Exalted and Sexuality

I recently bought a copy of the fantasy role-playing game Exalted 3rd Edition. Exalted is a game in which you play demigods in a fantasy world and can do things physically, intellectually and emotionally beyond the abilities of normal men and while I plan a fuller post about it later some things about it have jumped out at me that I want write about now, namely how the game takes a very positive view of sex and sexuality, both in the setting and the rule mechanics.

First off throughout the description of Creation (Exalted's default setting) it is obvious that same sex relationships are an accepted and normal part of life. More importantly it made obvious in the descriptive text itself rather than some special side-bar box.  The RPG industry in general has been making great efforts in positively portraying same sex relationships and differing gender roles but it is usually in the form of some special section lecturing the reader.  Rather than this though Exalted just portrays it in the descriptions and bits of fiction that intersperse the rules.  This is an even healthier view, in my opinion, in that the authors feel they don't need to draw special attention to it but just treat same sex relationships merely as something that is.

Moving from sexuality to gender roles one of the cultures of Creation are the Delzahn, a desert nomad people.  Unlike most Creation's other society's the Delzahn have very strict gender roles with the men being the classic warriors/hunters/herdsmen while the women take care of the home and related activities.  But even the Delzahn have a concept called "taking the gray" where a person can decide that they aren't suited for the role of their birth gender and can choose to act in the opposite role.  The cultural description then goes on that couples wherein one or both parties have "taken the grey" often seem to be emotionally healthier than the norm.  One could argue, with some justification, that this just emphasizes the gender binary but I still think it provides a better example of simple acceptance that some people do not have to conform to the norm if they feel it is wrong for them.

All of the above however is in the end just background description fluff.  Very positive and admirable but still fluff.  Where Exalted needs be really praised is in dealing with issues of consent in role-playing games.

Exalted has very interesting rules dealing with social interaction and being able to convince characters to act in your interest.  I will go into details at a later date but I find their social rules to both simple and unique.  Part of it involves being able to create emotional connections with other characters to get them to do what you want.  I'm sure you can see how that could potentially be abused by some people and to their credit the game creators saw the implications as well.  Unlike the issues of sexuality they went out of their way to draw attention to this with a special sidebar section of the rules that states explicitly that attempts to seduce a character can only succeed if that character's player actively consents to the seduction.  If the player doesn't want the character to be seduced because they feel that it is against the character concept or that they personally as a player are uncomfortable with the attempt than it simply does not succeed! That way the would be seducer can't hide behind "the dice said I seduced you" as an excuse and the player maintains their complete control over their own characters choices and must actively consent to any sort of seduction.  This is something that is truly admirable and I would like to see more often in other games, even ones without such specific social interaction rules.

Gaming Quotes III

Note: Last night's Rolemaster session was truly epic largely because Eric the GM's plans got totally screwed over when in the middle of a combat the bad guy wizard totally botched a demon summoning and as a result teleported the party several hundred miles away whilst half melting himself into the  scenery.

"Lice! Lice! Baby" --Eric

"Frosty the snow sword!" --Val and I, describing her magical frost rapier

"The GM is laughing.  That's not a good thing, right?" --Stephen, finally getting the social dynamics of RPGs

Susan's new character is introduced to the party:
"Who are you?" --Stephen
"I don't know how to pronounce my name." --Susan

"That was one hell of a roofie.  That was a great battle.  Or party." --Fred, when his character returns to consciousness after the magical accident.

"I refuse to be killed by a plant." --Fred, while fighting sentient vines that have taken over a village.

"You still have one [vine] on you." --Eric
"I know.  I'm trying to get him off." --Fred

An Epic Tale, Part IV

"What ho, dear brother!" Ludmilla the Insatiable cried as she leaped from her war unicorn and bounded up the steps to the tower three at a time.

"Hello 'Milla," Spatchcock replied flatly, blowing pipeweed smoke into her face. "What brings you here?"

"I was riding through yon hills and saw this village and tower in the distance and I said to my esquire, Spunge," she indicated a put upon man who was trying, without much success, to control the war unicorn, " 'Spunge, what village is that?'

" 'Why tis the village of Fisting-in-the-Dale, Milady', he replied.

"And I said, 'A-ha! Why that is the home of my dear bother, the mighty mage, Spatchcock the Green!  Let us go bid him greetings.'"

Spatchcock puffed on his pipe for several moments.  Then blowing more smoke in his sister's face he asked, "You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"

Irate, Ludmilla drew herself up to her full height, loomed over her older brother and then suddenly deflated.

"Spatchy, I'm in trouble," she said meekly.


[Author's Note: I stole the name Fisting-in-the-Dale from comedian Greg Proops.  He used it in a bit about the quaint names of some English villages.]

So just what is "An Epic Tale"?

You may noticed that over the past few days I have started publishing bits of rather disjointed fantasy fiction here under the the title "An Epic Tale" and are thinking "What's up with that?"

Basically, I am doing it as a bit of self-therapy.  Recent current events and especially the election have gotten me down, so my response has been to laugh through the tears.  I am indulging in my penchant for humorous fantasy fiction in an effort to lighten my mood and, hopefully, the mood of my friends.

Also I am doing this to just simply practice my writing style.  Like many of my friends I've always wanted to be a writer and while I am good at things like characterization and setting, I tend to be weak when it comes to actual plot.  Plus I have some stylistic quirks I need to work out and I hope regularly writing short bits of fiction, generally only a few paragraphs long, will help me see and fix those problems.

To that end, in addition to other geeky stuff I am putting my bits of fantasy flash fiction up here as well.  And while it may seem rather scattershot now, eventually (I hope) it will all come together.

I should say that this is not wholly my idea.  I was inspired by my college friend Daniel Myers, author of the excellent Medieval Cookery website and its companion Medieval Cookery blog.  (Check them out as they are a mine of  great information.)  When we were at Miami University, Dan kept a notebook in which he scribbled similar bits of humorous fantasy flash fiction which he dubbed The Heroes of Sachran.  I always loved the idea and while Dan's sense of humor is even more surreal than my own, it is to him I owe the credit/blame.

Finally, as this is meant to be a project for both readers and writers please leave comments about my posts.  I want to know what is working and what isn't and where I am making a mess of things so I can improve.

Thanks.

An Epic Tale, Part III

Grimbi Grimbison drew himself up to his full height of four feet, ten inches and shoved his crossbow into the crotch of the six foot tall thug in front of him, “What was that you called me?”

Around the tavern floor was scattered coins and cards from the overturned table. “I called you a cheat, short-arse!” the thug screamed as he pulled a short sword from it’s scabbard.

“Now that is needlessly cruel,” Grimbi replied calmly. “I thought this tavern was a safe space.”

“Huh?” answered the now confused thug.

“I don’t mind being called a cheat.  Namely because I was cheating.  But anti-dwarven epithets are just being malicious in a way that doesn’t help the situation.”

“Epi-wha?”  The thug was getting even more confused.  Indeed, the shuffling and whispering by the other drinkers in the tavern gave the impression that they were having a hard time following Grimbi as well.

“I’m saying you could have just called me out as a cheater without disparaging my race.”

The thug lowered his sword and started scratching his head, “I suppose…”

TWANG!

Grimbi let loose with a crossbow bolt and there was a high pitched scream as his opponent fell to the floor grasping at his family jewels.

Grimbi looked down sadly, “Some people are just too stupid to live.”

Spam, spam, spam, eggs, bacon and spam.

Last night this blog got hit by a comments spammer leaving links on at least a half dozen posts.  The spam has been duly deleted and the spammer has been blocked with extreme prejudice.

Does this mean I've finally made the big time?

An Epic Tale, Part II

Spatchcock the Green stood up, coughed twice and looked about the ruins of his laboratory.  “A little less red mercury next time”, he mumbled to himself as he made a note in his still smoldering notebook.

He gently kicked his apprentice Pune, who was still cowering behind an overturned table and said, “Clean up this mess.” He then wandered upstairs to to his library.  Like most sane - for given values of the word sane  - mages, Spatchcock did his experimenting in a specially warded, underground laboratory lest it damage his tower or indeed large swathes of the countryside.

As he ascended to the higher levels of the tower he happened to look up from his notes and and through one of the windows he spotted an armored woman riding towards the tower on a black unicorn.  His pipe fell from his slack jaw at the sight.

“Dammit!  What is my sister doing here?” he muttered.