‘Perils & Princesses’ RPG: Ditch the Prince for Dark Fantasy Adventure
Once you have a magical gift from your Fairy Godmother it’s time to go out into the kingdom and find adventure with Perils & Princesses.
Are you a fierce, brave, and valiant princess looking for adventure? Of course you are. And Perils & Princesses is a game that will help you bring that inner princess to life and take them on the adventure of a lifetime. Grab the magical gift from your Fairy Godmother, and get ready to bargain with pixies, outsmart goblins, and find all of the forests’ most beautiful unicorns.
Perils & Princesses
If I haven’t lost you by now, don’t worry. This game isn’t all sparkles and tea parties. That can definitely be a component, but it doesn’t have to be. Instead, Perils & Princesses describes itself as a “gritty and pretty fairy tale adventure” in the spirit of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and other classic storybook stories.
Which is to say that we’re not waiting around for a handsome prince to solve any problems and our princess gowns are probably going to get at least a little dirty along the way. Instead, this is a game where resolve, wits, and grace are some of your most important royal attributes.
And these attributes will help your team of princesses get through twists, turns, and perils untold. These perils are in the form of a haunted forest, monsters’ lairs, and secret catacombs- which are the usual fantasy tabletop RPG adventures. There are arcane relics, enchanted items, poisons, and potions, and even dungeons and dragons. But while this all sounds very familiar, this a very different game. For starters, we’re all princesses.
Gameplay & Character Creation
Perils & Princesses is a simple, rules-light system. Which in general has been a big trend in tabletop gaming lately. Nobody has the time or energy to build their character from the ground up, point by persnickety point. Instead, we’re picking from a small handful of classes with fewer than five attributes and a few key character descriptors and calling it a day.
But Perils & Princesses does it with a distinct fairy tale flavor. To start, every character has a gift from their Fairy Godmother. This gift is something like a ‘Wild Heart’ or ‘Sage Intellect’ or a ‘Healing Touch.’ It’s a unique ability that can grow and strengthen with your princess as they level up. These gifts are given out randomly. Even Sleeping Beauty didn’t pick her gifts-slash-curse.
Your basic virtues (attributes) are Wits (intelligence), Resolve (strength) and Grace (charisma and dexterity), and allow you to do almost anything within the world. But special abilities can come from your gift and through advancing levels. In gameplay the goal is to roll and d20 and land below or match your virtue.
Your princess may need to take up arms, and there’s a weapons table for that. A d12 roll may give you a frying pan or a dagger or a sword or even a parasol. With enough creativity, any of these can be effective enough in their own right, and your princess has to be as creative as they are royal.
This is a fun game that looks a lot sillier on its face than it actually is. But it also doesn’t take itself too seriously. We’re adventuring princesses in a fantasy world, but sometimes those adventures can get harrowing.
If you’d like to play Perils & Princesses for yourself, you can learn more at the official website, here.
Have you played Perils & Princesses? What kind of princess would you make? If you had a real-life Fairy Godmother gift, what would it be? Let us know in the comments!
Happy adventuring!
