My players are pretty good at getting into character, and forging friendships and relationships with NPCs. Age of Worms was kind of lacking, with the exception of Tirra, and Savage Tide had a few, like the Jade Ravens.
Heres my problem: I see lots of "Potentially Romantic" female NPCS in the SCAP (Shessen, Jil, Annah, Cora, etc) some of which are blatantly hinted at (Jil and Shessen come to mind).
But I can't seem to find any Male NPCs that could fall into the same boat, especially ones that make a good first impression (the leader of the Stormblades wouldn't be bad, if he weren't first encountered trying to make a fool out of the PCs).
Any advice on male NPC romantic interests in the SCAP that could enhance the overall experience as opposed to just being "that guy, plus he likes you"?
Any advice on male NPC romantic interests in the SCAP that could enhance the overall experience as opposed to just being "that guy, plus he likes you"?
If I was looking at potential single males in the adventure, I would consider the following:
Lord Vhalantru (rich, single, influential)
Fario or Fellian of the Striders (adventurous, young)
Alek Tercival (possibly unachievable, could be a crush, that whole knight in shining armor thing)
Skylar Krewis (upstanding member of the guards)
Zachary Aslaxin (nice guy in a bad group?, rich family)
Artus Shemwick (good looking, seems to know his way around town)
Other PCs (mattering on who they are)
Of course, additional NPCs could be added to the campaign specifically as romantic possibilities (such as a student at the Bluecrater, a guardsmen, a clerk at the Town Hall, a member of the same church that the character attends, someone in the Last Laugh or the Alleybashers, etc.) Any of these NPCs could also be a brother to one of the PCs, making some very interesting role-playing situations. (My campaign has some of the party members trying to date one PC's sisters. Hilarious comments abound)
If you are worried about first impressions, have the first impression be away from the NPC's story intro. Have the NPC meet the character under different circumstances first, before the story requires them to show up. Then the PC will get the idea they are a nice person before the story requires them to act differently. Zachary is a prime example. Make Cora jealous and uptight, almost making the PC feel sorry for Zach. They'll probably think Zach is just in the wrong crowd and would do better with them.
I am using three male love interests in my game:
Edmund Lidu, the shy, intellectual necromancer who began as a humble student/librarian at the Bluecrater Academy, and rose to the rank of captain of the MTA after being "inspired" by the female wizard PC. Later, he will come to the stunning realization that he is actually an avatar of Boccob.
Simon Greensparrow, wealthy halfling merchant and celebrity, who seduced the female rogue in my party. Only later, when she was already his slave, did she realize he was a vampire. Eventually the party's cleric killed him, which paved the way for a new romance between two PCs. But not before the rogue tried and failed to avenge her "master".
Fario Ellegoth, the handsome and daring womanizer. At least, he was a womanizer until the party's female bard seduced him and made him into her personal love toy. Now he is her cohort, her bodyguard, and her b%@~&. Amazing what charisma can do.
The corresponding female love interests are Jil and Shenshen... both of whom have fallen in love with the SAME PC. This causes a lot of drama and forces the PC to choose "beautiful and innocent" or "dark and mysterious".
Gwendolyn Weer, elven rogue/sorcerer golddigger, married to Vortemax Weer at the beginning of the campaign. Who was insufferable, demanding, and generally unappeasable. Which surprised the player after he had an attitude change later in the campaign and showing genuine affection and treating her romantically. The player, of course, suspected that something fishy was going on. But the truth was that she was becoming a more impressive person while she was rising in power, confidence, and self determination.
Seodarin (Seo) Hillsborough, the pious halfling cleric of Pelor, good daughter of the (halfling) parents who owned and ran the Tipped Tankard, and who were very proud of her. She was surprised when the PCs found that their dishwasher was also a member of the Last Laugh. She diplomized Artus Shemwick (whom I also remade into a halfling) when they confronted him with this info and that he knew where the missing wands were. He provided the information he knew at no cost, and then started to court the cleric and was actually listening to her while she explained why it is good to be good and worship Pelor. He dated her and showed her a great time. Eventually, he proposed, but she declined, still wary of his dubious past, suspecting that he was infiltrating her group for the Last Laugh.
Kyra Lanthenmire, younger sister of Cora. Kyra caught the attention of Zachary when she beat him in a wrestling contest at the temple of Kord. Afterward, she was invited by the high priest of the temple of Kord to participate in a yearly barbarian retreat, which got Zachary to participate also. During the retreat, they found a chance to be alone and he expressed his distress with his relationship with Cora and the Stormblades. Then he expressed his interest in the PC and wanted to start a relationship with her. She alluded that if he was able to defeat her in wrestling, she would consider it. As time went by, I failed to followup on this.
But later on when Annah was cleverly insulting every member of the party while the Stormblades and the PCs were taking shelter from the heavy rains at the Tipped Tankard, the player countered with an awesome lament of their relationship with an expression of hope for reconciliation and friendship in the future. She delivered this statement with such class and feeling (aka rolling a 20 on a Diplomacy score while the player roleplayed a great scene) that it stunned Annah to retreat back into silence. Cora was irate that the provoked combat failed to be instigated and stormed out of the tavern, demanding "Come on Zach, let's go now". But Zachary said "No" and explained that he has given her several chances to not be driven by anger and that he was breaking up with her. And then he turned to Annah and informed her that since she has just revealed what a terribly hideously cruel monster she really was, that he was quitting the Stormblades also. At that point, Cora slammed the doors open while she was storming out of the tavern, and the rest of the Stormblades followed, stunned and cowed.
Afterward, he became really good friends with Kyra, and so did Shensen. So when Shensen invited Kyra to become a Strider, she also invited Zachary, who accepted. As a member of the Striders, he was persuaded to let Annah convince him to rejoin the Stormblades so that he can be on the lookout for Cagewright activity while they adventure. The last Zach and Kyra they were together in the game when they rescued the captured Strider in the Last Laugh safehouse.
One last romance: at the very end of the campaign, Kyra achieved her goal of meeting Kord, losing her virginity to him, and (as a bonus) she ended up pregnant with his baby.
I had one party member, a snooty bard from one of Cauldron's noble families, get betrothed to Vhalantru. I stretched the period of betrothal out until the PCs began to suspect that V. was a bad guy. When the bard skipped town, V. ended up marrying her sister, instead. That didn't end well for sis.
I also have a female PC whose affections keep shifting between Skylar Krewis and Shensen Tesseril. It's a long story.
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But I can't seem to find any Male NPCs that could fall into the same boat, especially ones that make a good first impression (the leader of the Stormblades wouldn't be bad, if he weren't first encountered trying to make a fool out of the PCs)....
Actually, the leader of the Stormblades was Annah as originally printed. (I don't have the hardback, so don't know if that's what you're referencing and they changed the leader there.) Zach is actually listed as the most level headed of the Stormblades, and on the outs from a relationship with Cora, so that COULD work (and add a dimension of tension with the rest of the Stormblades.)
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In my campaign:
My wifes, character, Elf Ranger/cleric Thalaelyn, is romantically involved with Valanthru. It started off with him helping her when she first came to the city as an outsider and was lost; their relationship grew and she now resides in a wing of his mansion just for her. He uses her to keep track of the party's activities. As a side note - the painting (which has been replaced by a snowglobe in my game) that has trapped Celeste is in her room - he gave it to her as a gift. Another nasty thing: during the Flood Festival, the paladin of the party hosted a cooking contest - the proceeds for it for charity and the food eventually donated to charity. Keygan Ghelve had just "committed suiced" (was found hung) after his trial for his involvement with the kidnappings sentenced his rat to be killed and he was to be exiled from the city after paying to replace all of the locks - truth is the beholder killed him since the party became sympathizers for him and Orbius wanted to make sure to cover all basis and remove any potential witnesses. Valanthru won first prize at the cook-off with some interesting stew. The party never asked to see Keygan's body after it was recovered by the watch.....I think they'll eventually find a recipe for "gnome stew" when the charades are over (which of course I'm already planning my nights on the couch that I'm sure to endure once that happens....) ;-)
The paladin in the group: Astorian human named Tristin frequents the local upscale brothel (paladins dont have to be chaste as far as I'm concerned - just honorable and not cheat or lie). One of the gals there who is not a courtesean but works there (Jil) has befreined him and he has a crush on her mystique nature and it is evident that he finds her intriguing - it has not escalated yet - but she finds him thrilling in his noble and distinguished chivalry. (I kinda liken this to Miss Tesmacher's feelings towards Superman in the first movie. "Why can't I ever get in with the good guys?")
The swashbuckler in our party - Astorian Human (astorians are like your king arthur noble race of people who are charismatic and typically more majestic peoples - like Romans perhaps.) He is the younger adopted brother of Todd Vanderboren and is madly in lust/love with Annah Taskerhill - she is not in love with Todd, but family pressures has her betrothed to him to wed the two families together. The swashbuckler, Dailen, sees Todd mistreat her and it angers him, but she cannot break the engagement without being disowned. This has caused great brotherly rivalry. To add to the confusion - no one knows that Todd is also adopted - the city thinks he is the natural son and heir of their nobility (quite the scandal) so Dailen is forced to endure that "red-headed step-child" attitude from Todd, who reminds Dailen all the time that Todd is the "Real son" is destined to be Annah's husband.... I imagine at some point after the city's destruction - the party will find adoption papers for Todd and information that Premiach was unable to have children and needed an heir so they bought the orphanage as a cover so that they can make the paper-trail dissappear when it comes to getting a child; leaving Dailen with a moral dilema - do I expose him and finally win the girl, woman, or do I keep the secret and honor the needs and wishes of his step-parents who adopted him and became his loving parents.
Then there's a human Vistani fighter/rogue named Zeram, (vistani are the gypsy like race of people - that I borrowed from the Ravenloft setting - very similar to PF-Varisians) who is a "player" as any well-played gypsy boy should. There is a Vistani camp in the city where a beautiful maiden, Elishiira (sound familiar, DMTodd?) who is the city's rival to Annah in that she is as gorgeous if not more than Annah, and has been compared to her, been extreme competition to Annah in beauty pageants, Miss Flood Festival, the dancing and singing competitions at the Demonskar Ball side trek - thanks to DDs great ideas, etc. She found an immediate attraction to Zeram because he was a Vistani that had a promising career as a hero ahead of him - since their people are generally looked upon with scorn and prejudice. Later he met Celeste and she was lost in the city - he helped her find her way and they became friends - later he was smitten by her and he had to choose between the two to escort to the ball. (he chose Celeste btw - Elishiira followed him one day to a date he was having with Celeste and broke her heart) To get back at him, Elishiira made a deal to teach Dailen to dance so that he could impress Annah - in exchange for being his date to the ball - which really made things uncomforatable at the table with Zeram and his date, Celeste. (Elishiira and Zeram eventually were escorted to the door and asked to leave...) good times. This caused the two of them to finally patch things up....especially now with Celeste leaving the city (as her note to the PCs when they returned with Davked suggested); however, now Zeram is now frequently leaving the city gates to spend time with Shensen - and is now involved with her; but still hoping to see Celeste come back to the city again....
Never a dull moment in the Shackled City Soap Opera!
So far, things are moving along swimmingly in mine too, but thanks for reviving this thread to remind me to mention it!
The raptoran warlock made an impression on Lady Ophelia Knowlern at the Demonskar Ball, but hasn't pursued that issue. The player does an excellent job of playing a non-jerk CN character; the warlock becomes bored easily, and often forgets who he's flirting with any particular day, althought they often remember his flirtations. Additionally, he completely mind-bent Cora Lathenmire at the Ball and through the entire Flood Festival, to the point where she is just not sure whats going on with him. Confusion breeds interest; we'll see where it goes.
The admantine plated dwarf knight(advanced bestiary template: I wanted a tank the party could rely on in the early levels) has managed to for the most part avoid entanglements, although she has garnered quite the platonic relationship with Lord Vhalantru, practically being on his arm at the Ball the entire time. This mostly began when she lasted 13 rounds with him at the drinking contest (I used a different set of rules for the contest, which made it much faster to adjucate, but she effectively made it almost 60 rounds against him, by the origional rules) and as such he took note of her. But perhaps a glimmer has begun now that she met the dwarven importer (and illegal coin minter) Garthun.
The human (with many dragonblood feats) bard/rogue (played by my wife) has been cultivating a relationship with Skylar Krewis, of the city guard. Previous attempts with the two Strider boys fell flat, and she could tell that Zachary Aslaxian II was fixated on Annah Taskerhill. Although, to her consternation, a performance at Vanderboren Estates (the family who commissioned a peice from her during the Festival) happened to catch Todd's ear, as he was on house arrest after being implicated by the PCs anonymiously via Skylar regarding the poisoning of their entire table at the Ball. The PCs held no malice towards him, despite his behavior, they were more concerned for the rest of the guests at their table. Her perform check, with all calculated bonuses and a plot perfect nat 20, managed to hit 50. Which by epic rules could be used as a diplomacy check to change a hostile npc to helpful. While it hasn't been that successful, it has prompted Todd to put his assasination plans on hold for the dwarf (who he really doesn't like due to her PWNING him at the Ball; don't try to trip a dwarf, silly weasel) and to consider the greater implications of his attitude and behavior. With time, he might reform, and become an ally of the PCs and good in general. Which is funny, because he got his first level in assasin.
The human monk, who is somewhat the center of the party (he's got int 8, and a player who RPs that perfectly) is the current Hugh Hefner of the campaign. He managed to, without trying with an int of 8 and a diplomacy of +2, through sheer roleplaying get Annah Taskerhill caught in a social "rock and a hard place" scenario, with the only way out accepting a dinner offer from him. He's a chef; max ranks in cooking. A few high rolls and another plot perfect 20, and he managed to beat each successively higher DC I set to impress her. So now she's thinking about him, and has to date had 2 other dinner dates, and put the buzz in her mothers ear to give him the Nabthatoron invitation. He dedicated himself to learning the dances, and succeeded beyond all expectations at the ball (using the potion of enlarge person from Toungeater to appear MASSIVE in his costume for the final dance). Although, a recent encounter with her father at the Cusp of Sunrise was all but pleasant. But that's not all! He saved Shensen at the Lucky Monkey, and she has taken an interest in him as well, she's just been quiet about it. The party also tosses the occasional Jil joke at him as well, due to that early encounter.
Current "romantic" events on deck:
Cora Lathenmire hotheadedly challenging the warlock to a duel "for her honor".
Skylar Krewis needing saving at the Anti-Tax Rally.
Zach the II challenging the monk for Annah Taskerhill's hand.
Annah runs away from home and her domineering father after he pushes his authority too far and forbids her from adventuring or seeing the monk. Where will she run to? Is there any need to ask?
Vhalantru inviting the dwarf to dinner, where he also invites Garthun (he wants to use the last laugh as a watchdog on the PCs as well, easier with a man on the inside. bad double entendre).
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Any advice on male NPC romantic interests in the SCAP that could enhance the overall experience as opposed to just being "that guy, plus he likes you"?
Skylar Krewis, the twon guardsman
Fario Ellegoth and Fellian Shard, the StridersMaavu Arlintal or one of the other high handcrafters, like Ekaym (though he shows up in AoW), but you should probably make them slightly younger and maybe ditch their NPC class levels.
Give Gortio a new alias.
Oooooh, Gortio! I totally missed that potentially INFINITE possibility. Replacing current love interests, creating completely new ones, lots of possibility there! If I had been thinking, I'd have played his card earlier, and set up a different "love hook" NPC via him for each of them. Wonder if they would get suspicious when they noticed no two of their respective "significant others" were ever around at the same time. If they even noticed!
Great idea, I need to give that a shot. Maybe even look into the possibility of Gortio bailing on the bad guys during the endgame, especially if I can mesh him well with the dwarf in the party.
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Oooooh, Gortio! I totally missed that potentially INFINITE possibility. Replacing current love interests, creating completely new ones, lots of possibility there! If I had been thinking, I'd have played his card earlier, and set up a different "love hook" NPC via him for each of them. Wonder if they would get suspicious when they noticed no two of their respective "significant others" were ever around at the same time. If they even noticed!
Great idea, I need to give that a shot. Maybe even look into the possibility of Gortio bailing on the bad guys during the endgame, especially if I can mesh him well with the dwarf in the party.
Yeah, Gortio cleans up well.