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21:42, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

I'm here because of iZombie. Huh.

Posted by Jenesis
Jenesis
member, 1 post
Valar Morghulis
Mon 20 May 2019
at 17:05
  • msg #1

I'm here because of iZombie. Huh.

Hi there!

I'm British. I'm also female. I personally don't think this is a big thing, but every person who I've told about my wish to play D&D games has raised their eyebrows at me and more or less said 'girls don't play D&D', so it seems I should clarify that before we go any further. At least I can't see if anyone's raising their eyebrows if I share that info online.

I'm here because of an episode of iZombie. To cut a long story short there was an episode which was about a Dungeons and Dragons DM's murder, and I loved the snippets of gameplay that dropped in to the episode. I looked for a local D&D group, but my only local was a slightly uninviting group of guys who played in the back room of a snooker club. The guy I spoke to there was ripe and picked his nose the ENTIRE time he was talking to me. I decided somehow that this wasn't for me. Hence I found you guys. Yay!

 I have never played D&D at all, although I did download the basic rules PDF a while ago and I've had a good read. More than likely I'll be needing a lot of patience while I find my feet, so please bear with me!

 I'm not a total newbie to RP however: I write fantasy and Steampunk stories, and I've got a LOT of hours of online RP under my belt - once upon a time I was an RP junkie at the BlueLaguna forums, but they died a while ago and I was left with no place to go. I'm so glad this place exists!

So, I like to think I'm pretty good at communal story telling. I try to let everyone have a voice and not become too bossy, and I'm pretty flexible in terms of scenarios, plot twists and styles of writing so I hope you guys will give me a chance to prove myself in some games. Just be gentle with me in regards to the mechanics, I'm eager to learn!

Hopefully see some of you in game!
Gaffer
member, 1552 posts
Ocoee FL
40 yrs of RPGs
Mon 20 May 2019
at 18:20
  • msg #2

I'm here because of iZombie. Huh.

Welcome, Jenesis, to these hallowed, if virtual, halls.

As a GM, I have always preferred having mixed-gender groups, especially as I have run a lot of Call of Cthulhu over the past couple of decades. Part of that might be my theater background, but it's also because my daughter enjoys the hobby with me. When we first began playing and running con games almost twenty years ago, she was often the only girl at the table, but these days the ratio is often 1:1, or even more women than men.

I hope you'll try a wide variety of systems here on Rpol, there's a lot more to the hobby than DnD these days.

Happy adventures!
NowhereMan
member, 320 posts
Tue 21 May 2019
at 04:46
  • msg #3

I'm here because of iZombie. Huh.

My live groups are around half female, so girls certainly do play D&D and other tabletop RPGs. The "girls don't do X" manta is usually espoused only by smelly, immature "men"  who have never held a conversation with a woman for over thirty seconds that they didn't pay for.

You, clearly, weren't dissuaded by such nonsense, so you're well on your way to being a valuable addition to the hobby. Welcome to the club! For additional girl-power gaming, you might want to check out ConTessa, an online convention where all of the games are run by women and other underrepresented voices in the hobby.

As for RPoL, it is my very favorite play-by-post community, and you can find practically any kind of game you want here. And if you can't, ask over at the 'Wanted - GMs" forum and you'll find someone willing to make it happen in no time.

Like Gaffer said, there's a lot of games out there aside from D&D, and there's no telling which one is going to be for you. Only thing to do is to try 'em all!
horus
member, 736 posts
Wayfarer of the
Western Wastes
Tue 21 May 2019
at 06:23
  • msg #4

I'm here because of iZombie. Huh.

Welcome to RPoL, Jenesis!

As has already been discussed, yeah, girls do, too,  play D&D.  Shoot, they even run games that can be very engaging (my wife has the gift - she's actually a better GM than I am by a country mile.  O'course, that wouldn't take much.  It's a pity she doesn't play here -- that I know of...)

Let me point you at some places that may interest you:

Community Chat is a forum for light-hearted innocuous getting to know you chit-chat.  Hang out and copy the traffic some, then, when you're comfortable, post.  Get in on the conversations, and be you.

Wanted - Players is the place where Game Masters (GM) advertise their already existing games in search of players for same.

Wanted - GMs is sort of the converse of the previous forum.  Players advertise here for a GM to run a game for their enjoyment.

Both of the Wanted - boards have some special features and terms of use, so be sure to look at the Notices while you're there.  Notices are stickied topics that have useful info about what goes on in a particular forum.  (It's a good idea to read Notices first thing on visiting somewhere.)

The Game Search tool on the main menu (about two-thirds of the way down the page) is useful for finding existing games on the site that might interest you.  There are lots of filters to help narrow your search in some very useful ways.

If you get the yen to run a game or three of your own, RPoL has some of the best game construction and maintenance tools around - you can use private groups to set up a simulated radio or computer network, or just to simulate players and NPCs that speak different languages, just to mention one.  A lot of this is covered pretty well in the Help and FAQs, and is worth a look.

There are lots of other places on the site that may eventually interest you, but take it slowly.  Go at your own pace, and don't let it overwhelm you.

Dungeons & Dragons is only one of the many different sorts of games played here:  anything from medieval fantasy to modern era or post-modern science fiction and many, many more genres and systems are played here.  You should be able to find any number of things that may interest you once you've been here a while.  There may even be an iZombie game somewhere - zombie is spoken here.

If you've got questions, by all means please ask.  Plenty of friendly folks will be willing to help you get started.  Let's Play!
pdboddy
member, 638 posts
EST/EDT [GMT-5/GMT-4]
Tue 21 May 2019
at 12:56
  • msg #5

I'm here because of iZombie. Huh.

Welcome to RPoL, Jenesis!
Jenesis
member, 3 posts
Valar Morghulis
Tue 21 May 2019
at 13:23
  • msg #6

I'm here because of iZombie. Huh.

In reply to Gaffer (msg # 2):

So I've seen already! Taking a peep at some of the other systems around the place and there are way more than I realised! I've got a lot of information to chew on here...

quote:
When we first began playing and running con games almost twenty years ago, she was often the only girl at the table, but these days the ratio is often 1:1, or even more women than men.


That's reassuring, thanks. I'd love to see more unbiased groups in offline play but alas, my area seems to be a bit of a male bastion as far as that's concerned.


NowhereMan
quote:
The "girls don't do X" manta is usually espoused only by smelly, immature "men"  who have never held a conversation with a woman for over thirty seconds that they didn't pay for.


This made me laugh. You're sadly right, though. I'll definitely check out ConTessa and see what they're all about.

Thanks to pdboddy and Horus too for the great welcome! I've already applied to a couple of games and am mooching around games using other systems to get a feel for them. Here's to some quality adventures!
This message was last edited by the user at 21:46, Tue 21 May 2019.
chrisormie
member, 210 posts
To be a winner in life
you must lose many times
Tue 21 May 2019
at 21:27
  • msg #7

I'm here because of iZombie. Huh.

Welcome!

I don't just want to echo what others have said, but yes girls can make great roleplayers. I've played in all male groups before but with a female or two added to the mix I find that games become far less one dimensional because they usually look at the game a little differently. It's a great addition to have the perspective of someone from a different background, especially if they are new to the hobby too as this kicks us out of our routine a bit and forces us to reexamine the way we play too.

As for the number of games out there, and the systems listed on here . . . yes, it's a huge list and can be daunting but most everyone is welcoming and happy to teach newcomers the system they love. There is also a lot of "freeform" play where there are no rules per se, just people saying what they do, reacting to each other, and unfolding a story between themselves. That is the essence of roleplaying, and the reason I love running games.

D&D is a great place to start as it's an established setting with so much room to play, but still feels like a safe area where nothing really crazy takes place. After a while I moved to other settings and have a wide love of a number of settings and stories, from ShadowRun to Deadlands, Rogue Trader to Fiasco, and from Wheel of Time to Paranoia. I hope you'll find games that interest and excite you - on RPoL there is usually something for everyone!

Good luck, and welcome once again!
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