Maintaining the Benefits of Nymph's Kiss?

[Palanan]

I have a new player who'd like to take Nymph's Kiss, and after rereading the feat I'm on the fence.

According to the wording of the feat, the benefits accrue "by maintaining an intimate relationship with a good-aligned fey," the details of which are left to the imagination.

It's the "maintaining" part that has me undecided, especially in this particular campaign. The player's backstory has him from the Moonshaes--where fey won't be hard to find--but since this is a seafaring campaign, the character will need to leave his homeland and travel far across the western ocean, perhaps never to return.

So the question is, can the character retain the benefits while effectively taking a break in the relationship? The exact wording suggests not, but I'm willing to be a little lenient as long as it doesn't overly bend the spirit of things. Or am I overthinking this a little too much?

[JellyPooga]

This is going to be one of those situations where you're going to have to call it based on how the player plays it.

I'd say let him maintain the benefits, so long as he keeps up the appearance of being in that relationship. I'm not saying that he's going to have to mope around bemoaning his love far across the sea (though that would certainly qualify), but any action that detracts from the implications of being in that relationship (e.g. sleeping with the cabin-girl, seducing a bar wench and the like) would potentially result in losing the benfits of the Feat. This is, of course, assuming the relationship is monogamous (which, given that it's from BoED, I would).

Sending Animal Messengers or Sendings might be an appropriate way to maintain the relationship, though casting certain spells might act as a beacon to enemies trying to locate the PC...

[nedz]

Fey, being immortal, have a different relationship with time. A ten year gap would be nothing to them.
Fey, being Fey, probably have a different view about fidelity also.
I tend to view this as a gift/aura type thing, which might be detectable to other Fey. This could lead to future implications with other Fey.
I don't think that this needs active maintenance but, of course, you might take a different view.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

It depends on the lifespan of the race he picks. Fey are extremely long-lived, some varieties never even die of old age (Killoren in RotW for example). If he's playing a race that lives for hundreds of years, such as an Elf or another Fey even, he could stop in once every few years and still maintain a healthy relationship. OotS even has a good example of this, Vaarsuvius's relationship with the spouse prior to the deal s/he made to save them.

[hymer]

If you'd like him to have it, you could have them maintain their relationship in their dreams. Every night for eight hours (four for an elf) he spends his time with his good friend/true love far away, swimming the lake or climbing the mighty oaks or whatever.

I see no reason to get hung up on it, though. It's a feat, I let players take it when they ask. If they put it into their backstory, I turn it into positive plot points. I've never seen anyone take it above level 1, but some players might do that, if their character got close to a fey. I'd respect that a whole lot.

[Palanan]

In fact, the PC is a sun elf, so the lifespan issue is no trouble. I'd already been thinking along these lines, since the character travels a good bit around the Moonshaes anyhow.

And I like JellyPooga's comments about keeping true to the spirit of the relationship, and avoiding temptations along the way.

As it happens, the character is not precisely pure enough to qualify as "exalted" in classic BoED style...but he's good-ish enough to appeal to a fey's whimsical tastes. It's a case of a well-considered backstory impressing the DM.

:smalltongue:

[HunterOfJello]

When the word "maintain" is used in 3.5 it seems to be most often in the connotation of not screwing something up. I've always read the description for Nymph's Kiss as being the equivalent of, "You need to keep a good relationship with a fey and not screw it up." If you screw it up or go around massacring fey, then, you lose the benefits. Otherwise, you're good.


The more harsh requirement of Nymph's Kiss is the fact that it's an Exalted Feat. If you don't satisfy the requirement of staying Exalted, then you lose the benefits of the feat.

[ravagerofworlds]

As someone who has taught interpersonal communication in the past...

Relationship maintenance is an actual term used by communication scholars/scientists. I suggest Palanan look to the real world evidence before making a decision on what maintenance involves for their game.

Romantic relationships require the most maintenance, as they are fragile. However, long distance relationships function well without face to face time, so long as there is frequency (telephone, skyping, email, etc.).

For your player, he's willing to spend a valuable feat for an effect- it is not fair to yank that mechanic unless his player decides to egg the Fey's home, break up with the Fey, etc. Maybe you as a GM can have a token of the Fey's affection (like a locket, a ring, etc.) allow the Fey to scry the player's character and possibly visit him in his dreams. You could even set up a random dream table; my partner and I watched "The Golden Child" last night, and one of the villains spoke to the protagonist in a dream as exemplified in this clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETkJs0Mhnmo).

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by HunterOfJello
When the word "maintain" is used in 3.5 it seems to be most often in the connotation of not screwing something up.

Good clarification, thanks. I think that's the best approach to take in this situation.

As for the exalted aspect, I tend to reflavor these to allow a steady commitment to a certain ideal, as long as it's generally selfless and good-ish. One of the major NPCs in my campaign is a VoP druid with a stack of bonus exalted feats, which I'm interpreting in his case as "selflessly devoted to the defense of nature."

The PC in question has a similar commitment described in his backstory, and it's nicely thought out, so I'll let him run with it.

[Jeff the Green]

Remember that the "maintaining an intimate relationship" occurs in the flavor text, i.e. it has no mechanical effect. The only RAW way to lose it is to perform an evil act. This is a good thing, since otherwise you could lose it if hour fey partner dies through no fault of your own, or finds a prettier adventurer to hook up with, or gets bored. Just treat it like any other feat that has a flavor component (e.g. Jotunbrood or Southern Magician) and it'll be fine.

[Alleran]

Remember that the "maintaining an intimate relationship" occurs in the flavor text, i.e. it has no mechanical effect. The only RAW way to lose it is to perform an evil act.
Is cheating (or infidelity/adultery depending on severity) an evil act? :smalltongue:

You could always make the relationship be with a fey that has access to plane shift, teleport or something to that effect. Gets around the troubles of a long-distance relationship if you really want to avoid the chance of losing the feat for whatever non-evil act reason.

[Jeff the Green]

Is cheating (or infidelity/adultery depending on severity) an evil act? :smalltongue:.

Arguably, yes. BoVD says that betrayal is evil and that lying "is a tool that can easily be used for evil ends." Depending on how you read it, infidelity is betrayal and almost certainly is lying. Bear in mind, however, that RAW you don't have to have a current relationship with a good fey (or even have ever had one). Right now, for instance, I'm playing a character whose dryad wife died, but he still has the feat.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Alleran
Is cheating (or infidelity/adultery depending on severity) an evil act?

I'll definitely be treating it that way for the purposes of the feat. If he strays, he'll lose the benefits of the feat until he atones...either magically, or with some really good roleplaying.

I don't expect there'll be any trouble, though. For romantic straying we have our swashbuckler.

:smalltongue: