Talon Dunning wrote:
Trace Coburn wrote:
[wince]...and since it clearly wound up more backhanded than I intended, I apologise unreservedly.
No worries. The book's intent is simply something that we all want to make sure people are aware of. While there's certainly a certain level of prurience to the material, its existence as an homage to a specific fantasy illustration troupe should be first and foremost in people's minds when they read it.
I just bought your book, and have been trying to make a Freya inspired Chainmail Bikini Barbarian--it really excites my boyfriend ^-^
However, I find that other than the base class, there is little that makes me want to use the rest of the book, and especially not the skills. They seem to be for a character that specializes in a profession, not an adventurer. The base class itself is fine. Pure Cha casting, and a sacred bonus to AC makes a good chassis for both a full caster and CoDzilla, if you'll pardon me the term. But after that the issues start.
No mount. The stereotypical Amazon from movies and Conan the Barbarian stories will spend a lot of time on horseback, but there is no Ride skill or mount option. Even ladies of standing would know how to ride horses. Given the legends about unicorns only being able to be tamed by maidens, I expected there to be an option to bond with one as preparation for the indoctrination--and would you look at that phallus imagery on his head?! Since Rapturous tend to be the Saving People kind of heroes in many cases, they would be expected to travel a lot so I really wanted a mount. By using the Abbess archetype I could get the Animal (Feather) domain, but then the next issues start. I would lose the Carnal spells, and my martial weapon proficiency. Not only would I lose the weapons which nearly as much as the armor define the stereotype of a Chainmail Bikini Barbarian, but now I would not ever have nor use the Sex spells. RAW they are not part of the normal cleric list--I think--but even if they were, why would I ever take them? They are extremely specialized and even if in the presence of opponents susceptible to Mind Affecting spells, would often "shoot themselves in the nuts".
Given how few spells a spontaneous caster has, they have to be ones that I would either use often, or would be gamechangers. An example of a spell that could have been in the book is the effect that's on the cursed boots.
SPEEDY UNDRESS (Clr 1) With a word and a gesture the target’s clothes fall away from their body, leaving them naked apart from the boots they are standing in. This includes any armour but does not include helmets, hats or jewellery.
The original purpose of this spell was for ogling and pranks, as well as saving time when engaged in quick knee-tremblers behind taverns. It has since been misused by adventurers for denuding their targets of their armour to make them easier kills, but its original purpose remains popular.
Now this spell isn't optimal, but it's fun and useful enough I might take it instead of Air Bubble.
VIBRATOR (Clr 2) This spell infuses the target object with magical energy, setting it slightly out of phase with the native plane upon which it is cast. This causes the object to waver between the planes and vibrate at pleasant amplitude.
The spell’s original applications was to disarm opponents and deprive them of wands, but the applications for pleasure are obvious. If cast on a held object, such as a sword, it can make that difficult to keep hold of. Whoever is holding the object must make a Reflex save (DC 15) or drop the object. If cast on a suitable item, such as a pair of hose, the target will be incredibly distracted for the duration of the spell and suffer a -1 penalty to AC, attack rolls, saving throws and skill checks until they can remove the item.
Again, fun yet naughty, and could be used in PG 13 games. But this is where we get to the main issue of the book, and that is that there is no synergy. Both spells so far where physical spells, and that is necessary given the overly large number of situations where Mind Affecting spells are useless, and even if they are not, then the spells themselves will explicitly forbid me from using them, since they only work on people I am trying to seduce, and who are both humanoid, hetero sexual males, or lesbians. If they are not this narrow category then a seductress is powerless, and there's nothing I can do to change that. You can't even tangle with the iconic seductive monsters like vampires and succubi. One is undead, the other is an Outsider and doesn't really have biology like us though I might be wrong. Anyway, I would expect a transmutation spell that enhances pheromones and forces attraction. Maybe a Change Orientation spell, or a Shiva Shapeshift that grew extra arms--bonus to Sex performances and number of attacks. Enlarge Person or a limited Alter Self could also be used for the bedroom and dungeon alike. Given how much they are supposedly spending their time in the dark, so would a supernatural night vision even for humans but that's not really something that's the responsibility of this book.
And then there's the skills. Other than for a very specific few campaigns, they are useless, and with only 2 skill points per level I am not going to use them ever. The Knowledge could be done with a Knowledge Local check in many cases. Now, if it were made clear that they can be used for Bardic Performances then that might be fine, but it's very clearly not even useable for dancing or oratory performances--not even belly dancing. I would have given an option to add a bonus to them for half your level. It's not something your character specializes in, but she has picked up enough. But even if you had points in it, you need feats to have a Pillow Talk, something I can do quite nicely in real life without a feat. The feats too are not really something useful. Charmed I'm Sure has potential, but roleplaying is usually done through roleplaying. Blown Kiss and Ethereal Kiss? For an ability I can only use 1-2 times per day for most of my career, this is not worth it. Kisses are nice, but not that special unless the Sleep effect is perhaps not bound by HD. Healing Caress I could see myself taking, but Cure spells aren't a priority for Spontaneous Divine casters. I would rather prevent damage and then out of combat use Infernal Healing or a wand, and neither of these seem to be affected by it. Orgasmic Spell can be good, as it only takes a single level higher slot, but it can only be used against a single target and will only work one turn. If you are concerned about single targets then it's probably an enemy strong enough to make its saving throw, and even if it doesn't, the effect is good but again it doesn't even work on an intelligent vampire. Improved Disctracting Beauty adds 2 AC, but can be defeated by things that make me covered such as simply having to wear clothes or be in a concealing mist.
Clothes. That's another issue: it's not actually spelled out whether or not Rapturous are bothered by weather and sunlight. Clerics get Comfortable Nudity, but Rapturous don't, meaning I will need to either spend all my spell slots on Endure Elements, lose my AC bonus by wearing protective clothing, or convince my hubby that Immunity to Disease means I am also unbothered by the causes of disease.
Finally, there's Popular. I can understand not wanting to tangle with the Leadership feat, but getting clues is something that the DM will provide for already, ooooor, Perform Sexual Techniques. And that is where we get to the weakest part of the book. There is no use for taking points in its most iconic activity. The effect of Popular and Pillow Talk are things I would expect to be a result of being a living angel of love and fertility who has a lot of points in Perform Sexual Acts. Maybe it could act as a bonus in unarmed grapple checks, escape artist, or Perform Oratory and Dancing. Maybe even Feint and a "Disarming Smile".
I am sorry if this all a lot. I really like the book, the art work, and the concept, which is why I want to see more of it. My DM is convinced this whole book is for NPC's and advises against taking more than a few levels in this "roleplay" class.
Things I would like to ask: can a Rapturous use a Kiss on herself? How about Sacred Prostitute, once per day on yourself? Could I trade the possible spells known of Abbess for Sacred Prostitute? Pleeeaase? What happens if a Rapturous is turned male? What if she needs to act amongst other races, or she needs to cater to a certain kink? Could there be spells like "enlarge breasts", "alter genitalia" or "Dream Body"? I bet a Storm Sister would love to give men a taste of their own medicine by letting them be a woman for a while--quite popular in stories where a curse eventually causes a positive change of character. And perhaps Summon Sex Partner, or any special summons really.
Now I have to admit that the items were really well done. Penelope's Portable Playroom made me call out "Genius!" and laugh at the same time. Necklace of Attraction does help set up some of the Carnal spells, but too little too late. Domains and their spells are extremely hard for a Rapturous to access. I will get only one domain of spells IF I won't need any of the 4 other options, and if I do, it will be the Feather domain spells of course, and my character will by then be a divine barbarian with no mechanical skills or spells related to sexuality other than being dressed skimpy and using Touch Attacks with her lips--and even that is not mandatory.
