Regency/Gothic 1c: The Rival

One of the tropes of romantic comedy that has come down to us from Jane Austen is the Rival -- a challenger for our heroine's affections (or, sometimes, our hero's) who is certainly sexier than the competition, but nowhere near as nice.  The archetype for this role is George Wickham from Pride and Prejudice.


I actually think the 1995 P&P's Wickham is a little lame.  He's charming and smooth-talking, but lacks the presence to ever be a competitor to Colin Firth's Darcy.

The Wickham from "Lost in Austen" on the other hand is not only far more charming than that show's Darcy, but also gets to be semiheroic.  I'll discuss this more in length in the future, but romance GMs should always remember that you can't force a relationship between your player(s) and an NPC.  In your version of Pride and Prejudice, why shouldn't Elizabeth hook up with the dashing scoundrel?

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