Will you make transsexual Elves canon in your games ?

[Sunseeker]

No, if a transgender player at my table asks, I'm going to allow it. Period. No judgment, no second guessing. If this makes you feel more welcome at my table, so be it. I have nothing against the Blessing of Corellon, what I have problem with is the kind of disruption that it enables.

Again, this is an odd sentiment.

So, first, a Trans person would have to come out to you.
And then request to have this ability.

Isn't that a little...egocentric?

The disruption is "enabled" is already enabled by existing spells within the game. What people can do with "Dominate Person" is far worse than the Blessing.

Why not simply address problem behaviour as exactly that? Problem behaviour. When Jimmy starts using the Blessing to be a POS, call him on it. I'm sure BOTH of us, especially given the discussion in the harassment thread, understand that calling out problem behaviour is a better approach to solving the problem then cutting out one fairly minor optional element of the game that can be perfectly replicated with existing mechanics.

Just by plain numbers, nine out of ten times it won't be a transgender person at my table that asks for this, and with my luck it will be someone looking forward to get a kick out of it, act his kinky juvenile fantasies and be overall creepy in and out of character in a disruptive way. I know the type, have seen the type in action, I don't want to draw them to my table by advertising the blessing of Corellon.

Honest question: have there been any examples (say in this thread or one of its predecessors) indicating that the Blessing is drawing particular attention from that sort of person?

I would allow the blessing of Corellon to a player I know I can trust with it, and only if I was interested on exploring social issues through the game -and normally I prefer to do it through outright fiction, when I play or DM my main objective is always to have fun and make a good experience for the whole table-.

This takes me back to Hussar's posts...why is sex and gender a "special social issue"? And AGAIN you realize that the effects of the Blessing can be replicated with several spells already in the game. AND there are spells that can accomplish worse that are already in the system?

This is sort of like, referencing back to the harassment thread, saying that alcohol is a problem, but only removing Pabst Blue Ribbon because you think it's too associated with white trash.

Overall, sexuality is a serious issue. I don't deal with serious issues when I play/DM, I'm not singling out this one thing, I exclude a lot of real world stuff to keep the game simple, even "simplistic". I'd rather do that than enabling people who just want to make a mockery of serious stuff.

You're a little late to the party for that last part. They're already enabled.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I've had players -and even some DM's- whose very first reaction to me introducing a female NPC is to ask "is she hot?". -In the DM's case it was my PC for that campaign, to say that things didn't work out for that one would be an understatement-. I've also had to witness some severely obscene conversation while awaiting for MTG tournaments to start. There is a lot of testosterone in the hobby, and a lot of immaturity and eagerness to bring fetishes out. So, in short, the less ammo I can give them the better.

Then don't play with those people.

I'm serious. This is a behavioral problem, not a topical one. By "not giving ammo" to these people, you're also taking away play options from people for whom this sort of thing is important. Kick the jerks to the curb, rather than punishing everyone else.

 

[Yaarel]

(Assuming a group of reasonably respectful players ...)

What are some narrative or mechanical uses for the sexes-swapping?

A character that switches sexes, is kinda like ... a character who sometimes grows a beard and sometimes prefers to be clean-shaven.

Why would anyone care? ... Why would an elf care?

A criminal might use the alter-ego as a disguise, or a superhero.

For drow elf, it is subversive to matriarchy. But that makes the point, sexes-swapping only matters in cultures that are strongly gender-divided. Do elves separate males from females? This Blessing would make it seem so.

Where is the story?

 

[Sunseeker]

(Assuming a group of reasonably respectful players ...)

What are some narrative or mechanical uses for the sexes-swapping?

A character that switches sexes, is kinda like ... a character who sometimes grows a beard and sometimes prefers to be clean-shaven.

Why would anyone care? ... Why would an elf care?

A criminal might use the alter-ego as a disguise, or a superhero.

For drow elf, it is subversive to matriarchy. But that makes the point, sexes-swapping only matters in cultures that are strongly gender-divided. Do elves separate males from females? This Blessing would make it seem so.

Where is the story?

Sure, in a game where sex doesn't matter, then the Blessing neither adds, nor subtracts from the game. If women can do everything men can, and men can do everything women can, then being able to be a man or a woman at the drop of a hat is merely a matter of preference. Maybe it's a fluid preference on the part of the player, or the society at large.

Here's some "Sunseeker Story Suggestions"TM off the top of my head:
A player wants to play a gender-fluid character, some days they feel more feminine, some days they feel more masculine, some days they're both, some days they're neither, and they want their character to be able to express that mechanically.
A male character with this ability, but never uses it, develops a desire to bear children for *story reasons*.
A female character finds themselves in a position where they need to infiltrate an organization that is male-lead, or all-male.
A criminal who switches back and forth to do their crimes is a great one.
The "superhero" is another good one. Perhaps the whole party has this ability and some of the go M->F, some go F->M some go inbetween in order to keep their identities a secret while they fight the Evil Emperor.
I'm sure I could come up with more, but I'm tired.

Beyond that, the only person who really needs to worry about the WHY of this ability is the player.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Beyond that, the only person who really needs to worry about the WHY of this ability is the player.

This, absolutely.

We're playing a game, not writing a novel. While it'd be great if the ability played into the story (and a really skilled DM will find a way to make it do so), ultimately what matters is the player portraying the character they want to portray. It doesn't have to have an impact to anyone but them.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

So long as MoonSong thinks they know what's better for others, the rest is lip service. People should not have to *prove* it is better for them. They should get to inform MoonSong that it is better for them, and MoonSong should accept that, without them having to meet some standard of proof.

Nobody should accept anything without justification.

Everybody should accept what trans people say for themselves, not because they don't have to have justification, but rather because they have tons and tons of it.

 

[Sunseeker]

This, absolutely.

We're playing a game, not writing a novel. While it'd be great if the ability played into the story (and a really skilled DM will find a way to make it do so), ultimately what matters is the player portraying the character they want to portray. It doesn't have to have an impact to anyone but them.

Well, to be fair a lot of people feel that D&D is a story-making game.

But I think there's some unfairness with the demand that XYZ element have significant meaning at the start of a game. I like to make characters that are something of a mix of "This is what they know of themselves." and leave elements up to discovery throughout gameplay. Perhaps the Blessing starts as one of those secondary elements, it's something the character has, but doesn't have any real use for. But through play, they develop their understanding of this ability and use it to do something awesome for the story. Maybe it won't.

 

[Maxperson]

Elves are fey, or at least they should be considered such even if they label them as 'humanoid' in this edition. Whether they are fey mammals, I could not say.

The mammaries on the female elves are a dead give away.

 

[Zardnaar]

I've had players -and even some DM's- whose very first reaction to me introducing a female NPC is to ask "is she hot?". -In the DM's case it was my PC for that campaign, to say that things didn't work out for that one would be an understatement-. I've also had to witness some severely obscene conversation while awaiting for MTG tournaments to start. There is a lot of testosterone in the hobby, and a lot of immaturity and eagerness to bring fetishes out. So, in short, the less ammo I can give them the better.

Its not a D&D thing its a male thing if not a human friend. Females can be just as bad as well with their friends.

The younger guys have seen things in porn the older guys with wives know better. I have heard older married females say similar though so its more of a human thing. The young guys are a bit dumber and louder about it, the older ladies are a bit more descriptive. The younger ones often talk a big game or they might have the numbers/notches on the belt but they often don't know crap.

Generally they grow out of it with.

1. Wife/long term partner.
2. Around the age of 30.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Well, to be fair a lot of people feel that D&D is a story-making game.

Oh, sure. Absolutely.

But it's a story being made a group of people, with an audience of that same group of people. Any given detail only has to be important to one of them, or even only impact one of them at all, to at least potentially have a place in the game. That was the point I was making.