We don't avoid it, but it never comes up-- I've tried introducing some romance hooks into some of my games, but my players have generally ignored them.

Quote from: Black Vulmea;634295Do your roleplaying game experiences completely exclude anything that fundamentally resembles the human experience?

People fuck around, they fall in love, they hook up, they break up. The idea that this happening in a roleplaying game is "icky" and something to be avoided at all costs is much more embarrassing and childish than maturely dealing with it.

And if you don't think you and your group can handle relationships and sex maturely, what the fuck makes you think they can handle anything else maturely, either? I mean, Christ, this lends just as much weight to the whole 'gamers are social retards!' meme as your fucked-up DM does.

So basically you're saying that because I don't want my RPGs to be a simulation of real life, I'm fucked up?

I'm playing a game.  I'm not writing the Great American Novel.  From my experience, injecting sex into an RPG is opening a can of worms unless all of the ground rules are explicitly specified ahead of time.  Which is also something that rarely happens in real life anyway.

Just saying "sex is normal so if your game doesn't have it means that you and your game are abnormal" doesn't impress me very much.  Believe it or not, but some people don't really want to mix sex with their RPGs.  Just like some people may or may not want to have a beer while watching the game on television.  If your prior experience of sex with RPGs is of the teenage testosterone-laden bodice ripping-Penthouse Forum variety, you're not going to be that interested in hearing a "let's have sex in the game" pop up in tabletalk.  Unless that's you're thing, that is, in which case hey, go for it.

QuotePlaying a roleplaying game is like work?

Seriously, I have no idea what the fuck you're trying to say here.

What, you never worked at a company that would fire people for sex in the office?  Or for fooling around on company time?  Just because something is normal doesn't mean that it has to be in your face all the time, or that others appreciate it.

Just like your example a few posts back about a very bloody, GoT-like campaign being okay but sex isn't, I'd also argue that sort of 'rivers of blood' campaign isn't okay for some people either.  That doesn't make them Pollyanna, but it means there are certain places they don't want to go in their RPG.

FWIW, I agree with most of what you say, flyerfan.  

I still do think there is a weird tendency for PCs to be homeless, celibate wanderers with no family, romance, or social life.  However, I don't consider it creepy or fucked up in any way, and I'm sure there are plenty of fine personal reasons for not having sex come up in-game.

A vow of chastity, for one.

But otherwise, yeah it happens. Kind of like real life.

Some are better at it than others. Different people have different expectations.

Again, kind of like real life.

Quote from: flyerfan1991;634324So basically you're saying that because I don't want my RPGs to be a simulation of real life, I'm fucked up?

That's not what you said.

You said it was "juvenile at best."

I think that's fucked up.

Quote from: Black Vulmea;634358That's not what you said.

You said it was "juvenile at best."

I think that's fucked up.

Yep, and that's my opinion formed from my years of gaming.  If my experiences had been different I might have a different opinion, but that's the breaks.

Quote from: One Horse Town;633840I banged a copy of Unearthed Arcana once.

Let me guess: the polearm section?

Quote from: jhkim;634337FWIW, I agree with most of what you say, flyerfan.  

I still do think there is a weird tendency for PCs to be homeless, celibate wanderers with no family, romance, or social life.  However, I don't consider it creepy or fucked up in any way, and I'm sure there are plenty of fine personal reasons for not having sex come up in-game.

In my games it tends to be pretty utilitarian. Most of the time it's just assumed to fall under carousing, which includes wine, women, song, gambling and other ways to pass the time while other PCs are busy, to blow money and most importantly to gain information.

Otherwise it usually comes up when a PC tries courting an NPC in order to form a pact or as a condition of inheriting titles, property and so on. I had one PC (a fighter who was 10th level and looking to set up his own stronghold) settle a feud this way with a noble family that held title to lands next to his own. In another case, the NPC nobles came courting the PC.

The only other instance I can think of was a hag (annis) who was so smitten by a PC bard with a very high Looks score (I fucking hate the word "comeliness") and high charisma stat kept trying to abduct and "marry" him, and made it clear she intended to kill his comrades and serve them as the main course at the wedding feast.

I decide if the suitor accomplishes his or her goal by first checking the Looks score for first impressions and possible charm/disgust (adjusted for the wisdom score of the one being pursued), then the standard reaction roll for recruiting henchmen/hirelings, adjusted by charisma. In the case of courting someone from a powerful family, it's a little more complicated: i.e. just because your dashing rogue won the heart of the princess doesn't mean her family will allow the marriage, and a casual roll in the hay will almost certainly start a vicious feud if they're discovered...

As a DM or player I don't really roleplay this part. It's a matter of "Ulfric will try to seduce the barmaid" or "Ulfric will try to win the hand of the thegn's niece".

This puts the game more into fairy tale territory than the typical fantasy/swords & sorcery milieu, but that can be a good thing.

Sorry to report that in my current Planescape Pathfinder game, a potential sex scene did not come to fruition.

Darn Paladins with vows of chastity.

Quote from: Bill;634440Sorry to report that in my current Planescape Pathfinder game, a potential sex scene did not come to fruition.

Darn Paladins with vows of chastity.

They kept the chastity idea in Pathfinder?  I don't recall seeing that survive in 3.0.

Quote from: flyerfan1991;634441They kept the chastity idea in Pathfinder?  I don't recall seeing that survive in 3.0.

It may just be a monk option in pathfinder; not sure.

The player was roleplaying it regardless.

Again, I don't know why this has to go any farther than "I don't want to picture you guys naked".

Everybody poops, are we going down that road next?

Quote from: mcbobbo;634467Again, I don't know why this has to go any farther than "I don't want to picture you guys naked".

Everybody poops, are we going down that road next?

So you can picture a swooping dragon pouring fire down upon a village but you can't make the jump that Jimbob is actually playing Nymphina the Cleric of Hawtness?

Quote from: Black Vulmea;634295Seriously, I have no idea what the fuck you're trying to say here.

Not to speak for the dude, but as an Aspie myself in real life I do not so much as like being touched and I am still uncertain what response people want from me when they spin their latest tale of sexual conquest. I have heard people say something to the effect of "sex is a natural function but so it going to the toilet and I don't want to hear about that either." I am not quite that extreme (equating procreation with excretion), but I understand how some people are. The world is an awful place and many people just want to get the job done and avoid all the squishy distractions.

In my own review of Book of Erotic Fantasy I remarked some people might be "sex positive" but in the aggregate the world is not a sex positive place. I stand by that assessment. Often not talking about sex is just one of those comprises we have to make to get through a day with as little misery as possible.

C'est la vie.

Goddamn, and people wonder why our hobby has a rep of being home to creepers.