Star crossed love

[Glorelendil]

I still think you should try to kill her off in a way that the Hero might be able to prevent. If he saves her, great. If he fails...SHADOW POINT!

[Beleg]

Sounds like you've been watching too much Game of Thrones Elfcrusher

[Rich H]

I still think you should try to kill her off in a way that the Hero might be able to prevent. If he saves her, great. If he fails...SHADOW POINT!

I'm assuming you're joking here because that seems really heavy-handed and isn't something particularly interesting.

As a bit of a side note, I went through a phase in my early days of GMing where I placed more than their fair share of romantic interests for my players' characters in such situations. If players take the time to develop and open up the game to such ideas and themes then I think there are far more interesting and mature options than just trying to kill off those romantic interests. It's just lazy and adversarial GMing in my opinion and is something that I now avoid.

SPeaking of drama, I was thinking of having him marry: he's a noble in Dale, and a King's Man. Maybe the king will find a suitable match for him...
And the next time he comes to the Anduin's Vales, he discover she's now free to choose someone
... But he's married now. And he's a man of honor.
Don't know yet what to do, but I know that this player like melodrama :p

I think that's a lot more interesting and raises some nice themes of duty and honour, as you suggest. Marrying for political reasons (strengthening bonds) and stability (ie, producing an heir) vs. themes of romantic love is something that would be very interesting to explore for GM and players alike.

[Dunheved]

What is the Tolkienesque thing to do here? Let's look at examples of lost loves....

(a) suffer the grief with nobility: remove need for rolls against Fear from all actions and do a great sacrificial deed(Eowyn) (Worth several XP -if player survives! - also get a Standing increase or a Reward)

(b) suffer the grief and have a bout of Madness - killing/wounding the first character who raises the issue with your character (Turin) Gain Shadow Points; possible new Trait - 'fey'

(c) be unable to suffer the grief - attempt suicide (Nienor/Niniel) Shadow points if not successful.

(d) get really angry about the loss of your object of love - in your rage you throw the nearest hobbit over a wall and describe him as the 'descendant of rats': (Thorin and the Arkenstone!) Shadow point and gain/alter your shadow weakness to Lust for object

(e) You turn spy against the object of your love and work against that society - character is effectively dead as if turned into a servant of darkness (Wormtongue) Play the character against the group until they work out what has happened and the episode ends with.... whatever is justice. (XP for the rest of the group. New character needed)

(f) the greatest task of all - you go to the feet of the Vala Mandos and move him to tears with your sorrow as you sing a theme of love. (Your lover has died.) You choose to return to the World at the cost of your elvish immortality, you do not interact with the rest of the world but everyone else gains Hope as your legend spreads. (Sorry - this choice only available to Luthien Tinuviel)

It appears that only some of these would easily fit into The One Ring.

[Glorelendil]

I was presenting it a little bit facetiously, but...no, I'm not kidding. I wouldn't just "kill her off" but I'd put her in great danger, and then put the Hero into a situation where he has to make an awful moral decision if he wants to save her.

I don't see this as "adversarial" (unless that's the purpose) or "lazy" (unless you've already done that with these players) I think it's a classic storyline. There's a reason Hemingway and Shakespeare kill off so many characters. And the Silmarillion is rife with this stuff. I guess if I thought a player (not the character) would be genuinely upset I wouldn't do it, but I have a hard time imagining that happening in my group.

Heck, one of my players recently cut straight to the chase and killed off his "true love" in his own background story.

Oooh...oooh...or maybe have her succumb to the shadow and learn dark arts. If I were the player I'd have a blast playing willfully blind to the obvious truth. "Um...you need a still-beating heart from a pure virgin? Well, if you're sure it's for a good reason, I guess I can help..."

[Otaku-sempai]

When I see or hear the phrase "star-crossed lovers" I never imagine it ending well. The term implies interference from outside forces and usually indicates that the lovers are doomed to a sad fate.

Could the rejection of the Adventurer lead to a shadow point? Maybe, if he gives in to despair; but it would have to be in a very dramatic way, such as succumbing to a bout of madness (as others have posted).

Who is the other man involved? Is he a good man? Does the Adventurer despise him? Perhaps he mistreats the object of our Hero's affections. If, instead, they are a happy couple, can the Hero swallow his own feelings and wish them well?

[Corvo]

(...)
Who is the other man involved? Is he a good man? Does the Adventurer despise him? Perhaps he mistreats the object of our Hero's affections. If, instead, they are a happy couple, can the Hero swallow his own feelings and wish them well?

This is one of the matters I'm looking into.
In my mind, the other man is Ceawin the Generous.
Since the heroes are from Dale, and they are the ones working for an alliance with the Woodmen, that is a man they cannot avoid.
Duty, honor, love... these are some of the grounds I want to explore.