Eberron: no sexism

[Meloncov]

I find it hard to believe that in a world where combat consists of hitting people with swords and where war is relatively common women would be treated exactly like men. Concripting females into an army during a long term war is suicidal for a nation as it would severely reduce birthrate. As such, in my Eberron campaign women were never conscripted and only during the latter years of the war, when the nations were desperate, were they allowed in the infantry at all. However, no one has ever doubted a womans ability to run a business, study magic, or lead a nation.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

The "Mayor of Stormreach" thing is probably an artifact from playing DDO. I noticed there is a lot of difference between that Stormreach and the one in Secrets of Xen'drik.

Absolutely. I played a ten-day trial of D&D Online: Stormreach and found it pretty unsatisfying - the docks-supported-by-magical-pillars, for instance, are by themselves an omen of how poorly the Turbine people interpreted the setting.

I actually like the concept of many different "types" of humans without there being "races" or "subraces" (by D&D standards).

I do too. As for the question of why the various ethnicities are still in evidence among humans, well, humans have only been in Khorvaire for three thousand years - good enough reason to assume that they haven't intermingled so much that everyone's a shade of medium brown.

 

[S'mon]

For players who want to create realistic-strength human female PCs (which would also cover typical non-adventuring NPCs IMC) I let them take my regular 16 14 13 12 10 9 stat array, put 9 in STR then lower it to 7, and in turn add +1 to CHA. Unlike a mandatory STR penalty it doesn't penalise female PCs, and it doesn't create any noticeable balance issues.

I'm never a fan of applying PC generation mechanics to all NPCs, or making male and female NPCs have the same median Strength, unless you seriously take time to think through societal implications of creating a setting where, effectively, 'humans' are no longer really 'human'. OTOH I don't usually want to create a setting where playing a female Fighter PC is mechanically penalised.

 

[S'mon]

Why I stick to Wilderlands!

I like Wilderlands - strange how it feels more like a real place than more recent, much more carefully developed settings.

 

[buzz]

I don't think I'd have a problem if D&D did this.

I would stop buying D&D product if it did this.

It's pretty obvious that D&D is not an accurate simulation of anything in the real world; its goal is to be a fun game experience. Entrenching sexism into a game about magic, dragons, and demigods serves no other purpose than to put off 50% of your potential audience, not to mention demonstrating that while the authors are capable of imagining orcs, wizards, and undead, they are incapable of conceiving a world, even a fantastical one, with gender equity.

And, for the record, I'm not interested in arguments about real-world biology. If D&D simulates anything, it simulates fiction and mythology. And, in those sources, there is ample precedent for women in all kinds of roles, and with all kinds of abilities.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I would stop buying D&D product if it did this.

It's pretty obvious that D&D is not an accurate simulation of anything in the real world; its goal is to be a fun game experience. Entrenching sexism into a game about magic, dragons, and demigods serves no other purpose than to put off 50% of your potential audience, not to mention demonstrating that while the authors are capable of imagining orcs, wizards, and undead, they are incapable of conceiving a world, even a fantastical one, with gender equity.

And, for the record, I'm not interested in arguments about real-world biology. If D&D simulates anything, it simulates fiction and mythology. And, in those sources, there is ample precedent for women in all kinds of roles, and with all kinds of abilities.

The question on whether or not to include any kind of sexism in a setting is a tough one. For Urbis, I decided to include sexism, racism, status prejudice and other kinds of -isms in the setting, but I made it all a bit over the top to make it clear that these views are wrong. Furthermore, I included a disclaimer:

"Sexism and Prejudice

You will notice that a large part of the writeups for the individual races is taken up with descriptions of how the different genders are treated by that race. This is intentional - the 19th century, upon which Urbis is based, had strong gender roles, and it was felt that incorporating them was vital to preserving the feel of the setting. While sexism isn’t quite as entrenched as in real-world history - mostly because of the existence of many powerful women in the setting, especially among nonhumans - it is still a frequent issue for most human women. Besides, the different roles of genders can, just like the different roles of the various races, provide ample opportunity for role-playing as the player characters try to deal with the pre-conceived notions of society and rise beyond them.

However, the game master should be careful - many women have been on the receiving end of sexual discrimination even today, and might not want to deal with it during gaming - which is often supposed to be a relaxing activity that takes the minds of the players away from the troubles of the real world for a time. Thus, it is recommended that the game master should discuss with the players just how much portrayal of sexism should be acceptable in the campaign. If it bothers you, just ignore these aspects of the setting.

On a related note, while much of human prejudice in Urbis is focused on the various nonhuman races - elves, dwarves, goblins and so on - biogtry against people from different ethnic backgrounds is alive and well in the setting. While it is not quite as virulent as in real world history - mostly because there are few large colonial empires in which their rulers tried to justify their rule through their “inherent superiority” over the subjected people - in general, most people still assume that their home region is better than any others, and their own city better than any other city in the same region. Again, how much the game master wants to incorporate these issues is up to him."

 

[buzz]

The question on whether or not to include any kind of sexism in a setting is a tough one.

I think if the inclusion exists in order to explore said issues, and everyone at the table in on-board, that can be very cool. Or, possibly, you're playing in a historical setting and verisimilitude is of utmost importance to your group.

Otherwise, it's BS, and I won't allow it at my table, nor will I spend money on it.

 

[S'mon]

...but I made it all a bit over the top to make it clear that these views are wrong. Furthermore, I included a disclaimer:

"Sexism and Prejudice...

Do you include a disclaimer that killing sentient beings and taking their stuff is wrong, also?

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Do you include a disclaimer that killing sentient beings and taking their stuff is wrong, also?

Since more gamers seem to be bothered about sexism in the context of a game world than killing sentient beings and taking their stuff, no.

Frankly, NPCs don't really have any genuine rights - in any game setting. However, players do - they have the right to be entertained. And if their characters are being subject to sexism, their enjoyment of the game might or might not suffer, depending on the player and the situation. Hence the disclaimer.

An equivalent disclaimer on the issue you mentioned would caution against the wanton killing and robbing of player characters. But I think the DMG already handles this issue well enough, and thus don't feel compelled to add to it.

 

[S'mon]

I think if the inclusion exists in order to explore said issues, and everyone at the table in on-board, that can be very cool. Or, possibly, you're playing in a historical setting and verisimilitude is of utmost importance to your group.

Otherwise, it's BS, and I won't allow it at my table, nor will I spend money on it.

Wel, you are a Slave to the Meme.