Steve Arnott

And the expectation that you're setting is the GM, right? So I would personally never run anything that was contingent on romance, whether that is a romance RPG or whether that's even just I need someone to be willing to romance this NPC in order to move this piece of the story forward.

And the expectation that you're setting is the GM, right? So I would personally never run anything that was contingent on romance, whether that is a romance RPG or whether that's even just I need someone to be willing to romance this NPC in order to move this piece of the story forward.

I would never do that as a GM unless I had had a conversation with my players to know that they were comfortable with that. And I think as the GM, it's your responsibility to set the expectation of what possibly is coming down the pike as far as you're able to. Obviously, some of these things, especially the PC on PC romance, often develops organically. But...

I would never do that as a GM unless I had had a conversation with my players to know that they were comfortable with that. And I think as the GM, it's your responsibility to set the expectation of what possibly is coming down the pike as far as you're able to. Obviously, some of these things, especially the PC on PC romance, often develops organically. But...

gm to pc stuff should or npc to pc stuff should always be done more intentionally because that is the responsibility of the person shaping the game yeah absolutely but but that that said that we're talking a lot about romance being like a side part of a game where that's not the main thing but there are games where romance and things is the main draw of it like there's games like

gm to pc stuff should or npc to pc stuff should always be done more intentionally because that is the responsibility of the person shaping the game yeah absolutely but but that that said that we're talking a lot about romance being like a side part of a game where that's not the main thing but there are games where romance and things is the main draw of it like there's games like

I think that's why a lot of people, even in RPGs that aren't intentionally about anything romantic, I think that's why a lot of times these things do happen and a lot of people do enjoy that. It's a...

I think that's why a lot of people, even in RPGs that aren't intentionally about anything romantic, I think that's why a lot of times these things do happen and a lot of people do enjoy that. It's a...

It's an interesting way to explore humanity and all the facets of humanity and people that are really into their characters and they're really into RP with their characters, even in games like D&D, where that's definitely not the focus of most D&D campaigns or sessions. Yeah. Those are the kind of people that are going to gravitate towards games like that.

It's an interesting way to explore humanity and all the facets of humanity and people that are really into their characters and they're really into RP with their characters, even in games like D&D, where that's definitely not the focus of most D&D campaigns or sessions. Yeah. Those are the kind of people that are going to gravitate towards games like that.

They're also the kind of people for whom a romantic subplot is likely to develop organically within those games. And so it's just important to know that about the people that you're playing with.

They're also the kind of people for whom a romantic subplot is likely to develop organically within those games. And so it's just important to know that about the people that you're playing with.

I mean... It's almost like that classic thing of, like, if you're trying to solve a puzzle in a TTRPG, and it's like, my character's probably smart enough to solve this, but I'm not smart enough to solve this, so I'm getting stuck.

I mean... It's almost like that classic thing of, like, if you're trying to solve a puzzle in a TTRPG, and it's like, my character's probably smart enough to solve this, but I'm not smart enough to solve this, so I'm getting stuck.

It can feel kind of like that in romance of, like, oh, my character would probably be handling this really naturally and in a suave way, but I'm feeling really awkward about this, and therefore... It's getting a bit stilted. So you can run into that sometimes. And I think that metagaming is such a bad word, so to speak, in TTRPGs. But I think that's the beauty of them, right?

It can feel kind of like that in romance of, like, oh, my character would probably be handling this really naturally and in a suave way, but I'm feeling really awkward about this, and therefore... It's getting a bit stilted. So you can run into that sometimes. And I think that metagaming is such a bad word, so to speak, in TTRPGs. But I think that's the beauty of them, right?

Is that you can pull out and say, hey, actually, this is what happens. And, you know, ask questions, ask advice, explain an intention, that kind of thing. Use metagaming to your advantage when you're in a situation like that, because it's not cheating, right? It's not cheating to do that. It's just...

Is that you can pull out and say, hey, actually, this is what happens. And, you know, ask questions, ask advice, explain an intention, that kind of thing. Use metagaming to your advantage when you're in a situation like that, because it's not cheating, right? It's not cheating to do that. It's just...

creating the encounter that people want to create and not feeling like you have to attach your performance in that encounter to your own ability to flirt effectively or whatever if your character is lifting a boulder the player doesn't have to physically lift a boulder you know it's yeah you say my player my character has a strength of 17 he can lift the boulder yeah you know

creating the encounter that people want to create and not feeling like you have to attach your performance in that encounter to your own ability to flirt effectively or whatever if your character is lifting a boulder the player doesn't have to physically lift a boulder you know it's yeah you say my player my character has a strength of 17 he can lift the boulder yeah you know