A question for the women...a pregnant PC?

[Michael Morris]

I personally feel random pregnancy rules are unduly punitive - that they punish women for being women. Many things occur in a fantasy game where the consequences are glossed over - grievous injury in combat most obviously - so why should the consequences of casual sex be any different especially when most of the negative repercussions are only bore by one gender?

This said I've only ever had one female player want to become pregnant. I stalled for some time, and finally decided to make a plot point out of it - her character was infertile and she needed to go on a quest to undo it - the infertility wasn't natural but the result of a curse laid down before she was born - which lead to questing to learn why was it done, and who was responsible, and so on and so forth. By the time this was resolved the character was ready to retire anyway

 

[Elf Witch]

Hey, hey now. You can knit without being knocked up and while being a bad-ass warrior princess.

(Knitting needles are pointy, after all. "Hey, BBEG! I have a pair of Addi Lace Turbos with your name on them!")

Yep and having pointy sharp items in the hands of an hormonal woman should certainly give some kind of plus to the attack.

 

[Silver Moon]

That is very cool. I somewhat inapropriately probably, presume that your group is older and fairly experienced? And you run fairly detailed stories with lots of continuity and at least some generational devleopment?

Correct, we've been playing our campaign continuously for the last 26 years (last week was Game #1051) during which 17 years of character time have elapsed. Each player has four to seven playing characters, at two separate home bases, who we alternate depending upon what character levels and classes are needed for the module. The Silver Moon School currently has around two-dozen students, over half of which are children of the playing characters (and a few of which my own children have rolled up specs for and played in a family game a while back).

I've recently started a Story Hour thread of our group's Early Years over in the "Story Hour" forum. I'm currently posting our 4th and 5th modules (from 1983) under the thread title "Secret of Bone Hill/The Keep on the Borderlands". Another Story Hour thread titled "Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts" has our Modules #100-105 from 2000-2001, and the one titled "Bloodlines/Unchained/Wedding Bells" (a trio of Dungeon Magazine modules) has our Modules #138 & 139 from 2006 & 2007.

 

[Graf]

Correct, we've been playing our campaign continuously for the last 26 years (last week was Game #1051) during which 17 years of character time have elapsed. Each player has four to seven playing characters, at two separate home bases, who we alternate depending upon what character levels and classes are needed for the module. The Silver Moon School currently has around two-dozen students, over half of which are children of the playing characters (and a few of which my own children have rolled up specs for and played in a family game a while back).

I've recently started a Story Hour thread of our group's Early Years over in the "Story Hour" forum. I'm currently posting our 4th and 5th modules (from 1983) under the thread title "Secret of Bone Hill/The Keep on the Borderlands". Another Story Hour thread titled "Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts" has our Modules #100-105 from 2000-2001, and the one titled "Bloodlines/Unchained/Wedding Bells" (a trio of Dungeon Magazine modules) has our Modules #138 & 139 from 2006 & 2007.

Very cool! I'll check it out!

 

[krissbeth]

Now that's funny man haha

Your own SO assumes you're better than that and basically thinks it's silly for someone to even question a DM thinking an in-game pregnancy as a plot device/character development might be an out-of-game motive

I think we're going to need to have a talk... NO BUNS!

 

[jmucchiello]

I'm totally confused. What woman who knows she is pregnant traipses into dragon lairs looking for loot? The physical issues of pregnancy are moot compared to the danger of her unborn child's potential death should she be injured. Adventurers generally don't risk the lives of the innocent when they don't have to.

 

[roguerouge]

Everything has a subtext, whether it be cultural, economic, ideological, mythic, or psychological. I know that I like certain stories and not other types of stories and that those choices reveal something about me as a person and my perception of what you might like to play. It may not be an especially interesting insight, but all choices made have a meaning > 0.

And, actually, that DM style's led to richer characterization, more emotionally-rich plotting, and, I think, greater player investment. I feel like I've vastly improved as a DM over the last campaign I ran, where I had great situations, but they didn't really MEAN anything. I highly encourage DMs to think deliberately about the subtextual meanings evoked by the stories they initiate.

 

[drothgery]

I'm totally confused. What woman who knows she is pregnant traipses into dragon lairs looking for loot? The physical issues of pregnancy are moot compared to the danger of her unborn child's potential death should she be injured. Adventurers generally don't risk the lives of the innocent when they don't have to.

That's about how I see it. The only exception there is if
- The woman is directly involved in preventing the apocolypse (or something similarly Epic Really Bad) AND
- There are few/no plausible others who could do what she does

 

[Orryn Emrys]

Y'know... it's been a really long time since I've seen so many comments in any one thread that inspired me to formulate a response. This is a far more interesting topic than I'd've given it credit for, but that largely has to do with my gaming style, I suppose.

I've noted several comments outlining how much the success of such a venture depends on the style of game. The games I run have always been very roleplaying-oriented, character-driven stories, and I have been fortunate to enjoy a level of trust amongst my players that makes it possible to introduce damn near any element into gameplay without "clearing" it with anyone. In fact, it seems that the more I mess with their characters, the more their interaction with the world about them creates unforeseen consequences in the characters' lives, the more invested they become in the game and the fate(s) of such PCs.

I've actually introduced... I think, four PC pregnancies in my long-term campaigns over the last 20 years... so it's not an enormously common event. One of them I sprung on my mother's character, and she had a very powerful emotional attachment to the resultant NPC as she grew older. Their paths always seemed to lead them in different directions for very important reasons, which really tugged at her heartstrings.

Another PC had her baby stolen by a campaign villainess, a PC witch who was just starting down the path of evil. The players, who were both male (though the player playing the pregnant PC was gay and lovin' every minute of it), were very good friends, so they laughed about the situation a good deal outside of game time.

Ironically, my fiance has been hinting about an interest in seeing her own current character end up pregnant for quite some time. This is actually because she's a writer, and wants to write about the PC's daughter... but not until she sees if it actually coincides with the events of the campaign. The reason I consider this ironic...? We just found out last week that my fiance is pregnant. *throws confetti*

At least this'll be her second, so she already knows what her character is in for....

Good luck, by the way. The cycle of life and the immortality of having children and the stresses and dramas of familial complications can all be extraordinary elements in a well-groomed roleplaying experience.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Pregnancy is similar. If you'd made it clear to your players that pregnancy was something players had to worry about, and a PC had sex without taking precautions, then it would be acceptable to spring a surprise pregnancy on the character. However, pregnancy is not a part of the social contract of most groups; it's assumed that female PCs arrange for their contraceptive needs "offstage," or else they just get lucky. In that environment, this is the kind of change you really need to get the player's permission for.

I completely agree with this. In some campaigns (meaning some gaming groups), an unplanned pregnancy could be a cool plot development sprung by GM fiat. In others, it could be a reasonably possibility determined randomly. In other groups, it could be catastrophe. Communication is key here. If you don't know, you certainly shouldn't assume that GM fiat would be okay. But it can be a perfectly great plot if it is handled in a way that is acceptable to all of the players.

You should also be aware of the gender aspects here. If male characters sleep around without any consequences, but female characters run the risk of unplanned pregnancies and disruptions, some players will view that as implicitly sexist. (On the other hand, if male characters have to deal with unplanned pregnancies, too, that's less of a concern.)

Also consider whether your group wants to deal with issues like contraception, abortion, etc., which may come up. (Probably best to not get any deeper into that here for fear of the No Politics rule, but it's something that might come up and might be problematic for some groups.)

But yeah: unless your campaign is one where random events like this happening is clearly permitted by the group, you should ask first, but it's a perfectly good idea to ask about. You might also ask the players collectively, because if people say they're fine with it, it could be something that might come up to some other player's character later.