Star crossed love

[Corvo]

A quick one.

Tonight one of my Heroes is going to declare his love to a fair maiden (npc)... just to discover that her heart already belong to another man.
Oh, despair.

My conundrum is: Shadow point or not?

First point: the players will not take a Shadow point as a punishment. On the contrary, I expect he will be asking for a Shadow point.

Second point: a Shadow point is pretty appropriate because love-stricken heroes are known to fall in bouts of madness.

Third point: I don't want to "punish" an hero for such a noble sentiment

Opinions?
Session's starting in 3 hours...

[Rieno]

Perhaps the shadow point is based on his characters reaction to it? Roll Wisdom to see if he lets go and moves on or is angry and heartbroken?

[Corvo]

Perhaps the shadow point is based on his characters reaction to it? Roll Wisdom to see if he lets go and moves on or is angry and heartbroken?

Good catch.
He will be heartbroken, you can bet on it. The character fell in love with this woman six years ago: she means a lot to him

[Stormcrow]

LG57:

Anguish
Natural but unexpected tragic event, or very grievous occurrence
The hero gains 1 Shadow point only if he fails the Corruption test AND gets a <eye> result.

[Corvo]

LG57:

Anguish
Natural but unexpected tragic event, or very grievous occurrence
The hero gains 1 Shadow point only if he fails the Corruption test AND gets a <eye> result.

Thanks, I forgot about this one

[Rich H]

It's significant character events like this that I like to create Distinctive Features for each situation and apply them to the character(s) in question as Shadow Points don't tell the full story for me. For this particular instance I'd create the new trait of:

Heartbroken
The character has experienced great loss and is marked by profound grief.

With the player using this trait as they would their others. It could be removed at a later date during a Fellowship Phase - eg, when the character has resolved or recovered from such feelings.

[Glorelendil]

I'd definitely have her send letters to the Hero for a few years, keeping the flame alive. Then have the rival kill her, in a way that the Hero blames himself for not preventing. That'd be a Shadow point for sure.

By the way, this is exactly why Jedi avoid emotional attachments. Just sayin'.

[Corvo]

Thank you both.

The trait is a nice way to keep the thing relevant.

About writing letters... Don't need them: she's a recurring npc with deep ties to the group and to their mission. They cannot avoid her for more than 2 years at a time (he's from Dale, she's from Rhosgobel).
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

[Beran]

Uhm, why would he get a shadow point for being shot down? Surely, this is more an opportunity for RP and long term story development. Rather then rely on a game mechanic.

Now, if he hunted down and killed the other suitor then SP.

[Corvo]

Uhm, why would he get a shadow point for being shot down? Surely, this is more an opportunity for RP and long term story development. Rather then rely on a game mechanic.

Now, if he hunted down and killed the other suitor then SP.

Because of point two of the original post.
And I didn't wanted to do it because of point three of the original post :p
In the end we resolved with a Wisdom roll, and no shadow point was awarded.