Dio's Arelith Rules & Rulings Compendium Feedback

[Cowbot]

Hello! I saw the Dio's Arelith Rules & Rulings Compendium in the updates and gave it a read.

I want to say first that I absolutely love this document and we really needed it. There were (are) just way too many shadow rulings floating around. I did want to comment on a rule that stuck out to me as being odd.

We're allowed and encouraged to play really despicable characters. We can abduct people and use them in a blood sacrifice to dark gods, we can engage in cannibalism, and some races are explicitly encouraged to commit genocide on other races. Drow are supposed to be misandrist, and it is appropriate for them to openly claim the superiority of one sex over the other. They're not the only race with such distinctions, though they are an extreme example.

So, why can't we play a character who is a homophobe? I find this ruling extremely jarring. What's wrong with a narrative of being a homophobe and then over time becoming more open-minded? Or the reverse? What if I want to play a gay character who is ashamed of their same-sex attraction, and struggles to come out of the closet? Wouldn't it make it much less compelling of a story if no one would care if he's gay? I couldn't even RP as if off-camera NPCs disliked it? Can a drow matron not encourage lesbianism because women are better while simultaneously forbidding gay behavior because drow men should be worshipping and desiring women only?

There's just a lot of really interesting storylines and character growth that get excluded by this rule.

Obviously I'm talking exclusively about in-game and in-character here, not out of character. I'm also talking only about T-rated behavior, too.

If it wouldn't be too much trouble, may I know reasoning behind the ruling?

[Xerah]

I'm going to assume this post is made in good faith and not what sounds like an obvious trolling attempt.

Jim the player (who may or may not be queer) doesn't see what your "homophobe's" character full character arch is. They just see that your character hates gay people and immediately they feel excluded. You don't have to like this, and I'm sorry if this is too "woke" for you, but I'm sure you can find some way to play a character without this active hatred and feeling the need to exclude people to this degree.

This is locked but the DMs can chime in, or frankly, just delete this thread.

[DM Dionysus]

The short answer is that homophobic content is jarring and offensive and we don't tolerate it. The subject material is very sensitive. This isn't really a server to express a lot of the themes you're describing. There are many players here who play the game specifically to avoid the material you're describing and the influence of such things projected in the real world. The hypothetical, contextual what ifs really aren't up for debate.

The only exception might be some particularly tasteful content from drow with what you might expect inherent from a culture that regards women as being superior and ideal. However, the line is so thin and difficult to navigate that I would encourage players simply to not dwell on any material there regarding homophobia in the first place. It honestly just isn't necessary. There are a lot of compelling stories you can tell without this particular material.

There's nothing else to discuss.

[The GrumpyCat]

Pretty much what Xerah and Dio said.

Homophobia, RL Racism, and the like are all subjects that are best either entirely avoided, or if present used with the very, very lightest touch for pretty much the reason Xerah touched on.

These are things people battle with In Real Life quite frequently. Abduction, blood sacrifice, genocide are (I sincearly hope!) things that people are less likely to have experienced in their Real Life and thus (perhaps ironically) less likely to upset them.

We're here to escape, have fun, and feel pretty relaxed playing whatever character we wish, not to be forcefully and uncomfortably confronted with the sort of content some of us already have to struggle with on a day to day basis. So I really advise avoiding these aspects.


Locking agian.