Vampire Romance is hardly a product of the 90's or 00's. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro started with Hotel Transylvania, a book mixing a good-guy vampire, historical fact and Romance back in the 70's. Comte Ragoczy De Saint-Germain was probably the first good guy vampire, and he's more urbane and human than most of the humans he interacts with. Yes, I have read all the book in this series. Why do you ask?
@Rapscallion You mentioned these concepts as being would have been fine in the 90's. I just wanted to get out there that they started long before that. Actually, they are saturating the teen market, too. I work in a library and we went from having vampire romances to werewolf romances and then a very short spate of zombie romances (most notable title "I kissed a Zombie... and I liked it!") to angels, necromancers, gods... it's getting waaaaay out there. At least it didn't have a gargoyle phase, or a dinosaur phase like adult romance did. Well, yet, anyway.
Male half-elf CN Evoker Covered in scars and burns and missing an eye, this silver-haired man has skin as dark as ebony, but he's not an elf or drow, as you might think. He claims to be the son of a Moon Elf woman and a Chultan human. However, he's sadly used to being mistaken for a Drow and has even come to expect it. However, he doesn't let it bring him down, as he's focused on what really brings him joy- explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. Whether it's the fiery boom of a Fireball, the rapid-fire of Melf's Minute Meteors, or the blinding strike of a Lightning Bolt, it's all something he enjoys. His favorite word seems to be "Boom!" Just like his spells, he likes his companions to bring lots of excitement to his life, and if he gets to use plenty of explosion-type spells in the meantime? Well, that's just a bonus he has no trouble enjoying.
CG Male Cleric of Tyr. This handsome, roguish-looking man spends all his time doing right by the world, seeing to it that the hungry are fed, the sick comforted and children are taken in off the street and protected from the worst the world can throw at them. He turns conflict aside with a word and a smile, until combat can no longer be avoided, which is when his mace comes out and his smile goes feral and he prepares to beat a little more justice into the skulls of evildoers everywhere. He carries a mace which he hides in the voluminous folds of his robes, and which greatly resembles Tyr's holy symbol. In fact, it also doubles as his holy symbol, and is weighted to cause more damage. His explanation for why his holy symbol weighs so much is "Because it's filled with Justice". He wears fairly expensive but elegant robes and can often be seen smoking a pipe full of pipeweed. The pipe is carved from ebony and has a white marble bowl.
LG Female Mage for women. This short, shy, dark-skinned woman seems to want to spend most of her time shrinking into shadows and remaining unnoticed, which is almost totally out of character with her choice of being an evoker. She wears a robe and hooded cape, and occasionally, you see a pair of vivid green eyes peeking out of the hood along with her own- her cat familliar, which is just as shy and standoffish as she is. Her backstory involves getting involved with the wrong man, who abused her and abandoned her to die in a den of monsters when her spells were gone. Formerly at least somewhat flashy and confident, she studies assiduously in order to never find herself in that position again. She's a little less reserved around other women, but men cause her to draw into herself like a flower folding up for the night. Beneath the robes, her body is horribly scarred, and she avoids showing it as much as possible.
Vampire Romance is hardly a product of the 90's or 00's.
Hardly a product of this century at all or even the last one, considering that Le Fanu's Carmilla about a lesbian vampire romance was published in 1872.
Female Half-Orc NE Assassin Growing up on the outskirts of a large city, this woman was an outcast by virtue of her mother's rape by orc raiders. Shunned by most of her neighbors, including her mother, to whom she was an indelible reminder of her rape, she grew up with a "F*** you!" attitude towards the world, relying on her large size and muscles to take what she wanted, when she wanted it. As she grew older, she was courted by a criminal gang who wanted her as an "Intimidator". But she had higher ambitions than that. She cozied up to the gang's "Eliminator", becoming his mistress and learning everything he could teach her. When he couldn't, or wouldn't, teach her any more, she went out and purchased a potion that would allow her to read his deepest thoughts and stole everything else he knew in a single night before disposing of him by stabbing him in the back as they lay together (she allowed him that last courtesy) and then taking his place in the gang. But a botched job made things too hot for her, and she was already looking for new opportunities anyway. Her voice is a harsh croak, and she is always short and curt.
NG Male Lythari Elf Blade This tall, painfully thin Elf has gray-silver hair and silver-blue eyes, and wears beads and feathers braided into the ends of his hair. The last of his tribe left on the continent, most of them left for the Isle of Evermeet, but he alone remained behind to explore the wilderness. Being taken captive by Thayan slavers should have been a disastrous end to his travels, as they were looking for oddities for the hungry slave markets of Thay, but he was rescued by a pair of human Harpers and stayed with them for several months, recovering from his ordeal (he'd attempted to starve himself to death, but was plagued with several force-feedings from his captors). But even after he recovered physically, he found it hard to eat his fill, resulting in his emaciated appearance. However, his time spent among friendly humans has actually made him less reclusive than most Lythari, and he is open to a romance with an elf, half-elf or human woman.
LG Male Paladin of Helm, for women. Tall and muscular, with brown hair cut as short as possible and soft blue eyes. He wears a full-face helm and his eyes are hollow and haunted. Once capable of the most heroic and compassionate acts imaginable, this man was assigned to lead a group of fighters against a cabal of hellish creatures who made their lair not far from Dragonspear castle. He took the lead, only to see the men and women he led fall to the Baatezu, and he himself was captured, tortured and fed massive quantities of hallucinogenic herbs and mushrooms while his captors whispered subtle poison into his ears. By the time he was rescued by a group of fellow Paladins, he was a broken man, troubled by flashbacks of the battle and convinced that he alone, and his lack of leadership ability, was responsible for their deaths. He tries to cover up his fears behind a facade of being a leader of men and the ultimate commander, barking out orders and dictating the actions of others in combat, but if the combat is going badly, he freezes and becomes paralyzed, reliving the deaths of the group he led. In his sleep, he sobs and begs the forgiveness of his squad, but when he wakes, he doesn't remember- or claims not to remember. He needs more than just love to be healed, but a combination of sympathy and sternness to bring him back to the right path and some severe clerical attention to help him overcome the trauma of his past. Able to be romanced by a female of any race.
this woman was an outcast by virtue of her mother's rape by orc raiders. Shunned by most of her neighbors, including her mother, to whom she was an indelible reminder
I read that as "inedible". In my mind, they shunned her because she was inedible. And it actually made a lot of sense to me. XD
PS: the lez mage reminds me of Tara, Amber Benson's character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
CG Male Werebear Berserker This tall, hairy, curly brown-haired man has a vaguely shell-shocked look in his brown eyes. A lifelong warrior, he was hunting in the forest when he was attacked by a bear, and managed to kill it after a horrific battle that nearly killed him. At the next full moon, as he was recovering, he became an enraged bear and slaughtered half the village, including the woman he loved. His people fled, and the next day, he was banished by the survivors, to wander alone until he brought his beast under control. He was once just a fighter, a civilized and urbane man, but now the beast within struggles to come out of him as he desperately tries to lock it down, turning him into a berserker even when he isn't in the form of a 10' tall half-man, half-bear beast. Because he can neither control his rage nor his transformation, he is even more enervated by the change and raging than a standard berserker, and requires twice the time to recover.
Can be romanced by men and women, but to truly be happy, he must learn to let go of the rage and embrace it to control his inner beast. Once that happens, he can enter the rage at will and will have a normal recovery time. His werebear form will also be more serene and sedate- except in combat, and he will also be able to choose to take on werebear form.
@Jalily Thanks! We have a glut of werewolves, so why not something different? There are Wererats and Werefoxes and Wereowls as well in Pen and Paper. And I recall something that says Werecreatures need something like 6 years to completely control the transformation... though that may have been 1e.
Woo Werebear. To be honest I'm kind of tired of the, werewolf this, werewolf that. There are a lot of other Were creatures out there XD But I love your different npc ideas, though the werebear would be fun with a CG Priest of Selune XD
Thank you, @Myval. I want to do a female Swanmay, too. They are... well, not really werecreatures, but human women who can take on swan form by using a feathered token. They are a sisterhood that is good-aligned and they fight evil.
There are also Wemics, who are like Cat-Centaurs. A Human head and chest on a Lion-esque body. There are Saurials, introduced to the Realms in Curse of the Azure Bonds with the Finhead Saurial Dragonbait, but there are also Bladebacks (looks like a Stegosaurus and walks on hind legs, clerica), Flyers (like a Pterodactyl, Rogues) and Hornheads (Triceratops on two legs, mages). But they would require paperdolls all of their own.
Just sticking this one, from the Gay Romance thread here with the rest...
Neutral Evil male Necromancer for men. This mage has an almost obsessive interest in how bodies work and somehow making them "better" (for various different iterations of "better"). His rather cold and clinical atttitude covers an almost-little boy glee in cutting things apart to understand how they work. Sadly, things never seem to survive this process, which is why he is a Necromancer. He's fascinated by the CHARNAME as a Bhaalspawn, and wants to understand how Bhaal's essence works, but he's also afraid of losing that, so isn't quite as aggressive in going after CHARNAME with the cutting open. Caressing CHARNAME's open wounds gets him dangerously excited, though, and his spells have more to do with hurting and causing blood loss than anything else. He has a "familliar" of sorts, an animated bird skeleton that sits on his shoulder clacking its beak at everything.
TN Female Druid- This statuesque blond woman bears a staff carved with a Green Dragon's head as its finial. It serves to channel many of her spells through, though she can still cast them normally without the staff. Unlike some Druids, she is warm and approachable and quick to point out the many cures and good things available in the forest. She believes it is better to try and educate people about the bounty the forest provides, and why they should take care of it. It's only if she is ignored, attacked, put down, or the forest is threatened with harm that she puts on the more standard 'Angry Druid' persona. She is extremely well-versed in cures and food items available in the forest, no matter the season, and can keep the party well and well-fed no matter the season, although not everything might be especially tasty come winter. Like most Druids, she loves all animals and has a gray squirrel companion who loves nuts and does little acrobatic tricks for food and praise. She wants a lover that loves nature as much as she does and looks for a fellow Druid or Ranger of either sex or an elf or half elf who loves the forest.
LG Male Aasimar Paladin- This young man seems to almost glow with a golden inner light. Even his skin seems to have a subtle golden glow to it, and his eyes are such a hard, sharp crystalline Blue that they seem to have a metallic glitter to them, and are as clear and sharp as any faceted gemstone. His hair is silvery, with an opalescent shine where the bright light hits it, and he exudes an aura of confidence so that just standing next to him, you feel stronger, calmer and less afraid. Born to the priestess of a small shrine to Lathander after a particularly intense dream one night, he has been raised to be a champion of the light, and the light is attracted to him as well, seeming to follow him around as he moves- he is never blinded by intense light, and can stare into the sun without harm. He seeks to spread the light into the areas of the greatest darkness. While he is a staunch foe of evil, his manner is gentle, and doing or seeing others do good deeds to help the less fortunate bring a smile to his face and expose his brilliantly white teeth. He's a good guy, in every sense of the word, from a very small town, and it shows in the kind of good boy/"Aw, shucks, ma'am." kind of attitude that is so very much a part of him. He likes and appreciates women of all races and types and treats them in a courtly, old-fashioned (in a good way) kind of manner. He also appreciates them as comrades, and treats them just as he would any man in combat or danger. It's only when you are in no danger does he relax back into his courtly ways.
I think I'll throw a couple of my own into the fray, I'll post a few as I think of them XD
NG Male Half-Elf Mage/Priest of Oghma - The young priest is rather shy and bookish, with a keen curiosity. He prefers the orderly environment of a temple or library, to the chaos of being on the road. He is rather fascinated with Candlekeep, and will pester you about your times spent there, and will often listen, rapt by your stories. He is rather frail, not caring for the chaos of the front lines. The little snippets of his own life that you have been able to gather, was that he lived in a monastery for most of the life he remembers. Though he doesn't elaborate on why he isn't there any longer. He isn't one to make the first move in a romance, though if he could find another male who shared his interest in knowledge and magic, they would find a loyal lover.
Also! I think it should be a Human. Elves are great and all, but come on, surely there's a human somewhere out there who likes "Charname". Pretty bad when your own race rejects you. (Anomen doesn't count, for the record.)
Don't know if it has been said or not but how about a Human Paladin? Could be as you romance her she becomes very protective of the female main character. That or she's just acts like a knight in shining armor type of deal. Or a Half-Elf Rogue whose very flirtatious and joins the female pc's quest in order to find beautiful women. Perhaps a Halfling Ranger that's your usual cold and distant gal but once you get to know her or romance her, she opens up little by little since she has trust issues. They all could be romance options just for female main characters. If you're not of a good alignment then the Paladin won't be able to be romanced if you want to put in restrictions and whatnot.
@AurenRavidal Real-life bisexuals do exist, though, so i find the first part of your post head-scratching. I agree with not changing the sexuality of already-existing NPCs- but many of them don't have an "established" sexuality. For many of them, there is nothing that definitively establishes their sexuality one way or another. Take Imoen- she never talks about men she likes, or women, either. Sexuality wise, that's a null prospect. We don't know one way or another. Straight people can assume she's straight, gay people can assume she's gay/lesbian and bisexual people can imagine she goes both ways. There are few NPCs we can establish as one way or another-Keldorn and Kivan were married. Khalid and Jaheira are/were married. Cernd at least had a child with a woman. Coran is an inveterate womanizer. Eldoth, while seducing woman, seems to love himself the most. Skie loves Eldoth. Sarevok loved Tamoko. But even Nalia, who was betrothed, well, she doesn't seem to love or be attracted to. Everyone else is up in the air.
Viconia is also straight. In some of the dialogue during the romance with her she mentions that she had 4 previous husbands whom she killed (or something to that effect). She was also the mistress of a male human merchant on the surface for a while.
Comments
http://librivox.org/carmilla-by-sheridan-lefanu/
In my mind, they shunned her because she was inedible.
And it actually made a lot of sense to me. XD
PS: the lez mage reminds me of Tara, Amber Benson's character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
Can be romanced by men and women, but to truly be happy, he must learn to let go of the rage and embrace it to control his inner beast. Once that happens, he can enter the rage at will and will have a normal recovery time. His werebear form will also be more serene and sedate- except in combat, and he will also be able to choose to take on werebear form.
There are also Wemics, who are like Cat-Centaurs. A Human head and chest on a Lion-esque body. There are Saurials, introduced to the Realms in Curse of the Azure Bonds with the Finhead Saurial Dragonbait, but there are also Bladebacks (looks like a Stegosaurus and walks on hind legs, clerica), Flyers (like a Pterodactyl, Rogues) and Hornheads (Triceratops on two legs, mages). But they would require paperdolls all of their own.
Neutral Evil male Necromancer for men. This mage has an almost obsessive interest in how bodies work and somehow making them "better" (for various different iterations of "better"). His rather cold and clinical atttitude covers an almost-little boy glee in cutting things apart to understand how they work. Sadly, things never seem to survive this process, which is why he is a Necromancer. He's fascinated by the CHARNAME as a Bhaalspawn, and wants to understand how Bhaal's essence works, but he's also afraid of losing that, so isn't quite as aggressive in going after CHARNAME with the cutting open. Caressing CHARNAME's open wounds gets him dangerously excited, though, and his spells have more to do with hurting and causing blood loss than anything else. He has a "familliar" of sorts, an animated bird skeleton that sits on his shoulder clacking its beak at everything.
NG Male Half-Elf Mage/Priest of Oghma - The young priest is rather shy and bookish, with a keen curiosity. He prefers the orderly environment of a temple or library, to the chaos of being on the road. He is rather fascinated with Candlekeep, and will pester you about your times spent there, and will often listen, rapt by your stories. He is rather frail, not caring for the chaos of the front lines. The little snippets of his own life that you have been able to gather, was that he lived in a monastery for most of the life he remembers. Though he doesn't elaborate on why he isn't there any longer. He isn't one to make the first move in a romance, though if he could find another male who shared his interest in knowledge and magic, they would find a loyal lover.
Pretty bad when your own race rejects you. (Anomen doesn't count, for the record.)