Just to ask a straightforward question:Is it reasonable for the DM to basically flat-out say "Hey I have no interest in roleplaying out romantic relationships, so nothing sexual will happen between PCs and NPCs"?Like NPCs obviously have relationships, but that's just for the plot (i.e. the King has a Queen and a mistress, some dudes are married). Meanwhile we're just not going to not do any of that for the PCs so things don't get weird.I mean it just feels fucking awkward for me as a DM.
>>98010740alright OP, what happened?
>>98010740>can people talk about what they do or do not what to come up in a gameHow socially retarded does one have to be to ask such a question?
>>98010740obviously. >hey so i dont want to describe two orcs sucking eachother off, so you can just imagine it and we'll fade to black
>>98010740Sure. DM's not there to provide a service, he's there to run a game that's fun for everyone at the table, including himself. If roleplaying romance feels weird and awkward to you, you've no obligation to do it, and besides, awkwardly, reluctantly roleplayed romance is unlikely to be fun for your players, either.
>>98010746Honestly it was so bad I'm considering hanging up my dicebagI don't know where some of these people come from, it was a deeply cringe moment
>>98010740Of course, i have never roleplayed a sex scene in a ttrpg in my entire life.I want to... but with a hot women, not my sweaty friends.You just say "you have sex" or "fuck off"
>>98010808Fuck off with your coy bullshit
>>98010740It's reasonable to say "I have no interest in roleplaying out romantic relationships, so we will skip over any roleplay of romantic relationships, be it PCs or NPCs", because that's logically consistent. Where it becomes unreasonable is if you're extending that into PCs not being allowed to have relationships while NPCs are. As in, you'd be willing to tell a player "the king is busy with his mistress", but you'd be unwilling to tell them "okay, you spend time with your wife".Because neither of those is roleplaying out a romance, nor particularly awkward.
I used to insist that all sex is LARPed at the table.It just turned into gay chicken.
>>98010808stop being a faggot and just say what happened
>>98010930So what do you think it'll be? Blatantly untrue zero-effort story or actually believable nothingburger that makes OP look like the world's biggest autist?
>>98010977zero effort story, autism nothing burgers tend to be less coy about it
>>98010740Yes. Absolutely.>>98010930This.
>>98010808
>>98010834>>98010930Yep, abandoning thread. Damn. Thought I wanted to talk about this topic.
>>98010740This sounds reasonable, but this part>nothing sexual will happen between PCs and NPCs"?>NPCs obviously have relationshipsseems a bit too similar to the /tg/'s notorious cuckposter.
>>98010740It's reasonable for a DM to say anything, because he controls everything in D&D.Rule 0.Players who don't like it can find a new group.
>>98010740>Is it reasonable for the DM to basically flat-out say "Hey I have no interest in roleplaying out romantic relationships, so nothing sexual will happen between PCs and NPCs"?Yes.
>>98011051No, you never did.
>>98010740Yes? In the same vein that as a player I'm obviously not gonna describe my character starting the day out of his bedroll by taking a fat shit. It's perfectly fine leaving some shit implied.
>>98010740Depends on the game.
>>98010834All right, it's fairly straightforward. The PCs were supposed to do an escort quest. They were taking this NPC on a road-trip to a noble household, ostensibly because of the magical relic she carried. The thing was, while the relic was important, it wasn't as important as the NPC. The NPC was actually meant to marry the son of the noble family, to seal an alliance between them. She was trained as a priestess, but her real identity was obscured to avoid assassination. The PCs eventually got the truth out of her when they kept being chased by these really persistent assassins and their half-orc leader. About a week from their destination, after thwarting their attackers several times, the party's fighter had a bad idea.He approached the priestess and told her (paraphrasing) "My lady, I have fallen in love with you on first side. I know you don't want the arranged marriage either, so come with me instead and be free."Obviously the other players weren't happy because he was basically hijacking the plot. The girl *did* in fact want the arranged marriage and to do her dynastic duty, so she looked at him and went "I thank you for your offer, but that's inappropriate. I shall do my duty."After that the player said he should be able to roll Diplomacy to sway her, and tried to get the party's rogue involved, who refused. Then he asked the sorcerer to cast Charm Person to change her mind, and that led to an argument. He was really upset she'd turned him down, and basically got sulky when they escorted her the rest of the way to her destination and her fiancee. I mean, he really did expect her to drop everything and run off with him.
>>98010740Why would there be romance in a dungeon crawl simulator? There aren't any rules for it.
>>98011882I don’t see the issue. He proposed, she turned him down, the end. Like is he getting in your face about it irl that you have to tell him straight up there’s no romance in the campaign?
>>98012086Pretty much. He was complaining that she should've gone along with it, and he was pissy for the whole session. He deliberately tried to get the NPC killed by hanging back to use his bow (He's a greatsword fighter!) and he told the Druid to stop kill-stealing when the Druid Entangled the ogre that was moving to attack her.
>>98011882>tell the players you have no interest in roleplaying romantic relationships>look inside quest>romantic relationship plot
>>98012104But it's not for the PCs, though. I mean, I actually specified that in the opening.
>>98012097That sounds like a typical mismatch in expectations. He probably made assumptions of the npc due to never conversing his plans to woo her to you. All you can really do now is have a sit down with him to regarding what he expected to happen as opposed to what he tried to do, along with making your lack of interest in a romance subplot for the party at large and not just him clearer. Otherwise, what’s done is done and the best thing is to just move on.
>>98012121>I actually specified that in the opening.Yeah, the OP specifies that you weren't going to have PC and NPC romance, with the justification given to the players that you "have no interest in roleplaying out romantic relationships"When the players then see that you've set up the first plotline around marriage, the conclusion that they're going to reach is>Oh, so romance is allowed. It's just going to be minimally roleplayed or handwavedThis is why your statement ends up unreasonable. If you're that uncomfortable with the idea of PCs flirting with NPCs, then you'd be better off not having relationships show up as a pivotal plot point at all. After all, how would it be any less awkward to roleplay a pair of NPCs flirting while the players watch?
>>98011882>>98010977nothing burger it was
>>98012232>This is why your statement ends up unreasonable. If you're that uncomfortable with the idea of PCs flirting with NPCs, then you'd be better off not having relationships show up as a pivotal plot point at all. After all, how would it be any less awkward to roleplay a pair of NPCs flirting while the players watch?They're not actually going to be flirting, though. It's an arranged marriage, at best she'll show up on occasion to heal the PCs and provide a "Thank you for bringing me here" before the PCs move on to the next area.
>>98010884This is the only organic post from an actual tabletop player in this gay ass thread of shitbots.
>>98012386>They're not actually going to be flirting, though. It's an arranged marriageOkay. Now apply that logic to an NPC marrying a PC.
>>98012433But it's not going to happen thoughThe NPCs aren't going to interact with the PCs like that. I mean you and I both know what we're talking about here, I don't get why you're trying to skirt it.
>>98012452>But it's not going to happen though>But I did eat breakfast this morning!And this is why I said you weren't being reasonable.
>>98011882Wow, it's fucking nothing.The issue here isn't romance, it's a faggot sulking because he's not getting his way.
>>98011882Thank you for actually delivering.
>>98011882Good on you for actually doing it. But if this was what made you consider never roleplaying again that's genuinely concerning.
>>98013432I deal with enough annoying people at work, I DM to relax. This was a lot of aggravation.
>>98010740While there's nothing wrong with not wanting to do super sexual roleplay between NPCs and PCs since that's awkward as fuck, not allowing some romance so long as it's kept PG is a bit too limiting IMO.>>98011882It seems less like the issue is romance and more just having a massive faggot who doesn't know how to play well with others.
>>98010740>>98010746>>98010808OP is clearly fishing for attention and trying to create a new "epic /tg/ greentext"I declare OP fake and gay
>>98012232>This is why your statement ends up unreasonable. If you're that uncomfortable with the idea of PCs flirting with NPCs, then you'd be better off not having relationships show up as a pivotal plot point at all. After all, how would it be any less awkward to roleplay a pair of NPCs flirting while the players watch?Personally I don't find the OP statement unreasonable, and I kind of think you're reading into things that OP never mentioned. I'm not quite sure where you got the idea that they were going to make the two NPC flirt in front of the players. I also don't know if the OP makes a distinction between a PC making flirty comments to an NPC here and there vs a PC trying to actively woo and pursue a relationship so I took it as "I don't want to role play a relationship with a player". Once you open that can of worms you're stuck roleplaying the relationship until either the PC dies, the NPC dies.>>98012433>Okay. Now apply that logic to an NPC marrying a PC.The logic doesn't work unless you think the PC is just going to marry the NPC and then never try to have any romance with them during the game?
>>98010740>DMFound your problem.Also, consider this:The only format where relationships are in any way important, impactful and useful at all is PBP. Which you clearly aren't running, thus rendering the whole "problem" moot.
>>98016029>I kind of think you're reading into things that OP never mentionedHe mentioned a plot centered around an arranged marriage here >>98011882I am being slightly hyperbolic with regards to having two NPCs flirting, but that's exactly the point. OP is pretending like it's fine for an NPC to be engaged/married, but a PC being engaged/married is too far.>The logic doesn't work unless you think the PC is just going to marry the NPC and then never try to have any romance with them during the game?It doesn't matter if they try, because the DM can just say "okay, you spend some time with your fiancé/wife, what is everyone else doing?" and leave it at that. And if OP is being honest with his players that he just doesn't want to roleplay romance, then that should be plenty. That's the context in which telling the players flat out "I have no interest in roleplaying romantic relationships" makes sense and is honest, because it matches with what the DM is already doing with NPCs.At the point where a player tries to actively roleplay their flirting, then you can shut them down and point to the houserule.To give another example, let's say there's a GM who doesn't want to roleplay the PCs drinking alcohol, because he finds it gross. Then during the party's first quest, they need to persuade a dwarf, and they find him at a tavern having a drinking contest with another dwarf. It wouldn't be surprising for a player to have their character attempt to challenge that dwarf to a drinking contest. Only to have the bartender refuse to serve the PCs any alcohol. Obviously, he could have done a better job by establishing that he didn't want drinking contests ahead of time. But the better method is to just not have bars with drunk dwarves as a main facet of the quest.Now think of how many stories you've seen about heroes saving women from arranged marriages, and ask yourself why OP would have 'escort this woman to her arranged marriage' as a quest at all.
>>98018605Man you're really into that imaginary sex thing aren't you.This isn't an attack, I'm just curious why it's so important to you. At the tables I've played at, no-one would mention something like that because of the social ostracism vibe, and the inherently gay air of having to basically flirt with your DM through proxy.
>>98012104>>98012121This, it's the equivalent of a quest where an NPC asks you to bring a love letter to another NPC. It's just the quest setup, you don't take it personally when you can't fuck one of the NPCs or send your own love letter to her. Besides most arranged marriages in fiction are basically bloodless anyway, it's not even a big deal.
>>98010740>DMHave you tried not playing D&D?
>>98012415I mean it was my fault for playing with 11Bs
