Classy stuff. The cover art hints at racial stereotypes and titillation. Emphasis on tit.When Elethrine, Princess Talithea and their maid, Aisla, threaten to spank sorceress Ea, they are punished by being transported to a distant part of their world. This book charts their journey home through a series of erotic indignities and humiliations.
Then we get a short bit of fiction about slaves, and then the introduction, which has this charming bit:
It then tells you about the world itself, which is pretty standard, but sounds nice, and there's nothing inherently wrong about it.The content is unashamedly erotic, some might even say perverse, so if you believe in cold baths, good clean fun that an author should close the bedroom door when things start to get fruity*, then you should probably go away, now. If you’re still with me, then I hope you enjoy the ride. The first thing to take in is that this is not our world but a fantasy. Nobody was axed, raped or devoured by demons in the making of the Maiden Saga RPG. So - Rule 1 – leave your 21st century morals at home.
In fact, leave as much of the modern world behind as you can. This is a world of barbarian giantesses, lecherous slavers, avaricious dwarves and worse, so if you want to play a mild mannered clerk who believes that everybody could get on if they just sat down and talked for a while then you probably will get axed, raped and devoured by demons, and serve you right.†
* This is not necessarily a euphemism.
† Game Masters please take note.
Now we get told about your stats. You have Glory, which is sort of XP and also Social HP and self respect and social standing. It's a reward for success.
Then you have your 4 basic attributes: Experience, Dexterity, Intelligence, Constitution.
Then eight extra attributes: Power, Allure, Pride, Craft, Greed, Guile, Wisdom, Wealth.
Between the twelve attributes you have 100 points to distribute - each stat has a minimum of 1 and maximum of 20.
Your starting Glory is (total of basic attributes)/10 (round down). So if you put a 10 in each, that's 40/10 = 4 Glory.
Here's how conflict works:
Roll a die to determine who selects the attribute you fight with. No really, "roll a single die" to determine it. One person chooses the extra attribute, the other person goes first. You roll a pool of d6 equal to your extra attribute, and each 6 rolled subtracts 1 from their attribute. Then its their turn. Keep going until one person hits 0 or fewer. They then lose, and the winner gets 1 Glory and can basically dictate how the scene plays out.
The loser can choose to spend 1 Glory to restart the Conflict, choosing another stat.
Now we learn about the different cultures of people - not races in the sense of orc and elf, just different places people come from, with the genetic tendencies and (more importantly) what their societies dictate. It then points out how each of the cultures values a different extra stat above all the others and it is their "primary drive", so there is one that values Wealth above all else, and a totally different one that values Greed. Don't ask, I'm busy drinking.
So here we have the cultures:Each culture is developed across the four books of the Maiden Saga but the brief descriptions and key words below should be used when considering the character and likely reactions of each people. In keeping with the nature of the books, the stress is on eroticism.
-Aeg: very tall and strong, pale and red-haired. Ferocious fighters and enthusiastic raiders, but they don't like fighting "unworthy" foes. Primary drive is Power. They're your barbarians from every fantasy source ever. Picture has a lady with a battleaxe and a see-through bikini. Apparently they can't even understand the concept of slavery. Sometimes they fuck goblins or fae. They like strength and stuff, so courting and brawling are very much the same thing. Actually, same with fucking and brawling. Prostitution isn't done, apparently. Also they don't have a shame thing about sex.
-Mund: close cousins of the Aeg, but not as big, and pale-haired. So non-Germanic Norse, but I didn't say that. They are "hearty and practical but often aggressive". Their religion is totally the Norse one and they have berserkers. Primary drive is Pride. Slavery is anathema to them. They are more reserved than the Aeg, but still quite rough. "Both men and women are intensely proud and extraordinarily sensitive to humiliation, while virginity is an obsession. Highborn girls live in towers and wear iron girdles beneath immensely elaborate dresses". Men literally have to scale the towers, strip them naked and ravish them, and the girls have to fight them off to the best of their abilities. No really. Also they love flagellation, and lesbianism is a common but shameful secret.
-Hai: these are the Romans, complete with the style of dress, their more golden tones and their love of pageants, gladiator fights and political intrigue. Slavery is "rare". They take sex for granted, enjoying each other openly and with few inhibitions. They consider it rude not to satisfy each other in the evening or at a small social gathering between friends. Nudity is commonplace and erotic spectacles are part of every pageant and circus. They don't really have taboos. Primary drive: Allure.
-Ythan: the picture looks like a racist caricature of an ancient Greek. Bald, fat, wearing the toga thing, whip in one hand, wine jug in the other. They are apparently heavily interbred with dwarves, and they lack grace and beauty. They breed slaves for export, and their Primary Drive is Craft. They don't find each other attractive so have to use stimulants and musks.
-Makea: the picture is of a swarthy Gypsie/pirate. With a big nose. Slavery is commonplace and their primary drive is Greed. Sex is practically a financial status thing to them - to buy sex shows you're rich enough to be better than the person you're buying it from. The most successful have groups of concubines. They love erotic games that force friends or lovers to degrade one another, and "they are inveterate sodomites". I am not making this shit up, it actually says that. Time for a refill.
-Oretes: okay, it's sort of an Asian culture thing, but the picture is of a scantily clad dancing Gypsie girl. Primary drive is Guile, slavery is institutional. Sex is a pretty standard affair for them, but often used for intrigue, to cause scandals, so there's an elaborate system of brothels. They have a mild nudity taboo, so titillating clothing is preferred. "Oral sex, and particularly rimming, is used to display status among the Oreteans and therefore considered humiliating for the giver."
-Vendjome: the picture for this looks like a sleazier version of the Ythan, but apparently they're related to the Oreteans. Slavery is economically essential (all foreigners are automatically considered slaves if they haven't the paperwork, slaves are seen as animals), and the primary drive is Wealth. They mostly just like raping slaves, and don't really care about the gender.
-Aprena: oh wow, the dark skinned people... we have a near-nude black woman with a massive afro. Primary drive is Wisdom, and slavery is unacceptable. They have few taboos, and nudity is the rule. Prostitution isn't really done, but it's normal to have sex with someone as a way of saying thank you. Because they hate slavery, it's their favourite secret taboo fantasy (and with it, bondage and all that).
The setting also has dwarves, trolls, goblins and nymphs. I'll show you a picture of a goblin, it's priceless. AND NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
