Our Journey Now (GLoGtober)

 Romance for GLoGtober 2024.

Howard Pyle

When I think about romance in adventure games, I immediately consult Udan Adan's Romance Plots in RPGs, which provides a great framework for creating "romance-ready" NPCs. They're pretty broadly useful, since using simple character tropes to evince depth can come up in romances, intrigues, persuasions, or other common PC activities. If the GLoGtober season calls on me to write on romance, it really behooves me to simply expand on the list provided at the end of that post, as I'm sure to have want of that at some point.

17. Workaholic Tyrant: Possesses rare executive abilities and runs their powerful organization well, but utterly neglects their interior life. Has no sense of themselves outside of the commands they issue and the hours they work. At risk of succeeding their soul out of their body.

18. Exploited Loyal: Servant of an unjust master. Often transmutes unworthy orders into humane ones. Beneficent and capable, they have no idea how little they are valued or how close their master is to expending them.

19. Widower: Nominally single, but as of yet incapable of moving past the notion that they must not love again. Warm, mature, and just a hair too committed. 

20. Devotee: Someone for whom emotional unavailability is the sign of a compact. They think that love is a distraction from what they, in fact, can only get from love. They are a perfect romantic, focused on the wrong object.

21. Wary Heir: Expect to come into their power soon, and excited to use it. Dynamic, altruistic, capably navigating between the Scylla and Charybdis of responsibility to their parent and opportunity to do something new. Gives mixed signals because they fear others will try to manipulate them to get at their birthright.

22. Monster: Fascinated by the world, but barred from normal participation in it. Possesses inhuman capabilities, but must constantly bend them toward preserving their own freedom. Engaging, earnest, hurt.

23. Bright Addict: Confident and self-directed, with a good head on their shoulders. Constantly drained by some singular exception, a chemical, relationship, or glamour that they cannot resist. Bravely insists on forging ahead with a relationship despite constantly being led to undercut it. Require an outside perspective.

24. Client: Someone at everyone's disposal. Perhaps a servant, or an envoy who is not at their own liberty. Utterly starved for personal connection, but lacks the legal or social means to protect themselves from abuse or misuse. Consequently, their amore resists their mutual feelings out of apprehension of taking advantage of the client.

25. Compelled Paramour: Either by curse or mundane wager, someone bound to act against their nature. This compulsion made be odious, or simply a clear indication that they aren't being straight-up. If it's possible to act against the compulsion, they hold back out of fear that no one would love the "real" them.

26. Dragon: Grim, habitual, stubborn, and out of touch. In many stories, an unstylish villain. Is it really so surprising that they yearn for one good thing, something they can safely treat well, and know love instead of just fear? I promise this will be romantic if they're a stony-faced malefactor.

27. Perceptive Wit: Discerning and practical, but unable to keep their mouth shut. Wants to be well-liked, but wants blowhards to be punctured just a little bit more. Just slightly too reasonable to believe anyone would fall in love with them, and ready to help all their friends find a decent mate before they realize that they want an honest equal for themselves too.

And just for ease, these + the original descriptions in one random generator: