Modules: Hero marries the Princess

[Celebrim]

QFT. Don't forget the Scottish. 31 kings in 400 years. Do the maths. 1094 was a bad year to be king in. Queen Margaret was especially tragic.

We live very sheltered lives in this late, wealthy, and modern age. We just think we know about violence, crime, and what not. I think we can scarcely imagine how brutal things were in the past, or indeed still are elsewhere in this darkened world.

Charles XII

If he's the one I'm thinking of, he'd beheaded his first man in personal combat with a battle axe at age 10, and by the time he took the throne at age 15 he'd already killed 12 people personally.

I strongly suggest that all fantasy RPers get thier hands on Clovis of Tours 'History of the Franks'.

 

[S'mon]

I find if you want D&Ders to take the princess NPC seriously, she needs to be a butt-kicking barbarian* warrior princess. And if you want them to care about rescuing her, you need to show her kicking some serious orc (or whatever) butt _before_ the rescue scenario.

*Players really go for the barbarian princess, some reason. The lesser god PC Thrin IMC married one, Reesha (no, Reesha was a white NPC. I'm British). He was something like a 100th level 1e Cavalier, she a mere 16th level 1e Barbarian who'd just led the armies of Humanity to victory over the Wolfen Hordes (while Thrin handled Fenrir's avatar), but true love crosses all boundaries of class & level.

 

[Doghead Thirteen]

Even Good aligned parties use far more straight-forward violence than most royal families can handle.

You have no idea how much violence royal families are willing to use. Heads in gutter, arrows in eyes, pokers somewhere far worse, it gets better. Or maybe that should be bloodier.

 

[Banshee16]

I think ruleslawyer hit it on the proverbial head- the problem is, if one pc marries the princess, does he suddenly become the "main character"? Even if not, will the other pcs perceive it that way? And what do you do to share the spotlight, once someone is prince?

Well, one could always go back to the classic Sting song, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"

Adventurers in many settings are somewhat disreputable. It's not like they're the knight in shining armour serving the local king. As described in Perdido Street Station, they might be looked at as danger seeking misfits, robbing tombs and such, and in so doing, sometimes accomplishing good ends.

Maybe the king has quadruplets, and, as in our history, births of twins etc. were seen as a bad omen. So he's got 4 daughters, and other rulers consider them bad luck, so he's having trouble finding them partners.

Enter the heroic band of misfits who save the day, and need a reward. The king may have just found a way to handle four daughters, and also, at the same time, how to reward these adventurers..

Banshee

 

[Banshee16]

In my experience, it isn't about everyone getting plot hooks, it's about everyone getting spotlight time. Even if one character is royalty or something, they still can't do everything on their own. They still need friends they can trust.

And it can be a way to generate tension and plot points as well. So the paladin gets the princess. Well, what if there are elements in the kingdom who don't like the king, and disagree of his choice of husband for the princess? Maybe, not realizing how loyal the party members are to each other, one of these villains tries to influence the party rogue or fighter or whatever to act against the paladin. Now, that could lead into a whole plotline where the rogue acts along with it, using the opportunity to smoke out the traitors, eventually leading to the hidden fortress of one of the dukes who seeks to supplant the king, a big battle, and all that.

Banshee

 

[balterkn]

Back to the OP's question

On question for the OP - adventures that capture "the defeat the villain and marry the princess" theme.

There is a AD&D 2E solo adventure: Fighter's Challenge II
The PC rescues the princess, returns her to family, with many encounters between.
The module notes that the PC may marry the princess if desired after the adventure.

It is kind of a basic adventure, not 1000% inspiring, but a fun diversion from the normal style. It is also a solo adventure, but can probably be updated to 3E and modified to work with a party without too much skill. Probably will work best as a solo adventure though for the spotlight issue.

Alternately, you could modify that adventure, and put in a set of quadruplets (or whatever - 1 per PC) to be rescued and safely escorted back.