From: Steve Maurer (steve@tfs.COM)
Date: Fri 01 May 1992 - 09:56:33 EEST
Pregancy and Childbirth
As pregnancy and childbirth are natural and normal events in the
lives of nearly all women, rules need to be provided to cover them.
This is especially true because these events occur far more often than
death by combat does (where RQ concentrates most of its attention).
There are a large number of factors which must be accounted for
when determining the chance for pregnancy. It is perfectly normal
for a woman engaging in regular sexual activity to not get pregnant
for many months, or even years. On the other hand, as they say, it
only takes once. This system tries to balance all these factors.
Fertility rises and falls depending on time of the month; the
closer to ovulation, the more fertile a woman is. The "days away"
on the chart below is the delay from when the lovemaking occurs to
the last day of the egg's life. Since timing is never exact, when
determining this roll 1d6; on a 6 move up one level, on a 1 move
down one (25-28 row rolls over to 0-3 row, and vice versa). For a
one shot affair, roll (1d8-1)*4 to determine the number the days
away row which the lovemaking was done in; menstruation occurs somewhere
in the 10-21 days period. [ The Uleria pregnancy runespell guarantees
pregnancy ]
Days away Number of "Chances"
25-28 days None (remember: if 6 on 1d6, use 0-3 days instead)
22-24 days None (remember: if 1 on 1d6, use 10-21 days instead)
10-21 days One; no matter how many sessions in this period
7 - 9 days (+)One chance per day, no matter how many sessions
5 - 6 days (+)One chance per session
3 - 4 days Two chances per session
0 - 2 days (*)Six chances per session
(+) Favors girl; see sex determination
(*) Favors boy; see sex determination
Fertility
Some women are naturally more fertile than others. When rolling
the very first "chance", this must be determined. Roll 4d6, this is
the Fertility percentage (F) of the woman; a roll equal or under it on
the chart below indicates pregnancy. The Fertility remains for the
rest of a woman's life, it is not a value a woman knows.
Pregnancy Table; roll once per "Chance"
99-00 Functional (permanent) Infertility(*)
91-98 Not pregnant the rest of this month
F+1-90 Not pregnant from this chance
02- F Pregnant
01 Pregnant (natural 01), no modifiers apply.
(*) Only when rolled naturally on very first chance to become
pregnant; or after severe disease, injury, or childbirth.
Otherwise like 96-98.
Table Modifiers (to die roll - decreasing chance of pregnancy):
+5 if constantly engaged in extremely heavy physical activity
+5 if on a subsistence diet
+10 if starving (STR/CON lowering due to lack of food)
+10 if suffered major disease this month
+5 if husband starving, or suffered major disease or injury
+10 within one month of having a baby
+5 within six months of having a baby
+5 if nursing
+10 if man pulls out before finishing (and roll is less than 50)
Pregnancy Type
Once a woman is pregnant, roll on this table to determine the
type of pregnancy. Often the results of this roll are not
immediately apparent. [If child conceived under a Uleria Pregancy
runespell, reroll any result of 90 or above]
00 Major pre-childbirth problem; embryo dies; internal
bleeding or infection; to live, roll CONx3 for 1d6 weeks
98-99 Major childbirth problem (see childbirth table)
96-97 Premature birth (always for twins)
90-95 Embryo dies; spontaneous abortion (woman has "late period")
04-89 Normal Pregnancy; free of major problems
02-03 Fraternal Twins; roll once again here; twice on the sex table
01 Identical Twins; roll once again here; once on the sex table
Note: a twin result from a twin reroll are triplets (etc)
Sex Determination
While this table is obvious, the modifiers are not.
51-00 Girl
01-50 Boy
Die roll modifiers:
+10 if woman pregnant as a result of 7-9 day session
+5 if woman pregnant as a result of 5-6 day session
-5 if woman pregnant as a result of 0-3 day session
+10 if session which got woman pregnant had a successful
Control Pregnancy skill, proper time to prepare, and
cooperation from man, trying to get a girl.
-10 Ditto above; trying to get a boy.
Childbirth
Childbirth is exhausting, extremely painful, and can be deadly.
While Glorantha does have the equivalent of the "caesarian section"
(cutting the child out of the womb, healing the mother's body and
resurrecting her), it does not always work: resurrections are not
always available (and are often reserved for warriors in need of
resurrection). also, the body may become too damaged to support the spirit.
[ The Xiola Umbar spell Couvade prevents rolls on the childbirth table ].
[ The skill Midwife subtracts from the die roll; -5/-10/-20 for normal
roll, special, and critical respectively ]
01-10 Quick, easy birth
11-60 Painful, but otherwise healthy labor
61-70 Much bleeding; -1d3 HP (non-healable); reroll normally
71-80 Serious bleeding; -1d6 HP (non-healable); reroll normally
81-90 Internal injuries, -1d3 CON; and reroll 1d50+50
91-95 Serious injuries, -1d6 CON; and reroll 1d50+50
96-99 Major problem; as above, roll CONx5 or die; then reroll
00 Death
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