Romantic Angst and D&D

[NewLifeForm]

I have a situation I was wondering if anyone can help me with.

In my current D&D game (heck, in all my D&D games) I need to add romantic angst at the request of one of my players...my wife. Now, it's not that I've never had angst in my campaigns, it's just that I'm not very good at adding it in on a regular basis.

Truth be told, I don't really enjoy it or understand it in terms of literature or use in a fanstasy campaign's story. I usually look at an "angsty" situation and wonder why the characters involved, intelligent and perceptive enough to figure out the mad wizard's plot, are jumping to conclusions when it comes to romance. I perceive the angst as resulting from a misunderstanding or miscommunication, but I often don't remember to have my NPCs be what I think of as "thoughtless enough". Most of the time the romantically involved NPC, if they are generally very intelligent, reasons out that they misunderstood something and confronts the PC directly. This makes sense...but I understand it kills the angst.

Can anyone recommend a way I can brush up on my portrayal of romantic angst? Are there any well done pieces of Fantasy fiction that showcase this? How much does romance place a part in your campaigns?

Thanks in advance,

NewLifeForm
Where No One Has Gone Before...

 

[herald]

My suggestion to you is ask your wife for three differant concepts of this for you to see. FIlm works better than books as it will be quicker to drink this in.

By doing this you will get the idea of what she has in mind. After that you might have a common understanding of what to do.

 

[CTD]

I usually look at an "angsty" situation and wonder why the characters involved, intelligent and perceptive enough to figure out the mad wizard's plot, are jumping to conclusions when it comes to romance.

Don't mix love with logic.

Think back to when you were young and not married, how often did you use logic when you had a crush on a girl? Logic is a sharp sword that can cut through that angst instantly, but few people ever even think to wield it

Logic and love... pffft! What a silly notion

 

[Mr Fidgit]

you could always add something to the character's history so it doesn't come up in game play all of the time, and then hit the PC with it all at once.

for example: the PC's One True Love(tm) was separated from her before game play began (for whatever reason). then an entire mission for the party could revolve around:

her OTL has been taken hostage or is otherwise in trouble. when rescued, he's married someone else

her OTL has aligned with a faction/church/organization that PCs oppose. this won't end until the PC and her OTL have a showdown

her OTL has taken a darker path in life. she, and the party, have to end his villainy. when she discovers she can't change him, she'll have to kill him

what's more angsty than that?

 

[Humanophile]

There isn't much romantic angst in fantasy fiction that I know of, simply because most fantasy writers use their work to... well, fantasize. I'm afraid you're going to have to look to some more modern stuff.

For some pointers, the book High Fidelity is one of my favorites. (The movie less so, but it's still good.) The movie Chasing Amy can also be a gold mine. And this comic might be good for ideas, too. Just as starters.

The other big thing to remember is that your characters have an advantage they wouldn't realistically have. They're both figments of your imagination, and even if you work at "what does he know, what doesn't she know", their underlying modes of thought will both be the same. Think back to the last time you and your wife had a fight or some other complete misunderstanding. Some time when you couldn't for the life of you get what was wrong, and everything you thought would sensically work utterly failed to. Romantic angst stems largely from not knowing, from misundersandings, and from things degenerating from there.

I'm sure some other people will give you good ideas and sources, so good luck with managing to work it into your game.

 

[kenjib]

Wuthering Heights. GRRR!!!!!

I am lover. Hear me roar!

It's not fantasy, but with a little bit of cut and paste it can be.

EDIT: One way to make love epic and romantic is to make it unattainable or forbidden.

EDIT 2: Oh yeah, and Dr. Zhivago is great for romantic angst too -- with an unhealthy dose of violence thrown in for good measure at that!

 

[NewLifeForm]

Re: Re: Romantic Angst and D&D

Don't mix love with logic.

Think back to when you were young and not married, how often did you use logic when you had a crush on a girl?

Too often I'm afraid. It's one of the reasons I'm having so much trouble writing this stuff.



NewLifeForm
Where No One Has Gone Before...

 

[Chrisling]

Allow me to give some <I>practical</i> advice.

Scenario #1 to Just Add Angst: Get the PC involved with an NPC, have them fall in love, make sure they have sex, and maybe even allow the woman to become pregnant and then . . . reveal that the NPC is the long-long brother/sister to the PC. Insta-angst.

Scenario #2 to Just Add Angst: Have the NPC lover be something completely other than what they appear to be. She thinks he's a 5th level expert blacksmith? Wrong. He's a 15th level rogue and he's all about taxing her for a ride, and getting some freaky tail along the way.

As a sub-note to #2, there's never any reason to reveal the NPC is a rogue (or whatever). Let's say the rogue is getting close to the PC to get into the palace (or whatever). When he's done with whatever he needed to get into the palace to do, he can decide to "play" with the PC, embarassing and humiliating her in a variety of ways (how vicious you want to get certainly depends on the group -- but I'd be inclined to play it to the hilt). For instance, he could say to her, "If you really loved me, you'd have sex with this guy I know." Well, if she doesn't have sex with the guy, he'd be all, "You don't really love me!" If she does have sex with the guy, he'd be, "I was testing your love for me! You should have said no!" Etc.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Forbidden love is the easiest, I think.

Characters fall in love.

Big fat societal wall falls between characters.

Characters still in love + angst.

There's really no good way for logic to get in the way.

It's easiest if you've got paladins or clerics who have celibacy issues, but that's also obvious.

Another way to go would be to have an oracle or a curse or something so that consumating their relationship would have dire consequences. The Fates have decreed that if she gets pregnant, she will die in the birthing (this one only works if they don't have access to birth control, obviously). Or, if he takes a vow of marriage, he will die within the year. Anything that your PCs or NPCs wouldn't consider risking, irrevocably attached to something that they really want to do.

Of course, be prepared to follow through when one of them DOES risk it. Future angst won't work if you're known for pulling punches when it gets tough.

 

[Kai Lord]

Interracial/species relationships are tried and true methods of angst-provoking fantasy romance.

Gold old-fashioned curses can always spice things up as well.