Some gems from the books

[Xaroth]

So I found this absolute gem from the Book of Nymphology:
Be Really Camp (Su): By spending a full turn flouncing, saying catchphrases or being an over dramatic queen, Al can lull his enemies into a false sense of security. They must make a Will save (DC 15) or be unable to attack Al until he attacks them. and I can't stop laughing.

Anyone else found anything from the books that made them laugh uncontrollably?

"ABILITY RIP"
"You feel fabulous."

[atemu1234]

I remember one that made me laugh was in a similar book, Sisters of Rapture, on the spell Striptease. After it finished describing the spell, it said, "tipping is customary."

[Xaroth]

I remember one that made me laugh was in a similar book, Sisters of Rapture, on the spell Striptease. After it finished describing the spell, it said, "tipping is customary."

I'm still looking through the Book of Nymphology. This is from the spell "Change Sex":
Many are totally unprepared for the hormonal changes involved in such a drastic bodily alteration and women changing to men can turn into frenzied rampaging beasts seeking to pork anything in sight, while men changing to women can turn into frenzied rampaging beasts seeking chocolate with ferocious intensity.
IS THIS BOOK EVEN REAL?

[KillianHawkeye]

IS THIS BOOK EVEN REAL?

This is what can happen when you look into 3rd Party materials, some of which are overly laden with jokes. It's almost like just anybody can print a book full of material compatible with a Dungeons & Dragons game (at least for 3rd Edition). You would never find something like this in an official Wizards of the Coast product.

[Xaroth]

This is what can happen when you look into 3rd Party materials, some of which are overly laden with jokes. It's almost like just anybody can print a book full of material compatible with a Dungeons & Dragons game (at least for 3rd Edition). You would never find something like this in an official Wizards of the Coast product.

True.

Still doesn't change the fact that the entire book is hilarious.

[Peelee]

True.

Still doesn't change the fact that the entire book is hilarious.

It does with a slightly less liberal definition of "hilarious." But hey, whatever floats your boat.

[RedMage125]

I like some of the joke stuff.

Like the "DM's Girlfriend" Prestige Class, which gets you all kinds of free stuff and you never horribly fail rolls.

Or the "Slayer's guide to Rules Lawyers", that's a fun one.

I don't know how you can participate in this hobby and not be able to laugh at yourself. Every once in awhile, these things are good for a giggle.

But as to the question, no, I do not think the Book of Nymphology is "real" as in, was actually intended for in-game use. The Book of Erotic Fantasy was an attempt to handle sexual situations and activities through D&D mechanics. It's not my bag, but for people looking to actually play D&D with lots of focus on sex, I'd recommend the BoEF over the Nymphology one.

[Peelee]

I like some of the joke stuff.

Like the "DM's Girlfriend" Prestige Class, which gets you all kinds of free stuff and you never horribly fail rolls.

Or the "Slayer's guide to Rules Lawyers", that's a fun one.

I don't know how you can participate in this hobby and not be able to laugh at yourself. Every once in awhile, these things are good for a giggle.

But as to the question, no, I do not think the Book of Nymphology is "real" as in, was actually intended for in-game use. The Book of Erotic Fantasy was an attempt to handle sexual situations and activities through D&D mechanics. It's not my bag, but for people looking to actually play D&D with lots of focus on sex, I'd recommend the BoEF over the Nymphology one.

Most of my grumpiness on this comes from actually playing a game where some of the players used those books. After an entire session of no adventure and a (RL) couple having way too much interaction in-game with those rules, it kind of soured me on the erotic whatnot.

[Xaroth]

Most of my grumpiness on this comes from actually playing a game where some of the players used those books. After an entire session of no adventure and a (RL) couple having way too much interaction in-game with those rules, it kind of soured me on the erotic whatnot.

Okay, thaaaaaaaaat's kinda stupid. If your DM was actually allowing this to occur with no interruptions when the rest of the group were sitting there having no adventure, I'd be amazed if you didn't up and leave.

[Slipperychicken]

Okay, thaaaaaaaaat's kinda stupid. If your DM was actually allowing this to occur with no interruptions when the rest of the group were sitting there having no adventure, I'd be amazed if you didn't up and leave.

Having experienced that kind of GMing before, it's typically the GM's friends who are cool with it and stay with him for years praising him until he thinks that's good GMing.

[RedMage125]

Most of my grumpiness on this comes from actually playing a game where some of the players used those books. After an entire session of no adventure and a (RL) couple having way too much interaction in-game with those rules, it kind of soured me on the erotic whatnot.

Ah, gotcha. I'm not cool with it at the gaming tale myself. Doesn't mean I don't get a giggle from reading it every now and then.

And I know what you mean about bad experiences souring you on some things. When I DM, I ask people to not cross-gender roleplay. I have some bad experiences with other players in the past when I was a player, it made me very uncomfortable. I understand there may be players out there who can do it responsibly, and probably roleplay well. But, my experience has soured me on the whole thing and I'd rather not deal with it.

That revelation had me get into it a bit with a fellow poster on the WotC boards. He's openly gay, and I guess he likes to play female characters a lot. I told him that I was well aware that I was letting past bad experiences shape my decisions. It mollified him somewhat when I told him that if he were at my table, I would be more comfortable with him playing a gay male character than a female of either preference. I guess he's seen a lot of DMs with a "no one's gay in D&D" rule, so cross-gender is his usual preference.

[137beth]

This is what can happen when you look into 3rd Party materials, some of which are overly laden with jokes. It's almost like just anybody can print a book full of material compatible with a Dungeons & Dragons game (at least for 3rd Edition). You would never find something like this in an official Wizards of the Coast product.

Nah, Official WotC Products just have stuff like Ice Assasin, Manipulate Form, Thought Bottle, and Gate:smallsigh:
Oh, and discussions of morality which paint disturbing portraits of the authors in BoVD/BoED.

Most of my grumpiness on this comes from actually playing a game where some of the players used those books. After an entire session of no adventure and a (RL) couple having way too much interaction in-game with those rules, it kind of soured me on the erotic whatnot.

Now that is a complaint I can get behind!
I haven't read either the book of nymphology or BoEF, nor do I have any plans to read either in the future, but I can imagine even people who liked reading them might not like using them.
As a point of comparison, I really enjoyed Steve Jackson's Munchkin RPG books...
but I don't think I'd have as much fun actually using them in a game.

[Sir Chuckles]

I've always loved the 3rd party books that don't take themselves seriously, hence why I really like the Book of Nymphology over the BoEF.

It's the difference between Metaphysical Spellshaper and Mystic Pimp.


Now that is a complaint I can get behind!
I haven't read either the book of nymphology or BoEF, nor do I have any plans to read either in the future, but I can imagine even people who liked reading them might not like using them.
As a point of comparison, I really enjoyed Steve Jackson's Munchkin RPG books...
but I don't think I'd have as much fun actually using them in a game.

Yeah, I like reading them, but I've only twice had to use the rules from them. As in "rules from them" I mean "Calling for a Charisma and then Constitution check". Though Nymphology has some good spells to use when the party has down time, plus Speedy Undress with is a pretty significant Save or Suck spell that targets Reflex and can really hurt a martial foe.

[atemu1234]

There's a fine line, I find, between laughing at what the book contains and having it in a campaign. They're all decent background stuff, but I would never even dream of the PCs having ranks in Perform (Sexual Act).

[Sian]

i've only seen BoEF used a few times which wasn't horrible (IMO) one was doing a quite heavy intrigue game happening in Waterdeep (and rose the multicultural flavor even more than it is stated, almost reaching 'Sigil-light'), where the 'cross-polinating' sheets in it was used to call out some of the intrigues and the like. Not a front seat position mind, but as a somewhat vague background setting.

And throwing the 'LG view on sex' at someone insisting that Paladins were unable to be anything but the most chaste thing since eunuchs.

[RedMage125]

i've only seen BoEF used a few times which wasn't horrible (IMO) one was doing a quite heavy intrigue game happening in Waterdeep (and rose the multicultural flavor even more than it is stated, almost reaching 'Sigil-light'), where the 'cross-polinating' sheets in it was used to call out some of the intrigues and the like. Not a front seat position mind, but as a somewhat vague background setting.

And throwing the 'LG view on sex' at someone insisting that Paladins were unable to be anything but the most chaste thing since eunuchs.

I agree heartilly with this.

The different racial/alignment views on love and sex were actually an interesting read. And less useful, but still interesting was the breakdown of what would happen if x race bred with y race (such as an elf and a gnome).

And as far as being in a game where people used the rules, and disliking the experience, I don't think that's actually a valid indictment of the rules presented in the BoEF. That's an indictment of that group of people, who took the roleplaying to a place that made you uncomfortable, which should be discouraged. If a group is going to use the BoEF stuff, either everyone at the table is on board, or it doesn't get used. I believe the BoEF explicitly says something to that effect in the pages, that if some of your players are uncomfortable with it, then sexual stuff should happen "off-camera".

[Alex12]

And throwing the 'LG view on sex' at someone insisting that Paladins were unable to be anything but the most chaste thing since eunuchs.

This, yes, this. Thank you.

Also, if it ever comes up (it hasn't yet) I'd argue for using the book's rules for things like contraceptive magic. After all, I can't imagine Adepts don't have a spell to detect pregnancy.

[BWR]

but I would never even dream of the PCs having ranks in Perform (Sexual Act).

You don't play with my group, then. Several of their PCs would have maxed this skill and probably taken Skill Focus as well. And for decent enough in-game reasons.
Heck, I ran a SW game where an astromech had Profession (porn star), had replaced most torches and saws etc. with 'tools of the trade' (just don't askl about the 'oil spray') and made dirty comments to the hot female twi'lek. In all fairness, the droid was a joke gift from her boyfriend and never actually did anything apart from hack into computers, but it was a riot to play.

[atemu1234]

You don't play with my group, then. Several of their PCs would have maxed this skill and probably taken Skill Focus as well. And for decent enough in-game reasons.
Heck, I ran a SW game where an astromech had Profession (porn star), had replaced most torches and saws etc. with 'tools of the trade' (just don't askl about the 'oil spray') and made dirty comments to the hot female twi'lek. In all fairness, the droid was a joke gift from her boyfriend and never actually did anything apart from hack into computers, but it was a riot to play.

Sounds like something my friends would've found "entertaining". On the other hand, I try to run a fairl serious campaign world.

[BWR]

Sounds like something my friends would've found "entertaining". On the other hand, I try to run a fairl serious campaign world.

Fortunately, we are able to include sex and humor without it devolving to 'hurr hurr, bewbs' or detracting from the serious aspects of the game. Throwaway jokes and some lighthearted fun (in the case of the droid) didn't keep the game from becoming quite dark and unpleasant.