Pregnancy Guidelines

 

Objective:  To establish an easy to understand table of time checks and dice rolls to further the enjoyment of a pregnancy storyline, and to allow players to anticipate events within such a storyline as to make the role-play realistic and enjoyable by all involved.

~~~~~

 

Pregnancy is one of the most role-played events within our Gorean world, perhaps second only to companionships and events of battle and/or war.  It seems a natural conclusion to the companionship of Free Man and Woman, and rarely, between Master and slave, and even more rare, slave with slave. 

 

Like the many battles we see evident in arenas and tournaments across Gor, there needs to be rules and guidelines set down to make the  experience easy to understand, and a joy to role-play.  The storyline of a Gorean pregnancy should be no different.   Therefore, the following guidelines are set forth to give players, both potential mother and father, an idea of what to expect in the coming weeks and how to use dice rolls to predict the number of children, the sex and features of the offspring, as well as a timetable so as to easily predict when the birth will occur.

 

 

To determine whether or not a female character is pregnant, two issues must be considered and resolved.  The first and most obvious is that she must have engaged in sexual relations with a male.  There are those who wish to bring such practices as artificial insemination to the Gorean game, and as of the date that these guidelines were written, the only suggestion of artificial insemination was in the City of Tharna when ruled by the Tatrix: 

 

 

"I have never been in the arms of a man before, she said, for the men of Tharna may not touch women.  I must have looked puzzled.  The Caste of Physicians, she said, under the direction of the High Council of Tharna, arranges these matters."
  Outlaw of Gor  pg 106

 

  This being said, it makes sense that we as physicians would know of the practice, provided that Tharnan physicians would have shared the information with other caste members of other cities.  This will be left to player discretion.

 

The second issue is whether or not the female in question has been dosed previously with sip root-derived 'second wine', or 'slave wine' as it's also called.  If a woman has been dosed at all with sip root, either chewed or drunk in the form of a wine, she may *not* become pregnant.  In this issue, Norman seems very adamant.   There are no 'botched slave wine doses.'   If she has been dosed, she must take breeding wine, or 'second wine' as it is also called, which is derived from the teslik plant, *before* knowing sexual relations with a man.  It can not be taken after the fact to ensure pregnancy.

 

Note: a woman does NOT need to be given breeding wine if she has never been dosed with slave wine.  It is only meant to counteract the slave wine.  Without either, a female is simply considered naturally fertile after the onset of her first period.

 

Of course, it is the player's preferences whether to actually role-play out the sexual intercourse or not.  Discretion is given to the players, who, being adults, can decide what is appropriate for them.   Role-played sex and simply saying 'our characters furred, or had sex, last night to try and get pregnant' is acceptable to RPCoG physicians with regards to pregnancy storylines.

 

~~~~~

 

Once the sexual act has occurred, and it is determined that either the female was never dosed with slave wine, or has been dosed with breeding wine prior to the sexual act, a dice roll can be made to determine whether conception has taken place.

 

The dice roll is:  1D20

 

1-10 is Not Pregnant

 

11-20 is Pregnant

 

If a Not Pregnant result is discovered, the couple may continue to try as many times as they wish to become pregnant.  The frequency of this is left to player discretion.  However, it is strongly suggested that these events not happen one right after the other.

 

Of course, again player discretion can override this guideline.  If a couple wishes to bypass the dice roll to become pregnant, they are free to do so.  The dice simply adds more of a realistic tone to the game.....not every sexual act equals pregnancy.

 

~~~~~

 

Congratulations, your female character is pregnant! 

 

To determine the qualities of the offspring, the following dice guidelines may be employed:

 

-To determine the number of children, the dice roll is: 1D20

 

1-19 A Single Child

 

20 is Twins

 

Note:  The dice are stacked in this fashion for a reason, as multiple births are not common, and increase the health risks to both mother and children.

 

~~~

 

-To determine the sex of a single child, the dice roll is:  1D20

 

1-10 is Female

 

11-20 is Male

 

 

~~~

 

-To determine hair and eye color, the qualities of both parents are to be considered, with the dice rolls as follows:

 

For hair and eye color, the dice roll is:  1D10

 

1-5   the color will match that of the Mother

 

6-10   the color will match that of the Father

 

Hair and eye color may be determined by two separate rolls of the dice, one roll for hair, one roll for eye, using the above table.

 

~~~

 

Lastly, the term of pregnancy must be considered.  As we all know, a standard pregnancy for a human female is nine months.  While there are dangers and health risks involved in every pregnancy, Gor is considered an untainted world and its inhabitants to be in above average health considering environment and diet.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to keep these risks to a minimum.

 

The timeframe for pregnancy is: one mundane week = one Gorean month

 

Therefore, it can be expected that a woman's pregnancy will last approximately nine mundane weeks of role-play.

 

However, as with all things, player discretion may be taken into consideration.  If the players wish to increase the pregnancy time, or decrease it, for whatever reason, feel free to do so.  Just keep in mind that your pregnancy storyline affects not only you, but your entire player group.  Discretion is strongly advised.

 

~~~~~

 

Miscarriage and Abortion

 

Sadly, a pregnancy can be terminated for any number of reasons.  If the couple wish to end the pregnancy for any reason, it is strongly advised that a 'miscarriage' take place, rather than a storyline 'void' which most players abhor.  

 

A miscarriage can occur when either the woman's health becomes so jeopardized that the growing baby is expelled from the mother's body, or when she suffers a trauma, such as a fall or blow to the belly, so great that the growing baby is damaged and/or killed.  With regards to the latter, it can be expected that any force directed towards a pregnant woman's belly with at least a +2 damage taken would injure the growing baby so much that a miscarriage would take place.

 

See a physician character if such an event occurs to see how to role-play it to conclusion, as the mother character will need serious medical treatment.

 

*With regards to abortion, it is a practice that is highly politically charged and sensitive.  There is NO evidence in the books that such a practice is known, much less condoned by the men of Gor, and considering that the books themselves were written during a time when such was not commonplace or carried out by doctors, it seems *very highly unlikely* that it would happen on Gor. 

 

Therefore, as a whole, the RPCoG will Not role-play performing abortions.

 

~~~~~

 

Deformities

 

As we were introduced to Hup the Fool in Assassins of Gor, it can be understood that deformities on Gor are possible, however unlikely and rare.  The most common would be the club foot, widely known as the result of highly bred slaves.  As with Hup, dwarfism is also possible.  These deformities can make for a very interesting character, so player discretion should be observed here.  If a dice roll is needed to determine whether or not a child will be born with an ailment, the following may be used:

 

The dice roll is:  1D100

 

1-90  the child is born healthy and whole

 

 

91-95  a small deformity is seen (wine stain, lisping speech, albino, etc.)

 

 

96-99  a moderate deformity is seen (withered hand, dwarfism, immune to stabilization serums, etc.)

 

 

100  a severe deformity is seen (blindness, mute, deafness, Dar Kosis, etc.)

 

 

~~~~~

 

submitted respectfully by Lady Raneet Kazim, RPCoG

mun date: 5/2/08