I was just thinking that in Dancing Princess, the objective is for the verser to save princesses. This of course assumes that the verser is male. In other words, that world would be completely useless if you had a female player. Or is there an alternate version where it's 3 princes being captured by female demons? Are there any other worlds like that, where the gender of the verser would be such a huge driving force in the story?
I would disagree with your example. The people in the world are apparently assuming that whoever answers the King's call (and there are a lot of people who do) will be male, but I think that's more reflective of the setting than the designer. The reward is one of the princesses' hands in marriage and a fortune in gold, and there have been several (male) players who were in it only for the gold and/or the adventure. There are probably plenty of female players who would get a kick out of rescuing princesses - though I'm sure princes could be arranged if the referee wished to maintain that aspect of things.
That's just your example, though. Your proposed topic for discussion is still a good one.
Most of the worlds I've created it doesn't matter much. Would it matter in Music Wars Alpha or Beta for you John? I don't think it would.
I do tend to modify NPC's sex sometimes in response to having a female player. If I send a guy through 'Why Spy' I might have him bump into a female CIA spy, whereas when Alexis went through it, she bumped into the witty smart aleck guy CIA spy. But I kept the Reptile House team as is, and C as is in their genders.
Scott, my example with Dancing Princess was that the princesses are named Margret, Nerene and Olivia. So, if you have a female player, make them princes named Marcus, Nedry and Oliver, captured by female demons. Perhaps in this version of it, it's a female dominated society. The queen is the one in charge. It was just a thought.
So, if you have a female player, make them princes named Marcus, Nedry and Oliver, captured by female demons. Perhaps in this version of it, it's a female dominated society. The queen is the one in charge.
I might even do that for a male player, to simulate the effect of running a female player in the standard version.
"Well, I understand that we promised one of the prince's hands in marriage, but, um, seeing that things have turned out as they have, er . . ."
My recollection is that The Dancing Princess specifically states that you can reverse the gender to princes if you have a female player character.
Unfortunately, my time is so short tonight I don't think I can look it up.
--M. J. Young
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Lemme get my book.
Sure enough, it's the second paragraph:
In fairness, the scenario may be played gender-reversed if desired: it can become the story of the dancing prince. If this is desired, replace the three princesses with princes, and assume that the demons are succubi, demonesses who prey upon men by appearing as beautiful women.
And the subject is not mentioned again, though I mistakenly recollected that alternate names were provided (they are not). That explains why I couldn't remember what they were. John's names would do fine, though I'd use Nathan rather than Nedry; Nedry makes me think of the traitorous computer security guy from Jurassic Park, while Nathan strikes me as safely generic.
Edit: And I might use Michael instead of Marcus, as the latter is a bit Latinate and the former safely Anglicized (from, I think, Hebrew, possibly by way of Arabic, though I haven't looked this up recently), but that's a bit nit-picky.
I'd use Nathan rather than Nedry; Nedry makes me think of the traitorous computer security guy from Jurassic Park, while Nathan strikes me as safely generic.
That was where it came from, of course. I had just woken up when I typed that, and it was the only N name I could think of at the moment.
Oh and I believe Marcus is the male version of Margret, hence why I selected that, specifically.
Two Posts
That was a fun scenario, but I don't think the player really gets enough information. You're told that some princesses are having sleeping problems. And?????? Why should the verser be concerned with that? Now if I had been told right off the bat that there were demons kidnapping the princesses, I would have went to the castle at maximum warp. Just my two cents on it, that's all.
The scenario as written is one of those fairy-tale mysteries. You skipped past that part to the "what if the verser avoids the main story" part.
Personally, I was read enough fairy tales as a child that I (the character) would jump at any proclamation that included "the king is seeking," "the princess's hand," and "or be executed in the morning."
Actually, that last bit would probably be enough on its own.
Actually, that last bit would probably be enough on its own.
Funny, the last bit was a large part of why I didn't go. Yeah, I'm a verser and won't stay dead, but who WANTS to get executed, regardless of if they will wake up?
On choosing names:
In my 'First Contact/First Murder' the human starship is named "Marcus Caine" as in 'Mark of Cain'. You could portentially used Marcus in a similar way like 'Marcus Black' for some villainous blackheart or 'Marcus King' for the chief investigator or knight for the king.
Scott, why would the prospect of being executed for failure entice you to go to the castle? That was the single biggest deterrent to it that I had. I might have considered going except for that, actually.
I think Scott's reason (he'll correct me if I'm wrong) is that the condition screams "this is from a fairy tale", and the very fact that it is a fairy tale come to life means that there are magical adversaries of some sort involved--demons, perhaps, or witches, or imps or mischievous spirits or ghosts. It's not an ordinary story nor an ordinary problem if it contains such an obvious trope from a fairy tale--only a fairy tale king would say that.
As to the names of the princes, I would want to think them through a bit. To my mind, Princess Margaret's name suggests nobility, responsibility, the woman groomed to be queen; Princess Nerene's name suggests shy beauty, the overshadowed second child who does not put herself forward because she can never measure up to her older sister; and Princess Olivia's name suggests independence and action, someone fun-loving who knows that she's never going to be more than a princess in this kingdom and is quite happy not to have the responsibility of the throne looming in her future. It is not just that the names are in alphabetical order; they are also loaded with personality that helps me as referee play them in character.
So if I were going for three men, I would want the princes' names to reflect something of their character. The first would have to reflect strength and nobility; the second I would want to show the overshadowed second--but is he withdrawn like Nerene, or is he competitive, trying to prove himself just as good as his older brother? The third is more happy-go-lucky. Maybe I would go with Peter, Quentin, and Richard, but that's an off-the-cuff selection mostly because I think Peter a very strong name.
--M. J. Young
Scott, why would the prospect of being executed for failure entice you to go to the castle?
Because it means that this is one of those stories where dozens or hundreds of faceless hopefuls fail to meet the challenge while the king grows more and more desperate, until finally the unlikely hero arrives to solve the problem with wit, cleverness, and whatever he happens to have in his pocket. I want to be that hero, and if I don't even go, I'm obviously not him.
I don't want to be executed. If I'm executed, then I wasn't the hero; I was a faceless hopeful. I stand to gain a lot more than I stand to lose, though. If I'm not the hero here, maybe I'm the hero somewhere else.
Ah, but I was the hero. I just didn't like the idea of being executed for failing to solve a mystery. Mysteries are things I don't understand. Putting a bullet into a demon's skull? THAT I understand.
Cross-posted with MJ. He's not wrong.
I tend to think of Oliver as a strong name, an adventurer's name; wasn't he Roland's blood-brother? So I was fine with that choice. Michael's good enough for the archangel who in popular lore defeated Lucifer in a duel, a good old warlike name with a twist of divine right. And all the Nathans I've known were retiring types. Maybe Norman.
But obviously I agree with the general approach. I tend to work harder on my names than is probably warranted.
Scott, it looks like I cross-posted with you. I just wanted to make sure you saw it.
"If you know anything about fairy tales, you know that a hero doesn't appear, until the world really needs one."
From The Tale of Despereaux.
(Doing Therapy)
You could have a fairy tale world where the World is determined for everyone to follow their assigned roles. Verser arrives, and the World decides he has to be The Hero, so it takes measures. OTOH, it would be amusing if you had a heroic verser and the World decided that he was The Comic Relief and so it took measures...
Heh. That might be fun. If the player also knows this and is a storytelling gamer this could get interesting, playing the frustrated hero. What if a really caring and good verser arrives and the World decides he's the bad guy ... That would make my brains fry to figure out.
All that talk about fairy tales and heroes made that line really poignant to me.
(Doing Therapy)
Was it Churchill who said, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them?"
Great men arise from hard times. Without the Civil War, Lincoln would have been an ordinary President; he had even pledged that in his first term he would take no action to limit or end slavery. Washington was certainly a good man, but the American Revolution thrust him into the forefront and made him great. Churchill was something of a failure before World War II propelled him to leadership of Great Britain in its darkest hour.
Thus there is a connection between the hero and the need.
I am remembering rather vaguely dialog from Legend. Someone says, "We're to find a champion, a mortal, bold of heart and pure in spirit." Someone asks, "Where we gonna find a champion?" Then The Gump says to little Jack, in very dramatic voice, "You'll do."
If you've seen Die Hard 4, you'll recognize that that's what makes you "that guy".
--M. J. Young
Yes. True. (I saw Die Hard 4 :))
Was it Churchill who said, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them?"
I don't know, but I really like this one.
"Don't try to be a great man, just be a man. Let history make its own judgments."
Zephram Cochran.
Yeah, I rather like that one myself.
You could have a fairy tale world where the World is determined for everyone to follow their assigned roles. Verser arrives, and the World decides he has to be The Hero, so it takes measures. OTOH, it would be amusing if you had a heroic verser and the World decided that he was The Comic Relief and so it took measures...
Sounds very much like Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms series (of which I've only read the first book so far). The Tradition pushes everyone's life into the mold of a fairy tale.