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Post by hawk on May 27, 2015 16:00:58 GMT
Situation: New player's bard was successfully introduced to my campaign last week... he had come "from town" where he said he "had relations" with the female propietor of the Inn who then gave him instructions on how to catch up with the rest of the party she had commissioned to explore reports of wierd / unsettling things going on outside of town. NPC is married... didn't want to kill the players spirit.. but didn't want to get into how complexities and my non-interest of extra marital "relations" in my game could lead to ugly outcomes for his character as well as other distracting issues sending the game down unwanted avenues.
How might I address with the player without killing his spirit.? I think he was trying to fit in as it was his first session.
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Samuel Wise
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Post by Samuel Wise on May 27, 2015 16:13:10 GMT
How might I address with the player without killing his spirit.? I think he was trying to fit in as it was his first session. Great question, I am not the master DM, but I have dealt with almost the exact same problem. One of my players (a wizard named Will I think) wanted to have fled the country because of a relationship he had with the Queen. This posed huge problems since the King was (supposedly) the NPC who asked the players to rescue his princess. This would have created very awkward and unavoidable bad moment. (Note: the Players screwed so bad with the story that they never met the king and "accidentally" saved the princess). All I had to do (and note that I am very inexperienced and haven't worked my Adam muscles that often) is walk through exactly what this meant for the player character. It soon became apparent that the Player did not even want his character to be "that sort of person". It was mainly a spur of the moment idea and I didn't even have to say "no you cannot do that"... Perhaps if you just walk the player through the implications affecting that character (what this makes his character appear as, how this might affect his characters idealology, etc.). He might want to change all on his own. Please, as well, take this with a grain of salt since I have only dealt with this once and with one particular person...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 16:39:08 GMT
Is it especially important to the story that the innkeeper is married? And that she's faithful? Unless you're planning a major story arc involving the fidelity of the innkeeper and her spouse, I'd just go with it.
The only thing that might make me hesitate to approve that plot hook is if I knew the player to be a womanizer/misogynist/mens rights activist/etc and he was using my game to satisfy his world view of women.
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Post by DMC on May 27, 2015 17:03:05 GMT
Is it especially important to the story that the innkeeper is married? And that she's faithful? Unless you're planning a major story arc involving the fidelity of the innkeeper and her spouse, I'd just go with it. Pretty much this. Did you go into details about the innkeeper and her husband? Or was it just a quick one-line of "She's married."? If it's the latter, it's super-easy to retcon that and say that to everyone else they were thought to be married, but only known to the innkeeper and her husband, they'd split a while ago. Maybe just kept up appearances to save face, or whatever reason you want. If they are NPC's of semi-to-really important, then just have the husband die of some cause while the adventurers are out on a quest. Those are a couple examples of ways to work around it, say "Yes, and..." to the player who's story idea it was, while at the same time avoiding those "relationship" element dangers that you'd rather avoid. Plus you could maybe work in someday, that the PC finds out they have a kid, etc. Lots of story ripe there, without having the "affair story" come into play immediately.
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Post by DMC on May 27, 2015 17:04:06 GMT
Is it especially important to the story that the innkeeper is married? And that she's faithful? Unless you're planning a major story arc involving the fidelity of the innkeeper and her spouse, I'd just go with it. Pretty much this. Did you go into details about the innkeeper and her husband? Or was it just a quick one-line of "She's married."? If it's the latter, it's super-easy to retcon that and say that to everyone else they were thought to be married, but only known to the innkeeper and her husband, they'd split a while ago. Maybe just kept up appearances to save face, or whatever reason you want. If they are NPC's of semi-to-really important, then just have the husband die of some cause while the adventurers are out on a quest. Those are a couple examples of ways to work around it, say "Yes, and..." to the player who's story idea it was, while at the same time avoiding those "relationship" element dangers that you'd rather avoid. Plus you could maybe work in someday, that the PC finds out they have a kid, etc. Lots of story ripe there, without having the "affair story" come into play immediately.
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Post by DMC on May 27, 2015 17:06:11 GMT
...as well as other distracting issues sending the game down unwanted avenues. By the way...this right here is D&D in a nutshell. Ha ha ha! It will happen, and the sooner you learn to ad-hoc it on the fly, the better. Best laid plans, and all that.
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Post by joatmoniac on May 27, 2015 18:32:21 GMT
While "Yes and ..." should always be your go to answer to things. I could understand why you might not want to say "Yes and ..." to this one. I think almarianknight has the right idea in presenting the negative consequences that would come with that course of events. The other option that comes to mind is that the Bard was lying in character and actually just paid for the information, or talked it out of her. Definitely try to make more of it than just shutting the player down, but make sure that you and the player are comfortable with where things end up.
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Post by hawk on May 28, 2015 1:37:02 GMT
Thanks to all for the discussion / suggestions! Great stuff! I think I'll just summon a red dragon... j.k.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2015 14:10:46 GMT
Or...he says he had relations, she says he came on to her and she kicked him out of the Inn.
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Samuel Wise
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Post by Samuel Wise on Jun 1, 2015 16:03:16 GMT
He said that she said that she never had relations, but what he really said to her was that he never had relations with her. Her husband just thought that he said she never said that she loved him, but she is all right with him as long as he doesn't tell her what he was saying. She is probably wrong...
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Post by hawk on Jun 14, 2015 23:49:11 GMT
Just a quick update: I was able restate / weave my PC's comments about his relations within the current game to further his image as a bard who is trying hard.... maybe a little too hard to fit in and perhaps try to take over leadership of the group... he liked it... he understood the nuance and will use that as a potential flaw ( poser ladies man who strikes out more often than not ). I will probably get with him on the side and talk about how we can have a lot of fun with it... like he is always getting slapped for no apparent reason...
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Post by joatmoniac on Jun 15, 2015 5:21:05 GMT
I will probably get with him on the side and talk about how we can have a lot of fun with it... like he is always getting slapped for no apparent reason... Glad things worked out, and quite well it sounds. I would definitely keep the player invested and working with you so that you can guide them away from anything you are fully comfortable with. The idea of random slaps definitely makes me think of Jack Sparrow and should make for some hilarious role playing.
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dmjack
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Post by dmjack on Jul 11, 2015 23:58:32 GMT
Situation: New player's bard was successfully introduced to my campaign last week... he had come "from town" where he said he "had relations" with the female propietor of the Inn who then gave him instructions on how to catch up with the rest of the party she had commissioned to explore reports of wierd / unsettling things going on outside of town. NPC is married... didn't want to kill the players spirit.. but didn't want to get into how complexities and my non-interest of extra marital "relations" in my game could lead to ugly outcomes for his character as well as other distracting issues sending the game down unwanted avenues. How might I address with the player without killing his spirit.? I think he was trying to fit in as it was his first session. Well this sounds like the perfect opportunity to make an even more interesting story. You don't need to go the old route of "jilted husband." Perhaps the husband doesn't know. Perhaps the taudry affair hasn't ended there. Perhaps the players will come across a quest giver who sends them on quests, perhaps that quest giver is a likable guy, and very reliable, a friend who even helps them out sometimes. Only to find out that his wife (which he may have alluded to earlier) is actually the Innkeeper. In these situations I never shy from allowing the consequences of a players action to play out. They create tension and drama, and make your story and your world more interesting. And even if it ends badly, I guarantee that the new player will remember that character, and will think highly of that campaign. In a nutshell, my advice, never let a good opportunity pass up.
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Post by kjmagle on Jul 28, 2015 15:07:03 GMT
You could've gave him a random D&D STD... Something like he gets an itchy crotch which happens when he is trying to roll diplomacy or intimidate and he woukd get a -5 to rolls since he is scratching while he is talking.
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Post by DM Kiado on Jul 29, 2015 17:03:49 GMT
Tell him she is X months pregnant with your child now. The Kingdom has a "Dead Beat" bad clause that gets you hung up in the square if you don't take care of you kids. Then have him roleplay several sessions taking care of a newborn.
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