Best use of Romance in a Trav campaign

[Liam Devlin]

Garf wrote-"He also fancied himself a ladies man. He managed often to schmooze his way into some women's bed offscreen. However, one time...

After working particularly hard to impress a lady (cheating a bunch of card cheats and returning a valuable ring to her) He finds himself ushered in to the very fortress he was -SUPPOSED- to be helping the party penetrate. Unfortunately when the offscreen fun was over the 'lady' picks up a comlink and says "I'm done with him. Take him away." --Thus, My character had to find way back into the the fortress proper from an Imperial Stormtrooper guarded dungeon....

well. it was funny at the time. The rest of the party laughed their rears off.'
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Sounds like a femme-fatale story, but I'll grant your side of it in the romance angle! I can see 'em laughing too. Schmoozed into prison.Oh my!
Thank you Garf! Excellent reference..
Next!

 

[Liam Devlin]

Okay, time for another example from me:
TNE campaign...

Mueller/shenk system has same size pop (8) as Solee, same Tech level (9), same starport (C). Non-aligned, Impersonal Bureaux govt., way too heavy handed in law level..economically imploding. Had recovered to TL-11 shortly after Virus (1165, now retrograding back. Govt. just tightens its fist and purse strings. Looks bad.
Solee is making overtures, political, economic, military exchanges, etc...
IMTU, Mueller actually fought the Solomani until defeated (planet has mixed Ukrainian-German ethnicity). Then their Colonial TL-11 ships got their Jump drives pulled, stowed at Dunas (a Hi pop world, J-1 rimwards that caved into the Sollies).

So in mid 1202, the Foreign Minister goes with his family (wife, 16 yr old daughter, 12 year old son) to the RC to see what kinda deal they'll offer, right?
Trouble is, SOlee's #1 Spy- Baron AMaraan Abas, finds out, and leaks it to the Guild...who set up their own deal to wax the FM. The FM & Family park their ship at Nike-Nimbus, travel on cleared transport to Aubaine for secret meetings.
FM returns with family to ship, and as they're headed for the J point, get jumped by 3 armed freighters, and shot the heck up.
--ENTER the PC's with one ship (Gazelle CE) just out testing that annual mtce on the drives (paid in Blood sweat & tears, and hard credits from salvage). They answer the SOS, (ala Beowulf), and drive off one (actually they were leaving at that point when # 2 got it), blow up a second, and overhaul & board the third. THe skipper, uses the ship's subcraft to save the civvies & remaining crew on the Muelleran ship.
AMbassador is KIA, but they save his wife, daughter and son! They get to escort him back in flag draped coffin and "Show the Flag". (points for RC). One of the PCs from the ship's boat makes a good impression on the widow.
One month later, the widow is leading the Passive-resistance revolt that overthrowss the government, and a new one gets elected (ala Yeltsin & the tank in 92).
She's now the Prime Minister elect (1 year interim term).
late 1203, one year later, referendum comes up again, Pro RC vs Pro Solee election.
The PC she was sweet on has died (Saved his friends, rammed a Vampire ship with the Gazelle), His best friend has to bring that news to her, besides lead a TF to "Show the Flag". Solee has a flotilla in port as well (doing the same).
Solee starts playing dirty pool, alleges they're sleeping together.(The RC CPT, & The PM). The election goes down, narrowly for RC. This includes becoming an associate member of the RCSA.
SOlee kicks in plan B-counter coup!

CPT-PC saves the day, has his men drop chute in and seize the planetary Meson battery & PAD CCP until loyal units can be identified.
SIS (Soleean version of SolSec) attempts to kill off key Military & govt. personnel (Those not in the coup d'etat get waxed -50% of em. PM gets saved by a handful of PCs, and a man in a Black Trenchoat (TL-14 Ballistic weave) !
Solee's coup fails. Order is restored, Soleean vessels, miliatry and merchant get stopped from leaving (small space battle).
Soleean Ambassador ejected. Mueller declares war. PM then does really fall for the CPT--hard. But its a restrained thing.. she's the leader of her nation/planet, and cannot be seen in the conservative culture as being a "loose" woman. As Mueller's ally, the RC sends word back of this aggression--but the war has already begun elsewheres.
I ran this romantic angle between the RC Player and the PM of this world, now thrust into a pivotal role (They had some "obsolescent TL-11 ships", 7 major ones, and 21 smaller ones, something Solee wanted on their side.. )in the RC's first war vs a human run PE.
He did write letters from the front to her. Did some of that back and forth. When the war ended he was torn between serving the RC which was screwing him over an operation conducted in the war without consulting the RCN High Command (dereliction of orders--it helped shorten the war, but wasn't what he'd been ordered to do.), or serving the planet of Mueller.

 

[Tarn]

In one game I played (D&D 3e) there was long running romance between one of the PC and a NPC noble woman.

The party first heard about her from a travelling bard who told them that he had sold his soul to win her love and was off to woo her. The player follow him to the city where she lives, only to find that she has been betrothed to a nobleman in the neighboring kingdom and her caravan had just left. The bard a this point calls up a horde of demons and begins to ruin the city. The players leave... quickly.

Because they were travelling quicker they catch up the noblewoman's caravan and end the night camping near the caravan. That night the noblewoman fled the caravan and ended up stumbling into the players camp. She tells them a story about how her father is forcing her to marry a vicious earl (three other wives who died under mysterious circumstances) and how she is escaping him. The players of course offer her shelter and protection until she can get somewhere safe.

At this point in the distance there a familiar voice muttering (hopefully to himself!). The bard was also following the caravan. So, the party hides the noblewoman and trick the bard into believing that they were going to rescue her for him, and that he should "Wait Right Here" for them to return.

With the noblewoman in tow, they fled into the neighboring kingdom.

The next few months pass with one of the pcs (the hansome minstrel) and the noblewoman falling into each others arms accidentally more times then I could count (they jump out the inn's windows, who catches her, who shields her from the baby dragon... you see the pattern). Eventually the two were in love. The scene were he proposed was sweet. He (the player) actually got down on his knees. I think it was magic ring.

Eventually the infernal bard catches up to them (again... they managed to trick him half a dozen times) and this time he realized that they had been playing him for a fool (since the love of his life is about to marry one of the players...). They and the noblewoman convince him that he should not have set his heart on a woman that had never met him. At which point he disavowed his pact with the devil, who shows up to collect payment. The players then try to play lawyers and get this guy of the hook. Death is called up to serve as judge. One of the players (Half-orc barbarian/rogue/priest who was smarted then he looked) found a loophole and got the guy off.

Eventually the pair were able to get married (after a kidnapping and a sea battle).

 

[Liam Devlin]

Ye see gentelmen, lady of the list..IT CAN BE DONE! Love conquers all. I might need that 1/2 orc lawyer of yours for a certain fellow of these boards..hmmm. Low tech chap, eh? Might work for a few trinkets...what am I saying!?

Tarn, Great example. Keep up the good work!
Next! (Heavens, my 300th post. where does the time go?)

 

[GBoyett]

Originally posted by Liam Devlin:
Ye see gentelmen, lady of the list..IT CAN BE DONE! Love conquers all. I might need that 1/2 orc lawyer of yours for a certain fellow of these boards..hmmm. Low tech chap, eh? Might work for a few trinkets...what am I saying!?

Tarn, Great example. Keep up the good work!
Next! (Heavens, my 300th post. where does the time go?)

How did you get all those post? Your CID 1087 and I'm 777.

 

[GBoyett]

Originally posted by Tarn:
One of the players (Half-orc barbarian/rogue/priest who was smarted then he looked) found a loophole and got the guy off.

What was the loophole?

Originally posted by Tarn:
Eventually the pair were able to get married (after a kidnapping and a sea battle).

Was the kidnapping and sea battle part of the wedding ceremony?

 

[Liam Devlin]

Lemme see George. I signed aboard 03 Sep02. I averaged 5-10 posts a day it looks like. Thjough manning several topics has been a boost. Not to mention playing off TJ's stuff from time to time.
Thats how I did it.
Honest!

 

[GBoyett]

Originally posted by Liam Devlin:
Lemme see George. I signed aboard 03 Sep02. I averaged 5-10 posts a day it looks like. Thjough manning several topics has been a boost. Not to mention playing off TJ's stuff from time to time.
Thats how I did it.
Honest!

I've been just here only a month?
WOW!
I signed up in August.

Yeah TJ stuff does up the tally. Then again I did introduce the Vorpal Bunnies and the idea behind Snoopies. So in a way I started some of the latest fun.

 

[Liam Devlin]

Aye, and its been grand!

Some of its been REAL fun. TJ's good for volume. content..well, he's a bit different I'll allow. But diversity makes for good gaming. And your Bunnies were a hit. he just took CJ too far (went to his head, methinks), and I just did a wee bit of deflation. "BUT, in canon form!"

Beats the heck out of the TML list--sorry they swamped me mail with crap--too much arguing about canon fer me taste, when tis "the plays the thing!" Oh, I suppose i can muster up the gearhead spirit in me when I must, but its the interaction of characters, not the machines that drive the frikkin story. Its storytelling, plain and simple. the rest is dressing.

 

[GBoyett]

Originally posted by Liam Devlin:
Aye, and its been grand!

Some of its been REAL fun. TJ's good for volume. content..well, he's a bit different I'll allow. But diversity makes for good gaming. And your Bunnies were a hit. he just took CJ too far (went to his head, methinks), and I just did a wee bit of deflation. "BUT, in canon form!"

Maybe a little overboard.

Originally posted by Liam Devlin:
Beats the heck out of the TML list--sorry they swamped me mail with crap--too much arguing about canon fer me taste, when tis "the plays the thing!" Oh, I suppose i can muster up the gearhead spirit in me when I must, but its the interaction of characters, not the machines that drive the frikkin story. Its storytelling, plain and simple. the rest is dressing.

Same take on TML. Too much noise, but sometimes a subject might catch my eye.

 

[N.I.C.E. Labs]

Well, as there is a difference between romance and more...direct aspects to the emotion I'll mention how we dealt with both in my campaign (tastefully of course).

Since eroticism isn't the real purpose of the game it tends to enter the scene in a light-hearted manner...after all, how many people seriously want turned-on gamers (eww). For example, in the Vilis subsector there is the planet Stellatio. The play on words is just too good to pass up so we have there the Domed Pleasure Cities of Stellatio 7

Totally hedonistic. Whatever the pleasure...food, fighting, sports, and of course sex. Two main exploits come to mind...
One was the time Vargr slavers ran off with 30 hostesses. The players followed them through jump, rescued the girls and had to deal with the problems of 30 scantily clad and VERY appreciative women for the next two weeks

Another instance an inventive ship captain invented the Stellatio Slingshot. I won't get graphic, but it involved a grav belt, a tether line, an empty cargo hold and 10 grams of cajun spice. This same captain got an instant reputation by slipping his companion Slow Drug. ("He was incredible...it went on for HOURS" etc. etc.)

As for true romance I'll usually keep that in the realm of NPCs....lovers hiring the crew to reunite them or elope or some such. If romance does enter in it will tend to be also light-hearted...as in the case of a player being the subject of affection from the sister(s) of another character's rough and overly protective marine.

Along the lines of romance are also the potentials regarding strong friendships and protectiveness. A while back I ran the Expidition to Zhodani game. One of the players sort of adopted the 12 year old girl as a little sister protecting her while the group tried to sneak into Zhodani space to rescue her father. It wasn't a romantic involvement in any way, not to mention that the age difference made such a thing a completely wrong topic so we never even considered that part of it. (though the girl did have a crush/infatuation) but the protectiveness involved (like you would find in a romantic bond) did make for good roleplaying.

 

[Tarn]

quote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Tarn:
One of the players (Half-orc barbarian/rogue/priest who was smarted then he looked) found a loophole and got the guy off.

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What was the loophole?

The contract stated that the devil's part of the bargain was to make the noblewoman fall in love with him, since that was not the case, neither side lived up to the bargain. At which point the 1/2 Orc lawyer threated the devil with a countersuit over non-complice with the terms of the contract and the devil decided to drop the matter.

quote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Tarn:
Eventually the pair were able to get married (after a kidnapping and a sea battle).
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Was the kidnapping and sea battle part of the wedding ceremony?

No, it turned out that while they were gone from the noblewoman's homeland everyone between her and the throne had been killed. Her betrothed (the vicious earl) had her kidnapped (In her wedding dress). The kidnappers tried to escape by sea, but the party caught up to them. After convincing a bored old society madame that all of this was being done in the name of LOVE. The pursuing vessel was a pink party boat. The subsequent battle saw a fiendish dire ape (pint sized king kong from hell) throw crewmembers overboard to a summoned up pack of sharks.

 

[Liam Devlin]

george said-"Same take on TML. Too much noise, but sometimes a subject might catch my eye."
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As I said to you before elsewheres..Great minds think alike!

 

[Liam Devlin]

N.I.C.E. Labs said-"Since eroticism isn't the real purpose of the game it tends to enter the scene in a light-hearted manner...after all, how many people seriously want turned-on gamers (eww). For example, in the Vilis subsector there is the planet Stellatio. The play on words is just too good to pass up so we have there the Domed Pleasure Cities of Stellatio 7 Totally hedonistic. Whatever the pleasure...food, fighting, sports, and of course sex. Two main exploits come to mind...
One was the time Vargr slavers ran off with 30 hostesses. The players followed them through jump, rescued the girls and had to deal with the problems of 30 scantily clad and VERY appreciative women for the next two weeks
Another instance an inventive ship captain invented the Stellatio Slingshot. I won't get graphic, but it involved a grav belt, a tether line, an empty cargo hold and 10 grams of cajun spice. This same captain got an instant reputation by slipping his companion Slow Drug. ("He was incredible...it went on for HOURS" etc. etc.)

As for true romance I'll usually keep that in the realm of NPCs....lovers hiring the crew to reunite them or elope or some such. If romance does enter in it will tend to be also light-hearted...as in the case of a player being the subject of affection from the sister(s) of another character's rough and overly protective marine.

Along the lines of romance are also the potentials regarding strong friendships and protectiveness. A while back I ran the Expidition to Zhodani game. One of the players sort of adopted the 12 year old girl as a little sister protecting her while the group tried to sneak into Zhodani space to rescue her father. It wasn't a romantic involvement in any way, not to mention that the age difference made such a thing a completely wrong topic so we never even considered that part of it. (though the girl did have a crush/infatuation) but the protectiveness involved (like you would find in a romantic bond) did make for good roleplaying."
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Excellent points NL!. straight, frolicsome Eroticism isn't Romance. Those were both super examples, and a good deal apart for the readers to catch on to! Bravo!

Next?!

 

[GBoyett]

Well in terms of eroticism I do GM one character had does have as a skill Karma Sutra.

Each time he sleeps with a woman he has the option to roll it to get performance bonus. Once or twice he did mess up including almost injuring his partner.

And no we don't go into details, but several times someone jokes about baskets and bungee cord.

 

[Liam Devlin]

George Boyett POSTED-"Well in terms of eroticism I do GM one character had does have as a skill Karma Sutra.

Each time he sleeps with a woman he has the option to roll it to get performance bonus. Once or twice he did mess up including almost injuring his partner.

And no we don't go into details, but several times someone jokes about baskets and bungee cord.'
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I see... bad time to crit the skill check roll! No wonder the basket & bungee rope jokes run amuck.. Say, you didn't do this at a Con hotel did you??? Musta been some other gamers then..

Good example of the risque, but tasteful application George (sorry, can only grade you once!)*****

 

[Liam Devlin]

Mr Tjoneslo? ANy input on this topic you'd care to share with the boards?

 

[GBoyett]

Well here is a slight change with the topic. When romance and love severly colors the actions of a character.

Bit of a warning, the end is a tear jerker.

This took place in a high-level Cyberpunk campaign. My character George Henry-Thomas Penrose-Mckie, was the member of a british aristocratic family that ran one of the megacorps. He was the SpecOps director and lead a double life of a streetdealer, which actually helped in his day job.

His wife Kristen was 1/2 hispanic irish street samuri. Both meet while he was sluming, fell in lovek, courted/dated for couple of years, and married. (Sometime I should detail his bachelor party which dealt with bistro hopping in Geneva, dinner in Rome, dreampainting graffiti in Paris, and neo-nazi bashing in Berlin).

For twenty years they had a good life. They had three children, twin boys and girl. The only problem was Penrose's job, which kept him away and made them targets, and some mental baggage on his part. An almost fatal heart attack suffered by Penrose, allowed the two of them patch things up during the recuperation and sick leave period.

So 2046 Penrose has been chairman and head of the corporation for a year. While George and Kristen are touring and shopping at mall, located at company's home office, an assassin struck. Instead of hitting George, Kristen is hit with a bullet filled with some nasty neural toxins and nanobots. Penrose personally ends her suffering as there was no cure. He leaves some orders regarding the investigation and heads for his apartment to be alone.

In a grief and tear blinded rage he destroys the entire lower level of the apartment. After 15 mins, he leaves a message, that states the actions he is about to take is personal,leaves his Corporate IDs and Credsticks, indicating that he is stepping down, and the name of a successor candidate. He then goes off with his body and squad of his personal guard.

Penrose does find the assassin, who tells him that the Intel director of the company ordered the hit. After saving each other from the hit squad sent to prevent the assassin from talking, Penrose does let him go, but if the assassin ever set foot in North America he would personnaly have him hunted down.

Penrose returns to the home office with the evidence and a surviving hit squad member. He personally kills the Intel Director. This marks a purge thru out the company, firing, demoting, and executing anyone that were found allied with the Intel director.

Kristen's murder had a similar effect world-wide as Princess Diana's death. Many people, both regular, corporate, and runner, sent condolences to the family. There was no state funeral, but a 24 hour lying in state took place before the funeral.

So pretty much Penrose was willing to give everything up (Power, money, position, privilege) to revenge death of the woman he loved.

 

[GBoyett]

Originally posted by Liam Devlin:
I see... bad time to crit the skill check roll! No wonder the basket & bungee rope jokes run amuck.. Say, you didn't do this at a Con hotel did you??? Musta been some other gamers then..

Nope never ran that at a Con, except for a side game while we rested or waited for the next event.

 

[TheColonel]

I bet with the advent of the internet and GIRP system, you could delve more into romance and the femme-fatele. The anonimity and not knowing the real sex of the players would allow for any theme w/o the real world face to face embarrasment.