Back to RPG Index
|
|
© 1998-2001 Dru
Pagliassotti
All rights reserved.
Dating a Hero
 Tossing some romance
into a campaign is a fun way to enhance roleplaying, make players squirm,
and make sure their characters get dragged into the next adventure. GMs
should have some fun with the PCs when they play a romantically inclined
NPC—and one way to have fun is to make that romantic partner, whether
male or female, a grasping, greedy little groupie. Just don't clue in
the character until it's too late! Here
are some "getting into character" ideas for roleplaying the
next NPC one of the characters in your campaign decides to ask out!
Why a Groupie Would Date a Hero:
• Money
to Blow: Most heroes quickly become rich, rich, rich. (Well,
except for those shadowrunners, and they're a sleazy lot, anyway.) Who
else regularly brings home hoards of treasure or suitcases of unmarked
creds that can all be blown courting a sweetheart? And heroes can be so
careless with their cash, too.... Good thing they're always going off
to get more!
• Cool
Gifts: Let's face it, heroes give the best gifts around. Cool
magic swords, tiaras from slain vampire queens, still-unreleased prototype
cyberware ... the girls and guys who date heroes can quickly become the
envy of all their friends.
• Seldom
Around: Nothing can be more tiring than to have a hero hanging
around all the time, telling the same tired old demon-slaying or spice-running
stories over and over. Fortunately, heroes seem to always get called off
for some new mission or another, making spending their money so much easier.
• Great
Genetics: Most heroes are truly genetically gifted. Even the
ones who aren't superheroes often have incredible bodies, brains, or both.
Men and women with an eye toward raising a family will certainly choose
primo hero DNA for their kids.
• Very
Heroic: A hero won't think twice about slaying a dragon or storming
a death star or even punching out a tax man. As long as they're in town,
they can be relied on to pull your keister out of the coals ... and even
if they're not, you know they'll be around soon to save you from that
fate worse than death.
• Big
Support Group: Heroes have so many useful contacts! Even if your
sweetie isn't around, he or she has friends, family, contacts and agents
who can be called on for help. And if some of them are cute, too, well,
all the better.....
Why a Groupie Would NOT Date a Hero
• Paranoid:
Most heroes are really paranoid, which means putting up with a lot of
silliness like letting them wear their armor and carry their weapons on
dates, and always having to put up with a Truth spell or lie detector
test when they start getting on one of their "are you who I think
you are?" jags.
• Lots
of Enemies: Of course, that paranoia isn't always undeserved.
Dating a hero is all too often an adventure in itself, since his or her
enemies are always storming in and trying to take you hostage. Being captured
is a total inconvenience.
• Strange
Values: Most heroes don't understand how important it is to be
in fashion and keep the house neat and remember to walk the dog. They're
always distracted by the urge to save someone or stop some crime or another.
And there you are, stuck doing the laundry again.
• Loony
Friends: Heroes attract really weird people, and they don't seem
to mind if these social misfits hang out with them. It can be totally
embarrassing to be seen in public with a talking monkey or a lecherous
android or some wild-eyed prophet, but you'll never be able to convince
your sweetie to dump them.
• Comes
with Curses: Although they've got great genetics, a lot of heroes
also come with unsavory family curses or dark secrets like really being
a clone or an escaped slave or something. Be sure to check their background
out very carefully before you decide to start a family.
• Always
Tempted: Incubi, succubi, femmes and hommes fatale, sex-droids,
the Beefcakes from Planet Beachboy ... you never know what temptations
your sweetie is facing, and whether he or she is staying faithful. Consider
cultivating ESP to keep track of what he or she is thinking while you're
not around. Or even when you are around....
.
originally written February 26, 1999
Back to top of page
|
