There is no emoticon for what I am feeling

[Ave Rage]

A while back I posted about my first time as 'GM' and how my group was extremely powerful but were defeated by smart enemies using simple tactics.

We've played around 4 or so games now and things are great. I didn't know if I was going to be a good GM but I'm rockin' it. All my players are extremely happy with the stories/challenges I'm putting forth (as well as the maps I draw) and they're all getting the hang of the game, even adding personality to their characters.

Then we hit last night's game. Everything was going good until I introduced the barbarian half-orc's love interest. This wouldn't seem odd except the barb has 4 cha. They meet at the pie-eating contest that he was hosting (they went to a fair) and she eventually wins the competition. He says he'll meet her later so she can claim her prize. After a few more events (wrestling/boxing bunch of different non-fighting stuff as that's what they were mainly doing the previous games and I wanted to mix things up) they settled down for the concert that the fair was hosting.

As the curtains pull back, they see the lead singer, guitar player, drummer and finally the bass guy. The bass guy just happens to be the pie-guy too so the barb's man is a rocker (In real life the girl who plays the barb half orc's life is all rock so she's stoked) He leans down during a solo and she plants him a kiss. Once she does this, the singer stops the show and yells at the guy for choosing the ugliest girl (which seems to be a reacuring event for the guy) and ruining the show. Changing his guitar into an axe the bard walks over and kills the pie-guy, ending the more than likely only chance for the barb to hook up with a guy who's somewhat normal.

She goes into a rage and a battle ensues with the party fighting the rest of the band as well as the security guards. The game ends with them looting the backstage and running off. Everyone goes home content with my game. Now we get to the point of my post after all that backstory.

The next day I find out that while the girl liked the story, it has her all depressed that she doesn't have a boyfriend/loved one either. She's extremely pretty/smart and all so she has no trouble getting a guy, she just hasn't found the one for her or something to that extent. So now I'm kinda scarred to use any kind of emotion in my game. I'm tempted to just keep it hack and slash but the whole awkward romance between the two added a ton to my game. I just have no idea how tossing in different elements of real life will effect my players.

Now the inevitable "Has this ever happened to you/what did you do?" part of my post. I just don't know how to add real life elements to the story without the possibility of triggering these other things. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Wraithdrit]

You can usually know what real life type of events to stay away from. Don't make an NPC dieing and sick if a PC has a RL loveone dieing of cancer, etc.

Something as common place as being alone in this world, while not fun, is not something that I would particularly stay away from in game.

All this of course is dependant on how 'mature' the players are, and well they can explore an emotional plot. Your milage will vary. Usually a quick aside is all that is needed to smooth things over, but there also might be the need for you to tell your friend exactly what you said here. What happened in the game was in the game. Tell her she's pretty/smart and the right guy will come along.

I think she'll be fine.

 

[Privateer]

I'm just a bit confused as to why one of the band members would kill another member on account of choosing the ugliest person to kiss... the brutal world of rock and roll, eh?

I'd look on this more as a complement, even -- you have cultivated a campaign where your players are so attached to their characters that they feel deep empathy for them and their misfortunes.

And there's always Raise Dead... although I admit that's a bit contrived.

 

[Maraxle]

Can the rocker guy be reintroduced somehow? Maybe he could be resurrected or something and come looking for her. Or maybe he has a close friend or relative who could fall for her after seeking her out to thank her for avenging his death. Anyway, if it would make her feel better to have someone in-game, I'd find some way to work it out.

Also, I want to let you know that you did nothing wrong. You had no idea that it would make her upset in real-life. It's not like you picked something that was known to offend or upset one of your players. She'll be okay, and so will your game.

 

[Ave Rage]

Yeah, if a player's grandparent has cancer I won't have them try to find a cure for some diesease. That's just common sense. Even if I didn't have the guy die but just say he had to leave for some reason, I know she'd just feel the same way. I'm not worried about her in particular, more along the line that if I continue my game I'll be pushing buttons I don't want pressed with each of my players.

They're all very mature (even if they act immature sometimes) and her being being sad about the game was totally out of left field. I didn't expect her to be affected emotionally at all. She'll undoubtedly get over it. I just don't want to have to make her get over things. Yet at the same time I want to have a world with it's ups and downs.

I'll definantly be on the look out from here on in. The rest of the games will be me looking over my shoulder though. If a character died, I'm sure none of my players would bat an eye, but what if a cat gets killed? Or some slave owner being cruel to a goblin reminds a player of an aggresive father. X( Just seems a little too much for a game. I will show the group this thread though, and give them a talk about how if they feel uncomfortable about a certain aspect of the game that they should speak up quicker.

 

[Ave Rage]

I'm just a bit confused as to why one of the band members would kill another member on account of choosing the ugliest person to kiss... the brutal world of rock and roll, eh?

And there's always Raise Dead... although I admit that's a bit contrived.

All though she has enough $$ for that, I'm sure the guy would choose to stay dead and wait for her. Hero's come back because they have a job to do, people to save. Regular town folk don't have that drive. If she goes for that option I'll probably raise him and make him a reaccuring npc.

And he was killed because he leader got tired of him and his actions with the ladies. He was just a villian and did what evil men do, kill.

Originally posted by Maraxle
Can the rocker guy be reintroduced somehow? Maybe he could be resurrected or something and come looking for her. Or maybe he has a close friend or relative who could fall for her after seeking her out to thank her for avenging his death. Anyway, if it would make her feel better to have someone in-game, I'd find some way to work it out.

I guess bringing the guy back would bring a little solace but there's still the mine field I'll be walking through.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Nifft]

A kind Pixie Druid with an odd sense of humor Reincarnates the love interest as some kind of barbarian-friendly animal, which tags along with her. Later, she discovers the truth, and the party finds a way to turn him back.

-- Nifft

 

[Ave Rage]

A kind Pixie Druid with an odd sense of humor Reincarnates the love interest as some kind of barbarian-friendly animal, which tags along with her. Later, she discovers the truth, and the party finds a way to turn him back.

-- Nifft

You know, I might just use that. As an in game joke, we all said that she was so ugly that the only 'love' she could find was by sneaking up on bears.

a reincarnation might be really awesome in this occasion. I'll run it by her and see what she thinks.

 

[Cybern]

I had that problem, but it ended up far worse...

I DM'd a dungeon crawl, and when the scouting party member came to some drow's "rape room", things got weird. We had always played with mature themes, and my campaigns often dealth with such things like rape, torture, maiming, etc., to get the PCs (and the players) to hate the bad guys. I did a (too much) detailed map of the room, with minis and all. The guy went somewhat crazy, killed all drows he could (without telling the other PCs) and got killed in the process. The session ended there, and when I asked him what is next character would be, he said he didn't have the time to play.

Then a couple of days after I saw his sister on TV show here in Quebec, something like Dr. Phil. She was talking about her rape experience, and the fact that she had gotten beaten almost to death after. Homer would have said 'D'oh', but I was speechless. I called the guy and told him how sorry I was, and after some time he came back to our group, but our stories got more touchy about mature themes.

I guess you have to know your players. I just lost my uncle, and greatest friend, and I still have some downs when I play DnD and we speak about death. The fact that he introduced me to RPGs and Fantasy doesn't help, but I guess I can only shrug and go on.

 

[Kyramus]

You know, I might just use that. As an in game joke, we all said that she was so ugly that the only 'love' she could find was by sneaking up on bears.

a reincarnation might be really awesome in this occasion. I'll run it by her and see what she thinks.

DON'T run it by her. It should be a pleasant surprise if the in joke turned real.