Dungeons & Dragons Used to Have Rules for In-Game Orgies

Dungeons & Dragons used to have rules governing the effects of orgies on players. Earlier this week, tabletop RPG designer Bruce Cordell stumbled across a Dragon magazine article that reflects just how far Dungeons & Dragons has come over the last 45 years. The article, titled "D&D Option: Orgies, Inc." by Jon Pickens, provides DMs with options to get parties to spend lot in mass quantities. As its title suggests, one option is to have players engage in an orgy, a "lusty indulgence in wine, women, and song." The article gives guidelines for how much gold a player spends (500 GP per level) and how long a player can participate (a number of days equal to their Constitution points). Although these are optional rules, contrast Pickens' rules on orgies with more recent optional rulesets that lays the groundwork for building up romance in D&D storylines.

The article even provides rules for how an orgy effects players with psionic powers, because their orgy hangover would of course affect their ability to move things with their mind. The article, found in Dungeon #10, even comes with an illustration of an orgy in process, with a group of goblins or orcs carousing with a group of female elves, all of whom are nude.

While these were optional rules, they appeared as the lead article in a magazine published by TSR, the original publisher of Dungeons & Dragons. Pickens wasn't just a random freelancer for TSR, either. He eventually became the Acquisitions Editor for TSR and was in charge of reviewing modules for possible publication. He also contributed design work to the core Third Edition rulebooks.

The article, of course, is a reference to the traditional fantasy trope of brothels appearing in almost every town. Brothels were a common part of the medieval European societies that fantasy settings often emulate, and they were seen as a "necessary evil" to keep men's libido in check and keep them from committing crimes against "innocent" women. Prostitution in some European countries was eventually made illegal or more strictly regulated, as sex work came under scrutiny by various religious bodies and revivals.

Obviously, Dungeons & Dragons has changed a lot over the past 45 years, and you likely won't see any update to these (optional) rules in any official D&D material. While the game hasn't scrubbed brothels or prostitution from its fantasy settings, they're only brought up in passing. It reflects the game's shift towards a more diverse and inclusive audience, as well as a cognizance that not everyone is comfortable with a person at the game table wanting to vicariously live out their sex fantasies through their character.

You can read the full Dungeon #10 article on the Internet Archive.