༺ S1. The Prince, The Flower, And The Resistance – 1 (GM Perspective) ༻
If asked what the most important thing in a TRPG was, it was motivation.
My theory was that players needed a strong motivation. For instance, if soone pleaded for help, saying ‘Hyesoon from next door was kidnapped by a giant squid’, logically, why would anyone get involved directly instead of calling the police?
It would only make sense if Hyesoon was the town’s most beautiful woman, had a sweet and romantic fling with the player, and the police were too incompetent to respond. Maybe then, soone would consider acting directly. Just maybe.
In that sense, there was no motivation more compelling than the threat to one’s life. When a huge ass monster was rushing to rip off one’s limbs, desperation naturally followed.
Well then. Now, I had to create an impromptu session for the Second Prince.
What session should I create / What would the core conflict be / How would I motivate him?
If I had known about the Second Prince’s visit a week ago, I could have prepared sothing. I would’ve done so background check on him and finely tune the session’s atmosphere to match his personality, but…….his visit was unexpected.
The order was in, the custor had arrived, and I had to serve the dish imdiately.
First, let’s check what ingredients I had.
The fantasy modeling was roughly complete. Martial arts were far from ready for actual use and the modern era had aspects that I would hesitate to present to the Second Prince. After all, what would a prince do in the modern world other than enjoy gourmandism? After that, it would be done. Fin.
Moreover, there was a critical problem when basing the illusion on the modern era.
Trained subculture readers knew clichés all too well. If a pocket watch suddenly stopped1Mayuri’s pocket watch from Stein’s Gate. RIP…., it ant death was imminent and if soone said ‘How could so-and-so lose? There’s no way that could happen! They’re the strongest, after all!’ or ‘Nah, I’d win.’2RIP Gojo Satoru…., it ant they would either beco diocre, lose, or maybe even lose their lower half.
As such, everything would fall into place predictably and neatly. If I introduced a beautiful girl in the session, the players would understand, thinking ‘Ah she must be a key character~!’ and if I suddenly ntioned dark clouds and a gloomy atmosphere, they would think ‘Sothing will probably happen soon!’ and prepare themselves.
However, the Second Prince was a layman who knew nothing of this, wasn’t he?
As such, I decided a straightforward plot was necessary.
“This is the perfect angle for ti travel.”
“T-Ti traveeeeel……?”
The Tower Master, lying on the massage chair, muttered with a trembling voice. This place was, so to speak……the control room. A virtual reality space for manipulating virtual reality. Here, one could move NPCs or narrate the story.
I munched on popcorn and swiftly manipulated the virtual reality. First, I threw the Second Prince into a secluded forest. I needed to buy so ti.
Having decided on the the of ti travel, setting the scene to be in the future seed like a good choice.
Luckily, I had a sleekly designed steampunk futuristic city. Complete with skyscrapers, it was an aweso modeling that looked impressive even with just a glance. The city’s na was ‘Nightwatch’.
I attached the steampunk city next to the secluded forest.
With the towering skyscrapers, it should be easy for the Second Prince to find his way. As long as he reached a slightly open area, he would see the towers that seed to pierce the sky, so it would be simple to guide him out of the forest.
Then, I rembered sothing I couldn’t leave out if it was steampunk.
“Tower Master?”
“Oong?”
“Could you input the modeling of an airship? 10………”
“Huh?”
“9⋯⋯ 8⋯⋯.”
“???”
“7⋯⋯.”
Tower Master Yuna quickly sat up and started carving out the modeling for an airship. As expected of an Archwizard, her speed was terrifyingly fast. She even had the sense to completely ignore the interior and only focus on the exterior.
After making her take care of nial work like this urgent task, I focused on the monitor. Seeing the Second Prince examining a modeling of a tree and looking intrigued, I felt like explaining to him in a monologue.
-You seed to realize sothing. Was there anything special around you?
Second Prince : “This type of tree only grows near the Imperial Capital. It was obtained to commorate the Fifth Emperor’s birthday by ordering the alchemists.”
The fuck did you say?
“This tree modeling was done by Tower Master, right?”
“UAAAAAAH AIRSHIP DONE………! Huh, eh? Oh, um. Eung3A cute way of saying “Yes” or “Okay” in Korean…. I did it.”
“It’s said to grow only near the Imperial Capital.”
“Eung!”
Then I couldn’t use the steampunk futuristic city ‘Nightwatch’, you know? I gave the Tower Master a cheek massage as punishnt for not labeling and writing a description of the tree modeling.
“Eubububububu.”
Yeah, sure. I could still use the steampunk futuristic city ‘Nightwatch’.
Even though the player made such a brilliant deduction, I could say, ‘Yeah, okay, sounds like a you problem not a problem~’ and replace the Imperial Capital with another city. I could just pass it over like that.
But such an action was a million billion zillion light years away from my style of TRPG writing.
If the player deduced sothing and it made sense, then it must be true. It was frustrating to be wrong when you made a deduction, wasn’t it?! I quickly got rid of the skyscrapers before the Second Prince turned around.
I scrapped the ambitious futuristic city ‘Nightwatch’ and hastily called up and slapped on the modeling of the Imperial Capital. Then, I added hints of a future tiline here and there.
I made a few scratches on the castle walls and added pointless clockwork and steam engines to the buildings.
“……If I do this, there won’t be any skyscrapers, so I won’t be able to guide him to the city, huh?”
“Ubuuuuuu.”
Tower Master, launch the airship! Let’s set sail from here all the way to the city!”
I lured the Second Prince with a suspiciously slow airship. And this was the ti to exhibit the effects of Illusion Magic.
The actual ti spent moving through the forest was five minutes, but I made it feel like an hour with ‘Ti Perception Deceleration’. A.K.A Military Training Camp Force Field4to imply that there is a force field around Korean military training camp (boot camp) that makes it feel like ti is running slower.. This way, we could skip through the progression while still maintaining realism.
I finished processing the modeling of the Imperial Capital in those five minutes. I quickly cooked up a makeshift emblem to replace the flag of the Empire. To make it seem plausible, I roughly mixed up the royal crests of three other kingdoms.
Just exploring the Empire of the future felt lacking in urgency or danger.
Danger….Danger was important. Without suspense and actions, things could taste bland. I rembered pondering whether to include an incident when I took the Tower Master sightseeing in Korea.
Danger. Danger. Danger…….
“Tower Master, tell a few things that co to mind when you think of the Empire.”
“Jwhy dwon’t jyou twalk awfter lwetting gwo jof mwy chweeks?”5Why don’t you talk after letting go of my cheeks?
“Ah.”
I let go.
“Slavery, military power, and the Imperial Family actively mixing their blood with the nobility?”
“Okay, noice.”
Then, let’s go with a world of reversed social status.
Let’s demote blondes, a symbol of Imperial Blood, to slaves. I manipulated the NPCs to look at him with a gaze that seed to say, ‘Wow…..a blonde? Is he a slave?’. The Second Prince’s face burned red under these glares that he had never received before.
While the Second Prince was waiting in the inspection queue, I organized my plot neatly. The main the: a world of reversed status. And……..a success story? That sounded good.
He was already soone born with many things, wasn’t he? He had never experienced rising from the bottom. I wanted to give him a taste of the catharsis that ca with climbing from rock bottom all the way to the top.
But first, in order to do that, I needed to ram him deep down into the ground.
– “Halt. State your identity. Where is your master?”
– “If you’re not a slave, then what? Are you so plaything? To think that there’s still a fucker who would walk around with his head held up high when he has such disgusting golden hair.”
– “This fucking slave dares…… Are you mistaking your master’s authority as yours? No matter how high of a status they might be, you are just a lucky little slave. Understand?”
I verbally beated the shit out of him. Then, the finishing touch: Firmly pushing an index finger into his forehead.
I almost threw a punch when this happened to at my company. In this otherworld, the effect seed exceptional, as the Second Princess ca out boldly.
Second Prince : “Show respect, guard! I am the Second Prince of the Empire, Irid Crown-!”
I pondered. The balance between displeasure and pleasure had to be exquisite.
It was wrong to start a ga using the Sweet Potato -> Soda Strategy6this is common korean slang. Suffocatingly annoying developnts are said to be “Sweet Potatoes” because when you eat sweet potatoes (a type of korean food), it’s possible to feel stuffy, as if you’re choking. To redy that feeling, you would drink “Soda”. In novel terms, this would be clearing up the stuffy, annoying developnts. For example, a Young Master confronts an MC, saying how brilliant he is and how much better he is than our MC. It gets to the point where we want our MC to put him in his place. And when he does so, that is our “Soda”. We feel relieved. Perhaps it’s best to describe it as the sense of satisfaction received after taking a nice shit., thus killing off the player character’s entire family, friends, and lover. By doing so, it was possible to get punched by an angry player.
You needed to scratch the player just enough to not truly upset them, then imdiately follow up with an airdrop of soda to complete the strategy. That was why I didn’t use any swears worse than ‘jerk’.
Let’s scratch him a bit more. Just a bit more.
– “The reason the Empire you were so proud of was ruined and imperial citizens live like groveling slaves is because of the Wither Emperor Irid!”
Interesting setting, wasn’t it? His future self being the last Emperor of the Empire.
And as a backstory, all this Wither Emperor stuff or whatever was slander by the ‘Kingdom Alliance’. After conquering the Empire, the Kingdom Alliance, in cahoots with a Black Wizard, spread these rumors.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
“Uh, h-hey. The Second Prince’s face looks like a dead fish……?!”
“Eh….Ehhh.”
“I-Is this really okay?!”
No, it’s not okay. We’re completely fucked in the ass. I didn’t an to hurt him this much!
I thought he was the type to have a lot of pride, so I scratched at him hard, but maybe he had a lower self-esteem than he seed on the outside……..? This was a fat miss. Maybe I was too hasty because it had been a while since I had played TRPG.
“This is fiction, Prince. It’s all fiction…….”
I needed to let him know this was all just an illusion, just a ga. But speaking directly wasn’t the most elegant nor beautiful thod to go about it.
I had NPCs beat the Second Prince up while drastically lowering his pain threshold.
It probably felt like light tapping.
Look, isn’t it strange? Feeling a light tap even though you’re getting hit by a club? It doesn’t make sense, right? Just like that, I indirectly showed him this was all fiction.
-You…….beca dazed, like a person who had lost their soul. Even as the guards rushed over and beat you with clubs, your mind echoed not with pain, but with countless numbers of ‘Why?’.
No, it’s not that you’re not feeling pain because of the shock. You actually don’t feel any pain. I’m telling you, you actually don’t feel any pain! How could one have such trivial thoughts while being beaten with an iron club? That didn’t make any sense!
This won’t do. I needed to quickly implent a ‘Nadenade’7Japanese for patting. Basically ans to comfort and soothe. stat.
===============================================================
This jerk was just way too fucking good at dodging events.
An event where a proud retired soldier takes notice of the Second Prince’s eyes and takes him in => Fail because the Second Prince runs away as soon as he sees the retired soldier.
An event where I conjured a fat wallet in front of the Second Prince to at least pick up so money and enjoy a tasty al => Fail because he passed it by, fearing Location Tracking Magic might be casted on it.
A ‘Free Bakery Event’ where any passerby was just given bread => Fail because he ran away, thinking he would get beaten with a baguette.
An event where wealthy noblewon, who were generous in the heart and the chest, were set up at every little corner to support the Second Prince => Fail because he suddenly jumped over a wall and ran away.
“Is it on purpose?”
Did he perhaps just want to suffer? Was he dodging all these events I had prepared as a way to tease , knowing full well they were all made by Illusion Magic?
But seeing his dead expression, that didn’t seem to be the case……
“……Sigh.”
I had no choice but to use my trump card.
A beautiful girl.
The ‘Boy ets Girl’ scenario was a cliché of a long-standing tradition with impactful destructive power.
She was a beautiful girl working as a server in an inn, filled with a lively sense of a commoner. Let’s spawn a water pail. And then, douse him in water…..
– “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know soone was there…..”
Here you go. See? A mistake by a beautiful girl. Now, I’ll create a sweet, mushy event where she apologizes to the soaking wet Second Prin……That fucker is running again!
I quickly added to the settings. In fact, she wasn’t a beautiful girl working as a server in an inn. She was actually a beautiful girl who was part of the Resistance disguised as a server in an inn. I boosted her physical specs.
I made her slide down a wall pipe and drop down.
Did he notice the bizarreness of this move? Did he catch it?
A delicate girl who looked like she couldn’t even lift a pink dumbbell83kg dumbbells was actually bold enough to drop from the third floor – a gap moe9a contrast between what one looks like and how one acted. Could be considered a “charming contrast”.
And to add to this…
Under her fluttering skirt, mature underwear, surprising for her innocent, youthful appearance, was revealed!
This was perfect. Hurry. Look up! Look on my Works, Second Prince Irid, and despair10Ozymandias! Shiver with thrill at the sight of the underwear modeling I had crafted with my very soul……..!
“ACK!”
WHY DID YOU TURN YOUR HEAD AWAY…..!
Frustrated and feeling wronged, I collapsed on the spot. And there, the Tower Master just looked down upon my despair, as if finding pathetic……..
1
Mayuri’s pocket watch from Stein’s Gate. RIP….
2
RIP Gojo Satoru….
3
A cute way of saying “Yes” or “Okay” in Korean
4
to imply that there is a force field around Korean military training camp (boot camp) that makes it feel like ti is running slower.
5
Why don’t you talk after letting go of my cheeks?
6
this is common korean slang. Suffocatingly annoying developnts are said to be “Sweet Potatoes” because when you eat sweet potatoes (a type of korean food), it’s possible to feel stuffy, as if you’re choking. To redy that feeling, you would drink “Soda”. In novel terms, this would be clearing up the stuffy, annoying developnts. For example, a Young Master confronts an MC, saying how brilliant he is and how much better he is than our MC. It gets to the point where we want our MC to put him in his place. And when he does so, that is our “Soda”. We feel relieved. Perhaps it’s best to describe it as the sense of satisfaction received after taking a nice shit.
7
Japanese for patting. Basically ans to comfort and soothe.
8
3kg dumbbells
9
a contrast between what one looks like and how one acted. Could be considered a “charming /genesisforsaken
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