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Old 05-12-2017, 11:09 PM   #1
edk926
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Default A few sexual questions

First, how many disadvantage points would "Barren" and "Impotent" be in a world/tech-level where it's not curable through biotechnology or magic?

Second, in general I would say most fetishes would be quirks, but what about particularly unusual ones that the average person would find very weird? Could those fall into an odious personal habit with limitations due to it not being obvious until there's intimacy involved and be worth more than -1 point?

Finally, what would the modifier be for a "sex-based" attack/power/affliction? Examples, picture some sort of black widow succubus creature that mates to get a man's seed and then puts him into a coma immediately after. Or just picture literal sexual healing.
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Old 05-12-2017, 11:22 PM   #2
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: A few sexual questions

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Originally Posted by edk926 View Post
First, how many disadvantage points would "Barren" and "Impotent" be in a world/tech-level where it's not curable through biotechnology or magic?
That's usually a Quirk, but in some cultures might come with a Social Stigma, negative Reputation, or similar. Hell, I once designed a world where it would essentially be a Secret of the "Possible Death" level.

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Originally Posted by edk926 View Post
Second, in general I would say most fetishes would be quirks, but what about particularly unusual ones that the average person would find very weird? Could those fall into an odious personal habit with limitations due to it not being obvious until there's intimacy involved and be worth more than -1 point?
I'd be tempted to build it as a negative Reputation - those who hear about your odd "tastes" are likely to react poorly to you. The fact those you try to get involved with such are automatically affected by the Reputation (assuming they have an issue with it) isn't really worth further points.

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Originally Posted by edk926 View Post
Finally, what would the modifier be for a "sex-based" attack/power/affliction? Examples, picture some sort of black widow succubus creature that mates to get a man's seed and then puts him into a coma immediately after. Or just picture literal sexual healing.
The Succubus in GURPS Horror, page 66, has a version of Leech that requires sexual intimacy (that's literally an Accessibility Limitation on the ability). You'll want to use the Limitations on that attack for this, replacing Leech with Affliction, Healing, or similar.
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Old 05-12-2017, 11:32 PM   #3
whswhs
 
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Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: A few sexual questions

I don't think you get to make it an odious personal habit unless it's obvious to other people. Diogenes's reputed public sexual activity would make a plausible OPH, perhaps. But most people's sexual conduct takes place in private, and thus isn't an OPH, almost by definition. It works better as a Secret (especially in periods where unusual behavior gets you put to death or locked in a madhouse) or maybe a Social Stigma.
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Old 05-12-2017, 11:36 PM   #4
Anthony
 
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Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: A few sexual questions

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Originally Posted by edk926 View Post
First, how many disadvantage points would "Barren" and "Impotent" be in a world/tech-level where it's not curable through biotechnology or magic?
Usually a quirk, unless it has particularly severe social consequences, in which case it's either a negative reputation or a Secret.
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Originally Posted by edk926 View Post
Second, in general I would say most fetishes would be quirks, but what about particularly unusual ones that the average person would find very weird?
Same answer -- negative Reputation or Secret, depending on whether it's publicly known.
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Old 05-13-2017, 12:33 AM   #5
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: A few sexual questions

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Originally Posted by edk926 View Post
First, how many disadvantage points would "Barren" and "Impotent" be in a world/tech-level where it's not curable through biotechnology or magic?

Second, in general I would say most fetishes would be quirks, but what about particularly unusual ones that the average person would find very weird? Could those fall into an odious personal habit with limitations due to it not being obvious until there's intimacy involved and be worth more than -1 point?

Finally, what would the modifier be for a "sex-based" attack/power/affliction? Examples, picture some sort of black widow succubus creature that mates to get a man's seed and then puts him into a coma immediately after. Or just picture literal sexual healing.
It's only an OPH when you don't just do it in private. Wearing a gimpsuit on the street for example. As for the value of a "must have sex" limit, well that tends to add a good 15 minutes to getting your power to...go off. Apart from that its an issue of how difficult it is to get targets into bed for you. Are you attractive? Do you have mind control powers? Is it something that people will want to willingly be subjected to?
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Old 05-13-2017, 03:48 AM   #6
malloyd
 
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Default Re: A few sexual questions

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First, how many disadvantage points would "Barren" and "Impotent" be in a world/tech-level where it's not curable through biotechnology or magic?
Zero. Sometimes it's treated as a quirk (or perk, can't get pregnant is sometimes a desirable feature), but after all even human characters can be too young or old without it being at all odd.

Quote:
Second, in general I would say most fetishes would be quirks, but what about particularly unusual ones that the average person would find very weird? Could those fall into an odious personal habit with limitations due to it not being obvious until there's intimacy involved and be worth more than -1 point?
Not generally an Odious Personal Habit unless the reason they are Odious is you make a public display of them, but a Reputation makes sense. A Secret that would turn into a Reputation, or for that matter a Social Stigma or Enemies, would be a common variation too.

Quote:
Finally, what would the modifier be for a "sex-based" attack/power/affliction? Examples, picture some sort of black widow succubus creature that mates to get a man's seed and then puts him into a coma immediately after. Or just picture literal sexual healing.
I'd usually price Accessiblity (must have sex with the target) at -40%. It's a pretty inconvenient restriction. That succubus might be an exception though - if you can mind control people into having sex with you it's not as big a drawback, though it still takes time.
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Old 05-13-2017, 05:42 AM   #7
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: A few sexual questions

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Originally Posted by edk926 View Post
"Barren" and "Impotent"
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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
That's usually a Quirk
Doesn't Biotech make built-in contraception an Advantage? I'd call those two just a Feature. There are advantages to not risking progeny as well as disadvantages.

I agree that the point value is predominantly a function of society in the setting, though. An ultra-tech society where conception is all artificial anyway, starting from raw DNA, would be different than a game where the focus is entirely on the politics and society of medieval European royalty. What kind of interesting trouble is being Barren / Impotent going to get the character into in actual play, and does that compare to other Quirks or Disads in the game? Therein lies the answer as to the point value. It would be an unusual game for it to rate more than a Quirk.

Last edited by Anaraxes; 05-13-2017 at 05:45 AM.
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Old 05-13-2017, 07:28 AM   #8
Bruno
 
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Default Re: A few sexual questions

Remember that neither Barren nor Impotent makes you immune to Sex Appeal, nor unable to use it.

In todays culture "barren" is more tolerated, but a lot of insults are based on accusing the subject of impotency, and there's enough shame and stigma attached that it's hard to get men to seek medical assistance with it. I would call Impotent a quirk in modern culture because of this.

In 2017 Canada Barren is less of a problem dealing with randos, but it will impact marriage prospects, and can cause friction within the family in some cases (parents angry about children not providing grand-children, playing the child-bearing child off against the barren one, jealousy between the child-bearing sister and the barren one, etc). That might be worth a quirk.

In other settings you have to ask similar questions.

Note that an impotent man in modern culture can often still have children, but he'll need medical assistance. It might be very cheap medical assistance, or really expensive. A barren woman may be in a more difficult situation, requiring more expensive treatment or even the services of a host mother.
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Old 05-13-2017, 08:30 AM   #9
Varyon
 
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Default Re: A few sexual questions

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Doesn't Biotech make built-in contraception an Advantage? I'd call those two just a Feature.
Keep in mind that any Disadvantage that the character can control if it is in play or not is a Perk. That said, in some settings Infertile can be a Feature, but I think in most it's likely to be a Quirk or worse.
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Old 05-13-2017, 08:30 AM   #10
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Default Re: A few sexual questions

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Note that an impotent man in modern culture can often still have children, but he'll need medical assistance.
My favorite story is about the guy who got help from a hamster. His testes lacked one of the proteins needed for sperm development, but he had the stem cells, and these proteins are highly conserved. So they took a path of his testes which had stem cells and transplanted into a the testicles of a hamster (immune reaction are generally not a problem in the testicles). And since sperm from humans and sperm from hamsters look very different, separating out the human sperm was very easy.

Medical Miracle!
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Last edited by Anders; 05-13-2017 at 11:30 AM.
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