Will you make transsexual Elves canon in your games ?

[Sadras]

That out of the way, I can only speak for myself, but if I was going to make a self-insert character for some reason, I would definitely make that character an AMAB trans woman just like I am. Being trans has had a huge impact on my life, and I am a different person as a direct result of being trans than I would be if I had been an AFAB cis woman. Any character that was meant to be my avatar in a fictional world would need to be trans to feel true to who I am. Being trans is as much a part of my identity as being a woman is.

Of course, I don’t really make self-insert characters (any more. I did more when I was younger, and most of them were cis men cause I hadn’t realized I was trans are that point in my life. Though I did on occasion create cis women that I didn’t frame as self-inserts at the time, but in retrospect totally were.) And the characters I make are all over the gender spectrum. I make cis men and women most often, but I also enjoy playing trans and new non-binary characters on occasion as well.

I'm curious, how/where does that impact play - playing a trans woman character as opposed to a cis woman character?

Okay I have just thought of something else - D&D games (I'm not necessarily speaking of published material) often elicit a medieval period along with the baggage that comes with that such as the ideologies and regressive culture practices that we would imagine at the time such as sexism, slavery, racism, religious extremism...etc. I would imagine a trans dressed character (i.e. male dressed in woman garb) could find pushback from the setting ideologue. In that instance I would imagine exception might be made. Yes, no maybe?

HOWEVER, having said that - the racism that has been explored at my table has not been black/white/asian but rather between the various playable races - so exclusions already exist or at least that have not been explored by our table.

EDIT: I have at my table, had NPCs verbally insult the PCs based on their race, faith, sex or garb - is gender forbidden?

 

[pemerton]

a few elites try to force the change and that encounters blowback and you get things like the 2016 election.If things happen organically most of the time I think you would have a better outcome. When you try and force change bad things usually happen (WW1, USA civil war, Bolsheviks etc).

I'm not sure what "organic" change you are envisaging in lieu of the US Civil War. When reconstruction was ended, the "organic" result was Jim Crow. Jim Crow was ended by a mixture of popular struggle (I'm not sure if you count that as organic or not) and exercises of federal government power. To the extent that the current US Supreme Court has wound back the Voting Rights Act, that seems to be allowing an "organic" re-emergence of the exclusion of Black people from the democratic process.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm not sure what "organic" change you are envisaging in lieu of the US Civil War. When reconstruction was ended, the "organic" result was Jim Crow. Jim Crow was ended by a mixture of popular struggle (I'm not sure if you count that as organic or not) and exercises of federal government power. To the extent that the current US Supreme Court has wound back the Voting Rights Act, that seems to be allowing an "organic" re-emergence of the exclusion of Black people from the democratic process.

I think slavery would have eventually ended naturally and maybe things like Jim Crow laws would not have been used due to bitterness over reconstruction. The UK may have for example told them no more slave produced cotton and yields were down anyway and cotton production was picking up in places like Egypt. Economically slavery was unsustainable and I think it would have ended anyway by the 1880's.

Other things are the conservatives in Germany backing Austria in WW1 to stop socialism spreading. Or Imperial Russia which may have been better off waiting for the Tsar to die rather going down the path they did. That is what I meant by waiting things out they may have had a better result. Can't stop change try to violently fight it tends to cause more problems than organically letting things play out. Syria and Iraq perhaps more modern examples turns out there are worse alternatives than Assad.

 

[Imaculata]

EDIT: I have at my table, had NPCs verbally insult the PCs based on their race, faith, sex or garb - is gender forbidden?

I've had a very conservative bishop npc in my campaign insult women in general. But then again, he was meant to be an unlikable guy. And the goal of the situation was for the players to deal with the prejudice and hidden agendas of the various npc's in that social situation.

So, I don't think it's entirely off limits. But context matters.

 

[Sadras]

I've had a very conservative bishop npc in my campaign insult women in general. But then again, he was meant to be an unlikable guy. And the goal of the situation was for the players to deal with the prejudice and hidden agendas of the various npc's in that social situation.

So, I don't think it's entirely off limits. But context matters.

True. The only time I have used prejudice outside of such similar example is if the PCs are in a foreign land or among foreigners who might view specific races as distrustful (and there is a PC playing such race) or if the role of woman in the specific culture engaged with is very different to the PCs (and there is a female PC present).

EDIT: In the latter example, I turned it slightly into a positive in that one of the men of that particular culture developed a fascination with the female-warrior PC. Some humourous moments developed between her male retainer and the individual. The player liked the exchange, and was saddened/annoyed when her 'doe-eyed' barbarian fell victim to the breath attack of Icingdeath.

 

[pemerton]

I think slavery would have eventually ended naturally and maybe things like Jim Crow laws would not have been used due to bitterness over reconstruction. The UK may have for example told them no more slave produced cotton and yields were down anyway and cotton production was picking up in places like Egypt. Economically slavery was unsustainable and I think it would have ended anyway by the 1880's.

I'm not sure what makes a foreign trade boycott more "organic" than a domestic fight for liberation. I don't think there's a lot of historical evidence that it produces less bitterness either.

 

[Bagpuss]

They aren't transgendered or transgendered, they are more magigendered, because their is no real would human eqivilant to people who can change their biological sex daily whenever they feel like it.

But you can have more like real life transgendered characters of any race, that is pure RP, not mechanics unlike blessed of Corellon Larethian.

It's sex not gender. Looking at the text it is only the more androgynous elves that seem blessed with this ability, their gender doesn't change only their sex does.

Personally I'll be fine with them in my game.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm not sure what makes a foreign trade boycott more "organic" than a domestic fight for liberation. I don't think there's a lot of historical evidence that it produces less bitterness either.

Well they would not have had their cities trashed in the civil war and had them occupied by the feds. Cotton production was declining anyway in the traditional areas, I think they would have realised it was a waste of time by the 1880's anyway. I don't really see it lasting much longer without the war. Its one of those great unknowns I suppose. In the long runIDK if the war made it worse or not. A federal buyout of the slaves probably would have been cheaper than fighting the war as well.

 

[Lylandra]

I've had a very conservative bishop npc in my campaign insult women in general. But then again, he was meant to be an unlikable guy. And the goal of the situation was for the players to deal with the prejudice and hidden agendas of the various npc's in that social situation.

So, I don't think it's entirely off limits. But context matters.

I agree. Combating and dealing with prejudices ingame can be fun if everyone is on board. Same as dealing with ideologies and means of government- we once had a PC with a noble background who didn't think that democracy could work at all and that it would doom the society he lived in. Despite the fact that their noble houses just ended a near-fatal war a few years ago.

I'd rather direct prejudices etc. at everyone (not necessarily all at once), depending on the circumstances. Not just at PCs belonging to one kind of group.

 

[Shasarak]

Hello,

I've seen the Jeremy Crawford interview where he talks about Elves as portrayed in the Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes - specifically, some of them can now change sex after a long rest, so they're transsexual in practice.

What do you think of it ?

I think it is a fine addition to Jeremys home brew game.