Representation!

So Paizo famously has a policy that you can safely assume any given Pathfinder NPC is bisexual, unless the text specifically says otherwise. Which is good for a couple of reasons. (I have used this for mechanical advantage -- unnatural lust has a clause that the target gets a +4 bonus if they wouldn't normally be attracted to the subtarget, and I successfully argued that it should work same-gender-wise because the target should by Paizo decree not get this bonus just because the target and the subtarget were same gender. That spell, of course, has its own issues otherwise, and probably wouldn't be allowed at my table today, on the basis of my "no depictions of sexual assault" rule nowadays.)

They're mostly about representation, but my policy has something of a different aim. The policy in my setting is the very similar "90% of NPCs are bi". This isn't about representation, it's about making sure all players have maximum romance options if they want it. Which, representation is good, but the other thing is more important to me.

I have for a very long time publicly been of the opinion that I don't care about representation for social justice reasons, I like it because I'm bored to tears of straight white male stories. This is similar: I don't care about representation for social justice reasons, I just want PCs to be able to do whatever they want and not be forestalled by trivial niceties like NPCs aren't attracted to their gender.

If representation were actively at war with something I cared about, would I still do representation, or would I do the thing I care about? Good question! Luckily nothing good is at war with representation.

I'm exploring this policy now, because since instituting it, I have grown more aware of some dynamics of gender and sexual attraction. Specifically, there are a fair number of genders left out of attraction to by bisexuality, and sexuality isn't everything there is about attraction (and sexuality ought be much less important in a TTRPG than romance). So, let us revise! "90% of NPCs are pansexual, panromantic, or both." I could go with just 90% of NPCs are panromantic and leave sex out entirely, which would be fair, but sexuality does come up occasionally.

Ohhey, but wait: representation is at war with something I care about! Aroace people exist. Ok. They're in that 10% with the straights and the gays and whatnot, and otherwise I don't care.