Princess: The Hopeful
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, to 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 drain 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.
They told you the world was beautiful place. They told you that you were special. They lied.
Alternate tagline, Princess: The Deceived
The nerds at RPGnet decided to make a World of Darkness splatbook for the magical-girl genre after a joke spiralled out of control with popularity to the point that it became legitimate. It's worth noting, if you are interested to check this out, that there are two versions of the game: the Dreams version and the Vocations version. The latter is generally more combat focused and there are some lore differences between the two, but otherwise both are good to go. Princess the Hopeful is set in WoD so it's gonna be more Puella Magi Madoka Magica or Sailor Nothing than Kiki's Delivery Service. Shit's gonna get dark, of course. The backstory is this:
A long time ago, there was a magical Kingdom. This Kingdom was ruled by the Queens. It was almost an Utopia, and was the first line of defense against the Darkness. The fight was easy. So easy, in fact, that the Kingdom grew arrogant, and let the Darkness in. The result? The kingdom was destroyed, and five of the Queens were killed, and their souls imprisoned in the Dreamlands. Three escaped- the Queen of Tears used unholy magic to move the city of Alhambra into the middle of the Darkness and keep it safe there (though it survives only by stealing Light from the real world), the Queen of Storms shed her body to become a never-ending storm, and the Queen of Mirrors... well, nobody knows much about her. The Darkness had, essentially, won...
...Until the Apollo landings and the subsequent burst of hope in humanity that spread from the achievement. The Queens returned, or rather realized they had been stuck in the Dreamlands for lord knows how long and that the real world was just outside, and sent their Light out into the world, hopefully to reclaim it from the Darkness.
Stats compared to Vampire
- Blood Potency is Inner Light
- Humanity is Belief
- Blood is Wisps (emotional potence, fuel for the soul-gem, etc)
- Disciplines are Charms, Excellencies are Invocations
Courts
Covenants are Queens's Courts; Caitiff are Courtless Princesses. There are eight Courts (eleven with the Road of Dawn supplement), each with a different philosophy. The most common Courts are the Radiant Courts, led by the Queens who ended up in the Dreamlands. There are also the Twilight Courts, led by the surviving Queens, which offer benefits the Radiant Queens don't give, but have given up conventional morality (along with one or two other drawbacks), also, some anime examples to give you more or less an idea of what we are talking about.
The Radiant Queens
The Good girls and the ones designed for player characters, though you could play as the other side.
Clubs
Environmentalism, harmony with nature, with a dash of the best parts of modernity. Kind of like the cliche Elf philosophy, only without the worse bits. Clubs' signature emotions are Harmony and Tranquility. Her Invocation is Legno whose element is Wood.
Diamonds
SCIENCE! Okay, so not always, but Diamonds' philosophy of Enlightenment values and improving the world with Reason definitely attracts a lot of the sciencey types. Diamonds' signature emotions are Curiosity and Wonder. Eg: Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon. The Diamond Invocation is Acqua and its element is Water.
Hearts
Places emphasis on social institutions and duty. Hearts believes in politeness, responsibility and community. Their signature emotions are Trust and Duty. Eg: Nanoha Takamachi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Madoka Kaname from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The Heart Invocation is Terra which has the element of Earth.
Spades
Basically Rogues. They place value on good humor and lateral thinking, and try to spread laughter throughout the world. They use outside-the-box thinking and being quick enough to not get caught to do so. Spades' signature emotion is Laughter. Eg: Marisa Kirisame from Touhou. Spades' Invocation is Aria which has Wind as its element.
Swords
All about passion, heroism, and adventure. The philosophy of Swords is about following your heart, not hurting others, and inspiring the world by your example. Swords' signature emotion is Love. Eg: Hibiki Tachibana from Symphogear. The Invocation of the Swords is Fuoco which uses the element of Fire.
Twilight Queens
The other side of the splat book, the Twilight queens are fallen queens who have stopped following the Light, at least the Radiant think so. If you were to ask them they would claim there the good guys, and it's the Radiant who are not doing there part. Also includes there precursor courts.
Cups
The precursors to Tears. They believed in the path of self-discovery that would end in the noble gaining self-enlightenment. Cups' chief philosophies are about keeping an open mind, that you are a person and not a label, and to teach others how to find their own enlightenment. Cups signature emotions are Self-Discovery and Enlightenment and their Invocation, Fulmine, uses Lightning as its element. Byakuren Hijiri is listed as an inspiration for the Court.
Wands
The precursor to the Storms. They're are not all labourers, but they all do believe in the virtue of hard work. Wand’s Philosophies teaches that selflessness and hard work are virtues as well as an ideal of loyalty to comrades. Wand’s signature emotion is Humility. They rely on the Invocation of Metallo whose element is, you guessed it, Metal. Emiya Shirou of Fate/Stay Night fame is an inspiration for the Court.
Pentacles
The precursor of the Mirrors. They used try to look at things without bias so that they can make the clearest decisions for themselves. Pentacle's Philosophies teach to keep a clear mind, that sometimes "the ends justify the means" should happen if there's no better options at all, and that good is subjective, That said if your a pentacle you can see the future so you also can try to to avoid those situations if you can. If you gotta shoot a new Hitler in the face, then go ahead *BLAM* him if you have to, but first try to avert that future, maybe get him into that art school. Pentacles signature emotion is Wisdom, her Invocation is Vuoto whose element is Void. Inspired by Princess Zelda.
Tears
All about doing what the Queen of Tears did by transporting Alhambra into the Darkness: Protecting one's loved ones, no matter the cost to anyone else. Unlike all of the other queens fighting the Darkness is not the tears primary goal, keeping Alhambra safe is. The problem is, Alhambra is in the Darkness, an environment only slightly less lethal then the warp. So in order to keep the city safe they 'tax' the planet earth of Light in order to burn it in lanterns to keep the Darkness at bay. As such they're basically disliked by the other courts, but unfortunately, they have a lot of manpower and old magic items from the fall of the kingdom, and Alhambra is really hard to get to and out, meaning you can't just attack them straight on, otherwise the Storms have done so by now. Working for the queen of tears has a few advantages such as the ability to shelter loved ones in Alhambra (and note that if your using the vocation version of the game line, the Darkness has rules to mechanically to find and attack your family and people near to you so this is not a random 'perk'). The tears Invocation and charms meanwhile are a mix between screwing with an enemy's mind (most often in morally comprising ways) and defense, with a few Darkness (note the capital letter there: it's evil darkness) powers as well. Tears' signature emotions are Depression and Resolve. Eg: Akemi Homura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Tears Invocation is Lacrima whose element is Darkness.
If your wondering why they don't just move Alhambra someplace else, it's likely that if the queen of Tears ever truly realized out that she could have done anything else, other then put her city into the Darkness, she drop to belief zero and may likely become a "Dethroned", think exactly like a Puella Magi Madoka Magica witch. Not a good thing at all.
Storms
The opposite of Tears. Its philosophy is simple: DESTROY THE DARKNESS AND THE COURT OF TEARS UNTIL NOT EVEN ASHES REMAIN!!To them the collateral damage doesn't matter, all that matters is destroying the darkness and the Court of Tears who betrayed the kingdom to the darkness to save themselves. The advantage Storms offers battle magic that's powerful (especially against the Darkness and the Tears), but rather indiscriminately, however while the charms are powerful they often have the draw back of doing damage to the the caster and innocents as it demolishes the darkness. Storms also have some other advantages not related to there invocation and magic. There queen (whose kinda a living tornado of hate and rage destroying everything near it) can make Stormwracked cells giving the Stormwracked some fire support and extra body's the Radiant don't get and they can also make "Goalenu", big almost golem guys made out of clay and flesh, powered by the storm who can hit like a truck. Needless to say, storms are not to be lightly messed with when they come out in force. Storms' signature emotions are Rage and Hatred. Eg: Tsubasa Kazanari from Symphogear (early episodes), Kurumi Tokisaki from Date A Live. The Invocation here is Tempesta whose element is Acid.
Mirrors
This philosophy is a mix of vanity and predestination, which appeals to younger Princesses and Princesses looking for a life free of hardship. It follows the example of the Mary Sue: You are perfect. You are the One True Heir of Mirrors, and whatever you do is right, because it's you doing it. Never compromise, because that means breaking your perfection. Always stick to your ideals, no matter how unrealistic those might be. They may be Princess the Hopeful's version of the Pretty Marines, but unlike most Mary Sues they can back up there narcissism. There Invocation gives bonus to anything that targets themselves or mirrors, and Specchio has some powerful self buffing spells, along with unique spells invoking mirror from turning them into walk-talkys or jumping into and out of them. If your a combat min-maxer, you could do worse then the Queen of Mirrors. The cost however is that Specchio tends to make you go nuts. The advantage Mirrors grants is ability to prophecy and to stay transformed indefinitely. Eg: Sumireko Usami (before getting beat up by Reimu) from Touhou. The Mirrors Invocation is Specchio whose element is Light.
If your wondering why the Queen of mirrors counts as a 'twilight' queen since she's not stealing hope or blowing up civilians to get at the darkness, then your not the only. In universe Followers of the queen of Mirrors (often called "brats") are considered twilight because of there irrational attitude. To put another way: it's called the world of darkness for a reason, and they refuse to make tough choices and think they can make everything right without compromise. When they inevitably can't it tends to create a lot of collateral damage, that makes them snap since Specchio makes them mentally brittle.
Callings
There is no equivalent of Caitiff with regards to Callings. The Callings are:
Champions
Heroes who stand up for those weaker than themselves. They have an affinity for Combat charms.
Graces
The leaders, messengers, and therapists. Graces help people to confront their fears and doubts, making them better able to serve the light.
Menders
Healers who tend to people who suffer both spiritually and physically.
Seekers
Scientists, detectives, and others driven to discover the truth.
Troubadours
The artists and performers.
Mechanically it is the bastard child of Exalted 2E and nWoD. Nobles (catchall name for Princesses, Princes and all the Light users) have Practical Magic which is a somewhat less broken version of Exalted's Excellencies. Basically every Court has their own idea of what's best for humanity and acting within that purview gives you extra dice based on your Invocation score. Nobles mainly use magic in the form of Charms (yeah) which like Exalted can be both hilariously broken or brokenly hilarious. A possible build has a Princess who has no other overt magical powers besides her carrying a bolt pistol, a chainsword and wearing power armour. Made of Love.
Links
- Princess:the Hopeful sourcebook in ePub and pdf. Keep in mind there are actually TWO versions of the game,Dream and Vocation. The two guys working on it could not agree on a few things so made there own version of the game. Vocation is more human focused while Dream focus more on the magical side of things. There are a few other differences so the two books are not exactly compatible.
- Princess:the Hopeful wiki
- Mr. Gone's character sheets scroll down to find the Princess interactive pdfs