The Book of Erotic Fantasy - Where did it go wrong?

[Donovan Morningfire]

Leaving rules out makes it easy to publish material about romance, seduction, betrayals and similar topics for RPgs without a license.

Can't really comment on the BoEF, other than to say "no thanks, rules really not needed for that in my games," but I recall a friend of mine discussing a GURPSish supplement called "Naughty or Dice" that, from what she was saying, accomplished what BoEF may have been trying to do, in that it gave advice to GM's and players on how to incorporate romance and seduction into a campaign without overdoing it like GUCK does (the AD&D version reads better if you view as comedy, which is something the 3e conversion is lacking methinks). I'd wager there's a fair amount of rules-stuff (it was aimed for GURPS after all), but that could eithe be streamlined or tossed entirely for non-GURPS games.

 

[The Green Adam]

The main issue I had with the BoEF was that, simply put, it just wasn't sexy.

A combination of poor art and photography, the rather flat and clinical approach and an overabundance of crunch, all previously sited, contributed to a product that could have been considerably better.

I think that, while I appreciate the book taking the subject seriously, it took it all too seriously. Non-reproductive sex, like gaming, should be fun and the authors didn't seem to have had much fun with the subject. Fetish and Kink, treated too academically, just comes off as a study of other peoples' weird and/or creep interests, where as in truth a good portion of the populace has a least one atypical thing that turns them on.

Anyhoo, the bottom line is that the book was interesting and somewhat informative. I don't know if that is enough for a subject like this. I for one wanted more.

AD

 

[mcnathan80]

Personally I think it was a method for geeks to live out their own fetish of seeing naked women dressed up as fantasy characters. All in all I agree with you assessment

 

[The Eternal GM]

That's where I say the BoEF missed the mark. It could be a guidebook to creating campaigns focused more on the "romance novels" side of D&D, with betrayals, intrigue, seduction, etc, and instead became a poorly-photoshopped essay on S&M.

...with a worryingly high priced tag on release.

 

[sckeener]

I have to say I've tweaked BoEF to fit my world several times. Even though it was slightly off on several things, it was an opener to modify.

I remember wanting on spell though that was in Ars Magica...can't remember the name, but it allowed any women to easily give birth without pain. I always liked it and frequently had it in potion form to hand out.

and the way raise dead and npc healing is being discussing in the 4e forum, I might start making it that only people with destinies can be healed with magic. Thus the whole infant mortality death rate would be in full swing....

It was really hard to justify ancient Egyptian culture (very sexually promiscuous) with all the healing spells available......back then having kids before marriage was ok because it proved they were fertile and sturdy enough to survive child birth. Toss in healing and they probably would have been a monogamous culture because that was what was expected once they married. The whole fertile survivor being a plus for marriage is tossed out the window if healing spells can fix anything.

 

[pawsplay]

My summation: Let's consider Command ("masturbate"). While within the scope of material addressed by the BoEF ("things too prurient to a normal d20 product") they did not fit the creative mandate ("Things related to sex that are interesting"). Simply because something does not belong in the Book of Miraculously Conceived Half-Orcs does not mean it belongs in a book that should give a real handle on sex, marriage, children, prostitution, and other useful topics.

 

[Darrell]

There was a bunch of stuff in TBoEF which the editor should have red-lined out of existence early on if the editor wanted serious people to take The Book of Erotic Fantasy seriously (or avoid unflattering comparisons to FATAL and Promised Sands). I can forgive all of the book's other failings but the puposeful inclusion of utterly rediculous content coupled with the overt claims of intellectualism still make me want to wretch.

I think that was a large part of the problem, as well. To tell the truth, I cherry-picked the useful stuff (the basic "Perform" skill mechanic, chances of pregnancy charts, a few spells, items, Prestige Classes, etc.), created my own 8-ish page mini-document, added that to my DM notebook, and sold off my copy of the book. The overwhelming majority of the book was useless to me, but the parts that were useful we (my group and I) found to be very useful...well...from time to time, at least.

Regards,
Darrell

 

[Pagan priest]

I have to disagree with the comments that the art was bad throughout. Yes, some of it was bad, a couple were really bad, but there were a couple that were fairly nice as well. Case in point: the pleasure golem. That picture still freaks me out when I see it, and given the nature of what was being portrayed, I'd say that means that it was a great success.

Other folks here have focused on the "kinky" focus of the book. I would point out that talking about just the "vanilla" aspects of sex would leave the book much shorter, and falling short of its mandate as well. Fantasy realm or real world, those kind of things are part and parcel of sexuality for many people.

I do have to comment on one massively annoying piece of errata, the one base class in there that I would consider tempting to play, the Kundala, is completely lacking in information on weapons and armor proficiencies.

 

[JDJblatherings]

I just saw this the other night on the shelf at an area Borders Bookstore. The art certainly strays into the kinky and disturbing...folks cutting themselves doesn't strike me as erotic.

I actually pointed it out to the staff and recomended they moved it or wrapepd it in plastic so minors couldn't get into it and manage to get it home . The art is heavier then breasts, tackle and leering.

I did look thru the book and try to be fair but it really didn't stand out to me as being worth the price tag or the controversy. A whole lot of rules and me not wanting to look at the pictures all that much...and I got Caligula on DVD at home.

 

[jezter6]

If you think BoEF was kink for the sake of kink - head out to find Black Tokyo in PDF at the enworld store. *cringe* If there was ever a book that reeked of prepubescent male misogeny - that is it.

While I have never even bothered with BoEF, I've found that for most of the RPG world - sex in gaming is not a subject that can be authored with taste, dignity, and actually be able to sell copies. Let's face it - the sick stuff is what makes people buy it. Nobody bought BoEF for a table do randomly determine sex of an unborn fetus - they bought it for scantily clad fantasy chicks slinging spells called "DO ME, BABY!"