Links to Gaming Discussions: Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl’s Guide to D&D

AWESOME!

(...and yet, 'wary' )

Yeah, I'll ask Autumn to snag an ARC. They are "limited", so we'll see!

If this book is good (read: Defeats Andy and Dave's wariness), I'm going to get it for my wife. I don't expect her to change her mind, but I think she'd like to read it anyway.

I mean, if Jason Morningstar's Dogs in the Vineyard game can't get her to like gaming, I'm not sure what would.

Author bio:

Shelly Mazzanoble believes her childhood was too functional to become a really good writer, so she has decided to go insane. She likes to think of herself as the Snow White of Seattle, living among loads of personified inanimate objects and imaginary friends, including her teddy bear Pooh and her condo, Betty. When not playing with and feeding her ghost dog tuna sandwiches from Subway, Shelly is busy fending off slander lawsuits from family and editing her collection of short stories about a girl who lives in Seattle with loads of imaginary friends and ghost dog. Shelly loves binge-eating, over-exercising and HGTV.

Amazon.com pre-order

When it comes out in stores I'm going to get one for my daughter.

From Amazon:

Book Description
Most Dungeons & Dragons game players are men, yet storytelling and roleplaying come so naturally to women. So where are all the female gamers? The answer is - everywhere!

Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress is a smart, humorous examination of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game from a female gamer's point of view. The book delves into the myths and realities of gamer stereotypes. It explains how to build a character for a D&D game, how to shop for gear, how to play, and how to find the perfect gaming group, all the while exploring the things that make the D&D game a rewarding and recurring social experience for both men and women.

It'll be advertainment, but it may be fun advertainment. Or it will be an abomination. Either way, magic missile meatballs sounds like the title of a porn movie.

OK, I got my hands on an advance reading copy.

It's laid out well and emulates other YA books in style, design, and tone. The ARC has no interior art, just place-holders, but it looks like it will have a fair amount, and an attractive cover. 130 or so pages, the published version will probably be a little longer. There's even a filled-out 4-page character sheet in the back.

It's got a sassy, sarcastic voice and splits evenly on teaching you "how to play" and providing context and encouragement. There are quizzes and diary entries. It's not evil but it is a marketing piece. Nowhere does it mention that other games exist, which is to be expected, and it is full of very traditional advice like this:

As Teddy describes it, roleplaying means "you listen to the Dungeon Master and decide what your character does based on his or her strengths, weaknesses, and personality. Metagaming is asking the Dungeon Master a question and watching his face to see if he's hiding anything.

...which is also to be expected. It alternates between respectful to the source material and irreverent (her character is obsessed with shopping and is always running off to pick up some Manolo Blahnik shoes, which would get old, fast in real life).

Also interesting to me is the use of terms culled from MMORGs, like "buff" and "tank", appropriating them for tabletop.

They're pricing it at $14.95 US.

The quizzes are tongue-in-cheek, designed to tell you what alignment you are, what race you should play, what class.

Posted By: Sydney FreedbergThe most disturbing part for me is the D&D-themed snacks. "Of course you'll make snacks! You're the girl!" Feh.

Jason, is there much "you, the girl, will serve tea and snacks" in the actual book?

Hunh? Sharing food in a social setting is a widespread tradition across pretty much all cultures. I'm not actually aware of any cultures where it isn't normal. Hell, not offering or not partaking in offered food or bevvies is considered an insult pretty regularly...

Posted By: komradebobHunh? Sharing food in a social setting is a widespread tradition across pretty much all cultures. I'm not actually aware of any cultures where it isn't normal. Hell, not offering or not partaking in offered food or bevvies is considered an insult pretty regularly...

Context, context, context.

He didn't say shit about sharing food. He said he was worried about the inference that because YOU ARE A GIRL YOU WILL MAKE THE FOOD and then the boys will eat it. Not that boys make food, not that anyone makes food, not that we share food -- but that the GIRL WILL MAKE THE FOOD.

How that becomes "why is it wrong to share food" I do not know.

Jason,

Hmm, sounds much less good and much less terrifying than I was hoping and fearing. Still, maybe will be worth a read over.

Posted By: Brand_Robins

Posted By: komradebobHunh? Sharing food in a social setting is a widespread tradition across pretty much all cultures. I'm not actually aware of any cultures where it isn't normal. Hell, not offering or not partaking in offered food or bevvies is considered an insult pretty regularly...

Context, context, context.

He didn't say shit about sharing food. He said he was worried about the inference that because YOU ARE A GIRL YOU WILL MAKE THE FOOD and then the boys will eat it. Not that boys make food, not that anyone makes food, not that we share food -- but that the GIRL WILL MAKE THE FOOD.

How that becomes "why is it wrong to share food" I do not know.

Is the author female or is that a pen name?

How that becomes " Wimminz will be in teh kitchen" I dunno.

Posted By: komradebobHow that becomes " Wimminz will be in teh kitchen" I dunno.

How many D&D guides provide recipes? This one is the first I've heard of, and surprise, it's a Girl's guide.

That's how it becomes "Wimminz will be in teh kitchen".

Posted By: MoHow many D&D guides provide recipes? This one is the first I've heard of, and surprise, it's a Girl's guide.

Just as a side note: As mentioned in another thread over at Knife Fight (by Brand), the Dragonlance publishing phenomenon included a number of recipes, in particular the Leaves From The Inn of Last Home books. There was no flag on those that said "For GirlZ!"

That's trivial, of course. Your observation is still correct.

Bob,

Um... you've just attempted to invalidate a statement made by a woman by appealing to a professed belief that women can speak for themselves. Please stop to consider the problem with that behavior.

I plainly lack the drive to accomplish this, but I'd love to contribute to a Game Night Cookbook - something like the S-G Names Project, where somebody as organized as Jason pulls together lots of user-contributed recipes for favorite gamer treats. Renaming your favorites to be things like 'Magic Missile Meatballs' gets extra credit. Proceeds going to a food bank or something. Any would-be organizers?

As a bit more of an aside, the real problem with the girl's guide being the one to contain mention of recipes and such isn't so much that the girl is going to get brainwashed, but that it means the boys won't see it, which means the boys won't have any prompt to think about food and its preparation for their group.

It's sort of that old cliche--the one who 'volunteers' is the one left standing when everyone else steps back. The woman is left 'holding the bag' if you will.

You know who else liked themed snacks?

Nazis !

That last bit is nothing but a Godwin in different clothes.

Posted By: komradebobThat last bit is nothing but a Godwin in different clothes

from WikipediaHowever, Godwin's Law can itself also be abused, as a distraction or diversion, to fallaciously miscast an opponent's argument as hyperbole.

I'm sorry bob, I didn't realize that the confusion earlier was caused by you not *wanting* to communicate. I'll try and read you less charitably next time.

JD,

That'd be awesome.

Posted By: Mo

Posted By: komradebobThat last bit is nothing but a Godwin in different clothes

from WikipediaHowever, Godwin's Law can itself also be abused, as a distraction or diversion, to fallaciously miscast an opponent's argument as hyperbole.

I'm sorry bob, I didn't realize that the confusion earlier was caused by you not *wanting* to communicate. I'll try and read you less charitably next time.

I shot from the lip, no doubt about it.

May I suggest tabling this or taking to another thread or off-site/whisper?

I have a bad feeling that this is a case of arguing within the same camp.

Shreyas,

Yes, but only useful if somebody's willing to take up the task of recommending some good etiquette guides and cookbooks that are especially relevant to our sort of social activity. (Hint.)


I can totally get behind the idea of a "community cookbook," like those things put out by PTAs and churches everywhere. No fancy presentation, no photos, usually a cheap comb bind. And the recipes themselves are maybe not even guaranteed to be all that great. But it's a neat social publication that everyone in the organization had a hand in contributing to, a fun way of sharing with one another.

From what I saw at Winter Fantasy... er... the D&D Experience, it was condescending, sexist crap. Mind you, I'm not a teenage girl and even when I was one, I was far from typical. I don't have a teenage daughter, so I could be completely off base about what will appeal to teenage girls, but I'm going to assume they have brains and some self-esteem. The other women I talked with about it (also adult women in their 40's and 50's) felt the same.

If WotC really wanted to attract young females into gaming, they'd make "My Little Pony: The RPG". They'd be overrun by hordes of girls (and women) who and freakin' insane for MLP. The different kinds of ponies fall almost naturally into "classes", and the MLP stories are all about resolving problems through cooperation and creative thinking. Heck, Hasbro even has the license for MLP. They could slap a d20 light system on it and do a little non-traditional promotion (ie, in regular book stores, etc.) and they'd be minting money. Think of the collectible miniatures!

Oh, wait... WotC has considered MLP the RPG. As an April Fool's joke. Which, in my experiences with them, about sums it up.

Disclaimers and such: I'm one of those very rare creatures, a female grognard. I don't go all the way back to wargaming (not my cuppa), but I do go back to the earliest editions of Dungeons & Dragons. I am a 52 year old woman, and a feminist. I have my biases, as everyone does. I've spent 25 years or so in a mostly male-dominated (and frequently appallingly -- if often unintentionally -- sexist and hostile) hobby, tirelessly recruiting other women. I know many feminist men, many of them gamers, and am happy to have them in my games or running the games I play... I just wish more of them were actually in charge. Every day I have to challenge deeply ingrained assumptions (such as "well, of course the women will bring the food, clean up, keep things organized"), and some days it makes me very tired.

Footnote: Feminist - someone who holds the radical notion that women are human beings

Posted By: GamerChickFootnote: Feminist - someone who holds the radical notion that women are human beings

It's cheering to encounter someone who doesn't consider that a historical term.

I'd like to see recipes in setting books. That would be fun.

I don't have a teenage daughter, so I could be completely off base about what will appeal to teenage girls, but I'm going to assume they have brains and some self-esteem.

Truth. I teach a cartooning class for teenagers and all my students are girls ages 12-16. They're wickedly smart. They have zero interest in RPGs (as far as I can tell), but they're into online games like Maple Story as well as manga. The variety of manga they read is really astounding. I asked them once why they weren't really interested in roleplaying games and they told me that if there were games that fit their interest (which judging by their reading material is incredibly broad) that they might give them a try. I doubt that a book like this would encourage them to try a game they're otherwise not interested in. but who know?

I know there are other game books out there that have recipies in them but for the life of me, I can't think of any right now.

I meant to include a recipe for my Panty Explosion mixed drink in the last printing of the book, but I completely forgot. For the record, 1 scoop of lime sherbert, one can of redbull, a shot of sake, a half can of lime soda and a teaspoon of ginsing.

Nobody but me ever wants to drink it.

Ouch - no wonder! ;)

Can i confess that i read Shreyas's blog/site almost entirely for the recipes?

I haven't read the book, but the inclusion of some recipes doesn't sound like that big of a deal. Sure, you could look at it as a subtle hint as to a woman's role, but you could also see it as an effort to make the content of the book more palatable to the target audience. Why would that appeal to the target audience? Because (very generally) women are inclined toward caretaking, culturally, if not on some deeper level. Caretaking can include food preparation. It's not like the book is nothing but recipes.

That said, perhaps it's a self-fulfilling cycle of marketing recipes to girls because they have an interest in it that they got from marketed material of the same sort. I'm not sure how inherently bad that is. Of course I'm a guy who doesn't like sports or beer or cars or whatever, so what do I know? :)

Jason already said that the sexism found in the book is pretty much akin to the sexism that one could expect from any of the books being cranked out for that age category of girls. Assuming a different level of sexism because the book includes recipies is, in my opinion, assuming too much. It's the opposite of charitable reading. Doubly so, since I think there's only one person here who's actually read the book.

Is any book targeted at girls which also includes recipies inherently sexist?

There are no recipes.
There are no recipes.
Also, there are no recipes.

Maybe the final version will have some - I have no idea. The book is oriented in tone and voice toward the adult swingin' career girl, as many YA books are. It's written like the reader is 24, which many 14-year-olds would like to be. I showed it to a real live gamer girl today who seemed to like it, so maybe she'll comment (Lisa?).

Did anyone pick this up at Gen Con? Any thoughts?

For others, that's the same video as at WotC's site/general YouTubeyness.

Also, be on the lookout for my book, Confessions of a Part-Time Necromancer

The interview doesn't really fill me with confidence. I was also kind of sad to hear the author talk about how she "failed" at her attempt to DM from some of her friends. Someone needs to send her a copy of InSpectres or PTA, stat!

Alas, that's more or less what I expected. :-(

Shelly Mazzanoble's got a lil' forum going over at the WOTC site. I see John Kim's already found it.

If WotC really wanted to attract young females into gaming, they'd make "My Little Pony: The RPG". They'd be overrun by hordes of girls (and women) who and freakin' insane for MLP. The different kinds of ponies fall almost naturally into "classes", and the MLP stories are all about resolving problems through cooperation and creative thinking. Heck, Hasbro even has the license for MLP. They could slap a d20 light system on it and do a little non-traditional promotion (ie, in regular book stores, etc.) and they'd be minting money. Think of the collectible miniatures!

That'd be Bella Sara then.