Sex and Sexuality in D&D. . .

[jdrakeh]

I've dealt with sex and sexuality a great deal in D&D. Not in a "roll a die to see how many times you. . " kind of way but in a serious social context. And that is what is considered on-topic for the purposes of this thread. For example. . .

There was an openly homosexual villain in one game that I ran who frequently challenged some of the misperceptions about homosexuals (and villains) that players had. He was genuinely affable, which was unusual for a villain. And he was not effeminate at all, which didn't mesh with the stereotype that most of the players had envisioned. In fact, players expected him to be a pushover because of his sexual orientation when, instead, he ended up trumping them (fairly) on numerous occasions.

Likewise, I've utilized a nationwide network of spies -- who were female prostitutes. Basically, each brothel operated like a spy shop, with each madam serving as handler. Naturally, they had access to better (i.e., first-hand) intel than your typical Thieve's Guild, having seduced it out of highly placed government officials. They weren't combat oriented (they subcontracted out their muscle), though they didn't have to be as a few unfortunate PCs discovered. You can hurt a lot of people with information alone.

Basically, what I tried to do in both of the above situations was challenge some stereotypes. I think that it worked out okay. None of those players were quick to underestimate opponents based on sex or sexuality after those particular games

What serious role have sex and sexuality played in your own D&D campaigns?

 

[Mouseferatu]

Well, it hasn't come up in too many of my campaigns, but...

In my most recent campaign, one of the players was a (temporarily) fallen paladin. He'd fallen because his orientation (homosexual) went against the dictates of the Church of the Sun God, and he was convinced that his god no longer approved of him. About 1/3 of the way through the campaign, the party freed an imprisoned angel who restored the character's faith--basically making it clear that it was the people of the Church, and not the god himself, who had rejected the character--and he regained his paladin status from that point onward.

(FYI, the character background and concept was entirely the player's; I just ran with it, and eventually worked in a way for him to regain his paladin status.)

 

[jdrakeh]

(FYI, the character background and concept was entirely the player's; I just ran with it, and eventually worked in a way for him to regain his paladin status.)

Hey, that's really cool. For far too many DMs that I know, a character concept or background that can't be mechanically quantified never comes in to play. You deserve some credit, too

 

[megamania]

I players I have are not that serious of players. I wish I could push the envelop with them but it would quickly spiral into bad stereotyping. Kudos to you and your players.

 

[jdrakeh]

Kudos to you and your players.

My former players. I've moved around a bit since then and I don't think I could successfully implement such 'heavy' themes in my games locally. I do miss those players

 

[Trench]

My DM (and player in another game) and I are currently working on putting together a homosexual neighborhood in our Ptolus campaign. So far we've just come upon a name and carved out a section of the city, but ideas and NPC's are brewing. Some already in place, as some of Monte's characters in the Big Book are explicitly homosexual.

 

[HelloChristian]

I think the Paladin story and James' villain are great examples. I also like the gay area of Ptolus. I live in Los Angeles and we have West Hollywood, which would provide some great inspiration were I to try something like that in play.

A Ranger in my campaign owned a cottage just outside the town's limits. Every few days a maid, Sarah, would come to clean. We role-played a few of their exchanges, simple pleasantries and such. Over time Sarah and the Ranger began to flirt, fell in love and moved in together. It was never anything explicit, but it worked out well. I kind of like the way the Ranger rose from 1st level wanderer to 7th level warden and loyal husband.

 

[jdrakeh]

I think the Paladin story and James' villain are great examples. I also like the gay area of Ptolus. I live in Los Angeles and we have West Hollywood, which would provide some great inspiration were I to try something like that in play.

I always wanted to write up the Glendale free love pagan community of the 1960s and 70s as a city district in a fantasy campaign, myself

 

[AnonymousOne]

Here is just a simple thought from the mind of an econ major:
What happens to the drawbacks of an unsafe and unprotected sexual lifestyle in a world where clerics can just cast cure disease? Theoretically, anyone well-to-do enough needn't worry.

hmmmmmm. Funny how magic screws with incentives.

 

[Oryan77]

Well 2 of our players have brother & sister characters that are also lovers. Them being half-elves doesn't help their reputation in town. When we visited a major city for the first time, we found out incest was common among most of the families (lower, middle, & upper class). The 2 players even found a cleric in town that married them.

In the same campaign, there's also a BBEG Ranger who's only minion is his wolf animal companion that he's a little too affectionate towards. The first time we encountered him we heard odd sexual sounds coming from the other side of the door. We thought he was with a woman and after we buffed up and charged in, he was curled up with his wolf and no one else was in the room