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This might seem like an odd question but here goes; I have a pc who is a cleric of Shelyn who insists that sleeping around with as many npc as possible is spreading her love. Its juvenile to me but its his character and I dont really care about that part. The problem is his seduction and leading on of another npc. Is whoring around behind a girlfriends back then breaking her heart a act of a good or is it evil? Is it just spreading the love as he sees it? At least I know what sin he gets points for.
Paul
The Book of Erotic Fantasy has a section that discusses the attitudes of different alignments towards love and sex. You might find that helpful...
This might seem like an odd question but here goes; I have a pc who is a cleric of Shelyn who insists that sleeping around with as many npc as possible is spreading her love. Its juvenile to me but its his character and I dont really care about that part. The problem is his seduction and leading on of another npc. Is whoring around behind a girlfriends back then breaking her heart a act of a good or is it evil? Is it just spreading the love as he sees it? At least I know what sin he gets points for.
Paul
Is he keeping the fact that he has other lovers secret from his paramours? If so then I would say it is lust and therefore deserving of a sin point.
If they are all consenting and knowledgable of his traveling then I'd say its not deserving a sin point.|
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The cleric had courted a young beauty in the town from day one. On the pc's return from thistletop I had a reward party for them with major Sandpoint personalities attending. Shaylis seduced him thenmet him in the back room and his paramour came in and caught them, his excuse to her was "just spreading Sheyln's love" and he did not care that he hurt her pretty bad emotionally. Such drama
I can't believe someone actually asked this question. I also can't believe I actually need to answer it, but here goes:
In all the history of the universe sex has never equated to love. No matter how many times a boy says to his girlfriend, "If you love me you'll do it," no matter how many times a woman says, "I do it for him because he loves me," no matter how many times some self-serving user says, "We're just having a little innocent fun," no matter how many times a consenting adult says, "We love each other, so it's alright," no matter how many times some fool says, "Well, if it's consentual and nobody gets hurt it's okay," and no matter how many times some moron tries to resurrect the tragically flawed thinking of the 'free love' movement, sex will NEVER be the same as love. And just because you 'believe' it does in no way makes you right. Your beliefs might be subjective and a matter of personal choice, but reality is not.
Real love is about commitment, sacrifice, devotion, caring, and always doing the right thing for the other person no matter what it costs or how much it hurts. If I were you I'd be more worried about why your player is behaving in such a jaded manner than I am about whether or not her in-character actions are right or wrong. If she knows her character's actions are wrong and is just pretending because it's what her character would do, then no problem. If, on the other hand, she really thinks that way, then her understanding of things is skewed.
To explain: The character is sleeping with people without concern for their emotional well-being after the act. The character is not concerned about the welfare of any progeny produced (and no, there is no 100% effective method of contraception unless you design one for your own game). The character is not thinking about the emotional effects of a promiscuous lifestyle on any future mates, or about the long-term emotional effects suffered by those who live a promiscuous life. The character is not thinking about the dangers of disease, and while a cure disease spell might be easy to come by for that character such might not be the case for that character's partners. Finally, the character is not thinking about the effects this promiscuous behavior will have on other relationships or on society in general. At best this character is behaving in a selfish and irresponsible manner that endangers others - and is thus evil. At worst the character is maliciously hurting others - and is thus evil. Either way, the character is evil because 'evil is as evil does'.
Now, if you want to redefine what constitutes good and evil for your game, then go ahead - no harm, no foul. If you want to rule that good and evil are subjective for your game and therefore the character is doing what he/she thinks is right, then go ahead. If you want to let each player decide these things based on their own belief systems, then that's alright, too. Just remember - what happens in the game isn't real. Porting in-game thought into reality isn't going to work out the same way.
Oh yeah... the BoEF also has rules concerning conception and STDs... just in case you want to spring some surprises on the player... I certainly would, if only to confirm Bubbagump's points in-game... ;-)
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Just preparing for the eventual argument that is going to come of this. The main reason I was asking about this sorta thing is the cleric ties. How does Sheyln react to one of her followers causing this kinda of pain. Thats my main concern because I do consider what the player did as an evil act and the more opinions I can gather the better the choice I can make on rule adjudications caused by this. I figured asking here was best given the collective knowledge of the community.
Well for one thing, don't let this guy date your sister.
I agree that the player's (pardon the pun) attitude is a bit childish. If it's meant to be humorous and everyone at the table thinks it's funny, that's one thing. But I don't think you'd be posting if that was the case.
I think as the DM, you have the right to call bullsh!t on this one. I don't think humping any girl who will spread her legs for him is something that would win the approval of a NG goddess of beuty, art, love and music.
From the Player's Guide:
"Shelyn encourages creativity and inspires the world. She challenges her faithful to test their limits, share what the create, and delight in the gifts of others."
It's a stretch to read that and assume "spread your seed around" is in there. His infidelity is probably not enought to get him kicked out of the temple, but maybe a more senior priest might chastise him and tell him he's deluding himself if he thinks breaking hearts is spreading love.
What do the other players think of his antics? Is it likely to cause any of the other PCs to lose respect for his character? Maybe peer pressure can convince him to keep it in his pants.
He has the right to play his character the way he wants to. But he doesn't have the right to avoid logical in-game consequences for his in-game actions by saying "I'm spreading Shelyn's love, man".
That's weak.
You as the DM get the primary role in determining the consequences of PC actions. He should probably have to make a few Diplomacy checks to avoid getting beat up by a protective father, brother, etc. Or maybe one of his ex-girlfriends will go out and get some character levels and then come back and kick his a$$. They could get training as a Monk from the House of Blue Stones, get him in a compromising position and then wail on him with unarmed attacks and improved hand to hand type feats.
Sleeping around isn't love. But if his character thinks so, you can make a great plot hook out of it.
Let him find out that his divine mistress isn't who he thinks she is. If he had the domains of charm and luck, this would be just perfect, but if not, you might to to replace air, good and protection with chaos, knowledge, and trickery, and tell him that his character suddenly doesn't feel so proficient with the glaive (if he has the proficiency), but can handle the whip quite well.
After all, Calistria is goddess of trickery as well as lust.
Oh, and infidelity and heartbreaking are way out of Shelyn's portfolio it's not even funny. At that point, remember that the third part of Calistria's portfolio is revenge.
Long story short: He's a sinner, celebrating lust, Shelyn has probably long abandoned him without him noticing (if he ever knew), his alignment is CN (do what you want, and consequences be damned), and Calistria has tricked him into service, telling him that lust and love are the same thing. Unless he tricked himself (which is probably even more juicy to Calistria)
Oh, and of course every haunt or other effect that targets those guilty of lust will have a prime target!
Hmm, I have played a "sacred prostitute" character concept and also had it played by another, but that was done differently. Mainly by everybody knowing clearly that the character was a prostitute, and whoever wanted to get involved should not entertain any long-term romantic goals.
Due to honesty, goals and purposes my character was NG (and later a friend of mine decided to use the same character concept in another game, but tweaked it to LN).
The character described by OP definitely is questionable, maybe workable as CN character if not evil.
Anyway in Mike McArtor's write up of Shelyn he said specifically that she's the goddess of romantic love not sexual love really, except as an expression of love.
Have him lose his cleric powers, it happens to clerics too, and he can either atone or swap to Calistra.
Out of game though, how old is this guy? and how serious of a game are you trying to run?
The cleric had courted a young beauty in the town from day one. On the pc's return from thistletop I had a reward party for them with major Sandpoint personalities attending. Shaylis seduced him thenmet him in the back room and his paramour came in and caught them, his excuse to her was "just spreading Sheyln's love" and he did not care that he hurt her pretty bad emotionally. Such drama
Gee...harsh romantic betrayal and the resultant emotional devestation. Without the pregnancy (which can be added in to bring the point home if you like), sounds alot like the path to naughtiness that Nualia followed.
Let him find out that his divine mistress isn't who he thinks she is...
This could be a great way to work Shami-Amourae or Malcanthet into the campaign...
Let him find out that his divine mistress isn't who he thinks she is....After all, Calistria is goddess of trickery as well as lust.
I agree with this approach. "Spreading Shelyn's love..." is double-speak for "doing Calistria's will..." in this case. The type of interpretation your player has described for "love" is purely sexual if his character cares nothing for the feelings of those who get involved with him along the way. And thus, it's lust...not love...that he's demonstrating.
If he was truly a follower of Shelyn, you should demote his character to an ex-cleric until he atones. Alternatively, if he still wants to play a PC who's into "love" without consequences, let him transition to a priest of Calistria. And with Trickery being a primary part of her portfolio, you can easily work it so that his character never realizes Shelyn has abandoned him as his patroness.
My two-cents,
--Neil
Christians like to spread love, (Love thy neighbour etc) but you dont see them going at it like rabbits in the new testemant lol
I dont see any where in the players guide where it mentions her being lustfull, only loving
Christians like to spread love, (Love thy neighbour etc) but you dont see them going at it like rabbits in the new testemant lol
Great idea for a bible-based sect. "Love thy neighbour like thyself." First Hedonist Church of Christ.
Let him find out that his divine mistress isn't who he thinks she is...This could be a great way to work Shami-Amourae or Malcanthet into the campaign...
Better yet, Calistria. She's the goddess of lust and trickery, so this is right up her allay. I bet there are dozens priests of "Shelyn" who serve Calistria without knowing it, doing exactly what that guy does. (Well, not exactly exactly, you know. Not all of them will cheat on their girlfriends)
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I would definitely chastise the character, but do it in game. Have one of his lovers go to a higher ranked priest of his church and complain vehemently. The higher ranked priest might suggest Atonement or even require that the character wed the young woman. Regardless, since the Player is arguing in game reasons to support his actions I would respond in game to set him straight.
Who better to tell a young priest you are misinterpreting his goddesses' faith than a higher level priest of the same faith?
Maybe he thinks he's serving Shelyn, while in reality, he's serving Calistria, and that Calistria is the one giving him spells? I could see some interesting scenes from that one. Probably doesn't work due to different domains and such, though.
Probably doesn't work due to different domains and such, though.
As I remarked above, the goddesses share two domains (Charm and Luck), so it could work.
I met a girl once who's nickname was butter...She was amazing, she could open a fridge with her shoulder blades...
You know, sometimes I think Wyoming isn't quite so bad...then I sober up and the crying starts...
Somewhat on topic, I personally think sleeping arround can be just as loving as sleeping with one person, just so long as your honest and you actually care about the people your sleeping with. From what the OP posted I don't think that's what was happening, just saying though.
Love is an emotion. Sex is a physical act. While one may involve the other, they are two completely seperate things.
Somewhat on topic, I personally think sleeping arround can be just as loving as sleeping with one person, just so long as your honest and you actually care about the people your sleeping with.
BS
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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Somewhat on topic, I personally think sleeping arround can be just as loving as sleeping with one person, just so long as your honest and you actually care about the people your sleeping with.BS
I'm not actually quite sure whether or not he was being serious, what with his other inane comments...
I'm not actually quite sure whether or not he was being serious, what with his other inane comments...Somewhat on topic, I personally think sleeping arround can be just as loving as sleeping with one person, just so long as your honest and you actually care about the people your sleeping with.BS
Good point.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Somewhat on topic, I personally think sleeping arround can be just as loving as sleeping with one person, just so long as your honest and you actually care about the people your sleeping with.BS
Care to elaborate on that? I personally know two couples who live quite happily with just such an arrangement - and i really don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to. Whatever floats their boats.
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I seem to have at least one player in every group that thinks getting laid in a game is on par with hitting the real thing. This annoys the crap out of me. The classic "Are there any girls there" line. I (the DM) am not there to play the part of a male on male horn fest. I dont make the players tell me when they take a leak or drop a deuce or when a female toon gets her monthly. I expect the player to keep there "If theres any girls there I wanna do em" ideas to themselves and to go out and get some IRL. So for your priest player, tell them to go outside, find a real girl. DnD is for Fantasy, not "I cant get laid in real life so its fantasy to me".
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Care to elaborate on that? I personally know two couples who live quite happily with just such an arrangement - and i really don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to. Whatever floats their boats.Somewhat on topic, I personally think sleeping arround can be just as loving as sleeping with one person, just so long as your honest and you actually care about the people your sleeping with.BS
Introduce me to these ppl and I'll walk you through there childhood and show you why they live there lives half fulfilled and think this is love. I can also show you where there relationships are heading and what will send them there.
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I seem to have at least one player in every group that thinks getting laid in a game is on par with hitting the real thing. This annoys the crap out of me. The classic "Are there any girls there" line. I (the DM) am not there to play the part of a male on male horn fest. I dont make the players tell me when they take a leak or drop a deuce or when a female toon gets her monthly. I expect the player to keep there "If theres any girls there I wanna do em" ideas to themselves and to go out and get some IRL. So for your priest player, tell them to go outside, find a real girl. DnD is for Fantasy, not "I cant get laid in real life so its fantasy to me".
Been there, seen that. Usually "yeah, ain't it a b*!## you took Charisma as your dump stat?" fixes that, though.
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Introduce me to these ppl and I'll walk you through there childhood and show you why they live there lives half fulfilled and think this is love. I can also show you where there relationships are heading and what will send them there.
So for people you don't know, in circumstances you don't know, you claim to not only know better than them if they are fulfilled, but also that they can not possibly succeed in their lives?
Wow, that is BS if i ever saw any...
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Introduce me to these ppl and I'll walk you through there childhood and show you why they live there lives half fulfilled and think this is love. I can also show you where there relationships are heading and what will send them there.So for people you don't know, in circumstances you don't know, you claim to not only know better than them if they are fulfilled, but also that they can not possibly succeed in their lives?
Wow, that is BS if i ever saw any...
Like I said, introduce me to them. Ya, I could be wrong. I just play the odds and I'm rarely wrong. And 2 couples, odds are not good. You know these ppl, look at the signs you have seen. Look at the odds of all the other "Normal" couples out there. Add to this the stress of polyamourous relationships and the odds are overstacked against them.
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Introduce me to these ppl and I'll walk you through there childhood and show you why they live there lives half fulfilled and think this is love. I can also show you where there relationships are heading and what will send them there.So for people you don't know, in circumstances you don't know, you claim to not only know better than them if they are fulfilled, but also that they can not possibly succeed in their lives?
Wow, that is BS if i ever saw any...
And not to totally hijack the thread but ya.
I know the ppl. There are only a finite amount of personalities out there and I have met each kind. People dont suprise me anymore.
I know there circumstances. They grew up human on planet earth.
I know better than them because I'm on the outside looking in. Things are always easier to read and less cluttered from that vantage.
Succeed? Depends on your definition I guess.
BS? Yes, most of the time I see a destination and work my way back to origin. But its freakin crazy how often I hit the nail on the head.
Love is not one of the primary emotions. The primary emotions are
* sadness
* happiness
* anger
* fear
* disgust
* surprise
These emotions carry pretty much the same meaning in every culture. Human beings display these emotions the same way pretty much everywhere. If some one has one of these emotions and you take a picture of them any one in the world should be able to recognize and identify these emotions furthermore you'd be able to recognize them in anyone one else regardless of their culture. Love not so much. Different cultures have very different views about love, what it means and what its role is.
Its only relatively recently that love has become something thats considered so important that it alone get to decide whether some one is fit to marry or not. Historically marriages were arranged in almost all cultures. In fact - for the males at least, and only the rather well to do ones at that - love was probably something you found in your mistress. You got to choose your mistress and, usually, she got to choose you. Your wife was probably pretty much assigned. So you certianly owed your wife/husband respect but not necessarily love.
The Ancient Greeks took this to something of an extreme. They considered love to be a close relative of evil. Love was a wild emotion that could, and did, cause people to abandon their duty and skirt their responsibilities. In the highly rigid Ancient Greek culture there really was no greater sin then putting your self interest above those of the city state. So you actually were not supposed to love your wife/husband. You where supposed to treat them with respect that their role deserved but actual love was not at all a good thing.
If you read the various myths surrounding Aphrodite this comes across strongly as they serve as cautionary tales. In pretty much all of them Aphrodite causes some poor fool to fall in love, the end result is generally that, becuase of love, the individual is brought low along with his or her entire family and in some cases (Paris and Helen of Troy being the most famous example) their entire nation is destroyed. The message is clear love = bad.
I've come across modern examples as well. I was at a Christian sermon at one point and the minister was regaling the audience with some of the dumb things people did that would send them to Hell. The message was 'if your going to go to Hell it ought to be about a starry eyed tryst full of phenominal passion'. Your still taking the escalator straight to a lake of fire but at least its understandable why some one might burn in Hell becuase of true love. One can fathom how one might end up married with children and throw all of that away (as well as - according to this minister at least, ones eternal soul) becuase you found your soul mate. Here one sees something akin to what the Ancient Greeks feared in love.
In the interests of full disclosure I should point out that I'm not Christian, I was there checking out a beautiful church and stopped to listen to the minister as he really had a gift for speaking and was totally into his message.
To throw some more gas on the fire -
I contend that love has not been the guiding principle for choosing ones spouse in most cultures prior to maybe the turn of last century. I figure somewhere around the year 1900 things began to change and love became an ever increasingly important criteria for institutions like marriage. So why did love suddenly get put on such a pedestal and how did that pedestal get so high?
Personally I think this is the triumph of Hollywood. Hollywood has spent the last 80-90 years propagandizing us with the importance of love and we've pretty much bought the message hook line and sinker. We now really believe that Love is pretty much the be all and end all of emotions, practically of life itself. Me as much as the next guy ... and we now pass this message down to our young and we infuse it in all of our media, but the world worked before we believed this and in some parts of the world it still does - though less and less with every passing year - Bollywood has begun to work the same magic on India and the traditional practices surrounding marriage are breaking down to be replaced with the concept that marriage is about love, after all the movies and television tell us this is so.
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Let him find out that his divine mistress isn't who he thinks she is....After all, Calistria is goddess of trickery as well as lust.I agree with this approach. "Spreading Shelyn's love..." is double-speak for "doing Calistria's will..." in this case. The type of interpretation your player has described for "love" is purely sexual if his character cares nothing for the feelings of those who get involved with him along the way. And thus, it's lust...not love...that he's demonstrating.
If he was truly a follower of Shelyn, you should demote his character to an ex-cleric until he atones. Alternatively, if he still wants to play a PC who's into "love" without consequences, let him transition to a priest of Calistria. And with Trickery being a primary part of her portfolio, you can easily work it so that his character never realizes Shelyn has abandoned him as his patroness.
My two-cents,
--Neil
What NSpicer said. As the creator of Shelyn, I can tell you that she would not stand for those shenanigans. Lust is not love. Calistria is the goddess of lust. Shelyn is the goddess of love.
If your player wants to secretly play a cleric of Calistria but claim he's a cleric of Shelyn, that would be kinda cool. But if he really wants to worship Shelyn, well... he needs to clean up his act or get a TONNE of scrolls of atonement.
I believe what I believe, and others believe what they believe. Not going to try arguing (or debating) these particul beliefes on a gaming board. Though it would be kinda neat to get a guess on what my childhood was like based on the way my relationships go...
Luckily I've never had to deal with anyone quite as bad as it sounds like this person is, though something similar did come up in a game I ran about a year and a half ago. The player didn't quite do a full blown "are there any girls there? i wanna do em!" bit, but was getting close. So I came up with the "talking someone into bed equals a diplomacy check" rule, just as a quick way to shut him up (knowing he didn't have the greatest diplomacy). Worked out pretty good in the end though, as he didn't get very far that night, but started dumping ranks in diplomacy the next time he leveled and quickly figured out how fun actuall roleplaying is, as opposed to whacking everything with his sword. He still did the occassional "so how hot is the serving wench?" bit, but was perfectly content with making a couple die rolls, and me telling him if he got lucky or not.
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Love is not one of the primary emotions.
From a biblical/christian perspective this principle holds true as well. Biblical Love is not so much an emotion as it is an action. Thus the admonition of Jesus, 'love your enemy,' deals not with the emotions inspired by said enemy but rather with the way in which one treats one's enemies.
He will pretend to be a cleric of Shelyn. I have not decided if I am going to give him an illusionary whip that appears to everybody else as a glaive its either that or a whip that magically shifts between glaive and whip. He doesnt really do combat much so its mostly an aesthetic story idea.
I'd just give proficiency in both as a bonus feat contingent upon the favor of his lusty goddess. It could be called something like "Weapons of Deceit", granting both Martial Weapon Proficiency (Glaive) and Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Whip), but requiring that he continue his masquerade within the Church of Shalyn or lose both proficiencies.
I recall Mike's original post of Shelyn. He makes it clear that it's not cannon until officially in print, but that She is not about spreading carnal lust, which is the portfolio of another, nor is She about getting constantly impregnated, which is also the portfolio of another. She is not to be confused with other traditional and historical gods, such as Aphrodite-- while they both are a manifestation of beauty and love, Aphrodite had an affair with Ares whereas Shelyn would not include that particular aspect.
On the other hand, any DM can always modify any aspect of Pathfinder to better suit their gaming group's tastes. Just keep in mind, that this would be contrary with the original intention.
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I recall Mike's original post of Shelyn. He makes it clear that it's not cannon until officially in print, but that She is not about spreading carnal lust, which is the portfolio of another, nor is She about getting constantly impregnated, which is also the portfolio of another. She is not to be confused with other traditional and historical gods, such as Aphrodite-- while they both are a manifestation of beauty and love, Aphrodite had an affair with Ares whereas Shelyn would not include that particular aspect.
On the other hand, any DM can always modify any aspect of Pathfinder to better suit their gaming group's tastes. Just keep in mind, that this would be contrary with the original intention.
Bingo.
Bingo.
B...I...N..G..O !!!
B...I...N..G..O !!!
And Bingo was his Name-O !!!
::blink::
What? I "love" that song... ;-)
--Neil
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Without wanting to fan any flames, i talked to one of the guys i mentioned earlier, and he asked me if i had any way of contacting SterlingEdge - i said no, since this board does not feature any PMs, but in case he does want to go through with this, he (she) can give me an email address to pass on. :)
I believe what I believe, and others believe what they believe. Not going to try arguing (or debating) these particul beliefes on a gaming board. Though it would be kinda neat to get a guess on what my childhood was like based on the way my relationships go...
Luckily I've never had to deal with anyone quite as bad as it sounds like this person is, though something similar did come up in a game I ran about a year and a half ago. The player didn't quite do a full blown "are there any girls there? i wanna do em!" bit, but was getting close. So I came up with the "talking someone into bed equals a diplomacy check" rule, just as a quick way to shut him up (knowing he didn't have the greatest diplomacy). Worked out pretty good in the end though, as he didn't get very far that night, but started dumping ranks in diplomacy the next time he leveled and quickly figured out how fun actuall roleplaying is, as opposed to whacking everything with his sword. He still did the occassional "so how hot is the serving wench?" bit, but was perfectly content with making a couple die rolls, and me telling him if he got lucky or not.
I would love to see that turned on its side.
DM: A big hairy ugly orc comes up to you and says "Hi there." *DM rolls diplomacy check* He ends up talking you into going to bed with him.Player: But I'm a dwarf and male and straight!
DM: You know what they say, "What goes around comes around."
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I don't think I would call b!#~@~@@ as someone else mentioned. I think I would go the route of consequences for their behavior.
Someone mentioned STDs and conception. I think I would have a rash of pregnant women coming to him and if they did not get any satisfaction their fathers and the mayor and the other PCs. That sshould change the whole attitutde of his girlfriend PC.
I also do not think that I would have a lot of women allowing him to spread his love in the first place. In the real world not every woman this guy meets is willing to spread her legs - why should it be true in the game world. As a matter of fact I would probably only have women who are in some kind of vulnerable position (just saved from some bad guy or their town saved) give in to his advances. Then when they come to their senses they have regret.
There is a whole nother avenue - obviously he is a hit and run lover - maybe a bunch of the local women start comparing notes and get upset. Maybe they have men already interested in them or boyfriends or husbands and certainly fathers who do not want their girls treated this way.
I think one of the things that allows people to act as they do in our current society is the anomynity of living in a large disconnected society - this would not be true in small villages and towns. It was not easy to hide what was going on between people and someone taking advantage of every woman who comes along would soon be obvious in that kind of situation.
Bring out the consequences for such action. I image when 6 or 7 pregnant women's fathers all want him to do the right thing - his attitutde would change significnatly. Who knows he may end up in prison or dead over that kind of behavior. Heck the other party members may just give him up or kill him themselves (especially the girlfreind).
Disclaimer - I did not read every post on the thread so if others have made some of suggestions I defer to them. Just some thoughts based on early postings on the thread.
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I would love to see that turned on its side.
DM: A big hairy ugly orc comes up to you and says "Hi there." *DM rolls diplomacy check* He ends up talking you into going to bed with him.
Player: But I'm a dwarf and male and straight!
DM: You know what they say, "What goes around comes around."
EEEEEEEVIL!!
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Shelyn strikes me as an oddly puritanical goddess of love: the virginal muse of wildflowers, hair care products and adult contemporary music. She seems so passionless. The dichotomy between her and Calistra has the shadings of the madonna/whore set-up, where love sits neatly on one plate and lust on the other.
I like love gods who encompass (and actively participate in) a rollercoaster mix of love, passion and obsession without having to relegate them to 'good' or 'evil' activities.
Not that I think the lothario cleric shouldn't be challenged for his trysts, but the idea of goddess of love handing out punishment like a divine marriage counselor is pretty bland.
As a revenge scenario I'd either
- Have one of the characters witness a group of jilted women praying together at Shelyn's shine during a midnight service. The next day they share knowing, amused smiles when the cleric saunters by. Freak him out.
- The men folk in town start chatting about a magical item known as 'The Cuckold's Arrow', a neat little gift from Erastil, patron of families.