to preface: as much as the title sounds like a critique, it’s not. it’s just a realization i had while thinking about baldur’s gate 3, and it’s good they provided the options they did, for me to have this realization in the first place
i’m a transgender man, and i’ve been on hrt for several years, i haven’t had bottom surgery, and i’m intimately familiar with the effects testosterone has on a vulva. i’ve also been in trans femme circles long enough to know how estrogen affects a penis (if you are unfamiliar, you can read about each at https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en/second-puberty-masc#genital-changes and https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en/second-puberty-fem#genital-changes)
and it’s really weird to realize that most people cannot visualize what i have going on in my pants. a cis woman’s vulva is fundamentally not accurate (which is basically what’s presented as your option). for me, obviously; for some trans masc people, it is accurate
i don’t know how trans femme people feel, but i could see the argument for them going either way. i’d like to hear what you think, if you feel represented by feminine body shapes with a penis selected as your genitals
and also, it would be interesting to see bottom surgery options represented. even if that’s just the same models but with the “is this from surgery” option ticked or something
finally. my concluding thoughts are that i’d really like to see how big a half-orc’s tdick gets (presuming that half-orcs are subject to the same sex hormones humans are and/or that they can substitute their hormones similarly. i mean that’s it’s own can of worms there)
i know i’m not ending off on any kind of a question but i wanted to share my feelings about this with people and hear how this made others feel, as well
lmao, ironically your comment reminded me that there are nulloplasties as well, which would be a cool option to see represented, as well as various intersex options…
ahem more to your point, though. while they currently have a very limited effect on gameplay, it doesn’t mean that they will never have an effect on gameplay. for example, one small thing that the devs of bg3 could do is have your bedmates remark on your genitals to you (i am being VERY presumptuous here that they don’t, but i would be VERY surprised if i was wrong). anywhere from remarks about it not being what they expected, to them saying they had a good time anyways, etc
it doesn’t necessarily need to be gratuitous because interactions with genitals aren’t necessarily gratuitous. maybe you learn another party member had the same surgery as you or something, y’know. or you run into the surgeon who did your bottom surgery on your quest
there’s a lot more we could be doing, than we currently are
So, I haven’t played BG3, but considering that it’s a fantasy setting, I am surprised that it seems to be same as irl for trans stuff. Compared to the pathfinder universe which had since the 1st edition magical hrt potions and salves which work way better than irl as well as straight up insta-transition magic items in 2e, DnD seems kinda boring.
it doesn’t touch on transition or related things, afaik, aside from allowing you to freely select both your appearance and your genitals (afaik). so it’s hard to say what it has or doesn’t have available
that said, i feel like… you lose something with “perfect” transition. for example, in a world where you could remove breast tissue without scarring, i might still have a double mastectomy, because my transness is part of who i am. obviously, there are people who would love to have that, and that’s great for them and they’re not less trans for it. but i think there’s a beauty in “imperfect” transition
i feel odd about feeling this way, though. almost certainly, medicine and technology will progress to the point where trans people will be indistinguishable from cis people. and i’m sure, at that point, these ideas will be considered backwards or coping or whatever…
anyways. i guess this is a long winded way to say, pathfinder/2e may have the nicer and more expedient options, but they’re also maybe not as interesting
That’s an interesting perspective, regarding the question of not just “where you are”, but also “how you got there” being something that can factor into what you see as part of your identity.
Closest thing I have is with weight gain and loss. When I get back down to my target weight, I’ll still have stretch marks that’ll show that I at one point was much larger. If I could just “be” my target weight without the physical evidence of the past, I’d opt for that path, so it’s interesting to me to consider that someone might take a different view. :)
Oh, random based Pathfinder take! I love seeing it get love over DnD because yes, it’s so much more inclusive and interesting. From a lore perspective and a mechanic perspective.
That’s not even getting into the issues with WotC as a company.
I was interested in pf2 for about a year now, but only got into it after the ogl thing. Now I honestly am baffled how 5e maneged to be so popular when 4e, pf1, and pf2 are all so much better than it as tttrpgs, and that only sticking to fantasy.
Great point! That is why it is important to keep an open mind. It may seem pointless to me but it may be very important to others.
So far no one wants to have sex with me in BG3. I thought Gale did for a bit but I must have pissed him off at some point. Maybe they did put some indication in the game that we will see later.
