The Princess - A Royal Class for OSE
If you were a parent any time in the past 10-12 years, you are no doubt acutely aware of the Disney animation revival. As a father of 2 girls, the inescapable song and dance of Disney movies of the late 2000’s to now is forever burned into my memory; both as a nostalgic recollection of my daughters formative years, and as a never ending repetitive soundtrack etched into my subconscious.
When you play D&D, you come to the table with a host of genre tropes in your mind. You have some idea about the fantasy genre from the ambient level of culture around you. The ambient level of cultural fantasy influence on my daughters is the ‘Princess’ movies from Disney Animation. Tangled, Frozen, Moana, and even the older films color their formative experience of what the fantasy genre is all about. Before they could read Harry Potter, and before they could muster any interest in Middle Earth, there was Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel and Merida.
I have been an avid role-player much longer than I have been a father, and naturally, as soon as both of my daughters could hold a d20 without putting it in their mouths, I have been trying to play role playing games with them. There were early games of ‘bedtime adventures’ as I have dubbed the system where we would spend 30 minutes in a role playing scenario before tucking in for the night, but even as we played those proto-games, I hoped they could play some good old fashioned D&D with me.
In order to bring the fantasy genre to the table in a way that will resonate with my girls (and so I could play regular D&D with them), I created the Princess class for Old School Essentials. The Princess class leans heavily into the common tropes of Disney Princesses.
- Songs. The princess’ song can have uplifting and magical effects. This includes abilities to make friends of your foes.
- A powerful otherworldly patron who helps the princess in times of need.
- A birthright to a powerful kingdom.
- Cartoon violence level. A good swift bonk on the head will leave a persistent enemy out cold. The princess likewise is never killed, but may be put out of commission for an adventure or two while her companions try to help her.
This class not only emulates the genre tropes of Disney movies, but caters to the play style of my kids. My girls never want to hurt even the most horrific of monsters. They want to find ways to win the creatures over to their side, and if they can’t be made to understand the power of kindness and friendship, they would rather bonk the abominations on the head and leave them out cold than kill them outright.
If you have daughters of your own, I hope you play this class with them and let me know the adventures you go on with your family. If not, I hope you find this class entertaining on its own merits. It’s admittedly overpowered, but a fun and interesting mix of powers that can ignight so many interesting stories.