Relationships & The Heart Gauge

OVERVIEW

There are two types of relationships: friendly and romantic. The former is obviously the more common, while the latter takes some time to achieve and develop. Relationships are measured by Bond. Bond is simply a positive or negative integer. A blank or zero means you do not know the person, whereas a high positive number represents a strong relationship and a low negative number represents rivalry or dislike.

FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIPS

There are several ways to build your Bond with someone. To bump your Bond from 0 to 1, you can Introduce Yourself. This can be performed during any block that you are around them. After you have them on your list of friends, the easiest way to build your Bond is to Hang Out with them. To Hang Out, you have to a Bond of at least 1. You can either set aside a future block for this activity or if you meet them somewhere you can use your current block for Hanging Out. This takes up one time block. It increases your Bond by 2 points. If you fight alongside someone who you have at least 1 Bond with, your Bond with them increases by 3. Once you reach 50 Bond with someone, you can ask them to come with you on Activities and Missions.

If you ask someone who shares a Bond of any degree with you and a third party about said third party, you can get the third person's stats.

Once you reach 30 Bond with someone you are at Bro level with them, and they with you. Thusly you are Bros. In social context this means that you are good friends and make an effort to hang out with each other. At this point you gain their Bro Power and they gain yours. 70 Bond is BFF level, and the two of you become Best Friends Forever,  meaning you are basically inseparable and help each other out with whatever (whatever being fighting at times). When you are BFFs with someone you gain their BFF Power, and they gain yours. On the other hand…

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

In order to change a friendly relationship into a romantic relationship, you first must have a Bond of at least 10 with a person. They also must be attracted to members of your gender (see: SO), and you must meet their Standards. To ask them out, it’s a good idea to be with them. If you call them to ask them out, you get a -3 penalty. To Ask Out someone, roll a d20 and add your Guts and whatever stat they are Attracted To. This number is compared to the person’s Intimidation score. If you succeed (in the event of a tie, what the hell, you win), write in a D next to your Bond with them, because now you are Dating. If you fail, you cannot ask them out again until your stats have changed, plus your Bond decreases by 1.

When you are Dating, there are several cool things you get. These are Benefits and Love Powers. Benefits are simply stat boosts, which do not change. Love Powers are just like your Class Powers, but unrelated to your class. From the moment you start Dating, you get your partner’s Benefits and Love Power 1.

But as we all know, you can’t just get a bunch of stat boosts and then ignore your partner. You have to go on Dates. A Date takes up two blocks, and can be initiated by planning ahead or by meeting your partner somewhere. You can cancel a date in advance, but if you fail to show up to a date, your Bond takes -5. When you are on the date, roll a d20 and add your Smarts and Style. Subtract your partner's Expectations score. Add whatever is left to your Bond. Once a week, subtract your partner's Maintenance score from your Bond. Maintenance is an important score, because if your partner has low Maintenance, you don’t have to worry about Dates as much.

Sometimes, a relationship just doesn’t work out. If your Bond falls below 1, your partner will break up with you. On the other hand, when your Bond is >19, add 5 to your date bonus. For >39, add 10. >69, add 15. If your Bond reaches 100, your partner falls in love, and you unlock their Love Power 2. Level 2 Love Powers are cooperative, so your partner needs to be present to use one.

THE HEART GAUGE

The little bubble being filled in signifies that your heart is operational. The large meter basically measures happiness.

Whenever you reach level Bro level with someone, fill in a slice of the Heart Gauge.

Whenever you start dating someone, fill in 2 slices.

Whenever you reach BFF level with someone, fill in a slice.

Whenever you reach 100 Bond with someone, fill in 4 slices.

Whenever you break up with someone, lose one slice.

          If you share a Bond over 30, lose 2 slices instead. If you share a Bond over 60, lose 3 slices. If you share a Bond of 100, lose 4 slices.

Whenever someone you share a Bond with leaves you (for whatever reason), lose 2 slices.

Whenever someone you share a Bond with is K.O.'d, lose a slice.

Whenever someone you share a Bond under Bro level with is permanently killed, lose 2 slices.

          If you share a Bond over 30, lose 4 slices instead.

When the Heart Gauge is full, you can trade every slice for a 1-Up. You can also spend slices on various powers. Don't think of this as sacrificing happiness for combat benefits; it's more like using your happiness to be awesome. Even if your Heart Gauge is empty, you might still be very happy.

If your heart is completely depleted in one turn (must have been full to begin), you must flip a coin. If you get heads, you pull it together and nothing happens. If you get tails, your heart breaks. Uncheck the little bubble. This unleashes your Dark Side. When your Dark Side is unleashed, you get +6 to every number on your character sheet except HP which you divide in half, but you must aggressively pursue a target until there are none visible or in a fifty-foot radius or you are K.O.'d. Either way you lose a life and respawn in your designated respawn point.