As a point of interest, I was searching the web for "princess bride" and found that there is a main website that sells all kinds of stuff. There are a couple of games (even Bride-opoly) and lunch boxes and posters and so on. If folks are buying that stuff, why not an RPG?

It was probably mentioned earlier, but the fact that the RPG will be done using FUDGE saddens me. I'm not into that system so much, so whatever interest I might have had in the game has now become more diminished.

I suspect it'd not appeal to the trad gamer since I suspect the only point of a Princess Bride game would be to have a system that supports a story that is ironic, self referential, and quixotic. Thing is.. you can do that already with a range of systems from pure trad to pure story game.
Maybe a better book would be 'how to run any rpg like Princess Bride'?
But it's FUDGE, which means that it'll potentially be just that.. a resource on how to run rpgs that tend to that style.
Oh and there'll be some setting stuff.
I am not convinced but it might just work, I've played very trad FUDGE type rpgs and very story driven FATE games.. let's see...

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

A "movie swashbuckling" campaign?

Quote from: Willie the Duck;977118I 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.

There are systems like that already, but they can't advertise as"the Princess Bride RPG".

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.

By now, it has defined it's own genre.

Quote from: finarvyn;977282It was probably mentioned earlier, but the fact that the RPG will be done using FUDGE saddens me. I'm not into that system so much, so whatever interest I might have had in the game has now become more diminished.

The author, Steffan O'Sullivan, stated that it will be a very different take on Fudge. He said that in the context of managing the expectation of the faithful Fudge devotees, but it might offer you a glimmer of hope however slight. In the Fudge is a toolset, it is not so much a flavour as a base ingredient and a lot depends on how you customise it.

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

Right, a Renaissance Europe fairytale would be as stupid as a War of the Roses setting with evil frogmen.

At least the War of the Roses is a full fledged setting.  Princess Bride is nothing but fun characters and good dialogue.  We know that there are countries named Florin and Guilder that are at each other's throats, but nothing really about either of them.

Quote from: Dumarest;977374Right, a Renaissance Europe fairytale would be as stupid as a War of the Roses setting with evil frogmen.

Ahem, the versions of most Western European fairytales that have reached us are based around a Renaissance Europe setting:). But I don't recall many frogmen detachments in the War of the Roses, do you mean Pundit's game?

Quote from: Manic Modron;977425At least the War of the Roses is a full fledged setting.  Princess Bride is nothing but fun characters and good dialogue.  We know that there are countries named Florin and Guilder that are at each other's throats, but nothing really about either of them.

The names alone are enough to know that they're talking about Florence and the Netherlands;).

I was talking with my daughter about this last night. For us what makes Princess Bride Princess Bride is the witty banter between opponents, the snappy dialogue and the various bits of swashbuckling high adventure. The players in a game will either be able to play in this fashion or they won't. No amount of game mechanics will suffice. "I roll a crit on my Sharp Reparte skill" just won't cut it.

It is style over substance and that style could be played in almost any game world. I could also run a hack and slash D&D game in world with Guilder, Florin, Greenland and Australia, ROUSes, etc.The one would feel like Princess Bride, the other not.

Quote from: AsenRG;977431The names alone are enough to know that they're talking about Florence and the Netherlands;).

Thank you for reminding me,  we do know one thing about the two of them.  Florin and Guilder share a border.  So yeah, totally Florence and the Netherlands.  

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

What would you run in the Princess Bride? What the fuck would you run in a fantasy War of the Roses? Or a pseudo-medival pastiche? Or Wagon Train to the Stars?  If you really need to ask what would you run in a Princess Bride RPG I have to question if you have enough imagination to run any RPG without being handed a prewritten adventure module.

Run fucking Adventures! With swashbucklers, and pirates, and revenge, and giants, and princesses to rescue, and sea voyages, and villains, and heroes.

Quote from: Manic Modron;977536Thank you for reminding me,  we do know one thing about the two of them.  Florin and Guilder share a border.  So yeah, totally Florence and the Netherlands.  

OK, if that's the case, it's one thing that I'd forgotten about the fictional countries, so obviously I didn't take it in account:).
Which means I might be wrong about the two, and they might be Spain and the Netherlands (there were Spanish florins). Or it might be a border between their colonies;).

Regarding what one would run with it...I ran several one-shot larps inspired by The Princess Bride, which were comedy fantasy, and worked very well. It would be significantly different to adapt it to tabletop, but some similar principles could apply. For the larps, my assumptions were:

1) Characters are defined by exaggerated traits - i.e. the strongest, the wiliest, the greatest swordsman, etc. - as well as exaggerated personality.
2) Main characters won't die outright - at most being mostly dead, but can have very horrible things happen to them.
3) Adventures are both comedic and full of action.

I can see various possibilities for a tabletop game - particularly as an episodic series game like Monster of the Week.  I could see a pirate campaign, with various misadventures of a peculiar crew of pirates. Alternately, there could be a court game - which could be more troupe style with different characters coming in and out. Thirdly, there could be an officials campaign following an inspector-general or similar figure who looks into problems scattered around the kingdom.

Quote from: AsenRG;977574OK, if that's the case, it's one thing that I'd forgotten about the fictional countries, so obviously I didn't take it in account:).
Which means I might be wrong about the two, and they might be Spain and the Netherlands (there were Spanish florins). Or it might be a border between their colonies;).

Spain is a separate country though, Inigo being a Spaniard and not Florinese!

But really, Florin is just a Ruritania and Guilder is just the faceless enemy that doesn't matter farther than the Prince is willing to kill to start a war.

Quote from: jhkim;9779373) Adventures are both comedic and full of action.

I'm hoping that most of the comedic parts come out of play and not from a rulebook written to be funny. I find that most "funny" rpg books really aren't, but that characters in the right situations can be hilarious.

Quote from: Manic Modron;977948Spain is a separate country though, Inigo being a Spaniard and not Florinese!

Point, but Florin might be the name for a province that has separate opinions on foreign policy:). Such has happened a lot.

QuoteBut really, Florin is just a Ruritania and Guilder is just the faceless enemy that doesn't matter farther than the Prince is willing to kill to start a war.

Sure, but it's more fun to think of justifications and ways to map them back to the real Europe:D!