Observations

I do understand that despite the leap in popularity of RPGs in general, the vast majority of players are still male. I do understand that there are certain rather unfortunate conventions of gender that seem to have become part and parcel of the RPG world, largely in terms of armor fashion, but I am now officially annoyed at the perceived status of male and female in RPGs. Specifically, I have noticed something in fantasy RPGs of varying flavors, but I have also seen it in RPGs of other genres.

When you read about a monster or NPC that is described in any way as 'seductive' or whose purpose is to subvert others through charm, that creature is depicted as an over-sexualized female, nine times out of ten. What, men can't be seductive? As one of my players put it when I mentioned my observation to him: “On the behalf of fops everywhere, I protest that notion.”

Naturally, the flagship of female seduction in fantasy RPGs is the succubus. From a classical sense, this is fine. Seduction is what succubi were designed for, after all. But the misuse of succubi becomes obvious when a quick look through RPG products reveals a distinct lack of incubi. Granted, from time to time you can find a mention of succubi taking a male form (incubus) which adheres to the mythological standard, but particularly since the release of 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons, incubi have been treated as distinct creatures. The word 'seductive' is not generally associated with these new incubi, but the word 'coercion' certainly comes up a lot, along with less pleasant words.

So, now the standard is that males rape, females seduce.

Artistically, incubi are usually large and heavily muscled or at best lanky, often with monstrous faces. I have seen one picture of an incubus that did not fit this mold; he appeared to be a kind of satanic musketeer with glowing eyes, a smirk and a goatee, and the artwork certainly didn't make the man look attractive. I have never, in all my ample RPG experience, seen a picture of an incubus that could be described as alluring, seductive or even beautiful.

I probably don't have to explain artwork depicting succubi. Everybody has seen it, particularly with the presence of a succubus in World of Warcraft (which, by the way, seems to generally follow the same sort of gender disparity... notice that every single male in the game is depicted as being ridiculously muscular? Is that really attractive?). However, I want to mention my observations on the stereotypical succubus, which is a tall woman with a Photoshop worthy figure, horns, bat wings and perhaps one or two other signs of being demonic (tail, claws, obvious fangs, red eyes). The stereotypical succubus is of the 'less is best' school of fashion, and sometimes doesn't wear anything at all. It is very common for them to be carrying around or wearing items that hint at bondage, torture and similar pursuits. Whips are hot in succubus fashion these days.

Of course, if there's one thing succubus descriptions agree on, it is their ability to change their shape at will. So why do they all look almost exactly the same? Never mind.

The association of a succubus with tools of dominance leads me to another observation. The most common depictions of powerful female NPCs in fantasy RPGs can be described in one of two ways: the seductress and the ice queen. The seductress is an overt tempter who gains power through manipulation, and often subscribes to principles of succubus fashion. The ice queen is usually powerful in some direct way, such as being a great warrior or magician, but has no interest whatsoever in relationships. Ice queens are often written with some small splinter of loneliness lodged in them, usually blanketed by tragedy.

At my age, I've had the luxury of watching the RPG world develop and change practically from its inception in the Chainmail days. I've watched it grow and evolve, open to new ideas and new worlds of imagination, and I've watched as it became less and less of an isolated hobby. I've also watched as marketers tout their games as accessible, pushing out to expand the sorts of people who play them. You would think that, given the time that has passed, designers and writers (and players, for that matter) would pay more attention to the unpleasant sexual tropes present in the RPG archetype gestalt. With the current expectations laid out for us, it is difficult to think of the game as being as mature as it would like to be. This is a pity, because I had thought RPGs had finally gotten out of adolescence.