Mechanical Gender Imbalance issues

[System Ufera]

Have you ever seen a young kangaroo bopping in and out of its mother's pouch. They continue to do so even after they are quite large...

1) They don't come out covered in mucus - so, the pouch isn't filled with it.

2) If they're that sensitive, well, them mother kangaroos are in intense pain a whole lot of the time.

I was wondering about that, too - not so much about the sensitivity, given that I've never heard of a kangaroo mother being hurt by her young (again, I'm not a zoologist), but as far as just how much mucus is in a kangaroo pouch. So I guess some light needs to be shed on that.

Wow, I'm not liking the attitudes in this thread. In the system you've proposed, there is a huge amount of female privilege on display, and I'm not comfortable with the wider implications of this blatant sexism in the gaming community. As a male gamer, I'm feeling marginalized, othered, and silenced by your design choices. Social scientists have proven that gender is a social construct, so putting in mechanical design decisions that invalidate this merely perpetuates social violence against men.

Seriously, people? Seriously?

...

I'm just playing. Leave the pouch as-is and don't worry about it.

I wasn't so much worried about offending people as I was worried about the reactions of all the munchkins out there when they see that they can get a free utility belt simply by being a female poruqe.

What !?!?!?! RAWR!!! how dare you insult women this way after years of fighting for equality in RPG's, just look at the chainmail bras they were sent forth to do battle in while their male counterparts covered all of their appendages with mail.

Oh well then, I'll calm down

.....

And actually contributing something to the OP, with such a small bonus and one that is easily attained (likely even with starting wealth), I see no real need to change, although as others have said, you could allow males to have it also.

Eh, allowing the males to have pouches would just be sexually confusing to a lot of people... Then again, there's another race in my game, the Grendemoth race, which reproduces autogamously (at least, I think that's the proper term; basically, they are a one-gender race, and the adults of the race automatically impregnate themselves via an entirely internal process every three years). I made that decision to explain their fierce, almost maternal degree of loyalty to their allies (I mean, what greater bond exists than between a mother and her child? So I made them all capable of motherhood.). But that's an entirely different subject altogether; my point is, would it be too sexually confusing to have pouches on male Poruqe when the game also has the previously-described race?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I was wondering about that, too - not so much about the sensitivity, given that I've never heard of a kangaroo mother being hurt by her young (again, I'm not a zoologist), but as far as just how much mucus is in a kangaroo pouch. So I guess some light needs to be shed on that.

I agree.

Also, what is the point of the pouch? In a marsupial, it literally holds the nipples along with the infant. It's convenient for an animal that doesn't wear clothes and can't invent some sort of baby holster; the baby can suckle without having to crawl out or be taken out.

But these have breasts in the "usual" place for humanoids, which would presumably be far from the pouch. Of course you could just move the pouch; I'm not educated enough on marsupials to know if the pouch is always pretty much in the same place, or what not.

IMO, a "free" utility pouch isn't something to get worked up over. Guys could wear cheap utility belts, although perhaps they won't for the same reason guys don't carry purses.

Then again, there's another race in my game, the Grendemoth race, which reproduces autogamously (at least, I think that's the proper term; basically, they are a one-gender race, and the adults of the race automatically impregnate themselves via an entirely internal process every three years).

That kind of thing happens in real life, but ... wouldn't that cause genetic problems? I suspect they have some way around that.

Also this is probably the most daring custom race I've seen since the asari.

my point is, would it be too sexually confusing to have pouches on male Poruqe when the game also has the previously-described race?

Since the female poruge aren't using the pouches for the natural reason, it's a bit confusing anyway

 

[System Ufera]

Also, what is the point of the pouch? In a marsupial, it literally holds the nipples along with the infant. It's convenient for an animal that doesn't wear clothes and can't invent some sort of baby holster; the baby can suckle without having to crawl out or be taken out.

But these have breasts in the "usual" place for humanoids, which would presumably be far from the pouch. Of course you could just move the pouch; I'm not educated enough on marsupials to know if the pouch is always pretty much in the same place, or what not.

The point of the pouch? Well, to be entirely honest, the race kinda started out as a vague visual idea, and when I drew what I had in mind, I noticed it kind of looked like a dog/kangaroo/person. So I decided to make the race more kangaroo-like by making them marsupials. At this point, at least as far as in-game flavor is concerned, the pouch would probably be mostly vestigial; it would still be able to hold a child, but the child would have to (at least partially) crawl out of the pouch in order to suckle.

IMO, a "free" utility pouch isn't something to get worked up over. Guys could wear cheap utility belts, although perhaps they won't for the same reason guys don't carry purses.

In terms of cost, it wouldn't be much, as already stated. In terms of its effect on gameplay, it would make the difference between just pulling a potion, small tool or weapon from an easily accessible spot in a second or two, and stopping in the middle of combat to take off your backpack and spend at least a turn, possibly two or three, frantically making perception checks as you try to locate the same aforementioned small item among all the other miscellaneous tools, weapons, and loot you've somehow managed to cram in the backpack.

That kind of thing happens in real life, but ... wouldn't that cause genetic problems? I suspect they have some way around that.

First of all, the Grendemoths were magically engineered for the specific purpose of being "as loyal to their friends as a mother is to her child." As in, they got to skip a lot of steps in evolution. Second of all, having foreseen the genetic problems (mages in the campaign setting are basically scientists who use magic instead of technology, and as such a mage would need to know how the world works in order to use magic at all) which would result from the genetic recombination only taking genes from a single individual, the people who designed the race made it so the genetic code of a Grendemoth contains a whole bunch of recessive genes, any of which could be put into a Grendemoth's offspring.

Also this is probably the most daring custom race I've seen since the asari.

"Daring?" As an individual with high-functioning autism, I'm not entirely sure, but I'm guessing that you mean "daring" as in "too willing to explore things which are taboo in most cultures." I suppose you've got a point, though I must say that the autogamous nature of the Grendemoths is basically to create an in-game explanation for their natural maternal personalities. I'm not familiar with the "asari" race you mentioned... I'll have to look them up.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

"Daring?" As an individual with high-functioning autism, I'm not entirely sure, but I'm guessing that you mean "daring" as in "too willing to explore things which are taboo in most cultures." I suppose you've got a point, though I must say that the autogamous nature of the Grendemoths is basically to create an in-game explanation for their natural maternal personalities. I'm not familiar with the "asari" race you mentioned... I'll have to look them up.

The asari are from Mass Effect. They're a one-gender race, but look female to humans. They are genetically and sexually flexible, preferring to mate with non-asari of either gender, producing fertile asari offspring. (An asari born from two asari ancestors is generally looked down upon. They tend to have stronger biotic powers and maybe tend to be crazy too.)

 

[System Ufera]

The asari are from Mass Effect. They're a one-gender race, but look female to humans. They are genetically and sexually flexible, preferring to mate with non-asari of either gender, producing fertile asari offspring. (An asari born from two asari ancestors is generally looked down upon. They tend to have stronger biotic powers and maybe tend to be crazy too.)

I see. Well, I can understand that some people might be uncomfortable discussing such things as sexuality, but I'd rather have a complete world where as much as possible is explained (again, high-functioning autism) so that players, through their characters, can interact with the world in an in-depth manner and so that there will always be rules for accomplishing whatever the players wish to accomplish. Whether those goals are "appropriate" would be up to the players.

Going back to the original subject, I'm assuming from the replies so far that keeping the Poruqe race the way it is (females having a marginal advantage over males in the form of pouches) is the best approach? Or should I wait for more input from the community?

 

[System Ufera]

In case anyone's curious, I recently completed a picture of a Poruqe NPC. As you'll see from the picture (SFW, though her clothing is skimpy), she belongs to a society which is hardly conservative. You'll also note that she uses technology, as evident in her tools and her weapon; that's also due to the society, as her nation is a place with low ambient ether, and thus a low potential for magic users, and as such, they use technology as a substitute for magic.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Welcome!

I think you're fine leaving it as is. That said, in most of the groups I've played with we picked race/gender/class/whatever because that's what we wanted to play, not because of a mechanical advantage. Not everyone does this so keep your own group in mind when you decide.