Has there been a Princess in anyone's games?

[Protato]

In spite of all the different stock fantasy archetypes in DnD, like brave knights, cunning elves, and evil dragons and undead, one character I never hear about is the princess. That's not to say they aren't ever used but I'm just wondering, has anyone played a game with a princess present, as a PC or NPC? If so, what did they do of note, if anything? Were they arm (or eye) candy or did they fight, or perhaps they were used as political bargaining chips?

[prototype00]

Sorceress was a not-so-secret princess in one of the AL games I played (in that it was supposedly a secret but the character leaked the info out at regular intervals for the fish out of Water effect).

She fought (and died apparently in another game). Thing is, when you’re fighting Orogs or elementals, they don’t much care that you’re some stripe of royalty.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

I don't know if we've ever had a king come to think of it much less a princess.

This is a must! I have some towns in my Homebrew we haven't fleshed out yet. Princesses they shall have!

[LoneStarNorth]

In a game I'm running which takes place entirely within a massive underground cavern (with downtime spent in the town above), there's a ranger who has taken to living in the caves. Unbeknownst to the party she is a runaway princess.

In a different game system I had a dragon kidnap one princess each from two warring kingdoms. The party tried to save them, but instead accidentally killed both. The dragon got really mad at them because it had planned to make them fight to the death.

[EvilAnagram]

Yes, there was an elven princess in my home game. She was the daughter of the king's first cousin, once removed, and she was on a diplomatic mission to the human lands. She was a cleric (a rarity in the setting), and she was quite capable in combat.

The party met her on the road, made friends with her, and became her trusted companions and allies. They saved her life numerous times and helped her push her political agenda as a rakshasa conspired against her. They lost mutual friends in the conflict, and the paladin developed the kernel of a relationship with her.

Then, when the rakshasa sprung his trap, the party tried to kill him instead of trying to save her. She died, he lived, and they were framed for treason. They fled town and wandered the wilderness with her body in tow for days before burying her in a grove in the Feywild sacred to the moon goddess.

Resurrection does not exist in our home campaign.

[EvilAnagram]

The party tried to save them, but instead accidentally killed both.

This is a very D&D statement.

How exactly did that happen?

[bc56]

I believe there was a recruitment for an all-princess game not long ago.

I'm not going to go digging for the OOC though.

[Eshfyre]

Lyenna Aymer Eshfyre of the Silver From Above was a Dragonborn Wizard (now retired). She and her family were ousted from their homeland when she was ten years old. With her family name destitute she was only a princess to those who knew her name before kingdom (which was not common knowledge since it was a civilization in the sky created by a Silver Dragon).

With her family blowing through what little riches they had left, she was forced to work as a maid to the highborn families of Neverwinter. She learned her magic by copying the homework of the students whose rooms she had to clean. With a few spells under her belt she decided to strike out on her own and support her broken family by adventuring.

I played her in a homebrew campaign with a new DM. I believed that the DM would be able to add some of the weight of my backstory into their setting. That one day, I would eventually earn the honor that would elevate my family back to the station they deserved. Unfortunately I was asking way too much of them. Much more than I was prepared to give to another player even.

My DM attempted an open world sandbox style game. As we played, however, she told us that were way over their head. We agreed to play with whatever content they had prepared until we could find a stopping point to start a module.

Honestly, I felt embarrassed that I had put so much thought into my princess. I had planned her personality before the campaign began rather than letting it emerge on its own; there hadn't been any further room for growth. And every time I thought of acting in a non-polite, non-erudite manor that I was somehow "betraying" the spirit of her character.

I guess on some level I was hoping the other party members would treat me with some deference, but it was just the wrong tone for the group. They wanted to slay monsters, get loot and pursue their own intricate backstories. Mine was just another story among five people. After awhile it felt wrong to have her there, so I retired her character and made a Half-Elf Cleric instead.

[Willie the Duck]

In my main campaign world, there are lots of what you might call 'petty kingdoms,' so there are lots of so-called kings (and queens, for that matter). So lots of kings, queens, princesses and princes. Mind you, a whole bunch of them are such that 100 miles from home, literally no one cares.

I think in terms of princess as in heiress to what we would think of as a nation, I believe the PCs ran into one--a bugbear princess. She thought the paladin was 'cute.' There was much hilarity all around.

[Laserlight]

In a 4e campaign a few years ago, my new pixie character was introduced in the campaign as one of the nonhuman captives in a very xenophobic human town. A couple of the players pried open the cage and opened the containment bottle, releasing me. I rolled to see which one I'd imprint on, and it happened to be the female PC. I said in rapturous tones, "Princess Pomegranate!" She was somewhat taken aback by that, but liked it, and the pixie called her Princess Pomegranate thereafter. The pixie also believed that anything that you said repeatedly became real (at least in the Feywild, he wasn't sure how this other plane worked, but it ought to be the same) so she actually was Princess Pomegarate. I'm not sure whether the DM subscribed to that theory but the pixie was convinced. The pixie was, let's say, not firmly grounded in this reality. At all.

In last year's 5e campaign, the players managed to get themselves exiled from the main city in the area. The lesser city they arrived at was ruled by a native princess with an imperial "adviser". The "met" the native princess, in the sense of being in the same room, but she was behind a veiling curtain and they didn't see her; they dealt with the adviser. Also, she was a rakshasa, although the campaign petered out before anyone found that out.

[KOLE]

One of my most important characters was Gabby the Phoenix. Her whole backstory was my play on the Disney Princess/Sweet Polly Oliver story, and the homebrew campaign was quite cynical in tone. Gabby was a princess to a relatively small clan- her title was princess, but her father was more of a chief than a king. Their culture was based on Celtic clans- near constant warring between tribes. Her father tried to turn her into a more proper princess than other women in the clan, as they were usually Shieldmaidens and warriors. She desperately wanted to fight like her mother, the shieldmaiden, but her father couldn't bear to lose her and wanted her to study to be a more desirable potential wife to gain political clout.

She was eventually betrothed as the second wife to one of the most powerful chieftains- and attended the betrothal feast masked in armor, challenging him for her own hand as Dedmon the Wild. After defeating him soundly, she revealed her identity, hoping for a Brave style ending... But ended up being banished lest the powerful Chieftain wage war on her family.

Her royalty didn't come up often in the campaign, however. She was more respected as a warrior.

[Knaight]

In D&D specifically, no. In fantasy games with a certain similarity to D&D in tropes, yes. I've only had two cases of princesses that I can actually remember - one was a PC, far down the line of succession, who was sent out as an expedition leader for the expedition the PCs were on; the other set were a few princesses working an intrigue to reform an old country and rule it as a small council with sheer force of personality, instead of not ruling the various splinter countries they were currently in.

[Daithi]

Slightly off-topic, but on the TV show Magicians there is a prince whose name is Ess.
I admit that I'm easily amused, but that's just freakin' funny.

[JNAProductions]

I believe there was a recruitment for an all-princess game not long ago.

I'm not going to go digging for the OOC though.

Which one? I've run a few.

Also, I believe Ninja Prawn made a Princess class, so there's that.

[Wryte]

I usually veer toward nobility rather than royalty when I need a character, PC or Non-, from a privileged background. I just feel like dukes, earls, marquesses, and the ever generic "lords" are a bit less played out than kings.

That said, the campaign I'm running right now includes a pair of NPCs who have been living a Prince and the Pauper switcheroo for about the last 14 years: the rambunctious 12 year old daughter of a high-ranking noble family was being shipped off to study as a wizard's apprentice in a far off city, so she demanded that her servants pick up an urchin girl she saw in the street as a traveling companion for the journey. On the way, she gave the urchin a crash course in pretending to be her, and upon arriving in the city, they traded identities. The urchin became the wizard's apprentice, and the noblewoman flounced off to do whatever she wanted.

In the present, the urchin is a low level wizard specializing in divination. She is a respected ancillary member of the city's noble court, and the primary liaison between the city and her master. She is highly educated and charming, and a leader in the local fashion scene.

The real noblewoman, on the other hand, is a disreputable tramp of a bard who bounces between adventures, romantic entanglements, and shady dealings as her whims suit her.

[LoneStarNorth]

This is a very D&D statement.

How exactly did that happen?

The dragon took the princesses to a ruined city on an island in a lake between the two kingdoms. The party followed under cover of darkness, trying to get their before either country's army showed up. They split into two teams. Team A consisting of beatstick and healer, who walked the streets making noise and trying to get the attention of the dragon, expecting it to try to repel them. Team B consisted of wizard, gunslinger, and NPC dragonslayer, who hid in a church tower with the intention of providing long-range support to team A when the dragon showed up.

Team A got surprised when one of the princesses jumped out front of them with a sword and demanded to know who they were. Beatstick accidentally hits her with her maul because she'd been swinging it around and smashing stuff to make noise. Crits, kills the princess.

Team B gets ambushed by the other princess, who sneaks up behind them with a crossbow and similarly demands to know what they're doing. At this time they learn the dragon told the two princesses to fight to the death, and it would burn down the loser's capital city. Team B knocked the princess out and tied her up since she didn't seem to be in a cooperative mood. They were here to kill a dragon first, and rescue princesses second, after all.

The dragon then confronted team A, angry that its game was ruined, and started trying to kill them. Team A fled back towards the church. The dragon set the church on fire. Team B leaped out of the bell tower to avoid burning to death. Forgot to bring the princess.

The party had a long and harrowing battle with the dragon before it tried to flee rather than get killed. The NPC dragonslayer ended up getting the killing blow after rolling poorly and being useless the rest of the time. The party wasn't salty over that, though, since killing a dragon gives you superpowers in this setting and they were all close enough to benefit.

The party then fled the city as two opposing armies closed in. They then proceeded to also flee the country and never, ever return.

The gunslinger is now trying to set up a romantic relationship with the princess of his homeland and marry into the royal family, so we'll see if they end up going three for three on dead princesses.

[Astofel]

My game technically has a princess, as in the daughter of the king, but I've never really thought of her in that way. Mostly because she's a gold dragonborn bard 10/paladin 7 and more than capable of holding her own, so she's far from your traditional princess. That kingdom's royal line tends to be powerful adventurers, particularly bards.

Now that I've seen this thread it makes me want to include a more traditional princess just to see what I can do with one. Guess I'll have to figure out where I can fit one in.

[CTurbo]

I had my party escort a teenage Half-Elf NPC Lore Bard princess across the lands to her Elf King father's kingdom. It was a lot of fun. She was your typical sassy smartass teenage girl who was very attractive. She did not care about armor and did not have any combat skills(kept a dagger only), but almost never needed them. I gave her a 22 in Charisma just for fun lol. She had a pet cat that may or may not have been her level 20 Land Druid grandmother watching over her. It was funny how the Beastmaster's Wolf was scared of the cat and wouldn't even look it in the eyes lol

[Luccan]

I can think of one game I played in that I know had a princess. We never got to her (game ended prematurely), but we were tasked with saving her from a dragon. And I played one of my favorite characters ever for it, who I'll have to revive elsewhere some day.

[Ogre Mage]

I played in campaign set in Menzoberranzan in which our PCs were members of the 36th noble house of the city. After we successfully eliminated the 25th noble house, Quenthel Baenre showed up at our compound to escort our matron mother (NPC) to House Baenre. This was set in the era when Yvonnel Baenre was Matron Mother of House Baenre, so at that time Quenthel would be considered a "princess." There was some role play interaction with her. This was a LONG time ago so I have forgotten the details, but I do remember her being quite condescending (except to our matron mother), as if she thought this assignment was beneath her. Or maybe she was just trying to intimidate us. Perhaps both. We speculated she was pissed off that Matron Baenre told her to do this.

Matron Mother Tolana went with Quenthel to House Baenre. When she returned, she told us that we were to be awarded the rank of 30th noble house of the city.

[Unoriginal]

There are several princesses in the official adventure modules. Notably in ToA.

[Blacky the Blackball]

I think the last two princesses I had in a campaign were both high level (14+) wizards.

That's because I was playing a conversion the old CM and M adventures set in Mystara, and the Empire of Alphatia there is a magocracy. The Empress Ariadna is a 20th level wizard, and almost all her children are wizards too. In fact it was the party's patron - Prince Ericall - who was the black sheep of the family. He'd shown no aptitude for magic and was therefore something of an embarrasment; which was why he'd ended up in self-imposed exile founding a colony on another continent (the PC's continent). The PCs were given land grants and swore fealty to him, becoming his council of Lords (the CM adventures are all about high level adventurers having settled down to run dominions).

One of the princesses was King Ericall's wife, and the other was his older sister.

[Angelalex242]

So far princesses haven't showed up much in my games. My paladins tend to end up dating more exotic things, like Celestials or metallic dragons.

My current paladin is dating a silver dragon.

[Asmotherion]

In my personal game, actual royalty (I'm not talking about nobles, only those who have an actual claim to the throne) are always Dragons (this being a secret to most people, as they pass most of their time in humanoid form of the species they reign uppon), because of ancient Aliances among the Pantheons. So, a Princess would be a Dragon Princess, and unless it was a very high power campain or some modifications were made, not very appropriate for a PC.

That said, in any other campain, the Noble Backround seems right for it. A good adventure trope is being send as an emissery or diplomat from an other country, and getting caught into an adventure.

It fits perfectly in a High RP campain, were everyone is supposed to have a storyline to follow; In one of the games I currently participate as a Player, we travel with an Elven Prince for example.

The less RP foccused the Game, the less the character will have meaning. In a hack and slash campain for example, that does not explore RP that much (some do), playing a Royal won't have any differance than playing an Urchin, other than profficiency in the appropriate skills.

[Unoriginal]

Though if you want to be technical, all queens are princesses too. And all non-elected female rulers who aren't the vassal or otherwise subservient to an higher mortal power can also be called "princesses", no matter their actual titles.

[Afrodactyl]

If there's a humanoid princess in my games (or any royalty for that matter), they're usually an NPC that is mentioned, but never seen. I tend to stick to more "local government" types of rulers/leaders; barons, mayors, counts, etc. If the party are meeting royalty, it means either they're meeting someone who is clearly a villain, or its at the end of a long campaign and they're about to get a huge pay out.

I'm all for having my party meeting monstrous royalty though. A monster who has earned their place through outsmarting or outmuscling their kin and then declared themselves king? Long live Gorgluk the Troll King.

[EvilAnagram]

The dragon took the princesses to a ruined city on an island in a lake between the two kingdoms. The party followed under cover of darkness, trying to get their before either country's army showed up. They split into two teams. Team A consisting of beatstick and healer, who walked the streets making noise and trying to get the attention of the dragon, expecting it to try to repel them. Team B consisted of wizard, gunslinger, and NPC dragonslayer, who hid in a church tower with the intention of providing long-range support to team A when the dragon showed up.

Team A got surprised when one of the princesses jumped out front of them with a sword and demanded to know who they were. Beatstick accidentally hits her with her maul because she'd been swinging it around and smashing stuff to make noise. Crits, kills the princess.

Team B gets ambushed by the other princess, who sneaks up behind them with a crossbow and similarly demands to know what they're doing. At this time they learn the dragon told the two princesses to fight to the death, and it would burn down the loser's capital city. Team B knocked the princess out and tied her up since she didn't seem to be in a cooperative mood. They were here to kill a dragon first, and rescue princesses second, after all.

The dragon then confronted team A, angry that its game was ruined, and started trying to kill them. Team A fled back towards the church. The dragon set the church on fire. Team B leaped out of the bell tower to avoid burning to death. Forgot to bring the princess.

The party had a long and harrowing battle with the dragon before it tried to flee rather than get killed. The NPC dragonslayer ended up getting the killing blow after rolling poorly and being useless the rest of the time. The party wasn't salty over that, though, since killing a dragon gives you superpowers in this setting and they were all close enough to benefit.

The party then fled the city as two opposing armies closed in. They then proceeded to also flee the country and never, ever return.

The gunslinger is now trying to set up a romantic relationship with the princess of his homeland and marry into the royal family, so we'll see if they end up going three for three on dead princesses.

Yeah, this is some great Dungeons & Dragons right here. You should feel proud.

[Tanarii]

There are several princesses in the official adventure modules. Notably in ToA.
Really? Cult didn't strike me as a place with a lot of Kingdoms or Empires. Or are they Lost Princesses?

[A Fat Dragon]

I was thinking about possibly making a Princess/Royal character...

Of course, instead of being a wizard or sorcerer, I thought a Stereotypical Princess who was actually a Barbarian might be a fun idea.

Zealot could be a fun idea for it, though might do Berserker solely for the flavor of the character being a royal, charismatic character out of combat, and in combat, simply a great-maul swinging killing machine.

[EvilAnagram]

I was thinking about possibly making a Princess/Royal character...

Of course, instead of being a wizard or sorcerer, I thought a Stereotypical Princess who was actually a Barbarian might be a fun idea.

Zealot could be a fun idea for it, though might do Berserker solely for the flavor of the character being a royal, charismatic character out of combat, and in combat, simply a great-maul swinging killing machine.

So Princess Cuchulain? Sounds like a fun time.

[ImproperJustice]

Back in my 3.5 days we had a new player who really wanted to play as an iconic fantasy princess.

Me and another seasoned player got together and designed a home brew Princess class with a set of “princess powers” selected from a list of popular princess tropes.

Everything from singing to create an Unseen Servant effect using small animals, to mystic visions of the future, to inspiring others even when things seemed the most desperate, and of course a winged steed as we neared epic level play....

She fell in love with the character and we tied her being a descendent of a lost, ancient bloodline of Kings and Queens from a long forgotten Kingdom to the plot and it all went swimmingly.

She is now one of our most hardcore players.
Currently running a Gnome Paladin who looks like a Protector from Etrian Oddyssey and fights for Truth, Justice, and Friendship.

[Jamesps]

I had a princess in my last game, but she was only a princess for about two minutes of game time. The game opened up with her father dieing and now she's feuding with her uncle for queenship while the players take sides.

Counts though, right?

[NecessaryWeevil]

Sort of. We encountered a king of Bullywugs who wanted to kiss and marry a princess, thus becoming human and expanding his realm into more civilized humanoid lands. Our bard convinced him that he (the bard) was in fact a princess in disguise, although already betrothed to a recurring villain. The Bullywug King vowed to slay this villain, becoming a joke recurring character and then a backup PC in the final battle.

[Naanomi]

One of my first long-term DnD characters in 2e was a run-away princess (evoker; would likely be a sorcerer if remade today)

Not a ‘princess’ formally, but a prominent NPC in my current game is a Baronessa; who they ‘freed’ from capture by bandits (she was their leader really) and has now taken up adventuring as sort of a rival who keeps beating them to adventures if they waste too much time

[ImproperJustice]

There are some neat ideas in this thread.

[KorvinStarmast]

Yes, there was an elven princess in my home game. She was the daughter of the king's first cousin, once removed, and she was on a diplomatic mission to the human lands. She was a cleric (a rarity in the setting), and she was quite capable in combat.

The party met her on the road, made friends with her, and became her trusted companions and allies. They saved her life numerous times and helped her push her political agenda as a rakshasa conspired against her. They lost mutual friends in the conflict, and the paladin developed the kernel of a relationship with her.

Then, when the rakshasa sprung his trap, the party tried to kill him instead of trying to save her. She died, he lived, and they were framed for treason. They fled town and wandered the wilderness with her body in tow for days before burying her in a grove in the Feywild sacred to the moon goddess.

Resurrection does not exist in our home campaign. Your home campaign sounds awesome to me.

Really? Cult didn't strike me as a place with a lot of Kingdoms or Empires. Or are they Lost Princesses? Chult. And I think some people need to use spoiler tags (in particular, the person you responded to).

[EvilAnagram]

Your home campaign sounds awesome to me.

Thank you :D

That campaign is actually ending soon, with the party defending a city against an encroaching hobgoblin army in a 7-session siege. At the moment, the fighter is about to face his treacherous son in combat as the rest of the party desperately holds a small redoubt against the brunt of the enemy forces (including wyvern-riding devastators), hoping their allies will arrive before the redoubt falls.

It's ending for personal reasons I don't want to get into, so the rakshasa is still at large and his machinations are still turning the wheel that will grind mankind to dust. Hopefully, the next party will be able to stop him.

[Lord Vukodlak]

Not a princess exactly but a close equalivent the setting was feudal Japan fantasy rather then medieval Europe.

Yuriko was the daughter of a feudal lord who was a close advisor to the Clan Diaymio of the Hawk. Her father was also magistrate of the second largest city in The Hawk Clan. When The Hawk Clan was occupied by the Ram Clan she went into hiding taking on the name of her handmaiden (Ayame) to avoid discovery.

The campaign consisted of the efforts of the party and others to liberate The Hawk Clan. The bulk of the Clans army was tied up fighting in the war of succession to determine the next emperor.

When the party learned the truth of her identiy the general response was a faceslap “in hindsight it was obvious”

Now unlike traditional princesses she fully expected and accepted an arranged marriage based off political gain for her family. Her only requirements were someone no more then ten years her senior OR weak willed and easily manipulated.

In contrast to the above statement she ended up arranging her own marriage to the Clan’s Eternal Champion. Who was more then ten years her senior(if you counted retaining his memories of his previous lifetimes). And obviously not weak willed or easily manipulated.
But it was at no point about love.

[Drascin]

A reasonable amount of princesses have happened, yes. Most common seems to be the Disney style of "princess sees wrong in the kingdom, mother/father isn't doing ****, so she escapes and goes off to do something herself".