D&D 5E Do you allow adult situations in your games?

[GMforPowergamers]

When I DM I normally go with a PG 13 base ratting with a couple spikes into R... but we fade to black on most sex scenes...


I still don't understand why half orc is so odd it must be rape...but half elf is perfectly normal.

 

[Lanefan]

Sex and romance (and jealousies, crushes, etc.): just about anything goes with our crew - I've seen inter-racial (as in, Orc-Human, Elf-Human, Gnome-Leprechaun, Hobbit-Human) romances and-or flings; gay-lesbian romances and-or flings; PCs marrying each other; having offspring with each other (and not always with who they married!), etc., and that's before any NPCs get involved! And it's not always limited to just two individuals at a time, either. I've seen PCs surreptitiously feed each other love potions then get away quick before the potion takes hold. I've seen PCs arduously kissing in the back line of a combat while the front line's been getting carved up! And so on...

Rape: no.

Torture, slavery, etc.: again, just about anything goes including on two different occasions PCs selling (or donating) other PCs into slavery.

Lan-"best excuse I ever heard for a couple of PCs failing a surprise roll while on night watch isn't directly repeatable here but it amounted to 'we were having sex!'"-efan

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I still don't understand why half orc is so odd it must be rape...but half elf is perfectly normal.

Within traditional settings, it follows. The relationship between orcs and humans is portrayed as violent. Most lore defines orcs as grotesque raiders and conquerors. Take a look at human history and there's a fairly obvious conclusion.

Sure, it's a common trope for half-orcs. Some find it compelling. Others would rather avoid it. There's nothing wrong with wanting to subvert that trope, either for creative reasons or to avoid uncomfortable subjects.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Within traditional settings, it follows. The relationship between orcs and humans is portrayed as violent. Most lore defines orcs as grotesque raiders and conquerors. Take a look at human history and there's a fairly obvious conclusion.

Sure, it's a common trope for half-orcs. Some find it compelling. Others would rather avoid it. There's nothing wrong with wanting to subvert that trope, either for creative reasons or to avoid uncomfortable subjects.

way back when I started D&D in high school, my first thought for half orcs was barbaric human tribes intermixing

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

way back when I started D&D in high school, my first thought for half orcs was barbaric human tribes intermixing

Mind if I steal this?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Mind if I steal this?

go right ahead...

 

[Winterfell]

We have a male Half-orc ranger (RP'ed by a female) that is bisexual and very promiscuous. Occasionally when in town and in our typical hangout (The Quivering Lobster) she'll role d6 even/odd for male/female partner and then roll d20 for how great her character thought the encounter went and the DM will roll for how the partner thought it went...if both get 17+ the ranger gets an inspiration point.

I just play the voyeuristic rogue trying watch from the shadows...no inspiration yet.

We had one new player (a friend of some of the people at the table) come in trying to RP that raping in the name his god was acceptable...no one really felt comfortable that session, and we haven't seen him back since.

 

[Shiroiken]

It depends on my group. I like using adult themes, as they can provide a rich source of drama. If your group consists of mature adults, I highly recommend giving it a shot at least once. Likely someone will be made uncomfortable, but you really never know until you try.

Best example of an Adult Situation was in a game (non-D&D) where I had a female PC assaulted, and planned to be raped. She was (barely) able to fight off her attackers and avoid the rape, but due to the way it played out, everyone would think she was raped if the situation was revealed. In the setting we were using, this would be a serious issue for her. She had to decide if she wanted to reveal the event and be publicly shamed (probably resulting in her suicide and that of her fiance who failed to protect her), or let the offenders get away with it. After a great session, she decided to let the matter drop... until she had enough gold to hire an assassin!

Oh, and in case you were curious, the player was also female, and everyone had a great time in that session. The player complimented me on it afterwards, thanking me for not shying away from such a taboo subject.

 

[Shemeska]

Adult themes show up if
A) it makes sense for the setting, the circumstances, and the characters involved
B) all of the players at the table are ok with the game going there

I generally try to preserve a sense of subtlety with darker themes, but if you intentionally throw back the curtain as a player and go looking into what that archfiend is doing in his demiplanar prison, it's probably not having a tea party with the people that you pushed in there to join him. I will not shy away from presenting material that makes sense in context, but I won't go overboard for the sake of going overboard. Nuance is a valuable thing.

 

[Mavkatzer]

As a perpetual DM, I always give out a pdf for what I am comfortable running:

Totally forbidden for the characters to do: rape, torture, slavery, gruesome violence
Promised to not be inflicted on characters: rape, torture, slavery, gruseome violence
To only be *vaguley* implied by story: rape, torture, gruesome violence
Slavery and it's relations to the above: ^ only *slightly* more tacit

I don't have half races.
The Half-Orc crunch has its own race (with two sub races) and totally new fluff
The Half-Elf crunch has its own race (with two sub races) and totally new fluff

I elimate the half-races to
1) End the question of why there are half orc and elves but no other "halfs"
2) Circumvent the likely rape scenarios
2) (Most importantly) Give the stats for these races bigger, fresher life

Well, that's just what I do, for my own comfort in running games. I do not mean to imply what is intrinsically moral or fun, only what works for me and my players.