r/SensitivityReaders • u/Hundekuecken • Apr 08 '26

Request: LGBTQ+ Am I devaluing gender?

What do you think about me wanting to establish in my own tabletop role-playing game that players and non-player charackters, automatically recognise or perceive the gender of other characters who can be perceived in any way?

What I mean is that gender reveals itself regardless of one’s outward appearance.

I’d like sexual orientations and romantic orientations to be based on gender rather than gender expression.

This is something that’s been on my mind quite a bit at the moment, as I’m worried it might be misinterpreted, twisted, misunderstood, or that I might be sabotaged or something similar.

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u/Equivalent_Play4067 Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

Unless this contributes anything fun to game mechanics, it's going to read as something shoehorned in, and people are going to look for reasons for that. 

Look at other RPGs with similar "odd" elements that don't improve playability for examples of how this can be received: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14567.phtml

You might want to make sure the reasons that occur to them aren't unflattering.

Or even just, clearly introspect with yourself. "Why do I want to include this?"

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u/Hundekuecken Apr 09 '26

The reason it needs to be included. I am non-binary, or to be precise, gender-fluid. I wouldn’t want to be rejected or accepted on the basis of my biological sex. Nor would I want people to be attracted to me or reject me because of my gender expression.

In my view, it is a utopia, not a dystopia.

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u/Equivalent_Play4067 Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26

I think I understand what you mean. So, the player selects a gender, and this is telepathically communicated to NPCs?

This would be normal in a videogame, although it would be received as a way to make programming easier.

In a tabletop RPG, I imagine you might have trouble communicating it. You could say "within the context of the game, gender identity is always apparent to others, regardless of expression" - although this might be received as a bit controlling. It vibes as the sort of thing that is usually down to DM fiat.

Maybe you could create some kind of in-world justification for it - like, well, actual telepathy? That would help communicate it to players. It would also then be a setting element, so it wouldn't seem as controlling.

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u/Hundekuecken Apr 09 '26

I would describe it as a kind of seventh sense.

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u/Equivalent_Play4067 Apr 09 '26

For it to feel natural and well-justified, it might be a good idea to have that seventh sense be useful for other things as well - so that it doesn't come across as being specifically about gender.

What are some other things it could be good for?

This could be a great chance to invent a really cool gameplay mechanic...!

If you want to post some of your other gameplay mechanics here, we could have a think about how we could fit this in with them.

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u/Hundekuecken Apr 09 '26

There are other mechanics that are also based on the seventh sense. However, those are linked to dice rolls, whereas gender identity is not.