How do you handle Pregnancy in your game?

[drothgery]

I did not actually mean Shalimar in our Wheel of Time game, I was thinking more along the lines of a Mutants and Masterminds game I was in, where I jokingly told the DM that I would hit him if he made my character get pregnant from what happened while she was being mind controlled. He asked if it would really upset me, and I told him I was fine with it, if he decided her being pregnant was part of the plot, I could go along with it, but a pregnant 15 year old millionaire super-heroine was rather 'out there' for most people. Especially when the father is a billionaire Evil Super-genius who just tried to have her killed and she is too naive to realize it once he makes a kissy face at her.

I didn't think you were (your character in the game I GM is more responsible than that most of the time), but it never hurts to be sure...

As far as that Wheel of Time game though, Shalimar might get pregnant, at some time in the far future, but not til after she is raised to full Aes Sedai and marries Yuri, not that I would do it without Yuri's ok, but WoT has a lot of Social values that are simply not violated, well sometimes they are, but not by someone in Shalimar's position. I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to what the Tower would do to her, or Yuri for that matter. I doubt they would let a pregnant Accepted take the test for sisterhood, or even channel more then absolutely required.

If she got pregnant before she were raised to the shawl, it'd be very problematic for her. If she & Yuri were married (not uncommon for Greens, like Shalimar wants to be) and decided to have a child, I'd probably just say that the other sisters think she's odd.

Have we seen anyone in the novels get pregnant and have children? Off hand only Elayne and she hasn't had them yet and they are fated to be born different, so do we have any clues about what channeling does to a fetus?

There are lots of children of women who can channel walking around in the WoT universe (mostly among Wise Ones and Windfinders, but there's also Elayne), so I'd have to think that it's harmless in most cases.

 

[Shalimar]

There is only a small sample, Nynaeve and Egwene, but in the test for Acceptance, they both had babies and husbands that they had to abandon for them to earn the ring. I followed that trend with Shalimar, so I wonder exactly how rare would it be for Aes Sedai to seek to have children out of guilt over having to give their children up in the test? It seems like quite a few Greens marry their warders, I would think that there would be children from those unions even if from no others. It just probably would not be talked about.

 

[Three_Haligonians]

Because a GM can't kill your character if you're safely locked up in the manor house.

How much and whether a pregnant character could go "adventuring" depends on what kind of "adventuring" we're talking about. Slaying orcs? Probably for the first few months. Long, uneventful ride across the Talenta Plains? Easily. Arcane research? Right up until delivery, just don't sniff the reagents.....

I mean, it's not as though most pregnant women spend nine months on bed rest.

I think a big problem here is that people are measuring pregnancy by today's standards. Truth is, in Newfoundland, Canada, women who had to work in the fields (alongside thier husbands) had a high risk of miscarridge as well as increasing the chances of thier babies being born breach, which can lead to complications in delivery. That's women working in a field. Imagine a woman adventuring and what extra hardships she would endure.

Even by today's standards of pregnancy, women are unable to lift or strain themselves heavily in the first trimester, that would include, I imagine, slaying orcs. You've got a fair point that women do not spend 9 months in bed, but, also, consider the heavy lifting and strain involved in carrying your broadsword and shield for several kilometers.

I think that having a baby in character is a really cool thing to explore. But your adventuring mommy is going to also, I hope, be a responsible woman. She is going to have to plan for her pregnancy, the same as any other working woman in the world of D&D. I would suggest she take it easy for all nine months of the pregnancy. She doesn't have to lock herself up, but consider tying the group down to one major city for a little while. If your gm is willing, your character can take a different role with the group than what she is used to. You might want to come up with some stat changes for your last month of pregnancy, when your body is going to be the most changed (consider also the feet swelling, the shortness of breath due to your lungs being a bit squished, the constant need to pee!) maybe a minus to dex. But consider also a plus to your charisma: everyone is willing to help out a pregnant woman!

In terms of role-playing, your character may find herself getting a miffed with her situation as time goes on. She's used to a life of high-adventure, and, for now, she's going to have to give a lot of that up. My sister had 3 summer-time pregnancies, and, I can tell you, by month 9, she was annoyed.

Hope this helps

T and R from Three Haligonians

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I think a big problem here is that people are measuring pregnancy by today's standards. Truth is, in Newfoundland, Canada, women who had to work in the fields (alongside thier husbands) had a high risk of miscarridge as well as increasing the chances of thier babies being born breach, which can lead to complications in delivery. That's women working in a field. Imagine a woman adventuring and what extra hardships she would endure.

I'd be interested in the details of this. Mostly whether you're considering nurtrition and other factors. Also if "working the feilds" in this case implies a specific movement or position that would be problematic. Women who stay in shape durring pregnancy do better, and more than one person has advised me to try to walk several miles a day for less chance of complications.

Even by today's standards of pregnancy, women are unable to lift or strain themselves heavily in the first trimester, that would include, I imagine, slaying orcs. You've got a fair point that women do not spend 9 months in bed, but, also, consider the heavy lifting and strain involved in carrying your broadsword and shield for several kilometers.

damn, someone should have told me I couldn't lift anything in the first trimester! Since it wasn't until about halfway through the second that I started worrying about any of the lifting I normally do with my job. Had to stop restraining dogs earlier because getting kicked in the stomache just isn't as much fun when you're pregnant.

One of the women I work with, in her later pregnancies, did competitive riding throughout her pregnancy. I could not have done that in this one, don't know what future pregnancies will be like. I would say that my first trimester was spent permanently in a fatigued condition, but I know other women who did fine. second trimester was great, plenty of energy, no stretching pains, slight adjustments to ballance, but doing pretty much anything I wanted. Third, not so much anymore. Definite lifting issues, but getting used to the new balance. Tired again, but nothing like the first few months....

And of course a large number of adventurers, male and female, don't carry sheilds and broadswords. A sorcerer, wizard or psion may be doing just fine with a pair of gloves of dex and a minor con lift.

While some accomadations should be made at the very end of pregnancy, I would deal with this issue exactly as I deal with the non-issue of PMS and cramps - D20 does not have disadvantages, and everyone is assumed to be without allergies, migrains, heart problems or chronic health issues of any sort. Combine this with a touch of magic, and I will assume comfortably that any pregnant PC has the best and most safely active pregnancy of any real woman I have met or heard of.

And with a quick endure elements for those late summer due dates, that can be very active and healthy indeed.

Kahuna Burger (31 weeks and not taken to my bed by any stretch...)

 

[Shalimar]

In neither game would the character be someone to swing a sword or hold a shield. In the one, the character is the campaign world equivalent of a sorceress, one who more often then not is behind a wall of air made as hard as concrete, and in the case I was mainly concerned with, the character is pretty much Storm of the X-men, except she has a forcefield that is triggered by attacks aimed at her, or area attacks in general.

 

[frankthedm]

If you are talking about those two Forgotten Realms herbs, they don't list any side effects (unless you've seen some errata I haven't).

Those are the herbalist mixes for my own game [ i figured the thread title was enough of an indication]. It is a diluted form of a mix a cabal of druids developed to sterilize large groups of humaniods.

 

[Whimsical]

Xena was killing gods at the end of her pregnancy. Why was she killing gods? Well, they were dealing with the prophecy that her child would be the cause of the destruction of the gods by trying to kill Xena and her child. Oh, sweet irony!

 

[MerakSpielman]

Yeah, but Xena didn't seem hindered in any way by being 9 months pregnant. She was still doing her acrobatics, flips, rolls, etc... and everything.

You know, I'm beginning to suspect that Xena isn't the best show to watch for hints on what reality is like!

 

[thundershot]

My players know not to let their characters have sex. Because, after all, you WILL get pregnant/get someone pregnant, and your child will undoubtedly come back from the future to right some kind of wrong against you. Or they'll be kidnapped and taken to another dimension and return as a teenager with a grudge (because time works differently in that dimension).


Chris

 

[Gez]

I'd totally ad-hoc it. The character would become pregnant is her player wants her to become pregnant, likewise for sex of the kid (and number, if the player wants twins or triplets...), all by choice, no rules.

As for the effect of the pregnancy itself, well, I'd keep it simple. In the last third of the pregnancy, the character would get penalties to checks and rolls as if she was constantly fatigued.

Not necessarily accurate, I'm not a gynecologist, but at least that's simple.