Have the PCs in your party seen each other naked?

[Gez]

It has happened twice in a campaign, not in the others.

The first time was after getting contaminated by mummies. We were of a too low level to cure ourselves of the disease, so we headed to the clearest temple, which was of Kossuth (fire god in FR), and the cleansing ritual involved walking naked in a magical bonfire... The second time was during captivity onboard a villain's ship. After a failed escape attempt, we got chained to wooden crosses barely floating, tugged by the ship. For several days. Rolled a lot of Fort saves. Got crippling penalties from that trial, until we could obtain restorations.

 

[Gez]

Actually, medieval attitudes toward nudity appear to vary a great deal and are often hotly debated in historical circles.

Indeed. The funniest thing about that is it can be explained by class struggle.

During medieval time, the ruling elite was nobility. What makes a noble a noble? His blood. A naked, ruined noble is still a noble.

However, it's when the bourgeois took power that nudity became taboo. Because what makes a bourgeois a bourgeois? His attire. A naked bourgeois could as well be a poor.

Until the end of the Renaissance, nudity wasn't much of a problem. Gratuitous nudity was of course seldom tolerated, so you couldn't walk naked in the streets; but no one objected if you were bathing naked in a river. Indeed, there's lot of medieval tales about knights falling in love after seeing a maiden bathing in a lake or river. When you didn't have a suitable river nearby, there were public baths, which weren't gender-segregated.

 

[gweinel]

Although there weren't frequent, yes there were times that PC's been naked in our games. The casual bath in the river is common when some PC's get naked (including mine).

 

[Shadowdancer]

All nekkid, all the time.

Well, not actually, but sexuality is a big part of our game -- and yes, we use the BoEF. Some of the characters have slept with each other, and everyone has had the opportunity to see at least one of the other PCs sans clothing at some point.

 

[Thanee]

I find this thought backward. Modern thoughts are far more relaxed about nudity than medieval thoughts. Back then, it was scandalous for a lady to reveal an ankle, let alone be completely naked. Parties where nakedness is "completely natural" are the ones displaying modern thoughts. Back in the day, a man wouldn't even stay in the same room with a woman in a nightgown, let alone a naked one, unless she was his lover.

Yeah, I see what you mean, tho I think I am speaking of something slightly different.
Not necessarily modern from our point of view.

I'm not speaking of people living in the bigger cities, but in the wilderness (like adventurers most often do, spending weeks and months together even). When they are changing/cleaning/drying clothes (traveler's don't normally have so many sets of clothing) or go swimming or whatever, I just can't imagine the same shyness as in the cities. Some city-dwellers would act like that, even in the wilderness, of course.

Naturally, that doesn't mean they are nudists and run around naked all the time.

In fact, they would only see each other naked on rare occasions (like swimming in the river), but I can't really imagine that to be a big deal in these situations. In a bigger city, they would probably show a similar prudish attitude as most others, as it's simply a completely different situation then.

It also depends on culture and social standing (the rich/noble being more prudish), of course.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Deadguy]

Actually, medieval attitudes toward nudity appear to vary a great deal and are often hotly debated in historical circles.

For my money I would guess that through most of the period ideas about nudity were fairly relaxed, or rather casual. Most bathing was done either in some sort of public or with servants. Lots of people tended to live in the same bedroom and it's not like anyone is going to swim with clothes on if they can help it.

Toward the later parts of the period things were probably more prudish. Bathing was less of a big deal, and the ankle thing is a pretty late anecdote.

But again, attitudes tend to vary wildly.

Well put, Dr S! In a similar vein, I have read stuff concerning sleeping attire. Very few could afford to buy clothes specificcally for sleeping in, and at the same time you couldn't afford to sleep in daywear lest it wear out too fast. So most would sleep naked under the covers, and rely on the body heat of others sharing the same bed to keep warm.

And this remains true even when sleeping with strangers. In the large inns, the commons weren't just pallets on the floor, but large beds put down in the evening for people to sleep in, with six or more to the bed! People would still sleep naked, so it's no wonder that travellers sometimes some back with scandalous tales! But prudishness didn't really have a place.

So, in gaming terms, yes it's assumed, though not commented upon, that most adventurers see each other naked each day, and don't think anything of it.

 

[megamania]

In most of my games ..no.

In a Forgotten Realms game the party was stripped naked and tossed into a sewer pit (ugh!)

And how can we forget my Darksun Story hour where the party ran naked and chased by undead in the ruins of Bodach for about 12 hours.

Though not naked, in my Strikeforce: Morituri game which has Fantasy DnD mixed with modern age characters had an episode where a guy in tight workout clothes was oogled by the females of the group.

 

[Elf Witch]

Considering how many times different parties have been captured the answer is yes.

Four of us were taken prisoner by a half dragon stripped and chained to a wall we had to fight naked for awhile after we escaped until we found our things.

In another game we woke up in the abyss in nothing but Loin clothes and had a teifling with us who had used his to tie off a wound.

I am on the same mind as other posters in that you travel together in the wildnerness it's bound to happen. In some of the games I have played in I would not want to take a bath in a stream by myself you are just asking to have something bad happen.

 

[UltimaGabe]

In our group, we went through an adventure around 9th level where all of us, at one point or another, died. We play where everyone gets a free True Resurrection, however, so all of us were alright, yet shaken, afterwards (except the Dwarf, who already used his, who had to be Raised by me, the party Cleric). Anyway, after the adventure, when we returned an amazingly powerful artifact to my church, in order to repay us (in addition to tons of money and magic items), they took us through a portal to this magical pool in some ancient ruin somewhere, and told us to bathe in it (there were several mer-folk and nymphs and elves and whatnot already bathing in it). As a result, we all had to strip down.

Luckily, the only female in the group was the one DMing at the time.

 

[Privateer]

It depends on the game. In the one set in magicified 1800's Europe, f'instance, most characters haven't even seen themselves naked. On the other hand, the one featuring a nomadic horsefolk culture where the hands are regarded as private, erogenous zones but the rest of the body isn't, I imagine everyone got an eyeful.

I'm curious about this culture... I'm just imagining some poor PC waving or trying to shake hands with people and getting gasps, fainting or... inappropriate responces.

PC: "I try to shake hands with the clan leader after we have been introduced as a sign of goodwill."
DM: "He looks at your hand, horrified, and absentmindedly and self-conciously plays around with his gloves."

or

PC: "I try to seduce the clan leader's daughter. I've got to use all this gold somewhere, and they only sell *ale* here, so..."
DM: "Alright..."
(seduction follows)
DM: "She begins massaging your hand. With... gusto."
PC: "...er. Okay. Um. My character is kinda weirded out. Um, me too."