands

         "Deadlands" is an alternate old west game from Alderac Entertainment Games (AEG).
Deadlands makes conscious effort to overturn racist and sexist tendencies of many western films and
novels. The following sidebar is given on page 29:

The Fairer Sex

        In the world of Deadlands, the Civil War has dragged on for more
than 16 years -- from 1860 to the present date of 1876. Manpower in both
the North and the South is at an all-time low. This is good news for
women because now many of them are able to fill roles they could only
dream about before.
        Women in Deadlands can play Marshals, gunslingers, gamblers,
sheriffs, bank robbers, Indian medicine women and warriors, explorers,
politicians (at local levels), and just about any other position you can
imagine.

Now, this seems quite liberated in a way -- certainly moreso than prior examples. But there comes a
basic question: why are women a sidebar? Why isn't there a section on gender which includes notes
on both playing men and playing women. This might seem to be quibbling, but it demonstrates a
pattern which holds true in play. Women are included in the western genre as an afterthought where
they are allowed to take male roles.

         This then asks, how are the women who take such roles portrayed? The game provides 12
archetypes for PCs. Of these, three are female, titled "Buffalo Girl", "Pinkerton", and "Saloon Gal".
Let me compare the text of "Buffalo Girl" and "Gunslinger" (a similar male archetype):

Buffalo Girl
...
Hindrances: Big Britches -3 [Deadland's version of Overconfident],
Curious -3, Heroic -3, Intolerance -1: Feminine women
...
        Yee-hah! I'm the wildest thing this side o' the Pecos. I'm a whip-
crackin', butt-kickin', pistol-packin' gal o' the plains.
        I've seen some ornery lookin' critters out here in the West, and I aim
to rope me a few. Maybe I'll catch one and sell it to a rodeo or one o'
 them newfangled zoos. Or maybe I'll just stuff the durn varmint and
mount it on my wall.
        'Course, I don't actually have a wall. The wide open prairie's the
place for me.
Quote: "Yee-hah! Outta my way, boys!"

Gunslinger
...
Hindrances: Enemy -1: Someone's always out to prove he's faster than
you, Heroic -3, Vengeful -3
...
        I was brought here because I'm the best. You draw that pistol, and I'll
show you what I mean.
        You think you're bad news? I've seen things that would make you
wet your pants. Now put that gun away, kid. And do it real slow like. The
only live gunslingers are jumpy gunslingers.
        Walk away. You don't have to prove anything. And I've got enough
notches on my pistol already.
Quote: "Are you going to skin that smokewagon or whistle Dixie?"

         Superficially these are both tough characters based on the same number of points. But there are
a ton of things to notice. The male gunslinger emphasizes his past experience (notches on his pistol),
while the female buffalo girl emphasizes what she intends to do and her overconfidence. Note how
the Buffalo Girl is intolerant of feminine women, and the text goes out of its way to point out that
she is homeless -- denying her femininity. Further, her quote emphasizes her pushiness and relation
to men, rather than action on her own.

         The portrayal suggests a dichotomy for female characters. Either they are the traditional
female roles of old westerns like the Saloon Gal Archetype, or they take on a male role and are
portrayed as overbearing and anti-feminine. While Deadlands has definitely made an effort to be
inclusive, the effort is flawed by its sidebar approach to gender.

Case #6: Dungeons and Dragons

         Dungeons and Dragons, 3rd edition, illustrates another approach which attempts to be
inclusive. Here the issue of gender is never explicitly mentioned, but female example characters and
illustrations are included regularly through the text. I should mention that the core rulebooks also do
a better job than many fantasy game books in having the female illustrations be clothed and
appearing competant.

         There is a roughly even mix of female and male characters in the examples of play from both
the Player's Handbook (PH) and the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG). The extended examples from
the core books at least involve two female PCs (the wizard Mialee and the rogue Lidda) and two
male PCs (the cleric Jozan and the fighter Tordek). However, the action in the examples seems to
reflect stereotypical roles. The sole extended example in the Player's Handbook is the illustration of
combat on pages 115-118. In it, one woman (Mialee) is immediately knocked unconscious on the
first round and thus does nothing during the combat. The other (Lidda) wounds one orc with a
crossbow, but then misses twice, and on the third round steps out of the way for the male cleric
Jozan to enter melee. Meanwhile, Tordek attacks twice and each time downs an orc with a single hit.
Jozan casts three healing spells, then steps in past Lidda on round 3 to attack another orc, which he
hits and downs. The last orc then runs away.

         In the Dungeon Master's Guide, there is a single extended adventure example with two combat
encounters, on page 130. This has the same set of four characters (Mialee, Lidda, Jozan, and
Tordek). The first encounter begins with a PC being attacked from surprise while standing in the
middle of the room:

DM: Mialee, you feel something land on your shoulder -- it feels hairy
and moves toward your neck!
PC(Mialee): Yikes! What is it?
PC(Tordek): If I hear her call out, I'll turn around. What do I see?
DM: Wait, just a minute. First, Mialee, roll for initiative.
PC(Mialee): [Rolls] I got a 19.
DM: [Rolls initiative for the spider and gets a 14.] Everyone else should
roll for initiative as well. Tordek, you heard Mialee gasp, and you turn to
see a large, hairy spider on her neck.

The spider bites but does not incapacitate Mialee, and is killed by a critical hit from the male cleric
Jozan. The second encounter (left unresolved) begins like this:

DM: You get up there, and you're looking around for a crack or
something to wedge a spike into, right? Make a Spot check.
The Spot check is actually to see if Lidda sees the ghouls waiting in the
darkness, but Lidda doesn't know that (although the fact that the DM
didn't ask for a Search roll might have tipped off a more experienced
player.
PC (Lidda): Oops. A 7.
Now the DM begins rolling attacks for the ghouls. The players ask what's
going on, and why he's rolling dice, but his silence adds to the tension
and suspense. The ghouls hit Lidda with their paralyzing touch.
DM: Lidda, make a Fortitude save.
PC (Lidda): Oh, no! Why? A trap? [Rolls] 1? Arrgh. This is where our
luck runs out.
DM: [To the others.] You see a sickly gray arm strike the halfling as she's
looking around at the floor where she stands, 10 feet above you. She
utters a muffled cry, and then a shadowy form drags her out of sight.
What do you do?

         Now, on the one hand, I don't want to blow this out of proportion. D&D makes a good effort in
many ways, and is quite egalitarian compared to LUG's Star Trek (say). Still, it's not quite
overturning the precedents set by other games (and earlier editions). The samples shown here are not
just random cases, but rather are representative of a larger trend. The women are frequently victims
who are attacked and require saving by the men.

ADDED NOTE: In response to comments by Wayne Shaw, I wanted to elaborate on

this example a bit. He suggested that the poorer performance in combat of the female
characters stems from their having fewer hit points and a lower Base Attack Bonus --
since they are a Rogue and Wizard compared to Fighter and Cleric.

The choice of class is a non-issue, I think. The female characters not only have lower
bonuses -- they also roll worse than the male characters. Jozan and Tordek have average
hit rolls 17 and 15 respectively vs 9 for Lidda. (That's raw 1d20 rolls before bonuses are
applied.) Notably, Jozan and Tordek are both shown getting critical hits (threat on 20
 plus confirmation), while neither of the females rolls a 20 ever. It is similar with damage
rolls and the opponent's rolls against them.

The females are also targetted more. Mialee is the only one attacked by the orcs missle
attack, and is the only one attacked by the spider. Lidda is the only one attacked by the
ghouls (and rolls a 1 on her save).

Case #7: Space:1889

Space:1889 is an older game, first published in 1988. It only had a single edition. I included it later
at the suggestion that my sample was biased by the first entry. A critic suggested that my
conclusions from other games would be reversed by studying Space: 1889 (GDW), HarnManor
(Columbia Games), The Way of the Unicorn (AEG), Delta Force (Task Force Games), Star Trek: the
Next Generation (Last Unicorn) and Street Fighter (White Wolf).

         Space:1889 is a retro science fiction, set in an alternate 1889 where Thomas Edison invented a
"ether flyer" spacecraft in 1860 that enabled colonization of the Moon, Mars, and Venus. Given the
historical period, it is

         The text has numerous examples -- some of them named, while others are generic (i.e. "a
character of Strength 5 swings..."). There are 19 rules examples using named characters, and none of
them include women. There are also thirty-something examples without any names, where they use
"he" for the generic pronoun throughout the book. There are five unnamed sample NPCs on page 39
of which one is female -- a maid.

         There are also a large number of characters mentioned as part of the game background -- some
real and some fictional. In particular, there is detailed background in Victorian Age section on pages
22-33, and the fictional Mars and Venus background sections (pages 148-200). There are more
characters and background scattered through the rest of the book. I counted roughly 45 named
characters. With the exception of a special section on page 32, there are three women mentioned:
Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth I (mentioned once), and Miss Jennie Jerome (mentioned once as
the American wife of Lord Randolph Churchill). There is, however, a special section taking up page
32 and half of the following page entitled "Remarkable Woman" which describes seven women of
the period in detail.

        

Conclusion
         At present, I would prefer that the examples simply speak for themselves. I studied the
portrayal of women in a number of recent game books, and found a variety of results. In general, I
would say that the portrayals of women are unfavorable compared to men. This in no way prevents a
game played using the game system from having strong, positive female PCs and NPCs. However, I
think the examples do have a subtle effect on readers even if they don't consciously identify the
pattern. For example, I suspect that female readers would be turned off by this. Further, the
examples may be symptoms of attitudes in the industry which have other effects.

         The point here is just to raise awareness of patterns with the text of games. I am sure that there
are games which do not have these sorts of patterns. However, having selected these arbitrarily off
my game shelf (except for #1), I for one was surprised at what I found.
John H. Kim < jhkim-at-darkshire-dot-net>
Last modified: Sat Feb 9 10:43:11 2008