Romance, Home Life and the Propagation of the Bloodline

 

Galvin, Leanna and Marko stood over the open chest before them and cheered at the copious amount of loot that they had discovered.  Gold, jewels and a smattering of magic items were their reward for fighting their way through the Caverns of Unholy Despair.  Hundreds of dead creatures stood slaughtered in their wake and there would be no resistance on their way back home.

Ahhh, home, the place where they waited for news of some dastardly deeds being done so that they could go forth and right some wrongs.  Of course if nothing presented itself in short order they could always go to the local tavern, a hotbed of gossip and potential future glory.

Unfortunately this seems to be the all to familiar string of events that occurs in role playing games.  The heroes run from adventure to adventure, with little regard for their own lives and futures outside of potential conquest.  While this is not always the case, and a good game master can intertwine adventures in a deep plot or creative storyline that keeps the players busy, there is an element to role playing that I think is far too often lacking.  Where is the romance and the eventual family that comes with it?

I can practically hear the wailing now, “My campaign has plenty of romance.”  At this point I have to ask what the definition of romance might be.  Most of the time I’ve seen romance in role playing games equated to the fairy tale like business of rescuing the damsel in distress.  Few games bother to take it any further and don’t explore any sort of relationship.  The romantic interest ends up as nothing more than another person to be saved, or someone to come home to between adventures.

Now imagine the possibilities of role playing a real romantic relationship.  With the heroes running off all of the time to conquer one form of evil or another you can easily imagine the romantic counterpart being left at home a lot.  It is a rare person indeed who can tolerate such behavior.  Why would the romantic interest even bother hanging around past the first foray into the danger filled wilderness?  While it could easily be written off as nothing more than simple devotion and absolute love, the concepts seem grossly unrealistic, even if it is a fantasy game.

So how can we spice up the home life of the characters without losing the interest of the players themselves?  First the romantic interests need some dimension: personality, flaws, goals, beliefs, etc.  Second the characters (and players by extension) have to give a damn, so get them involved in the romantic interest’s personal life.  These two items can work hand in hand.  Perhaps the love interest has a gambling problem, and somehow managed to lose the character’s favorite horse, or heaven forbid the character’s spellbook, in a game of dice.   This could work as a story hook on numerous levels such as dealing with the gambling problem and getting back the horse/spellbook (for spice have it be lost to a powerful member of society or a villain of some sort).

Another aspect of romance is marriage, and along with marriage comes a whole new list of life complications.  Paying for a house, doing chores, having and raising children and not to mention simply dealing with a spouse.  The possibilities for adventure are endless.  Can the heroes prevent a natural disaster from destroying his/her house and property?  The character’s eldest son has run away from home and it is up to the character to find him?  The spouse is a nag or a moneygrubber and always harangues the character, demanding one thing or another.  The interaction between the characters and their significant others doesn’t have to be a footnote tied in between every adventure, it can lead to more adventure all by itself.

Children are the fires that light the hearts of men and women both.  There is not much that a parent won’t do for its progeny, and in a role playing game this can lead to adventures galore and add spice and drama to a campaign.  Imagine playing a hero whose teenage daughter is starting to show interest in boys. Yikes! Every father’s nightmare!  Or perhaps a child is accused of a crime and it is the hero who must prove his son or daughter’s innocence.  In a long running campaign there is always the potential that players may wish to play their characters’ offspring later on in the campaign, which means the players (and by default the characters) must take an interest in the development of their children.

Role playing is about more than just saving the world, it is about surviving to talk about it.  Adding in spouse, children and home to the character’s life brings a new dimension to the hero and gives the game master a new set of tools to play with.  I’ve played in games where the family members were very important in the game and were well thought out by the game master and I can say honestly that I have yet to be disappointed in the quality of the game play.  I recommend you try it yourselves.