You know, that is excellent advice from Ravingdork. Much as I at times disagree with his tone of voice, he's right on the money here. Fair's fair.
On the other hand, getting some help here on tbe forum could help to avoid an awkward moment or two with the actual humans you are going to hang out and game with. Advice here on the forum is free and quite unlikely to hurt.
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On the other hand, getting some help here on tbe forum could help to avoid an awkward moment or two with the actual humans you are going to hang out and game with. Advice here on the forum is free and quite unlikely to hurt.
Additionally erring on the side of "thoughtful and empathetic" is much more likely to result in a positive experience for everybody at the table than the alternative would.
I mean, who knows whether whatever stereotype you're playing off of is irritating to another player, but not enough that they're going to say anything about it. I would rather just avoid those sorts of situations *before* they come to a head.
This just reminds me of a story about gay penguins. I think it was a Danish Zoo but there was a gay couple. They apparently really wanted an egg, so the zookeepers tested out a fake egg and gave them a real one. (Since another penguin laid two eggs and could only take care of one)
Anyways, in the world of Golarian LGBTQ isn't a big deal at all. Just treat it naturally. The discrimimation is saved for residents of Geb. *
*You know, all the zombies...
I don't think the Paladin's parents were penguins MageHunter.
I think Ravingdork's idea is good.
I can't see anything about your backstory that would offend anyone. It would not hurt to ask.
If ever in doubt, simply ask your play group and GM. I doubt you would offend someone just by asking, unless they were being overly pedantic for some reason (which is a whole 'nother problem).
Whatever answers you find here might not apply to your own group, so it's probably best to start there.
And sometimes, you can get a 'feel' for your group just by interactions with them.
One of the reasons I dropped from two long-running campaigns was a combination of misogyny and outright bigotry, especially when it became clear that the other players (and the GM) weren't going to change, and to try and even bring it up once with each group brought no end of hazing activity.
I didn't think my joke was that bad. Sorry. :I
I do support this background, though. I am very much in favour of exploring the diversity of options fantasy provides to people.
I though the character of Ferdinand Lyle was very well done in Penny Dreadful, as so many things were in that series.
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One advantage you have in terms of the backstory is that, as a child, your character would not be privy to the details of his mothers' sex lives, and such things would no longer be relevant because both mothers are dead of old age. So your character was raised by two women who were married to each other -- that means that your backstory would differ only superficially from a backstory where your mother was a widow who raised you with the help of her sister or a family friend.
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One advantage you have in terms of the backstory is that, as a child, your character would not be privy to the details of his mothers' sex lives, and such things would no longer be relevant because both mothers are dead of old age. So your character was raised by two women who were married to each other -- that means that your backstory would differ only superficially from a backstory where your mother was a widow who raised you with the help of her sister or a family friend.
Well, it's most likely that the character's two moms would still be more affectionate (or differently affectionate) at least than a widow and her sister. So at the very least a character would have some different ideas about what is normal in terms of love and affection than if they were raised by a widow and her sister. Kids can be pretty perceptive and more or less whatever's going on during their formative years they internalize as "normal."
I'm not sure if that's likely to come up in a game. The paladin would probably be more weirded out by bigotry and more accepting of a variety of people, but a lot of characters without that backstory act like that too. Paladins do often veer towards "set a good example" if not outright preachy, though.
I could also see the possibility if there is UST in the group of such a character (depending on personality, etc) suggesting that two (or more) people in the party get to one another better (WITHOUT making it all weird and stuff!), based on their upbringing?
What does UST mean?
I once played in a campaign where the DM was trying to make it "realistic" by making it misogynistic and we (the players) had to explain how offensive that was. He changed, which was good. He also REALLY liked to limit PC options (races, classes, spells, feats, multiclass combos, etc.), which might also have been a symptom of his misogyny. He was kind of a control freak and wanted to put people in their place....or whatever he thought their place should be. His NPCs and fictional societies had lots of demihuman racism, which isn't very fun either.
On the other hand, he was a good player and a good person in non-gaming environments.
Unresolved Sexual Tension.
Ah...... Thanks!