[Genre/Playstyle] Romance

[Dssong]

I've been thinking that what I'd like to get into, more as a player than as a GM, is a game where the dominant engine of conflict isn't -- as usual in RPGs -- adventure, espionage, or outer forces of evil, but romance, desire, sex, and love. But the RPG market affords me very little way into this: it isn't a popular genre or playstyle.  Any thoughts on this? 

[Om]

Blue Rose which became True20 is the only thing to spring to mind that is geared towards "Romantic fantasy."  Then again, I would take a narrative game system like The Window or FATE or even Dogs in the Vineyard, make the central conflict of the story whatever you want it to be, and you're off.

<joke>I think the only one's making RPG love around here are cthughua and frostchilde -- you might ask them for pointers.</joke> ;P

[Frostchilde]

<joke>I think the only one's making RPG love around here are cthughua and frostchilde -- you might ask them for pointers.</joke> ;P

 

I've been thinking that what I'd like to get into...is a game where the dominant engine of conflict is...romance, desire, sex, and love. But the RPG market affords me very little way into this: it isn't a popular genre or playstyle.

For any story using romance and sexuality to work, I have found that the first and possibly most important thing to consider is the comfort levels of the potential players and GM to the use of romance and physical intimacy. All involved must agree to the inclusion of these elements to the story and to what degree to prevent misunderstanding and a general feeling of discomfort and uneasiness; essentially the less romantically and sexually inhibited the participants of the story the better chances for success of such an undertaking.

[Dssong]

This seems to be a common response, but I don't see any reason why the erotic has to be central to the romantic. To put it differently, I usually don't describe gore in detail with violence in RPGs; I don't see why I would be explicitly erotic with romance.

[Frostchilde]

Thus, the importance of being proactive in determining which of those elements you intend to use in your story (romance, desire, sex, and love) and conveying those up front to all involved. Including or omitting eroticism in the narrative is to be determined and not a given.

[Dssong]

To elaborate the original post, I'll say this: What interests me are the stakes of a conflict in an RPG.

To put it rather snidely (and unfairly), Gygaxian D&D has always struck me as sort of, well, capitalistic, materialist and Victorian.  The stakes are essentially selfish, to increase one's own wealth, experience, and personal power; and even those who are "good" are actually smiting individuals outside the established social norm (c.f. the age-old discourse of paladins killing goblin children). Many adventure RPGs, tabletop and computer, run in this streak. With the advent of horror RPGs such as Call of Chthuhu and Vampire: the Masquerade, the stakes become those of survival, where they were actually intensely personal, but often lacked a degree of personal choice; both games are very insistent on the PC's death, insanity, or moral degradation. 

So boo to all that (with the understanding that all those games I've mentioned are fertile, wonderful, enjoyable landscapes for play).  I'd like the game-story of an RPG to have other people, whom my PC cares about passionately, to be the stakes of a conflict. I want to be a fighting a primarily emotional battle in an RPG.

[ender_wiggin]

I've been trying to run a game like this for years. I haven't mainly because of player disinterest.

That being said, I'm in STL this summer....

[Codger]

I would second the suggestion to use the Window rules for this, and to a lesser extent the Fate system, both of which are free downloads and quickly learned.

My take on such a game would be pitting something like the love of country against the object of ardent desires, all tangled up with politics and intrigue of course. I've never tried it though.....

[Dssong]

I've been trying to run a game like this for years. I haven't mainly because of player disinterest.

That being said, I'm in STL this summer....

I'll be in DC again in the future.  Though, I wonder if PBP (prose) is a more expressive medium for such a genre than Face-to-Face (theater). 

[MrMiracle]

The idea of "we're just roleplaying" might not fly so well with the significant other, particularly when you consider the reputation the web has for facilitating cheating.

I get the feeling, sometimes, that the tendency to steer away from romance tends to lead to characters who are occasionally stagnant, or even androgynous.  The do-gooder, for instance, who is too good to risk the friendships they have with their team-mates by introducing the sort of complications that a romantic relationship can bring.  The warrior, who is simply too dedicated to the perfection of their form to take the time to get to know another person on an intimate basis.  Or how about the widow or widower, who simply hasn't moved past the parting of their beloved?  These sorts of characters tend to send up a flag that the player might not be looking for romance in their campaign.

I'm certainly guilty of making such characters.

The fact that many games are male-dominated is probably another contributing factor.  Who wants a romance game when the regular crew is a total sausage-fest?

[Barnum]

The idea of "we're just roleplaying" might not fly so well with the significant other, particularly when you consider the reputation the web has for facilitating cheating.

This is pretty much where I am. I feel far more comfortable reserving all of my romantically inclined interests, activities, and energies for my husband (who is not a gamer). I do know plenty of writers and RPers who are entirely faithful to their spouse who have no problem writing and gaming romantic stories with friends and even virtual strangers. That's just not me.

[Cardboard Tube Knight]

Even with innocent romances, some players don't like that in their games. I don't mind it, but I also don't usually get involved. One thing I have noticed a lot of the time is that when you tag a game with the idea sex can happen or erotic situations might come up, the people it tends to attract worry less about any part of the game not having to do with that. I joined an adult roleplay site and found that the D&D games were plagued by people basically doing whatever they could to make everything they did sexual to the point it became a bad experience and woefully uninteresting to me.

That having been said, a character of mine has been in a relationship a while first dating and then as a Friends With Benefits kind of thing. It just has to develop over more than one post..

I think that as far as finding a system, none of them offer much in the way of romance playing. That should be less about the system and more about the actual players and how they play themselves.