Disclaimer: The idea was someone else's, but I was allowed to borrow it.
I. Intro
In the independent archipelago-nation of Beaux Rêve (Sweet Dream), situated in the Pacific Northwest, ideas and ideals clash as the world knocks on its door, seeking access to resources both mundane and supernatural. A place that is radically different from most of its neighbors, with many customs that are alien even on the global stage. Colonized first by the French elite when Europeans first came and claimed what they saw as the New World, Beaux Rêve has adopted several notably French customs and expressions, intermixed with British, American, Russian, and Japanese influences.
The Capital, Beaux Rêve City, is famous for its extreme and bizarre one-school policy. A space the size of a whole city district has been carved out to make space for a massive educational complex, ranging from nurseries up to university faculties. Children from all over the city are made to mix regardless of their economic circumstances or housing situations. This brings many advantages and issues. Bullying is high, many classrooms or even whole buildings are left vacant due to issues or a lack of funding, teachers face extreme workloads and massive classes and the economy of the whole city has shifted to accommodate this. Everybody knows somebody who works at the school, and rumors spread like wildfire about the daily happenings. The district and the schooling system are commonly known as "The Complex" or "Beaux Rêve Educational."
As the center of the nation's economic life, the Capital is split into districts that serve various needs. The Complex is the most important of those, covering the city center. The residential district does not have official lines, but the disparity between rich and poor is clear to see, with worn-down apartments overshadowed by the massive skyscrapers and penthouses belonging to the ultra-rich. It's not particularly rare for people to live in other districts above shops, in barracks-like accommodations for laborers, or on the more rural and suburban city borders. Other districts include the commercial district full of bustling markets and French imports, which contrasts with the industrial district full of broken-down warehouses and demolished factories.
The party currently in charge is the Autocrats, who have used Beaux Rêve as a testing ground for their larger plans over the years. Challenging this party are the Humanitarians, a slightly awkward and needs-must party made up of a mixture of people who genuinely want to change things for the better, and others who are simply riding the wave for power or more cynical reasons. Rumors are that there are elements of the party who have succumbed to extremism and plan for violent demonstrations.
Princesses and Princes, aka Magical Girls and Boys, are the dominant supernatural force in Beaux Rêve, if one does not count Hunters, who serve as their oversight. Both Princesses and Hunters have taken up arms to protect the Capital and wider nation, with average folk becoming empowered to take the fight to the core of the issues facing the town, as Mortals squabble about their differences on the streets. The Light that they represent is delicate, however, flickering in the face of so much darkness and suffering. Individuals struggle with their burden, far too spread out and fractured amongst themselves to weather the looming storm. The chances are low, but if those standing for what is right can brook the crashing wave, the path to a brighter future could be left in the wake.
Everything is on the verge of collapse, and that weight falls squarely on your shoulders. If you don't have the strength to lift it, that weight will drag you down with it, along with all you've ever loved.
II. Haphazard Info and Exposition
All right, what is Princess the Hopeful and why should we care?
Princess the Hopeful (Tv. Tropes page here) is a homebrew tabletop game, a custom splat based on the Chronicles of Darkness (New World of Darkness 2e) setting and system created by White Wolf Publishing, now owned by Paradox Interactive. The homebrew focuses on Magical Girls and Boys (or Magical Women and Men) who are driven to be 'Good People in a Grimdark Universe', fighting for a legitimate cause that does not give them a guarantee of victory. They fight because a cause is genuinely right, even if they're slated to lose, and that's where the horror of the game line comes in.
Thanks to the reality-warping plague called the Contagion (which exists in Canon), there are significant differences between this world and 'Vanilla' Chronicles of Darkness, namely that Princesses are as powerful as Mages in this RP (to make sure people don't ignore this ruling, I will be managing everything related to Mages as well as Princesses). Also, Beasts don't exist here for reasons anyone who knows about them can understand. Same for Geniuses (the other super-popular homebrew for CofD) due to their existence contradicting Mages' plus Genius 2e having made some bad lore decisions, or so I've heard.
Every other CofD 'race/template/splat' does exist here, though.
But what do we do? Are we part of one single party?
Yes, you're part of one single group of 6 folk (8 counting GMPCs), whose goal is to prevent the city from going to crap due to partisan infighting between the two fictional political parties of Beaux Rêve City (the rest of the archipelago will be explored in due time).
Beaux Rêve City is the size of Wellington, and has a slightly smaller population. The island it stands on, Beaux Rêve Island, is as big as Hawaii (the island), with the surrounding environment being similar to Olympic National Park, only developed with farms and sawmills and factories, although large parts remain pristine.
There is also a volcano, Mt. D' Albret, named after Jeanne d' Albret, a notable figure among the Calvinists in the French Wars of Religion. Said Volcano has a large deposit of red diamonds, the rarest kind of diamond on earth IRL, which in turn makes Beaux Rêve (the nation) extremely rich and important.
The other islands of the archipelago are roughly estimated to be as big as the other islands of the Hawaiian Archipelago; this is to reduce the GM's workload. Also, Beaux Rêve Island is 1609.25 km/621.34 miles away from Graham Island in Canada; a moderately wide stretch of ocean away.
Also, the age of majority and criminal responsibility in Beaux Rêve is 16, including the right to bear arms or join the military. This is as grim as it sounds. That said, the age of consent is counted differently and is still 18, for reasons you all should already know.
Anyway, if you want to play someone, not a Princess (aka any other template in the Chronicles of Darkness except Beast), consult the White Wolf Wiki.
III. Rules
1) No Godmodding or Powergaming, aka no controlling other players' actions
2) Any consenting relationship between people of the same age group is allowed, whether it's Homosexual or Heterosexual. If you cannot stand such things, don't post here in the first place. That said, do not violate the rules; that means no sexualizing minors. As for adults, note that the Roleplayer Guild version of the RP allows written nudity if it's not overly described.
3) Be polite to others.
4) Please notify me if you will be gone for more than a week, I will let you guys know if I will be gone for that same amount of time.
5) The GM reserves the right to control inactive PCs as NPCs to keep the plot moving.
6.) If anything conflicts with a strict reading of the Chronicles of Darkness canon, the Contagion changed reality to make it so.
7.) If you want to play a Vampire, Werewolf, Demon, or any other Template (that isn't Beast), you are in charge of writing up what powers your OC has; do not abuse this right to god mode. And if you can prove that you know the lore for those Templates, the GM might consult with you from time to time.
8.) We're not using dice or stats; we use the honor system, narrative necessity, and plausibility, and common sense.
9.) We are not using anything from the Detroit Supplement (all discussion of that is politics-adjacent and forbidden), also, the People's Guard from the Hunter: The Vigil Fan Crossover Supplement does not exist in this RP, and even if they did, any member of them who steps foot in Beaux Rêve will be summarily executed by the angry Huguenots of Task Force: NAVARRE.
10.) For Princesses, Govern and Learn Charms can detect Time-based Magic (and Fate too). Also, the Govern Charm, Unweaving, can dispel Magic from other Supernatural Templates (including Mages) at a penalty until the Princess has an appropriate Embassy (Arcane for Mages, Ephemera for Werewolves, etc) that can cancel out said penalty.
IV. Character Sheet
[b]Name:[/b] (What’s your characters name?)
[b]Age:[/b] (How old is your character? 16 - 30 preferred, but younger/older OCs can be applied for on special request)
[b]Physical Description:[/b] (What does your character look like?)
(Place any photos or written descriptions here. If a Princess, post your Transformed Self's costume)
[b]Weapons and Items:[/b] (What kind of weapons or other important items does your character have? If your character has cash, put it there too.)
[b]Are you a Princess/Prince? :[/b] (Simple Y/N question)[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point. Who are they exactly? Where did they come from? What are they like? All of the above goes here.V. Sample Bio
