Princesses & Palaces

A Proposal

Princesses & Palaces is a family tabletop role-playing game for girls age 5-10.

The box set includes:

• A short and simple rule book
• Directions on how to build a Palace
• Five laminated character sheets of different colors with dry-erase markers
• Five Princess figurines of different colors
• A dozen NPC, Pet, and Creature figurines
• Two standard sets of game dice (d4 - d20)
• A children's comic book which teaches the girls how to play

The children's comic book is an illustrated story of how to build a Palace and how to play
and enjoy any role-playing game, through the adventures of an 8 year-old girl named Kit
and her 5 year-old sister Mimi.

The Palaces are built from any normal craft model-building material. Card stock, for
example, can be used for the game grid floor and the Palace's walls.

The game mechanics are simple, designed to appeal to young girls and their more broad-
minded brothers, with just enough detail in the system to support their wildest fantasies:
• Only three attributes: Strength; Sweets; and Smarts.
• Pre-set Princess types (character classes—i.e. Princess of Healing or Princess of
Pets, with attribute modifiers for each class).
• A pet system. My daughter can't wait for battle but is terrified her Princess will be
harmed. But she has no trouble sending pets like giant Turtles and guard Dogs
against marauding Goblins. She stands in back with her distance attacks.
• A Princess image on each character sheet, on which the player can draw crowns
and necklaces and rings her Princess wears, along with notes on their effects.
• An erasable worksheet to help with the intricacies of action.

This proposal includes the simple, accessible rule book and the text of the accompanying
children's book. Introducing your daughters to tabletop rpg's becomes as easy as reading
a bedtime book.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration,

Ember L. & David W. Draffin

 Princesses & Palaces
A Children's Book

(Note: this is the text of an illustrated children's book formatted as a comic book. Each
page contains several of the numbered panels listed below. Some of the descriptions will
be contained in the images instead of the text.)

I.

1. Kit and Mimi lived with their parents in a tiny apartment in the middle of the big
city. Kit was eight years old and Mimi was five. They did everything together.

2. Every day they came home from school and made sure not to disturb Mom,
working in her home office with the door closed. They laid on their bed in their
room looking out the window and dreaming. . .

3. They could see the park's trees from their windows. Kit imagined that the woods
were filled with fairies and goblins. Mimi watched the clouds, trying to catch a
glimpse of dragons.

4. Dad always worked too much and came home late. But one night, just moments
before a sleepy Kit and Mimi were about to go to bed. . .

5. . . . he arrived home holding a box. And on this box was a dazzling design, of
glittering jewels and shining silver. On the front it said Princesses & Palaces.

6. “What is it?” whispered Kit in her quietest voice. Mimi's eyes were round as
saucers. Her hand reached out for it. “A present. Tomorrow's Saturday. We'll play
with it then.”

7. That night, Kit had dreams. The lid of the shining box had become a door. When
she opened it she stepped into a fantastical place.

8. She wore a rainbow gown, as light as a cloud. She discovered a golden bracelet
around her wrist. A white songbird landed on her hand and trilled, “Greetings,
Princess!” Kit was surprised to realize she could understand the bird's song.

9. Kit looked out, across the land. On a distant peak she saw a Palace made of pink
stone, its pennant flags flapping in the breeze. Kit studied the hills and the
valleys, trying to decide how to get from here to there.
 10. “GRRRR!” a distant growl echoed from the canyons below and something black
and green looked up at Kit. . .

11. The Goblin's yellow eyes glowed. “RRRAAAARRHH!!” it snarled when it saw her,
a wicked sword appearing in its claw. It climbed up to her.

12. “Quick, Princess!” the bird told her. “Use your ring!” Kit looked at her hand. She
wore a ring with a giant crystal, burning with fire.

13. Kit lifted the ring and pointed it at the Goblin. On her lips were words of power. . .

14. FLASH!

II.

15. In the morning, Dad was already at work downstairs. He had cleared the table
and was using cardstock, scissors, and packaging tape to build a surface, divided
by lines into a grid.

16. Mimi watched silently from a stool. “What are you making?” Kit asked, fetching
bowls of cereal and milk for herself and her sister.

17. “It is,” Dad said mysteriously, “the floor,” his hand drew a shape in the air, “of a
Palace.” He beamed at her. “Your Palace.”

18. “My Palace?” Kit asked, remembering her dream. “It has to be pink!” she suddenly
declared. Mimi said, “Yeah! Pink!” Dad laughed. “Pink it is.”

19. Dad studied the directions. Kit and Mimi argued over how the Palace should look.
“It has to have flags!” Kit insisted. “I want a dungeon!” Mimi demanded.

20. They glued cardstock together, leaving flaps at the bottom to glue to the floor.
They made sure to cut away one wall, so they could see inside.

21. “Now,” Dad said, “will someone show me what all the rooms inside will look like?”

22. Kit and Mimi designed and built the Palace's rooms. Dad helped with the hard
parts. Mom brought cocoa. “We got a Palace, Mommy!” Mimi squealed, delighted.

23. “Let me know when it's time to play,” Mommy said as she left. “Play?” Mimi asked
Kit. “I thought we already were playing.” But Dad looked at them with delight.
“Oh, just you wait,” he said.
 24. By lunchtime the Palace was done. It was beautiful, with balconies hung with
bunting and pennants atop towers. It even had a drawbridge and moat.

25. Inside, the girls had designed their own towers. Kit lived at the very top of hers, in
a beautiful chamber of pink and purple. Mimi chose to put herself at the bottom of
her tower, sleeping with her Dogs, who didn't like stairs.

III.

26. After lunch, Dad brought out the shining gold box and opened it. Inside were the
most beautiful little Princesses the girls had ever seen. There were five of them in
dresses. Each Princess looked very different and was a different color.

27. The Yellow Princess looked smart in her pointed wizard's hat. The Green Princess
looked wise in her crown of daisies. The Purple Princess looked kind, with a bird
on her shoulder and a fox at her feet. The Blue Princess looked strong, a long
sword in her hand. And the Pink Princess looked sweet, holding a magical wand.

28. Kit chose the Pink Princess. She was the most beautiful, Kit thought, and she
looked like the Princess from her dream. Poor Mimi couldn't decide. “I want all of
them!” she wailed.

29. “Don't worry,” Dad said. “You'll get to play all of them soon. But which do you
want right now?” Mimi chose the Purple Princess because she liked animals. Dad
then gave Kit the pink Princess character sheet and Mimi the purple one.

30. Kit named her character Princess Of The Pink Kingdom Annabelle Starshine.
Mimi rapturously named hers “Dog Sister Princess Focus Unclebiter.”

31. “Focus Unclebiter?” Kit repeated, giggling. “I love the name Focus!” Mimi insisted.
“It's not a name for a Princess, it's just a word!” Kit objected. “It's okay, Kit,” Dad
said. “She can have any name she wants.”

32. Next they admired the images of the Princess on each character sheet. Around the
Princess they saw blank spaces where they could write in the magical crowns and
rings and wands they might get later. They colored their dresses and hair.

33. “Now,” Dad said in a very serious voice, “it is Time To Play.”

IV.

34. “The Princesses are asleep in their towers,” Dad told them. Kit and Mimi looked at
where Annabelle and Focus were sleeping, the figurines lying on their sides.
“When suddenly. . . !”
35. Dad held up dice. “You each need to make a Smarts roll. If you successfully use
your Smarts, then you might hear something.” Mimi was worried. “Hear what?”
she asked. “Roll and see if you find out. Roll a big number!”

36. Mimi and Kit both rolled. “Kit, you hear nothing and keep sleeping. But Mimi
rolled more than me. Her Smarts woke her up. Mimi, you hear it.”

37. “What is it, Mimi?” Kit demanded. But Dad held up his hand. “You're asleep, my
Pink Princess. It's the Purple Princess who's awake. What do you do, Mimi?”

38. Mimi thought. Then she had an idea. “I wake up my dogs!” Dad nodded. “That's
a good idea. Oh! There's the sound again!” Mimi listened. “What sound?” Dad
leaned in. “It sounds like chains rattling on the stone.”

39. Mimi screamed. Dad laughed. “Well, that wakes Annabelle up.” Kit hurried to
stand her figurine on her feet. “What is it?” Kit asked her sister. “Chains!” Mimi
squealed. Dad placed a new figure on the board, a tall man dressed in black.

40. “This is the Butler. He comes from down below.” Playing the Butler, Dad's face
changed. “Your Highnesses,” he said in a dry British accent. “There appears to be
a commotion in the kitchens.”

41. The Princesses rushed to the kitchens. They looked around but everything was
normal. Suddenly, a bright flash of light shined from a corner. Standing there was
their Fairy Godmother. “My children,” she said in the kindest voice.

42. “There has been a theft, and a fight!” the Fairy Godmother told the Princesses. It's
those awful Goblins! They stole the jewels of their own Goblin Queen and ran
away. The Goblins live underground here, and they're digging an escape!”

43. The Fairy Godmother vanished in a puff of smoke. Dad handed the girls their dice
again. “Roll for initiative.” Mimi was puzzled. “What's an initiative?” Dad said,
“It decides who goes first. Who sees who and who doesn't.”

44. “Oh,” said Mimi, rolling. Kit rolled and Dad did too. Kit asked, “Why did you roll,
Dad?” But Dad just grinned wickedly. “Because I'm playing the Goblins! And my
roll is highest so the Goblins go first!”

45. The Goblins burst from the stone floor of the kitchens, four nasty little green
brutes with wicked curved swords. Dad placed their figurines in the room with the
Princesses.

46. “They didn't know you'd be here, but you didn't know they'd be here either. So
after a surprised moment blinking in the light, the first one charges at. . .” Dad
rolled a hidden die behind his hand and then pointed at Mimi. “. . . you!”
47. “Me?” Mimi gasped, horrified. She ducked under the table. “Oh. Don't worry,
Mimi,” Dad told her. “Your dogs are in the way. So the Goblins attacked the
closest one. This one.” Dad pointed at her gray Dog.

48. “Let's see who rolls the higher number!” Mimi liked to roll the dice. She rolled
higher than Dad did.

49. “Oh!” Dad said. “Your Dog made my Goblin miss!” Mimi cackled in delight. She
shared a look with Kit, smug and confident they could beat these monsters.

50. The next Goblin scratched her Dog and rolled for damage. The two other Goblins
missed the Dogs and then their turn was over. Mimi made a note on her
worksheet that one of her Dogs lost 1 point of Life.

51. It was Mimi's turn. She had the dogs bite at the Goblin's ankles but only one
caused any damage. “IIIEEEE!!” Dad howled, hopping up and down and holding
his ankle while making a Goblin face.

52. Kit didn't want to fight the Goblins. She was still thinking about something Dad
had said while they were filling in their character sheets. “You said I'm the
Princess of Healing.” Dad nodded. “Can I heal the Dog who was scratched?”

53. “That's right, Kit. You get it,” he nodded, encouraging her. “And because healing
magic is your specialty, you get to use that bonus next to your Sweets.”

54. Kit beamed and picked up the die. “I kneel down beside the poor Dog and raise his
bleeding paw,” Kit said. “The Dog's a she and her name is Pansy,” corrected Mimi.
“Okay,” Kit said, rolling. “I say the magic words and heal Pansy!”

55. “You successfully healed her,” Dad said. “Now see how many points she gets back.”
Kit rolled and Mimi erased the damage done to the Dog on her worksheet.

56. After Kit's turn the Goblins got to attack again. Mimi learned to stay in the back
and let her Dogs do the fighting for her. Kit kept the Dogs healed with her magic
and every once in a while threw something at one of the Goblins.

57. The black Dog finally killed the last Goblin. “Flash!” Dad suddenly said, “the Fairy
Godmother has returned.” He placed her figurine in the kitchen once again. “My
dears!” she said. “You did a wonderful thing, defeating those Goblins. And now the
treasure they stole belongs to you!”

58. Kit and Mimi had forgotten about the treasure! They were overjoyed to receive the
jewelry the Goblins had stolen from the Goblin Queen. Kit got a Crown of Flying,
which let her fly whenever she wanted, as fast as walking.
 59. Mimi got a Necklace of Thunderbolts, which blasted bad guys and set fire to them.
She drew it on her character and then added it as one of her treasures.

60. “Well, your Highnesses,” Dad said, yawning, “our adventure is over. But you've
both gotten six months older and next time you play you'll age another six months.
Then it'll be time for some Birthday parties!”

61. “Hooray!” Kit and Mimi cheered. They couldn't wait to play again.

AND THEN. . .

62. They found a special afternoon to play each week-end for a few hours. Annabelle
and Focus went up a Level every time they had a Birthday, and every time they
went up a Level they gained another point to spend on their Attributes, becoming
Stronger, Smarter, and Sweeter.

63. The Palace grew in size as their adventures continued. They met other Princesses
and made many friends, especially the Giants who lived in the woods outside the
Palace walls. Kit decorated her rooms in the towers above in glorious detail. . .

64. . . .and Mimi took over downstairs, so she'd have enough room for all her new pets!

The End