Sex Appeal Should Include DX

[zot]

Why doesn't Sex Appeal also let you roll against DX? I mean, come on.

Slinky, seductive movements (including dancing) are all DX based. As are many displays of athletic prowess...

[zot]

And anyone who thinks dancing men aren't sexy obviously hasn't seen Chris Farley's Chippendales audition with Patrick Swayze (may they both rest in peace).

[Wayne]

Now we’re just getting silly!

[zot]

OK, that was silly. But I am serious -- Sex Appeal should allow DX rolls in addition to ST and IQ.

[Chris Rice]

I don't think it should automatically include DEX, but I see no reason why a player couldnt have their character entice someone with their "dirty dancing." In which case a DX roll might be appropriate.

[JLV]

Seems like a GM ruling, more than a "rule."

[Steve Jackson]

I agree. If a player roleplayed it and explained how he was effectively "showing off," I might give them a shot at it. Especially if they had Charisma to focus it. But a specific rule, no.

[KevinJ]

Originally Posted by steve jackson

i agree. If a player roleplayed it and explained how he was effectively "showing off," i might give them a shot at it. Especially if they had charisma to focus it. But a specific rule, no.

thus spake zarathustra!

[tbeard1999]

Originally Posted by zot

Why doesn't Sex Appeal also let you roll against DX? I mean, come on.

Slinky, seductive movements (including dancing) are all DX based. As are many displays of athletic prowess...

This gets very complex very quick, because men and women are GENERALLY attracted to different qualities. (I have no opinion on homosexual relationships, so I exclude them from this post).

So a Sex Appeal talent in an RPG is VERY abstracted. I think that I'd play it something like this - it's a major advantage. The person with Sex Appeal will win a contest about 3/4 of the time against a rival without it, unless the rival has a huge advantage (wealth and power in the case of male rivals; maybe a HUGE difference in ST; I have no idea in the case of female rivals, since I think men tend to be pretty one-dimensional).

In GENERAL, men are attracted to a woman's physical beauty (which includes her figure, but the research shows that facial beauty is extremely important). In fact, I'd submit that that's the ABSOLUTE most important quality for most males. It certainly is for most males I've known (including me).

In GENERAL, women are attracted to qualities other than beauty. Fro instance, power and wealth are powerful predictors of a male's relative success with the opposite sex, though I suspect a poor, 25 year old Sean Connery or Harrison Ford would be quite successful with the ladies.

Query how successful a poor 40 year old Sean Connery would be, though...

Men who can dance well usually have better success with females, as do men who are confident, highly competent, tall, masculine or have deep voices. And of course, the purpose of the liason matters. Looks or dancing ability might be more important to a female in a one night stand, while wealth and power might be more important if the goal is a long term relationship.

As food for thought - and to illustrate differences between genders - I once saw a photo of a beautiful woman, with a fantastic body, who was leaning against a wall very seductively. The photo was a side shot. Her only clothing was a pair of tennis shoes. Researchers showed the photos to men and women and tracked where their eyes lingered. They projected a heat map on the photo based on this data.

For men, the largest heat bloom was on the face, followed by breasts, followed by hips.

Women were the same, with one major difference - the largest heat bloom was on her shoes. Then much smaller blooms for the face, followed by breasts, followed by hips.

Make of this what you will.

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by zot

OK, that was silly. But I am serious -- Sex Appeal should allow DX rolls in addition to ST and IQ.

I don't believe the Sex Appeal need say anything about dancing, writhing seductively, or whatever.

I do think the saving throw should say "your highest of ST, adj-DX, or IQ" which is dirt simple and just means that people admire those with one quality that stands out.

My reason for this is that many of your classic "seductive" characters are often going to be average ST and IQ but high DX individuals. It makes no 'in-genre" sense to penalize them and instead say that the sexiest people are always muscular or smart, rather than the lithe body types.

The current rules are great for having Conan seduce the dancing girl, but no so good for the dancing girl seducing conan. I'm not sure if it makes that the Human Tank (defined as high ST) will be sexier than the Amazon (defined as high DX - see p. 6). How about letting them both be equal?

So all I would change is "ST or IQ" to "higher of ST, adjusted DX, or IQ" which also means you're less sexy if you're in a high DX person in armor.