Romantic Complications

[Vondy]

Alright, I have always wanted more breadth in terms of disadvantages, especially plot and role playing hook based disadvantages. Here's my issue: I am building dick grayson (nightwing). A running joke in the DC Universe is that Dick is the "Wonder Woman" on the men's side of the isle. To wit, all the superheroines, and some of the super-villains, want him.

 

He's had more than one relationship with superheroines (several), and has had problems arise because not only does he have a recurrent romantic storyline with Barbara Gordon, but also has women who are rivals for his affection - some of these women he has a history with; a lot of them know eachother. And it has come up in ways that have complicated his life.

 

In fact, it resulted in a controversial storyline in which a female vigilante had non-consensual sex with the near-catatonic dick was essentially [this happened to green arrow when he was drunk during the longbow hunters, too, now that I think of it...]. Its also complicated his life because Barbara Gordon and Huntress work together, and he's had varying levels of romantic involvement with both of them [an on again off again engagement with babs; a fling with helena].

 

I'm not sure what the best way to build it is. I can think of the following options:

 

Hunted: Women Who Desire Him 8-. 5 Points.

Social Limitation: Romantic Complications. 5 Points.

Distinctive Features: Extremely Handsome and Desireable Man. 10 Points.

 

Thoughts?

 

Its not really a rivalry, because he's the subject, not a participant.

[Tonio]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

I'm not sure what the best way to build it is. I can think of the following options:

 

Hunted: Women Who Desire Him 8-. 5 Points.

Social Limitation: Romantic Complications. 5 Points.

Distinctive Features: Extremely Handsome and Desireable Man. 10 Points.

 

Thoughts?

 

I think all three work, and they all describe different aspects of the overall complication. The Hunted aspect describes how women actively seek him out and create trouble for him. The Social Limitation represents all the various issues his situation brings him in what should be normal social interaction. The Distinctive Features would be the root of all the problems, and models how women he's never met react to him, and how he's hard to forget.

 

Depending on how you want to play it, you can leave out or include any of the three. Just the DF would mean he'd just be hard to forget, and that women tend to act slightly less rationally around him, but not so much that they go out of their way to be with him again (no Hunted), and not so much that they'll fight over him or be a problem in general (no Social Limitation). Just the Hunted would mean he's not really particularly attractive, but some women, for whatever reason, desire him badly enough to seek him out. Just the Social Limitation would represent problems he has with former or current partners which don't go far enough to have them hunt him (a sort of reverse Rivalry).

[BNakagawa]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

3d6 Luck

 

3d6 Unluck

[Markdoc]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

In fact' date=' it resulted in a controversial storyline in which a female vigilante had non-consensual sex with the near-catatonic dick....[/quote']

 

could you not have said "Nightwang" ... I mean.... "Nightwing" instead?

 

Anyway, in this case. I'd go with: Social Limitation: Romantic Complications. 5 Points. (possibly 10 points, given the frequency with which it seems to err... pop up) and I'd also go for a 5 point hunted, in the case of some of his more obsessive fans. (see example given above )

 

I'd avoid the distinctive features because it doesn't impact his ability to have (for example) a secret identity or a normal relationship, and it's fairly "group/gender specific" (at least as far as we know - Batman jokes aside). It might also be worth a reputation: "Hottie" within a limited group.

 

cheers, Mark

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

In fact' date=' it resulted in a controversial storyline in which a female vigilante had non-consensual sex with the near-catatonic dick ...[/quote']

 

C'mon! There is absolutely no reason to have a catatonic dick in this age of male enhancement, viagra, and the like.

[nexus]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

I think all three work, and they all describe different aspects of the overall complication. The Hunted aspect describes how women actively seek him out and create trouble for him. The Social Limitation represents all the various issues his situation brings him in what should be normal social interaction. The Distinctive Features would be the root of all the problems, and models how women he's never met react to him, and how he's hard to forget.

 

Depending on how you want to play it, you can leave out or include any of the three. Just the DF would mean he'd just be hard to forget, and that women tend to act slightly less rationally around him, but not so much that they go out of their way to be with him again (no Hunted), and not so much that they'll fight over him or be a problem in general (no Social Limitation). Just the Hunted would mean he's not really particularly attractive, but some women, for whatever reason, desire him badly enough to seek him out. Just the Social Limitation would represent problems he has with former or current partners which don't go far enough to have them hunt him (a sort of reverse Rivalry).

 

I think Tonio has the right idea. Any (or, Heaven help him, all) of those Disadvantages would be appropriate for such a hapless character.

 

Oh and Gambling: Card games 18- As the saying goes "Unlucky at Love, Lucky at cards"

[casualplayer]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

Rivals Captain America in my affections. Nightwing is awesome, but that doesn't mean I'm blind to his flaws.

 

Psych Lim: Manslut (Common, Strong)

 

Dick has been with every fine, single, female member of the DCU. Every single one. Sometimes it is "Oh noes , how did we end up naked together." Sometimes it is just the hyper-physical getting physical. Sometimes it is the alien princess not taking no for an answer. Sometimes it's Friends with Benefits.

 

There are times that he really should have kept his spandex on but didn't. And it complicates his life greatly. We should all have such problems.

 

I've only seen him actively pursue a few (Starfire, Barbara, perverse attraction to Harlequin) but he has been pursued, and caught, by many.

 

Distinctive Features: Mancandy (Easily Concealable, Extreme Reaction, Limited Group)

 

He draws eyes wherever he goes, especially from the ladies but also from men going "best keep my woman away from him." He is prompting a lot of EGO Rolls wherever he goes and it's only the fact that he runs with a willful crowd that he's not constantly climbing out from a pile of super-hotties.

 

Occasionally he's been Directionless, making it difficult for him to think of a reason to say "No," even when it was a horrible idea to sleep with his admirer. Occasionally it has been Lives in the Moment which has led him to the wrong bed. There's a huge, throbbing vein of Bat-confidence also that means he is nearly drowned before he realizes he's in under his head.

[Kenn]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

Dick has been with every fine' date=' single, female member of the DCU. [/quote']

 

He's gotten horizontal with Diana of Themyscira??? He went from Boy Wonder to Wonder Boy Toy???

 

Hell, I don't even remember him ever getting it on with Donna.

[Vondy]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

He's gotten horizontal with Diana of Themyscira??? He went from Boy Wonder to Wonder Boy Toy???

 

Hell, I don't even remember him ever getting it on with Donna.

 

He didn't.

 

Dick was involved with starfire, oracle, huntress, lori elton, bridget clancy, and the [female] tarantula (non-consensual). He was engaged to starfire, and is engaged to oracle. He has had romantic tension with Donna Troy, Raven, and Flamebird. The latter two have, at various points, created tension in his life because of their interest in him - though raven is past it. And both he and Donna have this conflicted pseudo-incestuous attraction-repulsion relationship. They love eachother like brother and sister, but want eachother like man and wife, and then feel guilty about it, despite the fact that they aren't related. One can only imagine how uncomfortable it would be if he were regularly in the birds of prey's orbit...

 

Its kind of a running joke with some of the DC - that Dick's sensitivity and good looks creates a very personal ache and yearning in every female metahuman he meets. He may not have been the wonder boy toy, but with a lapse in editorial judgement (and those are common enough in the comic world), its quite possible he'd get the opportunity.

[Kenn]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

Lord, someone else remembers Lori.

 

What I don't remember if he ever broke up with Lori before he got involved with Duela (and that was just messed up.) [And yeah, I was there at the Dawn of Time, so I remember the old multiverse.]

 

 

I still wonder if Casualplayer considers diana to be either not fine or not single.

 

Then again I don't think Dick ever broke his batpole on Supergirl's invulnerable h***n, either.

[Vondy]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

 

I still wonder if Casualplayer considers diana to be either not fine or not single.

 

Welll, if you do some research on Diana's creator, his mistress and wife, and their theories of femininity, sexuality, and social order - which were intentionally included in the early wonder woman comics (pre-comic code) -one might make some qualitative exceptions to "fine" based an subjective aesthetics - especially since "fine" and "desireable" are, well, subjective aesthetics.

 

Yes, back in the 40's wonder woman liked to dress college girls up in deer suits and chase them throgh the woods at night, was a proponent of loving submission (on her part and others), and seemed to be something of a spanking fetishist. She even lost her powers if you chained her wrists together...

 

So perhaps, sadomasochism, bondage, and discipline, is an exception for some people when determining fine in the sense that it means desirable. I made a left handed reference to this in the batman fanfic I'm writing - which centers on Dick assuming the mantle of Batman.

[casualplayer]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

There was that weird Teen Titans time when everyone except Aqualad took a shot at Donna. Caught in the throes of puberty. Vondy seems to be familiar with the Dick & Donna relationship but I believe they have occasionally drifted into the Friends with Benefits area. There's only one real way to comfort a grieving widow. Nothing documented in comics though because apparently Donna can hookup with just about everyone but Dick on the page (Kyle Rayner?! Arsenal?! WTF?)

 

Oh, I do consider Wonder Woman to be fine. I don't think they had any interaction back when there was ~20 years between their ages but during the era when WW was Wonder Girl's slightly older sister, I would wager that they played a game of Spin the Lasso a time or two.

 

The Bat Family are the exemplars but I see most supers as uber-jocks, and anyone who's spent time around athletes knows that they either are essense-hoarding puritans or people who look at sex as a warm-up exercise. Since mainstream comics have to more or less stay PG-13, they aren't going to come right out and list every partner everyone has had so forgive me a little extrapolation.

[Vondy]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

Vondy seems to be familiar with the Dick & Donna relationship but I believe they have occasionally drifted into the Friends with Benefits area.

 

/snip

 

Since mainstream comics have to more or less stay PG-13, they aren't going to come right out and list every partner everyone has had so forgive me a little extrapolation.

 

From that perspective - plausible.

[Vann the Red]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

The Bat Family are the exemplars but I see most supers as uber-jocks' date=' and anyone who's spent time around athletes knows that they either are essense-hoarding puritans or people who look at sex as a warm-up exercise. Since mainstream comics have to more or less stay PG-13, they aren't going to come right out and list every partner everyone has had so forgive me a little extrapolation.[/quote']

 

 

You must spread rep around... Had to quote this for emphasis. Excellent point.

 

VtR

[pinecone]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

Alright, I have always wanted more breadth in terms of disadvantages, especially plot and role playing hook based disadvantages. Here's my issue: I am building dick grayson (nightwing). A running joke in the DC Universe is that Dick is the "Wonder Woman" on the men's side of the isle. To wit, all the superheroines, and some of the super-villains, want him.

 

He's had more than one relationship with superheroines (several), and has had problems arise because not only does he have a recurrent romantic storyline with Barbara Gordon, but also has women who are rivals for his affection - some of these women he has a history with; a lot of them know eachother. And it has come up in ways that have complicated his life.

 

In fact, it resulted in a controversial storyline in which a female vigilante had non-consensual sex with the near-catatonic dick was essentially [this happened to green arrow when he was drunk during the longbow hunters, too, now that I think of it...]. Its also complicated his life because Barbara Gordon and Huntress work together, and he's had varying levels of romantic involvement with both of them [an on again off again engagement with babs; a fling with helena].

 

I'm not sure what the best way to build it is. I can think of the following options:

 

Hunted: Women Who Desire Him 8-. 5 Points.

Social Limitation: Romantic Complications. 5 Points.

Distinctive Features: Extremely Handsome and Desireable Man. 10 Points.

 

Thoughts?

 

Its not really a rivalry, because he's the subject, not a participant.

 

Social or Phys lim: Adonis complications (I'd go with Social myself...) i.e. "Too atractive"

[archermoo]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

Social or Phys lim: Adonis complications (I'd go with Social myself...) i.e. "Too atractive"

 

I'm too sexy for my mask,

Too sexy for my mask,

So sexy don't ask.

[pinecone]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

I'm too sexy for my mask,

Too sexy for my mask,

So sexy don't ask.

 

I do my little Def manuv on the cat walk,

Yeah, on the cat walk.

 

I'm a hot hero if you know what I mean,....

[Kenn]

Re: Romantic Complications

 

Vondy seems to be familiar with the Dick & Donna relationship but I believe they have occasionally drifted into the Friends with Benefits area. There's only one real way to comfort a grieving widow. Nothing documented in comics though because apparently Donna can hookup with just about everyone but Dick on the page (Kyle Rayner?! Arsenal?! WTF?)

 

Oh, I do consider Wonder Woman to be fine. I don't think they had any interaction back when there was ~20 years between their ages but during the era when WW was Wonder Girl's slightly older sister, I would wager that they played a game of Spin the Lasso a time or two.

 

In other words, there's no real indicator on the printed page of him hooking up with either Diana or Donna, other than your own inferences. Got it.