Curse of Hearts pushes the DM’s Guild too far, and sparks debate about representation

Last night, ENnie-nominated game designer Oliver Clegg tweeted that his adventure Curse of Hearts had been removed from the DM’s Guild.

This post contains images that some readers may consider too sexual. The DM’s Guild felt they are and therefore, did not meet their family-friendly guidelines.

Geek Native has spoken to a representative of DM’s Guild and to Oliver.

The DM’s Guild is run by the same company as DriveThruRPG, but in conjunction with Wizards of the Coast. There are similar content standards, but not exactly the same between the two sites.

A Curse of Hearts converted to an OGL product would not have been removed from DriveThruRPG. The adventure is likely to return, and Clegg has confirmed he’s working on such a conversion but not which retailer will home the game.

Queer representation

DM’s Guild suggested that Clegg remove two particular pieces of interior artwork (and recommended modifying one) to keep the vampire adventure in the store.

Clegg did not want to.

Is there one standard for showing attractive female bodies with plenty of flesh on display and another for men? Gay men, in particular, or vampires?

In a series of tweets, Oliver revealed the art that the DMs Guild thought was too sexy and compared it to other art readily available on the site.

Oliver’s concerns about double-standards have been met with some support.

Geek Native has not always played ball with content standards. When Wizards of the Coast first introduced strengthened community standards on OGL content in response to Book of Erotic Fantasy, an adult photograph-D&D combo, we commissioned this elf maiden picture in response. The site was known as GameWyrd in those days.

Do you think Oliver Clegg is right to raise the issue of gay representation in fantasy artwork? Are these sexy vampires a bit more lascivious than most of the artwork available at the DMs Guild?