How Bad Was It?

So, just how bad was early D&D when it comes to the portrayal of women? Well... all you need to do is look at Dragon Magazine #3. Buckle in, this is going to be one hell of a ride. This is the very start of what we're looking at:

 

So, first and foremost: Strength: One 8-sided die and one 6-sided die.  So, men can have 3-18 in Strength, but women can have only 2-14. Women don't get a Charisma attribute (men get 3-18), they get a Beauty Attribute, which involves rolling two 10-sided dice.  So they can have a Beauty of 2-20.  Oh, unless you're a Lawful or Neutral Cleric, in which case you get Charisma, and not Beauty, because non-evil holy folk never use their appearance to get what they want, everyone else does.

So, you might not know this, but when you went up levels in your Class, you would get a 'title' to go with that level.  Like, a Fighter would say I'm a myrmidon, rather than 'I'm a Fighter'. Well, women apparently got their own titles for when they go up levels. Let's look at the Thief Class.

Where do we even begin... and what the hell is a "Jade"?

On top of that, apparently if you're attractive, you get spells as a Fighter. But... yeah, wait until you see the spell list:

Yeah. The spells are: Seduction, Charm Men, and Charm Humanoid Monster.
Oh, and yeah, they also get penalties for using certain weapons, and their encumbrance limits are worse than that of male characters. But hey! They get a bonus to using daggers, right?

So, the Seduction Spell.  You compare your Beauty score on a chart to determine what the enemy has to roll to Save.


 So, orc thieves can't seduce elves, and fighters can't seduce elves. Umm... why?
And what does the spell do?  Oh, well, the guy strips down so he can get laid.

Then you have Charm Men. 

 

Because, you know, Clerics are incorruptible, right? 

So, if you ever see a Sexy Cleric, you know she's evil, because only Evil clerics are allowed to be sexy. And just... sigh.

So, yeah. Early D&D, everybody.

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