nexus Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 This one of those weird Nexus threads, so if such things bother you stop reading now. I was wondering though, for those of you that do touch on issues of romantic relationships and sexuality in your supers games, do the power and related special effects ever become an issue; for example, the possible dangers of someone with superhuman strength injuring their partner during a moment of passion? Or do you just assume such things have been dealt with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodstone Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper I won't go into the details, but I have two characters that can't be with normals due to the risks. Mind you, this means one of them is very lonely, while the other is with a person he doesn't love because she just happens to have super powers that keep her safe from his powers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister E Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Two words: kryptonite condom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Unless a player took a disad or limitation (such as Always On) or specifically sked for this aspect to be played out, I'd assume most powers take a conscious effort to activate and/or can be easily controlled. So, a brick woudn't risk hurting his/her SO, not even during a moment of passion. His reflexive actions shoudn't be affected by superstrength. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WhammeWhamme Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Three Words: Radiation + Genitals = Bad Interesting. I've had several characters with superhuman strength, some of whom even had a lovelife almost touched upon. Most of them were robots of one stripe or another, so control wasn't an issue - well, in one case it could have been (crushing grip phys lim). Sadly, didn't go there before the game folded. M' others haven't really touched on it, except for the one who was low enough on STR that while superhuman, it wasn't likely to cause too much trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunclinton Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper The issue is more one of the strength of involuntary muscles. For example most people don't have control of how hard they ejaculate, well, very limited control at any rate. Does Superman do so at excess velocities? Damaging velocities? He does have Super everything else. I doubt it's an issue in most cases, probably only individuals like Superman run into real difficulties... and even then it's just glossed over. What I was wondering this morning is... if Clark and Lois went out for so long before he revealed his secret... did she never bite him and scratch him during his relationship as she'd have been in for a shock if she had!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper How many people really use all their physical strength during sex? Surely there'd be a lot more injuries, considering that there's often a significant strength difference between partners. Self-injury would be quite possible, too. For most people there's no need to be violently forceful to be sexually satisfied. All of us learn as we grow up how to measure the amount of strength we apply to the task at hand. Superman had many years to practice disciplining his immense strength, and obviously has learned to deal effortlessly with the everyday fragile world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nexus Posted June 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Real life example. I knew a girl a few years ago. She was really into bodybuildering. Incredibly muscular and fit. She could hurt her boyfriend during sex if she didn't...control certain muscles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Real life example. I knew a girl a few years ago. She was really into bodybuildering. Incredibly muscular and fit. She could hurt her boyfriend during sex if she didn't...control certain muscles. She single now? What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Knight Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper When you talk about injury during intercourse there are hundreds of reported cased each year. A young man in my dorm at college was rushed to the hospital when his girlfriend, performing oral sex, created too much of vacuum and caused a blood vessel to rupture. Needless to say it was rather traumatizing for all parties invloved. As far as supers are concerned.... It would tend me to believe that there are certain people that would / could injure another during intercourse. Rogue of the X-Men is a classic example. Any skin to skin contact = life drain. There is a character in the group I play in that has uncontrolled change based on her heartrate. When her heartrate gets too high... she turns into a frosty brick that has a nasty damage shield. You may find that supers are attracted to other supers for this reason. Another issue that you didn't touch on is characters with an extended lifespan... and the issues that can cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Unless one of my Players wants some angst for their character, I assume there's no trouble with the bom chicka wow wow for said character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmakaze Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper It's not exactly and intercourse related inury, but I played an aquatic alien once (she'd had lungs surgically implanted in order to deal with air-breathers) who absolutely would not sleep with air breathers. It was a personal taboo along the lines of incest or bestiality for her. It seemed that a child of such a union stood a chance of not inheriting a working respiratory system. Even given that she probably wasn't cross fertile with humans at all, she couldn't get past it. Now Atlanteans, on the other hand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper It normally dosn't come up. The one game where it did I was playing my "playable kryptonian" character. I would fight hard to stop Vipers plot but let the merc villianess go...."Kal, I don't get it...why'd you let Jet valkyrie go?" "Dude I am Not going to arrest the only woman on the planet I can safely have sex with" "....." that was a strange game...but a Good strange.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Another issue that you didn't touch on is characters with an extended lifespan... and the issues that can cause. That was an issue for my character Snow Leopard. She was accutely aware that she had a life expectancy of about 200 years, and definitly did not want to get involved with a short-lifer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper This was a bit of an issue in our long running team game. My GF at the time was playing our team brick, a 15 year old olympic gymnast who had been orphaned in at the same time she had aquired her powers, and had been assigned to the team as a ward of the state. Her powers, based on a chemical accident, gave her typical brickly STR (around 80 IIRC), lots of Damage Reduction and Regeneration. This combined with a "Doesn't know own Strength" psyche limit. When she began crushing on another "normal" human team member, we sat down, had a think through, and realized that it'd almost certainly take another brick to actualy be able to sucessfully take her, ahem, "innocence", not to mention surviving the experience. Led to much interesting roleplaying, all things being equal. We kinda figured that she'd eventually be able to buy off the limit and avoid killing a partner... (by then she'd even most likely be of legal age... the character was 17 when the issue arose), but even with the limit gone, her sheer resistance to damage and almost instant healing would make it problematic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper One of my favorite characters developed superhuman strength mid-game. Her long term boyfriend was pretty cool with it, but was too macho to admit he couldn't handle her anymore (they were both into semi-rough sex). It wasn't until she noticed he had taken body that she realized she had to do something about it. Her solution? She made a list of sexual positions that denied her leverage and put him in control. Ironically, it strengthend thier relationship, which had already been tested by a series of Manchurian Candidate style plot hooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greymankle Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper My wife and I have a set characters that have had romantic relations. It's mainly in their background or done "off scene." It's mainly an inisde joke between us. Playing it up around the rest of the group might incur "too much information" remarks. The only odd thing is that my character has a symbiote of sorts. Which he can't really control. So that adds a certain level of humor to the courtship. Other than that, we don't go into the high strength, or her super dex. -later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
input.jack Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Interpersonal relationships of all kinds are important to the campaigns Im playing in. (Friendships, rivalries, and of course, as Hermit put it so eloquently, the "bom chika wow wow" factor). While we dont "play through" the more *ahem* intimate encounters at the table, we -do- generally try to keep in mind the consequences of peoples actions and abilities. That being said, we generally assume that, unless a character has Disads to reflect it, there really isnt that much of a problem. For example, in the case of Rogue, theres plenty of evidence to support the idea that the "player" really -wants- there to be difficulties; the character cant touch anyone skin-to-skin without knocking them out and stealing their powers and memories. Its caused demonstrable angst for her in the comics. For Superman, however, theres no reason to assume that there should be a problem. He has demonstrated repeatedly that he can exercise incredibly fine control over his strength (and other powers) for voluntary functions, so there shouldnt be a problem there. And as for involuntary functions, well, while he -can- apparently do everything super-fast or super-strong, it seems to take an act of will for him to do so. If he doesnt -want- to, I wouldnt think hed -have- to. And as Flash said in the animated JLU after returning from a bathroom break, "Hey, there are -some- things even I cant do at super-speed". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZootSoot Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper This one of those weird Nexus threads' date=' so if such things bother you stop reading now. I was wondering though, for those of you that do touch on issues of romantic relationships and sexuality in your supers games, do the power and related special effects ever become an issue; for example, the possible dangers of someone with superhuman strength injuring their partner during a moment of passion? Or do you just assume such things have been dealt with?[/quote'] In reference to the narcissist Harlan Ellison, this is not a problem in game because nobody (except in some truly twisted game setting) spends the points to make their ejaculation an area effect, explosive killing attack. In the game you only have the powers you pay for, if your players are buying abilities like this without your encouragement, I suggest lowering the number of character points they have been given for making their characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest darthvegita666 Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper yeah this is creepy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nexus Posted June 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper In reference to the narcissist Harlan Ellison' date=' this is not a problem in game because nobody (except in some truly twisted game setting) spends the points to make their ejaculation an area effect, explosive killing attack. In the game you only have the powers you pay for, if your players are buying abilities like this without your encouragement, I suggest lowering the number of character points they have been given for making their characters.[/quote'] Actually, I was talking from stand point of a disadvantages and the possible drawbacks of superpowers such as superhuman, uncontrollabe damage sheilds and the like. I really don't think anyone was suggesting buying their character sexual responses as powers (they would be more akin to Disadvantages in Hero terms), but considering some of the possible role playing impact such things might have. The general consensus seems to be if the character doesn't get a disad (like say "Doesn't know own strength") for a brick, its not a problem for them which seems a reasonable answer to me. The ones that have handled haven't talked about buying powers or something to reflect it, so I'm not sure where you got that impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper Now you know why Grond is so angry all the time - he ain't getting any... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper I agree with Nexus that it sould probably be tied to a disad like it was in our campaign. I mean... otherwise a lot of superbases would have to have Vibranium urinals installed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted June 9, 2005 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper I agree with Nexus that it sould probably be tied to a disad like it was in our campaign. I mean... otherwise a lot of superbases would have to have Vibranium urinals installed That gives me some sick ideas as to what the urinals in the Daily Planet must have been like. Maybe Clark didn't use them. I'm sure he could scoot off to someplace nice and quiet for five minutes or so to respond to nature. Hey, those starving third world farmers needed to get their crops watered somehow anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest darthvegita666 Posted June 9, 2005 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper ha yeah superman is like a pigeon if i was superman i would fly around and like pee on peoples heads thats why lex luthor hates superman so much because hes bald and its like a shiny little target Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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