Okay, so this takes place in a solo campaign I am running for my wife. (We are running through the Price of Immortality arc just so you know)
Anyways, my wife's two companions are a human wizard and a human cleric and they are all from the same village. The wizard is cocky, somewhat arrogant and handsome. (I showed her a picture of Howl from Miyazake's Howl's Moving Castle) He's shown very little regard for people or small animals (he zapped a sparrow animal messenger with a magic missile for disturbing his reading). Unbeknownst to her, he has become attracted to her character and is struggling to figure out how to woo her. He is unable to let go of his cool, guarded demeanor, which is the main reason why he is unable to express his feelings to her. [AL N]
The cleric is the polar opposite. He starred in my "How do you play a high wis/low int character" thread. I described him as tall, sturdy, but slightly overweight. (I told her to picture a slightly overweight Richard Cypher from the Legend of the Seeker TV series) He is an all-around nice guy and sincerely cares about other people. He has also fallen for my wife's character, but shyness and a sense of mission (he wants her to focus on the task at hand) holds him back. [AL LG]
My wife's character is a female ranger. She does not necessarily have the highest charisma (12), but she is confident, capable, and comely in a girl-next-door way. She is somewhat of a tomboy and has a higher strength score than both of her male suitors. Nevertheless, she has picked up on their cues over the past few sessions and has told me OOC that her character finds the wizard extremely attractive. Last session, she roleplayed her character as acting a little flirtatious towards the wizard (this is all in the midst of infiltrating a cult of Razmir, if you can imagine that) and the cleric--with his high wisdom--has picked up on that. [Both my wife and her ranger are CG]
With that said, I have a few questions:
How do you think the cleric will react?
How should the wizard proceed in order to woo her successfully (and not cause her to lose interest?)
How will this affect the dynamic between the wizard and the cleric? (They were acquaintances before, but never really knew each other prior to their first quest)
How will this affect the cleric's relationship with her?
How will this affect overall party dynamics?
Let the drama commence!
First of all, I've been running a solo campaign for my wife for the last two years. It's just awesome, and better for the relationship than sitting around and watching TV. I hope you two are having as much fun with it as we are.
NPC interactions in solo games with somebody you trust that much can get a little... erm... intense; a heck of a lot more intense than you get in a gaming group, at least. Keeping that in mind, have some fun with the cleric.
Between the sense of duty, the shyness, and his alignment, I would play the cleric as the "guy in the friend zone." He would be the guy who is trying to be ever so sensitive and supportive of everything she does, would be her confidante, and give her a shoulder to cry on, all while secretly wishing the wizard would just do something bad enough to get dumped (or at least to make her lose interest).
But as a shy, LG type, he's unlikely to do do anything beyond some passive-aggressive pouting. Make him a doormat, always ready to help her out with anything, especially those things the wizard wouldn't. Above all, I'd make him somewhat tragic, taking every opportunity to make your wife feel sorry for him...
As for relations between the cleric and wizard? Cordial. If the cleric thinks of himself as taking the high ground, he's going to do everything possible to make it apparent that he isn't upset by the developing situation.
First of all, I've been running a solo campaign for my wife for the last two years. It's just awesome, and better for the relationship than sitting around and watching TV. I hope you two are having as much fun with it as we are.
Huh! I wish...
/jealous
I can't even get my wife to walk into a local gaming store. She claims the proximity to so many gamers gives her a nerd-migraine.
I can't even get her to play a card game.
I consider her the anti-geek. I'm quite certain that if we get too close, we'll explode and begin a universe-destroying chain reaction.
Ah, well, I can't have everything. She's great in every other way...
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Love brings out the worst in man!
I would make the wizard tease her, drag her along a little bit he is smart he knows this will drive her crazy and make her want him that much more!
The cleric although LG could do subtle but evil things towards the wizard to prevent him from stealing/hurting her. This could be a major down fall in the clerics faith and duty to his god. Seeing what he has lot for her she might feel guilty about him falling from grace.
You could make the Cleric like Adun in the Avatar trilogy. He can pout about everything with out mentioning anything.
Either way I am jealous that your wife plays D&D little alone in a solo campaign...sigh. :(.
Please keep us up to date with whats going on, sounds very interesting.
Soooo many ways to take this. Here's one:
How do you think the cleric will react?
LG? He'll take it like a man and congratulate his rival, telling him he's a lucky man.
At first, that is.
Eventually he'll grow bitter and resentful, overcome by lust and envy (two of the Big Seven right there), and then his pride (three of Seven) drive him to extreme measures, maybe even to wrath (four of Seven). Hey, with four of the Seven Deadly Sins against him, it's a cinch that his alignment will slip, followed by losing his spells, and making the inevitable play for her (kidnapping) or the ranger (murder).
How should the wizard proceed in order to woo her successfully (and not cause her to lose interest?)
First, he gives no concern to the cleric's feelings. He might even rub the guy's nose in it a bit, without letting the ranger catch onto that.
Second, he's neutral, so his own interests (romance, lust, gratification, whatever) are more important than the rangers. Even if he realizes he should be a gentleman to win her heart (clever guy), his own selfishness and lack of regard for other people will betray him in the end.
But he's smart. He'll make a good run at it, say the right things, do the right things, at least for a while. He'll be smart enough to manipulate her, at least somewhat (yeah, that's the realm of Charisma, but INT is a fair substitute sometimes).
In the end, he'll lose her because he's too selfish and doesn't really care about her, and she'll figure that out (you'll make sure she does with little RP clues, but not too soon - see below).
How will this affect the dynamic between the wizard and the cleric? (They were acquaintances before, but never really knew each other prior to their first quest)
The cleric takes the high road, consoling himself that his companion was the better man this time, and besides, that chaotic ranger is far too flighty for his taste.
The wizard would get cocky, but be smart enough to not let the ranger see that, at least at first. His cockiness will irritate the cleric, but the cleric is too big a man to act on that irritation.
(that word that keeps getting blanked out is a male rooster, it rhymes with sock, and it's not a bad word at all).
How will this affect the cleric's relationship with her?
See above. Until his alignment shifts, if you go that route, or never if you don't, he'll try to be the bigger man. Long sad faces when he thinks she's not looking and forgets to mask his feelings.
After his alignment shifts, he'll start to get gruff and stand-offish, and will blame her for not falling into his arms. He will villainize her in his own mind, which sets the stage for his justification in the eventual kindapping or murder attempt.
How will this affect overall party dynamics?
Well, up until the kidnapping/murder, it won't be too bad. Rising tension between the two men as the cocky one keeps irritating the lovelorn one. It would have been much worse if the neutral guy had lost the girl, but because the cleric is, for now, LG, he won't let a thing like this interfere with his duty, or with his doing the right thing.
The eventual fall from grace for the cleric is an intriguing concept...which I just might exploit. You'd never expect it from him, but I can see him becoming an excellent long term villain in this campaign if I play this right.
The fact of the matter is, my wife basically has NO romantic interest in the cleric whatsoever. I portray him to be a very wholesome, nice guy, but she pretty much only notices him whenever she needs healing. He's tried to be a better man on one occasion, but it just made my wife uncomfortable. Basically, he picked up the signals she was sending to the wizard and suggested that they go speak to their contact together, while he goes by himself to buy and sell supplies. His intention was to leave them with some alone time, but it backfired. The wizard played it cool and basically ignored the cleric's clumsy attempt at matchmaking, but my wife felt very awkward.
Anyways, thanks for all of your feedback; I really appreciate it. If you ever do get a chance to run a solo campaign for a significant other, PLEASE JUMP ON THE OPPORTUNITY! Scheduling games is so much easier if you live with your only player and logistics is a breeze. Plus, you can take RP'ing to a whole new dimension. It's just great to have her talk to you about the campaign when you go grocery shopping :)
The way I got my wife hooked on gaming is to convert her younger brother. Once he became a regular player in my gaming group, it wasn't very hard to persuade her to join as well. She was very intimidated at first, but I basically walked her through making her first character, reading aloud large portions of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting to give her ideas. Just make it a very interactive experience and she'll enjoy it greatly. Don't fall into the temptation of doing everything for her though :)
Plus, you can take RP'ing to a whole new dimension.
Not to mention all the LARP'ing...
The way I got my wife hooked on gaming is to convert her younger brother. Once he became a regular player in my gaming group, it wasn't very hard to persuade her to join as well. She was very intimidated at first, but I basically walked her through making her first character, reading aloud large portions of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting to give her ideas. Just make it a very interactive experience and she'll enjoy it greatly. Don't fall into the temptation of doing everything for her though :)
Hah, if 18 years of holding weekly gaming sessions right here in her house, with some of our mutual friends, often with her right in the room, couldn't motivate her to do anything but laugh at the suggestion that she should join us, or just me, I don't think even god could move this immovable object...
Yes, the LARPing part is quite awesome...
I'm still thinking that the cleric should be played like Duckie in Pretty in Pink, but that's just me...
One of the big differences between a group game and a solo game (esp with a spouse) is pacing. In my wife's and my game, a shopping trip can take 2-3 hours as she converses with every NPC. We've been known to spend hours roleplaying a conversation at a cafe. As long as the player is still paying attention, the DM's job is done.
The other side of this is that the solo DM needs to lay off the character development a bit. Step back and let the character change slowly. Just a bit here and there, if you decide to do have the cleric fall from grace, do it slowly, in fits and starts, a snide comment here, a rude gesture there. You've got plenty of time.
Also, if your wife is getting caught up in the mechanics of the game, try using a really low-crunch game like Spirit of the Century. Game prep becomes five minutes scrawling names in a notebook, which makes scheduling games even easier.
Thanks for all the suggestions! We just wrapped up Mask of the Living God and she had a lot of fun interacting with the cultists :)
With regards to LARPing, I was really able to play up the slimy, lecherous nature of the main boss of that module. I played up the whole creepy and perverse nature of the cult by mentioning how women will be brought into the complex, but would not be seen leaving. She felt extremely out of place as she was one of two women inside the complex. When she finally confronted the boss, she had several choice words to spare with him. Even though they fought him to a draw prior to escaping, my wife can't wait to fight him again.
The cleric's fall from grace is a long ways off. He threw himself into harm's way several times to save her life, but did not really get acknowledged. On the contrary, the wizard's brilliant plan to escape from the complex with a pyrotechnics spell bought him a lot of kudos. Nevertheless, resentment is slowly starting to pour into his heart.
When I roleplay the cleric, I have an earnest, concerned expression and I speak slowly with a slight rural accent. When I roleplay the wizard, I put on a very focused stare (think Michael Schofield in Prison Break) and speak softly but articulately. So far, my wife can tell the two apart without me saying who is who.
It can work way differently. I don't think he should fall from grace at all (although it could be very cool) Why not turn the tables? He can simply say "No". He can remain the GOOD guy, but he doesn't have to be NICE. He doesn't have to heal them all the time, or treat them with respect if he doesn't get any.
Besides, it's a magical world, if he REALLY wants her, he can woo her in diferent ways, he could use items and spells to boost his charisma and appearance, his inteligence and so on, and so forth.
From the little you have described, her character seems a little bit shallow, he can compensate that in a number of ways, magical and mundane. But the way I see it (and the cleric may see it too) if he treats her "worse" he has more chance to get some, maybe he'll do just that.