Difference between revisions of "Romance"

Revision as of 03:43, 15 March 2015

Romantic Knots
Romances aren't desired by every player, so don't feel like you have to invest in a romance if it isn't something that interests you. On the other hand, romances offer unique role-playing opportunities like dilemmas do, and can be very memorable and rewarding. A romance doesn't have to be chaotic and tragic, but it's more interesting for everyone if it is.

When you set a love for your character and become involved in romances, don't try to set at the beginning who your character will end up in a union with at the end. If that's the only resolution that will please you, then you should discuss it with the referee and start with the union as though the entire romance had played out without tragedy. If you are open other possibilities though, a romance can be very engaging.

Your first love will probably be a personality that you create. You might even create multiple personalities with interlocking loves and foes to form a knot that must be untied before any romances can succeed without tragedy. Involving other players in the knot can make it truly difficult (and entertaining), and give more opportunities to mix up the know with tragedies between gaining loyalty. Inserting a dilemma into the proceedings can also prompt the loyalty change that will spark a new round of embraces. A good rule of thumb is to envision a perfect mate for your character, and then make absolutely certain that person isn't really perfect will never be the final union. Then seize opportunities with other individuals that spin out of that starting point.

Most of the role-playing comes in initiating or reacting to the invitation to an embrace. The default assumption is that once an embrace succeeds a "fade to black..." occurs. Rare groups of players may find it desirable to go farther, but if you do it is strongly recommended you use John Stavropoulos' "X-Card" technique to make sure no one is uncomfortable. (In brief, put a card with an X on it on the table. If anyone taps or lifts it everyone agrees to drop what was happening and move on without having to explain why.) Not only does this technique help everyone remain in the game, it also makes it easier to push some envelopes.

A romance follows the ebb and flow of your intimate relationships. Romances take place during narration, and can extend out across many sessions of game play. There are rewards for being involved in a romance, but also risks. Once involved in a romance, you will need to track its progress on a separate romance sheet. You may choose to begin play with up to three relationships with denizens you create, however the referee will control those denizens during play and has input on the obstacles.

Meeting

Romances happen across a series of meetings. A meeting may include sexual contact but doesn't necessarily have to. Starting a meeting requires that you be in the same location as those you intend to invite, and that no one else is present. Meetings are most common between two characters, but any number of characters may be invited. Inviting others ('calling a meeting') costs you 1 wits. If anyone rejects the invitation there is no meeting. If all accept then you all attempt a heart check (called a flirt), and note your success or failure margin for the outcome below. A meeting counts as a project if you are in a crisis. The referee has final say on whether a denizen will accept an invitation or not, but as a rule of thumb a reaction bonus usually equates to participation, and anything else results rejection.

Flirting

Look at the outcomes for the flirt checks of all participants. If any check fails, the meeting ends prematurely due to an interruption. If all checks succeed the meeting is considered a success and all participants are happy. Just exactly what success means can be defined or left vague according to player desires. Note that having a successful meeting is a goal, which grants you +1 AP the first time you achieve the goal and recovery of wits on every subsequent success. The participant with the highest success margin is in control of the meeting, and may choose if it initiates a new romance or grows an existing one.

Creating a New Romance

If you win control of the meeting, you may choose to create a new romance if one doesn't already exist for the participants. Starting a romance is optional. You give the romance a name from of each participant, and optionally a name made of components of the participant's names. So if it was Bob and Jenny in the meeting the romance might be called Bob/Jenny (Benny) or Jenny/Bob (Job). If Doug was included too the romance might be named Bob/Doug/Jenny (Bugny), and so on. The romance sheet then has a space to list the participants, and a brief description of how the participants first met one another. Then there is space for obstacles and tragedies.

Obstacle

A romance must have a minimum of three obstacles, but may have more. Each participant selects or rolls for an obstacle, and if there are only two participants the other players select the third. Faults may add extra obstacles, and even more obstacles may be added during play. After a successful meeting you may eliminate one obstacle, so long as its listed elimination condition is also met.

Apathetic Attitude: Cleared when all participants have quit the romance, suffered a tragedy, and then rejoined it.
Cheating hearts: Cleared after all participants reject 3 other invitations in a row.
Contradictory promise: Cleared when all participants lose 2 dots of loyalty.
Deal breaker: Cleared after all participants eliminate a fault.
Influential rival: Cleared when any participant beats the rival to a contested goal 3 times in a row.
Socially unacceptable: Cleared when all participants have a Prestigious Reputation.

Interruption

If one or both checks fail the meeting is interrupted. If interference occurs the interruption is upgraded to a tragedy instead. The referee may select an appropriate interruption, roll randomly,or create a unique interruption. Consequences for the failure margin depend on the interruption. If you fail you must suffer at least half the consequence (rounding up) on your own, but successful partners may choose to take up to half of your consequences (rounding down) if they choose to. If everyone fails, then everyone suffers their own consequences.

Embarrassing situation: Lose wits equal to the failure margin.
Inconvenient illness: You and individuals equal to your failure margin catch a disease. If the disease is dangerous each person infected counts as two.
Mood shift: Lose focus equal to the failure margin. If you don't have enough focus you quit the romance.
New arrival: Add an influential rival to the romance, participants will reject meetings from you and accept meeting from the rival equal to the failure margin.
Overlooked loss: Lose a tier 0 asset if the failure margin is 1-2, a tier 1 asset if the margin is 3-5, or two tier 1 assets if the margin is 6-9.
Sudden danger: Lose hits equal to the failure margin.

Tragedy

A tragedy is a significant unfortunate event results from the participants' romance or their foes' reactions to it. A tragedy may have multiple consequences such as injuries or deaths, the loss of assets, or the addition of new obstacles to the romance. A tragedy may force checks, complications, or encounters to mitigate the results. When a tragedy occurs, you negotiate the effects with the referee. Other players are encouraged to suggest complications and effects. The optional table below may be used either directly or for inspiration:

Bitter betrayal: The betrayer is forced to quit the romance, and may only accept meeting invitations again after joining a different romance. Once all participants have become a betrayer and been betrayed this tragedy is resolved.
Dire disappearance: A participating denizen (or close ally denizen) is kidnapped or lost. Participants lose either all hits or all wits, whichever is larger. Once the missing denizen is found this tragedy is resolved.
Falling fortune: Participants are strapped and lose all equipment assets. Allies are also strapped from being caught in the crossfire. Once you regain equal value worth of assets this tragedy is resolved.
Public shame: Participants continuously lose any positive reputation assets and gain a reaction penalty. Once all participants lose a Prestigious Reputation this tragedy is resolved and the effects end.
Senseless death: A personality is killed or commits suicide. You will reject all meetings until after a respite. An investigation is required to determine whether the death was malicious, an accident, or suicide. Once the investigation is solved the tragedy is resolved.
Trying revelation: A new obstacle is added to the romance, but it costs the romance a devotion. If the romance has no devotion to lose then all participants quit.

Union

Once you have a total of five devotions the next successful meeting will upgrade the romance to a union. A devotion is either a resolved tragedy or a cleared obstacle. Note that devotions may be lost, so you may have to earn more than five. After that last meeting, all participants in the romance gain a Lasting Union asset and a Legacy. A lasting union only allows meetings within the union, but participants in the union may share focus with each other. All participants of other romances are forced to quit, and any devotion in those romances is lost. A union asset may be lost, most often when a participant dies or commits a particularly bitter betrayal. If a union is lost so is all devotion in the romance (if even still applicable) and you may start new romances normally. Note that even if the union is lost any legacy remains.

Quitting

Not every romance is forever. After any meeting where you have control you may quit. Some events may force you to quit a romance without requiring a meeting. Once you quit you hand over the romance sheet to any remaining participant, who has the option of either taking it or quitting too. If all participants quit the romance is eliminated without further effect. However if the participant holds on to the sheet the romance continues without your participation. The participant suffers a penalty (-2) on any check against you, but may also redouble any check against you. If you fail a flirt for another meeting then the holder may give you interference at the cost of a devotion from the romance. If there is no devotion to lose the sheet is eliminated as though all participants had quit. If you accept a meeting within the romance you become a normal participant again and regain possession of the romance sheet.

Relevant Abilities and Faults

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 __NOTOC__
-A romance follows the ebb and flow of your intimate relationships. Romances take place during [[narration]], and can extend out across many sessions of game play. There are rewards for being involved in a romance, but also risks. Once involved in a romance, you will need to track its progress on a separate [[romance sheet]]. You may choose to begin play with a relationship started (one successful tryst) with a single [[denizen]] you create, however the referee will control that denizen during play.
+{{Sidebar}}
+{{Romantic Knots}}
+|}
+A romance follows the ebb and flow of your intimate relationships. Romances take place during [[narration]], and can extend out across many sessions of game play. There are rewards for being involved in a romance, but also risks. Once involved in a romance, you will need to track its progress on a separate [[romance sheet]]. You may choose to begin play with up to three relationships with [[denizen]]s you create, however the referee will control those denizens during play and has input on the obstacles.
-==Tryst==
+==Meeting==
-Romances happen around a series of trysts. A tryst may include physical intimacy and sexual contact, but doesn't necessarily have to. Starting a tryst requires that you be in the same location as those invited. Commonly trysts are between two characters, but any number may be invited. For each invitation you must make a [[heart]] check (called a [[flirt]]), and track your success or failure margin. The invitation is extended whether you succeed or fail, but you suffer wits damage equal to any failure margin. Anyone at the same location may [[retort]] your invitations like a [[social]] attack, and if you lose the difference counts as failure margin causing wits damage. A tryst counts as a [[project]] if you happen to be in a [[crisis]]. Each invited individual may decide whether to join the tryst or ignore it. If joining, the participant also rolls a flirt and similarly tracks the success or failure margin, and suffers wits damage on a failure. The referee has final say on whether a [[personality]] will accept an invitation or not, but as a rule of thumb a bonus usually equates to participation, and anything else results in an ignored invitation.
+Romances happen across a series of meetings. A meeting may include sexual contact but doesn't necessarily have to. Starting a meeting requires that you be in the same location as those you intend to invite, and that no one else is present. Meetings are most common between two characters, but any number of characters may be invited. Inviting others ('calling a meeting') costs you 1 wits. If anyone rejects the invitation there is no meeting. If all accept then you all attempt a [[heart]] check (called a [[flirt]]), and note your success or failure margin for the outcome below. A meeting counts as a [[project]] if you are in a [[crisis]]. The referee has final say on whether a [[denizen]] will accept an invitation or not, but as a rule of thumb a reaction bonus usually equates to participation, and anything else results rejection.
-==Outcome==
+==Flirting==
-Compare the margins for all flirt checks for the tryst. If they are different, then a '''tragedy''' occurs (see below). Regardless of that result, if any involved party wishes to start a romance then you begin filling out the romance sheet. Whether a romance starts or not, engaging in a tryst is a goal so participants regain 1 wits and an achievement if this is the first tryst of the game. Any participant who does not wish to be in a romance adds that fact as an extra '''obstacle''' for the romance. If a participant is already in another romance, that romance is added as an extra obstacle too. The romance is given a name from components of each participant's name. So if it was Bob and Jenny in the tryst the bond might be called Benny (or Job). If Doug was included too the bond might be named Bugny, and so on. Then each member adds an obstacle to the bond that the others must overcome. Common obstacles include previous promises, powerful rivals, or family interference. An obstacle should be roughly the equivalent of a goal or a tier 2 asset. Finally, the referee will add one more obstacle to the romance. The difficulty of this goal should be relatively easy if the personal goals are difficult, or extremely difficult if the other obstacles are minor.
+Look at the outcomes for the flirt checks of all participants. If any check fails, the meeting ends prematurely due to an '''interruption'''. If all checks succeed the meeting is considered a success and all participants are happy. Just exactly what success means can be defined or left vague according to player desires. Note that having a successful meeting is a goal, which grants you +1 AP the first time you achieve the goal and recovery of wits on every subsequent success. The participant with the highest success margin is in control of the meeting, and may choose if it initiates a new romance or grows an existing one.
+==Creating a New Romance==
+If you win control of the meeting, you may choose to create a new romance if one doesn't already exist for the participants. Starting a romance is optional. You give the romance a name from of each participant, and optionally a name made of components of the participant's names. So if it was Bob and Jenny in the meeting the romance might be called Bob/Jenny (Benny) or Jenny/Bob (Job). If Doug was included too the romance might be named Bob/Doug/Jenny (Bugny), and so on. The romance sheet then has a space to list the participants, and a brief description of how the participants first met one another. Then there is space for obstacles and tragedies.
+==Obstacle==
+A romance must have a minimum of three obstacles, but may have more. Each participant selects or rolls for an obstacle, and if there are only two participants the other players select the third. Faults may add extra obstacles, and even more obstacles may be added during play. After a successful meeting you may eliminate one obstacle, so long as its listed elimination condition is also met.
+#'''Apathetic Attitude:''' Cleared when all participants have quit the romance, suffered a tragedy, and then rejoined it.
+#'''Cheating hearts:''' Cleared after all participants reject 3 other invitations in a row.
+#'''Contradictory promise:''' Cleared when all participants lose 2 dots of loyalty.
+#'''Deal breaker:''' Cleared after all participants eliminate a fault.
+#'''Influential rival:''' Cleared when any participant beats the rival to a contested goal 3 times in a row.
+#'''Socially unacceptable:''' Cleared when all participants have a [[Prestigious Reputation]].
+==Interruption==
+If one or both checks fail the meeting is interrupted. If interference occurs the interruption is upgraded to a '''tragedy''' instead. The referee may select an appropriate interruption, roll randomly,or create a unique interruption. Consequences for the failure margin depend on the interruption. If you fail you must suffer at least half the consequence (rounding up) on your own, but successful partners may choose to take up to half of your consequences (rounding down) if they choose to. If everyone fails, then everyone suffers their own consequences.
+#'''Embarrassing situation:''' Lose wits equal to the failure margin.
+#'''Inconvenient illness:''' You and individuals equal to your failure margin catch a disease. If the disease is dangerous each person infected counts as two.
+#'''Mood shift:''' Lose focus equal to the failure margin. If you don't have enough focus you quit the romance.
+#'''New arrival:''' Add an influential rival to the romance, participants will reject meetings from you and accept meeting from the rival equal to the failure margin.
+#'''Overlooked loss:''' Lose a tier 0 asset if the failure margin is 1-2, a tier 1 asset if the margin is 3-5, or two tier 1 assets if the margin is 6-9.
+#'''Sudden danger:''' Lose hits equal to the failure margin.
 ==Tragedy==
-A tragedy is an unfortunate event that is a direct result of the tryst, either from a participant's action or a foe'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 assets, or the addition of new obstacles to the romance. A tragedy may force checks, complications, or encounters to mitigate the results. When a tragedy occurs, you propose the exact circumstances and consequences, 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 ally instead, but those consequences become more extreme so the indirect impact is still felt by at least one participant. The optional table below may be used either directly or for inspiration:
+A tragedy is a significant unfortunate event results from the participants' romance or their foes' reactions to it. A tragedy may have multiple consequences such as injuries or deaths, the loss of assets, or the addition of new obstacles to the romance. A tragedy may force checks, complications, or encounters to mitigate the results. When a tragedy occurs, you negotiate the effects with the referee. Other players are encouraged to suggest complications and effects. The optional table below may be used either directly or for inspiration:
+#'''Bitter betrayal:''' The betrayer is forced to quit the romance, and may only accept meeting invitations again after joining a different romance. Once all participants have become a betrayer and been betrayed this tragedy is resolved.
+#'''Dire disappearance:''' A participating denizen (or close ally denizen) is kidnapped or lost. Participants lose either all hits or all wits, whichever is larger. Once the missing denizen is found this tragedy is resolved.
+#'''Falling fortune:''' Participants are strapped and lose all equipment assets. Allies are also strapped from being caught in the crossfire. Once you regain equal value worth of assets this tragedy is resolved.
+#'''Public shame:''' Participants continuously lose any positive reputation assets and gain a [[reaction]] penalty. Once all participants lose a [[Prestigious Reputation]] this tragedy is resolved and the effects end.
+#'''Senseless death:''' A personality is killed or commits suicide. You will reject all meetings until after a respite. An investigation is required to determine whether the death was malicious, an accident, or suicide. Once the investigation is solved the tragedy is resolved.
+#'''Trying revelation:''' A new obstacle is added to the romance, but it costs the romance a devotion. If the romance has no devotion to lose then all participants quit.
-'''Tragedy - Roll 1d6'''
+==Union==
-#'''Betrayal:''' Real or misunderstood betrayals causes [[reaction]] penalty from everyone on your romance sheet and forces at least one different tryst.
+Once you have a total of five devotions the next successful meeting will upgrade the romance to a union. A devotion is either a resolved tragedy or a cleared obstacle. Note that devotions may be lost, so you may have to earn more than five. After that last meeting, all participants in the romance gain a [[Lasting Union]] asset and a [[Legacy]]. A lasting union only allows meetings within the union, but participants in the union may share focus with each other. All participants of other romances are forced to quit, and any devotion in those romances is lost. A union asset may be lost, most often when a participant dies or commits a particularly bitter betrayal. If a union is lost so is all devotion in the romance (if even still applicable) and you may start new romances normally. Note that even if the union is lost any legacy remains.
-#'''Violence:''' A participant is injured or kidnapped, or an ally commits suicide or is murdered by a foe.
-#'''Promise:''' A forgotten or new promise based on a loyalty (like an arranged marriage or difficult duty) must be resolved as a new obstacle.
-#'''Competition:''' A dangerous personality appears as a new foe, and automatically creates a romance with one of the participants. This competitor will actively work to undermine all participant's other romances.
-#'''Shamed:''' All participants of the tryst are publicly ostracized and gain a [[reaction]] penalty.
-#'''Ruined:''' A participant is strapped and loses an asset, or a foe causes an ally to lose everything.
-==Bond==
+==Quitting==
-You may attempt trysts as often as you like, but you must attempt one after each obstacle is resolved. On the tryst after the last obstacle is resolved (and any tragedy dealt with) the romance becomes a bond. Any other romance that you were a participant in is eliminated. You gain a bond asset with your partner(s) and a [[legacy]] asset. If the bond is lost (through death or betrayal) you may participate in trysts and romances again.
+Not every romance is forever. After any meeting where you have control you may quit. Some events may force you to quit a romance without requiring a meeting. Once you quit you hand over the romance sheet to any remaining participant, who has the option of either taking it or quitting too. If all participants quit the romance is eliminated without further effect. However if the participant holds on to the sheet the romance continues without your participation. The participant suffers a penalty (-2) on any check against you, but may also [[redouble]] any check against you. If you fail a flirt for another meeting then the holder may give you interference at the cost of a devotion from the romance. If there is no devotion to lose the sheet is eliminated as though all participants had quit. If you accept a meeting within the romance you become a normal participant again and regain possession of the romance sheet.
 ==See Also==
-*[[Mode]]
+*[[Romance Sheet]]
 *[[Narration]]
 *[[Dilemma]]
+*[[Expedition]]
 *[[Investigation]]
+==Relevant Abilities and Faults==
+*[[Seduce]]
+*[[Lovelorn]]
 {{v251}}
 [[Category:Mode]]

Difference between revisions of "Romance"

Revision as of 03:43, 15 March 2015

Meeting

Flirting

Creating a New Romance

Obstacle

Interruption

Tragedy

Union

Quitting

See Also

Relevant Abilities and Faults

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