There's no way that many girls are playing WOW :-)
Just to point out, this is a hugely wrong attitude that many people have.
According to some study I saw on it, women are actually more prevalent than men in online gaming (something like 60/40) these days, including in WoW. They didn't do a breakdown of raiding vs. PvP vs. other, so I have no idea about that, but as far as people playing the games...yeah, there really are that many girls playing!
Ive known men and women that are transvirtuals (people that play other genders in roleplay). I do as well. Ive got five players at my weekly table and so far its 2 women, 2 men, and I just had a male to female transsexual join last week. Oh and I'm male too. Ive known each one for a few years and at one time or another we have all played opposite genders, although I think Im the only one that took up the challenge on a hermaphroditic character and that was mostly because he/she was a shapechanging focused druid and with all that shapeshifting power going from form to form of course there would be some gender misidentity.
Ive known people that play exclusively their gender, people that switch once in awhile, others that play their opposite gender once in awhile or exclusively. I have no problem with it and Im not sure why others do. In a game where we can roleplay as other races, demons, angels, fey, Anthromorphs, and who knows what else I think its a little silly that gender swapping is considered bad roleplaying or not as legitimate.
Unless youre playing an adult oriented game (mine are mostly fade to black for sex with the exception of group orgies which has only happened once) I dont ever consider it a big deal. Even then if you want adult oriented roleplay and dont have a group for it there's always Elliquiy.com
Everyone in my gaming group occasionally plays a character of another gender than themselves. Even more shocking, they play ones of other races and alignments than themselves.
None of that even merits mention among us, really. The only time it's even discussed is when someone has an ambiguous name and no good mini or character standup and people accidentally refer to the character as the player's gender and have to get set right.
I play around 50/50 male/female characters.
I'll have to admit that my record is far more "male" than "female" in play, but I also have gone out of my way *to* make my characters females when I do go that rout.
:shrugs:
I've no real inclinations one way or the other about what works better in game or for the group. I *tend* to throw in female characters if/when everyone else is male to sort of try and just throw some feminie element into the game on the PC side of things (as NPC-wise, about 50% of the things you run into *ought* to be female - just saying).
Someone mentioned that the only time that cross-gender characters are a problem is when someone has a personal axe to grind. And that may be true in that person's experience, but I don't think that is the only time in general.
That was me, and you're right. I was talking from experience. I've gamed with several guys who, when they announce that their character is female, I *must* roll my eyes and sigh. I just know that their character is going to be some negative stereotype -- either a slut or a man-basher. One has to wonder what their view of women is if that's they only personality they can manage to come up with for their female character. 9_9
That being said, I've also gamed with several guys who DON'T do that when they cross-play, so I guess it evens out. ^_^
Someone mentioned that the only time that cross-gender characters are a problem is when someone has a personal axe to grind. And that may be true in that person's experience, but I don't think that is the only time in general.
That as me, and you're right. I was speaking from personal experience.
I've gamed with guys who, when they say they were going to make a female character, I just had to roll my eyes and sigh. I knew that the character would be either a slut or a man-basher. 9_9
One has to wonder what a guy like that really thinks of women of those are the only two personalities he can think of for his female character.
On the other hand, I've also gamed with plenty of guys who DON'T do that, so I guess it evens out. ^_^
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Someone mentioned that the only time that cross-gender characters are a problem is when someone has a personal axe to grind. And that may be true in that person's experience, but I don't think that is the only time in general.That as me, and you're right. I was speaking from personal experience.
I've gamed with guys who, when they say they were going to make a female character, I just had to roll my eyes and sigh. I knew that the character would be either a slut or a man-basher. 9_9
One has to wonder what a guy like that really thinks of women of those are the only two personalities he can think of for his female character.
On the other hand, I've also gamed with plenty of guys who DON'T do that, so I guess it evens out. ^_^
In my experience when a guy or a girl has a very bad view of the other gender. It is often due to a very bad first love experience where their partner really screwed them over. Or to have a couple of such bad relationships in a row.
In my experience when a guy or a girl has a very bad view of the other gender. It is often due to a very bad first love experience where their partner really screwed them over. Or to have a couple of such bad relationships in a row.
I understand that, but their pain-induced mysogyny must run pretty deep when every single female character they play is so negative.
But I've digressed, and I don't want to derail the thread talking about such things.
Back on track, at my table I currently have a father and his teenage daughter. Both of them frequently run cross-gendered characters.
A local GM who I've never gamed with absolutely refuses to let players cross-play. He won't allow it at his table. I'm not sure why, as I've never gamed with him, but it always struck me as odd.
I've also known GMs and players who look askance at anyone who cross-plays, especially guys who run female characters. They've never come out and said it, but I believe there's some homophobia in the mix there.
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Yep I have seen GM's refuse to allow cross gender play. The few times I have asked the response is always been something along. Cause people can't play convincing X. Which i point out how is that different than playing a elf or dwarf. Which they claim is different.*shrug* I never got the mind set myself. Sure not letting someone do it cause they do it so badly it is a distraction and disrupts the game, I can see. But that should be a case by case basis IMHO.
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Back on track, at my table I currently have a father and his teenage daughter. Both of them frequently run cross-gendered characters.A local GM who I've never gamed with absolutely refuses to let players cross-play. He won't allow it at his table. I'm not sure why, as I've never gamed with him, but it always struck me as odd.
I've also known GMs and players who look askance at anyone who cross-plays, especially guys who run female characters. They've never come out and said it, but I believe there's some homophobia in the mix there.
A good friend of mine is such a GM and I know in his case it's because we've both seen it done very very badly, as in the roll your eyes and sigh badly (my response has been the opposite i.e. think about the women I'm playing and make sure they are believable).
My best one sentence piece of advice for a trans-gamer is play the type of opposite sex person you'd want to be, not the one you'd like to sleep with.
All the Best,
Kerney
GMs who refuse to allow it at their tables confuse me. Ive run into several of them before, and asked a few why but I've never heard a convincing reason for their perceived hate.
Theres also negative reinforcement but I dont know how common it is. There was a case when I was 19 or 20 at the time (Im 30 now) and I got into a new group, made a female ranger. Word of a tournament was going around and my character headed that way for adventuring groups to join up with (OOC to join up with our group). He stuck me with a male PC for reason, one that seemed highly eccentric in his ancestory to noble blood. Well that first night it turned into attempted rape by the NPC and my character ended up killing him. When the next break came up I told him how displeased I was with that scene, partly because of my own comfort levels and partly because the character was a paragon of goodness and being forced to murder someone bothered her. I stayed in the game and it never happened again but I still feel there was negative reinforcement for transvirtual play there
Generally, my Player-Characters are male and left-handed, like me! The reason is simple - after spending most of my time as DM, it actually feels a bit /nice/ to treat my PC as an "in-game persona" and not have to take too long remembering "who I am." I did play a female orc once, though, because some source or other (Complete book of humanoids?) mentioned that orc women had incentive to adventure to escape orc society. I thought that was pretty cool ... but she died in some tricked-out dungeon like most-of-the-rest.
As an aside...
Creative Director
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I'm pretty sure the last time I played a male character, he got killed in his second session in the game by being first knocked into negatives by a zombie, then death knelled by an evil cleric who proceeded to nearly wipe out the rest of the party with his "augmented-by-my-character" death knell powers.
Thanks, Jason Nelson!
And then the character I rolled up for his campaign right after that ended up being my favorite character of all time, so much so that I put her into the NPC guide (and into Shackled City, and into a few other places here and there).
Thanks, Jason Nelson! :-)
Ever since then, I've pretty much only played female characters as PCs.
If I ever ended up joining a game where the GM put limitations on PC genders, I'd say "thanks fro the invite and enjoy the game" and go look for a less annoying GM, frankly.
...death knelled by an evil cleric...
It's always harsh to be taken out by a bad guy rooting around for a few cheap buffs, isn't it? I remember the dragon article on someone's female characters being luckier somehow - was that you?
GMs who refuse to allow it at their tables confuse me. Ive run into several of them before, and asked a few why but I've never heard a convincing reason for their perceived hate.
Our group ruled it out, largely because we're not very good at roleplaying, don't do voices and got annoyed at continually forgetting what gender everyone was. Having said that, I doubt we'd actually enforce the ban on it if someone had a really strong urge - it's just it gets in the way of us getting into the story (as we continually amend the his/her, him/her references
Personally I've played either gender since I was a teenager. Not so much salacious interest as a sense of realism - I was playing Call of Cthulhu then and female characters aided in certain situations. My RuneQuest characters were also mixed, because some gods favored certain genders but were still useful as bestowers of spells.
I never had a problem enjoying books with female protagonists anyway.
After I started GM'ing it just seemed natural to play whatever gender fit the character concept I thought up. This never was weird until I hit college and a female character I was playing I had almost sexually assaulted in game by a PC. I killed his character and quit, which the player was totally pissed about. He said he was roleplaying and I shouldn't hold it against him... But you know, attacking a female adventurer realistically does have some downsides. And I was angry. I knew people who had been abused or attacked and the experience embittered me against random gamers for a while.
Interestingly, my trans sister didn't play any female characters until she came out.
A few years ago with my current group I made a female characters and a number of the other players were taken aback-- they never had heard of anyone doing that. But the others didn't care, and no-one minded. In the past few campaigns I've made both but the female PCs ended up being used more often by chance -- we rotated GMing and not every campaign got underway or went from concept to session.
Anyway, my 2 pence.
GMs who refuse to allow it at their tables confuse me. Ive run into several of them before, and asked a few why but I've never heard a convincing reason for their perceived hate.Our group ruled it out, largely because we're not very good at roleplaying, don't do voices and got annoyed at continually forgetting what gender everyone was. Having said that, I doubt we'd actually enforce the ban on it if someone had a really strong urge - it's just it gets in the way of us getting into the story (as we continually amend the his/her, him/her references
Thats one of the reasons Ive heard but it seems like a poorly prepared group/DM to me. The very first session should be the point where the PCs have characters established. When you get all the important points for characters established like gender, race, strengths & weaknesses, priorities, etc then its time for the story of the group to start.
Thats one of the reasons Ive heard but it seems like a poorly prepared group/DM to me. The very first session should be the point where the PCs have characters established. When you get all the important points for characters established like gender, race, strengths & weaknesses, priorities, etc then its time for the story of the group to start.GMs who refuse to allow it at their tables confuse me. Ive run into several of them before, and asked a few why but I've never heard a convincing reason for their perceived hate.Our group ruled it out, largely because we're not very good at roleplaying, don't do voices and got annoyed at continually forgetting what gender everyone was. Having said that, I doubt we'd actually enforce the ban on it if someone had a really strong urge - it's just it gets in the way of us getting into the story (as we continually amend the his/her, him/her references
I don't know that we're poorly prepared, we're just not very good at getting into character. I doubt extra preparation would help. We could no doubt learn to roleplay better with practise, but our group are all more closely aligned with storytelling rather than acting so the extra trouble is unlikely to bring enough benefit to warrant the effort.
I don't know that we're poorly prepared, we're just not very good at getting into character. I doubt extra preparation would help. We could no doubt learn to roleplay better with practise, but our group are all more closely aligned with storytelling rather than acting so the extra trouble is unlikely to bring enough benefit to warrant the effort.
Not to be confrontational, but so the nature of the characters isn't terribly relevant to the story? It's one thing to not be into 'get into their head' immersive roleplay, but if you can't keep track of the characters' basic attributes that doesn'T say "storytelling" focus, that says "casual gaming" focus, which is fine but a different thing.
Not to be confrontational,...
I don't know that we're poorly prepared, we're just not very good at getting into character. I doubt extra preparation would help. We could no doubt learn to roleplay better with practise, but our group are all more closely aligned with storytelling rather than acting so the extra trouble is unlikely to bring enough benefit to warrant the effort.
Don't stress about that - I'm very hard to offend. :)
... but so the nature of the characters isn't terribly relevant to the story? It's one thing to not be into 'get into their head' immersive roleplay, but if you can't keep track of the characters' basic attributes that doesn'T say "storytelling" focus, that says "casual gaming" focus, which is fine but a different thing.
It is relevant to the story, that's why it bugs us when we get it wrong. Keeping track of the characters basic attributes is an effort for us (and we muck it up frequently when the beautiful, youthful maiden has a greying beard and a pot belly). We don't want to get this wrong, so we avoid that problem in a way that doesnt bug anyone.
You may be right that we're not "storytellers". I'm no gaming theory expert, but I think casual gamer/storyteller/actor are three different types of player. We're pretty squarely in the storytelling camp (as a group) - we have one definite actor, but the rest of us suck quite frankly. If you agree that those classifications exist, what do you think the difference between an actor and a storyteller is?
I've DM'd Moderns, Top Secret, Spycraft, and Alma Mater. I've had to play Boys and Girls of all ages. My favorite Characters Have been guys, but some of my more memorable NPCs were Female. My current DM has no problem in handing off his storyline NPC's to my control. Although I'm sure many of you would say any DM that would do that probably ought to be shot on sight, and deserves whatever the party can do to his story line from there.
Don't worry his campaigns never needed any bother from me to destroy his story lines, he's always more than capable of doing that himself.
Upon reflection I can recall our highest female character, played by a male - she was a bard, level 16..
..she was a really good, solid, well developed character - not a stereotype/doll for playing with etc.
However personally, I don't play female characters - never had the urge, never had a character concept that would work 'better' as a female rather than a male (and being male I simply stick to my 'default'.)
I do however enjoy small gnome-esque characters.
At least, that's what they told me..
o-O /onlinePotentialTrauma
My RL mates always seem to roll female alts when playing online games...
...well they used to. Now it's become harder for them to justify staring at a virtual girls bottom wiggling on-screen to their partners.
>_<
Wizards are usually female. Fighter types are usually male.
Naturally.
Fighting is MAN'S WORK!
..and reading is for girls.
:D
My female Crusader/Paladin and her heavy flail would like to have a word with you :P
I counted it up once... my characters in NWN and WoW are predominantly female, my D&D characters are about 50-50 with a very slight advantage to female. Never really sat down to think about why.
Is it a sexy word?
God chicks are like, totally hawt!
Hey baby, want to help me atone for my misdeeds?
This depends on what I'm wanting to play. I don't take issue with it save with the usual caveats: don't be a jerk about it.
I love posing female fighters, because how else can you have this entry?
Andrea strode into the middle of the village, her axe at her side. Her hair flew out behind her, red and the color of rage itself, and her eyes promised death and worse to the damnable youth who'd stolen the farmer's chickens.
I play about 50/50, although I don't think I've ever played a female half-orc or a male elf.
I'm male.
I had a female half-orc character in 1st edition. In second edition, I once played a male elf who was reincarnated as a female half-orc during character creation.
I also once had to roll to see if my character got pregnant, but I was prepared for the consequences. It was a Call of Cthulhu game that was nearing its end, and my character ended up stuck in a coma anyway.
Currently I'm playing a female half-elf sorceress/bard/druid. We've established that she is sleeping with the party's paladin, but we're not role-playing that aspect.
In 3rd edition (3.0 and 3.5), I've played the following characters:
1. A male halfing cleric
2. A female human enchantress/ranger/fighter
3. A female human cleric/wizard
4. A female elf psychic warrior/bard
5. A male human rogue/wizard/monk/ranger
6. A female winter elf sorceress/wizard/ranger
7. A female human necromancer/monk
Hmmm, there does seem to be more of one type than the other. I did make a point of always playing a female character in the Iron Kingdoms setting (characters 6 and 7).
In Call of Cthulhu I've had a male priest, a male Jewish thief, a female Jewish adventurer, and a female Zulu scientist. I, myself, am neither Jewish nor Zulu.
In 2nd Edition, I've had a male human paladin, a male halfling thief, a male human enchanter, and that male elf who was reincarnated as a female half-orc.
In 1st Edition my longest running character was the female half-orc fighter.
In Legend of the Five Rings I had a male phoenix shugenja. In World of Darkness I've had a male sorcerer, a male Akashic mage, and a male albino werewolf.
Usually I determine sex randomly, though sometimes I deliberately choose.
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...death knelled by an evil cleric...It's always harsh to be taken out by a bad guy rooting around for a few cheap buffs, isn't it? I remember the dragon article on someone's female characters being luckier somehow - was that you?
That was indeed me; only it was an editorial for Dungeon.
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As a Player and as a GM I have found out that all groups are not created equal in the regard of tolerance. This is not saying that I have played with bigots, but some people were generally creeped out about one player playing a female, while he was male in the RLG. This not a statement of sexual discrimination, but just the fact that they have not seen much of the world that we live in. This reaction of getting weirded out because of a gender bending RP is not that uncommon, and it's not wrong.
Right now I am running a campaign with a Male player, playing a Male elf who is a homosexual who disguises him self as a female for reasons so obvious. I had a hard time trying to separate the sexual aspect from his character for the sake of the game. It worked even though that there was one guy who was really uncomfortable with the situation. The saving grace was that once it got to the knitty-gritty all negative feelings were launched out the window. Nothing like a Ghoul mob that has managed to surround the party to whip some camaraderie into PCs.
My first foray into playing a female character was courtesy of a Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity, and actually, it turned out to be a rollicking good time. Right until I looked around the corner.... at the basilisk.
I also very much enjoyed playing a high powered female shape-shifting druid with a Vow of Poverty {with my ubiquitous 2 level rogue dip at first and second level, purely for the skill points and Evasion. Why would anyone NOT take rogue at first level in 3.5? I could never understand that.} Vow of Poverty + Giant Squid form = *Splat!*
Another female I enjoyed playing was the Pixie Cohort of a Half-Ogre Tattooed Monk, also with Vow of Poverty {the monk, not the pixie; she kept the money 'for' him}. She was small, but she had BIG personality!
But I do believe these three are the only female PC's {or PC's cohort} I've ever played, in a cast of dozens.... maybe even hundreds. I think it's just because the male perspective is the default. Of course, throw in NPC's I've played while DMing, and that number goes way up {like everyone else's}.
For me a major part of getting in to character is coming up with a good voice, which means that in face-to-face games I play either male or completely alien characters.
When I got into online games, roughly 2/3 of my characters were female. Unfortunately, due to the terrible success rate of online games and an odd string of luck, the only games that have lasted more than a few posts were the few that I was playing male characters in.
As a GM (and also as a writer), my characters tend to be fairly evenly divided between male and female, with characters who really have absolutely no reason to be either usually ending up male just because I'm slightly more comfortable with them and they're easier for me to invent names for.
I suppose one advantage of playing a female PC is that the paladin doesn't mind when Nora throws a spell at someone and then hides behind him. A guy might want to show a bit more bravado.
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I mainly play male characters however, with the exception of a halfling spear chucker riding a griffon from Living Greyhawk, my female characters seem to be the most memorable.
I do know a couple male players that play nothing but female characters. They have been playing D&D in some form or another since the lat 70's, early 80's and said that they changed because they were tired of playing male characters.
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Yep I have seen GM's refuse to allow cross gender play. The few times I have asked the response is always been something along. Cause people can't play convincing X. Which i point out how is that different than playing a elf or dwarf. Which they claim is different.*shrug* I never got the mind set myself. Sure not letting someone do it cause they do it so badly it is a distraction and disrupts the game, I can see. But that should be a case by case basis IMHO.
The owner of our not so FLGS refuses to allow anyone to play anything but human males. He claims no one can understand what it's like to be a woman or another race. I laugh at him and don't bother to point out it's called roleplaying for a reason.
I play more female PCs than males, and my wife has been know to play a male now and then. I try to avoid the man hater or trampy lesbian when I do, but in the latter case just giving in and enjoying the stereotype was fun, and wound up being the most memorable PC I've had in years.
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I'm pretty sure the last time I played a male character, he got killed in his second session in the game by being first knocked into negatives by a zombie, then death knelled by an evil cleric who proceeded to nearly wipe out the rest of the party with his "augmented-by-my-character" death knell powers.
Thanks, Jason Nelson!
And then the character I rolled up for his campaign right after that ended up being my favorite character of all time, so much so that I put her into the NPC guide (and into Shackled City, and into a few other places here and there).
Thanks, Jason Nelson! :-)
Ever since then, I've pretty much only played female characters as PCs.
If I ever ended up joining a game where the GM put limitations on PC genders, I'd say "thanks fro the invite and enjoy the game" and go look for a less annoying GM, frankly.
I loved Shensen in SCAP. Were you by any chance the mind behind Corystan Pike as well? I wound up taking her on as a PC in that campaign just because she kinda struck a cord with me.
It kind of bugs me when other guys play women. But this is only because almost everyone I know who roleplays does a terrible job in the "acting" end of it. In their minds eye they may be imagining some other person, but it's kind of rare for anything to take on the theatrical element that would clue you in that the player is playing someone unlike themselves.
I'd have to say that this fairly encapsulates my thoughts. A lot of my players are horrible actors, be they guys or gals. So for those of us subjected to their thespian travesty, the imagination is jarred while trying to match their performance with their person sitting in the chair. It's like a slap in the face when we are pressed to recall that he is actually role-playing a woman.
To be fair, though, I am probably not much better as DM, even with the myriad reasons to portray women that have crossed my screen.
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I mostly play male characters, but a couple of my most memorable ones were female. One of them a female Barbarian based on this magazine advertisement.
It depends on the concept mostly. When I get a chance to play my Half-orc Inquisitor, I may make it female, just so I can use the awesome preexisting art. ;-)
I think many groups' reluctance to allow males to play females stems from feelings of discomfort this can cause... not that it will always cause those feelings, but it can and does sometimes. I wonder if it's just that certain DMs and players just make the assumption that the guy is acting out some "weird fantasy" of being a woman rather than doing it for a different RP experience. That and so many guys have done such a horrible job of RPing women (I've seen horrible men RPed by women too, mind you) that it just leaves a bad taste in many peoples' mouths.
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My wife is new to Pathfinder (and RPG in general) and her first character in our council of thieves campaign is a male half orc rogue. Her brother who has been playing with us for longer is playing a female Tian Bard.
People queried why he was playing a female but no one batted an eyelid when my wife rocked in as a male. Strange...
That and so many guys have done such a horrible job of RPing women (I've seen horrible men RPed by women too, mind you) that it just leaves a bad taste in many peoples' mouths.
What about guys who do a horrible job of RPing men? I've seen lots of those. :-)
That and so many guys have done such a horrible job of RPing women (I've seen horrible men RPed by women too, mind you) that it just leaves a bad taste in many peoples' mouths.What about guys who do a horrible job of RPing men? I've seen lots of those. :-)
Heheh...good point Hogarth! I've seen this a time or two also.
A good portion of my attitude is simply based off of the concept of the character and what their role is. My 23rd level female elf Cleric of Lathander was vivacious, fun-loving and dainty for the most part. Just don't make her mad or she would unleash all kinds of holy wrath! I kid somewhat, but I had the other players in that campaign look at my in horror the first time we ran across undead monsters ravaging a village. For years afterwards some of the players referred to that incident as her 'Psychotic break'. It was a total blast, totally unexpected for the character as far as the other players were concerned and completely in line with her backstory, personality and all.
I just personally think that by restricting yourself one way or another just limits your options and range of character types you can explore.
That all being said, my first female character was short lived and poorly done. I was 13 at the time though...she was just a female barbarian.
Tying a good backstory into a character goes a long way towards fleshing them out, giving them depth of personality and can also help you (a male like me) get into the mindset of a female character.
My most Memorable Characters are for ease of reference listed with 3.x classes instead of 1st or 2nd edition.
-Calistan, male N/NE grey elf Wizard 26. Fun, ambitious, arrogant and ruthless. He started out TN but slowly moved to NE throughout the campaign.
-Thea, female NG half-elf Cleric of Lathander 23. Already mentioned.
-Woden, male LN dwarf Fighter/Rogue 8/8. Former gladiator turned bounty hunter, he fought with sword and net. A very unconventional warrior who was far gruffer then even the standard dwarf (and had an exceedingly low charisma). Tons of fun to play though.
-Yoshiyuki Setsuna, female N human Ninja/Soulknife. OA type game. A noblewoman assassin who played the role. She would infiltrate using her station and contacts...and since she didn't carry any weapons aside from a War Fan, she was often underestimated by her opponents. Sneaky, conniving and manipulative.
I know I'll think of more.
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I loved Shensen in SCAP. Were you by any chance the mind behind Corystan Pike as well? I wound up taking her on as a PC in that campaign just because she kinda struck a cord with me.
While I did do some punching up of her role in the hardcover here and there, Corystan Pike was created by Chris Perkins.
In recent PFS sessions I played Kyra, iconic cleric. I don't often play females and I don't even know the reason to that. Playing female character opened new doors to me, I loved to chill in battle and shout cheers to male fighter-types like "Go boys, you can do it!". Then use touch of woman to heal them. Great fun. ^^
Still I think that male characters are and will be more common to me.
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Well, the rest of you may have had success with this kind of thing, but it has caused nothing but problems at my table.
I cannot even count the number of times men have wanted to play female characters to satisfy some kind of lustful fantasy.
I have gone so far as to ban it entirely from my games. You play your own gender in my games.
I mostly play male characters, but a couple of my most memorable ones were female. One of them a female Barbarian based on this magazine advertisement.
It depends on the concept mostly. When I get a chance to play my Half-orc Inquisitor, I may make it female, just so I can use the awesome preexisting art. ;-)
I remember we had a long discussion on a thread somewhere around here about that sort of armor.....
I think the conclusion was that only a man would be dumb enough to wear armor like that into battle.