During our last Fellowship Phase, the player from Lake-town surprised us all proposing marriage to Amaleolda, from the Black Tarn (HotW). I had used Amaleolda in some adventures as a Woodmen diplomat who had interacted with the heroes several times. After the last adventure (the Folk-Moot), a new village in Black Tarn was approved by the council of Woodmen, and Amaleolda summoned and welcomed any new people who wanted to settle there.
During the Fellowship Phase, the company had two Undertakings (Autumn and Winter/Year's End). The Lake-towner choosed first Receive Title with the Woodmen and opened his new house in the Black Tarn. For the second Undertaking, he asked if he could propose marriage to Amaleolda. I just made him roll Courtesy at a TN14: Amaleolda was not a teenager anymore, and she needed someone by her side if she was going to rule the new town. The player rolled a 13 and failed. We played that she didn't say "no", but that her new duties hindered her from forming a family right now. She asked for time. He decided he'd try next year.
Since then, I have been thinking about how to do the courtship more interesting, without becoming something encumbersome or a whole new set of rules. I just want it to be funny and with a small amount of tension, so that hearing a "Yes!" in the end feels like the hero has really earned it. After walking into Mordor, even Sam feared a "No" from Rosie Cotton!!
Thus, I felt that by adapting or reinterpreting the Encounter rules, we can manage that. Here's my draft to make TOR look more like The Sims:
As for now, my idea is to use this only as a minigame, not a Fellowship Undertaking.Courtship (Encounter variant)
* The whole Courtship won't represent a single conversation, but a process that can take months. Every Test represents a whole act of seduction, not just a sentence or dialogue.
* Only one companion can take part in the Courtship. If the LM allows it, another companion might help with an Insight roll during the Courtship if he's at the same location as the potential lovers. This can represent advices to the suitor. ("let her have some time, so she gets to miss you")
* About Tolerance:
Option 1: The suitor can choose wether to use his Valour or Wisdom to calculate the Tolerance. It is recommended that this represents his approach: "Hey, baby! Today's your lucky day: I've chosen you to be my wife!" or "I have a lot of patience with kids. And am willing to hear all of your troubles withou complaining".
Option 2: The LM chooses between Valour and Wisdom. Maybe "wilder" cultures (Woodmen and Beornings, but also Dwarves) prefer Valour, as the family is a way of keeping its members safe from the dangers of the world. In civilized cultures (Bardings, Lake-towners, Elves) Wisdom might be more appropiate: the members of the family need to care for each other, have a job, keep a place in the society, gain the respect of the other citizens,...
The Status in the Culture of the beloved one is added to the Tolerance.
For example, a Barding that is courting a Beorning won't add his Status. But if he first takes the Receive Title among the Beornings, and gets a house in the Old Ford, then he will be able to add his Status to the Tolerance.
*Preliminay Rolls are done as usual.
Optional (by Glorelendil): If a companion is at the same location of the suitor and the beloved one, he can do an Insight roll for extras success dice, too, and give them to the suitor.
*The Introduction is a way of letting the beloved one know that you're interested in her. Use Awe, Courtesy or Riddle, as usual. Awe: "Look at this muscles! You like them, don't you?" / Courtesy: "I can only see your face when I close my eyes every night" / Riddle: "People say that we get along so well that we look like a couple. Can you believe that? Can you?"
If the Introduction is failed, the character can't go on in the Encounter (as usual). But as this is an Encounter of just one person, then the Courtship is considered failed: the beloved one isn't interested in you.
It's a good time to use Traits to autosucceed: Fair, Well-spoken, Passionate,... they can all represent something about you that catched the beloved's eyes.
*As for the Interaction, every test represents a whole action. The objective of this rules is to have a good time, not to make things difficult for the companion. So, I'd encourage imaginative use of skills: Craft can be used to prepare a delicious meal. Or to craft an engagement ring. Travel can be used to take your beloved on a trip to Esgaroth during the Dragon's Tide. Riddle can be used to remember her birthday and make her a present. A trait like Herbcraft can be used to gather some special flowers for her.
What matters here is that the player describes different ways in which he tries to gain his beloved's heart, not how appropiate a skill is.
As alway, the Tengwars add to the number of successes.
*When the Tolerance reaches 0, or when the player decides to stop, the number of successes are counted:
0-3: Sorry, but I don't feel the same for you (a.k.a. "I like you... as a friend"). The companion can't try to Courtship the same NPC again.
4-6: I need some time to think about it... You didn't get a "no" for an answer. Maybe it's not the right moment for her, or she wants to do some things with her life before she settles down. Or she needs you to gain some Status/Treasure/... before she's willing to marry you. You can try again in the next Fellowship Phase.
7+ Wedding bells! She said "Yes!" without hesitating. You did bring an engagement ring along, did you?
But the latest could be done by just adding a few mechanical consequences to the number of final successes:
0-3: You gain a Temporary Shadow Point. Broken hearts heal with time.
4-6: You gain 1 Hope point. You can surpass your initial Hope score. She didn't say "no", and that really gives you... well, Hope.
7+: As in the "There And Back Again" Undertaking, you recover 1/3 of your initial Hope score, but also gain 1 Permanent Shadow Point. You have more reasons to fight, but also more things to lose. There's more at risk when you're out there adventuring.
Ideas? Thoughts?
