Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
BLUE ROSE Returns, Championing Diversity & Inclusiveness
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Eirikrautha" data-source="post: 7664802" data-attributes="member: 6777843"><p>You know, I'm trying to think of a way to marry romance/relationships and game mechanics and I just can't make those ideas fit together. It almost defeats the purpose of a roleplaying game to me. Hear me out...</p><p></p><p>When I think of game mechanics and romance, immediately I think of video games like Mass Effect or The Witcher. Because, unless you leave the mechanics so vague as to be almost useless, what you are doing is simplifying the process of relationships down to a numerical score, a mechanical process. Talk about trivializing love (and don't let the Anita Sarkeesians of the world hear that you've reduced a woman's love to something you roll dice for... their heads would explode)!</p><p></p><p>Relationships aren't mechanical... they are organic. If you accurately represent the organic nature, then any mechanical effect will be so negligible as to be irrelevant. If you create strong mechanics, then you reduce relationships to a hollow shell of what they are. Neither seem satisfactory.</p><p></p><p>I will admit that I don't even like the "diplomacy" style rolls in PF/D&D, because they illustrate the problem perfectly. If you reward the good roleplay with high bonuses, then why roll at all? If even good roleplay only gets you a small bonus and leaves you at the mercy of the dice, then why roleplay? I don't think starting a motorcycle, picking a lock, and convincing a friend to trust me are analogous operations.</p><p></p><p>This entire concept (strong mechanics of relationships) seems a step backwards to me. CRPGs are limited to these because of their nature; let's not drag our hobby down to artificial limits when it is not necessary...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Eirikrautha, post: 7664802, member: 6777843"] You know, I'm trying to think of a way to marry romance/relationships and game mechanics and I just can't make those ideas fit together. It almost defeats the purpose of a roleplaying game to me. Hear me out... When I think of game mechanics and romance, immediately I think of video games like Mass Effect or The Witcher. Because, unless you leave the mechanics so vague as to be almost useless, what you are doing is simplifying the process of relationships down to a numerical score, a mechanical process. Talk about trivializing love (and don't let the Anita Sarkeesians of the world hear that you've reduced a woman's love to something you roll dice for... their heads would explode)! Relationships aren't mechanical... they are organic. If you accurately represent the organic nature, then any mechanical effect will be so negligible as to be irrelevant. If you create strong mechanics, then you reduce relationships to a hollow shell of what they are. Neither seem satisfactory. I will admit that I don't even like the "diplomacy" style rolls in PF/D&D, because they illustrate the problem perfectly. If you reward the good roleplay with high bonuses, then why roll at all? If even good roleplay only gets you a small bonus and leaves you at the mercy of the dice, then why roleplay? I don't think starting a motorcycle, picking a lock, and convincing a friend to trust me are analogous operations. This entire concept (strong mechanics of relationships) seems a step backwards to me. CRPGs are limited to these because of their nature; let's not drag our hobby down to artificial limits when it is not necessary... [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
BLUE ROSE Returns, Championing Diversity & Inclusiveness
Top