This story struck me more as an indication of a really bad DM than anything gender related. If I were running a campaign where players stopped to try to actually help plow, I’d be really happy with them. Of course, in my own campaign world, I’ve also set up a complicated tea culture with some of the high noble families trying to out-do each other by finding expensive teas from exotic locales to show off. So I may not be very representative.
“Did I say rusty? I meant the elves have stolen the plow blade, and the spare plow blade, and everything that could be used as a makeshift plow blade!”
This story struck me more as an indication of a really bad DM than anything gender related. If I were running a campaign where players stopped to try to actually help plow, I’d be really happy with them.
Yes and no. It could also be a sign of a broken group- If two of the people love killing dark elves and hate farming, and two of the people love farming and like killing dark elves, the group should be killing dark elves, or there should be two groups, one which farms, while the other one kills dark elves.
I also didn’t get the gender-related feeling; one of my wizards got called “Angseth from Accounting” because he kept the party records, treasury, and was constantly trying to buy / found businesses and do other economic things, rather than just murdering for fun and profit.
Yeah, a creative DM might treat this as an opportunity for a campaign in which the players are more involved, as opposed to a railroaded dungeon crawl. But that demands a good deal of preparation or improvisation skills.
In that situation I’d probably have the farmers tell the players that the harvest is doomed because the Harvest Goddess is displeased with the Dark Elves’ Unholy Rituals, and will not bless the land—a situations the players can solve by either kicking Dark Elf ass as originally planned, or by having the group’s Cleric bless the lands, or by doing something to please the Harvest Goddess (organize a great feast, bake a legendary apple pie, find the rare Papilla Gourd that grows deep in the forest), or even having the farmers convert to the Dark Elves’ Nature Goddess who will bless the crops (for a small price).
This story struck me more as an indication of a really bad DM than anything gender related. If I were running a campaign where players stopped to try to actually help plow, I’d be really happy with them. Of course, in my own campaign world, I’ve also set up a complicated tea culture with some of the high noble families trying to out-do each other by finding expensive teas from exotic locales to show off. So I may not be very representative.
(In which I solve the wrong problem)
“Obviously”, you have the dark elves attack the farm while the adventurers are trying to help get the field plowed. ;)
“Did I say rusty? I meant the elves have stolen the plow blade, and the spare plow blade, and everything that could be used as a makeshift plow blade!”
:)
Yes and no. It could also be a sign of a broken group- If two of the people love killing dark elves and hate farming, and two of the people love farming and like killing dark elves, the group should be killing dark elves, or there should be two groups, one which farms, while the other one kills dark elves.
I also didn’t get the gender-related feeling; one of my wizards got called “Angseth from Accounting” because he kept the party records, treasury, and was constantly trying to buy / found businesses and do other economic things, rather than just murdering for fun and profit.
Yeah, a creative DM might treat this as an opportunity for a campaign in which the players are more involved, as opposed to a railroaded dungeon crawl. But that demands a good deal of preparation or improvisation skills.
In that situation I’d probably have the farmers tell the players that the harvest is doomed because the Harvest Goddess is displeased with the Dark Elves’ Unholy Rituals, and will not bless the land—a situations the players can solve by either kicking Dark Elf ass as originally planned, or by having the group’s Cleric bless the lands, or by doing something to please the Harvest Goddess (organize a great feast, bake a legendary apple pie, find the rare Papilla Gourd that grows deep in the forest), or even having the farmers convert to the Dark Elves’ Nature Goddess who will bless the crops (for a small price).