Has anyone here played Princess: The Hopeful?

[Jeivar]

I'm referring to this (http://princesswod.wikia.com/wiki/Princess:_The_Hopeful_Wiki); a fan-made supplement for New World of Darkness... about anime-style magical girls.

Yes, really.

It actually looks quite professional, in terms of thought-out mechanics and worldbuilding, and an honest-to-God attempt is made to make brightly-coloured teenage girls with magic based on hope and love it fit into the overall WoD setting.

My friends and I are going to experiment with creating characters this weekend, just for the sheer novelty of what I just summed up.

I was just wondering if anyone had some recommendations or bewares regarding the mechanics.

[Sith_Happens]

Unfortunately, while I'd say I know the ins and outs of the game pretty well, all of my attempts so far to actually play it have suffered from Vanishing GM Syndrome.

[tensai_oni]

Last time I checked Princess out, it had horrible balance problems. Typical White Wolf fare, where options that grant you powerful supernatural abilities cost about the same (or even less) as limited-use utility powers or even mundane things that other urban fantasy rpgs would give you for free or at minimal cost, but here you have to pay for them. In the end it means starting Princess characters could either do one thing (fighting, social encounters, stealth, etc) well and be incredibly inept at everything else, or have basic proficiency as you'd expect from an ordinary human in most areas of life but not excel in anything. Once again, typical White Wolf fare.

But I heard the game was reshuffled balance-wise since then, and just a quick browse through the wiki confirmed it.

[Nerd-o-rama]

It's a really fun concept. Rules-wise I have no complaints that I don't have with NWoD in general (although it's high on the Too Many Subsystems list along with Mage and Changeling, in my opinion), and the setting background does get a bit garbled and confused from version to version, but overall I really appreciated the idea. It's what supernatural heroes almost have to look like in the World of Darkness, and it provides a good thematic counterpoint to the humanity-questioning monster stories - instead of Vampire vs. Beast or the like, it's a She Who Fights Monsters morality play. Or sanity play, as the case may be.

If I ever try running it again I might take a chainsaw to some of the rules, but I would run it again if I thought I was remotely capable of maintaining a PbP game for more than a couple months.

[Silus]

I really REALLY do wanna play it. The problem is that the current group I'm in ain't really down for fan-made splats and would probably laugh me off the table for even suggesting it.

Didn't stop me from rolling up a Champion of Swords that can rock 11 dice of Aggravated damage with 9-agains.

[Jeivar]

I really REALLY do wanna play it. The problem is that the current group I'm in ain't really down for fan-made splats and would probably laugh me off the table for even suggesting it.

Didn't stop me from rolling up a Champion of Swords that can rock 11 dice of Aggravated damage with 9-agains.

Yeah. Even with my limited understanding of the NWoD system (as opposed to the old ones), is that experienced Princesses seem like they can snap a Werewolf over their knee like a twig... assuming it refused to be friends.

[Silus]

Yeah. Even with my limited understanding of the NWoD system (as opposed to the old ones), is that experienced Princesses seem like they can snap a Werewolf over their knee like a twig... assuming it refused to be friends.

Well with building Rebecca I optimized pretty hard. Like Half-Orc Barbarian with maxed Strength, power attack, and a two-handed weapon. She's a bit of a glass cannon to be honest.

[tensai_oni]

Are Princesses really that powerful? Their Invocations can get pretty versatile, though nowhere on the level of any half decent Mage, but in a straightforward combat they don't have the soak necessary for survival against real big hitters, and they rarely have pull required for large scale social manipulation either.

But then, Princess the Hopeful is not about splat war. Some vampires, mages etc may exist as side characters, but Princess in general is self contained and deals with its own problems and challenges as opposed to rubbing shoulders with the rest of WoD's supernaturals. In fact I can easily picture a game that barely deals with supernatural elements at all and focuses on trying to improve the world instead.

[Silus]

Are Princesses really that powerful?

Well the build in question was for a 25 XP bonus for jumping into a game with prior existing characters.

I do enjoy how teamwork friendly the Princesses are and how versatile they can be.

[Nerd-o-rama]

It appears to lend itself to crossovers in the same way that Hunter does, but the more I think about it, the more that seems like a bit of a trap. Princesses have more fundamental stuff to worry about than the everyday bloodsuckers that Hunters try to stalk, contain, or eradicate. Smart ones might work with Mages or Werewolves to the best of their ability, though, if only on research. But...neither of those are groups known for playing nice with outsiders anyway, so.

[Sith_Happens]

Well the build in question was for a 25 XP bonus for jumping into a game with prior existing characters.

Not to mention being from the RIP AND TEAR faction. A pissed off Princess of Storms is something to be feared and that's completely intentional.

[Silus]

Not to mention being from the RIP AND TEAR faction. A pissed off Princess of Storms is something to be feared and that's completely intentional.

*Depressed sigh* I'ld love to play a Champion of Storms in a Vampire game...

[Jeivar]

*Depressed sigh* I'ld love to play a Champion of Storms in a Vampire game...

Or just one with that Charm that lets her project sunlight...


Are Princesses really that powerful? Their Invocations can get pretty versatile, though nowhere on the level of any half decent Mage, but in a straightforward combat they don't have the soak necessary for survival against real big hitters, and they rarely have pull required for large scale social manipulation either.

Well, while transformed, and with a maxed-out Invocation, it is possible to have a combat roll of 25 dice. Go ahead and shrug THAT off.

[Silus]

Or just one with that Charm that lets her project sunlight...

I am Become Light comes to mind but that's an Avatar charm >_>

[Ulhyth]

It's been a couple of years, but I did receive permission to play a Seeker in a long-running campaign after badgering the Storyteller about it for while. It was... mechanically sound, moreso than some of the official 1e published splats, and interesting enough to play. Princesses roll by throwing lots of dice at a problem, but their abilities are much less versatile than, say, Mages. However, I wouldn't recommend playing a Princess in a non-Princess party, given the steep punishments you experience for allowing your party to commit harmful acts - in my experience, you'll have to either sink into a deep shadow-coated depression, or live up to the Paladin stereotype and somehow bend the rest of the party into obeying your divinely-enforced ethics.

Finally being able to cast Books in Running Brooks was a good feeling though. Especially since according to the campaign lore, my Seeker was effectively hacking the God-Machine to do it.