From: kdelgado@loligo.cc.fsu.edu (Kevin Delgado)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: Girdle of Femininity/Masculinity
Date: 16 Nov 92 14:09:55 GMT
Organization: Florida State University Computing Center

In article <1992Nov15.200721.20327@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> fes9s@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Frank Erick Sellin) writes:
>Now here's a disturbing thought, especially for all the devious DMs out
>there:
>
>Assume you've wangled an unwitting PC into putting on the girdle
>of femininity/masculinity (sheesh, that's hard to type correctly, 
>why not just call it the Dread Girdle of Sex Change?). Bamf, 
>instant gender reversal, 90% of the time (the other 10% of the time 
>you end up neutered--which raises the question of why not a 
>hermaphrodite?  >=^)   )
>
>That leaves unanswered the question of what happens to...
>1) STats, if somebody's stats exceed the limit allowed for females
>(obviously, this usually isn't a problem the other way  around in
>a "standard" campaign.)

In second edition I don't believe that there is any limits on stats based on
the gender ofthe character any longer (I know thier was for 1st ed.). So this
means that basically nothing woudl change stat wise. Now, if you are...like
some of the people I play with...incorporating comliness into your campaigns,
then I suggest that this stat be rerolled, keeping the character's original
charisma rating.

>
>2) Physical appearance.  Is the character suddenly a perfect
>muscular, hormonal, and otherwise structural example of the gender? 
>Or do we have a bunch of hairy, sometimes bearded females who can
>outlift Conan, and conversely a flock of males who are the envy
>of all transvestites?  

Since the item specifically says that the gender of the wearer is changed to 
that of the opposite, it is safe to assume that this means a total change. 
This means that the wearer would essentially be transformed to the opposite
sex in all respects. I like to think of it this way: suppose you (a male) put
on the girdle and are switched...I like to think its as if all the sudden
someone went all the way back to your conception, switched the Y chromosome
for an X....and sped time back up untill the present...as if you had been
the opposite sex from the beginning. 

>
>Has anybody used the girdle in their campaign, and if so, how
>has it affected subsequent roleplaying and campaign dynamics?

I was in a campaign where this did actually happen. We had a mage (transmuter
actually) who was doing item identification for the party. Well, as is part
of the identify spell, he had to put the girdle on to properly identify it...
whammo...instant chick. Well, the personality of the character before had been
that of a bungling, innocent, confused mage. Now, after receiving this fine
Sweedish surgery, he...er she...had changed a little bit...she actually gained
some confidence...becoming a rather mean little spell caster. Now, noone in 
the party had like the mage much before...but after he rerolled the comliness
for the character, everyone like her (even my ascetic character fell into the
trap of flesh) and started to hit on her and make the obligatory jokes. The
character did not, however, like being female and eventually found the means
to rectify the situation. After he did that is was all downhill, the character
went right back to his original wimpy ways...everyone in the party from then
on kept wishing he would find another girdle every time he screwed up.
>
>=)
>Frank Sellin
>==============
>"Be sure to leave your underpants
> with someone you can trust..." 
>    --the Tull, "Lick Your Fingers Clean"
>==============

Kevin