Love and the DnD experience

DonTadow · Sep 21, 2006

GVDammerung said:
Love. Sex. Romance.

Howard's work had it.

Leiber's work had it.

Moorcock's work had it.

Tolkien's work had it.

Wagner's work had it.

Dumas' work had it.

etc.

If you don't have _any_ love, sex or romance in your game, you are running prepubescent/self-abusing otaku D&D and need to get out of your parents basement more, ya smelly Fat Beard.

Joke? Sure.

Hey how could you forget about George Lucas?

Seriously, I think maybe I have George Lucas syndrome. I think she was looking for me to play out a real love interest, but I have no idea how a woman expects a woman in love to act (as if I"m observant) , thus I imagined Leia or some other heroine.

Ragnar69 · Sep 21, 2006

Love is an illusion. To be more precise, it's like a Phantasmal Killer. First you roll your save if you believe in it, then to see if your heart gets ripped out.

Sometimes we have love (PC/PC or PC/NPC) and sometimes not, it depends if the players are interested in it. One particulary cruel Game Mistress lets us roll Will saves sometimes to see if we fall in love (that got me married one time and willingly permanently polymorphed into a halfling another

). She also owns the Book of Erotic Fantasy, but we don't use it. So no, there are no rules needed for it, handle it like you want.

With another GM I just say that I spend half of the reward on ale&whores and thats it.

I actualy enjoy roleplaying such things, but when your wife is played by a 250 pound guy with a full beard it feels kinda weird :\

Nomad4life · Sep 21, 2006

Oh, man, there’s nothing quite like a slow-to-burn volatile love triangle to add tension to the party, bring out the worst aspects of good characters, and to add pain, betrayal, and unpredictability to an ongoing campaign.

The ranger who finds himself getting too close to the party cleric while adventuring away from his wife?

The paladin who discovers a dark Hellish flame in her heart as she watches the hedonistic bard flirt shamelessly with her ex from across the campfire?

The young wizard who vows in his sleep to be a little less forthcoming with his spellslinging the next time the party rogue who harshly shot him down (and yet seems quite friendly towards the fighter) needs aid?

Love in the campaign? Sign me up. As long as it will lead to conflict, that is.

frankthedm · Sep 21, 2006

DonTadow said:
Does WOTC need to publish a supplement for fantasy relationships? (written by DR Phil? )

Only if the art is done by Phil Foglio!

Nyaricus · Sep 21, 2006

fusangite said:
Doug, never before have you and I been so completely on the same page.

Fus, I've never even seen Doug on the boards, and he's reading the same damn book as us! :lol:

Man, you just got .sigged

Nyaricus · Sep 21, 2006

Rystil Arden said:
Wow, I made two people's heads explode--admittedly I did summarise a lot of plot that makes more sense in context by placing it out of context in a short summary. I wonder how many more heads would explode if I tried to do a similar summary for my main face to face campaigns--last time I did so, I got this sig quote

Okay, I double dog dare you to give us a sum-up of your campaign. So there

Rystil Arden · Sep 21, 2006

Nyaricus said:
Okay, I double dog dare you to give us a sum-up of your campaign. So there

I remember that the time I got the sig, it wasn't even a summary but actually a description in a (now deleted thanks to the crash--Grrr!) thread about 'where is your PCs' home base?'. The answer, in my case, was that they live in the extradimensional mansion of their intelligent tent that was suffused by magical radiation. Instead of Unseen Servants like a normal magnificent mansion, she has visible human avatars of herself, which of course can never leave the tent. After the time that she (the tent) and the Pixie Assassin disguised herself as a red dragon to scare away some enemies and the party Wizard nearly destroyed her with a Cone of Cold, she researched the Wizard's books from the magical library (located inside her extradimensional space, conveniently) and became a 1st-level Wizard, getting her 'revenge' by flitting in with hidden avatars and shooting at the party Wizard with Ray of Frost spells.

Nyaricus · Sep 21, 2006

Ah, I seem to rememer that convo, but I can't remember anyone sayign that about your story. Anyways, that's kinda weird :uhoh:

Magical Tents, eh...

Kid Socrates · Sep 21, 2006

I've done romance in my game; one player (who is functionally immortal, but does not remember his past, like The Nameless One from Planescape: Torment) has a past love whose death he is responsible for, and he's just finding all the details out now. Another player has a relationship with an NPC who travels with the party, and that's going well too. I don't make it a main feature of the game, but it's a great little sideplot. Doesn't work for everyone, which is why only two of the four players have any kind of plot going with it.

I too agree it depends on the players, and what they want out of gaming. If they would be uncomfortable with a romantic subplot, then yeah, not worth throwing out there.

lukelightning · Sep 21, 2006

Yeah, works of fiction had romance.

But D&D is not a story, it's a game. Romance as a plot device is ok, but personally I prefer any romance/sex to be glossed over in the background.