Romance In Roleplaying Games

[Bartmanhomer]

Hey everybody. I know that sometimes that there's romance in Roleplaying games. And just to keep this topic PG rated. How do handle romantic situation in an RPG game?

[Sajiri]

I think every single RPG I do these days has romance in it, but thats specifically because its one DM, one Player games (and Im married to my current DM so its all perfectly comfortable).

We handle it by discussing ahead of time what we want to include, what we are and are not comfortable with, who the characters will be. For example the first game we involved romance in, I made it clear that while I was comfortable with more adult situations, I didnt want any, shall we say, abusive things going on. We treated it kind of like a bioware game where we included plenty of NPC romantic options. In our more recent game, we decided before we really even started there was going to be one love interest from the very beginning, the characters had history before the plot even begins, and we came up with various amusing, interesting, or cool potential plots and scenes that could happen.

Romantic situations are never really the main focus of the game, but they're fun to include so long as everybody's on the same page about what is happening with it and what is or is not okay to involve.

[Knaight]

It depends on the group. I've GMed a game that was basically a romance/adventure, and I've GMed some where it just didn't show up at all. More common is background - romantic entanglements between NPCs can be driving forces, and even beyond that there's things like settings where people generally marry for love and thus any time you introduce a character who is married there's an implication that romance exists within the setting. This kind of goes without saying, but it's worth pointing to because even if the PCs are excluded from all romance, it still often matters and exists within a setting in some form. The PC exclusion can then be dropped given certain combinations of players, GMs, etc.

[Donnadogsoth]

Hey everybody. I know that sometimes that there's romance in Roleplaying games. And just to keep this topic PG rated. How do handle romantic situation in an RPG game?

When we were younger and more clueless, we had a problem with internecine fighting and general uncooperativeness. Then we had a brainwave to put every player-character in a romantic relationship with another PC, so that everyone would work together. Worked fine.

We didn't dwell on the niceties of these relationships. Character A is in a relationship with B and so they stick together more, keep an eye on each other, that kind of thing.

I played in a Vampire game that got significantly more graphic, more R than PG, not quite X though the Storyteller was winking in that direction.

[BWR]

It depends on the game and the group. Most of our games don't have much by the way of romance. At most a relationship develops with some stuff which basically amounts to flavor text, but isn't the focus of the game or characters. The ones I play solo with my SO usually get a lot more romantic.

[LibraryOgre]

Highly group dependent.

I've had it happen all sorts of ways... characters getting together, players who are couples always seeming to make characters who are couples (or who become couples), romances with NPCs, established relationships with NPCs... and how it works out depends entirely on the group. In college, another straight guy and I had our characters (a male mercenary and a female psi-stalker) get together, partially because it weirded out another player for us to act lovey. I've courted an NPC in an L5R game, flirted outrageously in-character with another player's wife, and conspired to get an NPC laid so we could get information out of him. All with different groups, all of which required different approaches to be aware of the rest of the group's feelings on this.

[Cozzer]

Personally, roleplaying romance really embarasses me, so all my characters are not interested in romance, or postponing romance until the world is saved, or in a stable relationship with some NPC somewhere. But we've had a few romances in the groups I played in, it was interesting.

[Karl Aegis]

Attack with Empathy: Pillow Arts
Defend with Empathy: Pillow Arts or Station: Willpower if you have the right Art of War

[Jay R]

In a 2E game, my character was Ornrandir, a male elven mage/thief, given the title of the Earl of Devon by the king. He was an outcast orphan who had only recently formed any attachments to anybody. I had played him as emotionally undeveloped but brilliant. My wife was playing Rowena, a female human wizard, a lady-in-waiting to the queen. She had been in an ivory tower (literally) studying magic since she was a child. She played her as an extreme nerd. The royalty had started leaning on us to make political marriages, which is to say that the DM wanted to do some political intrigue. We decided to trump the whole romantic process and sent the following email to the entire gaming group.

A situation has occurred. It will affect the party to some extent, so I guess you should all hear about it. The two of us decided to explain it to you in character, so here it is.

(You may ignore which account this email came from; it was written by the two of us together.)
-----------------------

Rowena has been traveling to Devon Manor regularly to do magical research stuff and help set up the schools there, make scrolls, etc. The next time she visits after a Certain Conversation with the Queen, once she and Ornrandir are alone in the study where they work together on magic, she initiates the following conversation:

Rowena: The Queen tells me I really ought to give some thought to perpetuating magical bloodlines and recommends I consider marrying you.

Ornrandir: I’ve heard similar rumblings. Countess Elanor told me I have to find someone to marry, too. Something about an heir for the county.

Rowena: It is a rational idea. It is just that I have never really considered it before. I have been rather busy learning magic; all that physical stuff seemed so…worldly.

Ornrandir: I certainly know little about it. I’ve never had any family, and I've been an outcast all my life, except for those occasions when the only female I’ve traveled with was Lorelei, the paladin.

Rowena: The gaggle of giggling girls I must spend time with these days seems so focused on the idea.

Ornrandir: I know. Everyone but you is so stupid.

Rowena: I am already spending a lot of time here anyway.

Ornrandir: My servants wouldn’t have to prepare separate rooms for you each time. That would be convenient. And we seem able to get along.

Rowena: After all, we worked well together blasting hundreds of goblins with lightning bolts.

Ornrandir: I enjoyed casting coordinated lightning bolts with you. I’ve never felt so connected to another person before.

Rowena: After that, how difficult could this marriage thing be?

Ornrandir: Love is one of the strongest and most mysterious forces of the universe. Of course, controlling arcane cosmic forces is what wizards do. Maybe we should research a spell for it?

Rowena: As a mage, I will not age as quickly as normals; being elven, you of course will not age at all, so I really do not see why we need to be in a big hurry. And why should I care about being considered – how did she put it? Oh, yes – an "old maid".

Ornrandir: That seems like a meaningless phrase. Everybody becomes old, and an unmarried woman is of course a maid.

Rowena: On the other hand, your life expectancy, given your penchant for getting into trouble, isn’t exactly eternal. [looks him up and down appraisingly] At least if I marry you, you won’t keep getting ripped off by the tailors. You paid far too much for that rag you’re wearing.

Ornrandir: Fine by me. I’d be happy not to have to think about clothes any more.

Rowena: You thought about … that?

Ornrandir: Of course. It has a fleece collar, so I always have the material component for Phantasmal Force, feathers as decorations so I can fly, and several pockets worked into it here for other components. It has two internal pockets for scrolls, this hidden pocket for a dagger, and Lorelei will never figure out where the thieves’ tools are. It's green, for easy concealment in the trees. See? I carefully considered every relevant sartorial issue.

Rowena: I see. Yes, I believe I should take over those decisions. [Pause.] I would prefer to avoid that spectacle that Aduphus went through to marry Lady Stanley. The collective intelligence of her Majesty’s ladies dropped like a stone the instant someone said, “wedding”, and all they could talk about for weeks was fripperies and lace. Why do you think I spent so much time here writing out scrolls?

Ornrandir: Believe me, I understand. Since I developed the gold and mithril mines, all the nobles have been throwing their daughters at me. A year earlier they were offended that I was allowed to carry a weapon, and now they want me to sheathe one in their daughters.

Rowena: So how quickly can we get this over with?

Ornrandir: Well, when they assigned us to go fetch the Prince, we started out on the task immediately. Is the priest available today?

Rowena: I suppose we need to tell the Queen first. She might have an opinion about how it is done. So we are fully agreed about the marriage?

Ornrandir: It does seem like the logical thing to do [says the pointy-eared member of the couple].

Rowena: I’m glad we were able to work this out rationally, without the usual tawdry, emotional mess.

Ornrandir: Of course. We may be the two most intelligent people on the planet. We won’t let maudlin sentimentality distract us from rational analysis.

Rowena: Well, I am glad that that is settled. Now back to important matters - about that scroll we were discussing…

[Vrock_Summoner]

I've personally only had my character enter a relationship as part of a scheme or because the drama looked juicy, not because I had any vision of my characters truly finding that type of love. That said, my players (none of whom are in a relationship out of game) LOVE forming in-game relationships between themselves and with the NPCs. My M&M game got kind of out of hand about it, what with the polyamorous character being with two of the PCs and an NPC at the same time and fighting over one of said PCs with the fourth PC (whose player liked to jokingly complain to the effect of "c'mon, share a little"). And two of the PCs might start out married or otherwise committed in my new campaign but they aren't sure yet. I'm fine with it, it's never caused problems or distracted from the action. Wouldn't do it with a younger group though, ESPECIALLY if the players actually had romantic interest in each other. I quite enjoy romantic side sessions (the M&M game was chock full of them), but I can't trust young lovebirds to not soak up the session itself on it.

[GungHo]

It doesn't usually happen in our games. There may be some flirting with the barmaid or that sort of thing, but there's not really any elaborate exploration.

When I was younger, it would sometimes come up with those groups, but I didn't usually participate much. I'm not really repressed or embarrassed, I just didn't find it all that interesting to "pretend" being in a relationship. Real ones were enough work.

[Gtdead]

I generally avoid them because sometimes people think too much of it and it creates a cringy situation.

My girlfriend had an idea to play a black widow type of character, that seduces and eventually kills men, and while it sounded like a good idea, we never got to play.

[Griffith!]

I like to play out romances in my games, but it's often just some flat narration during downtime. One DM in a 7th Sea campaign and I actually had in character love letters between my PC and the noble he was wooing. That was a nice touch - every couple sessions receiving a letter from my lady love while we were out defending the world from evil cultists.

When I DM I allow it as well, with the caveat that it not become explicit at the table, and one of my players is barred completely from romancing NPCs. He's my cousin and even RPing that feels squicky. But conveniently, his fiancé and our buddy are both open to romancing the crap out of his characters, so that's nice.

I did once have a player in an online game start sending me unasked for erotica starring her character and an NPC I was playing and that got awkward quick.

So I'd just echo everyone else - it depends on the group and DM. I've seen entire campaigns go by without any player romances, and I've seen campaigns where everyone marries everyone else. It varies.

[egglegg]

I think its fun and can give the PCs something extra to do in downtime. Writing a letter to a loved one or getting one back, going off to have a date or things like that can all be interesting. However, as a dm it can be a bit awkward sometimes to have to flirt with my friends. Last time, one of the pcs told an npc he loved him and I accidentally just had him say "oh thanks" instead of the more appropriate "i love you too" considering the two of them got married soon after :smalleek:

But I also think its fun to see what npcs my friends think are worth romancing! Sometimes it surprises me.

[Griffith!]

As a brief addendum? Those loveletters were hand written handouts. He had his sister do the calligraphy. I wrote back with actual stationary. It was a nice touch, but it was ultimately two hetero dudes exchanging love letters at the gaming table.

I've had a few GMs who would have been very uncomfortable with that. It is one of my fondest gaming memories tho.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I think it's generally alright to have it, if players want to, with one rule: a player will never be told that they've been seduced. (Maybe really short term with a charm spell or something and several quick, reasonable ways out, but even then...) "You failed your saving throw, you now love Gronk" is for many people no fun at all, the epitome of someone else taking control of your character.

Except in many comedy campaigns and such, where it can be hilarious.

Erotica and physical stuff are another thing entirely. I think RPG's contain a large element of "hold my beer, watch this". It's fun if your friend manages to swing across the ballroom and swoop up the tiara in a game, just as it would be fun if he was actually doing that right in front of you. Most people would not go "hold my bear, watch this" in real life and then start ****ing. Much of their audience would probably be very uncomfortable if that happened. Hence, it might not be the best thing to try in a game.

[AshfireMage]

In my first group, I don't think romance ever came up, but with my current DM, we joke that it's apparently a table rule now that every campaign must end with a wedding. We've had two players who were dating in real life setting their characters up (and later playing as their children in a continuation game), and two counts of pcs marrying npcs. In all cases, what actually played out at the table was very chaste, nothing more intense than some flirting and "I kiss him". Both of the npc romances ended up being nice additions to the campaign.

The more recent one was definitely less prominent, but provided a nice side-quest for a week when a player didn't show up. Somehow the DM didn't realize that the crusader was trying to have a relationship with a merchant in the town and had her killed in a raid. When he realized what he'd done, he ended up sending them on a quest to resurrect her.

The one involving my character wound up being much more integral to the campaign (as well as a wilder ride), since my binder and our shadowcaster cohort were both Vecna cultists who wound up working together on my character's personal mission from their deity.

It did come up once in the game I DMed, with a character deciding to sleep with an npc to get information. It was handled with a quick fade-to-black and a roll to see if pregnancy resulted.


Online games have gotten a lot more intense (or at least other players have, I'm not super into it), for what I think are two reasons- first being the simple fact that you don't have to look the other person in the eye while you're describing it/you don't have to read if you don't want to. The second is that online I mostly play Vampire: The Masquerade, which is a lot more conducive to that sort of thing than your average D&D game. Still not much romance in the traditional sense, but sex comes up a lot and is usually handled with reasonable maturity.

[comicshorse]

Erotica and physical stuff are another thing entirely. I think RPG's contain a large element of "hold my beer, watch this". It's fun if your friend manages to swing across the ballroom and swoop up the tiara in a game, just as it would be fun if he was actually doing that right in front of you. Most people would not go "hold my bear, watch this" in real life and then start ****ing. Much of their audience would probably be very uncomfortable if that happened. Hence, it might not be the best thing to try in a game.

Certainly no-one has ever asked me to hold their bear

[scalyfreak]

Romance in RPGs is a little bit like garlic in food. It doesn't matter if you like it or not. What's important is that you've made sure everyone is in agreement on whether you want it, and if so, how much, before you start cooking the campaign.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Certainly no-one has ever asked me to hold their bear

Yeah, but that's the fantasy element you see? The druid wants to show the ranger who's the better archer.

[Katrina]

Yeah, but that's the fantasy element you see? The druid wants to show the ranger who's the better archer.

And the ranger that can actually hold the bear shouldn't be an archer. He should pick up a greataxe. o.o'


Depends completely on the table. I've had various different approaches to it over the years of gaming. Some games things just happen organically and the characters just end up together. They do the standard reactions of being together, but it never goes past the occasional description of a hug and and a kiss. Others, I've had players who wanted to go full out with it and we had to "Fade to black". I've played in another game where there was simply heavy implications that the two characters had feelings for each other and it was never acknowledged in game. In the end, my suggestion is to find out what your individual group is comfortable with and go from there.

[Knaight]

And the ranger that can actually hold the bear shouldn't be an archer. He should pick up a greataxe.

Depending on the bear, that ranger might be able to use a 800 lb bow or so. Being an archer is where it's at there.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

And the ranger that can actually hold the bear shouldn't be an archer. He should pick up a greataxe. o.o'

He did. Hence the druid being the better archer.

[Lorsa]

Hey everybody. I know that sometimes that there's romance in Roleplaying games. And just to keep this topic PG rated. How do handle romantic situation in an RPG game?

Your question is a bit vague. What sort of answer are you looking for? Do you need some help with how to handle romance yourself?

Just about all my games have romance in them these days. It's quite natural as we humans are romantic beings and most of my PCs are humans (and those that aren't also belong to romantic species of some kind).

I handle romantic situations about the same as I handle all situations. I describe what my NPCs do and say and let the players describe what their PCs do. Then again I can say things like "(s)he leans over to kiss you" without feeling too awkward about it.

One of the most important things is to decide whether or not the NPC might be interested in the PC in the first place. I am quite liberal in that regard, since if the player is interested in a romantic relationship with one (or more) of my NPCs, I rarely see a reason to deny them. Sometimes I know the NPC would not be interested, but if there is an uncertainty, I usually err on the side of 'yes'.

Obviously I have sometimes taken the "initiative" so to speak with NPCs as well. In one campaign, one of the players tried to get help with a task from a "computer nerd" on campus (the characters were university students), and he only agreed to help if he could get a date with the PC.

Romance is a large part of most good stories, so I find it strange to completely exclude it from my games.

I haven't played out sex scenes in detail though, not sure what I would do if I ever came across a player who wanted to do that.

[Deaxsa]

Your question is a bit vague. What sort of answer are you looking for? Do you need some help with how to handle romance yourself?

What gives you the impression he needs help? It seems as though the OP is simply fostering discussion.

[Bartmanhomer]

Your question is a bit vague. What sort of answer are you looking for? Do you need some help with how to handle romance yourself?

Just about all my games have romance in them these days. It's quite natural as we humans are romantic beings and most of my PCs are humans (and those that aren't also belong to romantic species of some kind).

I handle romantic situations about the same as I handle all situations. I describe what my NPCs do and say and let the players describe what their PCs do. Then again I can say things like "(s)he leans over to kiss you" without feeling too awkward about it.

One of the most important things is to decide whether or not the NPC might be interested in the PC in the first place. I am quite liberal in that regard, since if the player is interested in a romantic relationship with one (or more) of my NPCs, I rarely see a reason to deny them. Sometimes I know the NPC would not be interested, but if there is an uncertainty, I usually err on the side of 'yes'.

Obviously I have sometimes taken the "initiative" so to speak with NPCs as well. In one campaign, one of the players tried to get help with a task from a "computer nerd" on campus (the characters were university students), and he only agreed to help if he could get a date with the PC.

Romance is a large part of most good stories, so I find it strange to completely exclude it from my games.

I haven't played out sex scenes in detail though, not sure what I would do if I ever came across a player who wanted to do that.
I didn't asked for help. I just want to know what other people experience in RPG ever involved in romance.

[Janus]

I was in a game where the party rescued a medusa, who immediately showed a special interest in my monk. The DM mentioned that she kept showing up around me during the party's downtime. Her snake hair would stare at me and hurriedly look away whenever I noticed.
When the party accepted a mission and left the city, she sent me a letter and package. The letter confessed her feelings, and the package had a heart-shaped stone that would grow warm whenever she was thinking of me. Naturally, it was warm right then.
When we got back to the city, I went to go see her. We sat down for dinner and talked, and it was all nice, everything going well. Then the DM asked if I drank the wine. :smalleek: I passed out, and the session ended (the DM insisted nothing lewd was going to happen). Unfortunately, the shop we were playing at closed with almost no notice, and the game never continued. I guess my monk's career ended with him the sub of a medusa domme. Could be worse, I suppose.

As for us players, we had fun with it. There were jokes about her sending me a lacy red thong alongside the heart stone, plus one girl immediately shipped us. She said, "You better not break her heart!"
The DM never spoke with me beforehand about a romance, but I didn't mind. The impression I have of him is that he wouldn't have pushed it further had I rejected it.

[Telonius]

Well, in the current campaign...

The Feytouched Bard (female character and player) is in love with the (very much homebrewed and improved) Monk/Paladin (female player, married to DM, male character). So is the human sorcerer (male character, female player who happens to be my wife). Everybody is convinced that Cassandra, my draconic human Cleric of Olidammara (female character, male player) is shacking up with the human sorcerer, but both characters are very much platonic-only. Meanwhile the teenage pyromaniac wizard (female character, male player) is just finding the whole thing amusing as she burns down the next building.

It's going to be a madhouse when Cassandra gets that Relic in a few levels (Pipes of Frenzied Revelry).

[DigoDragon]

players who are couples always seeming to make characters who are couples (or who become couples)

Oddly, I have never experienced this in the 20 years I been RP gaming. Now granted there weren't many couples in my groups over the years, but of the times when we had them, they tended not to be more than adventuring buddies. My wife and I only recently experienced it when we joined a D&D campaign, but in this case the GM had surprised us with the caveat during session 0 that we had to play ourselves teleported to a D&D realm. We gave it a try anyway, and the result was something that the GM kinda regrets now because he didn't take into consideration that we'd have different opinions of what to do when teleported into a D&D realm--I want to stay, but she wants to return. I've been amassing fans and followers building up my reputation as a local hero, she's been making pacts with gods and tricking powerful wizards into revealing components needed to get back.

We've pretty much got the GM yanked in two different directions, neither being anywhere on the rails he wanted. Probably for the best that we stopped playing. The GM started playing favorites for one, and two, I doubt it would have a happy ending for everyone.

That's something about romances in RPGs you gotta discuss with your groups; What kind of endgame you're looking for with the romance arc. Different characters will naturally have different end goals so you gotta communicate what you'd like so it doesn't end up in a catch-22 like our sitch was. :smalltongue:

[LibraryOgre]

players who are couples always seeming to make characters who are couples (or who become couples)


Oddly, I have never experienced this in the 20 years I been RP gaming.

It's by no means a universal... I didn't meant to imply that every couple makes characters who are couples, rather that there are couples who make couples every game.

[DigoDragon]

It's by no means a universal... I didn't meant to imply that every couple makes characters who are couples, rather that there are couples who make couples every game.

Same token, I didn't mean to imply that you implied it was universal. I just thought it was odd how I can play this hobby two decades and not have a situation like that until very recently.

[Lorsa]

What gives you the impression he needs help? It seems as though the OP is simply fostering discussion.

Since the only question asked was "how do you handle romance?". Often when people ask such a question it is because they want help in some way. However, I do realize it wasn't clear what the OP was after, which is why I asked. I could not quite figure out what kind of replies the OP was after, that's all.


I didn't asked for help. I just want to know what other people experience in RPG ever involved in romance.

Alright! Well I have had many experiences with romance. Just about all of them are good.

[Bartmanhomer]

Since the only question asked was "how do you handle romance?". Often when people ask such a question it is because they want help in some way. However, I do realize it wasn't clear what the OP was after, which is why I asked. I could not quite figure out what kind of replies the OP was after, that's all.



Alright! Well I have had many experiences with romance. Just about all of them are good.

It's ok. Can you give me one example of your most romantic experience in a RPG you play, please? :smile:

[Sajiri]

If you're looking for romantic experiences, rather than how people handle it, I'll expand on my first post.

The latest game we've been playing is "Aetherum." I play a character (the one in my avatar, in fact) who is of a race that was 'created' by another race in the past, and designed to reach maturity very quickly (as in about 5 years) and then it slows. She had a young man that tutored her as her unique maturation didn't really fit her into normal schools, and she quickly developed a childish crush on him. 2-3 years later she's already an adult and pining for him, but he doesnt act on it because he feels that would be taking advantage of how easily he earned her trust as a child. Another 2 years go by, there are humorous situations about how she's always trying to get his attention and failing, and then she finds out that it's time to leave her home soon with her mentor to join an organisation, and she finds out her former tutor/now best friend, has an arranged marriage to another woman he's never met. Finally the two decide to spend their remaining time together as lovers, as they try to cram years worth of romance they missed out on into a very short period of time. By the time she left, they realise its pretty difficult to suddenly move on, so during all the sessions she's been travelling around she's missing him, and he is considering trying to get himself exiled from his family to avoid his marriage so he can be with her (but he wont, because he takes family duty seriously).

This was made even more awkward when she was unknowingly hired for a job by the woman her lover is arranged to marry, and turns out she's actually a pretty great lady that is very difficult to dislike. The DM and I discussed somewhat how this will play out. He's said the arranged marriage will likely go ahead, but he has plans for future events. It's going to be a longterm romance/subplot.

In our original single player campaign dubbed "Pirates" which is still ongoing but on hiatus, my character Ana has finally committed to a relationship with the aasimar paladin NPC. She'd already been married (husband died before the campaign starts) and had a brief love affair with a dhampir that resulted in a daughter, but he turned out to be a prince and left to do princely stuff before she realised she was pregnant. There was one part in the game where she was left in a magical prison as a blind cripple for 10 years, thought dead by her ship's crew, until she was rescued by her now adult son who had taken over as captain for her crew and spent the years searching for her. Afterwards, she goes through a period of feeling very isolated even among the crew again as she hasnt been there for so many years, and she starts to take comfort with the man that used to be the general of her home's small militia that had joined the ship's crew to find her. There are plenty of romantic situations where they act like a couple, but she keeps it behind closed doors only. On the 200th session (well, the end of the 199th actually) the two decide to commit to one another as an official relationship. It's kind of fun to play, as he is a NG paladin type, while she's a CN pirate captain, he tends to temper her more, shall we say, impulsive desires and reactions.

Lately the DM has had me making "the next generation" of characters for a possible future campaign that will involve some characters' children, and we discussed this couple will probably have 3 kids. 1 will be a plot specific one that through unrelated stuff she has agreed to have, then they will have twins later. Assuming either Ana or this NPC dont die first.

[DanJester]

We have a very solid romance going on in a friend of mine's campaign, involving my character and an NPC. It's a pretty long story, but it's probably some of the better roleplay I've ever done and very sweet if you take the time to read the whole story.

The long and short of it, after many in-game months: Isaiah and Sara became an item. They've always come to one another's aid, always done everything in their power to make the other feel happy, the bond the two shared hadn't even started out as something romantic. Their love has brought my character back with a new reason to live, a reason to get up in the morning.

Long Version: First, a little background needs to be explored. The character I am playing is an Oath of Devotion Paladin, an Aasimar(Protector) who is Neutral Good and a devout of Tyr(formerly he was forced to bend his knee to the god Myrkul on account of his father). His name is Isaiah Maelborn and he was a major NPC and fan favorite of the campaign I had run roughly a year prior. The DM and other players requested I play him at some point, despite the fact his soul was wiped from existence at the end of my campaign(They were each granted a "True" Wish by Ao, the Overgod himself). One player(The current DM) had their character(someone Isaiah looked up to and aspired to be like, his hero so to speak) use this wish without error to bring both back Isaiah, and indirectly the God: Myrkul. Isaiah himself is part of Myrkul, some of the god's essence being imbued within his spirit... all thanks to the Wall of the Faithless, Crown of Horns, and the Spirit Eater.

Isaiah was brought back within that of a ten-year time frame, his return left him very confused and lost. For a brief period of time he wandered, he was out of place and out of time. After being guided to the very same PC who made the wish that brought him back(Now Queen of the Human Kingdom of Brinas), she gave him a choice. She recommended that he go to her world for a time, joining up with a group that was being trained to be some of the grandest heroes of all time... He even recieved an official invitation, signed to him. While he found it odd this individual in the letter seemed to know him, he had also learned from his idol that his father had also fled to her world... it was a start, a lead on finally being able to bring him to justice.

Isaiah... now fully aware of exactly what he was, and already being a complete train wreck in terms of emotion only plummeted further into despair. When he died he'd be resigned to Myrkul, and the whispers were already starting which he was so desperately trying to ignore. There would be no afterlife for him, it'd be better if he wasn't involved... if Myrkul took control of him again so many would be hurt, killed, or even worse. This fact weighed upon him heavily, combined with the traumatic events experienced in his life, Isaiah almost completely went over the despair event horizon, only pretending to be happy, confident, and optimistic in the eyes of others.

Isaiah was grouped together with a new band of individuals. A group that would become some of his closest allies and friends over the course of the next six or so months. He even sort of became the unanimous leader of the group, all the others placing their faith into him to get them through the toughest of trials. The one NPC, Estelle, sort of became like a little sister to him, developing a big brother-little sister dynamic and relationship similar to that of the one he shared with the DM's former PC(mind you, the genders being flip-flopped in this case). Despite being on the edge of ending his own life, Isaiah did what he always has done, gone into the lives of those around him and forever changed them. Estelle was only one of two individuals Isaiah was genuinely happy around, and not just faking it.

I managed to blindside my DM with this, because before I pointed it out they had zero idea. I created a Google Doc detailing every single last subtle detail and hint that I had given on Isaiah's thoughts on another NPC. The woman who was training us, somebody who was slightly older than Isaiah(Isaiah's actually older, but hadn't aged on account of the time spent dead). Isaiah had fallen for her, but refused to act on account of wanting to keep things professional.

Isaiah hadn't initially started out attracted to Sara, she was the trainer and person who gave us all our missions after all. But, Isaiah had a goal in-mind while he was on this plane of existence. If he were to be part of a group of heroes again, that group needed fantastic communication, the ability to wordlessly convey what needed to be done on battle, to move and act as one organism. So he spent the majority of his time divided among the party, bonding with them, learning about them, and becoming their greatest friend... but when he got to Sara, that really changed.

Sara spent every Thursday drowning her sorrows away at the bar, Isaiah, being the upstanding individual he is, decided he was going to work with her on that. He'd go to the bar, take a seat with her, get himself a glass of water and provide her with company since she was all alone. You have to keep in mind, Sara and Isaiah are almost entirely polar opposites on the good spectrum. While Isaiah is Neutral Good, he has heavy lawful tendencies on account of Tyr being his god. Sara on the other hand, is very chaotic in her nature, placing more value on fun and having a good time than anything else. They both share the common desire to do good and help others however. He began going to the bar every Thursday since that was the easiest time to do so, and even began to go to the training sessions early so he could be with her for a few minutes.

At some point during their time together, Isaiah had fallen for Sara. While she was none the wiser, Isaiah acted a great deal for her benefit. Striving for excellence, to become stronger, all to impress her. He didn't say anything though, just more subtle hints I was throwing out that when you look at them, stuck out incredibly so. The closest thing Isaiah had done that gave it away was the gift he had gotten her for the one day(equivalent to Christmas essentially), hers was definitely the most well thought out and expensive(Isaiah had always lived off 10 GP per month, by this point he had the most gold in the entire party but NEVER used any of it because it wasn't in his character to do so).

We got one of our biggest assignments, which I partly detailed in another thread awhile ago. Our characters went back in time, we were to defend one of the major cities of Isaiah's home plane from an invasion that Isaiah indirectly caused... A hoard of Devils would attack Brinas in an attempt to find a Legendary Artifact that was no longer within the city. One of the PC's betrayed the party, being a follower of Asmodeus. This PC had also been Isaiah's best friend, besides Sara and Estelle, the person he spent the most time bonding with. This PC wanted Isaiah dead, and would do anything in his power to do so.

A weeks time before the invasion... Isaiah spent the majority of his time among the party, trying to give them the greatest week of their life. He fully expected that there was a great possibility he would not return if he confronted Casius(Dhampyr Vampire, PC who betrayed us). The day of the attack Isaiah woke up even earlier than he normally does, writing personalized notes to every individual of the party... struggling when he got to Sara's. With everybody still in bed, Isaiah left the notes in each of their rooms giving his final goodbye's and a personal trinket for them to remember him by... Sara wasn't in her room though, she was awake, having not slept the night before.

Isaiah explained what he was going to do... how he was going to confront Casius one on one, but there was an equal chance that he may not be able to overcome him in combat. He then gave her the most personal item to him, something that prior to her was his only reason to get up in the morning to face another day. His original holy symbol of Tyr(necklace). After insisting she keep it, that'd he'd be fine without it on account of his shield and tabbard still allowing him to cast his spells. If he didn't make it back though, he wanted her to know.

In a very bold move, Isaiah kissed Sara on the cheek. He admitted that he had fallen for her, like she claimed so many others had done in the past. How much he had come to appreciate her best qualities, how her smile brought him happiness, how she cared so much for others, how her beauty outmatched even Sune, how her battle prowess was unmatched. Before anything else could be said though, Isaiah left to prepare himself.

After defeating and killing Casius, as well as returning to the present time things went on their normal way for a brief period. Everybody chewed Isaiah out for making such a dangerous move by himself, but was glad to see him return safe and sound. Come Thursday, Isaiah would go to the bar once more... for a brief period of time it was business as usual, by this point Isaiah had actually started to drink along with Sara though. That day was a bit different though. Sara asked Isaiah if he really meant everything he had said back on Nevrione, or if it was just something out of the moment. Isaiah went on to gesture to the holy symbol of Tyr that she was still wearing. He explained that he as a person, as well as a Paladin of Tyr, would never lie about anything and assured her that everything he said was how he felt.

For a brief period of time, things were slightly awkward between the two. There was still the whole professionalism thing going on, Isaiah had no intentions of ruining her reputation and pretended as if nothing had happened. Then comes along what's essentially Valentine's Day, Isaiah anonymously sent Sara a box of her favorite chocolates, her favorite flowers, and a bottle of wine. On the day itself he spent the majority of the day with her, which much to his surprise and delight, was something she wanted. He didn't do anything overly romantic, this was just two friends bonding with one another.

After this period of time we thrown through a loop in time once again. Due the interventions of a mysterious power the party disappeared for what was two days in Sigil, but on the other plane was two whole weeks. Everybody, including Sara, thought we were gone, never to return... Upon returning and gaining our physical body back, Isaiah's first priority was to find Sara. Who he found sleeping in the training grounds. He woke her up, gently as possible, and when she realized just who it was? Isaiah found himself in an embrace with her, she was beyond relieved to see we were all okay, but especially so with Isaiah. Just hearing and seeing how devastated she was to lose us made something in Isaiah feel... off. He hated seeing her like that, wanting to correct it as soon as possible.

After everybody left to go back to their quarters, Isaiah remained with Sara. He confirmed it was him who sent her the gifts, but also brought up the fact if they'd really been gone for two weeks... they had missed two days at the bar. Isaiah essentially asked her out on a date that night, without calling it a date exactly. Candlelit dinner, some wine, catching up and making sure one another were okay... the night ended with Isaiah escorting her back to her home and giving her another kiss on the cheek.

We were given a few weeks of peace before the B.B.E.G made their move. Our group was attacked by one of the largest forces we'd ever seen. We were surrounded. After escaping to the train the baddies. just. kept. coming. Isaiah, Sara, and the Rogue dealt with the soldiers who were attacking on the roof of the train. Sara casted Haste on Isaiah, he transformed and activated his channel divinity, quite literally bursting through the train top glowing with a holy radiance. The rogue went back down to assist the others, who were beginning to become overwhelmed. Sara and Isaiah were now facing the juggernauts alone, but back to back.

Isaiah rushed forward, haste still active and clashed with one juggernaut while Sara handled the other... it only got worse from here. While Isaiah stood his ground against his, Sara began to falter with hers. She was being crit and very quickly dying, losing her fight. Seeing this, Isaiah is not the type to kill his foe, but Isaiah killed the person he was fighting and quickly rushed to her aid... As I described to everyone else, the last thing the person who was trying to kill Sara saw was a very pissed off Aasimar. Isaiah decimated this man, making no effort to hold back or give him another chance. He killed him, threw his body from the train and quickly moved to Sara's side, using up the rest of his healing despite the fact he was pretty damaged himself. Picking her, still transformed mind you, he flew into the train itself and sat her down so she could rest. He took a seat next to her and did everything in his power to assure her(as well as himself) she was alright.

Now, with us delving into the hornets nest itself... complications began. We were going to face off with the biggest force we've had to face to date, no plan, and worse for wear. After resting for a brief period, as well as slowly managing to come up with a plan over the course of a couple of days. We were successful. We integrated ourself perfectly into the Castle, where our goal in mind was to essentially start a Civil War. We were given an audience with the king, Isaiah and Sara going to this dinner party in the parties honor as another date...
We were absolutely decimated by the B.B's dragon, but spared in the end as the Dragon fled. Sara found the party in such a destroyed state and rushed to Isaiah, who hated her seeing him like that. Sara used an ability that essentially gave us the benefits of a full rest, and we were back to our old fighting shape. This exhausted her however, which Isaiah was more concerned about(even on death's door). Now we had to confront the big bad himself.

Sara and two other npcs would remain behind to buy us some time. We'd have to go through a portion of the dungeon alone. Unfortunately, they had to fall back and were being chased by the time we were ready to make the final confrontation. With one last battle before us, Isaiah approached Sara and pulled her into his arms, giving her one passionate kiss on the lips. He poured every ounce of love he felt for her into it, and while surprised Sara definitely embraced it and reciprocated it. Isaiah, for the first time in the campaign, said and confirmed three words. "I love you,"

We defeated the big bad... stopped him from potentially conquering the world and harnessing the power of the gods. The king was greatly pleased with our work, us saving the day just in time for his birthday. We had the whole day to celebrate both our victory, as well as his birthday. Isaiah told Sara he wanted to spend it, at least a portion of it, with her, and asked if she'd be willing to attend to ball-room event as his date. To which she agreed, giving him a time to pick her up so they both could go get cleaned up and ready.

Isaiah, out of his platemail and in a suit/tie now, made his way to pick her up. Sara certainly had gone all out, something even Isaiah commented on and complimented her endlessly. "Well, Sara... You're certainly taking your role as a goddess far more seriously. Perhaps I was wrong back at the bar in Nevrione, my mortal vision ONLY making you out to be the most beautiful woman I have ever met... I do hope you can forgive that of me.". The two went to the dance with one another, where Isaiah revealed he had learned how to dance specifically for her(out of game, I took the skilled feat strictly in case the opportunity presented itself. I am the only person in the group who has taken a feat for roleplay purposes and not min-maxing.) The two enjoyed a nice romantic evening with one another, dancing, kissing, talking.

And then... well... Sara made a suggestion, something that for about a minute put Isaiah into a full on revert to his former nervous wreck of a self. After taking a moment to recollect himself, he asked her if that she really wanted to go through with that. She explained she wouldn't have brought it up if she didn't want to, and that she had every intention of being "prepared". Sara led Isaiah to her room, pushed him in, closed the door... fade to black as two rolls are made publicly on both Sara and Isaiah's account. The two had an amazing night, Isaiah no longer having a certain something, as well as not having to worry about any... surprises. Not that Isaiah would have minded, mind you.

Part 2 of 3 ended off with one interaction in particular. Some time after... well, you get the point. Isaiah initiated the cuddling afterwards with Sara, where he asked her what exactly it made them. He had no intention of leaving this as a one-night-stand. She confirmed to him they were an item now, something that made Isaiah the happiest man alive in that moment. One final kiss on her lips later he tells her this, "I wouldn't have it any other way... I love you, Sara." to which she responded: "I love you too..."

[ellindsey]

In the current Pathfinder campaign I'm running, the female Gnomish cleric of a trickster god fell immediately in love at first sight with a lady centaur NPC who I had introduced as a minor side character only intended to be around for one session. The NPC had only been introduced as someone the players could hire to translate a dwarvish journal they'd found, none of the PCs knew dwarvish and the centaur did due to some complicated backstory reasons. The player bought a Silver Raven, and has been using it to exchange weekly love letters with the centaur NPC as the party travels around the world. It's been a cute little side-plot going on for quite some time in game, and I do actually hand-write letters between sessions to hand to the player when they manage to do a letter exchange.

In the same campaign, the half-elf rogue/bard and the half-orc ranger became a couple. The players of these characters are not a couple in real life, but decided to have their characters hook up, mostly on their own, and let me as the DM know this was happening. It didn't affect the game itself much, other than the rest of the party noticing that those two were off on their own together a lot. Later on, the ranger's player left the game, in a way that resulted in out of character drama and some bad feelings between him and the rest of the group. I re-wrote the plotline I was working on to have the big bad of an upcoming story arc show up and kill his character, prompting the next story arc to be hunting the boss down and destroying them for revenge. I figured that it was better to kill the character off cleanly rather than having to run them as a NPC or have to come up with a reason for them break off the relationship and leave.

Strangely, while my wife and I have gamed together in many campaigns (in fact, we first met at a tabletop RPG), we have never once had our characters hook up as a couple.

[Dire Roc]

I've had this happen in almost every campaign I've been in, regardless of DM. Almost all of it involves one player and myself (who I've now been dating for almost two years, funny how that works out).

In our first campaign together I was DM and there was an evil cleric that another player shipped with her good cleric, plus a trainee paladin who developed a crush on her character due to a good charisma roll.

The next campaign her PC's backstory involved being on the run from an arranged marriage, and another player joked I should complicate things by introducing a love interest, so I did.

Between that and the next campaign we started dating, which probably affected things.

The time after that I got to be a player and made a nonjudgmental half-orc. We intended for our characters to just be adventuring buddies but he ended up being the only person to treat her kitsune bard with respect and dignity, leading to her developing feelings for him.

The one after that we started with similar intentions, but my streetwise bard took pity on the ivory tower wizard and showed her how to live in the outside world, which led to another romance.

After that we just decided to accept that one of our characters would develop feelings for the other's whether we liked it or not, so we might as well start just writing it into them.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I'm wondering now, has anyone here ever had the awkward "honor" to play in a group where for instance the characters broke up angrily, one of them dropped out of the party and the other one almost immediately hooked up with another party member, all following events that went on out of character?