Romance

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 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.

Tryst

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.

Attitude

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.

Conclusion

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:

• All participants have a love within the tryst. You can ignore this condition if all the participants have the 'taking' attitude.
• 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.
• 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.

If all conditions are met then the tryst does not create a tragedy. If any condition is not met a tragedy occurs.

Tragedy

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:

Tragedy - Roll 1d6

1. 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.
2. Violence: A participant is injured or kidnapped, or an ally commits suicide or is murdered.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Shamed: All participants of the tryst are publicly ostracized and gain 2 infamy.
6. Ruined: A particpant is strapped and loses an asset, or an ally loses everything and becomes indebted.

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.

Bond

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.

Romance Tactics

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.

Version 2.5.0
©2014 Frameworks Games

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