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View Full Version : What's the Playground's opinion about OoC couples playing IC couples?



FinnDarkblade
2014-04-26, 03:19 AM
My girlfriend and I have been playing D&D together for several years and we've never once had our characters be in a romantic relationship. We have, however, rather enjoyed playing characters that can't agree on anything. :smallamused: Now though, we're thinking about joining a sandboxy game and kind of want to try it out(but making sure to not be overly cutesy or do anything even remotely NSFW). What have been Playgrounders' experiences with either doing this or being in games with others who have done this? Has it made others/you feel uncomfortable? What are some things that can be done to make everyone more comfortable with it?

AuraTwilight
2014-04-26, 04:48 AM
As long as you're not letting any romantic subplots dominate the whole game, go right ahead.

DigoDragon
2014-04-26, 07:47 AM
As long as everyone else is okay with it and you're not being too distracting with it, should be fine.

Loxagn
2014-04-26, 07:51 AM
Pretty much the same as Dido and Twilight. Romantic subplots can make others uncomfortable at times but as long as everyone is okay with it and you don't let romance push the others out of the spotlight, all's okay!

SimonMoon6
2014-04-26, 08:42 AM
It's probably for the best.

One issue that I've had in the past is when an OoC couple aren't an IC couple, so the PCs would reasonably have the option of having romantic subplots with NPCs (or even other PCs) which can only lead to trouble. I remember one game where a PC got married to a princess, but then the player got involved with a real world girl who was jealous of his imaginary wife, so he had to kill off his PC.

So, yeah, I think an OoC couple being an IC couple is a good idea.

GPuzzle
2014-04-26, 09:05 AM
I've got honestly no idea, mainly because the girl I like is part of my RPG group and I'm still trying to ask her out without stuttering like crazy.

Vrock_Summoner
2014-04-26, 09:24 AM
I'm pretty much just here to agree with everyone else. Actually, I treat OoC couples playing IC couples exactly the same way I treat any IC couples: if they aren't the focus of the whole game or a giant distraction, then it's cool with me. The worst things are whenever there are those "ending conversations" to finish off story arcs or the campaign or even right before a boss fight and they seem to forget that the other players and their characters exist.

Maybe I'm just weird, but if your romantic partner is part of your adventuring party which is also composed of friends, your friends are still emotionally attached people and workmates who deserve a near-equal share of your time. There's no problem with romantic moments in my group, but that's because they exist in smaller amounts and alongside our non-romantic emotional moments. Which there tend to be quite a few of.

Edit: Since I just realized I might have been being vague, that entire last paragraph is referring to your In-Character relationship with the other party members, not just the players around the table.

Altair_the_Vexed
2014-04-26, 11:01 AM
My non-RPing ex insisted that I must be gay for my GM because one of my characters was married to an NPC.

So OoC couples being IC couples? Seems like less confusion to me.

FinnDarkblade
2014-04-26, 11:34 AM
Wow, I'm really glad that there's a positive reaction to this. That's rather encouraging. The DM was fine with it when I pitched the idea to him too, which was the most important factor anyways I suppose. The game is here on the Playgrounds so stealing the spotlight shouldn't be an issue as it should be a pretty slow game and everyone can talk at the same time. Thanks for all your input everyone. :smallbiggrin:

CarpeGuitarrem
2014-04-26, 12:09 PM
It gives me a chuckle, and so long as it doesn't dominate the story, it's cool by me. I mean, I do also find it humorous in the "Right, so your big fighter just happens to have a crush on her tiny thief. Just a coincidence. :smalltongue:" way

Rhynn
2014-04-26, 12:18 PM
So long as nobody's made uncomfortable, who cares?

(Jerks and idiots, that's who. They can go to that place with the hockey sticks.)

Red Fel
2014-04-26, 01:20 PM
I'm going to echo what everyone else has said. I think relationships between the characters - romantic or otherwise - add a great deal of depth to the game. I don't imagine you need any advice about keeping IC separate from OOC, since you've both been at this for several years, so that should be fine.

My key insight, which isn't terribly novel as others have pointed it out, is that a relationship should never be the defining aspect of a character. It's a trait, like hair color, dialect, or hometown, that makes a character a bit more interesting, but it should not define the character, and it should definitely not take center stage. If you make the romance a central point, it will get old, and possibly grating. But having it just happen to be a thing works great.

So avoid the typical romantic story arcs - meeting the parents, abduction of one or the other, trying to find the perfect gift, etc. - and just stick to the usual story points. The fact that the characters are in a relationship should be incidental.

Frankly, I think the concept of adventurers in love (or even better, a married couple) is action-comedy gold. Seriously, get the banter down and it'll be crazy fun.

dps
2014-04-26, 01:22 PM
So long as nobody's made uncomfortable, who cares?


And even there, unless someone is uncomfortable with romantic content in their games per se, I can't see how the fact that in IC couple is play by 2 players who are a RL couple could be a problem--if fact, if anything, an IC couplde who are played by players who aren't a RL couple could be a much bigger problem (especially if one or both of the players are paired off with other players IRL).

FinnDarkblade
2014-04-26, 01:39 PM
And even there, unless someone is uncomfortable with romantic content in their games per se, I can't see how the fact that in IC couple is play by 2 players who are a RL couple could be a problem--if fact, if anything, an IC couplde who are played by players who aren't a RL couple could be a much bigger problem (especially if one or both of the players are paired off with other players IRL).

True, I suppose it's just the idea of PC's being romantically attached that I'm worried about. I know several gamers who would be uncomfortable being around that. Not sure why though come to think of it, as they're around us IRL. :smallconfused:

Honest Tiefling
2014-04-26, 02:10 PM
I have to ask, why would people be uncomfortable around that? I respect that they are, I just want to know why.

jedipotter
2014-04-26, 02:50 PM
Wow, I'm really glad that there's a positive reaction to this.

I'll be the negative.....

It is rare I even game with a couple. It is mostly just a huge waste of time.

The problems are legion, but some of the highlights:

1.First off, few couples can play a game for a few hours(or do anything else) without dragging the relationship in every couple of seconds. This ruins the game in no time. I don't care if he put the pepper on the ''S" rack or if she ''did not charge the battery'', I just want to play the game.

2.The ''we are a couple in real life'', so we must be in the game. So they tag team against everyone else....even if she is a paladain and he is an assassian.

3.The tag along. Maybe the worst one. The ''other'' is not a gamer. They just tag along as they are so obssesed that they can't let their other out of their sight. They kinda, sorta play.....but mostly just get in the way. Worst is when they hog tons and tons of time ''Oh dear, let me show you how to roll'' sigh.

BWR
2014-04-26, 02:55 PM
They can go to that place with the hockey sticks.)

Canada?

OT: I've had an in-character romance with my gf's PC (granted, it was mostly one-sided from him, but he tried), and we've had IC romances with other players' characters, and we've all had IC romances with NPCs at some point. It's no biggie so long as the romance doesn't take up too much screen time and leave everyone else bored for more than 15-20 minutes per session.

Coidzor
2014-04-26, 03:05 PM
As long as you're not snogging or otherwise being unhygienic at the table. And especially not on the table.

Oh, right, and don't have any in-game pregnancies, those are always nasty and involve all kinds of haranguing over what rules to use to cover such things.

TheCountAlucard
2014-04-26, 03:23 PM
One of my Exalted games was with a couple; their characters started off betrothed for political reasons, but unfortunately the game didn't last long enough for them to take their relationship further. :smallfrown:

LibraryOgre
2014-04-26, 03:33 PM
It can be fun, but difficult, partially because your own romantic relationship is going to be conflated with the romantic relationship of the characters. The development of the OoC relationship and the development of the IC relationship are bound to have parallels, and it might become difficult to emotionally separate them.

This is not to say "don't do it", but to remind you "Communicate the **** out of your relationship. Communicate away ambiguity and keep communicating."

BWR
2014-04-26, 03:52 PM
As long as you're not snogging or otherwise being unhygienic at the table. And especially not on the table.

Ugh we had one of these. Brand new couple (like a week old at the time) got to kissing and were going hand-under-bra for quite some time while the rest of us tried to play on like nothing was happening. We politely and discretely mentioned to him later on that having a new SO is a wonderful feeling and there are plenty of opportunities for related wonderful feelings and that there were plenty of better places to grope titties than the gaming table.


Oh, right, and don't have any in-game pregnancies, those are always nasty and involve all kinds of haranguing over what rules to use to cover such things.
Without in-game pregnancies my samurai wouldn't have 4 generations of descendants for us to tell stories about. Maybe it's just that my groups are cool with this but there has never been a problem with in-game pregancies. The closest we've had was one player wondering if killing the pregant cleric counted as one or two kills (he kept score of how many of the party he killed - he nearly managed himself at one point), and discussions about whether you needed Remove Curse or Remove Disease to terminate unwanted pregnancies.

FinnDarkblade
2014-04-26, 04:03 PM
I have to ask, why would people be uncomfortable around that? I respect that they are, I just want to know why.

It probably stems from the fact that our group was originally just 4 straight guys who had absolutely no desire at all to RP a romantic relationship with one of the other guys even if the character was female. No romance was already well-established as the norm before my gf started playing with us and it probably just kind of stuck.


I'll be the negative.....

Feel free.


It is rare I even game with a couple. It is mostly just a huge waste of time.

The problems are legion, but some of the highlights:

1.First off, few couples can play a game for a few hours(or do anything else) without dragging the relationship in every couple of seconds. This ruins the game in no time. I don't care if he put the pepper on the ''S" rack or if she ''did not charge the battery'', I just want to play the game.

A valid concern but I really don't think it'll be an issue, especially since this'll be an online game.


2.The ''we are a couple in real life'', so we must be in the game. So they tag team against everyone else....even if she is a paladain and he is an assassian.

Also really not an issue. Like I said in the OP, we've been playing together for years and have never had out characters be romantically involved. Funny that you mention the paladin and assassin thing because those are actually the archetypes we prefer to play. This is the reason behind what I said in the OP about having fun playing characters who can't agree on anything.


3.The tag along. Maybe the worst one. The ''other'' is not a gamer. They just tag along as they are so obssesed that they can't let their other out of their sight. They kinda, sorta play.....but mostly just get in the way. Worst is when they hog tons and tons of time ''Oh dear, let me show you how to roll'' sigh.

Most definitely not an issue. She's no expert at optimization but it's been years since she had to ask me a basic mechanics question and she has her own copies of the core rulebooks.

And as for concerns about acting inappropriately at the table, even if we were inclined towards excessive PDA's this is an online game so...

Janus
2014-04-26, 04:35 PM
I remember one game where a PC got married to a princess, but then the player got involved with a real world girl who was jealous of his imaginary wife, so he had to kill off his PC.
Now you've got me curious about this story.

Coidzor
2014-04-26, 05:45 PM
Without in-game pregnancies my samurai wouldn't have 4 generations of descendants for us to tell stories about. Maybe it's just that my groups are cool with this but there has never been a problem with in-game pregancies. The closest we've had was one player wondering if killing the pregant cleric counted as one or two kills (he kept score of how many of the party he killed - he nearly managed himself at one point), and discussions about whether you needed Remove Curse or Remove Disease to terminate unwanted pregnancies.

Well, yes, if you check beforehand to make sure everyone's A-OK with ripping fetuses from the womb and making them into undead monstrosities that devour their still living mothers in advance or have it occur offscreen so you don't have to get into the headache of deciding just how much to debilitate a pregnant adventurer with all of the table politics that entails.

BWR
2014-04-26, 06:37 PM
See, there's this wonderful thing called 'downtime'...
We did it quick and easy. Up to the 2nd trimester the kid counts as part of the mother so barring some really unpleasant effects, is safe so long as the mother is alive. A Raise on a dead mother will bring back the child. The third trimester things are a bit iffier and you want to avoid too strenuous activity. And in all cases the mothers-to-be took a break from adventuring life/active duty to avoid endangering their unborn children. Really, it isn't a big deal unless you make it a big deal.

SimonMoon6
2014-04-26, 06:56 PM
Now you've got me curious about this story.

Well, I've already mentioned the important bits. But here's some more: it was one of those games where people play themselves. And after one adventure, two of the PCs rescued a princess and one ended up marrying her. That player is also a decent artist and would draw his version of the events that happened in the game. And in this case that involved many drawings of his relationship with this princess character. And he got a little carried away sometimes.

And thus, when he got involved with a girl, she was naturally a bit unhappy with his obvious relationship with this imaginary person in this imaginary life of his. So, he basically suicided himself (using a weird spell that was dangerous to use over and over... which he used until he died).

Coidzor
2014-04-26, 07:49 PM
See, there's this wonderful thing called 'downtime'...
We did it quick and easy. Up to the 2nd trimester the kid counts as part of the mother so barring some really unpleasant effects, is safe so long as the mother is alive. A Raise on a dead mother will bring back the child. The third trimester things are a bit iffier and you want to avoid too strenuous activity. And in all cases the mothers-to-be took a break from adventuring life/active duty to avoid endangering their unborn children. Really, it isn't a big deal unless you make it a big deal.

I guess maybe I've let the horror stories of the threads involving such things color my perspective overmuch...

Knaight
2014-04-26, 07:59 PM
The problems are legion, but some of the highlights:

1.First off, few couples can play a game for a few hours(or do anything else) without dragging the relationship in every couple of seconds. This ruins the game in no time. I don't care if he put the pepper on the ''S" rack or if she ''did not charge the battery'', I just want to play the game.

2.The ''we are a couple in real life'', so we must be in the game. So they tag team against everyone else....even if she is a paladain and he is an assassian.

3.The tag along. Maybe the worst one. The ''other'' is not a gamer. They just tag along as they are so obssesed that they can't let their other out of their sight. They kinda, sorta play.....but mostly just get in the way. Worst is when they hog tons and tons of time ''Oh dear, let me show you how to roll'' sigh.

I haven't seen any of these with couples, though I have seen a variant of 3 with siblings, and it is obnoxious. Number 2 seems particularly odd. Close friends who've known each other for years and couples pretty much dominate the cutthroat aspects of games from what I've seen.

Rhynn
2014-04-26, 08:58 PM
The problems are legion, but some of the highlights

You hang out with some really troubled couples. Most of the couples I know don't argue incessantly while doing something else (a good sign of serious problems in a relationship), and aren't co-dependent/clingy (another good sign that things aren't actually great).

I totally agree, though, that you shouldn't play RPGs with couples that are on the rocks. That's going to ruin everybody's good time, and when they finally blow up and break up, you're all stuck deciding who to "side with" and continue to include in the shared group hobby.

This, unfortunately, does mean that sometimes you might find it wisest to avoid playing with a couple at all, because you don't trust them not to go on the rocks. Some people just can't seem to manage to have non-dramatic relationships.

... but I probably wouldn't advice someone's part of a couple to avoid playing RPGs as a couple. :smalleek:


It can be fun, but difficult, partially because your own romantic relationship is going to be conflated with the romantic relationship of the characters. The development of the OoC relationship and the development of the IC relationship are bound to have parallels, and it might become difficult to emotionally separate them.

This is not to say "don't do it", but to remind you "Communicate the **** out of your relationship. Communicate away ambiguity and keep communicating."

This is solid advice, although I think relationship problems would reflect on the shared hobby even if there was no IC relationship between the character. I practically get hives just being in the same room with friends whose relationship is on the rocks.


Ugh we had one of these. Brand new couple (like a week old at the time) got to kissing and were going hand-under-bra for quite some time while the rest of us tried to play on like nothing was happening.

Why would you ignore that? Spray them with water or something! Cripes.


Without in-game pregnancies my samurai wouldn't have 4 generations of descendants for us to tell stories about.

Generational games are the bomb! Pendragon especially, but my dream campaign is still a 1400-1700 III Middle Earth generations game...

Janus
2014-04-26, 09:01 PM
Well, I've already mentioned the important bits. But here's some more: it was one of those games where people play themselves. And after one adventure, two of the PCs rescued a princess and one ended up marrying her. That player is also a decent artist and would draw his version of the events that happened in the game. And in this case that involved many drawings of his relationship with this princess character. And he got a little carried away sometimes.

And thus, when he got involved with a girl, she was naturally a bit unhappy with his obvious relationship with this imaginary person in this imaginary life of his. So, he basically suicided himself (using a weird spell that was dangerous to use over and over... which he used until he died).
:smalleek:
Okay, that makes a bit more sense now. Thanks!

TuggyNE
2014-04-26, 10:56 PM
You hang out with some really troubled couples.

Actually, based on past posts, I'd say he hangs out with some really troubled people, full stop.

LibraryOgre
2014-04-26, 11:22 PM
Without in-game pregnancies my samurai wouldn't have 4 generations of descendants for us to tell stories about. Maybe it's just that my groups are cool with this but there has never been a problem with in-game pregancies. The closest we've had was one player wondering if killing the pregant cleric counted as one or two kills (he kept score of how many of the party he killed - he nearly managed himself at one point), and discussions about whether you needed Remove Curse or Remove Disease to terminate unwanted pregnancies.

Some games, pregnancy works perfectly. Ars Magica, Legend of the Five Rings, any game where timelines might get generational. However, I'd add that any pregnancy to a player character REALLY needs to be discussed with with player beforehand... though I'd also be very surprised if most game worlds didn't have some sort of low-level magic that let pregnancy be prevented or terminated.


Now you've got me curious about this story.

I can beat it.

My friend and his wife both love Legend of the Five Rings, and she frequently runs the game. However, for quite a while she was VERY jealous, to the point of getting mad at him for flirting with NPCs.

NPCs that, as the storyteller, she was playing.

She'd occasionally drag the game to a halt because she was mad at him flirting with characters she was playing.

ArendK
2014-04-27, 09:21 AM
One of my favorite campaigns that I played in featured a similar issue.
We were playing Dragonlance setting, and I was playing a more polar barbarian/ranger from the North (akin to Riverwind with an arctic theme). He was meant to be a warm-hearted oaf with rage issues, inspired in part by Jade Empires "The Black Whirlwind". Eventually, the idea was to prestige into Frenzied Berserker (and oh the devastation to the opposition when I did). The group, which included my OoC best friend and his (at the time) new girlfriend, both of whom I've known for years, was split between those of us who were attempted power-gamers and those of us more interested in telling a good story together (while still being good at our given roles).

My friends girfriend (Anna, for simplicity) was a wood-elf druid or cleric, I can't remember exactly. Either way, as both tribal oriented characters, especially woodland based when we had a mage of the Red Robes, dwarf fighter, kender rogue, and a human archer ranger with racial prejudices (my best friend). Through combat-role playing (choosing to forgoe a larger, more dangerous foe to protect the druid from a moderately competent melee foe she couldn't handle mid-fight), Anna decided her character felt wooed and impressed by the giant oafs protection, and gradually started up a little 'romance' that was largely handled through short quips in character and off-camera activities that resulted in a pregnant (players consent) druid; The GM, generally not trying to screw the character or player over, rolled with it and did what he could to ensure that Anna's character could still contribute and play. Such as an increasingly slower base speed compensated by a boosts in Charisma and Wisdom based checks accounting for playing off the 'I've got a baby' for use with Intimidation, Sense Motive, Bluff, some sensory checks (like a slightly more sensitive sense of smell), etc. etc. If we got into a fight, the mage IMMEDIATELY threw up a Wall of Force around her if she didn't take care of herself (and part of the mandate was that she was now the most warded character in the group; protections, summons, etc. etc ensured that NOTHING made it through); admittedly, the GM did it well only pushing enough offense at her to make sure that we were grateful we put up the contingencies we did, and there was only the illusion (metagaming knowledge) that the preggo druid was in danger.

I asked my friend about it just to make sure he didn't have an issue with it; he thought it was funny as hades and considered the back and forth to be one of the highlights of the campaign. In the following campaign, my ex started flirting in and out of game with another friend of mine, and the group fractured due to issues that compounded with that.

It can be done well with the general guidance that the plot shouldn't be based around them, nor make anyone uncomfortable.

Rhynn
2014-04-27, 11:26 AM
Some games, pregnancy works perfectly. Ars Magica, Legend of the Five Rings, any game where timelines might get generational. However, I'd add that any pregnancy to a player character REALLY needs to be discussed with with player beforehand... though I'd also be very surprised if most game worlds didn't have some sort of low-level magic that let pregnancy be prevented or terminated.

I actually know one game with actual rules for pregnancy (which I've used when PCsh have gotten down with NPCs, so far): Artesia: Adventures in the Known World. The game even features herbal concoctions to affect the chances (in either direction).

The game also features rules for children, growing up, and dying and what happens after death (even though you can't ever come back to life). It's a bit unique in that respect, AFAIK.

Ravens_cry
2014-04-27, 12:06 PM
I think it's far, far worse when one partner is on the other side of the DM screen. Not saying it goes super bad all the time, but I am playing a game with it right now and I can certainly see that it does have an effect.

~xFellWardenx~
2014-04-27, 12:10 PM
In my experience, as soon as the GM allows couples, non-romantic bonding between characters of the opposite gender become impossible because my fellow players automatically start shouting and hooting that something is romance and the two obviously are on the way to like/love/bed/babies/etc. because their friendship is developing and they happen to be of opposing genders.

In other words, if your friends aren't teenagers, it should work out fine. :smallannoyed:

ArendK
2014-04-28, 01:31 PM
So long as nobody's made uncomfortable, who cares?

(Jerks and idiots, that's who. They can go to that place with the hockey sticks.)

You mean Canada?

Rhynn
2014-04-28, 02:19 PM
You mean Canada?

You were 46h 36m late with that. :smallbiggrin:


Canada?

Coidzor
2014-04-28, 03:54 PM
I can beat it.

My friend and his wife both love Legend of the Five Rings, and she frequently runs the game. However, for quite a while she was VERY jealous, to the point of getting mad at him for flirting with NPCs.

NPCs that, as the storyteller, she was playing.

She'd occasionally drag the game to a halt because she was mad at him flirting with characters she was playing.

Oy. :smalleek::smallconfused:

BWR
2014-04-28, 04:08 PM
Why would you ignore that? Spray them with water or something! Cripes.


We were playing L5R at the time and you gain Honor for ignoring other people's dishonorable behavior...
Honestly, I think we were just so shocked by the whole thing we were kind of seeing how far it would go.


Generational games are the bomb! Pendragon especially, but my dream campaign is still a 1400-1700 III Middle Earth generations game...

Never played Pendragon (*sniff*) but man, with 50+ years of stories and characters you have such a rich history and such a large cast of characters to play with.


Some games, pregnancy works perfectly. Ars Magica, Legend of the Five Rings, any game where timelines might get generational. However, I'd add that any pregnancy to a player character REALLY needs to be discussed with with player beforehand... though I'd also be very surprised if most game worlds didn't have some sort of low-level magic that let pregnancy be prevented or terminated.

Yeah, we have played some Ars Magica games with children of old characters coming in, and I'm running an L5R game where the current crop of heroes are the children of the last crop of heroes (a couple of the first group even managed to survive!). And yes, if you want to bring too much realism into games, sex and drugs and music with rocks in, you want to make sure everyone is comfortable with things, but if your character has sex, don't be surprised if there's a kid in the making. My groups are pretty mature about such things (and when several of your players think that comics like Sexy Losers, Oglaf and Ghastly's Ghastly Webcomic are some of the best on the net, you don't have to worry too much).

huttj509
2014-04-28, 04:16 PM
We were playing L5R at the time and you gain Honor for ignoring other people's dishonorable behavior...
Honestly, I think we were just so shocked by the whole thing we were kind of seeing how far it would go.

IN character, sure.

Heh, my L5R group has the DM's wife married to his coworker, and another OOC couple, both Dragon, with no remotely romantic character relationship.

Only time there's an issue relating to the couples is when the 2 year old is throwing a fit (we generally assume only one of the pair is likely to be at the table at a time, while the other's on deck keeping an eye on the child).

veti
2014-04-28, 05:16 PM
Subject to the same caveats as everyone else (don't let it dominate the game, don't squick others out), you'll be fine. As long as your RL relationship goes well, at least.

But I think it may be a bit like a workplace romance. Which is to say: if you start having fights IRL, it might become very hard to keep those out of the game. And that, in turn, might be telling the other players more than you'd be comfortable with them knowing about your RL relationship.

So my answer is: there's no real reason not to, but depending on circumstances it may be dangerous. Be aware you may be letting yourself in for more than you realise.

Coidzor
2014-04-28, 07:14 PM
We were playing L5R at the time and you gain Honor for ignoring other people's dishonorable behavior...
Honestly, I think we were just so shocked by the whole thing we were kind of seeing how far it would go.

Wait. So hiccuping at the table could either A. result in giving every player an in-game advantage against you or B. result in your character being forced to commit suicide? :smallconfused::smalleek:

Damn, that's... beyond even Paranoia in some ways, isn't it?

Esprit15
2014-04-28, 08:06 PM
Keep the IC and OOC separated and everything is good. I've played games where my char was sorta dating one of the other characters, no real drama around that in the OOC (made for a good deal of fun and joking though). On the other end, my IRL gf and I are just finishing up a game with friends where the closest out characters got to was "Well the Thri-Kreen isn't that scary now." If your group and the couple involved are cool with it and mature about the assassin feeling up the blackguard at camp every now and then (or the DM putting a little bit of IC drama about them every now and then), there should be no problems.

I find relationships in tabletop games to be fun and interesting. While it is easy to screw up, well done they can add a little bit of depth to how a character interacts with other people that are closer than just an adventuring party.

Talakeal
2014-04-28, 10:14 PM
Sometimes weird situations crop up.

For example, there is one RL couple in my group. They are a married man and woman, but both are bisexual.

For my latest campaign I wanted to run an amazon themed game, and asked if everyone was cool making female characters. They were.

However, the husband expected their characters to be in a relationship. The wife insisted on making a straight female character and therefore was not interested in a same sex relationship.

As a result the husband lost interest in the game and is mad at me for "forcing him" to play a female character.

That is the type of complication that I never would have seen coming but has caused a lot of drama in the group.

Knaight
2014-04-28, 11:31 PM
SThat is the type of complication that I never would have seen coming but has caused a lot of drama in the group.

If this is the same group you've mentioned before, I'd put this down less as a cause for drama and more as a flimsy pretext to commence with it's generation. That group has a gift for pointless drama.

golentan
2014-04-28, 11:40 PM
I strongly approve of this unless it starts ruining the group's dynamics. I like when the PCs have personal lives, and it's way less awkward when the players can pick it up with each other rather than everyone sitting around while one guy and the DM back and forth.

BWR
2014-04-29, 02:10 AM
IN character, sure.


Wait. So hiccuping at the table could either A. result in giving every player an in-game advantage against you or B. result in your character being forced to commit suicide? :smallconfused::smalleek:



*sigh*


We were playing L5R at the time and you gain Honor for ignoring other people's dishonorable behavior...

This was a joke.


Honestly, I think we were just so shocked by the whole thing we were kind of seeing how far it would go.


This was not a joke.

Delta
2014-04-29, 04:27 AM
My gf and me had an awesome time playing a couple last weekend and so had everyone else around the table, although the characters we played were definitely not your "standard" couple.

I played a female knight and she my male warrior husband, as they were brand new characters they had been married only for a couple months. The twist was that as they were both nobles, it was an arranged marriage that both didn't want or expect, their older siblings had originally been intended to marry but both died in the last big war of the kingdom they live in, and now suddenly my knight, who was originally only the third child of her family and was fully content to expect a life as a roaming knight, traveling from tourney to tourney, see the world and have exciting adventures, now suddenly was set to inherit her families lands and now of course has to marry the guy she always picked on when they were kids because he was always shorter than her (and still is)

Add to that that they're both from a pretty backwater part of the world, but he had been sent to be trained as a warrior in a far more advanced region so he isn't exactly happy to be with her who he mostly remembers as a primitive girl bully, either.

Aaaaand of course not to forget that they both more or less prefer their own gender as far as sexuality is concerned but try to keep that a secret, and you get a perfect mix of two hot-headed young noble fighters in their early twenties, constantly bickering and fighting and then drawing some weird looks when the husband tries to flirt with some serving boy without his wife noticing while she befriends the female young NPC steward of the castle we were staying at, sabotaging the "ladykiller" high charisma mage PC of the group all the time as he tried to seduce her.

Don't think I could get that kind of character dynamic with someone I didn't know as well as my gf. Of course, this only works in groups were character relationships are a big part of the game, in more "plot-oriented" campaigns I wouldn't try to include that much drama.

ArendK
2014-04-29, 04:34 AM
You were 46h 36m late with that. :smallbiggrin:

Never saw it; I will use the power of ignorance for this one. :D

Lord Vukodlak
2014-05-01, 07:15 PM
You mean Canada?

Or Minnesota