Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, transgender, gender identity, etc. in 5e

[1989]

You don't need to be confined to binary notions of
sex and gender. The elf god Corellon Larethian is often
seen as androgynous or hermaphroditic, for example,
and some elves in the multiverse are made in Corellon's
image. You could also play a female character who
presents herself as a man, a man who feels trapped in a
female body, or a bearded female dwarf who hates being
mistaken for a male. Likewise, your character's sexual
orientation is for you to decide.


Was this really necessary?

[Emperor Norton]

Does it really hurt anything?

[1989]

I see this paragraph not as something offered as genuine, good-faith roleplaying advice for a medieval fantasy roleplaying game.

I see this as an awkward insertion of an agenda by a certain very vocal minority in society.

[Grymbok]

I see this paragraph not as something offered as genuine, good-faith roleplaying advice for a medieval fantasy roleplaying game.

I see this as an awkward insertion of an agenda by a certain very vocal minority in society.

So basically you were trying hard to be offended and succeeded? Well done!

Ultimately I'm with Emperor Norton on this. To me personally it seems unnecessary - it's not something I need to be told I can do. But I'm aware that to people with minority gender identities the lack of such inclusion can feel like erasure. 100 extra words that breaks nothing and makes some people feel better seems like a win/win to me.

[Emperor Norton]

I see this as an awkward insertion of an agenda by a certain very vocal minority in society.

If people who support inclusivity are a minority in society, we are doing worse off than I thought.

[Warboss Squee]

One has to love the fact tbat there are people right now blogging/posting that this is obviously the work of the cis people, cause they didn't do it right.

[Zachary The First]

As I commented elsewhere, I think simply saying "feel free to select your character's genders, values, and behavior as you see fit" would have been enough. I don't necessarily know a RPG needs more than that.

[1989]

So basically you were trying hard to be offended and succeeded? Well done!

Ultimately I'm with Emperor Norton on this. To me personally it seems unnecessary - it's not something I need to be told I can do. But I'm aware that to people with minority gender identities the lack of such inclusion can feel like erasure. 100 extra words that breaks nothing and makes some people feel better seems like a win/win to me.

Good point.

Sometimes the more vocal segments of these minorities leave a bad taste in my mouth whereas the regular joe alternate-gender-identity person may be swell. My vision is probably clouded by that.

[arminius]

It makes them ecstatic. It has no effect on the game as played at your table.

If anything it reads as a cynical buy off.

[Shipyard Locked]

It kind of reminds me of when environmentalism really started to sink in and companies started slapping "eco-friendly" blather and seals-of-approval on their product labels, not out of any genuine compassion for the environment but because they had calculated that the exact moment had arrived where being eco-friendly would prove more profitable that business as usual.

But whatever, cynical or not, it's progress.

[1989]

Cynical, yes. Good analogy. Business. Appease. Calculate. Make money.

[Rincewind1]

It makes them ecstatic. It has no effect on the game as played at your table.

If anything it reads as a cynical buy off.

This.

Personally, I am cool with it (as long as nobody expects "minority quotas" in adventures ) - not all transsexuals are cunts, just those  that write on RPG.net (Hello darlings, I know you will be reading this thread!!). I admit I myself just assume since it's fantasy, the gods make sure everyone gets born in the right body. But if someone was really stalwart due to their identity issues, I guess I'd just go "Very well, but just like in our world, some people will not be cool with that. In fact, lots more," but that's mostly because I usually run dark fantasy, intolerant worlds in general.

[Tyndale]

Was this really necessary?

Nope.

[Kiero]

I see this paragraph not as something offered as genuine, good-faith roleplaying advice for a medieval fantasy roleplaying game.

Since when has D&D ever been meaningfully medieval? It's a medieval pastiche at best, but it bears little resemblance to any identifiable era.

[Brad]

I said it in the other thread, I'll repeat it here: this just seems like a marketing gimmick to appeal to some politically correct agenda. It has no place in a roleplaying game. I want to play wizards and elves in a fantasy realm, not worry about some minority opinion being pushed down my throat 24/7 by the media.

Seriously, it's not "bad" in the normative sense, but it is unnecessary, annoying and somewhat obnoxious.