Difference between revisions of "Romance"

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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.
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{{Romantic Knots}}
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A romance follows the ebb and flow of intimate relationships, and uses your [[love]] and [[foe]]. Romances take place between encounters, and can extend out across many sessions of game play. There are rewards for being involved in a romance, but also risks.
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==Tryst==
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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.
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Romances happen around a series of trysts. A tryst may include physical intimacy and sexual contact, but doesn't necessarily have to. You must spend 1 focus to initiate a tryst, and be in the same location as anyone you wish to invite into the tryst. Commonly trysts are only between two characters, but any number may be invited. For each invitation you must succeed at an [[influence]] check. Anyone at the same location may [[retort]] your invitations, so finding a quiet location is important. If any invitation fails or you are retorted, then the tryst ends with no additional effect. If you are in a crisis you need to use a [[project]] to start a tryst, and anyone accepting an invitation must drop any other projects started. Each invited individual may decide whether to join the tryst or not. If any invited individual chooses not to join the tryst then it fails without further effect as above. If all invited individuals accept then you check for attitude and then move to the the tryst's conclusion. The referee has final say on whether a personality will accept an invitation or not, but as a rule of thumb a positive [[reaction]] will usually equate to an accepted invitation.
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==Attitude==
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==New Romances==
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The focus that you used to start the tryst becomes invested in it, and may be returned or go to someone else depending on the attitudes of the participants. Each participant sets an attitude as either '''giving''' or '''taking'''. A giving participant must invest 1 focus into the tryst. Note that if you started the tryst, you've already invested 1 focus so you may be giving without spending another. A taking participant will gain 1 focus during the conclusion. If all participants are giving then a bond may form at the conclusion. If all participants are taking you ignore one of the conditions that may cause a tragedy: that all participants must have a love within the tryst. Giving is often associated with the [[family]] loyalty, and taking is often associated with the [[passion]] loyalty. Note that you may [[deceive]]  other participants about your attitude, but the deception is revealed during the conclusion when focus is gained or lost.
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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.
  
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==Conclusion==
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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.
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During the conclusion of a tryst you check for attitudes and then distribute focus or create '''bonds''' accordingly. Then you check to see if the tryst created a '''tragedy'''. Look for the following conditions:  
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*'''All participants have a love within the tryst.''' You can ignore this condition if all the participants have the 'taking' attitude.
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==Obstacles==
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*'''No participant has a foe within the tryst.''' An individual that rolled a successful [[retort]] against the tryst but lost the contest counts as a participant for this condition only.
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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.
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*'''No individual has both a love and a foe inside the tryst.''' Note that this condition isn't specific to participants or locations at all.
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If all conditions are met then the tryst does not create a tragedy. If any condition is not met a tragedy occurs.
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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:
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*Apathy: Score a 5+ passion kiss. This kiss doesn’t need to be within the romance, jealously makes an impression too.
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*Clarity: You must eliminate at least two  other romances with passion or dedication, and have only this romance active.
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*Destiny: You have a destiny (see page xxx) that must be resolved.
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*Outsider: You must prove yourself to your partner’s family and society. Gaining a tier 2 reputation is one way to gain their acceptance.
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*Rival: You must completely humble (but not kill) a romantic competitor.
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*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.
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*Shortcoming: You must eliminate a specific fault. A fault that already counts as an obstacle can’t also be a shortcoming.
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*Suspension: Only time eliminates this obstacle. After each month of real time playing roll a die. A red result finally eliminates the obstacle.
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*Vow: You made a difficult promise and must fulfill it.
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==Kisses==
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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.
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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.
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==Emotion==
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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==Interruptions==
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When any check within a kiss fails, roll to see what random interruption stops the kiss. Record the result on each romance sheet.
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{|Border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
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|'''Result'''||'''Base Speed'''
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|-
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|1||Danger: Unexpected peril intrudes on the private moment; Each participant suffers 1 hit.
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|-
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|2||Distraction: Trouble elsewhere draws the lovers attention; participants each lose 1 focus.
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|-
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|3||Scandal: Witnesses arrive at an awkward moment; participants lose 1 wits.
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|-
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|4||Scorn: The emotion just isn’t there; each romance sheet loses 1 passion or dedication.
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|-
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|5||Trouble: A fight breaks the mood; participants suffer –1 penalty on heart checks until another kiss.
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|-
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|6||Roll and add until you get another result; suffer the same penalty again for each 6.
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|}
  
 
==Tragedy==
 
==Tragedy==
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A tragedy is an unfortunate event that is a direct result of the tryst, either from a participant's action or an outsider's reaction to it. A tragedy never benefits anyone within the tryst, and may have multiple consequences such as injuries or deaths, the loss of bonds or assets, or the addition of infamy or states. A tragedy may force checks, complications, or encounters to mitigate the severity of the results. In general, the deeper the bond involved the more deadly a tragedy will become. When a tragedy occurs, you propose the exact circumstances and consequences to the referee, and then the referee will negotiate until something appropriate is decided. Consequences should directly affect at least one participant in the tryst. It's possible to have consequences that affect an allied instead, but those consequences become more extreme so the indirect impact is still felt by at least one participant. More advanced bonds should likewise create more potent tragedies. The optional table below offers some example circumstances and consquences:
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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:
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{|Border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
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|'''Result'''||'''Base Speed'''
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|-
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|1||Betrayal
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|-
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|2||Catastrophe
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|3||Death
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|4||Disappearance
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|5||Enemy
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|6||Obstacle
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|}
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*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.
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*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.
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*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.  
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*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.
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*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.
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*Obstacle: Add a new obstacle to the romance. Any participant may overcome it.
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==Unions==
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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.
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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.
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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.
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==Breakups==
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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.
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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.
  
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'''Tragedy - Roll 1d6'''
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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.
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#'''Betrayal:''' Real or misunderstood betrayals cause every participant switch to a love outside the tryst, and gain negative reactions to the other participants and allies.
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#'''Violence:''' A participant is injured or kidnapped, or an ally commits suicide or is murdered.
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#'''Obstacle:''' A promise like an arranged marriage or difficult duty must be resolved before a bond can advance. A participant loses a loyalty bubble for ignoring the obstacle until now.
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#'''Competition:''' A dangerous personality appears with a love and foe inside the tryst and a bond already started. This competitor will actively work to undermine participant's bonds.
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#'''Shamed:''' All participants of the tryst are publicly ostracized and gain 2 infamy.
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#'''Ruined:''' A particpant is strapped and loses an asset, or an ally loses everything and becomes indebted.
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In addition to any other consequence at least one participant must either change a love to someone outside the tryst, or a foe to someone within the tryst. Up to all of participants in a tragic tryst may change a love. The [[referee]] decides of any denizens will switch loves or foes.
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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!
  
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==Bond==
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==See Also==
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If you reach the conclusion for a tryst where all the participants have the giving attitude, then a bond will form. The bond is given a name with components of each participant in the tryst. So if it was Bob and Jenny in the tryst the bond might be called Benny. If Doug was included too the bond might be named Bugny, and so on. A bond is created whether the tryst created a tragedy or not. A bond is treated like an asset, and all participants in the bond count as loves for one another regardless of their current love. Bonds may also be eliminated like an asset, especially by tragedies. If the participants in an existing bond conclude a tryst with no tragedy, the bond is upgraded to a '''union'''. Mark it with an asterisk * to denote it is a union, and eliminate all other bonds that include participants from the union. You gain a [[legacy]] for becoming part of a union, and you may no longer participate in trysts or suffer tragedies. While all members of the union are together they may use each other's focus freely. If a member of a union is killed the asterisk is removed and the union is downgraded back to a bond.
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*[[Romance Sheet]]
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*[[Deliberation]]
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*[[Dilemma]]
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*[[Expedition]]
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*[[Investigation]]
  
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==Romance Tactics==
 
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It's easiest to complete a successful romance with two individuals, but it is possible with more. If you want to disrupt a romance in progress you can try to both love and foe one of the individuals or be nearby to retort any attempted trysts. Random taking embraces can be beneficial (generating sometimes hard to come by focus) and might also develop reoccurring characters that could become giving later. To be aware of the obstacles that might cause tragedies you'll need to discuss foes and attitudes with your potential partners. The focus cost for initiating a tryst can limit the pacing and development of romances if only one participant ever initiates.
 
  
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[[Category:Mode]]
 
[[Category:Mode]]

Latest revision as of 21:39, 13 May 2016

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



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