Satyr - An excuse for rape, or an interesting creature?

[der_kluge]

Given the nature (no pun intended) of the Satyr - a creature of Greek legend associated with horniness, often depicted with an erect penis in painting and architecture, and often associated with sex and fertility - is this creature a "problem" in the D&D game?


I mean - look at the Satyr's special abilities - charm person, sleep, "satyrs can sneak up on travelers who are not carefully watching the surrounding wilderness". Even the creature's very name forms the root of the word Satyriasis - the male version of nymphomania.


I once included a Satyr as a random encounter in a game years ago. The party included one female character, of which the Satyr found himself attracted to. The group was asleep, and the lone watchman opted to just chat with the Satyr which it viewed as harmless. The Satyr used his pipes, and he failed his save, and no one woke up from their slumber.

As reluctant as I was to do it, I told the female character that the Satyr "had his way with her" without embellishing the point. I hated to do it, really, but to do anything less than that seemed at odds with this creature's nature.


How have you used the Satyr in your game? Personally, I'd much rather see the Satyr replaced with the Faun - the Roman version, and the one represented in the movie Pan's Labyrinth.

 

[Nebulous]

Interesting post, but i think the satyr is only one of a gazillion monsters in D&D that can rape victims if it so chooses. I never really thought of it in that light actually, but i agree, if i were to introduce one into a campaign, i would make it scary like the faun from Pan's Labyrinth. There is still no end to the charms they could lace onto unsuspecting women though, to make them seem more "appealing."

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

But it seems that the satyr's main motivation is to 'have a good time,' so to speak. So I bet the OP was sort of asking 'are you asking for trouble by even using them?'

 

[maddman75]

I refuse to accept that there are certain situations where you are forced to rape a PC.

 

[Vorput]

Interesting point... Definetly a creature that needs to be used carefully if you play it as it's meant to be played.

In a world where 1 in 4 women have been affected by a sexual assault in some way or other, its definetly something you want to be careful doing. I ran a campaign once where in order to portray the enemy army as evil (which they were, completely and toally)- they often used rape as a scare technique and as a 'reward' for their soldiers.

It caused quite a bit of tension at the table with one of my players, so I decided just to let it drop (after talking with her) and depicted them as evil in other ways.

In the right group though, it could work. There's nothing wrong with a campiagn that glosses over some of the unfortunate things that happen in real life, but there's nothing wrong with a campaign that doesn't ignore them either.

Vorp

 

[Theron]

I refuse to accept that there are certain situations where you are forced to rape a PC.

Ditto. Bad form, all the way around.

 

[Vorput]

Ditto. Bad form, all the way around.

Agreed, but is it any different/worse than killing one of the characters? or having them tortured? or any of the numerous other things bad guys do?

 

[Raven Crowking]

I refuse to accept that there are certain situations where you are forced to rape a PC.

Agreed.

The last satyr I used in a game sat on a tree limb and delivered a prophecy.

RC

 

[jdrakeh]

Agreed, but is it any different/worse than killing one of the characters? or having them tortured? or any of the numerous other things bad guys do?

Yes. Characters are frequently killed or tortured by bad guys in genre fiction. Rape is a much less frequent occurrance and far more taboo subject. Not without reason.

[Edit: Removed creepy reference to LotR characters.]

 

[Hand of Evil]

Half-everythings in gaming and people think it is all consensual.

I do think this is a subject that you side bar in you game, you also tell the players going into the game that it is a part of the game.