Loving The Character: Devoted Lover

Loving The Character is a series about how to play each of the common character types in Bliss Stage. It will consist of discussion of both the mechanical aspects of the type and tips on how to portray them sympathetically - even when they're screwing up.

This time out, the Devoted Lover. Sounds nice, right? Romantic. All that Valentine-y stuff. But this is the World After Bliss, and it’s not so easy being in love.

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Key Mechanics

• A "big gun" relationship: the only type to start with an Intimacy 5.
• Other relationships are very average: 3/2, 2/3, 2/3, 2/1, 1/3, 1/2 default.
• Starts with stress: +1 Stress to two different starting relationships.

Build Tips

It’s tricky to get a Lover right. You’re very one-dimensional at the start of the game in terms of your ANIMa build. Basically you get one good component and a smattering of 2s/3s that are going to take some careful Stress management.

So what do you do with that 5/3? Usually it’s a bad idea to make it your Anchor relationship. That relationship comes in for a ton of wear and tear, and you really don’t want that. On the other hand, odds are that you’re going to have your work cut out for you managing conflict between your Beloved and your Anchor if they’re different people – the Pilot/Anchor relationship is too intimate (small-i) not to make waves for your non-Anchor relationship.

So whatever you do, you’re probably screwed. Pick your poison.

Another thing you probably don’t want is to be sharing that 5/3 with a Pilot. It’s tempting, but P/P relationships come in for a beating, and unless the other party is a Rising Hero, you can’t afford the Trust hit up front.

Best bet is probably to take it with a secondary character or the Authority.

Wait… the Authority? Eeeeeewww….. but yeah. It’s a pretty decent choice. And full of drama potential without outsized mechanical risk.

Another consideration is a real-people one. You're going to be playing very intimate and romantic scenes with this character. Make sure the player of your Beloved is someone with whom you are comfortable doing that. And vice versa.

Beyond that, spread the others around. Probably give one of the 2/3s to your primary Anchor if they’re not your Beloved. Put the extra Stress into either a high-Trust that’s been assigned to you from another Pilot (the Sweetheart is GREAT for this) or the 2/3s.

Basic Play Tips

Nurture that main relationship. Build Trust every chance you get. Prioritize it in your Mission dice allocations, so it’s not taking Stress and you CAN get the Trust Builds. Later on, it will pay off in spades when you are toting a 5/5 Ultimate Railgun of Death.

Triage your other relationships carefully. You will probably have to abandon a few in order to maintain focus on the crucial ones: your Anchor and your Beloved. Watch out for one of those sidelined ones sitting there with Stress=Trust, though: your GM will Force it first chance they get. Probably better to let them break while Intimacy is low. Your main agenda is to have 2 or 3 high-I, High-S components and to hell with the rest.

Be wary about HOW you do this – because it’s ripe for Trust Breaks – but do try to get the Intimacy of one or two other relationships (Typically your Anchor and the AF) up into the 3-4 range. You ultimately want to have an ANIMa that’s built on something like 5/5, 3/4, 3/3. If not better.

Keep in mind that you can get to I4 with a fistfight just as readily as with smooches, and probably with a lot less likelihood of drama.

You’re probably going to hit some Trust Breaks along the way. Use the follow-ups aggressively to build up or repair your focus relationships, while letting the peripheral ones wither.

Spend Time With The One You Love
Take your privileged interludes with your Beloved every chance you get, unless there is a very good reason not to. Those 5 dice are your Mission lifeline. Protect them.

Office Romance Is A Bad Idea
If your Anchor is not your Beloved, keep it professional. Battle comrades, sure. Manly Buddies, sure. Girl Talk Buddies…. Probably okay. Some people find that a little more threatening. Just don’t get all wrapped up emotionally. Jealousy kills.

Be Jealous
You know what’s good for a quick-and-dirty big-dice reserve weapon to pull out in a pinch? A relationship with moderate Intimacy and not much Trust. You know a great way to get those? Get in the face of anybody who isn’t in your core 2 or 3 who you have a 2 Intimacy or better with if they so much as give you a slight reason to. (That means: be ready to call for a Trust Break when one is called for, and try to angle for Intimacy Builds through arguments and fights). This will give you a stock of one-shot relationships to pull out when you need them, and incidentally probably HELP shore up your core relationships.

Anchor recommendations

Not an easy choice for the Lover. If your Beloved is your Anchor, go with Tempestuous if you can – that way the relationship is at least a little self-defending.. Avoid Savvy or Experienced – if they want to, they can really mess you up.

If your Beloved is someone else, then your choices are a little more open. You should still probably avoid Savvy or Experienced, but Driven and Kind both look good. The Driven Anchor is great for keeping it professional, and the Kind Anchor will probably win points with your Beloved by keeping you safe from Trauma.

Playing Lovable Lovers

Make Us Ship You. You want to have everybody at the table – especially the player of your Beloved – rooting for this relationship. Especially because it is very likely going to cause lots of in-character Drama around the table. Make sure you are so totally 15 and madly in love that we all want you to be happy.

Make Your Crimes Crimes of Passion. You are going to be kind of awful to a lot of the characters – because you’re focused so hard on your core relationships. When you screw somebody over or treat them badly, make sure it’s because you were doing it for love.

Be Lovestruck. Do dumb stuff because you’re 15 and smitten. Make promises you can’t keep. Keep the baby. Blow off the mission to go on a date.

Give Well-Meaning Advice. Not necessarily *good* advice… but you are the one who has a good relationship and … perhaps more fascinating… is having The Sex. This will generate lots of amusement and small-scale Drama (often for others!).

Trying Something Different

The Devoted Lover seems like a pretty obvious type, right? It's a boyfriend/girlfriend (or girlfriend/girlfriend, or ... but you get the point) thing.

Not necessarily. A couple of interesting DL concepts that are worth exploring:

Blood Brothers. You got through the hell of the last 7 years together. You owe each other your lives several times over. Together, nothing can stop you. Apart, you're still that lost and helpless little kid.

Family Of Choice. A bit like the previous, but this time you are the protector/surrogate parent to a much younger kid. The power difference in this relationship makes for some interesting dynamics.

Unrequited Lover. Yeah, there's someone who you gave your heart to... but took advantage of your trust and stomped all over it. You can't quite give them up, though. After all, they took something precious from you. This one is a real challenge to play.

I Want My Beloved To Be Happy. You love them, they love someone else. You had a moment. It was wrong, and it should never have happened. But you'll try to love them and be happy for them.

As usual, please tell us about Devoted Lovers you have known!