The Proper Use of Nudity in FRPG Art

[Mannahnin]

What would happen to the porn industry if they removed pictures someone finds objectionable? I really don't get the mindset of humans telling other humans what they should do. Unless illegal, everything is permitted is a fundamental concept of human rights. It does not mean that everyone has to like every single thing that is made or produced by another human.

Sure, but social norms and issue advocacy absent government intervention are also key components of human life. Freedom of expression is certainly important, and I agree that not every product has to be for everyone. But there's definitely a middle ground where it's reasonable for people to advocate for or against things they think are beneficial or harmful/unpleasant without having to get laws involved.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Sure, but social norms and issue advocacy absent government intervention are also key components of human life. Freedom of expression is certainly important, and I agree that not every product has to be for everyone. But there's definitely a middle ground where it's reasonable for people to advocate for or against things they think are beneficial or harmful/unpleasant without having to get laws involved.

Indeed! "Advocating for" is great! Criticizing (as in "I don't like it) I also understand and do. It's the tendancy to petition for removal that I don't get. I am offended, in many published adventure, by the tendancy to promote vigilantism and unwarranted violence. Let's take an example, Rime of the Frostmaiden, where one of the starter quest involve... a quest giver who say "This guy is bad, I want you to track him and kill him". The expected (and best) outcome is to kill him no question asked. The other outcomes (actually investigating the guy to see if he's really a cultist, capturing him and turning him over to the authorities, who are presented as functionning correctly and able to hold a prisonner effectively) or reporting the quest giver (at this point, he's hiring assassins...) generally fail the quest. I really dislike the premise of this adventure. I won't play it this way. I'll say (and have said) that I dislike it, I advocate for publishing more adventures of a less murder-hobo-y mindset on this board, I propose other ways to run the scene more to my taste, but at the same time I acknowledge that there is a market share that doesn't mind the premise of this quest (or even actually enjoys it) and I don't petition for the removal of this quest from the RotF, nor for a general removing of vigilantism in published products. At worst, if a published adventure path was "avoid the law enforcement of Waterdeep as you kill bad apples within the city lords for greater good", I'd... not buy the product and say why I'd give it a pass.

 

[Mannahnin]

Not to get into too much of a tangent, but I'm playing in RotFM now, and I've been pleasantly surprised at how many encounters and situations can be resolved without killing folks.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Not to get into too much of a tangent, but I'm playing in RotFM now, and I've been pleasantly surprised at how many encounters and situations can be resolved without killing folks.

Yes! That made the first one very jarring to me (and especially easy to correct to my tastes).

 

[S'mon]

Yes! That made the first one very jarring to me (and especially easy to correct to my tastes).

I played it, kept expecting the quest giver to be the BBEG...

 

[pemerton]

Unless illegal, everything is permitted is a fundamental concept of human rights.

This principle, even if accepted, doesn't tell us what should be illegal!

 

[BrokenTwin]

I prefer my cheesecake and beefcake to be available in equal measure, the level of which is almost irrelevant to me. If the men are only pictured gruffly in sensible attire, then the same should be true for the women (and the enbies). And vice-versa also applies. If I'm seeing half-naked women drawn for the male gaze, I'd better be seeing half-naked men drawn for the female gaze (and half naked sexy enbies for everyone!).

And obviously, the art should match the tone of the text. If it's lowkey and gritty, I don't expect to see flamboyant impractical outfits.

Nudity != sex, but nudity is frequently used as a shorthand for it, and in North American society, nudity is more taboo than violence, so I'm not surprised we don't see many examples of non-sexual nudity in modern media.

 

[Blue Orange]

I prefer my cheesecake and beefcake to be available in equal measure, the level of which is almost irrelevant to me. If the men are only pictured gruffly in sensible attire, then the same should be true for the women (and the enbies). And vice-versa also applies. If I'm seeing half-naked women drawn for the male gaze, I'd better be seeing half-naked men drawn for the female gaze (and half naked sexy enbies for everyone!).

And obviously, the art should match the tone of the text. If it's lowkey and gritty, I don't expect to see flamboyant impractical outfits.

Nudity != sex, but nudity is frequently used as a shorthand for it, and in North American society, nudity is more taboo than violence, so I'm not surprised we don't see many examples of non-sexual nudity in modern media.

There was a funny bit back in the early 90s when Basic Instinct, about a sexually...adventurous serial killer, and Henry & June, about a romantic triad, came out. Basic Instinct got an R, Henry & June got an NC-17 (formerly an X).

So sex and violence can be watched by kids if the parents are around, but just sex is a no-no.

Now, of course, there is much more extreme stuff on pornhub and the whole thing is a moot point.

 

[Blue Orange]

It makes me want to run a campaign where that art would be appropriate!

Mr. Zapp has just the thing for you...

xoth.net publishing - sword and sorcery roleplaying adventures

Xoth.Net Publishing - Sword and sorcery roleplaying adventures

xoth.net

(NSFW)-good catch Capn!

 

[CapnZapp]

Mr. Zapp has just the thing for you...

xoth.net publishing - sword and sorcery roleplaying adventures

Xoth.Net Publishing - Sword and sorcery roleplaying adventures

xoth.net

(NSFW)

Thanks for the confidence, but no, I have nothing to do with that.

I do recommend you check out the Xoth Publishing modules though if you like Conanesque sword and sorcery!

Can I ask you to slap a NSFW tag onto your link however and save the mod team some work. (Like I just did in this reply) Thanks