Prince Valiant (role-playing game)
Encyclopedia
Prince Valiant: The Story-Telling Game is the official role-playing game
based on Hal Foster's comic strip
of the same name
. Created by Greg Stafford
the game was first published by Stafford's company, Chaosium
, in 1989.
role-playing game. The first was King Arthur Pendragon
, published by Chaosium in 1985. Game players take on characters who live in the same shared universe under King Arthur's rule, although Prince Valiant's style is less pseudo-historical than Pendragon's and closer to the spirit of Foster's original comic strip.
has only two attributes
, Brawn and Presence, with seven points to distribute between them when creating the character. Action resolution is decided by coin tosses, which play the role of dice, the attribute point number being then equivalent of the number of tossed coins.
by Catalan
editor Juan Ignacio Sánchez Pérez for Joc Internacional.
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
based on Hal Foster's comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
of the same name
Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a long-run comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretch of that story now totals more than 3700 Sunday strips...
. Created by Greg Stafford
Greg Stafford
Francis Gregory Stafford , usually known as Greg Stafford, is an American game designer, publisher and shaman.-Glorantha and gaming:...
the game was first published by Stafford's company, Chaosium
Chaosium
Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of role-playing games still in existence. Founded by Greg Stafford, its first game was actually a wargame, White Bear and Red Moon, which later mutated into Dragon Pass and its sequel, Nomad Gods...
, in 1989.
Setting
With Prince Valiant: The Story-Telling Game, illustrated by Hal Foster, Greg Stafford designed his second ArthurianKing Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
role-playing game. The first was King Arthur Pendragon
Pendragon (role-playing game)
Pendragon, or King Arthur Pendragon, is a role-playing game in which players take the role of knights performing chivalric deeds in the tradition of Arthurian legend. It was originally written by Greg Stafford and published by Chaosium, then was acquired by Green Knight Publishing, who in turn...
, published by Chaosium in 1985. Game players take on characters who live in the same shared universe under King Arthur's rule, although Prince Valiant's style is less pseudo-historical than Pendragon's and closer to the spirit of Foster's original comic strip.
Mechanics
The actual game mechanics are deliberately simple. Aiming to help beginners (especially kids), the game emphasizes story-telling prior to the use of cluttering and exceeding simulation rules: every playable characterPlayer character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
has only two attributes
Statistic (role-playing games)
A statistic in role-playing games is a piece of data which represents a particular aspect of a fictional character. That piece of data is usually a integer or, in some cases, a set of dice....
, Brawn and Presence, with seven points to distribute between them when creating the character. Action resolution is decided by coin tosses, which play the role of dice, the attribute point number being then equivalent of the number of tossed coins.
Translations
In October 1990, the game was translated into SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
by Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
editor Juan Ignacio Sánchez Pérez for Joc Internacional.