Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nerdloremaster 01-09-06, 09:26 PM	In my campaign, the female half-elf character is trying to get pregnant. The party is unwilling to sit around for more than 3 months, and the player doesn't want to switch characters. It's kind of a sticky situation, made weirder by the fact that the children would be 1/4 human, 1/4 elf, 1/2 dwarf :rolleyes:. For the sake of the idea, I'd like to assume that this is possible. How should I make rulings on the effects of pregnancy on an adventurer, and the effects of adventuring on the pregnancy?
Pz.Az.04Maus 01-09-06, 09:40 PM	Okay, you don't need to make rules. There are already some on the internet. If you want to know where you can find these rules, you have to PM me, for obvious reasons. The data is free, but also has other things that aren't for the young'ins. It has rules for pregnancy and anything you need, so yeah. It's on the internet as well. Second time this month I had to point it out.
Loren Pechtel 01-10-06, 12:29 AM	Adventuring and late pregnancy do not mix very well! Not only that but what to do with the kid afterwards?
Zookeeper 01-10-06, 01:17 AM	Adventuring at all during the pregnancy is risky. If she get hit in the stomach it could kill the baby. So could a massive hit dealing 50 hp or more (could kill parent thereby killing baby). A trip and fall could cause a miscarrage, or a pit trap where she falls 15 feet. Then a little later, the expanding abdomin would eventually cost thing like new armor, slower movement, reduced DEX, and possibly a full swing with some weapons thereby dealing less damage. Then in late pregnancy, she could go into labor in the middle of a battle. Risky at best. :D
lostone 01-10-06, 07:57 AM	In my campaign, the female half-elf character is trying to get pregnant. The party is unwilling to sit around for more than 3 months, and the player doesn't want to switch characters. It's kind of a sticky situation, made weirder by the fact that the children would be 1/4 human, 1/4 elf, 1/2 dwarf :rolleyes:. For the sake of the idea, I'd like to assume that this is possible.The character just announces that she wants this to the group? Did she honestly expect them to hang around? That is a decision that often goes along with retiring from the adventuring lifestyle. The player needs to realize that. Battle = unsafe for baby before & after birth. Motherly instincts would kick in and the mother would only fight when the baby is threatened, and otherwise do her best to avoid battle completely. Nesting instincts would kick in and the mother would want to settle down and make a home. Possibly in a wilderness village where there is the occasional raid to relive her adventerous youth, but that would be a "hand the kid to the neighbor woman while running to grab my armor and weapons" type situation then. I suppose the character *could* take leadership and whenever a fight is about to break out hand the kid off to the cohort with the understanding/orders that the cohort will protect the kid and flee from battle. But really it is not a realistic expectation from a parent. :rolleyes: And yes, all the other posts about risks of causing miscarriage due to physical exertion and injuries is very very valid. Those entire 9 months are risky enough, some medical conditions have a woman on bedrest for most of the term (meaning they only leave bed to go to the bathroom, everything else they do in bed, including eat). And with an unusual (unnatural?) combination like a dwarf & half-elf, the pregnancy could be risky.
Lina_Inverse 01-10-06, 08:09 AM	In my campaign, the female half-elf character is trying to get pregnant. The party is unwilling to sit around for more than 3 months, and the player doesn't want to switch characters. It's kind of a sticky situation, made weirder by the fact that the children would be 1/4 human, 1/4 elf, 1/2 dwarf :rolleyes:. For the sake of the idea, I'd like to assume that this is possible. How should I make rulings on the effects of pregnancy on an adventurer, and the effects of adventuring on the pregnancy? A)such a combination shouldnt even work. B)if they use magic, say fine. And keep running the caimpaign. Tell that person they can play in 1year game time unless they make a new charecter. except now they have a child. C)if they do adventure with the child. throw a single fireball there way. Perhaps theres a reason you settle down to have children? Espilly when your job involves death? Actions have consequenses.
lostone 01-10-06, 08:54 AM	If you do allow the pregnancy to come to term and the child is born, immediately have it become the obsession of an evil cult as the "prophecied child of an unholy union". Numerous attempts to kidnap it fail, and finally a clever method succeeds (up to DM). This should make the characters realize that it was a bad idea. If not, see fireball idea above :P Or just have every BBEG try to get to the PCs by kidnapping the child and using it as a hostage. "Throw down your weapons or I crush the babies skull. Goooood. Now remove your armor or I gut the child. Gooooood....Now forsake your god or watch your the life fade from your child's eyes....veeeeeeeerrrrrrrrry goood..."
Thelon Fairblade 01-10-06, 10:03 AM	In 2e, I had a character (cleric) who became pregnant through magic. Luckily, she had acquired a Ring of Air Elemental Command during her career -- fly at will meant she didn't have to walk around with aching back and upset center-of-balance. But other issues certainly complicated matters as things progressed (potty-breaks, weakness, dizziness, etc)... you should have seen her casting Cure Disease every day at the start, trying to figure out why she felt nauseated all the time!! She retired from adventuring for 3 months around the birth of the children (twins!) but was roped back into the group as they departed the Forgotten Realms to go Spelljamming. The children had their own room in the ship, and the Alaghi (forest yeti) "Paladin" decided their safety was his personal quest to prove his worthiness as a paladin. And one party member was nearly executed by the alaghi when his magical experiment suffered a catastrophic failure during a ship combat, and the kids were injured! After that scenario, she retired to The Rock (no, not the actor) with her earnings, bought land, and built a temple. She stayed on the Rock as an NPC for many years as the others went about their lives....
jagggar 01-10-06, 10:38 AM	If I had a player who wanted their character to get pregnant and wanted the character to keep adventuring, the gods would immideatly gift the character with sterality. But on the topic of plot-hooks/adventuring-with-a-kidd-is-a-bad-ideas scenarios, I'd have the kidnapper BBEG be one who absoutely refuses to harm kids. That doesn't mean the BBEG won't threaten to hurt the kid. . . . Then wait a few years after the kid would hit maturity, and there you have a wonderful, loyal pawn to send after the party.
Bellator_33 01-10-06, 03:18 PM	You could have the kid magically taken away at birth and sent off through time/another plane etc. That way you could introduce the fully grown offspring as a PC/NPC at anytime you want
Ruhl-Than Sage 01-10-06, 03:35 PM	Just have the character make fortitude saves whenever anything happens that might harm the child. Keep track of how many see fails and knock an IQ point off for each time, maybe throw in some other developmental disorders. Also, if she is ever knocked down to zero hit points the baby dies. If she ever takes any grappling damage after the 1st trimester make a fort save DC 15+damage taken, if she fails the baby dies. If shes really "lucky", when she has the child it'll only be mildly retarded (like intelligence 6) and have most of its limbs and organs intact and fully functioning.
Rolof 01-11-06, 01:44 AM	Ugh. Things like this make me cringe. It can lead to pretty ugly scenarios-like the one a couple months ago someone posted about. The female player and male player (probably significant others or married in real life, but I don't recall) had their characters get in a relationship, the female then got pregnant, and during a fight the guy rolled a 1 while he was trying to protect the woman and the DM ruled that he accidentally kicked the woman in the stomach, causing her to miscarry. The flames on that post went on and on. While I have had the priviledge of roleplaying with some very good female players, I have also had the misfortune to be at the same table with a few who could have as easily been featured on Springer. The former can handle pregnant characters with maturity and grace if they so choose to, but rarely do, the latter seem to think the only way to validate themselves is to use in-game "roleplaying" to take out-of- game flirting or relationships to the next level. Lest anyone say I'm sexist, the same can be said of male players on the topic of sex-I think everyone has known some adolescent type who always tells the DM the first thing they do upon reaching a city after a dungeon crawl is go to the brothel. Or is like the guy in the 8bit D&D theatre gag. If I'm the DM in a game, I largely base any decision as to whether a character can become pregnant or not on what my opinion as to which group the player falls into is.
Cymraegmorgan 01-11-06, 08:47 AM	Why make it complicated? Send her to some nice tropical demi-plane where Time runs fast. Let her gestate, give birth, have a few months quality time with the infant, then return to the party--one day later. Simple, easy, elegant. And hiring an Ogre for a wet nurse is always a safe, if smelly, bet.
lostone 01-11-06, 09:17 AM	You could have the kid magically taken away at birth and sent off through time/another plane etc. That way you could introduce the fully grown offspring as a PC/NPC at anytime you wantI think someone watched Angel. :D If not, that is exactly what happened there. If I'm the DM in a game, I largely base any decision as to whether a character can become pregnant or not on what my opinion as to which group the player falls into is.This is a very valid idea. Maybe the character is barren and unable to have children. Too many serious wounds and blows to the abdomen in combat have caused permanent internal scarring that makes it impossible to carry a child to term. Or being exposed to a magical disease such as mummy rot ruined her chances. Or being exposed to an unknown force (radiation) while adventuring in some blasted wasteland. Maybe being on the wrong end of some magical spells would even produce radiation or some effect that would prevent childbirth.
Roxlimn 01-11-06, 01:02 PM	None. No changes whatsoever. This game is not about pregnancy, and quite frankly, few people like to talk about pregnancy to begin with, let alone play it in a game. More importantly, we don't really know how a fit and rough and tumble adventurer will fare during pregnancy. Most athletes continue to train more or less at a significant fraction of their pre-pregnancy performance until well into their third trimester. I've known women who worked in the fields until they actually gave birth... ...during their lunch break... ...and then they went right back to work. Trauma can be a problem in terms of what we know from modern medical knowledge, but this counts for a lot less in a reality where you can easily mend broken bones in minutes. If you can correct life-threatening trauma with a first level spell, then I've little doubt that you could also rule that the same magic preserves and protects the pregnant state.
lostone 01-11-06, 01:34 PM	Trauma can be a problem in terms of what we know from modern medical knowledge, but this counts for a lot less in a reality where you can easily mend broken bones in minutes. If you can correct life-threatening trauma with a first level spell, then I've little doubt that you could also rule that the same magic preserves and protects the pregnant state.That's all well and dandy, but you have to consider that the fetus probably has at most 1 or 2 hit points. Any blow to the abdomen is going to kill it before a cleric gets anywhere near it. But short of making up a few game mechanics to handle whether the fetus lives or dies...I see no way of handling it if the mother is in combat a lot. What class is the mother? A spellcaster could conceivably waddle around casting spells, and the other characters (especially the father) would probably be more attentive to protecting her. But if she is a fighter/ranger/paladin she's likely to be trained to be in the thick of battle.
WhylniaPendragon 01-11-06, 01:44 PM	As a female DM and player, I used to think pregnancy for my characters wouldn't affect the game too strongly. Boy, was I wrong. In my Campaign, my Husaband plays a Half Celestial Elf who is quite the lady's man and extremely fertile. Over the course of this adventure, not going into too much detail, as this forum isn't the mature boards, he has four children by two wives and one more on the way, via a Dragon. While it was fun to roleplay all this out, it caused definite problems with my campaign. I did my best to adjust but it made one specific problem that I am still dealing with. My Husband's character is a Goodly Elf and in being so, even though it is his destiny to defend the world from Evil and fight the good fight, how could any goodhearted person simply leave his children in the care of stranges, since his two beloved wives have been killed? Not to mention, aside from my campaign, in two other campaigns I've played in, my charactes have gotten themselves pregnant. (Long story and too in detail to tell here.) Let's just say that it's not the fun it might appear to be. I understand the Half-Elf might be having the urge to have a family, but if you allow that it will in all probability, be a major headache. Hopefully, if you do decide to let this happen, that you are more creative than me, because I definitely couldn't make it work. On the subject of whether a Half-Elf and a Dwarf can have children, it's truly up to you, but everything I've read on the subject says no.(Unless one of the parents has Fienish or Celestial blood, which could make it work.) I'm not sure any of this will help, but I felt I should tell you, one DM to another, that it is a difficult road to go down.
WhylniaPendragon 01-11-06, 01:45 PM	As a female DM and player, I used to think pregnancy for my characters wouldn't affect the game too strongly. Boy, was I wrong. In my Campaign, my Husaband plays a Half Celestial Elf who is quite the lady's man and extremely fertile. Over the course of this adventure, not going into too much detail, as this forum isn't the mature boards, he has four children by two wives and one more on the way, via a Dragon. While it was fun to roleplay all this out, it caused definite problems with my campaign. I did my best to adjust but it made one specific problem that I am still dealing with. My Husband's character is a Goodly Elf and in being so, even though it is his destiny to defend the world from Evil and fight the good fight, how could any goodhearted person simply leave his children in the care of stranges, since his two beloved wives have been killed? Not to mention, aside from my campaign, in two other campaigns I've played in, my charactes have gotten themselves pregnant. (Long story and too in detail to tell here.) Let's just say that it's not the fun it might appear to be. I understand the Half-Elf might be having the urge to have a family, but if you allow that it will in all probability, be a major headache. Hopefully, if you do decide to let this happen, that you are more creative than me, because I definitely couldn't make it work. On the subject of whether a Half-Elf and a Dwarf can have children, it's truly up to you, but everything I've read on the subject says no.(Unless one of the parents has Fiendish or Celestial blood, which could make it work.) I'm not sure any of this will help, but I felt I should tell you, one DM to another, that it is a difficult road to go down.
Roxlimn 01-11-06, 02:02 PM	lostone: But short of making up a few game mechanics to handle whether the fetus lives or dies...I see no way of handling it if the mother is in combat a lot. What class is the mother? A spellcaster could conceivably waddle around casting spells, and the other characters (especially the father) would probably be more attentive to protecting her. But if she is a fighter/ranger/paladin she's likely to be trained to be in the thick of battle. Your problem is that you want to model pregnancy as detrimental to a fighter. I don't see any need to do this from a game perspective. It's not "realistic," but I think it makes for a better experience, all in all.
robertliguori 01-11-06, 09:51 PM	Hmm. What kind of wound does it take to slice open someone's carotid artery? How about putting out someone's eye? For starters, it is assumed that you can't do things like this with just hit point damage. You need them to be helpless (or hit them hard or enough times that they are out of HP.) Remember, if the pregnant female fighter can keep the sword from stabbing her in the head, keeping it from stabbing her in her utuerus is no challenge at all. Also remember that once the cervical plug forms, the fetus has total cover, and is protected from area-effect spells and the like. Remember that although she will not be comfortable, pregnant ladies can perform hard labor right until the other kind of hard labor starts, so mechanical penalties are not necessarily called for.
Jerks 01-12-06, 04:34 PM	We had a character get pregnant is a futuristic campaign we ran. As the GM, I thought it would be fun to roleplay, so when the player suggested that maybe her character get pregnant, I said o.k. As a somewhat responsible player she curtailed her adventuring a bit, especially during the last trimester. For the first half of the pregnancy all of the "penalties" where just flavor text. Just general stereotypes that a man such as myself might impose upon a pregnant character (nauseated in the morning, feeling tired, irritable). As her belly started to grow, I didn't want to completely cripple the player, so I just ruled she had the -4 to any checks requiring Endurance or Stamina and was treated as if carrying a medium load at all times. In the final two weeks I treated her as being Fatigued at all times. Just a quick and dirty way of doing it. No random rolls for miscarriage or any other such nonsense. The player was mature and realistic in how she handled it. She avoided combat as much as possible but still managed to get some kick-ass adventuring in. For inspiration, check out Deep Space Nine. Major Kyra was still effective and strong while carrying a child, so you can use it as a springboard for ideals and adventure. Now hanging the baby in a papoose right next to your longsword IS a bit much. Maybe she coould pick up a familiar pocket.
strenoth 01-12-06, 04:50 PM	and as a note, an in-shape woman, who maintains her condition with exercise while pregnant, can still perform acrobatic activities with out risk* to the child in the late trimester. *With out risk assumes that she doesn't slip and fall. ie, so long as she succeeds in her tumble check, etc.
Bez 01-19-06, 02:00 PM	Don't forget that emotional distress can cause premature birth and/or miscarriages. Basically, the character will put on wieght. May have their fortidude save reduced (babies often steal their mother's immune system, it's happen to several of my friends). Might get morning sickness. Could develop hypersensitivities even after the birth. Will have to eat more. Etc. All this and they're going to have to avoid physical and emotional stresses that could harm the baby. Unless it's quite a social or investagative based game, that's going to be tough for an adventurer. As to the race of the baby: If the mother is a 1/2 elf and the father is a dwarf, then it will have a 50/50 chance of being a human/dwarf or elf/dwarf. Neither of these are standard races (though Dark Sun did have human/dwarfs as Muls) so you'd have to house-rule them. Quick & dirty genetics: Females have 2 X chromasomes, Men have 2 Y chromasomes. For Elves, dwarfs, humans, and other races both of these are of that race. For half-elves, half-orcs, etc. One is of each parent race. So a male half-orc has either a human Y and an orc X, or an orc Y and a human X. A female half-elf has a huma X and an elf X. When a pregnancy occurs, randomly determine one of the two chromasomes to come from the father, and one from the mother. If they are both X, then the kid will be a girl, if one is Y and the other X then it's a boy. If both are the same race, then the kid is that race. If they are different then you have a half-breed. Certain half-breed combos may not be possible, in which case pregnancy either doesn't happen, others may have possible flaws, be more likely to miscarry, or be sterile.
Bez 01-19-06, 02:06 PM	Realised that my last post looked quite negative. Adventuring while pregnant is possible. Just bear in mind that the character is likely to (though may not) want to protect the baby even more than she'd protect herself. Also is going to have a much rougher time than normal, both physically and emotionally. Plus all it takes is one good hit in combat and the baby is toast. But yes, apart from negatives to fortitude saves (and probably tumble towards the end), and fatigue in the latter stages. No game penalties.
lostone 01-19-06, 02:19 PM	Neither of these are standard races (though Dark Sun did have human/dwarfs as Muls) so you'd have to house-rule them.Muls were updated to 3.5 in one of the Dragon magazines that covered old settings.
Loren Pechtel 01-19-06, 11:12 PM	Quick & dirty genetics: Females have 2 X chromasomes, Men have 2 Y chromasomes. YY = dead. Men are XY.
Darth Sephiroth 01-20-06, 10:53 AM	You know there really ought to be a pregnant template or something, I mean I ran one adventure where the party had to protect a nobles pregnant wife as they made their way from one city to another. It didn't really come into play that much, but I would have liked to know what it would have done to the stats for the character while she was pregnant
FriendlyBiscuit 01-20-06, 06:28 PM	YY = dead. Men are XY.First of all... No really, LOL! Second of all, if the character has been the target of any serious physical attacks over the course of the campaign, it's the easiest explanation for the character's sterility. Getting thwacked around doesn't do good things to one's tubes. It was my easy solution to one of those brothel-obsessed character I mentioned earlier... few folks, even prostitutes, like to play with mutilated toys. And few ovaries survive more than a couple beatings.
FriendlyBiscuit 01-20-06, 06:28 PM	YY = dead. Men are XY.First of all... :heehee No really, LOL! Second of all, if the character has been the target of any serious physical attacks over the course of the campaign, it's the easiest explanation for the character's sterility. Getting thwacked around doesn't do good things to one's tubes. It was my easy solution to one of those brothel-obsessed character I mentioned earlier... few folks, even prostitutes, like to play with mutilated toys. And few ovaries survive more than a couple beatings.
Loren Pechtel 01-21-06, 01:04 AM	First of all... No really, LOL! Second of all, if the character has been the target of any serious physical attacks over the course of the campaign, it's the easiest explanation for the character's sterility. Getting thwacked around doesn't do good things to one's tubes. It was my easy solution to one of those brothel-obsessed character I mentioned earlier... few folks, even prostitutes, like to play with mutilated toys. And few ovaries survive more than a couple beatings. You're forgetting the effect of magical healing. In a world without cure spells your argument would make sense.
Roxlimn 01-21-06, 04:18 AM	Physical trauma has little to no effect on female fertility. The same cannot be said of male fertility, however. In order for a particular injury to affect female sterility, it must do significant and direct physical damage to an area about the size of a fist, deep inside her pelvic region, which is protected by the pelvic bone. Due to the nature of human tissue, most penetrating injuries to this area is more likely to affect her ability to urinate more than her ability to procreate, if it affects anything at all, and all this prior to the effect of healing magic. Infectious diseases are a far more significant cause of female sterility than physical trauma, even among modern women who get exposed to physical trauma on a regular basis.
Gilean 01-21-06, 07:38 AM	Why does the player want this? If the reason is good enough, and the rest of the group agrees, go with it. Jerks had good suggestion if you want rules for it. But, in no case, allow it and then kill the baby off without first talkign to the player, and confirm that it is cool. Otherwise it is just evil. "You can have a baby, sure, get pregnant." And in next sentence, "Nope, no baby, it got killed.". No fun. Probably. Talk to the players. All of them.
NightEIves 01-29-06, 04:57 PM	There is a very well done netbook out there that someone took the time to create. Im afraid that posting a link to it may be against forum rules due to its adult nature in it, but its called netbook of unlawful carnal knowledge.
CowMasterTrojan 02-02-06, 10:52 AM	How you want to take this really depends on your view of the whole situation. Do you want the player to have to role play this out or is this whole situation just a inconvienance to everyone else? Depending on that answer is they key of what to do. If you want to roleplay it out, I do suggest finding some of the books out there that are for mature audiences only. Make sure to make the player feel a danger in adventuring and having a baby. Thus certain things would require a fort save to prevent a miscarrage: -Taking 50% of the characters max life in damage. -Falling more than 10 feet (or even falling anything that could deal damage if you wanted) -Casting spells of the highest levels known. -Casting spells of highest 2 levels known. -Inflict wound spells. -Harm=instant miscarrage. -Death spells In addition casting spells or have spells cast on the character could have a cumulative chance effect of altering the baby in some way. For example, if the character has cure wounds spells cast on them alot, the race of the baby may become a aasimar or something like that and the child would be a good cleric/healer. Perhaps casting invisibility on one self alot also makes the baby extra sensitive to light. You could go many ways with it. Additionally, potions would have a % chance of doing something entirely different or even producing a drug like effect because of it mixing with the excess hormones in the body. Make sure the player knows about these dangers as well. It might discourage their plans anyway. If you wanted to not deal with the whole darn thing, heres what I suggest. Let her roam around with the party for at least 3-5 months. Then it just becomes too much. She has a few options. A) you can tell the player that if they want the kid but dont want to play another character they can go home and you'll call them when the baby is born in the game world. B) You can say that they have to play a NPC, your the DM, they can deal with it. C) If the player looks into it, perhaps allow them to find a Pocket dimension where years there is only days in your campaign. Let the character go there. Thus they can actually raise the child. D) Make up BS about why the party is immobilized for 4-6 months. Perhaps they become trapped in a village deep within artic tundra due to seasonal closings of passages and cannot leave. And remember, if the player really is being a pain in the butt you can: Kill the character Make the baby evil Make the baby trouble prone Make the baby the prophecized coming of a dark god. Clearly such a abomination of mixed races would be perfect. Do all of the above. (so the child is harassing the Players second character as karmic revenge).
scienceman47 02-06-06, 02:29 AM	Please dont be cruel to the character who wants to do this. If anything its good roleplaying.
lostone 02-06-06, 10:54 AM	Please dont be cruel to the character who wants to do this. If anything its good roleplaying.It is only good roleplaying if the character does the responsible thing and retires from adventuring, or at least takes a 9+ month break from adventuring to make sure the pregnancy is safe. Even if they must leave the child with family/friends/monestary after to go save the world some more. It is not good roleplaying to constantly throw yourself into danger while pregnant, motherly instincts would be to get away from danger by the fastest & safest route.
Krede_the_Mighty 02-08-06, 02:30 PM	Second out of character post- First off, I'm going to second everything Roxlimn has said. They're the most informed and balanced (read: not operating from a chauvanistic viewpoint) comments on the thread thus far (which is not to say everyone else is, merely that Roxlimn's are on the money). Secondly, I'm going to suggest that this is an incredible opportunity for the party involved. Your players may or may not be thinking that glory and wealth are to be gained in the normal ways--slaying dragons, defeating warlords, etc. But think about this--the names of their characters would be known the world over (and we're obviously talking in-game here) if they developed magic based around pregnancy. I'm serious. The magic-users and pregnant member of the party have an opportunity to study/invent (with appropriate quests as necessary) spells that will allow pregnant women to travel easier, to eliminate cramps and backaches, to reduce or eliminate risks during pregnancy itself, to probe the bond between growing child and mother (imagine a spell or psionic power that allowed for communication on a higher level between the two). The pregnant character can become the focus for an entire set of adventures, ones that will both directly involve her (as Roxlimn pointed out- she'll be safe and active well into the second trimester...and that stuff about motherly instincts causing her to run or only fight in defense of her child is bunk) and also allow the party to go off on its own from time to time (perhaps as she enters the third trimester, it is deemed unsafe for her to visit the volcano where the party will find "new-born earth." She'll have other opportunities in town while the party goes off to find the needed item). In any event, I think you have a golden opportunity with the pregnant character so long as the situation is handled with an open mind (and proper information on what pregnancy means for a woman).
Mist of Shadows 02-11-06, 03:47 AM	Use common sense, oh wait it doesn't exist. Just keep in mind fairness and the feelings of players. Personally I would leave the game (after breaking the dms fingers) if he was was rude enough to go ahead with pregnancy for a character then at the drop of a hat have the character lose it. Sort of in that list of things you don't do, like rape. I like the magic around with the pregnancy part. A few options that we have used in the past. 1 play something else for a while 2 play a town based game 3 increase the amount of down time 4 player for the first 4 or 5 months then use a lot of down time. 5 take your chances but you really can't expect people to wait for you. 6 kicks the person that said motherly instinct would stop you adventuring, please look at the horrible horrible number of mothers that abandom babies to die or worse. It's a myth that there is some instinct there. Just take things in stride and talk to the players and dm.
Shinryouga 02-13-06, 03:18 PM	In the game I DM my wife (an excellent DM in her own right) is playing a darfellan bard. The basic campaign is a strange world where an inscrutable entity hoards the last surviors of dying worlds. (Jack Chalker's Well World series as inspiration) Her character is the last darfallen from a world where the sahuagain succeeded in, for lack of a better term, taking over the world. However, she carries a child. A marid (genie) granted her wish, and took the form of a darfellan to "help" her carry on her race. He even put her dead husband's willing soul into her necklace of protection as a freebie (its now an Item of Legacy). Sum up? She's been packing a darfellan half-genie fetus around for the last 4 months of game time. She has been making daily fortitude checks on her own, and up until the last two weeks of game time, was keeping the whole thing a secret from the other players and characters. (A bad day of morning sickness let the party cleric get wind of it) Now she's approaching the "settle down" point and is debating what to do. Now that the group is currently in the employ of a wealthy, powerful, and obsessive dracolich chosen-of-Falazure charged with protecting reality from destruction (No reality= no life= no death= forced Death God retirement) she may just take a jaunt to a pocket demiplane with fast-time traits. Final Opinion: If a pregnant character can make your game a deeper, more interesting, and (most importantly) more fun experience, then go for it. If it threatens party stability, cripples party effectiveness, or just plain makes the game suck for even one of the players, dont do it. That simple. Just my two coppers.
Wyrd Bearer 02-13-06, 07:43 PM	Allow her to get pregnant, then hit her with an older edition of haste (for those who have forgotten or don't know haste used to age the target one year every time it was cast on him/her).
lostone 02-14-06, 08:00 AM	Allow her to get pregnant, then hit her with an older edition of haste (for those who have forgotten or don't know haste used to age the target one year every time it was cast on him/her).Depending on how you interpret the 2E haste, it could be a bad thing. I always took it that it aged you a year because of the added stress it placed on your body to move that fast, drawing on reserves and your "life force". If that is the case, then it would be an abortion in spell form. However if all it does is advance your age a year, you'd end up with a 3 month old infant who is now still in the womb (making a very difficult birth) underfed and needs immediate nourishment. :D I just don't see magically aging the fetus through 2E haste as being a good thing, but that is me.
Shinryouga 02-15-06, 05:26 PM	Not to mention if the 2e haste worked you'd have dire stretch marks. That and assuming we're also using the old 2e 1 round = 1 minute timetable, 12 hours (yeesh) of labor contractions would go by in 0.08 seconds. That baby would shoot out like a round from a rail gun! The 6 second round would be even worse. Times like that are when I love the dm for saying, "Its magic, people. It works, it worked, and we are moving on." Just my two coppers.
Almos 02-16-06, 03:06 PM	If you have players that want to explore childbirth, sexuality, and other such concepts "normal" people experience as a natural part of their lives, I suggest hat you check out the Book of Erotic Fantasy. Despite it's name it's not all about sex. It should not be considered porn. (Although you can certailny use it to introduce pornographic aspects to your game.) Quote from Valar Project, publisher of the Book of Erotic Fantasy: "Book of Erotic Fantasy provides rules for issues of sex, seduction, love, marriage, conception, as well as other relationship issues, compatible with the world's best-selling fantasy roleplaying game." I think it's great when players want to explore their characters lives outside of the standard adventuring stereotypes. What real person wouldn't want to have a life other than bloody conflicts and dark damp dungeons? Let your characters embrace love and life, I say! Don't let your character get stuck in the normal dreary hack and slash: Let your character experience what makes life worth living! Why is your character trying to save the world from evil? What's in it for him? What makes the life she is protecting worth living? Is it just power, glory, honor, or wealth? Or is it love, friendship, and companionship? Why doesn't your character want to have a family and settle down sometime? That's what "normal" people crave isn't it? The thing that is generelly referred to as "getting a life". This being said, you really should check with all your players before introducing something like this to your game. It might not be easily handled. You should have experienced responsible players at your table and you should realize that it's a lot of work, and might be embarassing to some. Just be careful with it. Check out the review from rpg.net. Unfortunately Valar Project, Inc lost their D20 license and the book is now OGL, but still it's a valid addition to your collection. Notice: This book has Adult Content! REVIEW OF BOOK OF EROTIC FANTASY http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9982.phtml Book of Erotic Fantasy looses d20 license http://www.gamewyrd.com/echoes/others2_14.php