Environment (PW)

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Starfox's Princess World

Channelling Wild Magic

Chaos

Even in the controlled lands magic is bizarre. Once you get into the deep wilds, woo! Forget about it. Super weird. Frontier kingdoms are shielded against the worst of it but even so, they are unavoidably places where there's a lot of uncontrolled wild magic around. This is represented by Chaos, a measure of just how weird things are getting in and around your frontier kingdom.

Chaos increases in a number of ways. Strong emotions can increase Chaos, especially if a lot of people are feeling the same way, or if one particularly powerful individual (say, a princess) is in an emotional state. Messing around in the wild lands can increase Chaos, as can ignoring the wild lands and allowing elementals and other monsters to gather power (sort of a catch-22 situation there, to be honest). Disorder can increase Chaos. Even something as seemingly innocuous as an untidy room can have surprisingly serious consequences.

Elemental Explosions

Elementals are formed of highly compressed wild magic. When an elemental is destroyed all of that energy is released at once, increasing the kingdom's Chaos by the elemental's Tier. Nearby princesses may attempt to calm this explosion, rolling Weird against the elemental's Tier. Each level of effect reduces the Chaos increase by one, to a minimum of zero. Only one attempt may be made for each elemental, although other princesses can mark Weight to help the princess making the roll.

Chaos Sets The Stage

At the beginning of each session the GM should roll a number of dice equal to the kingdom's Chaos.

Any 6s rolled indicate an abatement of Chaos; reduce the kingdom's Chaos by one.

Any set of doubles indicates a major wild magic surge, which can manifest in many different ways. See the Wild Magic Surge Examples section, or roll on the random table in Appendix B (pg 109).

Every 1 indicates a possible weakening of the kingdom's shields. If this isn't dealt with by the end of the session, reduce the kingdom's Shield by 1. Shield problems generally require a free time action to solve. Multiple shield problems might require multiple actions, or might be represented by a clock that must be filled. For example, if two 1s are rolled then the GM might create a four segment clock. If the princesses manage to fill this clock before the end of the session, their Shield will not decrease. Dealing with shield problems might also be the focus of this session's affair.

If the kingdom's shields are strong (Shield is higher than Land) then players may request for any of the dice to be rerolled.

Example: Stella's kingdom has a Chaos of 5, and strong shields. The GM rolls 2, 2, 1, 5 and 6. Stella asks for the 1 and one of the 2s to be rerolled, resulting in a 5 and a 4. There's still a wild magic surge (double 5s), but the shields aren't weakened and Chaos is reduced by 1 thanks to the 6.

If the kingdom's shields are weak (Shield is less than Land) then reroll all 6s once.

Example: Beka's kingdom has a Chaos of 4, and weak shields. The GM rolls 6, 3, 2, 4. They reroll the 6 and get a 3, resulting in a wild magic surge and no reduction in Chaos for the kingdom.

If Chaos ever reaches ten then the wild magic near the kingdom's borders has reached a crisis point. Reset chaos to zero and increase the kingdom's Wild by 1. In addition, trigger a wild magic surge as the raw chaotic forces find an outlet.

Wild Magic Surge Examples

The length that wild magic surge effects persist for is up to the GM. Generally they'll last a session or two, or until the princesses deal with them directly (possibly as an affair). If you're having trouble coming up with a wild surge, try looking at the projects the princesses have, their kingdom focus, their relations with factions and other kingdoms, and their goals. What would mess with those things?

If you're still coming up blank, or just want to embrace the chaos and roll for it, dozens of wild surge examples can be found in Appendix B: Random Tables (pg 109).

The Heart Of A Princess

Princesses are, generally speaking, resilient individuals used to bearing heavy responsibility. They're tough to hurt and hard to keep down. However, princesses are not indestructible. They are physical beings of flesh and blood. If they're cut, they bleed. If they're slammed against a rock by a rogue elemental, they hurt. If they get hit in the arm by a troll's club, maybe that arm gets broken. Similarly, the barbed words of a rival princess can cut straight to the heart. The weight of regret can be more crushing than that troll's club. It is true that a princess's heart is her greatest strength. It is also true that the heart of a princess is her most vulnerable weakness.

Consequences

Enemy actions, bad circumstances, or the outcome of a roll can inflict consequences on a PC. The GM determines the consequences, following from the fiction and the style and tone established by the game group.

Reduced Effect

This consequence represents impaired performance. The PC's action isn't as effective as they'd anticipated. You hit the monster, but it's not enough to stop it from eating the key. You're able to climb the wall, but you're only halfway up before the dragon spots you. This consequence essentially reduces the effect level of the PC's action by one after all other factors are accounted for.

Complication

This consequence represents trouble, mounting danger, or a new threat. The GM might introduce an immediate problem that results from the action right now: the room catches fire, you're disarmed, your kingdom gets +1 Chaos from the elemental attention you're attracting, you lose status with a faction, the target evades you and now it's a chase, more monsters turn up, and so on.

Or the GM might tick a clock for the complication. Maybe there's a clock for the alert level of monsters guarding a treasure. Or maybe the GM creates a new clock for the suspicion of your host at a party. Fill one tick on a clock for a minor complication or two ticks for a standard complication. A serious complication is more severe: reinforcements surround and trap you, the room catches fire and falling ceiling beams block the door, your weapon is lost, the kingdom suffers +2 Chaos, your target escapes out of sight, etc. Fill three or more ticks on a clock for a serious complication. Don't inflict a complication that negates a success. If a PC tries to corner an enemy and gets a partial success, don't say that the enemy escapes. The player's roll succeeded so the enemy is cornered, but maybe they manage to knock the princess's weapon away, or pull a suspiciously glowing crystal from their pocket.

Harm And Injury

Princesses are pretty tough, and also quite good at avoiding getting seriously hurt. Sometimes, though, you just can't help but break a leg or two. Harm is usually a consequence of failed action rolls, and comes in a delightful variety of shapes and severities.

1. Harm (Reduced Effect): bruised, split lip, bloody nose, hurt feelings, drained, creeped out, feeling gross
2. Harm (-1d): sprained ankle, cracked ribs, beaten up, exhausted, scared, humiliated, shaken by regret, betrayed, poisoned, lost, disappointed
3. Harm (twonked until further notice): crushed, broken limb, all cut up, terrified, devastated, savagely dragged