Why do girls get to have all the fun??

[barsoomcore]

I would definitely restrict the Eunuch Warlock to men. The idea is you've got to sacrifice something to get the power. The whole concept is very common in HK fantasy pictures.

But I think some men-only prestige classes would be cool. The only reason there haven't been more, I think, is that gender-based classes are typically setting-specific, and I guess the people who have designed those settings like girls more than boys.

I know I do.

 

[Impeesa]

Regarding pregnancy and characters: Only pregnant character I've ever seen personally was the commanding officer of our Robotech group. She never let it slow her down until the last few weeks, although when she was 8 months pregnant and running hard there were some pretty bad jokes going around. I'll just say 'grappling fetus' and leave it at that.

--Impeesa--

 

[Darkness]

Re: plus some more

Theres a spell, I don't know what it's called or what level it is, but it's a necromancy.

It makes the target make a fortitude same or become pregnant (even men ), in one round they have a baby, women are dealt 2d6 temp con damage, and men are dealt 4d6 temp con damage. In 2 (or 4, I can't remember) rounds, it grows into a exact copy of you (same everything, just not your items) with the fiendish template, and its entire goal in life is to kill YOU

It's from the sealed section of Dragon #300. I think it's 8th level (maybe 9th).

 

[William Ronald]

Darkness,

The spell, Searing Seed, is 8th level.

 

[Agback]

female gender.

"Female" is a sex, not a gender. Genders are grammatical categories of words (in some languages), not reproductive categories of organisms.

And it is only in some Indo-European languages that gender has anything at all to do with sex. In the languages of many downtrodden minorities and Third-world majorites genders have to do with categories of shape or the like. Using 'gender' as a euphemism for 'sex' is not only ridiculous prudery on a par with putting trousers on piano-legs, it is imperialism.

Regards,


Agback

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

My, aren't we feeling pedantic today? Aye, it's ridiculous prudery, or it's the way people talk. I'll take the latter, thank you very much.

 

[BlindKobold]

Doesn't the Eunuch Warlock give you the "Half-Man" template? Again... OUCH! It's circumcision gone terribly wrong!

 

[Morgenstern]

Males only

There is a males only order of samurai in Rokugan. It's a Phoenix Clan group described in Way of the Samurai.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

...Linguistic commentary...

Leaving aside your analysis, there's a point at which common usage becomes a factor.

Words are just ideas in a straight-jacket, after all.

Back to the topic... Assuming our fantasy worlds aren't too different from the real world, there's at least one good social reason for there to be lots of female-specific "prestige" organizations...

To get the heck away from men. Think about your average men's locker room. Misogyny central. Now think about a female fighter hanging around at the fighter's guild.

Is it reasonable for her to just fight every guy who asks her if she needs help carrying her sword? Or makes a comment about how well her armor fits?

So, she could get in a lot of fights, she could tear them down verbally only to have them talk even more smack the next time, she could ignore it, or she could gather up all the female fighters in the guild and form their own organization. Women being more rational than men about their egos, I'm betting most go for the last one.

EDITED typographical error

 

[Kilmore]

Anyone remember way back in 1st ed. when a character's maximum strength was limited by both race and gender? Female halflings could only have a 14 Strength! Ahhh, the '70's. Not many game producers would dare suggest that today. What made it worse was that there was no bonus to counter the Str "glass ceiling" for female characters.

Anyways, in my campaign, there is a women's organization that is largely responsible for asserting female equality in all careers, most notably as fighters, as one of the main things they do is train their girls in the arts of sword fighting. But in all classes, the current (in game time) equality of opportunities in all major classes is due to their influence. But males are not welcome to join.

IRL, I've been in a position where women were not allowed for a very practical reason. About 12 years ago I was in the ballistic missile program of the Submarine service in the US Navy. That meant going out "on patrol" for three months at a time was a part of my job description. I don't believe that anyone I ever talked to had doubts about a woman's ability to do the work that was required on a sub, but it was honestly tough to see how a co-ed crew would work on board. Military discipline could only be so helpful, especially on a ship full of "old boys". One of the problems was trying to figure out how to seperate thirty year old vessels into male and female facilities. Something to think about in those space games.

BTW, I don't know if they've since worked that out. I hope so.