Pretty much. The only times the flirting option will even be brought up in conversation is when the two of you are alone. In front of others, you’ll look like best buds, nothing inappropriate. Unless it’s one of those days where you venture out to a bar in the city and get drunk? Eh, legionnaires aren’t polite company anyway, they’re a ragtag bunch of societal misfits running away from their past (except for the commissioned officers, they’re French).
Honestly, I’m thinking that he’ll find out the PC’s backstory by himself early on, some time before the PC gets reunited with their brother (either he disappeared and you enlisted to find him, or the other way around because of that scandal - if the latter, you won’t know he’s disappeared from home too until this point). This plot point about the foreign newspapers is pretty much yoinked from Beau Geste 1966…
The lieutenant gets foreign newspapers shipped to him - a few months late, but he reads them. If you’re crossdressing, you persuade him to keep quiet. You’ve already impressed him before with a show of skill during your training, and for the past few months he’s seen you handle yourself and earn the respect of other legionnaires like a man would. He’ll keep a closer eye on you, but nothing so overt that will raise questions about favouritism.
Due to the difference in rank between the PC and the lieutenant, I’m leery on making him an RO. I think being a mentor would be a much safer type of relationship.
Either way, making all the RO NPCs default bi would be by far the easiest thing for me to code.
What’s your opinion on making the player choose the RO’s reaction? Either the RO says “I don’t care, I still love you”, “I understand why you didn’t reveal that, I need time to think about this” or “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in romance anymore, maybe we can still be friends instead”? Because that’s definitely the easiest for me to code…
That could be a good idea for the epilogue, once you have your new identity. And if you don’t have a rock-bottom reputation. Not be a good idea to reveal that when you’re still stuck in the outpost, there are unscrupulous types around.
There will be a female character who is attached to your company, a vivandière, but she’s married to a legionnaire who’s a jerk. I’m considering making a subplot where you can encourage conspirators (nobody likes him) to kill him, and that will open the possibility of romancing her. Not that you have to, you can just kill him for fun because you don’t like him either.
I posted the link there! It’s still very short now and there isn’t really any gameplay, but I’m wondering if this writing style works or not.
And happy birthday, @whitebear!