Prince Valiant: The Storytelling Game [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

At the time of it's printing in 1989, Prince Valiant was a nifty, light game in a heavy-gamed RPG world. Even though it was penned by the legendary Greg Stafford, it failed miserably. If one could ever equivocate a game failing to a tragedy, Prince Valiant's failure would be it.

Most everyone who sees a copy realizes that it is about 10 years ahead of it's time. It has innovations within that were not redone for several years thereafter. I'm reitorating because it bears repeating. It was also a complete game in one book, 128 pages. And that's a good thing, because Prince Valiant never saw a supplement.

As there is no product description here, I will try to summarize:

The Setting of the Prince Valiant RPG is of the wonderful Hal Foster comic of the same name, that being a King Arther/Knights of the Round setting (low/no magic). The Players usually play knights as characters, though other options are made open in the Advanced Characters chapter.

The game system uses coins instead of dice, heads were figured as "successes" and tails as "not successes". The stats are Brawn, being everything physical, and Presence, being everything else. Skills add to the core ratings of Brawn and Presence, making it a "dice pool" system without the dice part.

Now, a few glimpses into the text:

There is a several page long Example of Play where everything goes wrong for the GM, and the players run amok over his plot ideas. It's the only time I've ever seen that happen in the Example of Play in a core RPG, before or since. It's both funny and rings true with most experienced GMs.

The "Storyteller Certificate" was (probably) the first time a player was allowed to make use GM Fiat in a RPG. It has since become almost a cliche for RPGs to do such.

There are 20 adventure seeds in the back of the book, at least a page long each, which give a GM the understanding of what types/flavors of adventures he should use.

The Storytelling chapters actually give great advice on how to run Prince Valiant, with the goal of making the Players have fun (including the GM) with the game, rather than just set up opponents for the players to battle.

I'd have to say that this is probably the best RPG to teach children how to play RPGs, and when I have kids I'll teach them gaming with my copy.

With all these words I've written, I still don't feel I've done a good service in describing Prince Valiant. I simply don't possess the words to accurately describe it's greatness.

I recommend all roleplayers interested in simpler rules or teaching their kids to play RPGs to hunt down a copy of Prince Valiant immediately. If you don't like it, go to RPGnet and sell or trade it. People there will be interested in getting a copy, I guarantee it.

Another reviewer has already made a solid case for Prince Valiant: The Storytelling Game. I write mainly to underscore his comments. In a nutshell, Prince Valiant is a very clever game. When it came out in 1989, it was avante garde without the pretentiousness of calling itself that. The junior brother of the well-regarded and far better known Pendragon RPG, Prince Valiant offers streamlined and easy-to-understand rules, at the core of which lies a universal (or near-universal) mechanic that works really well whether your characters are jousting, causing flesh wounds to the Black Knight, seeking to rouse a crowd of peasants, or attempting to win the fancy of a beautiful, red-haired lady-in-waiting. The game doesn't merely do these things; it does them elegantly and -- particularly in extended resolutions (such as in personal combat) -- with a real sense of drama. It also does them fairly quickly. The game does not bog down into long dice throw-fests or involve an array of numerous (and rule-specific) feats and the like. The mechanic is designed to give you a dramatic answer to a question quickly. This same quickness is inherent in the drafting of your characters. Even playing with all the optional rules, a thoughtful player could put together an interesting character in 15 minutes, and probably less after gaining familiarity with the game system.

So what's not to like? There are a few things, but none really have anything to do with the game itself. First, it's hopelessly out of print, without any real prospect of it ever coming back into print. So secondary sellers on Amazon or eBay are the only way to go. Second, there aren't any supplements for Prince Valiant. You can borrow a lot from the many high-quality supplements made for Pendragon, but you'd have to tailor them. It bears mentioning in this regard, though, that Prince Valiant practically begs to create adventures on the fly. Still, on balance, I suppose a lack of supplements is a negative. Third, you're either going to like this subject matter or not. If you're not a fan of Arthurian legend, the game may fall flat for you. Finally, virtually no one seems to know about this game, so there is not a ready group of fans to round up to play. But, really, that's hardly an impediment. Whip up a good, fun adventure concept and spend a night romping through it. They'll be back for more.

Conclusion? Five stars. Well worth buying, particularly if you're looking for a quick, clean system with which to explore the world of King Arthur ... and probably readily adaptable to other, similarly heroic milieu.