"My halfling bard has four spouses!" -- next on Jerry Springer

[Driddle]

Which of the races do you think would be most likely to embrace a polyamorous lifestyle?

(For those of you with innately naughty minds, the term doesn't refer merely to sex -- it's about full, loving relationships with multiple partners.)

Elves are usually sorta touchy-feely about being one with nature, so I can imagine them living in a flower-child love commune. On the other hand, halflings and gnomes are often portrayed as being all about familial love and community. But dwarves' seemingly dour personalities might be due to an ever-present sense of responsibility to multiple spouses back in the cave complex.

Orcs and half-orcs? Feh. They're lucky to have a single spouse, much less two.

What's your opinion?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Elves, for sure.

Dwarves, given the common (but world-specific) disparity in the numbers of males to females.

 

[Driddle]

Dwarves, given the common (but world-specific) disparity in the numbers of males to females.

Ah, yes. I thought the same thing. Probably a genetic quirk in the race, with an unbalanced gender birth ratio. It's bound to affect their social view on spousal hookups.

 

[Mallus]

I have no answer to your question, but thanks for supplying the major conflict for my next setting! It'll be like the Riftwar meets the Culture Wars. Polyamorous elves from another world will invade and threaten the sanctity of marriage.

Wait, I can fit some Tolkien references in too..."One spouse to rule them all!"... "Two rings for the mortal things under God's eye".

This is good stuff.

 

[der_kluge]

Probably elves.

The idea of sleeping with one woman for 50 years is hard enough. I can't imagine how difficult it would be trying to sleep with the same woman for 500 years.

 

[Driddle]

Probably elves.

The idea of sleeping with one woman for 50 years is hard enough. I can't imagine how difficult it would be trying to sleep with the same woman for 500 years.

Nah. Elves don't sleep. ... They're out shooting pool with the guys.

 

[Tonguez]

All of them

Monogamy is an abberation (unless you are a duck)

 

[GreatLemur]

Nah. Elves don't sleep. ... They're out shooting pool with the guys.

Yeah. "Shooting pool."

Elves have my vote for race most likely to embrace a bisexual lifestyle.

 

[Contrarian]

Are we talking "real world" historical polygyny, or modern "made up a new word" polyamory? Because in the real world, polygamy usually appeared in societies where economic productivity and social status were connected, and even then it was somewhat rare in those societies.

That is, it usually takes a fair amount of personal ambition and/or wealth to get multiple wives, but once a man has them, they can be used to increase household productivity and increase the household's economic output even more. A polygynous family is like a little pre-industrial corporations -- it takes wealth to get bigger, then makes more wealth because it's bigger than other families.

(That usually works better in societies where "women's work" can have a significant economic impact, usually sedentary societies that have some agricultural basis. Polygyny isn't usually adaptive in nomadic societies.)

Even in societies that endorse polygyny, polygynists are usually a statistical minority, because the majority of men can't afford to be polygynous.

Where was I? Oh yeah -- polygyny will make the most sense in societies where you've decided normal males are status-seeking -- interested in seeking wealth and influence -- and that women stay at home. It's somewhat incongruous with egalitarian societies.

Other factors that can tip the scale in favor of polygyny:

An excess of male violence -- If you've got societies where all the males are expected to go off to war, but the females aren't, all those men getting killed at war can encourage a male/female imbalance that makes polygyny more common. (Think about all those orcs getting slaughtered by adventurers, leaving all those female orcs at home looking for husbands!) In fact, in some societies, men don't have a choice about polygyny, because tradition demands they marry their brother's widows.

(There's a whacky adventure hook for you -- "Your brother is dead! Time to get married!")

Alliance building -- If you've got societies where political alliances are made by marriage, it might encourage polygyny, but only for the "important" people who make alliances. You could have a society where polygyny is traditional for the upper classes, but not commoners.

Polyandry (multiple husbands) is so rare that anthropologists are still figuring it out. Polyandrous societies usually have a severe shortage of females (caused by infanticide). The husbands are usually brothers -- a woman isn't so much marrying a man as she is marrying a family.

 

[Driddle]

Are we talking "real world" historical polygyny, or modern "made up a new word" polyamory? ...

More of a "fantasy world" kind of thing. This IS a D&D board, after all.