Re: [DL] Game stories:Summer session

[cmcgloth@halifax.com (Christopher McGlothlin)]

ronald@teleport.com wrote:
>>One really good example is the time he took a simple action to
>>grab the (wo)man-in-black's butt while chargeing a huge horde of priarie
>>ticks.  After combat she kicked him in the nuts repeatedly and I gave him
>>three wound levels for several hours (which was also good because he had
>>don't get em rilled).  The tick attacks also managed to shred some clothing
>>which also left our huckster with something to oogle/grope/you get the
>>picture.

And Ms. R. Serena Wakefield replied:
>Frankly, I don't find this funny in the slightest ... if I was one of those
>women, while I would not have been personally offended, I would definitely
>never have gamed with that player again.  I wouldn't have been thrilled
>with the Marshall for arranging it so my character ended up in dishabille,
>either.
>
>But then, I'm also pretty hard to offend, and I've been gaming long enough
>to know not to hold a player's actions against the hobby as a whole.  If
>those women were new players, or entirely new to gaming ... well, I just
>don't want to think about what kind of impression they carried away of
>Deadlands or of the hobby as a whole.
>
>Now, I don't know the players who were at your game; it's possible that
>everyone found the running gag as amusing as you did.  But I know that a
>similar incident permanently lost me a player when I didn't intervene in
>time to stop it, and the player gave no indication of how angry she was
>until it was already too late.  Heck, I'd thought she was only mildly
>annoyed, and the player whose sexist jokes drove her out had thought she
>was enjoying it.
>
>I ain't gonna get all high-and-mighty ... but I'd think very carefully
>before I let another potentially offensive player character into a
>publicly-run introductory game.  Randy is definitely the Hinderance to
>avoid in demo games.
>
>Probably said a lot more than it really warranted, but I noticed no one
>else had commented on this and I figured I had to say something.  Now I'll
>probably get flamed ...

Ma'am,
	I've yet to make your acquaintance; please accept my (however belated)
welcome to the Listserver. For whatever it's worth, I'm not going to flame
you. Quite the contrary, I laud your courage in protesting this outrage. 
	I agree with your expressed sentiments whole-heartedly. A GM's first
responsibilty is making sure their players are enjoying themselves,
especially in a demo setting, and while that's not always easy, the duty
remains. When a game becomes torturous, it's far better to terminate it
than prolong the misery.
	  Also for whatever it's worth, I'd have horse-whipped the miscreant for
treating a lady in that fashion. I'm Southern; ya'll's MMV. 
	

Deo Vindice,
Christopher McGlothlin, M.Ed.

Additional Developer: *Deadlands: The Weird West* Revised Edition
Co-author of *Tales o' Terror: 1877* & *Back East: The South*
Southern by the Grace of God