Relationships
Friends, lovers, partners, exes, rivals and enemies. How exiles grow close or fall out at camp, and what it does to their Will in a fight.
Between every pair
Every pair of exiles has a hidden affinity from -100 to 100, shown as a label. The labels change week by week at camp, and the events come as one-line news in the camp log: two exiles become lovers, somebody finds out about an affair, two people stop speaking.
| Label | In battle |
|---|---|
| Strangers | - |
| Friends | - |
| Close friends | +10 Will while within 1 tile, -20 Will for the mission if the other dies |
| Lovers | +10 Will while within 1 tile, -20 Will for the mission if the other dies |
| Partners | +10 Will while within 1 tile, -20 Will for the mission if the other dies |
| Exes | - |
| Rivals | -5 Will to both while deployed together |
| Enemies | -5 Will to both while deployed together |
These are the only ways relationships touch a fight: through Will.
What moves them
Each week affinity drifts toward where the pair is heading. What pulls it:
- Temperament: two kind people get on, two abrasive ones grate, two steady ones settle, two volatile ones clash.
- What they share: beliefs, profession, hobby, origin. A vicious temper grates on everyone. Two drinkers get on.
- Fighting together: every mission a pair deploys on draws them closer, and one saving the other (a Mend, a dressing, a revive) draws them closer still.
- Chemistry: every pair has some, hidden, and it can go either way.
A pair becomes Friends at an affinity of 8 and Close friends at 55. Rivals start at -30 and Enemies at -62. An exile collects at most 2 rivals and enemies by drift alone.
Love
Orientation and gender decide who can fall for whom, and romance has to work both ways. Close friends can become lovers, and lovers who last can become partners. A flirt or a libertine strains a partnership. Affairs happen, and they can be found out. Jealousy turns them into rivalries. Breakups leave exes. Exiles who are celibate by choice never become lovers, and asexual exiles can become partners without being lovers.
The text is frank, but never explicit. Every recruit is an adult, and consent is never in question.