First off, we're back! And talking about all things geeky that strike our fancy. From Sci-Fi, to Comic Books. Video Games to Tabletop RPGs and beyond. It's an adventure in blog form. So very exciting.
And today's topic: PC Romance in D&D.
Now, I wanna get this out of the way: I am a hopeless, die hard romantic. I'm one of those True Love kinda suckers that tear up at weddings and thinks that "The Princess Bride" is the greatest story ever told.
Now, the concept of romance is a cornerstone of the fantasy genre that D&D places itself into. Whether its of the "Come with me if you wanna live" variety of rescuing a damsel in distress or more of a "Ah, but you see. You don't just protect me, we protect each other." flavor of comrades in arms. Love goes hand in hand in fantasy stories.
And it can be awesome.
And sometimes, it can be annoying.
You know what I'm talking about. The two PCs (usually the Actors of the party) will have their characters hook up in game. It makes sense, they're the only two characters of same race, or they share a deity, or they're at least compatible enough that it'd be easy to ship the couple. And before you even realize it, the whole quest to the defeat the evil dark lord Kiva from using the 10 Haesae Keys to summon the dread demon Dekaedo has taken a backseat to lovers quarrels and mushy romance.
How do you stop these things, while still enjoying the benefits to the narrative that the romance provides? Well, we at the Tardis are here to help:
1) Make sure that the romance doesn't dominate the plot. This should be an almost no brainer, but when there's 6 players at the table, no matter how invested everyone is in each others characters, having 2 players hogging the spotlight sucks. Make sure that everyone gets an equal share, and keep the plot running. Kiva is not going to wait for the heroes to get through their first couple fight before unleashing his darkness over the land.
2) Make sure that the romance isn't going to split the party uncomfortably. I'm currently neck-deep in PC on PC romance in a D&D Campaign and due to the way that all the characters are, we have the potential to split the party right down the middle. My character, his romantic partner and brother in arms vs. the party's wizard (and resident jerkass), the party's fractured sorcerer , and the centaur who is constantly searching for approval. The fact that my character's love interest is the party's de facto leader doesn't help matters. There may be a split coming, and part of it may stem from the disparate party make-up and the fact that they can't seem to get along. Either way, party cohesion is a big challenge facing DMs, and romance is something that can complicate that if not handled properly.
3) Challenging the Romance is Okay. Occasionally. Throwing in NPCs to act as love interests to a couple in their proto-phase is okay. Having bad guys capturing one of the two halves of a couple is awesome (especially for the resulting rescue). Introducing a dilemma that you KNOW the couple is divided on is stupidly cool as it gives the players a chance to role-play their characters as individuals instead of them becoming defined as "one half of the Paladin/Cleric combo."
However, if you do nothing but continually challenge you fall into the trap of making the relationship become more important to the plot, and you end up frustrating the two players. Moderation is a good thing.
4)Make sure everyone is okay with the idea of a romance sub-plot. Now, while the Actors of the party are going to be cool with it (and depending on the gaming group's make-up may end up with people pairing off), make sure that everyone is okay with it. After all, some people play D&D for monster fighting and kingdom saving. Watching the Fighter and the Ranger make googly eyes at each other between combat encounters might not be their idea of a good time. Plus, it's always a good thing to check with your players for feedback from time to time.
In closing, romance is awesome, and adds alot to a D&D campaign. However, it has some dangerous pit-falls too. The key to avoiding them is communicating with your players. We'll see you back here in 7 for more D&D related thoughts.
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