Of female characters in RPG's

[octavius]

I think the only stats in which females may be superior is WIS and DEX. Women are generally more sensible and live longer, and when I worked in an electronics company it was evident that small (especially Vietnamese) women had fingers much more suited to handling small components than men with big sausage fingers.

INT is probably equal on average.

 

[Arbiter]

ork wommyn should be able to break human male.

Are you implying that Russian women are not humans?

 

[Arbiter]

I think that's the rationale behind the specialization in DEX for female fighters, and it does make some sense, but the trouble is that DEX is usually carried over to things like speed and reaction speed, where it's not necessarily so appropriate. Bracketing speed of neural reflexes (which as the above re. music) is probably more equal, in terms of shifting mass quickly (arm, body, etc.), you get greater speed the more muscle mass you have, so speed and strength are really closely tied together.

This is a problem of RPG systems not being complex and simulationist enough.

A good system will have DEX and AGI as two separate stats, one determining your manual dexterity, the other your speed and overall physical agility.

Players Option: Skills & Powers split each score into two.

Strength: Stamina & Muscle
Dexterity: Aim & Balance
Constitution: Health & Fitness
Intelligence: Reason & Knowledge
Wisdom: Intuition & Willpower
Charisma: Leadership & Appearance

I'm not going to implement them because it's too much busywork and adds in too much complexity.

I like the Arcanum's approach of splitting stats into physical and mental ones.

 

[VerSacrum]

I like the Arcanum's approach of splitting stats into physical and mental ones.

Also making Charisma and Beauty seperate stats was great. Charisma mostly related to party-mechanics and Beauty the overall reaction from the opposite sex. I'm currently playing through some NWN modules and some of them (including the shit OC) use Charisma for NPC reactions which is just retarded, especially when it explicitly states in the ingame description: "It represents actual personal strength, not merely how one is perceived by others in a social setting".

 

[ERYFKRAD]

"It represents actual personal strength

That's str though

 

[Modron]

Beauty the overall reaction from the opposite sex.

Wasn't just the opposite sex but all people with a certain background you could make a half-orc with such a negative reaction modifier that some regular npcs just attacked you on sight.

 

[NecroLord]

Beauty the overall reaction from the opposite sex.

Wasn't just the opposite sex but all people with a certain background you could make a half-orc with such a negative reaction modifier that some regular npcs just attacked you on sight.

Are you sure?
I thought having low Beauty only made them attack you if you choose the wrong dialogue options and insult the one you are talking to.
Never tried a really low Beauty/fugly character.
Half-orcs do have a penalty to Reaction and Half-ogres have a penalty to Beauty.

 

[Modron]

Pretty sure if you did a beat with the ugly stick half-orc the reaction modifier would be low enough that an npc here and there would just attack you outright no negative interactions needed so you had to wear a smoking jacket around town if you invested zero points in beauty with that setup.

 

[0sacred]

I don't remember getting attacked on sight, but certainly getting attacked if reaction dropped any lower due to dialogue. It was kind of funny to have to beg people to talk to you as a Half-Ogre.

 

[NecroLord]

Charisma combines both overall physical appearance and ability to command and influence others through force of personality in D&D.
Beauty is not that useful in Arcanum though.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Yeah, that sounds pretty familiar. I think I purposely made an alt like that and an utter moron as well. Virgil gets easily frustrated.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Very few real women look like land whales.

Tell me you're not from North America without telling me you're not from North America... also, I want to live where you live.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

There is skeleton chick….

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Ways to make playing a woman interesting that games don't go for:
- getting information from other women which would otherwise be unavailable (women tell other women lots of things with a minimum of trust).
- easier/only way to get certain occupations (most slaves in antiquity were female domestics), find access to houses, etc.
- barriers to entry that could be circumvented by a skill (e.g. dressing up as a man to join a mercenary band, expedition, etc. which occasionally happened historically; perhaps needing to get someone to vouch for you).
- More disguise/concealment options in general.

Even leaving sex out, most of these options point towards a spy/agent role. Being a warrior should be more difficult, obviously, but not impossible. If you're going to bother with female characters at all, no role should be impossible. In real life women have done all sorts of things, even when it was unusual to do so. Playing an improbable character is always more fun, as long as the game acknowledges it.

I like separating Charisma and Beauty like Arcanum, but it's also contrived to give women a bonus. Yes, beautiful women walk on a red carpet everywhere they go, but so do certain men (although the threshold might be higher and involve a quantity of charisma). The greatest difference is how average people of each sex are treated, but again, this has to do with how sexual relations work, not how women are inherently more beautiful. Both very beautiful men and women should get certain exclusive options.

 

[NecroLord]

I like separating Charisma and Beauty like Arcanum, but it's also contrived to give women a bonus. Yes, beautiful women walk on a red carpet everywhere they go, but so do certain men (although the threshold might be higher and involve a quantity of charisma).

They might have high Beauty, but low Charisma and Intelligence (they can't communicate effectively and are dumb and cannot have a grip on others and cannot strongly influence them). E-thots and whores come to mind.
Historical leaders and generals - Alexander the Great (high Charisma and even Beauty if we go by the historical accounts describing him), Napoleon (high Charisma, was a manlet and not that impressive looking, so probably low-mid Beauty), etc.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

It's become trite to state it at this point, but Napoleon was of average height. He was also a handsome man (like all great men).

 

[NecroLord]

It's become trite to state it at this point, but Napoleon was of average height. He was also a handsome man (like all great men).

Like I said, high Charisma really helps, doesn't it?
Here we are discussing the potential attribute values of historical leaders like the Giga Nerds that we are...

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I like separating Charisma and Beauty like Arcanum, but it's also contrived to give women a bonus. Yes, beautiful women walk on a red carpet…

They might have high Beauty, but low Charisma and Intelligence (they can't communicate effectively and are dumb and cannot have a grip on others …..

Oh, she can get a grip on something; she better be good at that at least. Who plays a chick other than to be a manipulative bitch or see her tits & ass jiggle? I guess you could have her do fetch quests and buy shit and craft if the game had it. Or just eat and sleep the day away with booze.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I like separating Charisma and Beauty like Arcanum, but it's also contrived to give women a bonus. Yes, beautiful women walk on a red carpet…

They might have high Beauty, but low Charisma and Intelligence (they can't communicate effectively and are dumb and cannot have a grip on others …..

Oh, she can get a grip on something; she better be good at that at least. Who plays a chick other than to be a manipulative bitch or see her tits & ass jiggle? I guess you could have her do fetch quests and buy shit and craft if the game had it. Or just eat and sleep the day away with booze.

How many games really let you be a manipulative bitch? FNV lets you seduce and kill Benny. In F2 you can sleep around for favors (like freeing Vic). Is there anything in AoD(I can't remember)? My impressions is that there aren't a lot.

 

[Vic]

like freeing Vic

pussy made me free!

 

[Zlaja]

like freeing Vic

pussy made me free!

After his performance in the Starfield thread, it's safe to say that freeing Vic was a mistake.

 

[Vic]

like freeing Vic

pussy made me free!

After his performance in the Starfield thread, it's safe to say that freeing Vic was a mistake.

I should be earning a medal for this!

 

[Maxie]

It's become trite to state it at this point, but Napoleon was of average height. He was also a handsome man (like all great men).

He's also one of the few historical figures whose weird sex shit is actually in the letters he himself wrote

 

[Arbiter]

Napoleon (high Charisma, was a manlet and not that impressive looking, so probably low-mid Beauty)

Napoleon wasn't short by standards of that era.

 

[NecroLord]

Napoleon (high Charisma, was a manlet and not that impressive looking, so probably low-mid Beauty)

Napoleon wasn't short by standards of that era.

True.
But short for modern standards, that's for sure.