Sexually Dimorphic Races [Fantasy]

[Black Leviathan]

I'm a big fan of dramatically bigger and more aggressive female Orks in fantasy worlds, but I don't stat them with CPs.

I was so put-off by the stat difference between male and female characters in 1st Edition that I haven't done any sexually dimorphic character templates other than plumage.

[Flyndaran]

Interestingly, this thread made me realize I do it a lot with science fiction aliens but never with fantasy species. I don't know why that is.

Point value between the sexes matters little, I think. Because the lower point sex just gives more character creation freedom for the player which few hate.

Even that assumes that 100 point males are equally as common as females, etc. That doesn't have to be true. If one is sub-sapient, then their point value really doesn't matter.

[Anthony]

I think the problem for playable races is that players prefer not to have a specific role force a specific gender, and sexual dimorphism tends to do that (there is a reason most games don't have stat differences between male and female humans).

Note that you can get around this if the genders in the alien race are not really the same as human. For example, a race modeled on ants or bees might expect PCs to play drones, as neither breeding females (mostly sessile) nor breeding males (very short lived) are terribly viable.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Interestingly, this thread made me realize I do it a lot with science fiction aliens but never with fantasy species. I don't know why that is.

The only time I've done sexual dimorphism was in a fantasy game... it was the 'fay'.

Elves were the female of the fay, Dwarves the males. And yes, they lived, worked, etc, separately. Coming together only for mating and separating again once the child was born (with the child going with the parent of it's sex).

[AlexanderHowl]

That is an interesting interpretation. Of course, other people have Nymph/Satyr, Dryad/Faun, Light Elf/Dark Elf, etc. Another option is the race that uses humans as part of their breeding pool, with children taking after the parent whose sex they share. Perhaps Dryads can also reproduce with male humans and Fauns can also reproduce with female humans.

In that case, I could see religious groups making the practice taboo to prevent outcrossing and coming down hard on anyone who breeds out of their group. Perhaps Dryads and Fauns are demonized and executed on sight, which might be a problem if they possess substantial magical powers. If Dryads can permanently transform humans into trees and Fauns can permanently transform humans into goats, then you could have retaliatory strikes that depopulation entire regions. An example of such a power would be the following:

Dryad Tree Transformation: Affliction (Advantage, Alternate Form (Tree), +150%; Cone, 20 yards, +190%; Extended Duration, Permanent, Remove Curse, +150%; Magical, -10%; Malediction 2, +150%; Selective Area, +20%) [75].

Faun Goat Transformation: As above except Alternate Form (Goat) [75].

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by RyanW

In a science fiction setting, I've considered generational dimorphism. When a mommy alien and a daddy alien love each other very much, they make a potted plant together. Then it drops seeds that turn into babies.

I've done something like that, inspired by the alternation of generations in higher plants. I had an ecosystem in which every higher species including the intelligent autochthones alternated between sessile diploid autotrophs and motile haploid heterotrophs.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Note that you can get around this if the genders in the alien race are not really the same as human. For example, a race modeled on ants or bees might expect PCs to play drones, as neither breeding females (mostly sessile) nor breeding males (very short lived) are terribly viable.

In the terminology I learned, drones are the breeding males, so called because they do no work.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by whswhs

In the terminology I learned, drones are the breeding males, so called because they do no work.

Interesting. I was taught that people who do no work are called "drones" because they are like breeding male bees. "Drone" has cognates in most of the Germanic languages with a sense of "male bee".

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by whswhs

In the terminology I learned, drones are the breeding males, so called because they do no work.

Hm. Yeah, I got the words wrong. I meant non-breeding workers and warriors (which are technically female for both ants and bees, but in practice their gender is irrelevant).

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

My undersea fantasy ideas tend to include a race based heavily on certain kinds of Anglerfish. The males are cat-sized nonsapient salt water tadpoles that exist only to reproduce by getting absorbed, while the females are fishy humanoids with a single glowing antenna, huge needle-like teeth, and featureless, pitiless black saucer eyes.

Reminds me of the Pak'mra from Babylon 5 - it turned out that the "hump" visible on the backs of some individuals was actually a symbiotic mate, anglerfish style. All of the sapient, interacting individuals were of a single gender.