The Princess Bride RPG

Dumarest · July 16, 2017, 03:03:09 PM

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/01/princess-bride-rpg-announced.html

I vaguely recalled reading about this back in January and then forgot all about it until a thread here was talking about games that could be used to play in the style of The Princess Bride . Anybody hear any updates on this? Or has it gone the way of the previously announced Buckaroo Banzai and Flash Gordon RPGs?

Soylent Green · July 16, 2017, 03:20:35 PM

Last I heard regarding the Princess Bride rpg was was a call for playtesters/reviewers in April on the Fudge mail list it , so it must be in a pretty advanced state. I haven't heard anything since.

JeremyR · July 16, 2017, 05:03:23 PM

I have to wonder how that would even work, since almost all the action (save the one sword fight) takes place off stage and it's mostly a comedy. And the best part of the book is all the hilarious parenthetical remarks which couldn't make it into the movie.

Harlock · July 16, 2017, 10:28:36 PM

Quote from: JeremyR;976005I have to wonder how that would even work, since almost all the action (save the one sword fight) takes place off stage and it's mostly a comedy. And the best part of the book is all the hilarious parenthetical remarks which couldn't make it into the movie.

The book is a different animal altogether, but if the art in the article is any indication the game will be based on the movie. Oddly, as much as I have loved that movie since I was a kid, I've never really desired to play a campaign based on it or its mechanics. The sword fight was great fodder for the imagination based around my D&D habit, but I never connected the two beyond that, especially with the comedic aspects. My D&D games as a player and DM were far more bloody and serious.

Shawn Driscoll · July 17, 2017, 03:28:23 AM

Quote from: JeremyR;976005I have to wonder how that would even work, since almost all the action (save the one sword fight) takes place off stage and it's mostly a comedy. And the best part of the book is all the hilarious parenthetical remarks which couldn't make it into the movie.

In other words, what the players are used to at the table when they talk out of character about anything but the game they are playing in.

finarvyn · July 17, 2017, 07:00:16 AM

I enjoyed the book and the movie, but I have to confess that when I saw a Princess Bride board game in a store I wasn't taken by it enough to actually buy it. I suspect the RPG would be the same thing. Neat idea, not enough substance.

Dumarest · July 17, 2017, 07:24:49 PM

Oh, I don't know if I would actually use the game but it might be cool if it has nice artwork and maps and if they can come up with some adventure ideas. So much depends on overall utility.

I doubt it would happen, but it would be neat if they got setting input from Goldman the way the DC Heroes Watchmen sourcebook got material from Alan Moore that wasn't in the comic books.

Harlock · July 18, 2017, 01:20:39 AM

Quote from: Dumarest;976286Oh, I don't know if I would actually use the game but it might be cool if it has nice artwork and maps and if they can come up with some adventure ideas. So much depends on overall utility.

I doubt it would happen, but it would be neat if they got setting input from Goldman...

S. Morgenstern would know so much more.

Manic Modron · July 18, 2017, 01:24:28 AM

Not to mention all the wealth of information you can get from the Royal Florinese Digital LIbrary these days...

Dumarest · July 18, 2017, 12:07:07 PM

Quote from: Harlock;976321S. Morgenstern would know so much more.

Yeah, but he's too busy working on the sourcebook for The Silent Gondoliers RPG.

RPGPundit · July 21, 2017, 02:34:23 AM

What the fuck would you even run with it?

finarvyn · July 21, 2017, 08:00:32 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;977047What the fuck would you even run with it?

I presume you would have to buy the game to find out.

Princess Bride is sort of a book/movie of stereotypes, and perhaps therein lies the answers. Quests to save a princess. Dread Pirate Roberts. The Giant. Great swordsmen and three-musketeers style dueling. Political intrigue between nations. Lots of this stuff is in the book, or at least hinted at.

Lots of choices and ideas here just no real world to go with it yet, but one can assume that the designers will be building up some depth in the setting. Perhaps your goal is simply to become one of the greats at something and take on the bad guys. It could be that simple.

Willie the Duck · July 21, 2017, 10:44:15 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;977047What the fuck would you even run with it?

I think that's kind of what everyone else in the thread has said. What's the 'there' there? Going by the movie, what are the defining features of gaming-adventuring in a Princess Bride universe?

A swashbuckling universe where people fight with rapiers and no armor, and that's a sane decision.
A combat system where swinging from chandeliers, or summersaulting over bars, is a logical course of action.
A reward system (xp or otherwise) that rewards pre-arranged goals (rescue princess, avenge father, help party members on their goals).
Entirely too much sense of camaraderie with one's opponents, and sense of fair play, along with a remarkably carefree attitude towards the situation, even when one's life is on the line.
The mightiest of warriors (assuming Fezzik approaches that) can defeat many normal soldiers, but not 20 or 60 (except through deception and guile). For some reason, can also be defeated by one opponent who exploits the fatigue rules or something.
Good guys do not throat-slit their opponents when they are unconscious, even if said individual was trying to kill them.
After you defeat the bad guy, you get to ride off into the sunset (strangely devoid of any guards, despite this guy being a sitting monarch with guards and navies and things, and only the guards at the gates had been routed).

Now some of these might be hero-specific. Inigo and Wesley might be throwing the swords down to summersault around beams or whatnot because they are so confident that they can be reckless, not because doing so is actually a good idea. But in general the setting rewards audacity, swashbuckling, and heroism.

That said, other than putting your game on the idealistic side of the grit spectrum, why do you need a specific system to run this?

daniel_ream · July 21, 2017, 02:03:30 PM

The Princess Bride is a parody and inversion of fairy tale tropes. So is the movie, if you read the script straight and ignore the fact that Reiner tried to make it all heartwarming and comedic. A Princess Bride RPG would make as much sense as a Spaceballs RPG.

Harlock · July 22, 2017, 04:10:52 AM

Quote from: daniel_ream;977157The Princess Bride is a parody and inversion of fairy tale tropes. So is the movie, if you read the script straight and ignore the fact that Reiner tried to make it all heartwarming and comedic. A Princess Bride RPG would make as much sense as a Spaceballs RPG.

Believe it or not there is a thread on ENWorld of someone asking why it has never been done. Yes. We live in a screwed up world.