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Chapter 6 by fyreant fyreant

What are some variant and optional rules?

Safe/unsafe sex and PREGNANCY SCAREs

Despite their amazing abilities and reality-bending hedonism, wizards and witches are oddly naive and old-fashioned in certain ways, eschewing more reliable modern technologies in favor of magical charms. In an academy as vice-infused and sexually active as Boarbristle it isn't surprising that accidents happen from time to time. It's no coincidence that the magicians who graduate there tend to marry young and have large families... sometimes before they've even graduated. There are some common spells and potions for preventing such outcomes but they are shockingly unreliable compared to what those from the mundane world use - many students and instructors fall back on the 'rhythm' or 'coitus interruptus' methods. Furthermore, once a pregnancy goes for more than two months, terminating it is socially unacceptable, at which point the typical outcomes are putting the result up for adoption, or a shotgun (or wand-point, rather) wedding. A lessened risk of this is rightfully seen as one of the advantages of House Minerval; their usual 'practices' mean that although they tend to have fewer new members each year, they also are less likely to have delayed graduations or dropouts on account of PATERNITY or MATERNITY - of course, with the ever present temptation of gender-shifting spells, even those in a committed same-sex relationship aren't always safe.

This variant rule amends the HAVE SEX and CONSEQUENCE rules to introduce risky sex (in the biological rather than 'getting caught by a professor' sense).

  1. Treat a pregnancy scare as any other CONSEQUENCE, except it can (obviously) only result from the HAVE SEX move with someone of the opposite sex (unless exotic magic is involved). The Nurse or an Herbalism professor might be indicated for help.
  2. Taking another CONSEQUENCE on top of a pregnancy scare puts you in the Paternity/Maternity variant rule, treating the mechanics just like GET OUT OF THE INFIRMARY (recovering from the complication using Bravery) or GET OUT OF DETENTION (working out the issue using Diligence), except for plot purposes you might avoid giving up the CONSEQUENCE.
  3. New advanced spell: PROPHYLAXIS. Successfully casting this spell makes conception impossible for several hours. However, unlike most, there is no way to tell if the spell was successfully cast or not. This spell usually takes the form of a potion.
  4. New advanced spell: DISPEL PREGNANCY. This is a difficult spell and requires a 10+ to successfully cast. If successfully used on the impregnated character, it removes the Paternity/Maternity variant rule. This spell usually takes the form of a potion.
  5. If a character is in PATERNITY/MATERNITY, then (assuming their identity is known) the mother/father is treated as a HANGER-ON. They may not even like the character all that much, but they'll be obligated to keep in contact all the same. If recrimination or an acrimonious breakup results, the mother/father may become an ENEMY instead. If a character spends an entire term in PATERNITY/MATERNITY, the bundle of joy arrives and is treated as a HANGER-ON, with a few obvious common-sense changes. In the interest of propriety (and the site guidelines), these little ones should be kept well away from the kinky goings-on of most of the school, and should probably be passed off on an older relative or a nanny as soon as possible. Many Boarbristle graduates' "baby brothers/sisters" are actually their own progeny.

What's next?

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