Hi! I’ve DMed for a few groups and one of them has guys who always want to “romance” the NPCs. It always makes me uncomfortable but they end up rolling high on charisma and I’m not sure what to do because I don’t want all the NPCs falling for people in the party as it ruins some of the story plot points. What could I do in this kind of situation? Any ideas?

oldearthaccretionist:

dare-to-dm:

Not all NPCs need to be romanceable!  As a DM, you can simply decide that any particular NPC is off the table, or set a DC so high you are certain your players can’t make it.  If you feel the need to justify this to your players, there are plenty of options.  Maybe the character is already in a commited relationship, or they aren’t attracted to the PCs gender/race/faction.  Maybe the NPC has got too many issues to puruse a relationship.  Maybe the NPC is ace.  Maybe the NPC just doesn’t have time for romance right now.

I would also encourage you to make your players put more effort into romancing the NPCs that are availabe.  Call me crazy, but I don’t think you should be able to start a relationship (or even a casual fling) with a single succesful skill check.  Maybe successful charisma checks ignite the attraction, but they need to be followed up with an actual investment of time and/or gifts and whatnot.  You don’t necessarily need to play these scenes out blow by blow, but have your players at least think out the general strategy of their seduction.  Not only will this prevent players from casually disrupting your plots, it will also make whatever relationships they do pursue feel more meaningful and interesting.  Plus, it’ll give your NPCs more depth and make it so it doesn’t feel like the world revolves around the PCs.

Thanks for the question, and good luck!

There are two other methods I’d suggest:

1) Talk to your player OOC and let them know that you find it uncomfortable that they try to romance every NPC. Ask them to stop doing that and let them know that going forward you won’t allow a “seduction” roll for every NPC they want to flirt with. (Always remember you as the GM have final call as to whether a roll should even happen or is appropriate)

2) Treat a charisma roll as a charisma roll… sure he wants to go for seduction.  But this NPC is just not that into him… so “I’m flattered but not interested right now” then brush past it with a  “your charming approach seems to have made them more inclined to treat with you fairly/well, think well of you”.  But it doesn’t have to end with “Oh [character] name!” *swoon*