I think that everyone is entitled to their opinion regarding this subject, and obviously it is not for any person to say what should or shouldn't offend someone else. Raven, if you are offended by the material, that's your right, and it's too bad that aspects of this game make you uncomfortable (when, otherwise, you seem to enjoy it).
I will say this, however: I find it hard to believe that any of the information in these RPGs is used by gamers to satiate personal erotic urges. I'd also be willing to bet that this was not Mongoose's intent with putting such material in the sourcebooks. I do believe that this information (ie, prostitution, contraception, etc.) was included so we are given a complete idea of the culture/society for the regions that are the topic of each supplement. If you're attempted to give a thorough representation of a region's culture, you include everything (and prostitution has been around and in large supply for many years). Howard was a historical writer in many respects (I've read that the reason he created Hyboria was because he was sick of trying to be historically accurrate with other characters, like Bran Mak Mort, etc.). Nevertheless, it's obvious that history, culture, society, etc. are very important in his writtings. If Mongoose is going to stay true to his vision of the Conan world, a society's cultural preferences should be included in each sourcebook.
Personally, I like the fact that they've covered what they have in Aquilonia, or Shadizar, for example. Do I mean that I'm glad they put information on prostituion in the books because I like that, and I'd be upset if it weren't there? Not at all. But, I do like that they've taken the time to give us information on just about every aspect of a civilization's culture, and I would guess that was Vincent/Mongoose's point when writting these books (not to play to folks who are looking for T&A in RPGs, whoever they are).
As for the nudity along the borders.....that's a different story. I'm guessing it was done to stay with the overall feel of Conan stories, and pulp novels in general (most of those had half-naked women on their covers). Again, I find it difficult to believe that Mongoose was hoping to get sales from folks who are looking for eroticism from RPGs. Rather, their intent from the beginning has been to stay as true to Howard's vision as possible. That vision, to the dismay of some, includes naked women.
Whether it's right wrong or otherwise. Personally, I can take it or leave it. It doesn't detract from the game for me (when I open a Conan RPG book, I'm never looking at the borders. I'm saying to myself: "Where the hell are those rules for armor piercing again?" or " Can he REALLY do that with this spell he has?" and so on).
Again, it's not any person's right to say what should or shouldn't offend someone else. Raven: we can't sit here and bash you because certain material in these books offends you. That's your right (to be offended, that is). What I am suggesting is that maybe there's a different angle to why Mongoose published the material that they did. And, ultimately, you can always walk away from this game if that bothers you enough. That's the beauty of RPGs. There's lots of 'em out there for we saps to throw our money at :wink:
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