LGBTQ+ in CofD games

[wyrdhamster]

We have written 3 games corebooks for 2ED CoD ( or 4, depends on how we look on Beast ). Very nice for the Onyx Path is that they push inclusion in their games in small, nice references in games about non-heteronormative characters. This topic is about collecting them all, for the LGBT+ players and STs glory - because it's Pride Month!

So I will start with two mine favorites:

• Beast: The Primoridal - Character Concepts - p. 87 - “IT manager by day, drag king by night” - It hits me very hard, in positive sense, as myself bisex bear IT Technician. Also, this lady will have hands full on - work on day, drag by night and Horror in the dreams?!
• Werewolf: The Forsaken 2ED - Touchtones, example - p. 87 - "Example: Picture the dedicated police officer married to his job. He wants to propose to his boyfriend, but it’s just not fair. He’s never home. He’s always in danger. And it’s not like he can just give up the job; it’s who he is. The boyfriend is close enough to touch, but too far to hold. " - It's just so good love story idea, highlighting the topics of Werewolf. With a very nice, gay spin. I love it!

[Primordial newcomer]

this is the 2nd edition changeling the lost I believe Kevään Neito

[Kevään Neito]

As both a trans and gay woman this is interesting to read. I have to admit that my ideas for those games are usually very trans and very gay almost by default.

I think this strikes a perfect balance between two conflicting pitfalls of writing LGBTQ+ characters: namely, having them be solely defined by their queer status and having their queer status have zero impact on their lives. The first pitfall is obvious, the second one less so - "write queer characters the same way you'd write straight characters" is common and often-good advice, but it feels a little too glib. Yes, a lot of queer characters' stories will have nothing to do with their queerness, but at the same time, there are plenty of circumstances where my queerness does impact the way I interact with the world, and it's nice to have that represented on occasion. Here, Aimee's transness matters without being her only trait: it informs the way she approaches her fetch, but she's got a lot of other stuff going on too

I also particularly appreciate the fact that she's trans and into women: there's a few misconceptions I've come across that assume this to be an impossible combination, from "trans is just an extreme version of gay" to "well, if they preferred women, why didn't they just stay a man?". So it's nice to see some representation that counters these, and manages to feel entirely natural while doing so. My thanks go out to whoever wrote this bit of fic!

Yes to those two things! Which sourcebook is this?

[LostLight]

So I've just read once again the Voice of an Angel, and it occurred to me that through this thread, no one has mentioned that Marco Singe, the loved and half mad Pain Prophet, was presented as someone who at the very least has some homosexual preferences. I mean, the first fiction in the first book for the first edition of the CofD has started with Singe talking about his father beating him due to him having some encounter with another boy when he 12. It feels like it should be noted.

[wyrdhamster]

We have another example casually mentioned in CtL 2E Companion Oak, Ash and Thorn Entitlement section preview.

'The Black King holds the gleaming sword, red blood dripping from the blade. Now he controls the Huntsman, at the small price of eternally betraying the only man he loves.'

[wyrdhamster]

Daksha Legacy in Mage are sorcerers that want to evolve in to 'next human beings stage' - that is also universally intersexs. Still, they are also racists, believing anyone else to be 'inferior' to them and their Coming Race - so they are dividing on good and bad representation.

[itokro]

There's an example in the new Changeling: the Lost sourcebook that I really like, in the first of the in-universe fiction bits. The viewpoint character, Aimee, has just learned that her pre-Arcadia girlfriend was also taken by the Fae, and this conversation ensues:

“Wait. I found you under your real name. Did they… did they not replace you too?”
Katrina shivered. Now that I was looking, the scales rippled too. Like mica and cobras and the inside of shells. “She was made of glass and she wanted to fight about it.”
“What happened?”
“I cracked her open and feathers poured out.”
“I haven’t. I mean, I didn’t. I don’t want to. Jesus, he has kids. He’s a he.”
“Yeah, I know. I went looking for you after I got back, too. I can see why you might want to leave well enough alone. Not like you wanted to be him before.”
“Well, Mom seems happy with him, and…if Lucy can’t tell, maybe it would be kinder to let her keep him? It seems cruel to just pop into her life and be like ‘Hey, your husband is imaginary and I have to destroy him so I can have a name I don’t want back. So how do you feel about a divorce and full custody of all these kids?’”

I think this strikes a perfect balance between two conflicting pitfalls of writing LGBTQ+ characters: namely, having them be solely defined by their queer status and having their queer status have zero impact on their lives. The first pitfall is obvious, the second one less so - "write queer characters the same way you'd write straight characters" is common and often-good advice, but it feels a little too glib. Yes, a lot of queer characters' stories will have nothing to do with their queerness, but at the same time, there are plenty of circumstances where my queerness does impact the way I interact with the world, and it's nice to have that represented on occasion. Here, Aimee's transness matters without being her only trait: it informs the way she approaches her fetch, but she's got a lot of other stuff going on too

I also particularly appreciate the fact that she's trans and into women: there's a few misconceptions I've come across that assume this to be an impossible combination, from "trans is just an extreme version of gay" to "well, if they preferred women, why didn't they just stay a man?". So it's nice to see some representation that counters these, and manages to feel entirely natural while doing so. My thanks go out to whoever wrote this bit of fic!

[SunlessNick]

And no, the New Dawn isn’t abandoning who you are to fit in with the majority; that’s being stuck in Aurum.

In Promethean, the world isn't telling your character they should be human, it's telling them that they shouldn't be at all. The Pilgrimmage is on one level an extended insistence that yes they should - along with, ultimately, saying "This is who I am, because I am real." and having the world blink first - sure they can fail, but success and failure is not dependent on any kind of accountability to the majority around them.

[wyrdhamster]

Yes, Tempters are ultimate enemies of hypocritical priests, 'family mans' and politicians!

[ganonso]

I know it's a Beast but idea can be cool - male Inguma Tempter who seduces priests to sex with him, and breaking their vows of chastity, with bonus points for engaging in same sex physical actions.

I think many of us had this idea when seeing the Hunger for Temptation. Although mine is more "make closeted gay men admit they are gay." Not necesserarily in public but that they identify as gay or bi afterwards.

[Gryphon's Feather]

Demon isn't a favored game of mine, but I have been using the term 'androsexual' for a demon who is attracted to males, regardless of their current cover's gender identity, as of late.

[Taidragon]

Demons run all across the spectrum and then some - a Demon can be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, omnisexual or even asexual, simply by nature of their Cover and how they interact with said Cover. A Demon may not be attracted to humans but keep up the sexuality of their Covers simply for Covers sake. A Demon may simply be themselves in their first Cover, as if it is just them, including an attraction to said gender or lack thereof no matter what their Cover is supposed to be into. Heck, a Demon couple may be in love with one another no matter what Cover each other is inhabiting. It's the beauty of a game where you're roleplaying someone who is actively roleplaying as someone else, and one reason I love playing it.

[wyrdhamster]

I know it's a Beast but idea can be cool - male Inguma Tempter who seduces priests to sex with him, and breaking their vows of chastity, with bonus points for engaging in same sex physical actions.

[21C Hermit]

Charlaquin Ah, it’s indeed difficult, achieving that sweet spot of writing Still thanks for the input - it helps a lot.

[RickmanUK]

I’m not familiar with that series, so I couldn’t say. But I’d assume as long as he’s explicitly gay and has some dimensionality, it’s probably a decent example.

He's the Chief first, determined to make sure everyone does their job, and wants to catch the criminals. The first you know about him being Gay is that he mentions it in a conversation. Well Mentions his Boyfriend brought him Lunch.. and that's it to introduce that fact. It's understated and not majorly "Important" at that point, but slowly becomes abit more for the character as the show goes on. It felt right, not forced or rushed. Atleast to me personally.

Anywho, thanks for understanding.