Rivalry

This is combines the 14th and 24th Dramatic Situations of Polti, the 14th setting the rivals in a Superior/Inferior relationship and the 24th with a kinship relationship between them. Its Elements are

• Preferred rival
• Rejected rival
• Object of rivalry

Plot: the Object of rivalry chooses the Preferred rival over the Rejected rival
Again, the Object may (and often) be a person.

Preferred Rival

The Preferred Rival may think:

• That Object is definitely its, and that Rejected Rival rivalry has already disappeared: for a story to be it has to be wrong at least in one of those assumptions.
• That Object is definitely its but that Rejected Rival is still trying to get it.
• That its possession of Object is not that sure, but at least Rejected Rival thinks it is.
• That its possession of Object is not that sure and that Rejected Rival knows it. Both Object and Rejected Rival may have provoked that situation.

PCs as Preferred

You can plan what happens according to what the PCs do.

• If the PCs trusts both the Object and the Rival, they are wrong in one or both those assumptions. They need to discover the situation and then choose how to take care of it.
• If the PCs trust only the Object, they are probably already thinking about what to do with Rejected Rival. You can let them be right about Rejected Rival, surprise them if Rejected Rival is actually innocent or surprise them more if Object is what they should have been more vigilant with.
• If the PCs trust only the Rival, then they need to think what they do with the Object. They may be right with Object and in that case it's not much different if they were wrong with Rejected Rival or if a new Rival has appeared. If they are wrong about Object the discovery should come after they already did something to spoil things.
• If the PCs don't trust either, for each of those assumptions they are right they'll have to take care of it. If they are wrong on both, again the discovery should come after they screw things.

Rejected Rival

The Rejected Rival may have accepted the Object's choice or otherwise.

PCs as Rejected

Again, you planned depending on what they do

• If they still try to get the Object, the Object may denounce them to the Preferred Rival and provoke a confrontation. The Object may remain silent, but the Preferred Rival realize it on its own. Finally, the PCs may have get the Object without letting react the Preferred Rival.
• If they have accepted their loss, the Preferred Rival may think they haven't and act accordingly, so that PCs have to convince it. Other possibility is that the Object is unsure of its choice and lets the PCs think they can have it again. The PCs may start trying to get it again (like in the first possibility) or ignore it, in which case the Object may deceive the Preferred Rival into thinking they are acting against it.

Object of Rivalry

The Object of Rivalry may be whatever but an actual object. It may be the love of a woman, the loyalty of a servitor, the favor of a king, the trust of a mentor...

The Object has been given to the Preferred Rival, but as we already saw, it still has several possibilities:

• It is sure of its choice, leaving the story to develop from the Rivals' actions.
• It is unsure of its choice, trying to get the Rejected Rival to try to get the Object again.
• It is unsure of its choice, and tried and fail getting the Rejected Rival against the Preferred Rival, so it is trying to manipulate the Preferred Rival into thinking it has something to worry about.

If the PCs are the Object

Again, you have to plan according with what they do.

• If they do nothing, and the Preferred tries taking care of the Rejected, the may discover it and be against it, bringing the conflict, or let it. In that case, the Preferred may fail horribly (dying, for instance)
• If they do nothing and the Rejected tries to get them, they may denounce it to the Preferred or try to take care of it themselves.
• If they try to get again the attention of the Rejected they may be successful and getting the Preferred to fight the Rejected again, or they can fail. Then they can choose to deceive the Preferred or stay put. Or the Preferred may think they are not trustworthy and lose whatever they got by being the Object of the story

Development

From the Rejected Rival the story may mix with Ambition. From the Preferred Rival it can mix with Enigma. In both cases it can be mixed with Conspiracy (with or without adultery if the Object is a spouse)

The Rejected Rival may Sacrifice something both if it tries to get the Object (sacrifices the relationship with the Preferred Rival) or doesn't (sacrifices his own desires)

If the Preferred Rival thinks the Rejected Rival is misbehaving it can develop the story in Pursuit, Vengeance or Madness, which in turn could result in Erroneous Judgement.

If the Object is a spouse the story can easily mix with Obstacles to Love or develop into Crimes of Love or Discovery of Dishonor of a Loved One.