Princess: the Hopeful A Storytelling Game of Fighting Fear When they told you that you were a Princess, you felt your childhood dream had come true. Sometimes you want to shake your childhood self, and make her see how much hard work it is to be a Princess. They showed you how you channel your hope into magic. You never imagined what magic really was like, how your own doubts could block your powers or turn them against you. They said you were going to help fix the world. Some days, you can’t even fix your own life. When you told them how you felt, they said it was OK to take a break. But it’s not OK, because you could never forgive yourself if you let everyone down. Princess: the Hopeful is a fan made roleplaying game for the New World of Darkness. Players take on the role of magical girls (or boys) who one day found themselves granted great magical power and the responsibility to fix all that is wrong with the world. If they can survive the trauma of real battle, learn that not every problem can be solved with a speech about friendship, and endure their enormous workload, then just maybe they can makePrincess: a difference. the Hopeful is a collaborative effort of posters on the RPGnet forums [http:// forum.rpg.net/]. Princess: the Hopeful: A Storytelling Game of Fighting Fear Edited by Michael Brazier ™ PublicationPrincess: date the 2013 Hopeful World of Darkness Rulebook God-Machine Chronicle is a fan-made roleplaying game for the New World of Darkness , published by White Wolf Game Studio. The and the rules update from the are needed to use this book. At the time of preparation, the rules update is available for free from DriveThru RPG [http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/]. The most current version of this book is available at https://sites.google.com/site/princessthehopeful/ This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Com- mons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This work uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural ele- ments are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. Reader discretion is advised. ii Special Thanks To Cruton, Azunth,Princess: Michael the Hopeful Brazier, EarthScorpion, Luc “Nickname” French, hazard151, TheKingsRaven, Huitzil and everyone else on RPGnet and elsewhere who helped in the de- velopment of . iii iv Contents The Dreamlands ................................... 280 Nations .................................................. 304 The Mystery of the Queens ................. 321 Introduction ................................................ vii Chapter 4. Fighting Fear .......................... 327 A Game Of Fighting Fear ....................... viii Tainted Places ...................................... 327 How to use this Book .............................. ix The Dark World ................................... 336 Sources and Inspiration ........................... x Creatures of Darkness ......................... 339 Example Dark Beings .......................... 365 Chapter 1. Noblesse Oblige ......................... 1 Cults of the Darkness ........................... 378 The Light and the Dark ............................ 1 The Queen of Tears ............................. 380 Being a Princess ....................................... 3 Alhambra .............................................. 386 Callings ...................................................... 7 Ghost Princesses .................................. 401 Champion .................................................. 9 The Queen of Storms ........................... 403 Grace ........................................................ 12 Goalenu ................................................. 409 Mender .................................................... 15 Stormwracked ...................................... 422 Seeker ...................................................... 17 The Queen of Mirrors .......................... 425 Troubadour ............................................. 20 Wardens ................................................ 431 Culture ..................................................... 23 Amanojaku ............................................ 433 Queens ..................................................... 27 The Dethroned ..................................... 438 The Queen of Clubs ................................ 30 The Queen of Diamonds ........................ 35 Appendix A. Embassies ........................... 447 The Queen of Hearts .............................. 41 Protectorates ........................................ 448 The Queen of Spades ............................. 47 Embassy to the Arcane ........................ 449 The Queen of Swords ............................. 52 Embassy to Death ................................ 453 Embassy to the Dreamlands ............... 456 Chapter 2. Coronations .............................. 59 Embassy to the Economy .................... 460 Creating a Princess Character ............... 59 Embassy to Ephemera ......................... 466 New and Modified Traits ....................... 62 Embassy to Fortune ............................. 472 Merits ...................................................... 72 Embassy to Machines .......................... 477 Charms .................................................... 86 Embassy to the Ocean ......................... 481 Appear ..................................................... 93 Embassy to Stories .............................. 484 Bless ...................................................... 111 Protectorate of Amethyst .................... 490 Connect ................................................. 124 Protectorate of Fused Quartz .............. 494 Fight ...................................................... 143 Protectorate of Novaculite .................. 498 Govern ................................................... 156 Protectorate of Pyrite .......................... 501 Inspire ................................................... 175 Learn ..................................................... 192 Appendix B. Conditions and Tilts ........... 505 Perfect ................................................... 215 Conditions ............................................. 505 Restore .................................................. 230 Phylactery Conditions ......................... 516 Shape ..................................................... 243 Tilts and Environmental Condi- tions ....................................................... 518 Chapter 3. The Power of Love ................. 269 Transformation .................................... 269 Alphabetical List of Charms .................... 525 Echoes ................................................... 272 Using and Making Bequests ................ 274 Cited Works .............................................. 527 Shikigami .............................................. 276 Blessed Places ...................................... 277 v vi Introduction Using whatever strength I had left, I pulled off the covers, and reached for the pendant I had hung on one antenna of the television. “Please come with me, Dusty,” I asked of him. “I have to go save the world again.” — Sailor Nothing No matter how old we may be now, all of us were once young. The world was unexplored and exciting, full of possibility. What we lacked in experience and wisdom, we made up for in possibility and enthusiasm. We dreamed of fame, fortune, wealth, glory, respect. We wanted to be astronauts, cowboys, firemen, doctors, singers, rock stars, or all of the above at once. After all, we didn’t know what was possible ... and that meant ANYTHING was possible. We looked at the world through guileless eyes, felt it as fully and intensely as anyone ever could. When we came to a new idea, we embraced it zealously and whole-heartedly, convinced we’d found the secret that would change the world. When we loved, we were convinced it was the most passionate ever felt; when we hurt, we thought it was a tragedy the likes of which had never been seen. We were convinced that we had the whole thing figured out, that we could make everything perfect if we just had a chance, if the grown-ups would just listen. After all, we could do anything if we put our mind to it. We were fearless. We couldn’t wait to grow up so we could grab life by the horns. And as we mature, we realize the follies of our youth. We learn that our love and pain are not unique, that everyone in the world has gone through the same; this was comforting, but it was also disappointing. We found out that there are no more cowboys, that we didn’t have the money or determination for medical school, that we couldn’t pass the physical to be an astronaut or that becoming a famous musician is just a matter of luck and we’d probably have to get a job doing something boring, even worse, something LAME. We learned that growing up isn’t about suddenly being able to do everything you ever wanted; it’s mostly about learning how stupid you were when you were young. We learned from our mistakes and shook our heads, wondering how we could ever be dumb enough to make them in the first place. Our potential was replaced with reality. We found out that no, life wasn’t going to be an open book