"We that are true lovers
run into strange capers."
-- As You Like It, William Shakespeare

Romance and Adventure
by Tom Schlosser, Adalind Adventures
Artwork by Terry Pavlet

The DM sat in his chair and sorted
through the paperwork from the evening?s
adventure, wondering how to motivate the
players for the next session. All of the
common motivations came to mind. The
king could force the party to go on an
adventure, offering great riches if they
succeeded and death if they failed. The
party could hear the usual rumors of
treasure hidden in some ruins. Maybe one
of the character?s mentors needed some
spell components, or an old enemy had
surfaced and was threatening the mentor?s
life. Or perhaps the adventure would
stumble on the party instead of the other
way around. There could be arson at the
party?s inn, or a murder, a kidnapping, or
other mayhem. Just in passing, the DM
considered introducing some romance into
his campaign. He immediately dismissed it
as too difficult to play, too embarrassing
for the players, and too likely to devolve
into bawdiness. What to do, what to do. . .
 
 

Romance may well be the most overlooked
aspect of any fantasy role-playing
game. While amply represented in fantasy
novels, it is rarely seen in the games that
try to simulate those novels. Although it
can be tricky for the DM to set up and has
the potential to be awkward to play for
both the DM and the player, it can add an
extra dimension to any FRPG campaign.

Before continuing, some distinctions
need to be made. Romance is not the same
as seduction. Romance is intricate, otheroriented,
emotional, and complex to roleplay.
Seduction is of no real interest in
role-playing, being simple, self-oriented,
and easy to role-play. I reduced it to an
opposed saving throw in my campaign,
since the players found it boring and
unrewarding in the game anyway. Romance,
then, is the attempt of one character
to gain the attention and affection of
another character. It is an effort to prove
one?s worth, to serve diligently, and to
bestow honor upon the other character.

What good is romance?
Romance adds an extra dimension of
realism to the game, an extra tool for the
DM to motivate adventures. Romance also
increases the depth of involvement that
the players have in their characters. Without
it, a campaign is less human and less
personal. It can soften the rougher edges
of the game, giving the players and the
DM a gentle break from the mayhem of
combat, political maneuvering, and criminal
investigations.

By making the game more personal for
the players, romance makes it easier for
them to define and refine their characters
through role-playing. Combat, political
intrigue, and criminal investigation are all
subject to logical solution. All three can be
reduced to their tactical aspects as the
characters try to defeat whatever antagonists
they encounter. Romance, on the
other hand, forces them to think with
their hearts instead of their heads. Impressing
the object of their affections
cannot (and should not, from the DM?s
point of view) be reduced to a matter of
giving presents and performing deeds of
valor. The PC must emotionally interact
with the romantic interest and those associated
with it. It is much more than counting
how many pieces of gold the character
is willing to spend on the object of his
affections.

The DM can increase the believability of
the game through the use of romance as
well. By engaging the emotions of the
character, the DM makes the campaign
seem more real, the characters more three
dimensional. It is impossible to imagine the
real world without romance, and it certainly
must exist in a fantasy one as well.
By introducing it to the game, the DM
removes one more barrier between the
world that we live in and the one created
for the game.

Romance can also provide an excellent
motivation for adventuring. If the players
have grown tired of the same old introductions
to an adventure, a romance can
provide a fresh reason for the characters
to take the risks associated with their
quests. The way in which it can lead to
adventures can be direct, such as a rescue
attempt or the removal of a curse, or it
can be more subtle, such as the desire to
win honor and renown (and thus have
one?s valorous deeds recounted to the
object of one?s affections by bards and
minstrels). Romances can also color ordinary
adventures, if the character involved
in the romance thinks of possible gifts
when choosing items from a treasure
horde with the rest of the party.

Complete adventures for a single player
can easily be drawn from a romance. This
works especially well when only a few
members of the party can attend a gaming
session. Perhaps the object of the character
?s affections was slighted by an NPC,
and the character must duel this NPC for
the loved one?s honor. Perhaps something
was stolen from the character?s romantic
interest, and the character must try to
retrieve it. Or maybe the character gets to
escort the loved one to a tournament,
feast, or festival, and they meet with various
adventures on the way. These kinds of
adventures do not need to be complex to
be interesting, since they are automatically
given depth by the romance.

Basic matchmaking
When creating a romance, the choice of
which PC to offer it to is very important.
Obviously, the character involved in a DMdesigned
romance should have a charisma
above some minimum value. Quasimodo is
not going to make a very believable hero
in a romantic fantasy. On the other hand,
if a player with a character whose comeliness
score spells out ?mutant? wishes to
engage in a romance, the DM should certainly
give it a try. More important than
the attributes of the character are the
attributes of the player. The DM should
decide whether the object of the romance
is to encourage a reticent player to engage
in more role-playing or to provide more
entertainment for the group by offering it
to an outgoing one. If it is the first romance
in the campaign, it is probably a
good idea to offer it to one of the group?s
better and more extroverted role-players.
A good, experienced role-player is more
likely to be willing to explore the emotions
of the selected PC than an inexperienced
one. It is likely to be something new to the
players, and the possibility of the DM
being able to use romance again may
depend on the success of the first one.
Once the other players in the party see
how much fun it can be, they?ll be more
likely to try it themselves.

The design of an NPC for a romance is
different from the design of one for combat.
For a romance, the NPC?s likes and
dislikes are as important as hit points and
character class, as the PC is out to earn
the affection of this NPC. For most normal
NPCs, it is perfectly acceptable to use any
of the personality generation tables in
either edition of the DMG. For a romance,
however, the DM should draw up the NPC
carefully. The personality traits and quirks
should be created specifically with the PC
in mind. The NPC should be attractive to
the PC, but have sufficient quirks or
annoying habits to make the romance
interesting.

Since the game is based primarily on
heroic fantasy, the NPCs introduced as
romantic interests for the PCs should be of
a heroic nature. Royalty, other adventurers,
unusual races, and even supernatural
creatures such as dryads or nymphs can
fit the bill. Such a selection increases the
fantasy aspect of the game as well as its
realism.

The DM must keep in mind that these
NPCs should not be patterned after the
NPCs typically hired to help the party.
There is no reason why they should have
skills or powers that would be helpful to
the party. Their primary purpose in the
game is one of role-playing enhancement,
not tactical or strategic improvement of
the party. This is not to say that they cannot
help the party out of jams once in a
while, but the DM and the players should
perceive them as people rather than tools.

Example: The DM chooses to offer a PC
named Artos Branwyk a chance for romance.
Artos is an 8th-level fighter whose
player runs him like a walking vendetta
list. Artos never swallows insults for long;
his pride is practically legendary. He has
won some renown in the campaign world
for his courage and prowess at arms.
There is no lord in the land who would
not accept Artos as a member of his personal
bodyguard.

The NPC drawn up by the DM as Artos?
possible romantic interest is one Lady
Tranis, the daughter of an important lord.
She is just as proud as Artos and refuses
to bestow her favor on anyone who hasn?t
really shown himself worthy of it. So far
no one has. She despises proud, strutting
men as if they were peacocks, and she
wants a suitor that is at the same time a
superior warrior and utterly subservient
to her. She has a weakness for magical
baubles such as gems with minor enchantments
(e.g., ones that prevent the owner
from getting wet in the rain or allow the
owner to silence barking dogs). She is
capricious in the judgment of her suitors,
appreciative at one moment and displeased
and imperious the next.

The combination of these two (if the PC
chooses to pursue it) should be explosive,
to say the least. Artos wishes to woo Lady
Tranis, but when she implies he is not
quite worthy of her it is an affront to his
honor. To Lady Tranis, Artos is an adequately
heroic figure, but he doesn?t seem
subservient enough. The DM must keep
her encouraging enough to keep Artos
interested, yet sufficiently displeased to
keep him wondering just what he has to
do to win her affections. The development
of this romance could span many adventures.
If Artos doesn?t bother to find out
her weakness (that should not be known
publicly) and play to it, this romance could
become a practically eternal quest for the
poor fighter.

"Catherine, this is Vincent."
The most important step in running a
campaign with romance is introducing it.
The way in which a DM starts a romance
will color it throughout its life. There are
the heavy-handed approaches such as
having NPCs use philters of love and
charm spells, but using these is like using
howitzers to hunt grasshoppers. The kind
of arm-twisting enforcement they impose
on the players can contradict the essence
of the romantic love that the DM is trying
to introduce. The DM should try to introduce
it delicately and tactfully, carefully
choosing the setting used to start the
romance.

Selecting the setting for the introduction
of the romantic interest gives the DM an
opportunity to use his imagination. The
DM should recognize an important tradeoff
in preparing the introduction, however.
If the DM uses a more traditional
introduction such as having the party
rescue a princess being held against her
will, succor a knight under a curse, or be
introduced to the chosen NPC by a family
after performing some service for that
family, the players will have a familiar
point of reference in the campaign. Because
such a scene is familiar to the players
from books or movies, the players
have an easier time visualizing it, and the
realism of the game is enhanced. Some
DMs may consider this trite or boring,
however, and opt for a more original
introduction. If the party first meets the
NPC at a tavern where the NPC turns out
to have been disguised as a different race
by the use of an assassin-like skill or
magic, the DM improves the fantastic
nature and originality of the campaign,
but reduces the player?s ability to visualize
it. Whichever method is chosen, the DM
must try immediately to portray some of
the NPC?s personality, and to distinguish
the NPC from the countless faceless NPCs
encountered before.

The DM must also decide whether the
targeted PC is initially to be the pursuer or
the pursued. If it is the former, the DM
must make it clear to the player that the
opportunity for romance is present, but
must let the player take the initiative. The
latter forces the player to decide whether
or not to allow the romance to continue
beyond the first steps of the NPC making
tentative advances towards the PC. In
either case, the DM must allow the player
to back out of the offered romance easily.
The development of the romance should
be entirely voluntary on the part of the
PC, or else the result will be the same as if
a philter of love had been used. You cannot
make someone fall in love.

Example: The DM decides to start by
making Artos the pursued. The party
completes some task for the family of
Lady Tranis, and the family holds a feast
for them. During the festivities, Lady
Tranis flirts with Artos. Intrigued, Artos
tries to pursue it further, but the lady
declines, indicating that although he is a
remarkable warrior, he is not quite good
enough for her. If Artos remains true to
character, he?ll take this as an insult and
try his best to prove her wrong. On the
other hand, Artos? player may not find this
interesting at all, preferring to dream of
busting orcs? heads rather than of the
lady?s smile, thus ignoring her completely.
If this happens, the DM should just drop
the whole issue.

Other possible introductions include a
PC mage taking on an attractive NPC mage
as a student, with the NPC initially showing
no interest in the PC. Perhaps the
party includes a druid who could meet a
dryad while communing in some sacred
grove. A monk or priest PC could offer
charity to a beggar and find that the NPC,
once rags and dirt are exchanged for a
bath and clean clothing, stirs strange and
wonderful thoughts in the PC?s heart. As
long as the PC can back out gracefully, the
DM is free to try just about any introduction
imaginable.

Keeping the thrill alive
The details of a real-life romance are
extremely personal, and it is best to keep
it that way in an FRPG as well. There is no
reason why the DM and the player must
role-play every excruciating detail. If the
character wants to compose a love sonnet,
the player should not actually have to
write it out during play. The DM could
have the player pay a certain number of
gold pieces to a local minstrel to have it
composed and sung (assuming the PC is
not inclined or talented enough to do so)
and leave it at that. The same goes for gifts
and letters. In the example above, it is
sufficient for the DM to tell Artos?s player
that the Lady Tranis is flirting with him.
The DM?s goal should be to add an extra
dimension to the campaign, not embarrass
the player.

Just because the player doesn?t have to
specify all the details of the romance, that
doesn?t mean the DM should allow the
player to treat the romance as a monthly
expenditure, with greater results given for
more gold pieces spent. The key here is
for the player to be creative in courting
the NPC. The PC should also be rewarded
for trying to find out as much as possible
about the NPC?s preferences. If the PC is
the pursued, then the DM has the responsibility
of being creative with the NPC?s
advances.

It is also extremely important to discourage
the use of magic in the courtship. Just
as the DM should avoid using potions to
force the players into romances, the players
should not be encouraged to win the
object of their affections by charm spells
and the like. If the players argue this
point, the DM can rule that the spell or
magical device used will sufficiently
change the personality of the NPC such
that the NPC will no longer be attractive to
the PC (a loss of free will always kills a
romance).

The key idea in running the romance is
to maintain some minimum distance between
the lovers. If soap operas allowed
their couples to be happy, no one would
watch. To keep the interest in the romance
alive, there should be difficulties associated
with it. This is not to say that everything
the PC does should be ungratefully
received or that an NPC will suffer endless
rejection from a PC. Highs and lows
should go hand-in-hand with this roleplaying
interaction. If the PC gets a good
fix on the NPC?s weaknesses or the PC
becomes content with the affections of the
NPC, there are a variety of ways to shake
things up.

A rival for the affections of the NPC is a
good way to jar a complacent romance.
The presence of a rival does not necessitate
a duel, but that is often an exciting
climax to the rivalry. It is possible that the
circumstances of the rivalry do not allow
for any violence, such as a romance at a
royal court or a romance between two
paladins. The introduction of the rival to
the PC is much like the introduction of the
romance, an opportunity for the DM to
use his imagination or as a familiar point
of reference for the players.

The beloved NPC can be capricious,
changing likes and dislikes on a whim,
possibly causing the PC to fall out of favor.
Perhaps the PC made a thoughtless remark
to the NPC that has been taken the
wrong way and caused hurt feelings and
anger. Perhaps the NPC has an acquaintance
whose lover gives more to the acquaintance
than the PC has even given to
the NPC; thus the acquaintance is better
regarded, causing more hurt feelings and
anger for the NPC. The DM can also use
such mood and personality swings to try
to change the PC from the pursued to the
pursuer. It is worth noting that this kind
of disruption in the romance should be
used sparingly, as it is an exercise of arbitrary
judgment on the part of the DM and
is rarely welcomed by the players.

Families and political allies or enemies
can also be used to shake up a stale romance.
If the PC belongs to an organization
or family that has wronged the NPC?s
family (or vice versa), the family may
forbid the romance. Perhaps the NPC is a
ward of some royal court that doesn?t see
eye to eye with the PC?s politics. A disruption
in the romance such as one of these
has been the central theme of countless
stories and can provide plenty of opportunities
for role-playing.

A final example of a class of events that
can jar a romance is the hidden truth.
Soap operas beat this theme into the
ground continuously, but they still maintain
their popularity. The number of ways
to use such secrets boggles the mind.
Maybe the NPC is an impostor, a reformed
assassin, a political refugee, or in hiding
from a cruel spouse. Of course, the PC
doesn?t learn this from the NPC directly,
but hears rumors of it and eventually
discovers the truth. Exposed secrets like
these can be used to impart information
that is relatively unrelated to the romance
but is needed for an upcoming adventure.

Example: Taiya the druid (a PC) meets Sir
Persant in a tavern. The good knight finds
her attractive and asks to wear her token
in an upcoming tournament. She assents
and Persant goes on to win the tournament.
They are happy together until he
becomes uneasy. He tells her of a family
curse, a hairy monster that follows the
eldest male of the family in hopes of killing
him. It seems that this beast can only be
killed by someone close to the victim.
Recently, Sir Persant has heard rumors of
the beast prowling nearby. Persant has to
go off on a campaign with the local army
against some humanoids, so Taiya offers to
hunt down this beast and kill it.

Persant has lied, however. The hairy
beast is actually his youngest brother,
bitten by a werewolf when the two were
out hunting. In his only act of cowardice
ever, Persant fled the scene while his
infected brother killed the beast. His
brother (sliding toward evil but desperate
to be cured) has been trying to find him
for some time, and Persant is afraid of
him. Persant believes he is the only one
who knows the identity of the werewolf
and what happened to his brother, but he
is wrong. After he is gone, Taiya starts
receiving anonymous notes about the
creature, vaguely warning her of Persant?s
duplicity. What she does and what conclusions
she draws from the notes are up to
her, but all will not be well when Persant
returns from the wars.

This example may seem complex, but it?s
nothing compared to what could have
been created by the DM. Imagine the
effect on the campaign if one of the people
in the know turns out to be a party member
who didn?t want to disturb Taiya?s
happiness, but now wants to warn her of
what she?s going to be facing. Or what if
Persant?s uncle turns out to be a doppleganger
in communication with the youngest
brother who knows the party?s mage is
actually the adopted half-sister of . . . You
get the picture. An adventure like this can
be a very refreshing change from the
political intrigues and the monster hunts.

To all good things...
Good things must end as all things do,
and there may come a time when a romance
becomes a liability to the campaign.
The interesting aspects of it have been
explored, every possible adventure has
been wrung from it, and the players are
becoming bored with it. The DM can use
the end of a romance to retire old PCs by
allowing the PC to marry the NPC and quit
adventuring. The NPC can die, perhaps by
the hand of some enemy of the party,
causing a vendetta to start. If the players
are really bored with it, the DM can just
let it cease to exist, claiming a loss of
interest in the two parties. Above all,
the DM must not continue to force a
dying romance to life. At the DM?s
discretion, the chance of rekindling
the romance can be left open, but
this is not necessary.

To sum up
Romance adds spice to an old
campaign, an extra dimension of
reality to the fantasy world, and
brings out the role-playing skills
of the players. Initially it requires
great detail in designing, but the
rewards can be considerable. Three
things to avoid in designing and running
a romance in a campaign are:

1. Do not force the romance on the
player. Allow the player to back out of
it gracefully and with no embarrassment.

2. Do not make the romantic interest of
the player just another tactical weapon to
be used in combat or politics. The NPC
should be a person and not a tool.

3. Discourage the use of magic such as
charms. Overkill like this makes the whole
thing worthless. There is no point in designing
the Flying Dutchman for the PCs
to meet if they have the USS New Jersey
with which to capture it.

AUGUST 1990
 

LOVE LETTERS
Dear Dragon,
Why isn’t there a table or something for
falling in love? I mean, if you look through the
Monster Manuals, you find some rather cute
beasties such as the dryad, sprite, alu demon,
Glasya, and nereids. But, of course, there’s those
girls in the group who have 18 comeliness. But
my DM just doesn’t look like the kind of guy
who would put something like that in our
group. You see, there’s this girl elf in our group
who really makes me weak in the knees. Oh,
well, just send me a table if there is one, though
I seriously doubt it.

P.S. If there is a table, could you rig it so that
female elves fall in love with 9th-level assassins?
(Dragon #180)
 
 

THE FORUM
I read with interest Tom Schlosser's "Romance
and Adventure!" article in DRAGON issue #161.
I was quite surprised that Mr. Schlosser felt
romance in a AD&D® campaign needs to be
contrived. In the many campaigns I?ve played
over the years, I would never have thought it
was anything but natural.

In my first campaign, I played a young female
bard who became interested in and later fell in
love with a thief. Several weeks into the campaign,
my brother, a paladin, discovered there
was hanky-panky going on, resulting in a ?crossbow
wedding.?

Another instance involved a triangle in which
a psionicist and a mage had an affair going
when a new character, a beastmaster (beastmistress?),
managed to move in and conduct a longterm
romance with the psionicist.

In yet another campaign, a druid and a shapechanger
had a several-month-long romance that
ended with their retiring together, getting
married, and building a home. In the same
campaign, a second couple planned to retire
together, but one met with an untimely death on
what was to have beentheir last adventure.

These are but three of the many campaign
romances that have taken place in my living
room. I can?t think of a campaign we played in
that didn?t involve at least one. They all blossomed
independently of the DM and contributed
vastly to the game and player interaction.
In almost no case was there any relationship
between the two players outside the game.

If campaign romances are as rare as Mr.
Schlosser seems to believe, I think there must
be a lot of very dull games going on out there.
To me and to other members of my gaming
group, romance is just as natural within the
game setting as it is in real life.

Carol McGarril
Alexandria VA
(Dragon #165)