Seems like Chris might be interested in role-playing a GM coming out of the closet. :)

So, I just finished listening to this episode…

Ummm… I strongly suspect that if this podcast didn’t have an all male audience before, it does now. :)

Seriously though, when I gamed as a teen and sex came up, it was handled way off screen. Nobody wanted to play out something like that with or in front of other teenage boys.

As an adult doing more serious RP, we try to keep it PG and cut scene when things get intimate. This is especially true if it’s a game that *Coff* one of my children is playing in. OMG, there is nothing more awkward that playing through a scene where a PC (played by your teenage son) is working through relationship issues with an NPC.

I will say that occasionally when my wife has a character who has a relationship with an NPC (I control), the sideboard (private and after game) interactions can be a lot of fun.

That’s exactly how our games were, too. Our characters were all pretty much asexual and lacking even the most simple romantic interests. It could be argued that our games lack(ed) a certain degree of depth as a result of said aversion, but I also don’t have any embarrassing stories about sexual tension among my peers.

My own experiences with romantic overtones in games has been varied. It depends on the type of plot. Some of the more…. Jocular games focusing on door kicking and simply defeating the bad guys have none at all. Other, more character driven games have had some level of interpersonal romantic attachment between PC’s and between PC’s and NPC’s. One long term game I’ve participated in (and briefly GM’ed) was Multi-generational with the PC’s. With the players taking on the roles of some character’s children later on during the campaign. That was a multi-year campaign with only a small core of players and a rotating cast of guest PC’s that would come and go. Although sitting as it did at the relative beginning of my gaming career. Although it was certianly enduring, I don’t know if I’d consider it a wholesale success. Alot of zany stuff happened back then.

These stories aside, it’s like I said, you have to know your players. In that last story, both Gregg and I got along well, and I knew that even with his brief (less than 5 years) amount of gaming, he’d be able to handle such a situation, and he did. Honestly, if he and I hadn’t taken it away from the table, I think it could have become a very awkward and uncomfortable moment, and turned into a bad experience, rather than the fun and enjoyable encounter it actually was. It really added a depth to his character, and and interesting wrinkle to the dynamic among the PCs. We had similar instances, though not of the romantic nature, occur with all the other PCs as well.

Chris, I really empathize with you on the duelist character. I once played a Star Wars character, kind of an intergalactic cowboy, who once fell prey to some sort of illusion. The DM was saying that I was having a night of passion with a beautiful woman. In reality, it was my backpack. And he described it in vivid detail!

Everyone at the table was laughing and having a grand old time…except for me. I hated it. To this day, I hate it. Fun at someone else’s expense is just wrong.

I think what got me is the detail. While I would have rather it not happen at all, he could have at least been more vague.

This is why I try to keep sex out of my games. Some players just can’t handle it, and it makes things uncomfortable for everyone. Best to just stick with the adventure.

245 episodes and however many bonuses and this episode triggered my first major laugh-out-loud. In the office, no less. I’m glad no one asked me what I was laughing at. Thanks for sharing, Chris.

Happy Halloween 10 years later.