Hi All,
My situation is an odd one as my wife and I are the makeup of this game. In short, she is soloing with NPCs making up the party and I (the GM) have a multi-personality issue created stats and 11 odd NPCs. BUT! We are having the time of our lives with this AP.
Since she is the main character of the story and wanted a family, I had to get creative fast! I had a new npc, The Duke of Welborne, act as a representative for the Swordlords during the mid-first-book story line. He would come and check-up on the party and well, flirt.
So here we are in the second book with celebrations of marriage, children, and festivals. If your players want to flesh out a character with family and such, there isn't a better AP to do it in. This has really added to the story!
What sort of character developement situations have you run into or want to do? Hey, as always, it YOUR game so go for it.
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I introduced a love interest for the Dwarven Baron which let me play into my Pratchettesque take on Dwarven Romance (the young lovers must buy each other from their respective families).
Two of my players are in a relationship and role played their characters getting together in game (complete with a love triangle as the male character was married, and a werewolf (long story)). When that love triangle exploded it was entertainment for all!
I introduced a wizard to act as an NPC Magister that one of the elves in my party instantly fell for. So they've hooked up, but can a romance between a human and an elf really last?
I introduced a daughter of Lord Maegar Varn to tie the two baronies together as she was flirting with the Warden. Now he's dead and his replacement is an 18 year old boy.
Most of my players have given me some good character stuff.
The (now-)Duke of the kingdom recently married the daughter of Baron Maegor Varn, and they are now expecting a child. (Sadly, we have just begun Varnhold Vanishing, and it appears obvious the child will grow up without maternal grandparents.) His father is also the kingdom's Magister, a crotchety old (old is key here, as he's an elf and was a young man when Choral the Conqueror put Brevoy together) man obsessed with the search for missing aiudaras (aiudarai? aiudarin? What's the elven plural?)
The General married his childhood sweetheart in the interrim between Stolen Lands and Rivers Run Red. (There was a bit where he had to rescue her from his romantic rival, a recently-appointed Swordlord, and convince her father to grant him the right to marry her.) They have now have twins - a baby human girl and a baby tiefling boy. (The reason for the boy being a tiefling have been unexplored.)
The Marshal is an exiled half-orc, whose brother has begun to hunt him throughout the world of Golarion, and has brought his tribe to the Slough, and will be figuring more prominently once we start off Blood for Blood. I plan on introducing some possible love interests for him then as well.
I think the fact that the AP allows for time to pass at its own pace - it's been nearly five years now for my group in-world - that allows for a lot of change and growth in characters beyond the usual AP.
Lots of love and marriage (and other romantic interaction) in Alexander Kilcoyne's Kingmaker PbP game. I recommend reading the threads (Links:Chapter 1 and Chapter 2).
Here are the highlights:
- Our noble Baron and paladin of Iomadae, is about to marry the lovely sorceress Vaysh (PC turned NPC when her player had to drop out of the game)
- My character, the Spymaster of our young barony, is married to Kressle (yes, THAT Kressle). She smacked me unconscious and threatened to cut my head off on our first date.
- Our Elf wizard has a good eye to a certain local flirt.
- And the latest addition to our group, a halfling sorcerer, has a rather active social-life, if the stories are to be trusted.
The majority of our Kingmaker party is romantically involved with someone, save the party wizard, who is romantically involved with symbols (mathematics, laws, our kingdom's budget...).
Our king married a Teskertin gal. He had some of the moon radish soup and gave her twin girls, whose alignment will not be dictated by our cleric councilor's planar ally friends ensuring that future issue will be LG. Oh yes, he went there.
Our fighter and inspiring General who venerates Gorum is cohabiting with a ranger of Erastil and they have a son. Jhod has finally gotten around to quit harassing the high priestess of Sarenrae to settle down and produce offspring to correct this glaring abomination in His Lord's eyes.
My cleric and her paladin cohort, Akiros Ismort have been married for about a year in-game now, and despite being literally melted by dragon's breath in her first trimester safely delivered an Aasamir child by GM fiat last session. That's a natural, non-moon radish soup child, conceived in Sarenrae's domain in Nirvana.
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Aw jeez, where to even start? Our group really digs the PC/NPC interactions, and we often cram in a couple one-on-one RP sessions in person or via chat throughout the week between game sessions.
Warning! This is gonna be long! Relationships are a very major part of our game.
Original Party: Saachi, aggressively optimistic young battle oracle, strong in spirit, but naive to the ways of the world. Nico, recently ex-bandit crossbowman, grumpy, opportunistic little guy. Arturo, a kind and friendly sorcerer despite being mischievous and a compulsive liar. Kalen, a brilliant but socially inept alchemist who veers wildly between being shy and kind, and selfish and creepy.
Saachi made friends with Rebekah, a young Varisian Harrower who eventually joined the party at Oleg's. Rebekah liked Nico's dog, Mutt, and Nico used this as an in to flirt with her whenever possible. Rebekah thought Nico was nice, and was happy. Kalen developed a crush on Svetlana (they cooked meals together, and she took care of him when he was sick), and then a deeper crush on Saachi. Since Arturo was paying attention to Saachi, too, Kalen took it to be a competition. Arturo didn't see it that way, but sort of shrugged and went with it. Two bandits, Conrad and Jeremias, survived the attack on Oleg's, and surrendered to the party to help them in their travels. Conrad, a bit dim, decided that it was his calling to be a hero as well, and practically worships Saachi (and, to a lesser extent, Arturo) as the embodiment of all that is heroic. Jeremias was thrilled to see a girl that was nowhere near as off-putting as Kressle, and tried to spend as much time with Saachi as possible, much to Arturo's irritation. ("You quit lookin' at her with your bandity eyes!") Nico and Saachi clashed often, as her black-and-white view of morality was a constant irritation to Nico, who lived by the Six River Freedoms.
When the group took Thorn River Camp, they did so with no casualties, and gained a new batch of prisoners/followers. Fiddler McCoy took to spying on and sucking up to everyone to try to figure out who was in charge and who he should attach himself to for maximal protection. He also happily flirted with Saachi, mostly to annoy Jeremias, who had started acting a bit holier-than-thou to the other bandits. Kalen developed yet another crush on Kressle's right-hand woman, Lor, but he came on a bit too strong. She told him to back off in no uncertain terms, and he returned his attention to Saachi, making her jewelry and such as gifts. Returning to Oleg's after a particularly cold and awful storm, Nico crawled onto Rebekah's bed and collapsed. Rebekah didn't have the heart to move him, and let him sleep there. This later led to misunderstandings and hurt feelings after Nico began implying that the two had "slept together." Kavken started trying to set Rebekah up with a nice honest trapper (much to her annoyance), and Svetlana had her come sleep inside the house. Fiddler discovered he was more attracted to Arturo and Kalen than to Saachi. Nico was killed by a shambling mound, and everybody felt terrible, especially when they had to tell Rebekah, who was devastated. Mutt stayed at Oleg's with Rebekah. Kressle agreed to help the party if they would spare the Stag Lord and help him conquer his alcoholism.
A no-nonsense big game hunter named Tev joined the party, and Kressle slept with him the first night. ("Finally, a REAL man.") Legends of Nico's loyalty and bravery grew larger than life. Saachi and Arturo engaged in friendly flirtations, and Kressle antagonized Arturo mercilessly, delighting in making the fast-talker at a loss for words. Tev and Kalen clashed repeatedly, Kalen arguing pragmatism and Tev arguing honor and tradition. Kressle proved her loyalty by lying to the Stag Lord for the party. Fiddler kissed Kalen, who wasn't sure how he felt about it, since he had started to have feelings for Rebekah. Lor asked Kalen to kill Dovan for her. The party infiltrated the Stag Lord's fort dressed as bandits, and as part of their cover story, Saachi pretended to be Arturo's girlfriend and Kalen's sister. Bandits hit on her left and right, especially Dirty Jeb, who insisted on calling her things like "toots" and "doll." Dovan and Saachi engaged in some verbal fencing. An epic fight and myriad complications ensued. Saachi insta-crushed on Akiros when he defected to their side. Kressle continued sleeping with Tev off and on.
Arturo asked Kressle to babysit Auchs, and she talked him into not just increasing her pay, but bringing back a present. Kalen realized that he did have more of a brother/sister relationship with Saachi, and after a heart-to-heart conversation, the two grew closer than ever. He enlisted her help in wooing Rebekah and convincing her to travel with the party. Fiddler asked Saachi to spare Dovan, and drunkenly confessed his love to Kalen, who still wouldn't outright tell him no. Kalen rearranged the watch schedule so Saachi and Akiros would be together. Hints started to show up here and there that Kressle had feelings for Arturo. Saachi started taunting Dovan and playing pranks on her prisoner. Dovan had a comeback for each one, which only infuriated her more, and set into motion an ongoing game that is a guilty pleasure of both participants. Rebekah and Kalen held hands, and Fiddler found out Saachi had been running interference for Kalen. Lor has become very protective of Rebekah around the bandits, but isn't sure how wary she should be of Kalen, since she thinks he's a creeper, too. Saachi has been talking to Dovan in private and not telling anybody. Tev opened up and shared his backstory with Rebekah. Jeb asked on behalf of his fellow bandits for some "adult literature," and the PCs delivered so the bandits would hopefully shut up about it.
I warned you! As you can see, this includes virtually no plot elements; a huge chunk of our game is character-driven. It's a Pathfinder soap opera over here...
Facts:
-Dirty Jeb is right. The Greenbelt is kind of a sausage-fest. Even with adding Rebekah, Lor, and a female book merchant, that brings the total up to a whopping six. Saachi is starting to wonder if she is getting all the attention because people like her, or if they just like her because she is a girl. The answer is probably not what she wants to hear.
-By the year 2013, it is estimated that Kalen will have had a crush on 6% of Golarion's total humanoid population.
-Poking and antagonizing the PCs through Kressle and Dovan is probably one of the most fun things ever. My group is all about the shared storytelling experience, and we are absolutely not enemies at the gaming table, but there is a simple joy to trolling, and Kressle and Dovan are good at what it is that they do.
-Probably more than half of the Harrowings Rebekah has performed for the party have been related to relationship issues.
-Arturo left a trail of exes as he traveled across the world, and some of them might just be paying a visit one of these days.
-Saachi's player has been drawing pictures of what the children might look like if she and Arturo decided to "produce an heir."
-The in-depth backstories for the NPCs make this AP a blast to dig into.
-Kingmaker is a wonderful AP, and just about a perfect fit for our group.
tl;dr = part Pathfinder, part shoujo anime
Great idea for a thread, SaintMac! I'm looking forward immensely to seeing how kingdom building/ruling impacts the social dynamic of our game, and it was fun to read what other people's games are like. Casimir, I'm glad you had enough love in your heart for Kressle. She's a whole lotta woman! XD
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The majority of our Kingmaker party is romantically involved with someone, save the party wizard, who is romantically involved with symbols (mathematics, laws, our kingdom's budget...).
Our king married a Teskertin gal. He had some of the moon radish soup and gave her twin girls, whose alignment will not be dictated by our cleric councilor's planar ally friends ensuring that future issue will be LG. Oh yes, he went there.
Our fighter and inspiring General who venerates Gorum is cohabiting with a ranger of Erastil and they have a son. Jhod has finally gotten around to quit harassing the high priestess of Sarenrae to settle down and produce offspring to correct this glaring abomination in His Lord's eyes.
My cleric and her paladin cohort, Akiros Ismort have been married for about a year in-game now, and despite being literally melted by dragon's breath in her first trimester safely delivered an Aasamir child by GM fiat last session. That's a natural, non-moon radish soup child, conceived in Sarenrae's domain in Nirvana.
Congrats on the baby-makin'! My group (IC, not OOC) is kind of socially awkward, so we're still in the early stages of romance. But good for you guys! How are people handling the raising of the children? Are the parents around most of the time? Do nannies take care of it mostly? I am curious.
Akiros is just begging to be romanced, isn't he? ^_^ What a great character to include in the first adventure. Handsome and broody and ripe for a redemption story arc, which I am eternally a sucker for. I think Dovan's pretty hot, too, but...yeah, not really marriage material, to put it rather mildly. :P
Glad to know Kavken is being a well-meaning nuisance in someone else's game, too. :)
Congrats on the baby-makin'! My group (IC, not OOC) is kind of socially awkward, so we're still in the early stages of romance. But good for you guys! How are people handling the raising of the children? Are the parents around most of the time? Do nannies take care of it mostly? I am curious.
As a PC, I have not yet decided how to handle this. Her first instinct is to have the baby in one of those slings against her breast at all moments of the day while she is working. She's living in Pitax for the winter, likely serving as a facilitator, and working to improve the quality of life for the people. Without spoiling too much, there's danger all about, and she is more than aware that there are plenty of creatures and persons about who would delight in harming her family. It's something I have to sit down and hash out with my GM, actually, as it will effect the game quite a bit, I should think.
As for the other mothers, they are NPCs. Out of sight, and for the most, out of mind.
Hmmm...
since my group consist of a human paladin (now Duke), a half-elf ranger/cavalier (switched from general to magister, long story), an elf (ranger/rogue/assassin - bought a ring of magic aura to hide from the paladin and is LE) and gnome sorceress (gold dragon bloodline who ist now grand diplomat) they are thinking more dynastical than romantic.
So the Duke is going to marry his paladin cohort from Taldor. The Magister is not envolved in romantic affairs but he will be trust me.
The elf is surly the one that will be coupled latest.Since the PCs are the four members of the Founders Council that effectively has all the political power in his hands and they decided that these members can announce a heir that only has to be approved by the Founders Council itself i guess he maybe choose someone and announce him/her heir without biological interaction.
The gnome did as gnomes do. She looked for male gnome (interracial relations including gnomes are infertile on Golarion) had some bed sports with him and when she got pregnant waved him goodbye. Usual gnomish behaviour. She now has a one foot 'tall' curious girl of 2 months that due to the incredible fast developing mobility of gnomish childs (crawl within 6 weeks, walk less than 6 months) is a constant hesitation to the Duke's Staff. And she (the baby) allied with Munguk the Giant (Rivers run Red) who is the Duchy's Royal Assassin/Executioner.
Our access to the Stolen Lands was actually based on a marriage alliance. We're playing in a homebrew world, so we needed a bit different explanation. Our exploration charter was owned by a noble who gave it to her daughter (Siassara, NPC) and the daughter's fiance (Aleks, PC) as an engagement gift. Siassara traveled with us as our primary healer. When Aleks was killed by a werewolf just before we finished the first AP, Siassara was free to return to her boyfriend, Ervil Pendrod. Four years of game time later, they're still together, but haven't bothered to get married yet.
The first actual marriage we had in our Kingmaker was when we rolled a scandal and the DM decided that Jhod, whom we'd named High Priest, had gotten one of the lesser priestesses in his new temple "into a family way." A random dice roll declared her an elf with the unfortunate name of Melphia. They now have a son, and Jhod remains High Priest, while Melphia was just named Grand Diplomat.
The second one came partly because my character, Lina, was tired of hearing about how a nice young Baroness such as herself should really settle down, and partly because she was hoping it would help distract people from Gregori the rabble rouser. She was being courted by Meager Varn and being pined over from afar by Jasper Garrett, an NPC I put in her back story who is now working for Varn, but in the end chose to marry Melphia's predecessor as Grand Diplomat, an elf named Catesbaei Hansonii. (He, by the way, would be more recognizable if you knew that both of his names are species names of lilies. We had a primarily female party and the DM thought a male flirt would be more fun.) She doesn't love him, but she's grown quite fond of him now that they've been married nearly a year.
It should get more interesting, as I recently told the DM that the rogue-y Jasper would make a good cohort when Lina hits 7th level and takes leadership. I also plan to declare her pregnant at the end of our current AP (Rivers Run Red), unless the DM decides to make things interesting before then.