@ Terranova,
A friendly note of caution. This thread was originally started about xenophilia (and to be respectful of the OP, bestiality, though there are strong differences of opinion whether that was merited).
Redirecting the conversation from xenophilia to the perceived over-inclusivity of sexual orientation might warrant a new thread, just so as not to confuse or equate the two. I don't read any ill will in your post at all, but as a member of the community I want us to be respectful of everybody—even if at the risk of maybe being too sensitive.
That being said, I can't speak on "Mother, Maiden, and Crone." It is not my place. I WILL say that we authors are limited in our communication. We write things independently, and our kindly Developer serves as our bridge. Sometimes I think it would help if we (the authors) talked more, because we could build and add more continuity and infrastructure, but that is a different conversation for a different thread. Not to replace the Developer (impossible!) but to help them. That being said, I did work with Neil, but Tim and I are not as well acquainted—though we're getting there!
But my point is, the chapters are written during the same time frame and independently. We don't usually know what the other writers are coming up with.
You see, from my perspective, I added one same sex couple to my adventure, and I didn't make them villains. That's it! *My* concerns now, for a future product, are making sure that some male gay characters are introduced, and that I avoid always putting such characters in the victim role. They don't need to be.
It is also worth bearing in mind that with the development cycle, we authors don't always get the feedback we need to change what we write for 6 to 8 months. Here's a concrete example in spoilers so I don't derail the thread.
Whew, big ol' 'Wall o' Text' there. Hopefully anyone who reads this gets something more than 'That Irnk sure does go on...'
Oh, I think you do yourself a disservice. I thought your post was thoughtful and well considered.
I think there are plenty of male and female relationships depicted, but they don't stand out as much as the ones that we're unaccustomed to seeing in our gaming material. Although, I myself think the 'xenophilia' relationships were not as controversial as others found them to be, but I take their feedback seriously. You're also right in pointing out there are more potential relationships what are being counted as ACTUAL relationships than perhaps there should be.
We provide the tools and the options for the GM and players to tell their own stories. These options don't need to be utilized if they don't suit the needs of the group.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
|
@ Terranova,
A friendly note of caution. This thread was originally started about xenophilia (and to be respectful of the OP, bestiality, though there are strong differences of opinion whether that was merited).
Redirecting the conversation from xenophilia to the perceived over-inclusivity of sexual orientation might warrant a new thread, just so as not to confuse or equate the two. I don't read any ill will in your post at all, but as a member of the community I want us to be respectful of everybody—even if at the risk of maybe being too sensitive.
Fair enough - I frankly considered doing exactly that, but I didn't want to start the next "Homosexuality in Golarion". And since this was chiefly about the (to me) overshadowing influence of non-traditional sexuality, I found it to be a decent-enough fit.
But my point is, the chapters are written during the same time frame and independently. We don't usually know what the other writers are coming up with.You see, from my perspective, I added one same sex couple to my adventure, and I didn't make them villains. That's it! *My* concerns now, for a future product, are making sure that some male gay characters are introduced, and that I avoid always putting such characters in the victim role. They don't need to be.
It is also worth bearing in mind that with the development cycle, we authors don't always get the feedback we need to change what we write for 6 to 8 months. Here's a concrete example in spoilers so I don't derail the thread.
Maybe this is at least partially "to blame". If everyone wants to be as inclusive as possible, that can (and in this case, to me, it has) resulted in everyone "covering their base". After all, it is the opposite of ill will that motivates the writers. But having non-traditional relationships presented back to back (or so i perceived it) felt a bit like a very special episode of an early 90s sitcom ;)
Anyway, I said what I wanted to say. I am not against having this material in pathfinder - by no means.
|
@Terranova - there is actualy mention of a homosexual male as early as "Rise of the Runelords", where the theatre menager of Snadpoint fled to the little, open minded town to avoid the scorn of Magnimar (or was it another city) for his sexuality and scandelous affair.
About "Shackled Hut", though, I have to tip my hat in respect to Jim Groves for the female same-sex couple included in the adventure. I actualy only realised the couple was same sex on my second read through of the adventure, because, while the information was there, it wasn't pointed at with any sort of spotlight, and it wasn't presented as anything special. I think that's great. Taking the homosexual NPC from "Rise of the Runelords" as an example, while it's great an NPC of such sort is included, his sexuality was an important part of his life story and personality. Meanwhile, this is not the case in Shackled Hut. Two women are in love, and there's nothing wierd or noteworthy about the fact that they are of the same sex.
This attitude to the subject matter exaclty reflects my own, and it thrills me to see it in a "mainstream" roleplaying product. I have the misfourtune to live in a religous, homophobic country, and whenever I see evidance of people being reasonable about same-sex sexuality I get excited :)