Thoughts and opinions time!
The Damsel in Distress trope in tabletop gaming. What are your thoughts on it? Have you played a damsel in distress? Why or why not? How did you make that compelling or can you?
Thoughts and opinions time!
Thoughts and opinions time!
I have all sorts of people in distress! Orc colonists, Kings, great warriors, indigenous leaders and yes, damsels – everyone needs help in a bad situation every now and then.
What works for me is that the person/people in distress still have agency – they’re doing something, but it’s not quite enough. The PCs tip the balance over.
I have all sorts of people in distress! Orc colonists, Kings, great warriors, indigenous leaders and yes, damsels – everyone needs help in a bad situation every now and then.
What works for me is that the person/people in distress still have agency – they’re doing something, but it’s not quite enough. The PCs tip the balance over.
I really don’t like playing as this trope or seeing it in game. I’d rather see a Princess Leia – you may be a captive but you’re taking initiative to escape and demonstrating capability while you do it.
I really don’t like playing as this trope or seeing it in game. I’d rather see a Princess Leia – you may be a captive but you’re taking initiative to escape and demonstrating capability while you do it.
My brother got fed up of being the default leader in our group so he played a little psychic boy in Chill. He was terrified with what he saw most of the time and we rescued him a lot. His vision gave him more of an insight than us, even if he didn’t have the capability to deal with what he saw. It was one of the earlier times we played with any kind of imbalance in PC strength levels and I think it worked well. I know he loved playing Emilio and still waxes eccentric about it a couple of decades later.
My brother got fed up of being the default leader in our group so he played a little psychic boy in Chill. He was terrified with what he saw most of the time and we rescued him a lot. His vision gave him more of an insight than us, even if he didn’t have the capability to deal with what he saw. It was one of the earlier times we played with any kind of imbalance in PC strength levels and I think it worked well. I know he loved playing Emilio and still waxes eccentric about it a couple of decades later.
I have recently played a damsel in distress scene with my character being the damsel. That was Monster of the Week and I played a Mundane old lady and brought myself purposefully into the situation to be rescued by my lover, another player character. The Mundane playbook even has a damsel in distress Move (Always The Victim) but my character didn’t have it at that time. It was good and fun because we had such nicely developed characters already at that time that playing tropes subverted them rather than objectifying my character.
I have recently played a damsel in distress scene with my character being the damsel. That was Monster of the Week and I played a Mundane old lady and brought myself purposefully into the situation to be rescued by my lover, another player character. The Mundane playbook even has a damsel in distress Move (Always The Victim) but my character didn’t have it at that time. It was good and fun because we had such nicely developed characters already at that time that playing tropes subverted them rather than objectifying my character.
I love throwing tropes on their heads.
I love throwing tropes on their heads.
Love playing with the trope, sometimes running it straight but more often than not flipping or twisting it in some way.
Love playing with the trope, sometimes running it straight but more often than not flipping or twisting it in some way.
I’ll sometimes use this trope, but I usually do so with the intention of subverting it in some way. The DW AP David LaFreniere and I are doing with the character Domenico Castafiel is all about the hero trying to perform a ritual to save the life of woman who has been poisoned by a demon. But that woman is a really complicated character. She’s rich, somewhat evil, and she’s been fucking with a lot of bad juju, which is why she’s in trouble in the first place. The only reason she’s able to get Domenico to be her “hero” in the first place is because she has a fair amount of sexual and financial power over him. She’s also an older woman, and Domenico has lost his mother, so there’s a touch of Oedipus complex, to boot. Nevertheless, despite the weird dynamics of their relationship, she is a “damsel” in trouble right now and he is trying to save her.
I’ll sometimes use this trope, but I usually do so with the intention of subverting it in some way. The DW AP David LaFreniere and I are doing with the character Domenico Castafiel is all about the hero trying to perform a ritual to save the life of woman who has been poisoned by a demon. But that woman is a really complicated character. She’s rich, somewhat evil, and she’s been fucking with a lot of bad juju, which is why she’s in trouble in the first place. The only reason she’s able to get Domenico to be her “hero” in the first place is because she has a fair amount of sexual and financial power over him. She’s also an older woman, and Domenico has lost his mother, so there’s a touch of Oedipus complex, to boot. Nevertheless, despite the weird dynamics of their relationship, she is a “damsel” in trouble right now and he is trying to save her.
I played a male character in Monster hearts that ended up chained up in a van with a couple psychos for a while. I felt a bit frustrated that all i could do was try to talk them down or struggle against my chains. but it was also fun to watch the others mount a rescue, learn who my friends were. I don’t mind being rendered helpless if fictionally appropriate or as the result of a roll. but playing it as a character type is not what I look for. I use NPCs in distress a lot, most of my npcs are fairly simple and useless (except the cultists) because i don’t want to take time or focus from the players.
I played a male character in Monster hearts that ended up chained up in a van with a couple psychos for a while. I felt a bit frustrated that all i could do was try to talk them down or struggle against my chains. but it was also fun to watch the others mount a rescue, learn who my friends were. I don’t mind being rendered helpless if fictionally appropriate or as the result of a roll. but playing it as a character type is not what I look for. I use NPCs in distress a lot, most of my npcs are fairly simple and useless (except the cultists) because i don’t want to take time or focus from the players.
A reminder to myself to write about how we gender flipped this in or BW game… Rachel E.S. Walton
A reminder to myself to write about how we gender flipped this in or BW game… Rachel E.S. Walton
Here’s what Rachel E.S. Walton wrote about our BW game, in which her character, Zora the Swordlord of the Riverlands rode out to save the horse merchant’s pretty son who had shared a flirtatious dance with her in an earlier game:
“* Judd flipped the gender roles and made Imre the damsel in distress here. I appreciated that intellectually, but I also really liked what it did to the story. It felt familiar and fresh all at once. Imre was scared and hurt and exhausted and he fell into Zora’s embrace and cried. It was a really tender moment. We got to see Zora be the protector/comforter, but we also got to see Imre be this vulnerable kid who has a lot going on for himself, but who is still a little young and tender and just got through a pretty traumatic event. It all felt really human.”
burningwheel.com – Traditions of the Swordlords: Belief – > Failure/Success – > Belief and repeat
Here’s what Rachel E.S. Walton wrote about our BW game, in which her character, Zora the Swordlord of the Riverlands rode out to save the horse merchant’s pretty son who had shared a flirtatious dance with her in an earlier game:
“* Judd flipped the gender roles and made Imre the damsel in distress here. I appreciated that intellectually, but I also really liked what it did to the story. It felt familiar and fresh all at once. Imre was scared and hurt and exhausted and he fell into Zora’s embrace and cried. It was a really tender moment. We got to see Zora be the protector/comforter, but we also got to see Imre be this vulnerable kid who has a lot going on for himself, but who is still a little young and tender and just got through a pretty traumatic event. It all felt really human.”
burningwheel.com – Traditions of the Swordlords: Belief – > Failure/Success – > Belief and repeat
I don’t think I’ve been the person who’s needed rescue that often that I can recall, but it’s a position I’d happily play. Just one that might not occur to me naturally.
I don’t think I’ve been the person who’s needed rescue that often that I can recall, but it’s a position I’d happily play. Just one that might not occur to me naturally.
One thing that was actually cool about the old “you play what you rolled up” systems is that opportunity to play something you wouldn’t have picked. I can think of three games where I rolled up a total wimp and ended up having a great time getting the other characters to bail me out of trouble.
One thing that was actually cool about the old “you play what you rolled up” systems is that opportunity to play something you wouldn’t have picked. I can think of three games where I rolled up a total wimp and ended up having a great time getting the other characters to bail me out of trouble.