In D&D, magic in all its mystical glory is an everyday part of life for you average adventurer. Whether it be a wizard casting fireball, a druid wildshaping, or a bard infusing their tunes with arcane properties, spells, hexes, curses, and incantations are the norm across most games, though some of these can get a bit confusing when it comes to applying them in game. Thats right, I'm talking about the infamous, and often annoying "sex change spell". Your character touches a strange glowing rock, drinks a sketchy potion, or hops through a mysterious portal and in a poof their sex has been totally swapped! Simple enough of a concept to apply to characters that entirely fit binary norms, but what about trans characters, intersex characters, or characters of races that simply don't have biological sexes as we tend to think of them, or at all? Both gender and sex are broad spectrums with individuals falling all across the line inbetween or completely outside of the strict "male and female" narrative, so how are these characters to be affected? Are they simply immune, or is there another course of action to take so as not to leave them out. Additionally, should such magic even be allowed in common practice, what with the unethical and not at all appropriate results such actions can yeild?
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- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
Well, there isn't any "sex change magic" in official 5e, so there's your answer from the game designers. I'm sure I saw some table where "change sex" could be a result of using an artifact or something in AD&D; but I don't know about subsequent editions. I think nonconsensual sex change magic would sort of conflict with the assertion the present PHB holds for player freedom to construct their sex/gender anyway they choose to.
Sure art and fiction have many carefully crafted narratives depicting explorations, identifications, transitions beyond or removed from the heteronormative binary. _Care_fully crafted. Could D&D as well? Maybe, but I imagine the risk of it being deployed flippantly or insensitively or abusively was well considered by the present editions designers, hence we have the section in chapter four that makes sex and gender explicitly completely a matter of player agency/choice, and implicitly something that's not to be challenged in game.
So in practical game terms, you're talking homebrew if you want to take that agency away through game mechanisms.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
My instinct is to say it would have no effect on non-binary characters, similar to how a Helm of Alignment Changing doesn’t affect a Neutral character. Transgender characters would probably switch to the opposite of their identified gender, but not being trans myself I’m not sure how personal that would feel. I’d handle that on a case by case basis, even if that meant avoiding it, since the point of silly magic like gender swapping is meant to be lighthearted and fun. It’s not meant to be taken seriously, and if anyone feels like it’s a serious violation of their character, then it’s probably just best avoided. I personally think it’s a pretty fun twist in a lighter campaign, for a few sessions anyway!
Incidentally, does the Tomb of Horrors in 5e still have the gender swapping doorway? I’m pretty sure it did in prior editions.
Well, there isn't any "sex change magic" in official 5e, so there's your answer from the game designers.
Wasn't there an official campaign in which an NPC will, if trusted, lure the player characters into a portal that swaps their alignment and sex? I'm certain I saw something along those lines. If I can find it agian I'll edit this with the relevant information.
Edit: Found two sources of official sex swap magic!
1. ( Hhttps://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/toa/tomb-of-the-nine-gods#9MagicFountain ) "... drinking the water loses the ability to speak for 8 hours. A lesser restoration spell or similar magic ends this effect. 3 The creature drinking the water magically changes sex. A greater restorationspell restores the creature’s original sex, as does another drink from the fountain that yields this same result. 4 The creature drinking the water gains 2d10 temporary hit points." - Excerpt of information about the Magic Fountian in Tomb of Annihilation.
2. ( hhttps://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/tftyp/a7/tomb-of-horrors#14ChapelofEvil ) "...glow.) The skeleton, of course, misleads the party, for any character passing through the portal will enter a 10-foot-by-10-foot room where their sex and alignment are reversed by a powerful magic. Exiting the room and reentering the archway will restore original alignment, but also deals 3 (1d6) psychic damage. Going back a third time will reverse sex again, but the individual will be teleported..." - Excerpt from information about events/effects from actions in Tales From The Yawning Portal. This is the one mentioned prior by me.
Well, there isn't any "sex change magic" in official 5e, so there's your answer from the game designers.
Wasn't there an official campaign in which an NPC will, if trusted, lure the player characters into a portal that swaps their alignment and sex? I'm certain I saw something along those lines. If I can find it agian I'll edit this with the relevant information.
Pretty sure you are talking about the same thing in both replies (Tomb of Horror moment is when an "NPC" (actually a skeleton) lures the PC through a sex swapping portal.
But think about it. Do you really want to use an encounter within a "tomb of horror" as an example of sex/gender swapping magic handled with the sensitivity of the 5e PHB previously discussed? I'd call the encounter more an editorial oversight in an effort to keep fidelity with a retro "classic". There was notable disappointment from nonbinary players and their allies when that portal made it into 5e without updating for the sensibilities 5e was trying to embrace.
The portal is a problematic trap. Messing with a characters alignment, ok, there should be some in game impact; but what is the game saying by bundling that trap with a change in binary gender? The game is calling it a horror by including it within a tomb of horrors. Is this a good thing? More likely, it's probably why you don't see it other than a reprint from 1978 with 5e stat blocks.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Pretty sure you are talking about the same thing in both replies (Tomb of Horror moment is when an "NPC" (actually a skeleton) lures the PC through a sex swapping portal.
Technically, skeletal or not, they're still an NPC, as NPC stands for non player character. Hence, any character (including "monsters" in encounters, and animals, actually) not played by a player is an NPC. Note that also the origins of each may be the same module, but a fountian and a portal are decidedly two different things, and thus two different examples.
Also (Not refrenced in quoted segment), I'm not, as you say "using en encounter within a 'tomb of horror' as an example of a sex/gender swapping mechanic handled with the sensitivity of the 5e PHB". I was simply bringing up its existence to state that contrary your previous statement, there is, in fact, official sex swapping magic within 5e. On top of that, it truly doesn't matter whether the inclusion in 5e was an oversight or not, as the original point of the post was to discuss how exactly to handle situations like that and whether or not councils would create laws aginst such magic, not any of what you've so far mentioned in your replies.
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- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
I would like to remind everyone to speak with kindness and forethought if you can, and to not speak at all if you can't. Issues surrounding sex and gender can strike home for a lot of people, so speaking to an experience you don't have with ill informed opinions can be hurtful and harmful to others.
I would like to remind everyone to speak with kindness and forethought if you can, and to not speak at all if you can't. Issues surrounding sex and gender can strike home for a lot of people, so speaking to an experience you don't have with ill informed opinions can be hurtful and harmful to others.
This I am aware of. I myself am trans, and have a handful of trans or otherwise gender nonconforming characters, and as such this particular subject piqued my intrest as I'd like to see how others believe the issue should be handled in game, both out of simple curiosity and for the fact that it is a situation that may at some point come up in a campaign.
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- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
My comment wasn't directed at anyone in particular, but instead at anyone who has participated and anyone who would participate in this thread.
My personal opinion in the matter as a cishet man with some trans friends is that it's a matter that must be discussed at the table as it's almost impossible to speak to the experience of others in any general sense. What is acceptable to one person and their experiences may not be to another and theirs.
Also, discussion such as this can attract 'hot' takes that don't engender kind or courteous conversation.
My comment wasn't directed at anyone in particular, but instead at anyone who has participated and anyone who would participate in this thread.
My personal opinion in the matter as a cishet man with some trans friends is that it's a matter that must be discussed at the table as it's almost impossible to speak to the experience of others in any general sense. What is acceptable to one person and their experiences may not be to another and theirs.
Also, discussion such as this can attract 'hot' takes that don't engender kind or courteous conversation.
Duly noted! I'm not trying to stir anything up, but moreso just to hesr people's thoughts and opinions. I do hope I'm not causing any trouble!
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- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
I think most of this would need to be discussed in each group separately. There are a variety of opinions and it can be a very sensitive area. It is a rare thing to come up, though. I think there are only 2 instances of it shown here so far from official sources. It would not be game breaking (or even, really, game changing) to just ignore it if it makes anyone uncomfortable. You could have it change someone's hair colour or something instead, if you wanted some alternative effect (given that there doesn't seem to be any mechanical effect to a character's gender in 5e).
However, that said, I think that there is scope for it to be applicable outside binary genders: Make the effect that it changes gender, but use a table of possible genders to roll against to see which applies. The effect is still the same, but it encompasses the wider range/spectrum of genders which could be the result.
My take would be that sex change also changes your self-image and sexual prefference according to your new sex. So if you were for example gay you would remain gay.
This isn't meant in an way to be inflammatory or offensive, so apologies in advance if it comes across that way to some.
I personally think that the issue is impacted by age and location. I am in my mid-late 40's and grew up in a small village in Wales. There wasn't a single person growing up that I could point to and say that person is homosexual, if any of the people I went to school with or knew around town was then they hid it very well. Likewise the very concept of someone being trans was completely unknown. In all the role playing games that I was part of the subject only ever came up once when one of our players decided he wanted to play a homosexual Paladin and had him running around in platemail and a shield that had been dyed pink - yes I know, that sort of stereotype is horrendous, back then that was literally all we knew about the subject - gay men wore pink clothes. We did have a girdle of masculinity and femininity turn up once, and it lasted for maybe 1 or 2 sessions before 'the funny ran out'. At 16 I moved to London and you can imagine the absolute culture shock I experienced the first time I saw men holding hands and kissing in Soho!
Modern day people are now growing up where this is the norm rather than pretty much unheard of, even in the smallest towns and rural villages. The newer generations of players are far more aware of gender and orientations than I ever was and it can really change the way the game is played, as has been seen by the approach taken in 5th ed to be so inclusive of all, but there is also a bit of push back from some in the older generations who 'just don't understand what all the fuss is about'. All I can say is that in my games, discrimination and bullying isn't accepted, play the character you want, and have fun. I have roughly 50/50 male to female split of characters, and I have played both lesbian and gay characters (I was actually teased for playing a homosexual male rogue character by a couple of under 30's bisexual female players who thought it was disgusting in one game I played in). I have not played a non binary character because I don't 'get it' and wouldn't know where to begin. But that's something for me to try to learn.
I had a related question to this; if a trans character or NPC used IRL methods to transition and were exposed to healing magic, would it undo/reverse the surgery?
I had a related question to this; if a trans character or NPC used IRL methods to transition and were exposed to healing magic, would it undo/reverse the surgery?
I would suggest "no" unless you were clear it wouldn't traumatize someone.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I had a related question to this; if a trans character or NPC used IRL methods to transition and were exposed to healing magic, would it undo/reverse the surgery?
If healing magic in your world can undo old scars, possibly. elsewise, once the body restores itself its new pattern is largely set; minor healing magic such as Cure Wounds probably couldn't do it either way. Cure Wounds cannot restore missing tissue, and I doubt it could rearrange existing tissue beyond closing wounds and imparting vitality.
There's also the idea that intent matters in magic. Most magic requires the mage to be able to clearly see what they are affecting, and the various spell components are a conduit for the mage's will rather than invisible universe buttons. If the mage casting the healing magic does not see the surgery as injuries, then I see no reason healing magic would undo them. In much the same way that tattoos are technically foreign contaminants within the skin that the body is simply unable to properly purge and yet are almost universally unaffected by healing spells, I would posit that an established surgery the recipient badly wanted and the healer knows is beneficial to the heal-ee would be unaffected.
Heh...of course, part of the appeal of fantasy is that dangerous IRL methods are not necessarily necessary. Widowgast's Transmogrification is a beautiful, agonizing dream for many in the LGBTQ+ collective. Gather enough coin, find a smegload of clay, hire an accomplished wizard, and simply receive the body you should've had to start with. No muss, no fuss, no surgeries or drugs, no societal backlash or rebuke - just fix the problem and be on your way. What I would not give some days...
If the initial transition surgery or magical process of transitioning was seen as healing in itself, why would subsequent healing magic contravene that healing? I mean, I could speculate on a cruel theology where divine magic refutes the transition; but I don't think that's a lot of people's cup of tea.
I feel the one-post-history thread necromancer may find some benefit in recognizing how a character's sex is actually addressed in the rules. Unlike character race and character class which each have an entire chapter outlining the mechanical implications of those choices, a character's sex is only brought up in two paragraphs under sub-subheading of Chapter Four: Personality and Background (subsection Character Details, sub subsection "sex"). That passage is one of the few areas of character generation that entirely gives an aspect of a character to player agency. You get to be what you want. Why would a player or DM want to use healing magic to contravene that player agency, or even an NPC's identity? Again, one could imagine that aforementioned sort of brutal theology where divine healing magic can be used in the fashion you're asking; but that sort of runs into a brick wall against Rodney's point about fun.
So can sex/gender be magically played with? Sure. But "undoing" an elected transition through "healing" ... that's one of those things where while no one can tell you how to build your world or your pantheon, I nevertheless feel it's messing around with IRL identity issues in a very callous fashion and I'd question the "why" of it all. It just smells too much of IRL "spiritual warfare" practices where GLBTQ+ are confronted by interventions like conversion therapy to enforce Biblical interpretations of sex and gender identity norms. If this sort of thing was an aspect of the game world, representation of gender, sex and identity would be a definite need in the session 0 because it seems like a move likely to engender conflict if it's just sprung on a party or by a player.
Rodney's right, D&D does have a history of gender/sex flipping for laughs. However, to go deeper and take a character (PC or NPC) with a trans identity who has undertaken transitional procedures and attacking that identity in the guise of "healing magic" ... that statement and sentiment makes me uncomfortable. It's taking the flip done for laughs and turns it into an attack on an identity (and presumption that there's some divinely ordained "norm" being enforced etc.).
This thread made me think for a bit and to me, in D&D for sure, a "sex change" is a cosmetic alteration, so I don't think most folks would be all that put out by it. Nothing about the character changes so it's no different to a "race change" effect that might turn a Gnome into a Dwarf, or a Human into a Firbolg. No stat changes, no alignment changes, the Player is the same person and everything, so as a DM, I would explain, if required, that you got out of one car that looked like X, and into another that looked like Y. Both operate exactly the same way, handle the same, exact same performance, they just look different on the outside. It's a method I used raising my kids, when they were really little, I explained that all the different looking people they saw were all the same under their skin, it was just everyone had their unique costume to wear.
For sure there are some folks who might take something like this hard, and a session 0 mention of the possibility should be raised if it's on someone's mind, but I doubt there would end up being much drama or hardship surrounding the idea, especially if presented properly.
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In D&D, magic in all its mystical glory is an everyday part of life for you average adventurer. Whether it be a wizard casting fireball, a druid wildshaping, or a bard infusing their tunes with arcane properties, spells, hexes, curses, and incantations are the norm across most games, though some of these can get a bit confusing when it comes to applying them in game. Thats right, I'm talking about the infamous, and often annoying "sex change spell". Your character touches a strange glowing rock, drinks a sketchy potion, or hops through a mysterious portal and in a poof their sex has been totally swapped! Simple enough of a concept to apply to characters that entirely fit binary norms, but what about trans characters, intersex characters, or characters of races that simply don't have biological sexes as we tend to think of them, or at all? Both gender and sex are broad spectrums with individuals falling all across the line inbetween or completely outside of the strict "male and female" narrative, so how are these characters to be affected? Are they simply immune, or is there another course of action to take so as not to leave them out. Additionally, should such magic even be allowed in common practice, what with the unethical and not at all appropriate results such actions can yeild?
- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
This might be something to address in a Session Zero.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Probably, and it likely will be. I'm just opening the topic for discussion to hear different opinions on the matter.
- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
Well, there isn't any "sex change magic" in official 5e, so there's your answer from the game designers. I'm sure I saw some table where "change sex" could be a result of using an artifact or something in AD&D; but I don't know about subsequent editions. I think nonconsensual sex change magic would sort of conflict with the assertion the present PHB holds for player freedom to construct their sex/gender anyway they choose to.
Sure art and fiction have many carefully crafted narratives depicting explorations, identifications, transitions beyond or removed from the heteronormative binary. _Care_fully crafted. Could D&D as well? Maybe, but I imagine the risk of it being deployed flippantly or insensitively or abusively was well considered by the present editions designers, hence we have the section in chapter four that makes sex and gender explicitly completely a matter of player agency/choice, and implicitly something that's not to be challenged in game.
So in practical game terms, you're talking homebrew if you want to take that agency away through game mechanisms.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
My instinct is to say it would have no effect on non-binary characters, similar to how a Helm of Alignment Changing doesn’t affect a Neutral character. Transgender characters would probably switch to the opposite of their identified gender, but not being trans myself I’m not sure how personal that would feel. I’d handle that on a case by case basis, even if that meant avoiding it, since the point of silly magic like gender swapping is meant to be lighthearted and fun. It’s not meant to be taken seriously, and if anyone feels like it’s a serious violation of their character, then it’s probably just best avoided. I personally think it’s a pretty fun twist in a lighter campaign, for a few sessions anyway!
Incidentally, does the Tomb of Horrors in 5e still have the gender swapping doorway? I’m pretty sure it did in prior editions.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Last I checked I think it still did? I should probably make sure, though. Let me look and I'll get back to you with an edit.
Edit: As far as I can tell its still there.
Wasn't there an official campaign in which an NPC will, if trusted, lure the player characters into a portal that swaps their alignment and sex? I'm certain I saw something along those lines. If I can find it agian I'll edit this with the relevant information.
Edit: Found two sources of official sex swap magic!
1. ( Hhttps://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/toa/tomb-of-the-nine-gods#9MagicFountain ) "... drinking the water loses the ability to speak for 8 hours. A lesser restoration spell or similar magic ends this effect. 3 The creature drinking the water magically changes sex. A greater restorationspell restores the creature’s original sex, as does another drink from the fountain that yields this same result. 4 The creature drinking the water gains 2d10 temporary hit points." - Excerpt of information about the Magic Fountian in Tomb of Annihilation.
2. ( hhttps://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/tftyp/a7/tomb-of-horrors#14ChapelofEvil ) "...glow.) The skeleton, of course, misleads the party, for any character passing through the portal will enter a 10-foot-by-10-foot room where their sex and alignment are reversed by a powerful magic. Exiting the room and reentering the archway will restore original alignment, but also deals 3 (1d6) psychic damage. Going back a third time will reverse sex again, but the individual will be teleported..." - Excerpt from information about events/effects from actions in Tales From The Yawning Portal. This is the one mentioned prior by me.
- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
Pretty sure you are talking about the same thing in both replies (Tomb of Horror moment is when an "NPC" (actually a skeleton) lures the PC through a sex swapping portal.
But think about it. Do you really want to use an encounter within a "tomb of horror" as an example of sex/gender swapping magic handled with the sensitivity of the 5e PHB previously discussed? I'd call the encounter more an editorial oversight in an effort to keep fidelity with a retro "classic". There was notable disappointment from nonbinary players and their allies when that portal made it into 5e without updating for the sensibilities 5e was trying to embrace.
The portal is a problematic trap. Messing with a characters alignment, ok, there should be some in game impact; but what is the game saying by bundling that trap with a change in binary gender? The game is calling it a horror by including it within a tomb of horrors. Is this a good thing? More likely, it's probably why you don't see it other than a reprint from 1978 with 5e stat blocks.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
I would like to remind everyone to speak with kindness and forethought if you can, and to not speak at all if you can't. Issues surrounding sex and gender can strike home for a lot of people, so speaking to an experience you don't have with ill informed opinions can be hurtful and harmful to others.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
This I am aware of. I myself am trans, and have a handful of trans or otherwise gender nonconforming characters, and as such this particular subject piqued my intrest as I'd like to see how others believe the issue should be handled in game, both out of simple curiosity and for the fact that it is a situation that may at some point come up in a campaign.
- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
My comment wasn't directed at anyone in particular, but instead at anyone who has participated and anyone who would participate in this thread.
My personal opinion in the matter as a cishet man with some trans friends is that it's a matter that must be discussed at the table as it's almost impossible to speak to the experience of others in any general sense. What is acceptable to one person and their experiences may not be to another and theirs.
Also, discussion such as this can attract 'hot' takes that don't engender kind or courteous conversation.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Duly noted! I'm not trying to stir anything up, but moreso just to hesr people's thoughts and opinions. I do hope I'm not causing any trouble!
- With all due respects, your friendly neighbourhood alchemist
I think most of this would need to be discussed in each group separately. There are a variety of opinions and it can be a very sensitive area. It is a rare thing to come up, though. I think there are only 2 instances of it shown here so far from official sources. It would not be game breaking (or even, really, game changing) to just ignore it if it makes anyone uncomfortable. You could have it change someone's hair colour or something instead, if you wanted some alternative effect (given that there doesn't seem to be any mechanical effect to a character's gender in 5e).
However, that said, I think that there is scope for it to be applicable outside binary genders: Make the effect that it changes gender, but use a table of possible genders to roll against to see which applies. The effect is still the same, but it encompasses the wider range/spectrum of genders which could be the result.
My take would be that sex change also changes your self-image and sexual prefference according to your new sex. So if you were for example gay you would remain gay.
This isn't meant in an way to be inflammatory or offensive, so apologies in advance if it comes across that way to some.
I personally think that the issue is impacted by age and location. I am in my mid-late 40's and grew up in a small village in Wales. There wasn't a single person growing up that I could point to and say that person is homosexual, if any of the people I went to school with or knew around town was then they hid it very well. Likewise the very concept of someone being trans was completely unknown. In all the role playing games that I was part of the subject only ever came up once when one of our players decided he wanted to play a homosexual Paladin and had him running around in platemail and a shield that had been dyed pink - yes I know, that sort of stereotype is horrendous, back then that was literally all we knew about the subject - gay men wore pink clothes. We did have a girdle of masculinity and femininity turn up once, and it lasted for maybe 1 or 2 sessions before 'the funny ran out'. At 16 I moved to London and you can imagine the absolute culture shock I experienced the first time I saw men holding hands and kissing in Soho!
Modern day people are now growing up where this is the norm rather than pretty much unheard of, even in the smallest towns and rural villages. The newer generations of players are far more aware of gender and orientations than I ever was and it can really change the way the game is played, as has been seen by the approach taken in 5th ed to be so inclusive of all, but there is also a bit of push back from some in the older generations who 'just don't understand what all the fuss is about'. All I can say is that in my games, discrimination and bullying isn't accepted, play the character you want, and have fun. I have roughly 50/50 male to female split of characters, and I have played both lesbian and gay characters (I was actually teased for playing a homosexual male rogue character by a couple of under 30's bisexual female players who thought it was disgusting in one game I played in). I have not played a non binary character because I don't 'get it' and wouldn't know where to begin. But that's something for me to try to learn.
I had a related question to this; if a trans character or NPC used IRL methods to transition and were exposed to healing magic, would it undo/reverse the surgery?
I would suggest "no" unless you were clear it wouldn't traumatize someone.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
If healing magic in your world can undo old scars, possibly. elsewise, once the body restores itself its new pattern is largely set; minor healing magic such as Cure Wounds probably couldn't do it either way. Cure Wounds cannot restore missing tissue, and I doubt it could rearrange existing tissue beyond closing wounds and imparting vitality.
There's also the idea that intent matters in magic. Most magic requires the mage to be able to clearly see what they are affecting, and the various spell components are a conduit for the mage's will rather than invisible universe buttons. If the mage casting the healing magic does not see the surgery as injuries, then I see no reason healing magic would undo them. In much the same way that tattoos are technically foreign contaminants within the skin that the body is simply unable to properly purge and yet are almost universally unaffected by healing spells, I would posit that an established surgery the recipient badly wanted and the healer knows is beneficial to the heal-ee would be unaffected.
Heh...of course, part of the appeal of fantasy is that dangerous IRL methods are not necessarily necessary. Widowgast's Transmogrification is a beautiful, agonizing dream for many in the LGBTQ+ collective. Gather enough coin, find a smegload of clay, hire an accomplished wizard, and simply receive the body you should've had to start with. No muss, no fuss, no surgeries or drugs, no societal backlash or rebuke - just fix the problem and be on your way. What I would not give some days...
Please do not contact or message me.
If the initial transition surgery or magical process of transitioning was seen as healing in itself, why would subsequent healing magic contravene that healing? I mean, I could speculate on a cruel theology where divine magic refutes the transition; but I don't think that's a lot of people's cup of tea.
I feel the one-post-history thread necromancer may find some benefit in recognizing how a character's sex is actually addressed in the rules. Unlike character race and character class which each have an entire chapter outlining the mechanical implications of those choices, a character's sex is only brought up in two paragraphs under sub-subheading of Chapter Four: Personality and Background (subsection Character Details, sub subsection "sex"). That passage is one of the few areas of character generation that entirely gives an aspect of a character to player agency. You get to be what you want. Why would a player or DM want to use healing magic to contravene that player agency, or even an NPC's identity? Again, one could imagine that aforementioned sort of brutal theology where divine healing magic can be used in the fashion you're asking; but that sort of runs into a brick wall against Rodney's point about fun.
So can sex/gender be magically played with? Sure. But "undoing" an elected transition through "healing" ... that's one of those things where while no one can tell you how to build your world or your pantheon, I nevertheless feel it's messing around with IRL identity issues in a very callous fashion and I'd question the "why" of it all. It just smells too much of IRL "spiritual warfare" practices where GLBTQ+ are confronted by interventions like conversion therapy to enforce Biblical interpretations of sex and gender identity norms. If this sort of thing was an aspect of the game world, representation of gender, sex and identity would be a definite need in the session 0 because it seems like a move likely to engender conflict if it's just sprung on a party or by a player.
Rodney's right, D&D does have a history of gender/sex flipping for laughs. However, to go deeper and take a character (PC or NPC) with a trans identity who has undertaken transitional procedures and attacking that identity in the guise of "healing magic" ... that statement and sentiment makes me uncomfortable. It's taking the flip done for laughs and turns it into an attack on an identity (and presumption that there's some divinely ordained "norm" being enforced etc.).
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
This thread made me think for a bit and to me, in D&D for sure, a "sex change" is a cosmetic alteration, so I don't think most folks would be all that put out by it. Nothing about the character changes so it's no different to a "race change" effect that might turn a Gnome into a Dwarf, or a Human into a Firbolg. No stat changes, no alignment changes, the Player is the same person and everything, so as a DM, I would explain, if required, that you got out of one car that looked like X, and into another that looked like Y. Both operate exactly the same way, handle the same, exact same performance, they just look different on the outside. It's a method I used raising my kids, when they were really little, I explained that all the different looking people they saw were all the same under their skin, it was just everyone had their unique costume to wear.
For sure there are some folks who might take something like this hard, and a session 0 mention of the possibility should be raised if it's on someone's mind, but I doubt there would end up being much drama or hardship surrounding the idea, especially if presented properly.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.