Role-playing love and sex
The Wraith supplement, Love Beyond Death, is an excellent primer on Gothic Romance and how to use it in all Storyteller games -- for passion can drive vampire characters just as much as their wraith brethren. Gothic Romance is the immediate predecessor to Gothic-Punk, and the latter draws heavily upon the dark, brooding, hopeless nature of the former. The period of Gothic and Romantic literature encompasses Lord Byron's tales of the rapacious lover Don Juan, the torrid star-crossed love of Emily Bronte's Heathcliff and Catherine, and the chilling self-love of Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein. These are tales of sorrow, loss, horror, and terrible passions that endure beyond the grave itself. Few, if any, Gothic Romances have the happy endings of reciprocal love that we associate with today's supermarket romance novels.
Social Parasitism Versus Individual Desire
The White Wolf books do go on at times about vampires being predatory loners, and, of course, they can't perform sex acts in the same way as mortals. But if vampires are these lone hunters, don't they ever get lonely? Their political machinations within clans and different sects (Camarilla especially) do not exactly create tender bonds of affection -- this would only make them feel their isolation more keenly. So while vampires, on the whole, may not trust or care for others of their kind, it's certainly sensible that, as individuals, they might seek intimate companionship.
The personal quest for love can take many paths throughout a game. While perhaps not always the main theme or a central plot, desires for love and sexual satisfaction can become compelling subplots. Lost love, unrequited love, rejected love, obsessive love, and even True Love can all serve as strong character motivations. Perhaps the most satisfying might be love between two vampires, since they have the potential of eternity together, but what if the two are of different clans or sects? The most tragic is undoubtedly the love between vampires and mortals, but equally tense could be the love of vampires and other supernatural creatures.
Don't forget the possibilities of love throughout the centuries. History can create a bizarre love triangle with a pair of lovers, toying with the vampires just as they toy with mortals. Two vampires who felt a wild passion as neonates and blood bonded, could grow to resent their youthful act as they age and become more jaded and bitter. Or historical events could drive two lovers apart and then throw them together centuries later -- how would they react upon suddenly seeing their lost love from a different era? Historical romances can also act as models for your game's romances, whether you look to Antony and Cleopatra or Tristan and Isolde or Hitler and Eva Braun.
Familial love is another rich source of plots with passion. The love between parent and child, siblings, and other family relations can be strong influences on newly Embraced neonates. Even an older vampire may have a wistful fondness or protective love for her mortal descendants, having watched over them for centuries. Among vampires themselves, some may have created bonds as important as those of mortal families. Sire and childer or brood siblings could have intense relationships, sparking both benevolent and jealous actions.
Some More Examples
In the games I've played in, Love for a mortal fiancee gave one tentative Toreador the courage to face the Sabbat, and a strong Gangrel joined in the destruction of the Sabbat pack out of Love for his captured mortal sibling. Love made a wraith attack various vampires to get the attention of a ghoul who she was supposed to marry, and the love between this ghoul and a Toreador made the wraith take vengeance on the whole Toreador clan. Love for the victim of a blood hunt made one Toreador split personalities, and the dark side of him staked the Brujah primogen. Love between two blood-bonded Kindred helped spread a virulent sub-strain of the AIDS virus, and love for a friend in need of blood spread this virus further. Love for his clan made the Toreador primogen go into torpor rather than decimate his beloveds with his oncoming thirst of the Methuselahs. Love for a new childe made one Nosferatu to go against the Traditions and eventually lose his head. And what else causes Kindred to create childer other than Love? It was Caine's loneliness and longing for others to love him that drove him to create the First Born, and from their desire for love, they created generations of Cainites ever afterwards.
The value of Love in a storytelling game is unmeasurable. Remember that Love does not have to be of the Harlequin Romance variety. At its core, Love is a powerful glue that connects characters and can break them apart. Love leads to drama, which always makes for more interesting games. Love may not make the world go 'round, but it can spur Kindred to passionate actions during those long years of unlife.
-- By Trystan L. Bass
Footnotes:
Desire. Hatred. Frustration. Comfort. Regret. Misery. Protectiveness. The passions evoked by love and its loss are the strongest known to Humanity -- living or dead.
--Love Beyond Death1
Vampires are ... cut off from the organic ability to receive energy through loving human contact. They feel a great need to protect and defend themselves, and feel sure that no one else wants to; no one else will make sure they receive their due. This can happen to mortals to a lesser extent. The more they shut themselves off from the life process and loving human contact, the more they mistrust the world.
--The Vampire Players Guide2
1. Love Beyond Death by Harry Heckel, Phil Brucato and Jennifer Hartshorn, page 11.
2. The Vampire Players Guide, second edition, by Andrew Greenberg, Daniel Greenberg, Mark Rein-Hagen, et. al., page 117-118.
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