Love and Romance in D6 Epic
One of the things D6 Epic allows for is Love/Romance within the adventure or storyline. But how does this add to a game?? Well, I managed to distract Sam from work to ask a few questions.
Terri: Love and Romance, won't that cause problems within a game?
Sam: Being fair yes it can, but the rules system covers love and romance turning either good or bad. There have been games that have tried to add romance into the system prior to D6 Epic, we have tried to cover all the possibilities without limiting what the characters can roleplay out.
Terri: So if a player wishes to include an NPC romance with - for instance - a member of court, what are they going to have to do?
Sam: They're going to have to roleplay out the courtship and it's not a matter of rolling dice once to make it work. Each stage of the courtship you have to make friends, get them to be very good friends, start dating them, etc. At each stage there will be rolls and roleplay. You can't, at any given point, simply roll a dice. And your behavior, even when you're not with your romantic interest, can affect your romance.
Terri: How so?
Sam: You're down at the local tavern, having a drink with your buds, and one of the servants of the court sees you flirting (perhaps harmlessly) with a barmaid. He/She then goes and tells your romantic interest. And how you roleplay handling that can either improve, keep the same, or damage your romance.
Terri: All right. As someone who has written romances, I know how that can add to a story, bringing in dramatic tension etc. But as this isn't a romance driven game, what would be the possible attraction to gamers?
Sam: Having a friend at court is a way of getting information, favors from court members, or maybe your character doesn't always want to be an adventurer but wants a life at court when he/she gets a little older.
Terri: Love and romance are a part of life, so the players can either add this to the storyline, or ignore it as they feel comfortable. I doubt, looking back, there's been a book I've read that hasn't had a romance thread in it somewhere. Whilst I can't see many wanting to run full romance game, I can see story lines where, perhaps, a love does form, a bond between players or a player and NPC, and the tension that can form offers potential for evil GM's to twist. Take Lord of the Rings for example with the love between Aragorn and Arwen. But players should remember, the GM is NOT there to mediate between players if they choose to play out a love interest between their characters. They cannot fix what players might break!
Terri: Love and Romance, won't that cause problems within a game?
Sam: Being fair yes it can, but the rules system covers love and romance turning either good or bad. There have been games that have tried to add romance into the system prior to D6 Epic, we have tried to cover all the possibilities without limiting what the characters can roleplay out.
Terri: So if a player wishes to include an NPC romance with - for instance - a member of court, what are they going to have to do?
Sam: They're going to have to roleplay out the courtship and it's not a matter of rolling dice once to make it work. Each stage of the courtship you have to make friends, get them to be very good friends, start dating them, etc. At each stage there will be rolls and roleplay. You can't, at any given point, simply roll a dice. And your behavior, even when you're not with your romantic interest, can affect your romance.
Terri: How so?
Sam: You're down at the local tavern, having a drink with your buds, and one of the servants of the court sees you flirting (perhaps harmlessly) with a barmaid. He/She then goes and tells your romantic interest. And how you roleplay handling that can either improve, keep the same, or damage your romance.
Terri: All right. As someone who has written romances, I know how that can add to a story, bringing in dramatic tension etc. But as this isn't a romance driven game, what would be the possible attraction to gamers?
Sam: Having a friend at court is a way of getting information, favors from court members, or maybe your character doesn't always want to be an adventurer but wants a life at court when he/she gets a little older.
Terri: Love and romance are a part of life, so the players can either add this to the storyline, or ignore it as they feel comfortable. I doubt, looking back, there's been a book I've read that hasn't had a romance thread in it somewhere. Whilst I can't see many wanting to run full romance game, I can see story lines where, perhaps, a love does form, a bond between players or a player and NPC, and the tension that can form offers potential for evil GM's to twist. Take Lord of the Rings for example with the love between Aragorn and Arwen. But players should remember, the GM is NOT there to mediate between players if they choose to play out a love interest between their characters. They cannot fix what players might break!
posted by Terri Pray | 7:51 PM
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