WotC WotC needs an Elon Musk

[Bohandas]

I thought that the primary purpose of Planescape was to have philosophers with clubs punching each other in a planar city.

I thought it's purpose was to make everyone speak with a cockney accent

 

[Bohandas]

That was the point of Sigil. But Planescape always had this tension between 'this a wildly expansive setting that covers every bizarre corner of the multiverse and every other setting we've ever written!' and 'here's a city at the centre of everything where everything important happens so you end up staying here most of the time anyway'.

Or at least where the adventures all happen.

Whether the city is actually all that important is only told and never shown. It's true significance basically seems to boil down to "it's a port city"

The developers missed an opportunity in not holding it up as an example of the power of belief in the setting - it's the most influential place in the setting simply because people believe it is, and for no reason other than that

 

[Umbran]

It is. There was an advanced earth bender in Korea who manipulated magma.

Korea? That's not a nation in the Avatar fiction.
And the canonical character most folks will remember who does lava/magma bending is Bolin, from Legends of Korra. A couple of past Avatars are said to have used the technique, and there's an antagonist in Legends of Korra as well.

 

[Faolyn]

I do not believe anyone is arguing for the inclusion of SA, HOWEVER it is not off the table.

Now before you rush off and say AnotherGuy is promoting SA - that is NOT what I'm doing. Let me explain - I just had a quick look at part of my DVD shelf and I saw the movie Devil's Advocate (spoilers to follow)

Spoiler: Scene

In one particular scene Charlize Theron's character reveals to her husband, played by Keanu Reeves, that she was raped by Al Pacino's character (Reeve's boss who is also Lucifer). Keanu Reeve's believes she is suffering a nervous breakdown as he informs her that Al Pacino was in court with him all day long.
This is a scene about SA, and we are dealing with Lucifer who reveals throughout the show that his powers do bleed into the supernatural so there is a strong possibility that Charlize's character was indeed a victim of SA.

If you are militant a scene/story similar to this could never be used and that might be fine for your table, some tables though have a higher tolerance and could include a scene such as this which backgrounds the darkness but illuminates the power of the BBEG.

Personally, I do not think it is valuable to be discussing SA in D&D, and certainly not here - not among enthusiasts who are here to share experiences/knowledge, homebrew rules and upcoming material. I would think, we know better. So, I think its best we do not accuse fellow posters of arguing for the inclusion of the vilest material.

OK, here's the thing.

In the scene you are talking about, if it were a game, Charlize Theron would presumably be a PC (I haven't watched the movie); therefore, she chose to have that as part of her backstory. I've played a character who'd been sexually abused as part of her background that I had written for her.

But most of the time, when people are talking about including sexual assault in a game, they are not talking about backstory stuff. They are talking about an NPC, DMPC, or a PC sexually assaulting a another PC or NPC, in-game, because reasons. Reasons including (but not limited to) as "it's a realistic/dark setting" or "it's what the character would do."

If in the scene you talked about, the GM had decided to have that event occur in the game--especially without the PC's agreement--that would be not cool. That would be pretty vile.

I've had a mild version of that happen to one of my characters, ages and ages ago (a Star Wars game; one PC decided to put a camera in my PC's shower), and let me tell you, it is not cool. It wasn't agreed upon OOC, it's not acceptable. So here is an enthusiast who is sharing an experience with you.

 

[Zardnaar]

OK, here's the thing.

In the scene you are talking about, if it were a game, Charlize Theron would presumably be a PC (I haven't watched the movie); therefore, she chose to have that as part of her backstory. I've played a character who'd been sexually abused as part of her background that I had written for her.

But most of the time, when people are talking about including sexual assault in a game, they are not talking about backstory stuff. They are talking about an NPC, DMPC, or a PC sexually assaulting a another PC or NPC, in-game, because reasons. Reasons including (but not limited to) as "it's a realistic/dark setting" or "it's what the character would do."

If in the scene you talked about, the GM had decided to have that event occur in the game--especially without the PC's agreement--that would be not cool. That would be pretty vile.

I've had a mild version of that happen to one of my characters, ages and ages ago (a Star Wars game; one PC decided to put a camera in my PC's shower), and let me tell you, it is not cool. It wasn't agreed upon OOC, it's not acceptable. So here is an enthusiast who is sharing an experience with you.

I think nuance gets lost between including SA at all (as a back story) to something that can happen in campaign.

Either way you probably need player buy in.

I never include it myself and wouldn't join a game of randoms advertising say an R18 ultra gritty game.

I would only do that with a trusted friend running it.

Eg Game of Thrones R18 game. If you're fine with the show bad things can happen.

That might appeal to me but not with randoms.

Basically let villains be villains but some of the gory stuff needs player buy in. PG-13 with f bombs is usually how I cover things session 0 but I use game of thrones example to cover my bases.

 

[AnotherGuy]

OK, here's the thing.

In the scene you are talking about, if it were a game, Charlize Theron would presumably be a PC (I haven't watched the movie); therefore, she chose to have that as part of her backstory. I've played a character who'd been sexually abused as part of her background that I had written for her.

Bold emphasis mine. No, that is certainly not how I was imagining it.
The PCs would be doing the investigating to catch the BBEG. Charlize would most definitely be an NPC.
Hmmm, I'm also kinda bummed because I consider that a real good movie and its partly spoiled for you.
I do recommend you watch it when possible.

But most of the time, when people are talking about including sexual assault in a game, they are not talking about backstory stuff. They are talking about an NPC, DMPC, or a PC sexually assaulting a another PC or NPC, in-game, because reasons. Reasons including (but not limited to) as "it's a realistic/dark setting" or "it's what the character would do."

If in the scene you talked about, the GM had decided to have that event occur in the game--especially without the PC's agreement--that would be not cool. That would be pretty vile.

We are on the same page. Like I said earlier I'm pretty sure all if not the overwhelming majority of people that spend their time conversing with other hobbyists about homebrew rules, solutions and the latest stuff coming out know better than to torture or SA their players' characters.

I've had a mild version of that happen to one of my characters, ages and ages ago (a Star Wars game; one PC decided to put a camera in my PC's shower), and let me tell you, it is not cool. It wasn't agreed upon OOC, it's not acceptable. So here is an enthusiast who is sharing an experience with you.

Yes there are stories for yesteryear, especially when it was a different time, different demographic within the hobby, mono-culture AND level of maturity. I do not find it helpful to bring up bad instances then and say they exist now. I was a different DM 30, 25, 20, even 15 years ago.
Hopefully I'm better.

 

[Faolyn]

Bold emphasis mine. No, that is certainly not how I was imagining it.
The PCs would be doing the investigating to catch the BBEG. Charlize would most definitely be an NPC.
Hmmm, I'm also kinda bummed because I consider that a real good movie and its partly spoiled for you.
I do recommend you watch it when possible.

It's OK. I probably will forget should I ever get around to watching it.

 

[Vaalingrade]

We are on the same page. Like I said earlier I'm pretty sure all if not the overwhelming majority of people that spend their time conversing with other hobbyists about homebrew rules, solutions and the latest stuff coming out know better than to torture or SA their players' characters.

You would be surprised that the number of people who bring something edgy and repugnant right up to the table and plop it down in the middle like a dead mouse, then look around expecting to be applauded for their bravery and creativity.

"We killed the bad guys. Let me tell you what I do to the bodies!"

 

[Micah Sweet]

Korea? That's not a nation in the Avatar fiction.
And the canonical character most folks will remember who does lava/magma bending is Bolin, from Legends of Korra. A couple of past Avatars are said to have used the technique, and there's an antagonist in Legends of Korra as well.

Korra. Darn that autocorrect!

 

[Micah Sweet]

OK, here's the thing.

In the scene you are talking about, if it were a game, Charlize Theron would presumably be a PC (I haven't watched the movie); therefore, she chose to have that as part of her backstory. I've played a character who'd been sexually abused as part of her background that I had written for her.

But most of the time, when people are talking about including sexual assault in a game, they are not talking about backstory stuff. They are talking about an NPC, DMPC, or a PC sexually assaulting a another PC or NPC, in-game, because reasons. Reasons including (but not limited to) as "it's a realistic/dark setting" or "it's what the character would do."

If in the scene you talked about, the GM had decided to have that event occur in the game--especially without the PC's agreement--that would be not cool. That would be pretty vile.

I've had a mild version of that happen to one of my characters, ages and ages ago (a Star Wars game; one PC decided to put a camera in my PC's shower), and let me tell you, it is not cool. It wasn't agreed upon OOC, it's not acceptable. So here is an enthusiast who is sharing an experience with you.

Ok. I was talking about backstory, and the concept that such things exist in the setting, without needing to show them in game.