Be Yourself or Die Dreaming (Class: Princess)
Disclaimer: This class has not been tested.
The world is wide and grim. Evil has laid waste upon it and wild dog, and wolf and boar and bear come to wallow and root in our fields, steal our suckling children from their mother's breasts, and drag them to their lightless underworld underground.
Princesses are those who take upon themselves to live in perpetual revolt. Against a world of swords, they extend a blooming flower. For underneath all of the layers, all of the monsters, all of the grime, is love. The Princess' unshakable devotion to love, and to unbridled joy in the face of oblivion itself makes her one of a kind.
A princess may be sullen and morose, smiling and happy, ditzy and gullible, and anything around, between, or else.
Experience Tables & Weapons
| Experience Points | Experience Level | Dice for Accumulated Hit Points | Level Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | Special, see below | Princess |
The Princess may not fight or gain experience levels. If attacked, she may get wounded or even perish as appropriate, but not through something as prosaic as counting numbers up or down.
The Princess may make use of any non-weapon magic item.
The Princess may multiclass so long as she does not break any of the commands below - thus a Princess may be a Fighting Man so long as she never fights until after exhausting every single other means, up to and including being captured.
Class Features, or Templates, as you wish
Love Conquers All - Whenever adventuring, the Princess may invert the numbers of the Reaction roll, if one was rolled. If it is still negative, the creature wishes no harm at all on her, but rather to capture her for some nefast purpose. Mindless beasts are either fascinated and approach the Princess to finally sleep peacefully on her lap, or turned away.
The one exception to this is True Evil. Things which are genuinely evil and hate all that is good will always attempt to possess the Princess and keep her somewhere to be humiliated, showcasing the defeat of goodness.
Love Saves All - Whenever the Princess shows someone the error of their ways and gives them an opportunity to mend themselves, she rolls 1d6 + the number of reasons she can name that they are redeemable and good, somewhere deep inside. The opposition rolls 2d10.
If the princess rolls higher than both dice, the opposition sees the error of their ways and devotes themselves to making amends to the best of their capability.
If she rolls higher than only one of their dice, the opposition needs time to reflect on their behaviour. They will leave all of their endeavours on pause and wander in search of meaning, perhaps back to some place to reflect. At the end of this time (which may last 2d6 days, weeks, months, or years, at the Gamemaster's pleasure, or the roll of a d4) they will find the Princess and devote themselves to right their wrongs.
If she rolls under both dice of the opposition, either they see no issue with their behaviour and are declared True Evil, or believe themselves too far gone for redemption and lash out desperately. They may require more forceful intervention.
Genuine Kindness - The Princess does not act under the constraint of rules that can be cynically bent. There is no guide on how to be a kind person and thus the Princess cannot "argue" with anything written on what is or isn't good or kind. You know that killing is an evil act, save when it be the last recourse after all others have been exhausted; you know that you must grasp a hand of peace whenever one is extended. The Princess will simply not take part in any activity which results in cruelty or evil being done needlessly unto other things.
That said, the Princess need not be nice. She has no need to forgive wrongdoings or expect others to do so; a banishment is as merciful an end as any.
If the Princess deliberately acts with evil upon someone or something else, she ceases being a Princess forevermore, or until she redeems herself and earns back her kindness.
If she acts in an evil manner through deceit or gullibility of another, she remains a Princess but must find a way to forgive herself, after atoning of her deed and mending it in any way she can.
It does not suffice for the Princess to excuse herself from the situation. What kind of person would she be if she were willing to close her eyes to injustice and iniquity? The Princess must actively prevent evil. She cannot "let her party members deal" with a situation, she must take an active part in the decision-making process.
True Love - If saved from peril by another player, the Princess may declare them to be her True Love. Thereafter, all questions of ruling and adjudication done for the sake of one another which would be declared impossible are turned into "maybes" - the Lover and the Gamemaster roll dice and whoever rolls higher establishes their view, and if the dice are identical, they compromise. Thus, for Love, a player may swim an ocean or lift a massive boulder. This can only happen in cases of urgent necessity however.
Things which were already "maybes" should be ruled in favour of the Lover, and Love will subtly protect the Lovers. Enemies will "leave for dead" rather than finish off a defeated Lover, traps may maim and disfigure but rarely will they kill.
A Princess may have multiple True Loves so long as they love one another too. This love is always romantic and often carnal in nature too - a Princess need not be chaste.
Why do you travel far and wide, o Princess? (1d6)
My land was taken from me and lays aflame, all I have is my crown and my life. My parents always said, however, that as long as we are still here, we must fight. I seek to prevent evildoers from doing unto others as was done unto me.
I hail from the beautiful moon that silvers at night. I was sent to this world with the bloom of a flower to experience all of the pains and pleasures of this world. So long as you pine for me, I will remain here and listen to you.
My beloved (parents, siblings, children, or paramour) told me I would find them east of the sun and west of the moon. I travel the world after them, asking in every city and town and village if any know the way there. My road is long, and I hope to make it one paved with friends.
My parents attempted to shield me from all evil and death in my birth, but it was fruitless. I died violently, and when I arrived in those lightless depths, the Queen took pity on me and sent me back as a shade. She told me "When your time does come, tell me of all the good things in the lands above", and so I do.
God gave me no name, no thing to hide my shame. I was a beast, mindless and wild, wallowing in the ground, yet one day I experienced a New Thing: kindness. That beautiful princess which shone like the sun inspired me to abandon my animal condition and follow in her footsteps. I wish to bring light to the dark places of the world, just as she did.
I was a knight-errant and dreamt of war and glory, of proving myself in the battlefield and showing all the strength of my sword-arm. What I found was carnage and the dark heart of men. I left my sword buried in the neck of another knight, as scared and young as I and whose face I still see every night. I know they look upon me, and when I meet them in death, I hope they can forgive me. As a token of my faith, I vowed never again to take up arms.