One of my players is attempting to hit on one of my NPCs!!!

[Grogg of the North]

I'd forgo any kind of rolls.

Has the player talked to you about what the character wants to do? If the player puts in the effort and roleplays it well then just let it happen. Besides, they're basically handing you a big plot hook with "Who kidnapped my girlfriend?".

Or are you more worried about this:
http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=951

 

[Sunseeker]

I'm not sure how psuedo-medieval your society is, but from re-reading the OP, the guard captain is female and the player is female yes? You might want to make up your mind real quick if the Captain is even interested in women.

 

[Dwimmerlied]

[MENTION=93444]shidaku[/MENTION]; very astute! I conciously planned to not mention this fact

My default level of technology is loosely based on dark ages because that evokes for me loose and unstable political structures set in a chaotic world.

I asked another player for advice about this very thing, and recieved similar advice as you have offered. The player in question identifies as (enter politically correct term here), and so I decided that it would not be such a stretch that in this world, whilst perhaps the standard relationship is heterosexual, the folk of the world don't have these terms of sexual identity themselves; there is no stigma attached, so that in these situations, the only thing I have to base my decision on is whether the personalities mesh. Perhaps its a stretch afterall? But anyway, I think it will work.

 

[Dwimmerlied]

Or are you more worried about this:
http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=951

No, but I just made some comprehensive DMs notes muahahaha

 

[Starfox]

I'm not sure how psuedo-medieval your society is, but from re-reading the OP, the guard captain is female and the player is female yes? You might want to make up your mind real quick if the Captain is even interested in women.

My experience is that using what the DM perceives to be the sexual mores of a certain period or setting is usually hard. The player will bring their own mores to the setting, and that trumphs any setting mores the DM tries to introduce. It's better to simply back off and let the players determine these things.

In other words, play with what the players (including you) are comfortable with. And even then, usually draw the curtain pretty early.

 

[Sunseeker]

In other words, play with what the players (including you) are comfortable with. And even then, usually draw the curtain pretty early.

I disagree. I think an important aspect of NPC creation is deciding their wants and needs and if your players are going to be sexual, I think it's important to have defined sexualities in NPCs. It's not a matter of being uncomfortable with it, it's just a defining aspect.

 

[Funkmaster Rick]

Don't touch the dice till he has to take the bra off. Then give him a nice, high-DC Disable Device check.

But yeah, I recommend roleplaying it. If she's all no-nonsense, don't make it easy for him. Consider the sorts of relationships she'd have had in the past, and how it would have prepared (or not prepared) her for this. If she's naive and icy, maybe she likes him but says the wrong thing a lot. Maybe she's the sort to hit HIM over the head and drag him back to her cave. Who knows?

Point is, dice will turn it into just another contest to win.

 

[Starfox]

I disagree.

We're talking apples and oranges. I meant societal mores, not personal mores. Of course, different NPCs should have different attitudes. But beyond appearances (in a Victoran settings, ankles can be the height of daring), I find most campaigns end up pretty much with the mores of the player group. Others are hard to adjust to.

 

[haakon1]

- No rolls to advance the relationship, if it's honest. If the player puts some effort in pursuing this matter, it should be enough.
...
- If the player becomes invested in the relationship, don't kill the NPC (or do something similar) without giving players a way to prevent it.

I agree with the parts I quoted. My only addition to that bare-bones advice would be:

- Any sex is strictly off-screen. Treat it like "Star Trek: The Old Show" would. Kirk often romances and kisses an alien, and sometimes you might see them in his room as he's putting his boots back on after an encounter, but what happened in between is censored. For me at least, anything more is unseemly.

- Don't let the romance be a 'screen hog'. A short interaction between my party's fighter leader and the saucy tavern wench is fine . . . but I don't want it to be all about him for too long. One scene like this ended with the fighter going out to the outhouse, the farmer's daughter disappearing shortly after, and them returning "twenty minutes later" to great hilarity for all. Implication of unspecified debauchery in a smelly place was more than enough detail for us.

 

[haakon1]

Being both an "ice-maiden" and "naive and good-hearted" seem fairly contradictory, not impossible, but people who are jaded and closed off to others are not the types who generally believe in the inherent goodness of humanity.

She could be shy about personal matters and devoted to her duties. It seems like viable role-playing parameters to me.

Seems to me to be the "It is easier to love all of humanity than to love a single person" kind of personality. Common in nuns and paladins, goes well with chastity. As a tough lady, she might also have some bad romantic encounters in her backstory, with guys who like their women more "traditional". Makes her not want to get hurt again, so she put on the "Ice Lady" facade (probably subconsciously) but really is more of a warm and good-hearted person.

Yeah, I'm with Starfox on this one.

And while I assumed heterosexual relationship until reading it's not, if the game's social setting isn't gay-friendly, it makes even more sense for a gay NPC to be quite guarded, and "icy queen"-like, even if she's actually "naïve and good-hearted". After all, she's potentially got a big secret in the closet, and she may not even have acknowledged it to herself. As for her orientation, I'd default to "compatible with the PC hitting on her", unless you've already decided otherwise. Either the player picked up on something about how you were role-playing this NPC, or she made this NPC somewhat more "interesting" than you intended . . . either way, I'd go with it.