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Message: <blockquote data-quote="n00bdragon" data-source="post: 6209744" data-attributes="member: 6689371">[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION]The ethics of violence vs. the ethics of sex isn't why sex is kept out of most RPGs. It also has little to do with the western fascination with the idea that gory decapitation is okay but naked bodies are taboo (okay, a little bit but it's not the whole thing). Sex, and especially pregnancy and the like, generally have no place at the gaming table and here's why:Violence is something everyone can relate to. It's an impersonal and by definition anti-social way of solving problems. Let's go over that again. This is a game where one person, the DM, presents problems which the players are tasked with solving by any means possible. Sometimes they can do this through dialog, trickery, or general cleverness but most games and indeed most of the system center around solving most problems with violence. If the orcs are raiding the town then the orcs are the problem. Killing the orcs solves the problem.The other benefit of violence is that most people don't feel strongly about how you go about it until you really get into some truly lurid descriptions. Statements like "I burn him with fire" or "I stab him with my sword" without further elaboration generally don't create strong opinions or feelings in people. Though I'm sure you can come up with some near-torturous description of violence that makes your stomach crawl, most games avoid this.Sex on the other hand is one of the dirty three subjects (along with religion and politics) you don't discuss at parties for good reason. People care have incredibly strong opinions about sex and almost never want to hear your opinions on it. It's such a personal matter that even people who are in long term loving relationships can have difficulty discussing it even in private. Even in the context of discussing the relationships of imaginary characters what one person finds appropriate will often be found disgusting by others. This is before we even get into the issues of pregnancy and perversions.When you start playing with pregnancy you open an entirely new can of worms beyond the scope of sex. Now instead of just being five people solving problems and saving the world you have a living creature, your character's own flesh and seed, who they are now responsible for. This changes the dynamic of the game forever and not in a good way as the raising of a child, typically a mostly private matter between two parents, is now a public matter as they adventure around with their bestest friends saving the world. That is, if you don't get ye olde tyme magickal abortion and go through all the ethical dilemma and very deep seated feelings many people hold.Lastly, when you introduce sex to your games you infinitely increase the "pervert factor" and now you must seriously worry about someone at the table getting sexual gratification from whatever is going on in the game and that is a one-way ticket to Awkwardville. Paraphilias can sneak into normal games too, sure, but the chance of it happening in a game with sex is like the difference between your chance of getting mugged in rural Iowa vs. your chance of getting mugged in north Philadelphia (for non-U.S. readers substitute an appropriate bucolic area and dangerous slum with which you are familiar respectively).</blockquote>

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