Romance
Romances extend across many sessions of game play. Once you start a romance create a romance sheet for it. You may start play with preexisting romances. Each romance costs 1 wits, and all the points of involved denizens can’t exceed your own points.
The referee or another volunteer controls those denizens during play, and all the romance details are set once the game begins. Just because you started the romance doesn’t mean it will last, or that the denizen won’t pursue other romances.
New Romances
You can start a new romance by spending 1 wits. Put an R in the wits circle; it can’t be recovered so long as the romance is active. As the initiator, you hold the romance sheet and begin filling it in. The referee may have denizens start a romance, in which case they hold the sheet.
You give the romance a name from of each participant, or optionally a name made of components of the participant’s names. The romance sheet then has a space to list the participants, and a brief description of how the participants first met. Then there is space for successful kisses and obstacles.
Obstacles
A romance starts with an obstacle for each participant. You can suggest an appropriate obstacle, but the other players choose the actual obstacle for each, with the referee breaking any ties.
Faults and tragedies may add obstacles for a participant. A romance can’t become a union until all the obstacles have been cleared. Each cleared obstacle grants a permanent +1 bonus for kisses. Some possible obstacles include:
- Apathy: Score a 5+ passion kiss. This kiss doesn’t need to be within the romance, jealously makes an impression too.
- Clarity: You must eliminate at least two other romances with passion or dedication, and have only this romance active.
- Destiny: You have a destiny (see page xxx) that must be resolved.
- Outsider: You must prove yourself to your partner’s family and society. Gaining a tier 2 reputation is one way to gain their acceptance.
- Rival: You must completely humble (but not kill) a romantic competitor.
- Secret: You must discover another participant’s darkest secret. When you actually discover the secret they lose 3 emotion, or end the romance if they don’t have enough emotion.
- Shortcoming: You must eliminate a specific fault. A fault that already counts as an obstacle can’t also be a shortcoming.
- Suspension: Only time eliminates this obstacle. After each month of real time playing roll a die. A red result finally eliminates the obstacle.
- Vow: You made a difficult promise and must fulfill it.
Kisses
Romances happen across a series of attempted kisses. All the participants must be in the same location. You can invite others to kiss at any time, and if you are invited you simply choose whether or not to accept.
Denizens accept or reject you based on a check. They referee chooses which the denizen would rather you check: appearance or heart, depending on the denizen’s personality. If you succeed they accept the kiss. Circumstance modifiers, especially style, heavily modify this check. If anyone declines, then no kiss happens.
Emotion
If everyone accepts, each participant chooses an emotion to roll for: passion or dedication. Appearance checks add one passion per success level to one participant (your choice). Heart checks add dedication. You can use the Furious modifier to go for two different checks, each with a penalty.
If you have more than one romance, your total dedication across all of them may not exceed five. Passion remains separate for each romance, but with each kiss you lose 1 passion from all your other sheets.
If any check for the kiss fails, the kiss is interrupted. If every check fails each romance sheet loses one emotion (owner’s choice). If the sheet has no emotion to lose the owner must eliminate the sheet or lose wits instead. If any check within the kiss generates interference a tragedy occurs.
If a participant doesn’t have a romance sheet they either gain one (no wits cost) or gain 1 focus instead. If they do have a sheet, new emotions don’t add, just take the best of the two values.
Anyone in the same location may contest the kiss, which opposes every check within it. If the outsider beats all the checks they trigger a tragedy.
Interruptions
When any check within a kiss fails, roll to see what random interruption stops the kiss. Record the result on each romance sheet.
| Result | Base Speed |
| 1 | Danger: Unexpected peril intrudes on the private moment; Each participant suffers 1 hit. |
| 2 | Distraction: Trouble elsewhere draws the lovers attention; participants each lose 1 focus. |
| 3 | Scandal: Witnesses arrive at an awkward moment; participants lose 1 wits. |
| 4 | Scorn: The emotion just isn’t there; each romance sheet loses 1 passion or dedication. |
| 5 | Trouble: A fight breaks the mood; participants suffer –1 penalty on heart checks until another kiss. |
| 6 | Roll and add until you get another result; suffer the same penalty again for each 6. |
Tragedy
Horrible events occur, and somehow the romance is the cause of it. A tragedy is always public, so it will alert partners from other romances that you are in another relationship. Other players are encouraged to suggest unique complications or how effects relate to the relationship. The optional table below may be used either directly or for inspiration:
| Result | Base Speed |
| 1 | Betrayal |
| 2 | Catastrophe |
| 3 | Death |
| 4 | Disappearance |
| 5 | Enemy |
| 6 | Obstacle |
- Betrayal: One participant in the romance betrays another. Players get to choose whether to betray or be betrayed. The betrayer chooses one participant to keep one emotion, and all other emotions are eliminated.
- Catastrophe: Lose the highest tier asset owned by anyone within the relationship. Reputations and other assets that aren’t equipment count! If no one has a tier 2 asset or better then lose all tier 1 assets and become strapped.
- Death: Someone close to all the participants dies because of the romance. This might be due to neglect, despair, or just getting caught in dangerous crossfire. All participants lose wits, in addition to the loss of the denizen.
- Disappearance: A non-player participant in the romance is separated from you and removed from play. It could be a mysterious kidnapping, sudden departure, or even a coma. The referee will set a goal that must be resolved before the character returns and the romance may continue.
- Hatred: The romance itself gains a powerful enemy. Usually this foe is connected to one of the participants and can’t be directly confronted until they overstep. This foe will try to interrupt kisses, support opposing romances, and try to keep the participants apart.
- Obstacle: Add a new obstacle to the romance. Any participant may overcome it.
Unions
Once each participant has 6 or more emotion invested in the romance, all obstacles are cleared, and if all participants agree, it becomes a union. The transition from romance to union requires a ceremony with witnesses, but the ceremony doesn’t have to be legal or religious. Any rivals, participants from other romances, and representatives of former obstacles will arrive to attempt to disrupt the ceremony.
If the participants avoid getting knocked out for a full exchange the ceremony counts as successful, and they are now in a union. The romance sheets lock, no new romances may be started, and any other romances are completely eliminated.
Each participant gains a Legacy asset, and may spend one another’s focus when in the same location. The union remains locked until one of the participants dies.
Breakups
Not every romance will last. You can eliminate a romance sheet with no emotion at any time, and recover any wits spent to create it.
If the sheet has emotion you must give instead give it to one of the other participants. They have the option of either holding on to it, or giving up their own romance sheet. If all participants give up their romance sheets then the romance is eliminated as above.
However if anyone keeps the sheets the romance remains active. The participant holding the sheets may spend emotion from your sheet to add dice to checks or damage against you. Any wits damage you deal to them eliminates emotions from your sheet first.
When all the emotion from your sheet is gone it is eliminated as above, and you recover any wits that were tied to it. The other participant may either eliminate their sheet, or hold on to it in hopes that someday you will accept another kiss!
See Also
Version 2.5.2
©2014 Frameworks Games
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