In most campaigns I have run or played in, the main objective almost always seems to be "Kill the bad guy", usually followed by "Destroy the weapon of mass destruction". A tried and true storyline that has seen much use with little divergence.
Things however turned out very different, and is actually a case of romance working in favor of the game, rather than being a component of it's destruction.
The campaign was a Star Wars Saga Edition game, where the players were a Republic version of G.I. Joe, but a lot less organized, as is the way of Players, consisting of twin Zeltron sisters who were the only two with actual military experience, a field medic, a Jedi outcast, and a Gungan Sniper who's only real addition to the game was to quote Tucker from Red Vs. Blue in the Gungan dialect.
Example: "Messa Bowsa Chica Bow Wow".
He does it too well. he's also a sniper, as is his meme, but that's a different story.
The case of it really begins when one of the twins, Trix, during a throw-away session (you know how it is, they want to play, you have nothing for notes, but you think you can muster a three hour time sink), started flirting and actually engaging in an affair with a Force Adept scholar who was helping them research a potent Force Artifact of incredible power.
This Force Adept was also the alter ego of the villain, a Sith Lord who hid his identity dressing like Skeletor. So you already have a guess how this plot device worked- The players do all the work, and then the Force Adept shows his true colors and makes off with the McGuffin of Destruction.
There was a twist however...The affair between the Zeltron girl and the Scholar eventually, after much discussion between the player and myself, became a full romantic relationship, which made the day I revealed him to be the villain whom has been always one step ahead of them, a rather emotional moment.
After a few sessions following the betrayal, she approaches me out of game, and tells it to me straight- "I don't want to kill him."
I had expected her to feel betrayed and want revenge, however, I guess those running jokes and the banter back and forth between them...as well as compious amounts of in-game sex...touched a chord with her, and instead of hunting him down and killing him, she beseeched me, her mighty GM, to allow her to try and find a way to sway him, a master of anger, evil, and hatred, back to her.
I then started to think of it...Is not love an emotion the Dark Side feeds off of? Could he, while waxing poetic upon his onyx throne, be experiencing a hurricane of emotional anguish over a conflicted feeling of love and loss for betraying someone he might actually consider his life mate?
So I came to the decision, that yes, his feelings were true, but his desire to overthrow the Republic and the Jedi were much greater, even seeing the players teammates as obstacles, especially the Jedi, in his desire to also reunite with her and rule the galaxy with her as King and Queen.
This campaign is still going on but quickly approaching it's appex, but I wanted to share it with the RPPR community, as an example of how romantic side stories and throwaway jokes can actually form the backbone of the core questline itself and give it actual meaning rather than a series of encounters before you are allowed to do battle with the BBG.
Thank you and goodnight.
