Sexuality in your games.

[Malanath]

Thanks for everyone's responses. All of them have been decidedly helpful and your insights valuable.

I think I am going to go ahead and factor in that gay/bi-sexual characters exist in my world and adjust society accordingly. It actually opens up some rather significant doors now that I've been giving some serious thought to it.

My main problem would be having one of three types of players, the "eww gross" player, the offended player, or the player that stalks the lesbian to try and catch her "in the act". The first player wouldn't make it into my group in the first place, the latter player would be penalized (I'd consider such action as OOC), and the second type of player can hopefully be reasoned with.

Besides, the culture that I have created is suited to more mature / advanced role-players anyway. It is a culture that is decidedly different from the typical fantasy setting based in a westernized world. Therefore it will require a bit more skill on the players part to pull off believable and interesting characters. (It shouldn't be TOO difficult, but will likely require some explaining and background information before playing and character creation.)

 

[ForceUser]

As DM, I routinely include sexuality in the game sessions I run for one of my groups, and avoid it altogether with the other. Why? Simply put, because in the former group, it's fun and adds to the roleplaying, and in the latter it's acutely uncomfortable and does not. Every game group is different. While you can certainly include whatever you want in your campaign world, a savvy DM emphasizes what works and ignores what doesn't. If your players enjoy roleplaying sexual distinctions, do it! Sexuality can be a lot of fun to roleplay (read: I'm not talking about acting out sexual encounters! That's something else entirely!) If they don't enjoy it, it's best to focus on some other aspect of the roleplaying.

 

[the Jester]

Hmm, one example of homosexuality coming up in game:

The party had journeyed to a dwarven hold called the Hammerhead Halls, ruled by Thane Vulker Hammerhead. Vulker was a staunch, upright dwarf... and he was not entirely happy with his son. He hired the pcs to escort his son to his wife-to-be; the marriage would cement a major political bond between two dwarven communities. Classic dwarven arranged marriage.

The problem was that his son, Borlad, was gay. He never out and out said it, but it was understood by the pcs. And it took them several games' worth of time to get him to where they were going, and along the way they befriended Borlad and came to really empathize with him and his discomfort with the marriage. It made for some pretty cool roleplaying.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I say if it ain't Brokeback, don't fix it.

Seriously, you know your players better than any of us do. Our campaigns and gaming groups are all different. There are similarities, true, but the differences are the most important factors. What happens in our games may not work in your game, and vice versa. Our experiences with our players aren't going to help you too much with your players.

If you feel your players can handle it and won't be offended, then do it. If you have any doubts, ask them first, either as a group or individually.

 

[prosfilaes]

I've never understood the point on bringing attention to homosexuality in a game other than to have an agenda and push your own opinions on people. If a DM told me, "it's common for there to be gay couples in this world" and he's pointing out to me every session that I see gay couples...I would take this as the DM trying to teach me that it's ok for people to be gay in real life.

Would you consider this to be true of anything else? To me it just seems to be a facet of the world. Either having or not having gay couples is a notable feature of the world and could be taken to be trying to make a point.

In a couple of the recent Steve Jackson Games books, I've felt that the libertarian governments have been a little prevelent, but you've got to do something in science-fiction, and as long as doesn't feel too didactic, I don't think interpreting it as didactic is appropriate.

 

[Someone]

I suggest you discuss that with your players. You´re all trying to have fun, and some subject may be uncomfortable to bring to the table. Also, your energies and time table aren´t unlimited, and while adding sexuality to the campaing adds to verosimilitude there are a million things and details that can add too (you admire Tolkien´s world building, but I don´t remember him describing, say, personal hygiene in middle earth).

You can make a poll, with questions like "¿What do you think it´s the best way to improve realism in our game? a: with a detailed economy b: with realistic personal relationships c: with careful integration of magic and other supernatural effects d: other"

I made once a similar poll with my players and it was very revealing.

 

[Sarellion]

Homosexuality is not a big topic in my campaigns. Well it´s not such a topic over here anyways. Most NPCs the party interacts with don´t try to get engaged with them. Sexuality plays a role but it´s nearly nonexistant topic for some characters/players who are not into romantic roleplay.

The most exotic sexual situation was with a member of an incorporeal race that is able to shape themselves physical bodies as they like. One PC had an encounter wit a male member of that species who turned female for the sex. The NPC later hinted that physical sex was a great hobby that many people of his race enjoyed and that more extreme shapes were often taken .

 

[Agback]

(read: I'm not talking about acting out sexual encounters! That's something else entirely!)

Absolutely! It's the difference between sexuality and sex. I've never felt that there was anything to be gained from playing out sex scenes, and the one time a player was keen to do so I found that it made me uncomfortable and didn't advance the story at all. Sometimes I need to know (as GM) whether two characters have actually done It, but anything much past that is generally TMI.

On the other hand, the fact that characters are sexual beings, that they love, court, marry, have illicit affairs, form crushes, fall out of love, elope, make arranged marriages, get pregnant, have babies etc. is one of the wellsprings of adventure.

 

[WayneLigon]

It would depend on the needs of the scenario. In the two main campaign worlds I've done, in one it's just a normal part of life. No-one thinks much about it and doesn't really bring it up in the same way that you don't point out the fact you've got blond hair. I've brought it up a couple of times, because it is a facet of the world and part of the thing that makes it different from most of our Earthly cultures -- sometimes the players and characters stumble onto that.

In one episode, three of the characters devided that after seeing no female company for several weeks (they had been on shipboard and there didn't happen to be any female crew) they were going to go to the local red light district. They get there and are greeted with lights that are red, as well as green, white, and blue. Red is for men that want women, green is for women that want men, white is for men who want men and blue is for ladies who want ladies. They find a nice Red spot and have a lot of fun as we fade to black, but it reminds them once more that this is not Dark Ages Europe.

Keeping it low key and occassional will be the watchwords here. Even in a more accepting society, there's still not going to be a lot of gay people, though there will be a lot of people who are bisexual to a greater degree than as commonly see in our world, especially among men. Still it's probably not something they might see but maybe once a month or so, depending on how many people they come into contact with, and it shouldn't play a significant role in an adventure very often at all, just because of that comparative rarity. It'll be a factor of an NPC's personality or life, but even then it doesn't have to come into play, just as him being a coin collector or having a minor gambling problem doesn't come into play in the scenario.

 

[KingCrab]

I disagree strongly with Oryan, because I feel it does make a difference whether queerness is accepted in your game world. It changes many fairy tale conceptions and brings up interesting ideas. How does the lineage of your kingdom get passed on if the queens tend to marry only women?

One of the great things about fantasy is that you can include things that differ from our world because it is fantasy.

If you want to run a conservative campaign world, I think that is okay too and also presents many interesting (and sometimes historical) opportunities. However, I think that the inclusion of gay-friendly ideas also can make for many great unusual stories. It is much more than just a desire to preach morals to your players. I know this because my players are already gay-friendly, so preaching to them would be pointless.