Very Distant Lands: A game of princess combat

RPG system: LARP
Participants: 5-20 players, Extra-Heroic Princesses (all genders welcome): 0-3, Non-Princesses (all genders welcome): 0-3, Monsters!: 0-5, Regular Princesses (all genders welcome): 5-9

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Description

Welcome to a land of adventure, royal intrigue, and metaphysical geopolitics. Will you struggle through a complex political game to expand the borders of your kingdom, research forgotten magics, or just decide to forget that and go wrassle some monsters? Hopefully at least a bit of the last one, because with the royal heroes on holiday (not that we ever needed their help) it's up to the princesses to team up and save the day!

Of course, you'll have enemies, and rivals, so watch your back. Which feuding dutchies will you support, and can you talk your way out of a war? How will you survive the complex verbal etiquette of Lumpy Space, the dark wilds of the Evil Forest, or the crushing darkness of the Nightosphere, in a series of challenging, inspirational, and thought-provoking quests?

Not to fear, of course—everything will be wrapped up by tea-time, and then it's onto the next episode.

(This game draws _loosely_ from the world of Adventure Time, but no knowledge of the show or its lore is necessary for this game—after all, it's a story about what happens when all the heroes and big-name princesses are away, and the lesser-known princesses get their chance to shine, and also we're still a few seasons behind)

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WHAT IS A PRINCESS?

Boys can be princesses too! Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Most of the characters in this game will be princesses—but not everyone. Characters will fall into one of the following genders:

1. Princesses, who use the pronouns of their choice, and who are assigned one adjective at birth (e.g. Jack-o-Lantern Princess, Dinosaur Princess, Opera Princess, etc.)

2. Double Princesses, who use the pronouns of their choice, and who are assumed one adjective at birth BUT ALSO choose a second adjective later in life (e.g. Barbarian Hairdresser Princess, Nerdy Lava Princess, BMX Wizard Princess). Taking on this extra responsibility makes double princesses extra-daring heroes, but also saddles them with a Tragic Flaw.

3. Dukes, who use the pronouns of their choice, are born without adjectives, and are instead assigned a single noun over which to rule responsibly (e.g. Duke of Pencils, Duke of Breakfast, Duke of Bees). Dukes often take a back seat to princesses in matters of heroics, but also tend to be older, more experienced, and less headstrong.

4. NPCS (or "monsters"). Cool IRL humans who are willing to put on a few monster masks, kidnap a few folks in need of rescuing, and threaten and battle our heroes in a variety of roles. If you'd rather be an upstart hero princess or duke, by all means do so (we GMs should be able to run this ourselves, but it'll go smoother with a few helpers)

The most common methods of princess combat are STRENGTH, TACTICS, ALGEBRA, DANCING, VOCABULARY, GLAMOR, LUCK, SWORDPLAY (non-contact), and FRIENDSHIP. Arguments between princesses, and combat against monsters, is generally with a very simple minigame or competition. Certain princesses may find some of these arenas easier than others, and that's okay! Everyone is different.

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Very Distant Lands is a fairly straightforward game; princesses are all about action, personality, and hot-tempered feuds (rather than dark secrets or extra-painful emotions). Like a saturday-morning cartoon, the story will consist of several "episodes," short plot arcs featuring specific missions and quests, as you build friendships and rivalries that last across the whole game, collecting unique artifacts and priceless treasure along the way. At the end of the day, isn't the goal of any princess to show off why you're the best in what arena you're most comfortable with? (and yes, FRIENDSHIP is our favorite arena)

The first half hour of the game will be devoted to fleshing out character goals, backstories, and connections (alliances, polite rivalries, all-out-feuds, and secret friend crushes). Since Very Distant Lands is a game of very few secrets, we'd rather have players work on their characters and starting conflicts together, rather than just have you read it off a sheet. This game will require very little preparation (less than one page of reading), focusing instead on personality conflicts and a bit of improv, and we picture it as a fun and relaxing break between darker, more complicated games (for the players and maybe also the GMs).

This game is appropriate for players of all ages, including (but not limited to) children

We've currently capped the game at 15 players, but this might increase if we find sufficient NPCs/additional GMs

Played at