Love, Romance & Fantasy

Love, Romance & Fantasy
(I posted this on my old blog, but for Valentine's Day I thought it might be nice to repost it here)

There are lots of books and movies that combine romance and the fantasy genre. One could easily have chosen Labyrinth and gotten extra points for mentioning a movie that has an “L” name, but I had to “go with my heart” on this one. So, I chose to star this post with my favorite romantic fantasy/comedy: The Princess Bride.

Every time I watch it I want to engage in a Chatty Duel, storm the castle and do inconceivable things! I laugh, I cry (manly tears, of course!) and the tale never gets old. Other stories have hilarity, lovers’ spats, adventure and obstacles to overcome in pursuit of True Love, but none intertwines Fantasy in them quite as wonderfully! The tale feels like a romantic D&D adventure. 

(Note: The videos – except the last one – have “embedding disabled by request”, like half of the things on YouTube these days, so double click on them if you wish to watch them in YT, sorry)

I could go into the characters in The Princess Bride, but the romance and tension between the main characters, Westley and Buttercup are really what makes the movie a Fantasy Love Story. I guess I am a romantic sap or something, because even though I know the “Real World” doesn’t always quite function this way, I still believe in the mushy ideals of The Princess Bride.

My first serious girlfriend was a Roleplayer. I introduced her to D&D when I was 17. I would play my gritty hack-n-slash character with The Boys. I am sure my character in that game wasn’t very romantic at all. However, my girlfriend I and would take time to have intimate 1-on-1 sessions, where either of us would be the GM. My character in “Our Game” was romantic, playful and Roguish… the perfect Gentleman Scoundrel! I think it was just my teenager-almost-a-man ways coming out in my alter Ego, but it was a lot of fun. Our roleplaying sessions remind me a lot of The Princess Bride, in retrospect, but the movie hadn’t even come out yet and I was unaware of the book at that time.

"As you wish."

There is a place for romance in fantasy, however not every fantasy roleplaying game is going to have it. Because of the nature of the group and/or GM, etc. it might not be an aspect at all of many campaigns, but some do incorporate it.

When I got older, I was in one long-term campaign that had the element of romance as one of the underlying aspects. The group was composed heavily of couples that gamed together. It was funny to see how we, as couples, gamed when things were not going so well at the time in our relationships. Little jabs and such might happen across the gaming table, but nothing severe. I still laugh to this day about some of the things that happened. The dynamics of real life romances at work in our game – even if it wasn’t always sunshine and roses – was sometimes just like in The Princess Bride.

A little laughter, a little tears, a little romance, a little fantasy is good for the soul.

As I end this post, I wish to bring to your attention Storming The Castle. I own it and enjoy it very much.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35524/the-princess-bride-storming-the-castle