Mawage, that Bwessed Institution...

[WayneLigon]

Lots of threads on love and romance, but... after you've done the romance, done the courting, pursuing, rescuing, whatever... has anyone RP'ed the marriage itself? The preparations, the announcements, the actual event itself?

Any stories? How did the various families react? (What? Great Celestia, you never told us he was human!) How did things go after the honeymoon (which could have been an adventure in itself...)

 

[Umbran]

has anyone RP'ed the marriage itself? The preparations, the announcements, the actual event itself.

Let me tell you, in the real world, the preparations announcements, and all that are not exactly the subject of heroic fiction. One does not buckle swashes while going over fabric colors or cast spells to determine styles of invitation engraving or feel particularly epic while choosing what food to serve. Unless the character's florist is being eaten by a troll or something, the planning stages are simply best left out.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

Lots of threads on love and romance, but... after you've done the romance, done the courting, pursuing, rescuing, whatever... has anyone RP'ed the marriage itself? The preparations, the announcements, the actual event itself?

Any stories? How did the various families react? (What? Great Celestia, you never told us he was human!) How did things go after the honeymoon (which could have been an adventure in itself...)

I would say unless there is an overwhelming reason for this to be played out in game (ie. a combat breaks out during the party, important meetings between players and NPCs who are guests at the wedding, the player and their new spouse do something relevent to the game on their honeymoon like pick up an artifact or something) that this would best be done out of game.

But I could think of quite a few instances where you could use the event of a wedding to have all manner of interesting things happen while the ceremony is taking place.

But if you are just planning on having a run of the mill , nothing goes wrong, the families all get along etc. wedding, it might be really boring to play that out. Heck, I think weddings in real life are pretty boring. I really can't imagine role playing one if nothing else was going on.

As for a PC having family , it can be a good motivating factor.

 

[barsoomcore]

But if you are just planning on having a run of the mill , nothing goes wrong, the families all get along etc. wedding, it might be really boring to play that out.

Maybe it's just me, but a wedding where nothing goes wrong and the families all get along is a LONG WAY from a "run-of-the-mill" wedding.

I reckon I deserve at least few thousand XP for negotiating the table decorations and getting my grandmother's tartan (Forbes) used as the underlying colour scheme at our wedding. I tell you, my mother-in-law is easily a CR 7!

Weddings are a great opportunity for chaos, bloodshed, pandemonium and melodrama. No DM should miss the chance.

 

[Rel]

Let me tell you, in the real world, the preparations announcements, and all that are not exactly the subject of heroic fiction. One does not buckle swashes while going over fabric colors or cast spells to determine styles of invitation engraving or feel particularly epic while choosing what food to serve. Unless the character's florist is being eaten by a troll or something, the planning stages are simply best left out.

Actually, it's a rare thing to make it through the picking out of wedding invitations without some sort of melee attack taking place. Thank God for Tumble or I'd never have made it out of my wife's threatened area unscathed.

 

[Henry]

Thank God for Tumble or I'd never have made it out of my wife's threatened area unscathed.

Actually, my wife cast a charm person on me to make me nod my head repeatedly at whatever her mom said about wedding plans.

Smartest save I ever failed.


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I have added elements of marriage to my games before - the PC's helped keep order, the PC's rooted out a troublemaker, that sort of thing) - but romance in our gaming group goes over like a lead balloon. I've tried to introduce elements of it, but they get dropped like leprous body parts, so the marriage elements needless to say don't go too far.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

No stories myself, but I think it would be tough, though hardly impossible, to make the planning stages interesting. But weddings themselves are *full* of possibilities. For one thing, the historical timeframe of most D&D games is back before the groomsmen became entirely symbolic. Once upon a time, they were your big, well-armed buddies who were there to make sure the nobody showed up to carry off the bride, or, in a somewhat more egalitarian D&D world, the groom for that matter. Or there's always the simple brawl at the wedding feast routine. The in-laws just don't get along, some ale gets dropped into the mix, and all of a sudden your Dwarven best man has to wade into the fray and knock your father out before he strangles your wife's uncle.

If the PCs are social/political heavies, there's all manner of opportunity for intrigue at the ceremony, the feast/reception, or even during the planning stages. Maybe the PC and NPC getting married are truly in love, but members of their family see political advantages in the match, or else are political enemies. Some parts of the family could be seriously opposed to the whole thing. Or maybe a rival suitor just can't handle the fact that the PC is marrying the woman he loves and wants to eliminate one or the both of them ("I'll kill the usurper!" works just as well as "If I can't have her, no one will."). Or maybe the rival would prefer to discredit the PC somehow. All manner of unpleasantness could spring upon the couple while they were busy picking out flowers.

This really runs the risk of putting one member of the party entirely in the spotlight, of course, to the detriment of the others. But I suppose it could also provide excuses for solo adventures for the rest of the party. A PC needs some invitations delivered or needs something picked up which is required for the ceremony, so he asks another member of the party to deliver/pick-up for him. Perhaps the road is hazardous. Perhaps it's not, but something unusual interferes with the journey. Chaos ensues. In the meantime, the character about to get married is bored to tears with flower selections when an assassin sent by his in-laws/a bitter rival suitor/his own family takes a shot at him.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

... has anyone RP'ed the marriage itself? The preparations, the announcements, the actual event itself?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer:

My character, Kalin, is a dwarven cleric of Thor. When my DM discovered that Kalin was past the normal marrying age for a dwarf, Kalin started receiving sendings from his parents about the potential brides they had found for him.

Kalin finally agreed to marry Vrenn, a paladin of Odin. The preparations for the wedding were interspersed in our campaign over several months. Every time we went back to town, Kalin had a short encounter with wedding preparations.

The wedding itself took a good part of a gaming session. It was a full-fledged festival with various competitions (drinking, feats of strength, etc.). The strength of Kalin's beard was tested by hanging members of Vrenn's clan from it. Kalin's performance in these various competitions improved his reputation with Vrenn's family and helped to determine the value of various gifts the happy couple received.

Our DM put a lot of time and thought into making the wedding a lot of fun for all. The short encounters leading up to it didn't take anything away from our camaign, and actually built up a lot of interest. Everyone was pretty excited for the session when Kalin was getting married. The whole experience added a lot of depth and flavor to our campaign.

 

[Dimwhit]

I think it has great potential. I think it may happen soon in one of my campaigns. We're currently doing a fantastic city campaign (lots of political intrigue with various guilds, etc.). Anyway, my character has been dating the sister of one of the most powerful guild leaders in town. She's past marrying age, and the guy wants her married off. Anyway, I can only imagine what our DM would do with a wedding ceremony, if it happens. I'm pretty sure it would not be run-of-the-mill.

If done well, a wedding can be just as much fun for a party as anything else. If done wrong, it can be about as exciting as sitting around while one character spends an hour roleplaying his equipment purchases...

 

[Dispater]

I find family life rather hard to combine with orc bashin'