I'm looking for inspiration for writing up an NPC love interest for the party I DM, so I thought I'd ask what what's worked for you?
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I would say the most important thing about any potential love interest is player buy-in. If you have a player who has already made it clear that they're up for that kind of story (through handing you a ready-made love interest in their background story, or making it clear that the character is on the lookout for romance/sex/companionship) then by all means, run with it.
Other players don't want anything to do with any such entanglements, and might even get stressed out IRL if something like that is foisted upon them in game. Romance and relationships can be very sensitive topics for some people, and that should be respected.
Many players are somewhere in between, where it's not any kind of priority for their characters, but under the right circumstances, they might enjoy a romantic subplot.
So, assuming for now that it's something your players are willing to go along with...
* Don't assume that your players are going to find the NPC as fascinating as you think they should. People--especially players and their PCs--are unpredictable, and will latch onto unexpected details, for good or ill.
* Give the player(s) a reason to interact with the NPC that doesn't hinge on them being a love interest. Maybe they're the party's contact in an organization, or an expert in their field, or a friendly rival, or just that colorful person they always want to check in on when they're in town. That gets the PC(s) more invested in the NPC, and makes the time you spent on the NPC pay off even if romance never blooms.
* Take a look at RPGs that put more emphasis on romance and relationships, such as Blue Rose or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for ideas and advice about how to handle such elements. (Much of the GMing section of the BtVS rulebook boils down to, "This show is a soap opera, and here's how to run one.")
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Great advice from Tim Emrick.
To address your question specifically, I had a character who fell in love with a whore in a brothel. It started as a joke (out of character); as we were...resting...my character confessed that he's "never felt this way about anyone". After that, though, I decided to run with it, and eventually spirited her away from the brothel to come live with me.
Not sure how much that helps, but I think it does reinforce Tim Emrick's post - this romance wasn't planned by myself or the GM, which probably was what made it mean so much in the long run, especially when I found out that the powers that be who ran the brothel were now after their stolen property.
good stuff
No worries--I've got player buy-in and I've run this kind of subplot before with her in other campaigns. She's playing a Magical Vigilante, basically Sailor Moon. Her character is also a noble scion, so having people court her character is part of the character concept. I just need some ideas to get my creative juices flowing, so I thought people sharing their stories of NPCs would help.
In my experience, the best ones just sort of happen on their own. An NPC (or PC!) will just have traits that interest another character and things go organically from there.
I've seen it happen with everything from load-bearing plot-critical NPCs in published products to "I dunno, let's say the bartender in this throwaway inn is a single dad with muttonchop sideburns."
In my experience, the best ones just sort of happen on their own. An NPC (or PC!) will just have traits that interest another character and things go organically from there.
I've seen it happen with everything from load-bearing plot-critical NPCs in published products to "I dunno, let's say the bartender in this throwaway inn is a single dad with muttonchop sideburns."
Same here. Sometimes it's hard to tell who players are going to latch on to, and while I can sometimes predict NPC romance prospects for PCs based on what the player's told me about their character, there are always those times that surprise you.
My suggestions:
- Think about the PC and what sorts of qualities appeal to her (asking the player to give you some background if necessary). What does she like/dislike in a person? What are her interests that she could have in common with someone else? Conversely, what are things that could provide good fodder for an "initially disagree or are enemies but then grow to like and respect each other" relationship?
- Don't just make one prospective love interest, make a few potential ones. This will avoid pigeonholing the PC into romancing someone just to have a love interest if things aren't clicking with a particular character. It will also let things develop more organically since they have options.
- Once you've figured out a few qualities that the PC will like/dislike, make sure the character is a fully-rounded character outside of that. They shouldn't exist just to be "the love interest"; that's not very interesting. They should have their own goals and things going on in addition to the romance. Maybe think about examples of similar types of characters in books, movies, TV, etc. for inspiration if you get stuck.
Since you asked for examples, here's one from the Mummy's Mask campaign I ran awhile back:
PC- Skorri, a priest of Naderi with a doomed love for his goddess and a desire to prove himself to his family back home in the Land of the Linnorm Kings.
The adventure gave the names/descriptions of a bunch of rival adventurers in the first book, but not too many details on most of them, so I had to come up with a lot of characters. One of the ones I made was Khava, a cleric of Iomedae. She was from Rahadoum, but had to leave due to her religious faith, and took up with a party of adventurers whom she became friends with. When she met Skorri, both their respective parties were exploring a necropolis opened by the city authorities for exploration. I didn't create her with the specific expectation that they'd have a romance, though I did suspect she might be a romantic prospect for him based on what I knew of his character.
I started off with her history and basic personality traits and let things develop from there. She was a soft-spoken person and actually quite shy, though she tried to hide this as she didn't think it was fitting for a cleric of Iomedae. She was very protective of her friends and ended up being something of a "team mom" (which was similar to the role Skorri ended up having in the PC party), so they bonded over looking after their mischievous teammates. Though relatively quiet, she was also very stubborn--as you'd expect from someone who had to maintain her faith against her society's wishes.
As the campaign went along, she and Skorri went through the events of the path, handled starting their romance, and she had to deal with her own issues with her estranged family back in Rahadoum. (And they ended up adopting some street kids, which was also unexpected.)
One trick I've used to good effect is to have the love interest's romantic past rear its ugly head to complicate things.
In the solo Greek myth game that I run for my wife, her character started the game as a virgin acolyte of Artemis. She met a handsome demigod in her travels, and they both started falling for each other right away, but her vows severely curtailed how far things could go. While she was still mightily confused about all that, she met two of his past paramours, a pair of gorgeous Hyperborean princesses who he had grown up with. Both were a bit catty about his new crush, and one of them proved especially good at targeting the PC's insecurities. But this rival's aggression actually served to harden her resolve to fight for the relationship.