Any suggestions for how I can encourage my Bulls to switch their Love/Rival more often? I’ve run 3 seperate games and played in four more, and in not a single one of them did they ever switch their Love or Rival.
Any suggestions for how I can encourage my Bulls to switch their Love/Rival more often?
Any suggestions for how I can encourage my Bulls to switch their Love/Rival more often?
That means they don’t want to. All you should do is make them aware that they can switch their Love/Rival. When or even if they do it is up to the player.
I’ve had adequate luck with “It SOUNDS like the Nova is really pissing you off. Are you sure he’s not your rival?”
Adam Goldberg I’ve tried that, and despite being 5 separate people, all of them have basically said ‘it’s more useful to have X as my rival.’ Most of them have also been Friends, and wanted to game the system by having their Love/Rivals be the highest Mundane people in the groups, since they’d throw the most comfort/supports.
#1. They beat their rival. Then at the end of the game remind them they can switch anytime.
#2. If their love spurns them, or someone else shows up. Although many have 1-true-love-itis (wolverine/Jean, Superboy/miss martian etc) so this is less common unless their love takes off or dies. Repeat reminder.
Nikole Alekam If they game the system to go after the character with the highest mundane, then use your ability to shift labels to make their love/rival have lower mundane. Then the Bull will try to switch to a more gamable option.
Bull + Love + Rival is 3 team members accounted for. If a team only has the typical 3-5 members, there’s very little wiggle room for changing those roles around within the group — short of something dramatic happening — especially with how much interpersonal stuff gets set in stone at team creation.
And if nobody else on the team is trying to angle themselves towards taking the Love/Rival status, or the Bull hasn’t set themselves up as someone with fluid attentions, there’s gonna be very little fictional reason for the Bull to change things — let alone with players trying to game it. In-team love triangles are the shiny golden gods of Bull territory, but that stuff’s all in the players’ hands outside a few leading questions. The triumphant victory move does give them a cookie for changing if they’re not celebrating with their existing Love/Rival, if that comes up.
Interesting, valuable NPCs that can angle for those roles are your best (and almost only) resource in this area as GM, but making NPCs more interesting than other members of the team is the eternal struggle. Recurring villains, competing heroes and potential romantic interests with regular Influence gain/use should move things that way, but it’s all up to player willingness at the end of the day, and sometimes that’s just not there.
Nikole Alekam As some others have hinted at, if your players are saying things like “The guy/gal who just saved my life can’t be my love! The Janus has higher mundane and is better for grinding potential,” then there’s very little you can do. It sounds like your group hasn’t bought into the “play to create a story together about teenagers struggling to find out who they are” and are still in the mindset of “play to win.”
Might try to bring them into that mindset, but if they’re resistant… you know, only so much you can do.
Have you considered that The Bull isn’t looking for a savior? They aren’t damsels in distress in the traditional sense. Their love might better be the person who makes them feel more like a person and less like a weapon. No where does it proclaim that the bull’s heart or rival should be in constant flux. They have the option to change it, not the obligation to change it.