#iodhadh

We begin with the story in general, moving from the bloody wreck that first stepped off the Nautiloid to a more hopeful ending. Then follow nine specific takes on the Dark Urge. I reached out to a few individuals who were kind enough to name songs that capture some of the essence of the characters they made. I strongly recommend asking them about what they made.

Listen to the playlist on spotify or on youtube

Song list below!

(With reference to this post here.)

I suspect some confusion might arise from the fact that the term “dating sim” is used interchangeably to refer to two completely different genres of video games: a. visual novels where you can go on dates, and b. life sims where you play out the protagonist’s life on a formal schedule or calendar, balancing your expenditure of time and other resources against a variety of competing priorities, including pursuing relationships, earning money, and marking incremental progress toward various narrative goals. It’s the latter type that we’re concerned with here.

That sort of “dating sim” isn’t something you see much from Western developers, at least outside the indie sphere, so most of the good examples you may have heard of are going to be localised Japanese titles. The Persona series -- at least from Persona 3 onward -- would probably be the most familiar to general audiences; it’s not a pure example of the type, mixing its life sim elements with roguelite dungeon crawling, which conveniently makes it a pretty solid example of what Love & Labyrinths is shooting for!

As for how this sort of thing can be implemented at the tabletop, there are a variety of existing games you could look to for examples:

Hayley Gordon and Vee Hendro’s Good Society applies a life-sim framework to the novels of Jane Austen, while their forthcoming Fight With Spirit tackles sports anime in a similar fashion. (And you should absolutely sign up for the latter’s playtest if you feel you’d be able to contribute!)  

Jenna Moran’s Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine takes a more meta approach, presenting a system where relationships are skills and emotional beats are worth XP in a game about adolescent gods growing up in a pastoral small town. Fair warning: this is not a game for casual pick-up-and-play -- the learning curve is very steep if you’re not already well versed in diceless roleplaying.  

Somewhat perversely, Blades in the Dark is also a good point of reference; it has absolutely nothing to do with dating (it’s about running a brutal criminal empire in a dystopian ghostpunk city where the sun never rises), but its rules are a kind of life sim all the same, treating reputation and emotional stress as currencies for an elaborate downtime system that plays out what your crew gets up to between heists.

Rem has time for one last reading before the sun sets on the marketplace and she must make the trek home. Before she closes her tent, one last client comes through: Idony Antyre. She explains her question as Rem nods along.

“Yes, I see,” Rem says. “I will see what advice the cards have for you.”

Rem shuffles her cards until she draws three cards: King of Cups, Judgement, and Three of Swords from the Ellis Deck.

“What threatens you is represented by the King of Cups,” Rem explains as she gestures to the card. “This can represent either yourself or another person. I get the inkling it is about another person. Someone who is an authority, who is calm under stress, but perhaps manipulative with emotions. Someone who is able to control the emotions of themself and the emotions of others. They may appear kindly, and perhaps they are. But they are who threatens you.”

She gestures to the other two cards, “These are how you should respond. I drew Judgement and Three of Swords. With Judgement, you need to be the ‘bigger person.’ In other words, you rise above any pettiness of your rival. Be the better person. Do stoop to the level of your enemies. Be honest, open, and truthful.

With Three of Swords, this says you need to be aware of the pain you are causing as well as the pain you are feeling. Honor your feelings, first and foremost, as well as recognize the hurt you have caused others -- even if it was necessary to cause that pain. Integrity will get you far.”

Rem collects the cards and adds them back to her deck. “Be careful. I sense troubling times ahead for you.”

A soft purple glow, a huge empty bedroom. A breeze at the window, one glass of wine shattered on the marble floor, dark wine flowing slowly along the grout.

“They wanted you dead?“

“A great many of them do.“

“But they were stopped.“

“This time. A little bruising, I’ll wear a different robe for a few days.“

If he’d bled out on the floor of the Magisterium he’d never have seem Bull again. If he’d died today at the hands of an upstart magister, it would have bolstered the moderates they’re trying to swing for the Lucerni, if only for a time.

The Bull listens to him say as much, injects prompts at all the right points, makes all the right noises, like anyone offering an ear and no solutions.

Dorian sobs into his wine glass.

“Please, tell me to leave. I don’t want to be here, I can’t do this.“

“Stay.“

“You want me to die, Bull? I could, at any moment. They only need be a little smarter than they were today.“

“I don’t want you to die, I’m worried about you all the time.”

“Then tell me to come home, please. I’ll come home to you, just tell me to.“

“Don’t make me ask you for something you can’t give, kadan.“

He throws his second wine glass at the wall, where it shatters in a spray of glass and red; Dorian sinks to the floor with the crystal cradled in his hands, sobbing. Knows full well that the Bull is right, that he knows the regret that will plague him when he wakes in the morning, this desperate misery all forgotten to drunken melodrama.

“Oh, amatus,. I miss you terribly.“

“I miss you too. When you’re really ready - if you wake up tomorrow and you’re really ready to give it all up, I’ll meet you at the border and we’ll never look back at Tevinter.“

All the room has is purple light, a haze of tears caught in his eyelashes, the scent of red wine in the air.

“I will come home to you.“

Seivarden/Breq/Mercy of Kalr is SO IMPORTANT

You: Should I keep going with this series or read something else first?

Me, trying to play it cool and not to cry about spaceships: no, uh, you should definitely keep going, I think there’s some stuff you might like. later. 

You: Oh?