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For some people, matters of the heart are much more complicated than normal. Whether it's due to being too attractive for one's own good, arranged betrothals, or simple twists of fate, a character with one or more Suitors will experience situations worthy of any daytime soap opera. While Shakespeares' quip that "the course of true love never did run smooth" may be a hackneyed cliche nowadays, it's still true enough to make for some very interesting roleplaying situations. As this is an adversarial background, the Storyteller can apply it to a character if she deems it appropriate. (A sufficiently masochistic player may ask to apply this to his or her own character, but must still gain the Storyteller's approval to do so.)
Romantic cliches aside, a character with this adversarial background seems to possess a near-irresistible attraction for obsessive members of the opposite (and possibly certain members of his or her own) gender. An infatuated individual will fall hopelessly in love (or lust) with the character, refusing to let go of her and unwilling to give her a moment's peace. If one or more rivals for the character's affections show up (usually other suitors), any suitor worth the designation will fight them in order to prevent them from consummating their relationship with the character. What's more, each and every suitor will have an ultimate goal for the character in mind- one that usually involves either standing before a wedding altar or renting a private hotel suite for the weekend...
This does not directly reflect any unusual charisma on the character's part, although she must have either Appearance or Charisma at 3 or more dots to qualify for this adversarial background. Rather, this indicates the character's fate to constantly meet obsessive people. She must also have a sufficiently plausible history to justify having encountered all those lovesick loonies. For instance, a character who's spent all of his life in an isolated monastery will not have had nearly enough of a social life to qualify. Finally, the character should neither be written nor played as a heartless, unsympathetic creep who would take advantage of a suitor's affections when it's convenient to do so. Such a loathsome person would never attract suitors in the first place.
What differentiates this from the True Love Merit is that for one reason or another, the character is guaranteed to find something objectionable each and every one of his or her suitors. The specific reason should vary with each individual suitor, but it will be enough to make the idea of marriage (or whatever other designs the suitor has on the character) somewhat less than appealing. Of course, most suitors won't take "no" for an answer, but will instead redouble their efforts to gain the character's affections.
It is possible for a character to have both the Suitors Backgound and the True Love Merit! In such a case, the character's true love will typically be one of his (or her) Regular suitors. While this suitor would be expected to have a much better shot at winning the character's heart, personality conflicts between the two of them will stand in the way of consummating their relationship if the other suitors don't!
The possibilities offered by this adversarial background are endless. A nova businesswoman could discover that one of her male rivals has fallen for her. A well-meaning grandmother could attempt to set her grandson up with a girl that she considers to be a perfect future bride for him- without considering his opinion on the matter. Characters from Eastern cultures could find themselves saddled with an betrothal arranged by their families. (The Japanese custom of omiai is an infamous example of this situation.) A female character could find herself being stalked. The lonely girl next door could decide that watching the guy of her dreams through his bedroom window simply isn't enough for her anymore. An attractive young coed could inflame the passions of her college professor. The young woman whom the character saves from a suicide attempt could easily come to see him as her knight in shining armor. Cupid's arrow could simply strike a suitor like a bolt out of the blue. And so on, ad infinitum...
Suitors come in three varieties, each presenting their own brand of headaches for the hapless character. It's quite possible to be afflicted with more than one variety; the details are presented below.
Regulars are what people usually imagine when thinking of a suitor: a person whose constant presence in the character's life proves to be almost as much of a help as it is a hindrance. Roughly equivalent to the character in terms of capabilities, Regulars are the type of suitor who are the most serious about their relationship with the character. As such, the character can occasionally treat a Regular suitor as an Ally- with the provision that the Regular will always expect romantic favors in return for his or her aid. The typical form such a favor takes is the classic date, although there's no telling what lengths a Regular might go to in order to win the character's affections. Note: Regulars are by definition the kind of suitor that are hands-down the most tenacious in their pursuit of the character's affections, and have to be well-developed characters in their own right in order to do them justice. If the players and Storyteller are all comfortable with the idea, a chronicle could revolve around Regular suitors and their conflict over a mutual beloved, with the player characters playing the parts of the suitors and the hapless object of their affections. Hey, if it worked for the scriptwriters who produced Tenchi Muyo! and Escaflowne, (two anime series that do an excellent job of portraying male and female characters with this background, respectively), then there's no reason it couldn't work for you...
Occasionals are just that: suitors who show up every once in a while in the character's life. In soap opera terms, one could think of them as guest stars or extras. They can range from roughly equivalent to somewhat less than the character in terms of capability. While more numerous than Regulars, they are also somewhat less obsessive about the character. While no suitor is easily brushed off, Occasionals will accept that their love is unrequited with significantly less fuss (and without spending experience points!). Occasionals make up for this lack of individual nuisance value with their sheer numbers- if a character manages to dissuade one Occasional, another one will inevitably crop up to take his place.
Love (or lust) can make fools of us all, and Heavyweights are no exception. Heavyweights are the rarest variety of suitor, and for very good reason. They are by definition superior to the character in terms of capability, making a well-crafted explanation about why the Heavyweight is in love with the character an absolute necessity. As a result, the Storyteller has the final say on whether this variety of suitor can be taken. Rough guideline: there had better be something pretty darn special about the character to justify having a heavyweight suitor! Suitors at this level aren't going to fall in love with just any pretty young thing. Heavyweight suitors take the problems associated with this adversarial background to a whole new level. For instance, what consequences will the character face as a result of becoming the focus of the Heavyweight's affections? How will the Heavyweight react if the character rejects her affections? Does the Heavyweight have enemies who wouldn't hesitate to strike at her by harming the character? Such is Love in the big leagues... (Note: For a baseline, a nova suitor would have to be classified as a Heavyweight.)
Due to their relative power, Heavyweights are more difficult to deal with than either Regulars or Occasionals, and so are worth more in terms of Background dots. A Heavyweight will show up less frequently than other suitors since they often have obligations and concerns beyond their love life, but inevitably makes more of an impact in the character's life when she does show up. Whether this impact takes the form of deep ripples or a messy splash depends on the situation. In about one in a trillion cases, a character could have two Heavyweight suitors after him! In the extremely unlikely case that a reasonably sane Storyteller lets this happen, the hapless character could easily wind up as the prize in the resulting tug-of-war between his Heavyweight admirers. For the classic version of this in Greek Mythology, check out the conflict between Aphrodite and Persephone over the affections of Adonis.
It's best for characters with high (5+) levels of the Suitors adversarial background to have a mix of suitor types. The most common (and most workable) blend is to have a few Regulars and many Occasionals. Mixing Heavyweights into the mess demands careful handling by the Storyteller, but that's usually par for the course where they're concerned. Unless the Storyteller is prepared to deal with a character who has a veritable harem of admirers, it's best to limit the maximum number of Regulars to four or five.
The only means of getting rid of unwanted suitors is through "buying off" this background with experience points and good roleplaying- usually represented by choosing a suitor and forswearing all others. Suitors that are also True Loves, Allies, Followers, or Contacts are not exempt from this- the personality conflict must be resolved!
Please note that this is NOT a cheap equivalent of either the True Love Merit or the Allies, Contacts, or Followers Backgrounds! Suitors are just that- people whose main goal is to get intimate with the character, all too often without any considerations for the character's feelings on the matter. If the player wants her character's suitor to be able to provide anything more substantial than a night of intimate entertainment (complete with the damnable consequences), she should buy the Suitor as a True Love, Ally, Follower, or Contact to reflect that particular suitor's higher calibre.
Dots------Regulars---------Occasionals---------------Heavyweights
0-----------For good or ill, nobody is really interested in you.
1-----------one-------------------5----------------------------------none
2-----------two------------------10----------------------------------none
3-----------three-----------------15---------------------------------none
4-----------four------------------20---------------------------------none
5-----------five------------------25----------------------------------one
6-----------six--------------------30---------------------------------one
7-----------seven----------------35---------------------------------one
8-----------eight-----------------40---------------------------------one
9-----------nine------------------45---------------------------------one
10----------ten-------------------50---------------------------------two
(Game Mechanics Note: This was created prior to the release of the Guide To The Traditions Sourcebook for MAGE- having just now found it at a used bookstore, I've reworked this more or less as an Adversarial Background from that book. For purposes of acquiring and buying off levels of Suitors with experience points, simply treat it as gaining a normal background in reverse. Gaining 5 dots of Suitors would grant either 1 nova point or 5 bonus points, while buying off a level would have an experience point cost of the current rating x 2. The final dot of Suitors can be bought off for 2 experience points. If the character is unlucky enough to be further burdened with the Ladybait/Siren background enhancement, buying off the enhancement costs 12 experience points. Getting stuck with this at the time of character creation grants an additional 2 nova points by way of recompense.)
Background Enhancement: LADYBAIT (male), or SIREN (female)
"Pardon me, Mademoiselle Evans, but Mr. and Mrs. Weatherly would like to have a word with you."
"What's the problem, Claude? The party's only just now started."
"Oui, but there's a horde of young men at the door, and they're all saying that you invited them."
If a character has 5+ dots of the Suitors adversarial background, the Storyteller may see fit to "award" such a romantically devastating individual with this Background Enhancement. This reflects the fact that either the character's suitors are much more passionate about pursuing her (and competing with each other over her), or that there are many more suitors after the character than her Suitors rating indicates.
If this enhancement reflects a qualitative increase, the character's suitors are even more obsessive about the character than is normal with this adversarial background. They will not betray their friends, their ethics, or their sense of self-preservation for the sake of winning the character's love (or getting into the character's pants). The same cannot be said about sacrificing their careers, wealth, and/or dignity! As a basic guideline, such suitors will toss their common sense right out the window where the character is concerned. (That is, if they had any in the first place...) This version of the enhancement is best suited for chronicles with either a humorous or a highly romantic tone- although being the target of so many highly obsessive people can be very frightening, even for a nova...
If this reflects a quantitative increase, then the character may have literally hordes of suitors- and the character generally won't have a clue as to who they are! Movie stars and popular rock musicians are good real-life examples of this situation, as they can have literally thousands of admirers who would jump at the chance to get "up close and personal" with their beloved idol. In game terms, this is a radical increase in the number of Occasional suitors that the character may have. The exact number is up to the Storyteller, and should be tailored to the character's circumstances. A lady adventurer from the Roaring Twenties could plausibly have a hundred charming (and not-so-charming) men after her, while the hunky male lead vocalist in a 1980s-era rock group could have thousands of adoring female fans who would do almost anything for a backstage pass...and a chance for a private session with him!
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