Royal Rescue
You know how every month Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach again, but the conflict never seems to escalate? Mario just rescues her again and then they play tennis later that weekend?
I am fascinated with the dynamic that doesn't get touched on there. Peach and Bowser just hanging out waiting for Mario to show up. And in this game, it's a vehicle to explore some stuff.
This RPG is for two players, and while it doesn't require you to get into any kind of erotic stuff, it DOES talk very frankly about sex, so be aware.
A tumblr-friendly format of the rules can be found below the readmore, but you can also see them documented in the link here. Feedback is highly encouraged!
Royal Rescue A two-player story game for romantics and monsterfuckers. ~ Introduction Getting Started How to Play a Scene Relationship Sta
INTRODUCTION
The forces of light and darkness are in natural conflict. It is their role to oppose each other and compete for control over the earth. In ancient times this was a basis for constant war between light-aligned society and monsterkind. In the modern era light and dark have resolved the need for violence and hate, and both sides live as neighbors in peace and brotherhood, thanks to modern social conventions for expressing this conflict.
The aggression persists, but in a more civilized form, more akin to a professional sport. Every light-aligned city and town designates at least one individual as their royal. (This is the generic term, though more specific terms of prince or princess are typical, or precious if neither is preferred.) This convention is descended directly from monarchy of old, and many royal individuals are still chosen by bloodline, even if they no longer have authority over state and government. Some towns instead elect their royal or award a volunteer the role by lottery. Additionally, small towns will usually have only one, but large cities and metroplexes usually have several.
The royal goes about their life like any other citizen- it isn't a full time job in and of itself. But it does come with a castle. (Sometimes literal, sometimes just a normal house.) The city government provides this lodging free of charge, and the city's role and responsibility is to protect the castle, and by extension the royal, from enemy attack. Some royal positions are more glamorous or come with more ceremonial responsibility, while others are more informal, but the official rules are always the same.
Monsters, dragons, dark sorcerers, goblin kings, vampire queens, and other dark aligned parties are free at any time they choose to attempt an attack on the castle with the goal of capturing and removing the royal. Attackers who do so are called villains. The city appoints guards or adventurers to resist these attacks, and there is usually dueling or sparring, but it’s a far cry from the deadly battles of antiquity.
If a villain successfully kidnaps the royal, they may keep their prize in their own fortification for as long as they're able, and for that duration darkness is known to reign superior. Some villains may also demand ransom or other conditions for the safe return of the royal, or attempt dramatic gestures of victory such as marriage ceremonies and dark rituals using the royal as a component. A light-aligned hero or group of heroes must attempt to storm the lair and bring the royal home, subject to the same rules and restrictions of lawful combat. Some heroes are freelance, others defend a specific community or even a specific royal, and occasionally an ordinary citizen can take up arms and become a reactionary hero in response to a kidnapping event. Hero guilds are a common but not universal institution.
While in dark custody, the royal is generally presented in demonstrations and other acts to taunt the powers of light, and villains usually perform a dramatically menacing persona to oppress heroes in public. And in private, it’s also traditionally the successful villain’s privilege to the royal’s body. The ravishment of the royal is never mandatory, and is strictly on the condition of the royal’s consent, but it is a time honored symbolic extension of the successful villain’s conquest and corruption of their prize.
However, none of the villain’s posturing, public or private, is never allowed to extend to actual abuse or mistreatment. The wellbeing of the royal is the villain's responsibility, and it’s normal for villains to be polite and friendly to a captive royal behind closed doors.
Abductions and rescues are recognized as acts of war. But the civilized format encourages enemies to treat one another with respect. Villains, royals, and heroes who repeatedly interact become familiar, often interacting informally and even developing romantic relationships, which can occur in any combination and are not considered taboo.
~
In the story of Royal Rescue, one player will take the role of narrator managing the game and navigating this guide, as well as the role of an ambitious villain. The other player will take the role of that villain’s royal captive, kept in the villain’s lair as their prize. (Alternatively, one player may play alone in both roles, using the dice based prompt system of this game.)
A lover, local protector, or hired band of adventurers will rescue the royal… eventually. And in the meantime, there’s nothing to do than indulge in the villain’s hospitality. With the consent of their new prize, the villain expects company, conversation, entertainment, and of course: sex. It’s simply traditional, after all.
Please take note that while this is a game meant to frankly and comfortably discuss sexual and erotic topics, in the context of a highly unconventional relationship, or even a vehicle for the theme of one exploring one’s desires or sexuality in a new and alien but intriguing context… sex is present on a condition of consent. Villains in this game are not brutes, royals are always informed and willing volunteers to the position, and in the world where the story takes place, no partner should ever be given reason to fear their host. If retaining a state of safety and consent without fear in this story will be difficult, then Royal Rescue is not for you.
This advisory should also be the starting point, not the end point, for discussion on the state of consent in this story. Royal Rescue is intended to depict a fantasy world free from real-world constraints of rape culture or gendered expectations and social privileges, wherein the adversarial behavior of dark and light is a socially enshrined and sporting practice which does not moralize either side. The captive’s heroic rescuer may do battle with the villain, but these clashes should never be depicted as deadly. But even in this mutually respectful context, and even with the royal’s freely given consent to take on their position, a captive is still a captive, and as players you should be alert to the ramifications and power dynamics that you create when you choose to fill in the details and intentions of that exchange in your own specific story, as well as the standards of your story’s larger culture, for your own comfort and for one another.
That having been said, much of the tone and content of this story is up for discussion and agreement between the two players. How diverse or inhuman can dark-aligned villains be? What genders are involved, or normative? Does this story take place in a high fantasy world, or somewhere more modern and contemporary? Will sex scenes in the story be passed over coyly, or described in intensely explicit detail? Can they result in pregnancy? And if so, are they meant to? Both players should be open in discussing what they expect and what they want to avoid before the game begins.
In addition to honest discussion of expectations, to play Royal Rescue you will need two six-sided dice, or 2d6. Each player can have their own, or they can share. You’ll also need a way to keep track of a few numbers, and the time and space to write your story together at length.
HOW TO PLAY A SCENE
The core of gameplay in Royal Rescue is to receive a prompt which establishes a scene, make a dice roll which defines the broad strokes of the scene’s impact, and play out the details of that scene with whatever specifics of tone and content will best live up to the demands of the prompt. While one player is the game master who references and manages the game’s rules as well as the villain character, you can think of both players as actors, and the game itself and its prompts as the director giving them instructions as the story goes on. You’ll put your own spin and feeling on things as they go, but it’s the game, not you, that will decide the broad direction of the story as it unfolds.
Within the bounds of a prompt, there aren’t dice to roll to determine success or failure of individual actions on either character’s part and so on- it’s up to the players to decide on their own what the characters will do and how their actions will turn out, as long as it suits the broadly defined outcome of the scene as it’s been given to them. Because of this, the practice of filling in the details of the scene to fulfill its needs will be called freeform roleplay in this guide.
Freeform roleplay in Royal Rescue can take any form that you find enjoyable: a scene can be long and drawn out in lavish detail, or fast and colloquial. It can be intensely sexually explicit and heavily erotic, or it can be more suggestive and tongue-in-cheek. The two players should come to the same idea of what they want from the content of these scenes before they begin.
In format, freeform roleplay can be carried out with written text, or verbally at a live table or over voice chat, or even personally physically acted out, all the way to the sex scenes if consenting adult players want to give it a try. (If you do physically roleplay any of your Royal Rescue scenes, or use Royal Rescue to direct roleplay during sex, please remember to negotiate expectations, boundaries, and safewords before you start!)
But first, a scene starts from a prompt. The prompt defines a general action from the villain or event which occurs for the villain and royal together. It also comes with a choice for the royal player to make, which describes broadly how the royal will respond. Each choice will have an impact on the relationship between the villain and royal reflected in their three main relationship stats, which are described in the Relationship Stats section below. The impact the royal’s choice has on these stats will be determined by a roll of two dice, or 2d6.
The higher individual die result is the amount that the increased stat will increase by. The lower individual die result is the amount that the decreased stat will decrease by. (This means that overall, the relationship’s stats can all increase over time.)
Now you have the prompt for the event which describes what the villain does, the selected choice which describes what the royal does, and the dice roll which informs how this scene will affect the relationship. The “actors” have been given all the instructions from their “director.” The entertainment of the game is now in the freeform roleplay, to explore and realize the scene. You can even insert freeform roleplay into every step of this process if you choose: after revealing a prompt, and after deciding on a choice for the captive, and again after rolling the dice. Or you can do it all at the end.
In summary:
Read the initial prompt for the scene.
Provide the royal player with their choices and select one of them. The choice will designate that one stat increases and one decreases.
Roll 2d6.
The higher face shows how much the first stat increases. The lower face shows how much the other stat decreases.
Now you know the broad strokes of the scene and how it will change the relationship. Play it out using freeform roleplay, until you agree the scene is complete.
RELATIONSHIP STATS
At all times the royal and the villain share a set of three running stats that measure their developing relationship: passion, affection, and trust. (Only one set between them- they do not have stats separate from one another.) The values of all three of these stats will inform the general tone of the relationship in any given scene, and your freeform roleplay should be at least loosely beholden to these values and how they change during the story. All three can change independently of one another, and so any of them can end up high or low in any potential combination, and much like the prompts themselves, these stats define the broad strokes of the relationship between your characters. The details are yours to fill in through freeform roleplay.
Passion represents how much sexual excitement and desire is present between the royal and villain. Are the sparks flying? Are they both into each other? At 1 to 9 the passion is chilly. There’s a bit of distance, or disinterest, or uncertainty. At 10 to 19 the passion is warm. There’s a baseline mutual attraction expected in any royal abduction, and both parties can see that they’re both reasonably interested. At 20+, the passion is hot. The royal and villain openly desire one other. They both like it and they both know it.
Affection represents how much the royal and villain are enjoying each other’s company. Is it fun for them to spend time with each other? Do they have common ground to talk about or do together? At 1 to 9 the affection is half-hearted. Either one of them may be feeling weary of the things that the other says or does. At 10 to 19 the affection is friendly. The royal and villain clearly find each other’s company comfortable, and have no reason to avoid one another. At 20+ the affection is familiar. The royal and villain feel like real friends, actively seeking out time with each other.
Trust represents the emotional intimacy between the royal and villain. Are they being honest and vulnerable with each other? Are they close? At 1 to 9 the trust is guarded. The air is cautious and short. One or both of them are not being emotionally open. At 10 to 19 the trust is comfortable. The royal and villain feel reasonably safe with one another, and speak honestly to each other. At 20+ the trust is tender. The royal and villain are both coming to acknowledge a true closeness between them, and one or both may be entertaining romantic feelings.
If any of these three stats ever falls to zero (or lower) the scene will still play out mechanically, but it will affect what scene comes next and cause an early ending, explained below.
TELLING THE STORY
Now you know how to play out a scene, how a scene can affect your stats, and what the stats mean. Now it’s time to actually start playing. What scenes will you play, and when?
Before you even start your first scene, establish your royal character: their name, gender, general demeanor, and whatever else you want to pin down in advance. You can do the same for the awaited hero. (You can consult the random tables in the appendix for this if you wish.) Also, start your tally for your three stats: passion, affection, and trust always begin at 10.
This is not a scene unto itself, but it does lay the groundwork for the story. From the perspective of the royal, you have agreed to an adventure that you weren’t sure would even happen, or when, or with who. And once it begins, you don’t know how much time you’ll have to enjoy it. It’s an exciting and uncertain tone from which to begin the story.
The first scene of the story will always be the capture scene: it has six choices for the royal player to decide what type of villain their character will be abducted by. As this first dice roll for the story, this won’t “change” the relationship so much as establish its starting state. (Since this affects the game master’ main character, you can also have both players choose together. You can even roll a die to choose one at random.)
The capture scene will detail how the villain attacks the castle and makes off with the royal, naturally. This is how the story always begins.
Next, it’s time for the game master to draw a day scene. The game master will roll 1d6 to determine which of the six day scenes to read from the section below. (Day scenes involve conversation and other shared activities between the royal and villain.) Carry it out, and then mark that scene off as complete.
Once you’ve done that, the game master draws a night scene for the following evening. Just like a day scene the game master will roll 1d6 to decide which night scene to read from the section below. (Night scenes invariably involve sex. It is the privilege a consenting royal traditionally offers after all.) Carry it out and mark it off as complete, the same as a day prompt.
Continue rolling day and night scenes in alternating fashion, until something ends the story. Depending on your rolls you may end up going through numerous prompts, or only get to do a few.
If any of your three stats falls to 0 (or lower) the story ends. Play out the scene which caused the drop normally, and then consult the Alternate Ending Scenes section below to determine which of the three endings you’ve earned. Each one is a normal scene, but has no royal choice. Simply realize it as you see fit in freeform roleplay. The story is over.
If you roll a day prompt or a night scene that you’ve already completed, you’ve arrived at the moment of rescue. Don’t repeat the prompt! Instead, consult the Rescue Scenes section to determine which of the six rescue scenes will be the final scene of your story. Which one depends on which of your three stats is highest and which one is lowest at the moment of rescue. Realize the ending scene as you see fit in freeform roleplay. The story is over.
In summary:
Decide on a royal concept, and optionally a hero concept.
Play the capture scene, and determine the villain type and concept in the choice.
Roll for day and night scenes, back and forth, and play them out as you go.
If any stat reaches zero, play an alternate ending scene.
If you roll an already-completed scene, play a rescue scene instead. Which one depends on your stats at the moment of rescue.
THE CAPTURE SCENE
This is the first scene of the story, and it determines when, how, and why the royal is abducted, and the initial relationship between them and the villain. To set the scene, choose one of these six villain types. (You can even roll a die to choose one at random.)
“You” in these descriptions refers to the royal, for the convenience of both a narrator addressing these prompts to the royal, and for a single player exploring these prompts from the royal’s perspective.
Dragon: The oldest and most traditional type of villain. Dragons abduct royals that they desire as part of their hoard of treasures and pretty things. As a rule, they’re personally interested in any royal they capture, but they can be jealous and possessive.
Increase affection.
Decrease trust.
Monster: A chimeral mix of humanoid and bestial features, such as a minotaur or mermaid. Monsters are intelligent and can speak, but they have animalistic values and sensibilities, and may even steal royals on a whim. Their feral nature means they get along easily, but are also easily bored.
Increase trust.
Decrease affection.
Demon: A manifestation of the very darkness itself, summoned into the world to undermine the forces of light. A demon has an appetite for desecration, but little else in common with light-aligned mortal folk.
Increase passion.
Decrease affection.
Abomination: An eldritch thing of eyes and tentacles, either manifested by magic run amok or conjured from the astral plane. They crave the warmth of flesh, but they can be inscrutable and difficult to communicate with.
Increase passion.
Decrease trust.
Mage: A formerly light-aligned sorcerer who turned to the power of darkness, and may have even been changed by it. Dark mages are known to be thoughtful or soulful, but those who volunteer to be royals aren’t expected to be that sexually interested in their own species.
Increase trust.
Decrease passion.
Warlord: A bandit or marauder who has turned against light-aligned society for glory or profit, despite being of a light-aligned race themselves. It’s not what a volunteer royal generally expects physically, but they do have more common ground to start from than other villains.
Increase affection.
Decrease passion.
DAY SCENES
The day scenes are arranged in a list of six, which the game master will consult by random die roll according to the rules in the Telling the Story section. Remember that you aren’t going down the list from 1 to 6, but rolling them randomly, and you will likely only play out some of them in your story.
DAY SCENE 1: The villain wants to converse about your background. Where you came from, where you’re going, your livelihood, your personal hobbies.
Talk a lot: You share freely and generously, or even volunteer extra information. Maybe you just talk at length about a subject of great interest to you. It doesn’t make for a sexy mood, but it does make you fun to talk to.
Increase affection.
Decrease passion.
Talk a little: You’re curt and taciturn, or you’re just politely private, or you evasively turn the subject back to the villain. Whatever your reasons, you don’t share much about yourself. It’s intriguing, but it isn’t friendly.
Increase passion.
Decrease trust.
DAY SCENE 2: The villain asks you about your religious standing, between light and dark. As a member of light-aligned culture there is a default expectation from you, but even in your own community, alignment with the darkness is not taboo.
Praise the light: You profess your devotion to the forces of light, which govern your society. This reinforces your role and makes you more tempting to play with and defile, though it is also a reductive stance to take.
Increase passion.
Decrease affection.
Indulge the darkness: You present yourself as more agnostic than the average royal, or as sympathetic to the darkness, or even show how you’ve dabbled in dark magic. This doesn’t reflect on your moral character- your villainous host is of the dark after all- but it does reveal a deceptive nature.
Increase affection.
Decrease trust.
DAY SCENE 3: The villain wants to converse about your love life. Who have you had before? Who do you have now? Do you see yourself with your own species? Your sexual behavior with the villain as a captive is not considered infidelity, at least not by the prevailing social standards, so this is a benign topic as far as the villain is concerned.
Talk about others: You mention a lover waiting for you, or possibly even on the way to rescue you, or you fawn over your crush at home, or you share anecdotes about an ex, but you don’t mention the villain at all on this topic. You open your heart to the villain, but don’t describe a place for them in it.
Increase trust.
Decrease passion.
Talk about the villain: You flirt, or you tease the villain for their own motives, or you even openly express romantic interest for the villain. It stokes the villain’s ego, but also shows a presumptuous view of your place here.
Increase passion.
Decrease affection.
DAY SCENE 4: The rescuer arrives, and meets you before they meet the villain, either by stealth or by timing while the villain is away. This rescue attempt will end in failure and retreat for a future return, but before it does you have a part to play.
Assist: You assist your hero, or try to sneak away with them while you can. When the villain catches you they’re going to enjoy the chase- this is always the fun part after all- but they’ll be both impressed and wary of your subterfuge.
Increase passion.
Decrease trust.
Abstain: You choose to give no help, or you even actively alert the villain to the hero’s presence, either out of an open desire to prolong your own captivity, or an interest in fair play, or even just to appease the villain. It firmly shows the villain you’re a willing companion, but it also undermines the dynamic a bit.
Increase trust.
Decrease passion.
DAY SCENE 5: The villain wants to make a public showing with you in tow, to taunt the people you were stolen from. It’s normal for a villain to gloat until the hero can turn the tables- this is the villain’s time, after all.
Be dramatic: You actively play into your role as the villain’s claimed prisoner. Perhaps wailing and languishing in captivity, or broken and simpering at the villain’s feet, or otherwise playing up however you’re feeling to a flamboyant degree. The villain has won and you’re letting them have their fun. It can be fun for a villain to play along with a game royal in public, but it can also feel condescending, or tricky.
Increase affection.
Decrease trust.
Be polite: You don’t put up any pretense of drama, even in front of an audience. You comport yourself mildly, or you smile and wave. Perhaps you find the performance childish, or perhaps you’re more concerned with making sure the community can see that you’re alright. It’s going to be disappointing for the villain, but it will also show a more sincere side of you.
Increase trust.
Decrease affection.
DAY SCENE 6: The villain shares in their own particular idiom with you. For a dragon this means flaunting their treasure hoard. For a monster this means roaming and hunting like a wild animal, or bringing home a fresh kill for you to eat. For a mage this means discussing the arcane or working magical rituals together. For a demon this may mean cajoling or debating with you to tempt you from light to dark. Whatever it is, the villain shares their own personal values, beyond the villainy itself.
Opt in: You’re impressed, or curious, or won over by the villain’s idiom. You have questions to ask, or an enthusiasm to participate. This is the fastest way to win their friendship, though it may distract them from the other reason you’re here.
Increase affection.
Decrease passion.
Opt out: You aren’t interested. You might be polite and diplomatic, or you might be dismissive or facetious, but the villain’s idiom is not for you. It isn’t wrong to be frank and honest, though it also isn’t encouraging.
Increase trust.
Decrease affection.
NIGHT SCENES
The night scenes are arranged in a list of six just like the day scenes. Unlike the day scenes, the night scenes focus on sex, and the rapport that develops out of and through the royal and villain’s shared enjoyment of the experiences. You’ll also notice that while day scenes have two choices each for the royal, night scenes have four, and there is always at least one option to pass the night without the royal providing themselves bodily at all. While a villain expects sex from a captive royal it’s never demanded and only happens with the captive’s approval.
Furthermore, the options are always the same between each night scene, in different combinations. You should think of this as full freedom on the royal’s part to respond according to their own proclivities. For convenience, they’re defined fully here, and listed in short form on the scenes themselves.
Gentle: You want it soft and sweet, and you want to cuddle. It’s more for you than for the villain now, but it’s hard not to be touched by tender lovemaking
Increase trust.
Decrease passion.
Rough: You want it hot and heavy, and you keep asking for more. The villain loves it, but it may give the impression that sex is all you care about.
Increase passion.
Decrease affection.
Submissive: As you wish, master. You readily and obediently service the villain. It definitely makes the villain more comfortable with you, but it’s also the least surprising thing you could have done.
Increase trust.
Decrease affection.
Dominant: Heel, beast. You fuck the villain, not the other way around. It happens on your own terms. This is the most unexpected and interesting thing you could do, but villains generally have only limited patience for submission to someone who’s supposed to be their prisoner.
Increase affection.
Decrease trust.
Decline: You say no. You don’t need to argue or put up a fight, of course, and it may be a perfectly amiable dismissal. It’s a disappointment to be denied sex, but it will turn the villain’s attention to the rest of your affair.
Increase affection.
Decrease passion.
Tease: You say no, but you make a game out of it. Maybe you get the villain excited before or after, or you make a show out of what you’re rejecting. You’ve made a playfully adversarial relationship out of this, which will only get the villain more enthused for next time.
Increase passion.
Decrease trust.
NIGHT SCENE 1: The villain rebukes a rescue attempt by the hero, and returns to the lair triumphant and excited. While the hero retreats in defeat to return another day, the villain wants to do just what villains do when they win. There is no room for power games tonight- the roles are quite certain.
Gentle, Rough, Decline, or Tease.
NIGHT SCENE 2: The villain wants to make a show of using you. This could be as tame as kissing you in a public show before whisking you out of sight, or as explicit as a full live performance, but either way, they want to make sure people know what the villain is doing to you tonight. You can’t string it along or go halfway- either you’re in or you’re out.
Rough, Submissive, Dominant, or Decline.
NIGHT SCENE 3: The villain wants to employ restraints of some kind. This could mean shackles on the wall for a classic tableau, or wrist bindings, or even something as mild as a bit of wrestling and horseplay. Power games are on tonight one way or another, though you may have your own ideas of what games to play.
Submissive, Dominant, Decline, or Tease.
NIGHT SCENE 4: The villain wants to involve others tonight. Maybe their minions, or maybe a fellow dark-aligned creature, or maybe even a lover of yours who isn’t strong enough to be a hero, but has still been allowed to visit. You won’t be in a position to take charge if you agree to be outnumbered.
Gentle, Rough, Submissive, or Decline.
NIGHT SCENE 5: There’s been some mishap- an accidental injury, or a consequence of a battle, or even an existing ailment of yours, but you’ll need some care and comfort from the villain tonight. Keeping you happy and healthy is the villain’s responsibility while they keep you, so even if it doesn’t lead to sex, some kind of closeness is expected.
Gentle, Submissive, Dominant, or Tease.
NIGHT SCENE 6: Tonight it’s you who initiates things, not the villain. It could be for any reason, but you’re hungry for it. It doesn’t let you take a reactive role tonight, and even if you decide not to act on it, you can’t help but feel how you’re feeling.
Gentle, Rough, Dominant, or Tease.
RESCUE SCENES
When a day or night scene is rolled for that has already been completed, it isn’t repeated. Instead it signifies that a successful rescue has arrived. The villain is confronted, bested in battle, and the captive royal is free to come home.
There is no royal choice to be made! This is when the choices made so far culminate in their final outcome! As such there are six rescue scenes listed below, and which one you will play is determined entirely based on which stat is lowest and which stat is highest at the moment of rescue.
If any two stats are tied (or even all three) then use your chosen villain type as a tiebreaker: whichever stat your villain type increased at the start of the story wins ties, and whichever stat your type decreased loses ties. So for example, if you chose the dragon and your affection is tied with passion, affection would still be treated like it’s “higher” than your passion.
Note that this is only based on the position of each stat relative to the others, not whether any of them are high or low in and of themselves- at the end of a long stay even the “lowest” stat might be high, and after a brief one, even the “highest” stat might be middling. All six of these prompts can be interpreted as lukewarm or casual, or taken as happy or heartfelt. You should let the values of the stats inform the tone of the scene in your freeform roleplay as well as the details, as you did with all other prompts.
PASSION HIGHEST, AFFECTION LOWEST: After the villain is defeated, they ask you if you would like to visit or be visited by them again, not for an abduction but for a date. This conversation may be immediate, or even after you return home. How you answer is up to you.
PASSION HIGHEST, TRUST LOWEST: The villain makes a show of gloatingly claiming possession of you one last time before the final battle, either to taunt the hero or for entertainment. Depending on your level of willingness this may be as simple as a kiss or as shocking as a sex act, but the villain is content to let this be the end of things, and go out with a bang.
AFFECTION HIGHEST, PASSION LOWEST: After the villain is defeated, they ask you if you would like to consider them a friend, and give them your time outside the pretense of abduction. This conversation may be immediate, or on a future visit. How you answer is up to you.
AFFECTION HIGHEST, TRUST LOWEST: After the villain is defeated, they ask the hero if they would like the villain as a nemesis. This may be a plain-faced request or a more tacit test of interest, but the villain wants to know how appropriate it would be to abduct you again soon, or even make a habit of it, to provoke another duel. This isn’t unusual, so the hero may say yes or no.
TRUST HIGHEST, PASSION LOWEST: Immediately after defeat, the villain asks for a private moment with you. Perhaps to resolve or find closure for something between you, or even just to say goodbye. This may be a tender moment, or a somber one, but either way it means ending on positive terms together.
TRUST HIGHEST, AFFECTION LOWEST: After the villain is defeated, they ask you if you would like to be abducted again- the villain wants to make you their new regular target, if you agree that you would enjoy it. This isn’t unusual, so how you answer is up to you.
ALTERNATE ENDING SCENES
If any of your three stats are reduced to 0 (or lower) then immediately after the scene which caused the drop, you will proceed directly to one of these three alternate ending scenes which close the story out prematurely. You have not failed to play correctly if you arrive at one of these endings, but none of them are “happy” endings, and it’s normal for the characters in the story to be disappointed by the outcome.
There is no royal choice to be made! This is when the choices made so far culminate in their final outcome! As such there are three alternate ending scenes listed below, and which one you will play is determined entirely based on which stat fell to null.
NO MORE PASSION: The villain is too acutely aware of the discomfort between the parties to continue. Keeping you at this point feels either untoward, unbecoming, or even outright unethical. And so the villain personally escorts you back to your castle, possibly with some significant misgivings, or even an awkward apology.
NO MORE AFFECTION: The villain is simply tired of you. Villains attack castles for the achievement of it, but afterward they keep royals around for the fun, and you no longer seem like you’re worth the trouble. The villain verbally sets you free, and invites you to make your own way home.
NO MORE TRUST: A dispute leads the villain to banish you from their lair. It may be over something serious or heartbreaking, or it may be petty quibbling that’s simply boiled over. One way or another, the villain casts you out, and will no longer tolerate your presence.
OPTIONAL RANDOM LISTS
None of these random tables are required for play, but if you find yourself struggling to decide on a concept, or simply want to introduce more randomness for the fun of it, you can consult any of these lists and roll one die, or 1d6, to decide on how to describe your villain.
Dragons 1: A wyvern with four legs and two wings. 2: A drake with two legs and two wings. 3: A multi-headed hydra. 4: A serpentine naga. 5: A long that dances on the open air. 6: A feathery-winged coatl.
Monsters 1: A minotaur. 2: A mer-creature. 3: A harpy. 4: A griffon. 5: A manticore. 6: A dryad.
Demons 1: A horned and furry-legged satyr. 2: A lithe preening incubus. 3: A curvaceous succubus. 4: A hulking muscular devil. 5: A shadowy phantom. 6: A haunted mannequin or puppet.
Abominations 1: A faceless tangle of tentacles. 2: A gooey globby slime. 3: A floating many-eyed gazer. 4: A squid-faced humanoid. 5: A floral mass of creeping vines. 6: A chitinous insectoid creature.
Mages 1: A witch. 2: A necromancer. 3: A vampire. 4: A werewolf. 5: A lich. 6: An apostate priest.
Warlords 1: A fearsome marauder. 2: A master thief. 3: A pirate captain. 4: A dark knight. 5: A leader of goblins. 6: A former hero.
For either of these lists you can roll two dice, or 2d6, and add them up to decide on your villain’s personality, or what kind of hero is coming to rescue the royal. (Entries in the middle of the lists are more common.)
VILLAIN 2: Naive 3: Doting 4: Cozening 5: Glib 6: Suave 7: Dramatic 8: Imperious 9: Mischievous 10: Chatty 11: Stoic 12: High-Strung
RESCUER 2: Reroll twice. (A group.) 3: A former villain. 4: A close friend. 5: An old love interest. 6: A recent love interest. 7: A hired adventurer. 8: A volunteer adventurer. 9: A local legend. 10: A sibling. 11: A parent or child. 12: Reroll twice. (Independent endeavors.)
