Gay and Lesbian Runners in Shadowrun Options

[Arethusa]

Hm. That gives me an idea. I think Bisexuality should be a flaw.

Bisexual
2-point Flaw
Susceptible to effects of Good Looking And Knows It from either gender.

And, hell, why not:
Really Bisexual
4-point Flaw
Susceptible to effects of Good Looking And Knows It from either gender, modifiers doubled.

[mfb]

nah. just make it Bisexual and Horny Bastard.

Horny Bastard
2-pt Flaw
All TN effects for members of the opposite sex are doubled, eg Good Looking and Knows it, Good Reputation, etc.

[Elfie]

I'm actually toying with the idea of playing a homosexual runner the next time a new campaign starts up. I was thumbing through the Magic sourcebook and was taken with the idea of playing a Shamanist. OK, doesn't sound so bad. Take a totem, preferrably one with manipulation. Manipulation has two wonderful spells, Fashion and Makeover. Throw a Day Job: Fashion Stylist Flaw on there, and there you go, one (stereotypical) gay shadowrunner. If I wanted to make it over the top, I'd go Male Elf for the charisma bonus. It'd be a break from all the 'dark and mysterious' shadowrunners, who are a stereotype unto themselves, and could actually be a lot of fun to play.

Edit:

Maybe throw in a distinctive style flaw as well. I mean, c'mon, a runner like this is bound to raise eyebrows

[TinkerGnome]

Elfie, I played a game with that character, almost exactly. He was a Baccus shaman. He was a hairdresser/fashion stylist. He was more than a little gay.

We were all "sort of" Shadowrunners in one way or another, though, so it was rather entertaining.

[Elfie]

Bacchus, huh? That's a good idea, never thought of that... I'd like to give this character a go one of these days...

[nezumi]

When I was playing the Other Game, my wife and I considered making a pair of stereotypical gay bards, probably a dwarf and an elf. We figured, as long as we're playing a useless class, we might as well make it a roleplaying challenge (plus, considering two of the other players were gay and the GM was bi, it would be a good chance for some friendly ribbing ; )

[Dashifen]

[Black Isis]

Uhm, just as a note guys, most transfolk find the terms "shemale" and "tranny" pretty offensive (mostly because they tend to be used pretty exclusively by the porno industry). Just so you know. And yeah -- it's pretty degrading, at least to those of us who simply want to be the other sex; that kind of thing focuses on the very thing we want to get rid of (I don't want to be found attractive for the very thing that makes me feel like I'm not a woman, essentially). Admittedly, there are people who don't mind that, and who never intend to have SRS....but like Kesh says, a lot of the performers in that kind of porn are doing it because they feel desperate to get the whole in-between process over with.

As for playing trans* characters in Shadowrun -- for transsexuals, who want to simply be the opposite sex they were born with, I think it's pretty moot. With the level of surgery/genetics/nanotech in Shadowrun, I'm pretty sure they have mastered the whole process and can simply make any transsexual woman indistinguishable from a natal female (hell, it's almost to that level now, except for functionality -- but if bioware is possible, grafting female reproductive organs into a natal male is probably a simple task in comparison -- just clone the organ off modified DNA of the recipient), and vice versa. For people who just want to live androgenously or blur the gender lines, I'm sure that's pretty simple too, considering the level of plastic surgery available.

Now, playing a transsexual who is using shadowrunning to finance his or her SRS might be interesting, but considering the expense of other surgery and cyberware, it is a relatively cheap process in comparison, so I would hope the character has some motivation beyond that (or at least, is prepared to develop into someone who has some other motivation).

[Drain Brain]

Glad to have a little validation there, Kesh, thanks. I didn't care to comment on transexuality or gender reassignment because it's not something that I've ever had any experience of, even in passing, save for the numerous docu-dramas...

Another note, my father-in-law to be is a hairdresser (and really good at it too) and is heterosexual, so if you wanted to take the Stylist day job, you could always do what he does and over-compensate by being very butch - nobody ever tells him he has a "poofy" job...

Oh, and the "Horny Bastard" flaw? I have that... it's SO right!