EDIT: Posted wrong version last night
Here's an initial piece that replaces 'Getting Pregnant' and goes up to just before
"1. Degree of Difficulty of Pregnancy "
in the current Guide.
Still examing the rest to see if anything needs modification.
GETTING PREGNANT
The females of a species will be on either the Estrus or Menstrual cycle. In the real world humans and some apes are Menstrual, most animals are Estrus. In fantasy anything goes but more than likely anything which is human-like or can have a social system that can be human like should be menstrual. A very slow Estrus cycle though may explain things like low fertility among Dragons.
If the female is on an Estrus cycle she will go in heat during certain seasonal periods dictated by the optimal mating seasons of her native environment. During this time she will feel an uncontrable need to mate with a male of her species and conception should be assumed to be automatic if mating is successful unless the DM has some special other plan.
Estrus cycle females will reject sexual activity at all other times.
In the menstrual system the female is essentially always in heat. From the age where sexual maturity sets in she is constantly giving off pheromones and potentially willing; causing males around her to be easily aroused if she is a suitable mate, and even more so if she finds them suitable. Menstrual animals will learn control over this so that they do not spend their entire existance mating. In fact the control tends to be so complete that they are usually not consciously aware that all these signals are being traded back and forth. However they will build social systems largely centered around mating rituals.
This is important to pregnancy because with a menstrual female conception can usually only occur on one to a few days in her cycle. Most menstrual animals will follow a cycle roughly timed to match the moon; although females who co-exist are likely to have their cycles adjust to somewhat match each other.
If intercourse happens before this short fertile period conception will only occur if live sperm is still present within those days. Note however that while this is the female's fertile zone; sperm can live for a long time within her so intercourse outside this period is no gaurantee of avoidance.
However; finding the exact time without the use of advanced technology or magic is nearly impossible. What this all means is that pregnancy is actually a lot less random that common belief tends to hold. d20 wise there are three methods to resolve the issue:
If the female is a PC it should be decided by the player and DM working in concert. If the male is a PC who takes an active role in the female's life it should again be a player and DM planned event. Otherwise the issue should be resolved by the DM as either an issue of choice or using the system below:
If the female's cycle is known assume she is fertile roughly in the middle (four days before and after for a human). During this period a Fort save can be made by both the male and female. Two successes should result in conception.
The DC is based on age (Human):
Code:
[color=white]
puberty to young adult (p-18): 10
young adult to fully mature adult (19-25): 15
mature adult to middle age (26-35): 20
beyond this (35+): 25
post menopausal: 50
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Modifiers:
+1 for each 'dose' of sperm the female accepts in the week before her day of potential conception, up to a maximum of one third of the DC.
If a participant regularly uses drugs, smokes, or drinks alcohol -5 for both.
Steriods or anything similar -10 for both.
healthy diet +5
poor diet -5
malnurished -10
if the female leads an athletic lifestyle -5 (female only)
-5 if either party has been in a polluted physical environment for more than a day within the last 2 menstrual cycles of the female.
Unless otherwise stated each party only uses it's own modifiers.
Once again; a player should NEVER have their PC become pregnant without active player consent. While in the real world females cannot choose on the issue; in the game becoming pregnant can seriously alter the tone of a game and the issue should not be entered into lightly and certainly not involuntarily. Also remember that just because a player is willing, does not mean the character is likewise. A good player often works to complicate their PC's life just as much as the DM if not more so.
SURVIVING PREGNANCY:
The process of pregnancy is essentially similar to the mechanics of both traps and poisons.
The female must make a periodic Fort save to ensure both the child's health and her own.
Make these checks once every menstrual cycle. Or rather at the point in time the cycle would happen if she was not pregnant.
Code:
[color=white]
The save has a DC based on the female's age (Human):
AGE CR DC
puberty (p-15): 2 12
Young Adult (16-25): 1 8
Adult (26-30): 2 12
Mature Adult (30-40): 3 16
Beyond (40+): 4 20
Modifiers:
Mother on good diet: +2
Mother on normal diet +0
Mother on poor diet: -2
Mother malnurished: -4
Mother in low stress environment: +2
Mother in normal environment: +0
Mother in high stress environment: -2
First or third Trimester: -2
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The Midwife profession and Lamaze Craft skills give synergy bonuses to this save. Both of these skills are class skills for Clerics, Druids, and anyone who gets all Crafts and or Professions; cross class otherwise though Experts may take them as class.
The presense of a Midwife for at least 5 hours every week during the period allows for a take 10 to be used.
On a successful roll the female gains XP according to the CR as if she had survived a trap. The pregnancy continues as normal.
Failure causes 1d6 damage to the mother and child. Which could result in miscarraige (perhaps we assume the child has 1 hit point plus Con mod of mother for these purposes).
Failure also results in fort saves for both mother and child (DC as above).
A failed save for the child results in a permanent loss of 1d4 stat points.
A failed save for the mother results in a permanent loss of 1 point to Con or Str.
If a mother loses 2 stat points throughout a pregnancy it results in a misscarraige and her womb going barren.