The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained herein)

[Mister E]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

would this be covered under the social combat rules?

 

apgii?

[Lucius]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Could romance be broken down into skills and/or powers? I know it borders on the seduction category, but there could be some abilities on a character sheet to show a character is good at romance even if the player is not good at roleplaying.

 

Would this be covered under the social combat rules?

 

Only if you think "combat" is a good model for romance.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks combat is usually antisocial

[James Gillen]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Only if you think "combat" is a good model for romance.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks combat is usually antisocial

 

I was going to design a package for Marital Arts.

 

JG

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

I was going to design a package for Marital Arts.

 

JG

 

The correct move for any situation is to agree with your spouse.

[James Gillen]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

The correct move for any situation is to agree with your spouse.

 

Marital Escape.

 

JG

[Mister E]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

I Haymaker everything.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

I Haymaker everything.

 

Well, now you know why they keep moving 2 meters away from you at the last second.

[Mister E]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Well' date=' now you know why they keep moving 2 meters away from you at the last second.[/quote']

=P

A good offense...

[James Gillen]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Well' date=' now you know why they keep moving 2 meters away from you at the last second.[/quote']

 

Marital Dodge.

 

JG

[Mister E]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Marital Dodge.

 

JG

 

It's all in the wrist.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Some of these links are NSFW due to clinical photographs of nekkid stuff.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphilia

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paraphilias

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_fetishism

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_relationship_disorder

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyamory

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promiscuity

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersexuality

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_addiction

9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Juanism

10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism#Sexual_narcissism

11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_capital

12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoactive_sexual_desire_disorder

13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_attractiveness

14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_attraction

15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_arousal

16. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_desire

17. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(psychology)

18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantric_sex#Tantric_sexuality

19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoist_sexual_practices

20. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_magic

21. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra_techniques_(Vajrayana)#Sexual_yoga

22. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Butterfly

23. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coitus_reservatus

24. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroto-comatose_lucidity

25. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgasm_control'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgasm_control

26. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_(love)

27. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotomania

28. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_addiction'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_addiction

29. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalking

30. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgone_theory

31. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust

32. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concupiscence

33. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love

34. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_(emotion)

35. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasure

36. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonism

37. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasure_principle_(psychology)

38. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicific_calculus

39. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_hedonism

40. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

41. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgasm

42. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistent_sexual_arousal_syndrome

43. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erogenous_zone

44. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreplay

45. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_Christian_demonology

46. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution

47. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fertility_deities

48. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_love_and_lust_deities

49. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansexuality

50. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale

50a. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_Sexual_Orientation_Grid

50b. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Sexuality_Scale

 

 

Whew. Will probably do the same thing with tvtropes soon.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

1. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveTropes

2. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SexTropes

3. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfSexy

4. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfRomantic

5. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PornTropes

 

between tvtropes and wiki, I think there's a pretty big batch of reference material to work from when coming up with more ideas for this thread.

[Lucius]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Not only are no women posting at all, but just three of us are responsible for 60% of the thread. Just four of us account for almost three quarters of all posts, and of those who do post in this thread, almost half have only posted once or twice.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Responsible for 100% of the palindromedaries

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Not only are no women posting at all, but just three of us are responsible for 60% of the thread. Just four of us account for almost three quarters of all posts, and of those who do post in this thread, almost half have only posted once or twice.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Responsible for 100% of the palindromedaries

 

Well, that's unfortunate, but the number of views at least reflects somewhat broader interest. I'm not likely to post in the Anthropomorphic Hero thread either, but I recognize that it has value for some folks here. I think you'll find more than a few threads on the gaming forums(and ngd) that largely consist of the same 3-6 people posting repeatedly.

 

I have already stated, as the thread-starter, that I'd welcome more participation. It's possible there hasn't been as much participation because:

1. not everyone goes to the Other Genres forum all that frequently, and as has been observed, the title is deliberately ambiguous.

2. not everyone is comfortable with the subject matter.

3. not everyone is interested in the subject matter.

4. some may believe their views or contributions would be unwelcome.

5. some may think the thread will become offensive and get locked down(or that it already is offensive/creepy/offputting).

 

We can't do anything about #2 and #3. I'm not inclined to move the thread to a more visible forum. All we can do is welcome the contributions of others, and be sensitive to any concerns or critiques. I've been trying to broaden things a bit to address the topic of romance in rpgs, which obviously is more ubiquitous(most campaigns have at least some romantic interaction between PCs and NPCs, or between PCs).

 

That said, I think it's more productive to just keep plugging away, posting stuff we think is useful or interesting, germane to the subject matter, and that will aid players and GMs who'd like to explore romantic, erotic, or sexual issues/elements in their gaming.

 

--the megaplayboy has no tag line, but wonders if he should be doing so in this thread...

[Orion]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

That said' date=' I think it's more productive to just keep plugging away, posting stuff we think is useful or interesting, germane to the subject matter, and that will aid players and GMs who'd like to explore romantic, erotic, or sexual issues/elements in their gaming.[/quote']

 

When the topic started, I was very interested. Romance and sex has never been a part of my gaming experience, and probably never will. But, it does have a small, but important role, in the overall storylines that I create, and in the NPC motivations. Several of the characters have sex as a primary motivating element in their personality makeup and/or power set. But, after reading the first page or two of this thread, I realize it is all about gaming, not storytelling, and I lost all interest. What I think deserves a line or two in the character description, is instead being turned into various power and skill builds. Not unexpected, given this forum. I only checked in with the thread because it was highlighted as a new post on the main page, and I am very bored at work right now.

 

Anyway, just thought I'd toss this out there as a reason why some have stayed away from the thread.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

When the topic started, I was very interested. Romance and sex has never been a part of my gaming experience, and probably never will. But, it does have a small, but important role, in the overall storylines that I create, and in the NPC motivations. Several of the characters have sex as a primary motivating element in their personality makeup and/or power set. But, after reading the first page or two of this thread, I realize it is all about gaming, not storytelling, and I lost all interest. What I think deserves a line or two in the character description, is instead being turned into various power and skill builds. Not unexpected, given this forum. I only checked in with the thread because it was highlighted as a new post on the main page, and I am very bored at work right now.

 

Anyway, just thought I'd toss this out there as a reason why some have stayed away from the thread.

 

Appreciate the feedback. I'd note that I have posted materials relating to romantic subplots and elements in games, in the past couple of pages of this thread. While it's obviously at least somewhat useful to have "seduction powers" and "sex powers" and whatnot, I'd agree that there's a lot more to those elements than writeups. Actually, if you could be somewhat specific about what sort of topics or issues you'd like explored in a thread like this, I suspect the people who have been posting would be happy to chip in their input on that.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

There are specific genres where romance is a huge element of the setting:

1. Age of Chivalry type fantasy campaigns--esp. where the heroes are members of the aristocracy(or aspire to it)

2. Age of Piracy/3 Musketeers--swashbuckling campaigns, involve a lot of saving the fair maiden and flirtation

3. Pulp--the femme fatale, the hard-boiled detective, the strong-jawed hero, the exotic jungle princess(or prince), etc.

4. Modern/Soap Opera--romantic triangles abound

5. Superhero--girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse DNPCs, flirtatious PCs, flirtatious villains, exotic aliens, saving movie stars(and dating them), dealing with the ultimate jilted nerd out to avenge their multiple rejections, etc.

6. Science Fiction--esp. Space Opera.

7. Post-apocalyptic--relationships matter a great deal here. And extreme circumstances may lead to a suspension of the usual social rules regarding romance (and sex).

 

Actually, I think romance can be a significant element in almost any setting. It may not be appealing to all players, but there's usually at least one in every group who does appreciate and enjoy such RP interactions.

 

I don't know if it's actually appropriate to discuss how to roleplay such situations--BUT perhaps here is where different perspectives would be helpful--how women think about romance, flirt and interact, how men do, how LGBT do, how teens do, how young adults do, how middle aged or older adults do and so forth.

[Steve]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

One thing concerning romance that has recently come up in one of my campaigns is cross-gender play, in this case a male playing a female character.

 

I suspect the player was wanting to try something different than he normally plays (so in this case he is trying to roleplay a beautiful woman) but didn't think through all the ramifications. So while I have been able to develop subplots related to romance and relationships with the other characters, I can't get far with this one. He wants to have relationships for the character, but he can't separate himself enough from the character and just seems weirded out by the idea of his character dating men or having a boyfriend. I'm trying to figure out the best way to resolve the issue.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

One thing concerning romance that has recently come up in one of my campaigns is cross-gender play, in this case a male playing a female character.

 

I suspect the player was wanting to try something different than he normally plays (so in this case he is trying to roleplay a beautiful woman) but didn't think through all the ramifications. So while I have been able to develop subplots related to romance and relationships with the other characters, I can't get far with this one. He wants to have relationships for the character, but he can't separate himself enough from the character and just seems weirded out by the idea of his character dating men or having a boyfriend. I'm trying to figure out the best way to resolve the issue.

 

You have options:

1. allow him to play the character as lesbian, bicurious, or just gunshy about romance--there are some issues related to having a straight guy RP a lesbian character, but it's not too much different from a straight woman RPing a straight male character--or a gay male character, for that matter.

2. baby steps--have the player get accustomed to simply having friendly interactions with male characters, then progress to RPing very mild flirtation, followed by some chaste dating, and "fade to black" once the relationship progressing beyond the first kiss. Then it's up to player to progressively redefine their comfort level. But if you even get as far as I described above, that's probably perfect, in and of itself.

3. How old is this player? I can understand an adolescent or young adult male having issues RPing a female character, but if the player is in their 30s or 40s, they really just need to make the mental separation and get over it. It's not like roleplaying a woman in a romantic situation will emasculate him or "make him gay", and I'm sure that, at the intellectual level at least, he understands that. He probably just needs to work through it. Good luck!

[Steve]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Thanks for the advice. He's in his mid-30s and straight.

[Orion]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Actually' date=' if you could be somewhat specific about what sort of topics or issues you'd like explored in a thread like this, I suspect the people who have been posting would be happy to chip in their input on that.[/quote']

 

Things I'd be interested in seeing, and examples of each:

1. Sexual-based magic. Not a list of powers, but descriptions of real-life and fictional approaches.

1a. Can tantric sex be used to influence people, alter physical ablities, etc.?

1b. The sexual appeal of vampires or other legendary creatures and its ramifications.

1c. Intense sexual pleasure can lead to direct communication with a deity of love.

2. Cultural types that have very different views on sexuality.

2a. Would long-lived creatures be less monogamous, or maybe just serial monogamous? 2000 years with only a single partner? If you haven't even seen a sibling for 2000 years, do you even care they are related, or just go ahead and jump in the sack with them?

2b. What if reproduction and sex were two different things, either physically or mentally? This could be a species thing, or technological as all reproduction by cloning centers or perfect contraception available.

2c. Sex = dominance and/or violence. Orcs don't ask, they take. Foreplay is unknown, and sexual pleasure unimportant.

 

3. Sexual dimorphism and/or more than 2 standard sexes like in Alien Nation.

3a. If one sex is much larger than other, then division of labor and power will be affected.

3b. If one sex is much smarter, or one is basically a drone, how do you treat them? How does that affect how you relate to other species.

 

4. If in any system you come up with, the females are smaller, dumber, lower caste, etc., how do you do this without coming off as a mysogynist? Conversely, if the males get the short end of the stick, how do you convince male players they are worthwhile and you aren't a male-hating PC nut?

 

5. Relationships between physically different characters. Uplifted canines, alien tentacle monsters, gnomes dating trolls. You have all the trouble of different upbringing and culture, your parts may not fit together all that well, and everyone thinks you are some type of sick pervert for doing it.

 

That's a good start for non-rules based discussions.

[Lucius]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Appreciate the feedback. I'd note that I have posted materials relating to romantic subplots and elements in games' date=' in the past couple of pages of this thread. While it's obviously at least somewhat useful to have "seduction powers" and "sex powers" and whatnot, I'd agree that there's a lot more to those elements than writeups. Actually, if you could be somewhat specific about what sort of topics or issues you'd like explored in a thread like this, I suspect the people who have been posting would be happy to chip in their input on that. [/quote']

 

Yeah, but someone like me would probably chip in with some weird and perhaps only half-serious power build.

 

I don't know if it's actually appropriate to discuss how to roleplay such situations--BUT perhaps here is where different perspectives would be helpful--how women think about romance, flirt and interact, how men do, how LGBT do, how teens do, how young adults do, how middle aged or older adults do and so forth.

 

Not only is this possibly exactly what Orion is looking for, I have to say it seems like useful discussion for anyone interested in roleplaying outside their own "identities" or comfort zones.

 

I'm remembering the first time I ever played a female, I was probably 14 or so. Hm.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary suggests I consider starting a thread about bacon in role playing.

[Orion]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

One thing concerning romance that has recently come up in one of my campaigns is cross-gender play, in this case a male playing a female character.

 

I suspect the player was wanting to try something different than he normally plays (so in this case he is trying to roleplay a beautiful woman) but didn't think through all the ramifications. So while I have been able to develop subplots related to romance and relationships with the other characters, I can't get far with this one. He wants to have relationships for the character, but he can't separate himself enough from the character and just seems weirded out by the idea of his character dating men or having a boyfriend. I'm trying to figure out the best way to resolve the issue.

 

In the Champions campaigns I've been part of, males playing female characters was normal. A female player was extremely rare, but at least half the PCs were female. I knew one guy that refused to play anything but lesbian females. As romance was never an important part of the roleplaying, there was never a character problem. Some of the players skeeved me out though - while their female character was normal, the player was not.

[Orion]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

I don't know if it's actually appropriate to discuss how to roleplay such situations--BUT perhaps here is where different perspectives would be helpful--how women think about romance' date=' flirt and interact, how men do, how LGBT do, how teens do, how young adults do, how middle aged or older adults do and so forth.[/quote']

 

I think this could be a very good thread on its own. And don't limit it to just romance, either. Don't have much to add at the moment myself, other than to note it could be very helpful when trying to play a character very different than one's self. It's good to know both the stereotype, and the average. I may play a gay male in a very respectful manner one day, and a flaming drag queen the next. Or, I might be playing a straight male pretending to be a drag queen as a disguise, but the character is clueless, so I need to know how a drag queen would really act so that I can intentionally screw it up. Now that I think about it, I'd probably have a much better chance of doing a drag queen or man-hating lesbian right than a "normal" teen. Teens are just strange all the time, and I'll never understand them.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

I'm sure someone on rpgnet, or out there on the web has written something absolutely brilliant about this already, but I'll try anyway:

Roleplaying a character who is a different gender from yourself: a few pointers

1. don't play them as a guy/girl who just switched genders and still thinks and acts like a guy/girl

2. boys and girls are raised differently in most cultures and indoctrinated with all kinds of ideas about what's "proper" for members of their own gender, and what's "proper" for members of the opposite gender--if you are unfamiliar with these cultural stereotypes/expectations/archetypes for the gender you're going to play, then do a little research and become familiar with them

3. one trick is to roleplay the aspects of your personality which are not stereotypically masculine(if player is male) or feminine(if female), and to bring those to the fore when RPing the character. If you're normally tough, self-reliant and expect a lot of others, maybe you could roleplay the character as warmer, more dependent on other people, forgiving and empathetic. Or vice versa. The key thing is that you're still being authentic to your own self, just bringing out different aspects of it.

4. research! if you're a man, observe and talk to women you know about how they might view or handle a situation your character is likely to confront. Watch romantic dramas and comedies, soap operas and sexy thrillers to get some idea how fictional women in these genres speak, think and act. Skim a few romance novels, even read a piece of female erotica or three. What do women notice and find attractive about a man, physically, emotionally, intellectually? What do men notice and find attractive about a woman? Same question for LGBT. How do they flirt? How do they signal their interest? How do they use their attractiveness when they want to charm or manipulate someone into doing what they want? What might they daydream or fantasize about, romantically or erotically?

5. practice makes perfect--if you think the characterization didn't quite come off the way you wanted, or get feedback suggesting the character didn't come across as "authentically male/female/LGBT/other", then think about what to do differently and keep trying it. If you're doing the other stuff on this list, odds are you will get closer and closer to some kind of authenticity with every session.

 

--the megaplayboy can recollect falling into #1 with his first 2 or 3 female characters...