Rules for Romance in TTRPGs

[Starfox]

Inspired by the mention of romance games in TTRPG Genres You Just Can't Get Into -and- Tell Me Why I'm Wrong About X Genre I Don't Like I want to ask about the rules for romance in romance TTRPGs. I have played out romance in games not dedicated to it, in fact it is a common theme. I've read the first Blue Rose rules and didn't find much rules for romance there, it was mostly a shaved-down D&D. I have no issue with romance in games. What I am wondering about are the rules for romance in games.

The first category of rules, that I have no problem understanding, are rules for how romance affects the game. I played Pendragon for a long time, where being inspired by romance was a constant trope.

The rules I see myself having a problem with are rules for creating romance. Most game engines can handle casual flirting, but leave actual romantic love up to the players without specific rules for how they happen. Is this different for games like Thirsty Sword Lesbians have rules for this, or is the romance itself a preexisting condition? I see problems with consent here, should a game engine really be telling me who I fall in love with? Anything beyond a casual flirt has this problem. Yes, its a smaller problem for NPCs, they are not as much avatars of their player (the GM in this case) as are PCs. Still tricky.

A third issue I wonder if these games handle is the internal development of the protagonist (here the PC). The way I read Pride and Prejudice, the main development is inside Elizabeth, she overcomes her pride and prejudice to be able to admit her love for Darcy. This seems like a very tricky thing to model in a game, I wouldn't know where to start.

Fourth, discussing Thirsty Sword Lesbians in the root thread, someone (sorry, can't recall who) compared it to Revolutionary Girl Utena. That game featured duels that were character analyses of the opponents, showing how their dreams and ambitions brought them in to fight and lose against Utena. I think a clearer example of this is in the anime Angelic Layer. Here the heroine is too young to engage in actual romance, but she deeply engages with the backgrounds of a series of antagonists, basically doing psychoanalysis on them as they fight with holograms on a tabletop. The crux of the story is the exploration of each personality, and the heroine actually helps them overcome traumas and background problems, becoming fast friends despite the defeat. I like to call this kind of fight Dramatic Combat and I would love to implement it, but have to admit I am at loss on how. Does any game even try to do this?

 

[Theory of Games]

Why do you need rules for it? Can't romance just be roleplayed like when the party goes into a tavern to order drinks?

I'm not trying to threadcap: I'm into wherever this discussion goes (almost) but I'm curious why we need rules for sex?

 

[Alzrius]

I recall hearing good things about the Pendragon rules for romance (though that's the sum total of my knowledge regarding them).

 

[pigames.net]

Planets of Peril has rules for romance and offspring, since it focuses on sword and planetary romance which generally involves the main character falling in love. It is not the focus of the game (which is good in my opinion for just about any game), but it offers some rules to see how strong and developing an attraction is (by way of various factors), and then whether any offspring come from the potential coupling that results.

 

[Starfox]

Why do you need rules for it? Can't romance just be roleplayed like when the party goes into a tavern to order drinks?

I'm not trying to threadcap: I'm into wherever this discussion goes (almost) but I'm curious why we need rules for sex?

I basically agree, but I'm wondering what rules are out there. What have designers tried to do?

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I'm not trying to threadcap: I'm into wherever this discussion goes (almost) but I'm curious why we need rules for sex?

Romance and sex are two separate things. It's nice when the two overlap, but far from universal in both real life and fiction. Whether you need actual mechanics for either is up for debate of course.

 

[Bae'zel]

I keep a Favor tracker for recurring NPCs, kind of inspired by video games like Baldur's Gate 3, the Dragon Age saga and Fallout (any).

Basically I give them a favor attribute towards each PC (an ability score from 1 to 20). Starts off neutral (10) and I outline in bullet form what acts can increase favor or decrease it. That can include thoughtful gifts or selfless acts to support he NPC.

If it gets high enough, the NPC will more likely do favors for the PC, or even consider them a good friend. Potentially romantically if it gets high enough.

We always Fade to Black and never get weird with it. But having a romanced NPC, and spending a Long Rest with them is a guaranteed point of Inspiration the next day.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Does any game even try to do this?

This game is a master class in how to do romance - in an interesting and dramatic way = Pasion de las Pasiones (link)

Let's talk about why Pasion does what it does so incredibly well and why so many successful games look to it...

- It makes romance interesting: It does this by tying romance to the player character's ambitions and goals. You don't just love that person over there, you also manipulate and use them to your advantage. This is for all those times when a persuasion roll was just too simple or boring, and you wanted a little more interaction to earn that NPC .

- It makes romance dangerous: Just being flirty and sexual is fine. But Pasion adds an element of danger by giving your lover leverage over you - and encouraging you to get leverage over your lover. And it does this in a wide variety of ways (from jealousy, to theft, to lies, to combat, and more). it also gives you a valid reason to make an enemy into a lover...

- It makes romance useful: By letting players and NPCs get romantically entangled, it intermingles their goals and ambitions. In any game, from D&D to Vampire to Cyberpunk, having allies is fine. But having emotional bonds (based on romance) can push characters to align their goals or fight for each other in ways they normally never would have. Now you actually 'care' about the other character...

- It does not require a single sex/romance scene: Sure, the characters may be boinking, or might just be flirting or long term lovers or whatever. But it never requires that those intimate moments be played out at the table. You can if you want, but the rules of Pasion all work off implied actions and past trysts. So this lets even the players who have no interest in roleplaying romance gain a few relationships they can tolerate and gain benefit from.

These are the hallmarks of what the most successful games like D&D and Pathfinder and Champions do = they give players useful tools across combat/social/tactical/worldbuilding , offer reasons to take risks, and don't require any actual roleplay details the players don't want to engage in.

 

[MNblockhead]

Easy. Follow the Balder's Gate III method. Important NPC allies and escort mission macguffan-folk set up at the party's base camp and aggressively hit on the PCs after several interactions. ;-)

 

[Tonguez]

This game is a master class in how to do romance - in an interesting and dramatic way = Pasion de las Pasiones (link)

Let's talk about why Pasion does what it does so incredibly well and why so many successful games look to it...

- It makes romance interesting: It does this by tying romance to the player character's ambitions and goals. You don't just love that person over there, you also manipulate and use them to your advantage. This is for all those times when a persuasion roll was just too simple or boring, and you wanted a little more interaction to earn that NPC .

- It makes romance dangerous: Just being flirty and sexual is fine. But Pasion adds an element of danger by giving your lover leverage over you - and encouraging you to get leverage over your lover. And it does this in a wide variety of ways (from jealousy, to theft, to lies, to combat, and more). it also gives you a valid reason to make an enemy into a lover...

- It makes romance useful: By letting players and NPCs get romantically entangled, it intermingles their goals and ambitions. In any game, from D&D to Vampire to Cyberpunk, having allies is fine. But having emotional bonds (based on romance) can push characters to align their goals or fight for each other in ways they normally never would have. Now you actually 'care' about the other character...

- It does not require a single sex/romance scene: Sure, the characters may be boinking, or might just be flirting or long term lovers or whatever. But it never requires that those intimate moments be played out at the table. You can if you want, but the rules of Pasion all work off implied actions and past trysts. So this lets even the players who have no interest in roleplaying romance gain a few relationships they can tolerate and gain benefit from.

These are the hallmarks of what the most successful games like D&D and Pathfinder and Champions do = they give players useful tools across combat/social/tactical/worldbuilding , offer reasons to take risks, and don't require any actual roleplay details the players don't want to engage in.

I liked the Traits system in 5e but always wanted it to be more - turning the Ideals, Bonds and Flaws into actual mechanical ties (Aspects/Distinctions/Passions), generating Inspiration Points that could then be spent to gain advantage or rerolls.

I know Smallville RPG used Cortex and had Relationship tags which then got its own Dice in the Dice Pool