Sex and Sexuality in D&D. . .

[The Grumpy Celt]

I wonder if there will be a 4E of the Book of Elf Fannies. I mean, the Book of Erotic Fantasy. For that matter, would you be interested in such a book?

 

[jdrakeh]

For that matter, would you be interested in such a book?

Honestly. No. For every paragraph of serious, insightful, examination that the BoEF contained, it had ten pages of purile juvenile humor. I think that one such book for D&D of any edition is enough to last a lifetime. That said, I would be interested in a purely serious 'National Geographic' treatment of sex and sexuality in fantasy (i.e., a book written like an anthropological study) presented in culture books for the assumed default races of D&D (4e, I guess).

 

[Nyaricus]

"Kissik likes the ladies. He's going to a brothel, and his requirement is 1) Female, 2) Doesn't hate Kobolds, and 3) Likes to eat chicken."

that's so sigged

 

[Korgoth]

I personally find some of the stuff in this thread troubling... but I'd like to ask a question which I'm going to try to put as delicately as possible. I'm going to try to frame the question in such a way that people can respond in the negative without having to flameout or get Modded.

To what extent do people tie sexual behavior to alignment? I ask because I see lots of discussion of brothels and other sexual behavior which according to some bodies of moral teaching (for example Christianity or Natural Law Theory) are not compatible with what we'd call in D&D terms "Good alignment".

It appears that many folks are inclined to say that sexual behavior is morally neutral unless it is outright violent (that is, the behavior is forced upon an unwilling recipient). It occurs to me that one might classify this as a "liberal" or perhaps "late/post modern" view of sexual activity. In some cultures relevant to fantasy gaming, such as medieval Europe or the ancient Hebrews, sexual activity was considered to be very closely tied with a person's moral status, and in fact some bodies of moral teaching to this very day (such as the inheritors of those named examples) still consider one's moral status as greatly impacted by choices in sexual behavior.

If I might press it a bit further, perhaps in many campaigns one might go so far as to say that attitudes about sexuality are "anachronistically liberal". I'm not offering that as a criticism, only pointing it out in the vein of making something that may or may not be a conscious campaign design choice evident (and explaining what's behind my question "to what extent do you tie sexual behavior to alignment?").

 

[Rystil Arden]

If I might press it a bit further, perhaps in many campaigns one might go so far as to say that attitudes about sexuality are "anachronistically liberal".

I disagree--the Sumerians came before any of the religions you mention, for instance, and there were plenty of other cultures with similar view. It isn't based on 'anachronism' so much as it is based on culture. I would say it requires a great deal of cultural narrowness, historically, to make such a claim.

 

[Korgoth]

I disagree--the Sumerians came before any of the religions you mention, for instance, and there were plenty of other cultures with similar view. It isn't based on 'anachronism' so much as it is based on culture. I would say it requires a great deal of cultural narrowness, historically, to make such a claim.

That's a fair point. Perhaps part of what drives my thinking is the level to which most fantasy worlds are, cosmetically at least, married to "Western civilization".

 

[Rystil Arden]

That's a fair point. Perhaps part of what drives my thinking is the level to which most fantasy worlds are, cosmetically at least, married to "Western civilization".

Well, you'll have to admit that we do have other elements more common to either modern or non-Western cultures present in many D&D settings (gender equality for one), so I wouldn't think it would be too surprising. That said, if you were my GM and you wanted to run a game with attitudes on relationships and sex that mirrored post 12th-Century reforms Europe's stance (check out pre 12th-century reforms Europe some time--there were a lot of things you probably associate with Christianity that they totally didn't enforce back then, like polygamy and priests with wives), that would be cool with me. It could be quite awesome. I just wouldn't expect it as the default.

 

[Rabelais]

I debated about putting a smiley on it, just in case anyone missed the obvious, but then I thought, "why beat on the obvious; that's kinda like self-flagellation." (No comments from the peanut gallery about master debaters, please...that one's so old even I wouldn't whip it out...)

You win the thread sir...

cun·ning /ˈkʌnɪŋ/ –noun 1. skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guile.
2. adeptness in performance; dexterity: The weaver's hand lost its cunning.
–adjective 3. showing or made with ingenuity.
4. artfully subtle or shrewd; crafty; sly.
5. Informal. charmingly cute or appealing: a cunning little baby.
6. Archaic. skillful; expert.

lin·guist /ˈlɪŋgwɪst/ –noun 1. a specialist in linguistics.
2. a person who is skilled in several languages; polyglot.

 

[WayneLigon]

To what extent do people tie sexual behavior to alignment?

None. Any alignment is equally likely to produce and/or enjoy pretty much any sexual behavior that consenting adults can enjoy.

 

[Rabelais]

I may have missed it, but I'm pretty sure that nobody's mentioned the Kushiel's Legacy series. I've read the first trilogy, and part 1 of the second. The fantasy/romance is very sexual in nature. Overall the setting has intertwined some pretty torrid romance elements with High Divine/Low Arcane magic Epic Fantasy. It would have to be the RIGHT group, but that world would make a compelling campaign setting.

Has anybody else noticed that the Romance and Science Fiction aisles are back to back in Barnes and Noble? Maybe it's just me, but there's no reason that a well done campaign would have significant Romance elements in it. It's been a long time since I've gamed with just males in the party. Single sex campaigns would probably decrease the amount of romanticism in a game. With both men and women in a game, I've noticed that it comes up more often.

As far as the mechanics? Like all other roleplaying, it's best when done without a great deal of dice rolling.