Sex at the Table

[billd91]

Sex occasionally comes up in the games I run. And once things start up, we let it all fade to black. The only exceptions are other characterization details like "The barmaid you seduce in the cloakroom is playfully fascinated with your shaved head. She can't stop giggling about it." Little stuff like that.

 

[Fenris-77]

There does seem to be some confusion about prepositions in this thread.

No, not propositions...

I think we're doing ok even given the confusion.

 

[Grogg of the North]

PCs having relationships (friendships, romances, etc.) - Actively encouraged.
PCs making lewd jokes - Fine but don't get disruptive. (What do I roll for length? being a prime example.)
PCs acting out graphic intercourse - No. While the Book of Erotic Fantasy is a silly read, I don't think I need it at my table.

The few times sex has come up at my table, it's just been a fade to black. But, in all my years of gaming, it has only come up very rarely. I seriously think this is one of the best examples of needing Lines and Veils or Yellow/Red cards.

I have the pleasure of having gamed with the same group now for many years. So I would like to think I know what their preferences are on most topics. Even then, I would have to sit down with myself and really think about if introducing such a scene would help the narrative and if my players would appreciate it.

 

[Maxperson]

Sex comes up very rarely in my games, but it does come up. I generally just gloss over it with a brief "It happens." Okay, maybe a bit more description than that, but I keep it PG-13 at the most. My players are still teenagers at heart, though, and I will invariably get asked to allow them a roll to see how good it was.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sex comes up very rarely in my games, but it does come up. I generally just gloss over it with a brief "It happens." Okay, maybe a bit more description than that, but I keep it PG-13 at the most. My players are still teenagers at heart, though, and I will invariably get asked to allow them a roll to see how good it was.

A Performance (Constitution) check, I assume.

 

[Lanefan]

Spinning out of the BG3 thread...

How, if at all, do you incorporate sex in your RPG games? Do love, lust, romance, and other adult interactions have a place in your games? How do you feel about sex in RPGs as a player? As a GM? Is sex between PCs better or worse than sex between PCs and NPCs, or sex between NPCS? If sex does appear in your games, to what degree? When does the camera cut away? Do you use some sort of mechanics for sex?

Also, big note here: this is about consensual sex -- consensual both at the table between participants, and in the fiction of the world.

Sex, love, lust, and romance - and all the associated complications, fights, jealousies, marriages, pregnancies, etc. - have been part of our games since forever. Could be PC-PC, could be PC-NPC, could be NPC-NPC, doesn't matter: if two (or more!) characters hit it off, things could get steamy.

We rarely if ever go into any detail of what happens between the sheets, though tales of good (or poor) "performance" have been known to circulate after the fact.

I've seen PCs get married, either to another PC or to an NPC*; I've seen PCs get pregnant and give birth to children - it all happens.

* - and not always by their own choice: during a party bickering session once a PC Cleric jokingly tried to cast Ceremony: Marriage on two other PCs who woudn't stop arguing; her casting got interrupted, and a magic surge caused the spell to backfire. Result: the caster married herself to a random person in the room! Said random person turned out to be a party NPC, a Ranger they'd taken in to get them through the woods. Months of soap opera followed - the Ranger was also female, and both were hetero prior to this........

 

[aramis erak]

Spinning out of the BG3 thread...

How, if at all, do you incorporate sex in your RPG games? Do love, lust, romance, and other adult interactions have a place in your games? How do you feel about sex in RPGs as a player? As a GM? Is sex between PCs better or worse than sex between PCs and NPCs, or sex between NPCS? If sex does appear in your games, to what degree? When does the camera cut away? Do you use some sort of mechanics for sex?

Also, big note here: this is about consensual sex -- consensual both at the table between participants, and in the fiction of the world.

In re Sex - It's an area that I, as a GM, put as a veil.

Romance? I have to be comfortable with the players to do romance as part of a game.

Non-consensual is a veil and only used during the Uther period in Pendragon; sexual assault by deception is at the heart of the origin of Arthur.

Even so, it did come in a grimly humorous way in Pendragon.. Sir Talroc. Talroc's arms, Per chevron purpure and vert, in fess, a chalice between two mullets Or. Newly knighted by Uther, in a campaign against the saxon invaders, gives in to the frenzy... mechanically, fumble on the chaste, crit on the lustful, fumble on both passions he tried to resist with...
fumble on the energetic to assemble in time.
Uther says to him, "Since it gets in your way, if you can't keep it inside your tunic, bear it upon your shield!"
His arms were augmented with Upon a canton sinister sable, a one-eyed snake arising from its coils afronty argent.

For the heraldry impaired: top half is purple, bottom is green, the division is along a chevron point down. Across the midline, a star of 5 points, then a chalice, and another star, all in gold/yellow. The canton is a square, sinister means on the bearer's left. The one eyed snake arising from its coils is white and looking straight at the viewer from inside the square.

It made for good story... Talroc certainly was one of the most memorable characters. He was cursed by a Faerie - a handmaid of Titania, no less... "To speak only in Riddle or Rhyme!"
Sir Talroc the Mighty, Sir Talroc the Bold, if it can't be rhyming, it cannot be told!

Talroc became one of the most chivalrous knights I've ever run for... over 100 total for the Chiv bonus. And a pagan religious bonus, too.
He met his end while questing.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Its just part of back story. When listing PC actions during downtime, players who are so inclined note that they spent X on ladies of negotiable affection (or whatever period/setting term is appropriate).

We're all adults, so its not even a small part of the campaign.

Marriage crops up in feudal campaigns, but its not a big issue.

 

[MGibster]

In the majority of games I run, sex/romance just doesn't come up very often, and when it does it's typically not very graphic with the scene fading to black to keep things tasteful. But if you're running a game of Vampire, sex/romance is kind of built into the setting and because it's a horror game it can get a little disturbing. In the 5th edition of Vampire, one of the predator types, how a Vampire gets their blood, is Siren. A Siren is a vampire who feeds while engaged in or feigning the act of sex.

In the last campaign I ran, one of the players was a Siren, and he would put the magical vampire whammy on women and feed on them as he slept with him. I'll give you three guesses as to what this makes the PC. At the beginning of every session, I would start out by talking about all the goings on of the living. These weren't NPCs that had had anything to do with the campaign directly, it was just a reminder that life was going on while the PCs were dead. But one session I changed things up a little by talking about those innocent people who were victimized by their need for blood during the campaign. And for the Siren, I was sure to include some examples of short and long term harm he caused his victims.

 

[Tonguez]

At the table, on the table, occasionally under the table - but I think thats a different kind of roleplaying

otherwise fade to black.

rarely sensitive themes are included in background material such as ‘abuse in the monastary’ allowing a means for demons to get in