zarionofarabel
Hero
Well, as always, it depends! Though just about every TTRPG system I own completely lacks any sort of rules that have anything to do with romance. So, for the most part romance is handled by pure RP. I have had numerous instances of PC/NPC romance over the years, mostly because I usually run games that tend to be localized and feature recurring NPCs, so PCs (and players) often develop strong attachments to NPCs. I have also explored the length and breadth or romance, love found, love lost, jealousy, revenge, broken hearts, you name it. I like having strong NPC/PC relationships and romance seems to be a natural outcome of such things. As for PC/PC romance, much less so, mostly limited to real life couples that decided to make their PCs an item. Never had any issues with it because I insist on gaming with mature people.
As for actual rules stuff, well, Pendragon is by far one of my favorite games, and it has very specific and impactful rules regarding romance. So much so that romance, and the pursuit and engagement of romantic ideals, can become the cornerstone of a PCs identity. The best part is the complexity of possibility when it comes to how one can engage the rules in regards to romance, with unrequited love being just as powerful as true love. Romance can also lead to one's downfall and failure to live up to knightly ideals. Which is absolutely perfect considering the source material for Pendragon and the type of game that one is assumed to be playing when one plays Pendragon. The way it handles romance is yet one more reason why Pendragon is easily one of the best and most interesting ROLE playing games ever made.
As for actual rules stuff, well, Pendragon is by far one of my favorite games, and it has very specific and impactful rules regarding romance. So much so that romance, and the pursuit and engagement of romantic ideals, can become the cornerstone of a PCs identity. The best part is the complexity of possibility when it comes to how one can engage the rules in regards to romance, with unrequited love being just as powerful as true love. Romance can also lead to one's downfall and failure to live up to knightly ideals. Which is absolutely perfect considering the source material for Pendragon and the type of game that one is assumed to be playing when one plays Pendragon. The way it handles romance is yet one more reason why Pendragon is easily one of the best and most interesting ROLE playing games ever made.


