Your Prince is in Another Castle
is a Daily Life with Monster Girl fanfic by Rassilon001.
Kimihito and the monster girls who live in his home stumble across an old copy of a Tabletop RPG game he used to play, Catacombs & Chimeras, and decide to pass an afternoon or two playing it themselves. As dice rolls and random encounters begin, the girls are off on a quest to save their beloved Prince from the forces of evil.
Your Prince is in Another Castle contains examples of:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Catacombs & Chimeras, of course. Also, there's at least one mention of "Lovely Liminal Ladies".
- After Action Patch Up: Several times.
- An Adventurer Is You: Your standard group of 'em.
- Author Appeal: An avid gamer in his youth, and one who also played with his family, many of Kimihito's actions and quirks here are a reflection of the writer's own.
- Balance, Power, Skill, Gimmick: With one notable exception that is Played for Laughs, the girls fill in all the major roles of a true adventuring party.
- BFS: Paladin's Two-Handed Great Sword. To a lesser extent, the Fighter's Bastard Sword.
- Combat Medic: Cerea's Paladin, and to a lesser extent Rachnera's Cleric, who leans more towards Medic than Combat but kicks her fair share of ass as well.
- Cute Monster Girl: All of the players, of course, as per the source material.
- Dungeon Crawling
- Dungeon Masters Girlfriend: Well, more like housemates, but Kimihito clearly does all he can to keep the girls happy, knowing full well they'd take it out on him if he doesn't. And they do all live together.
- Dump Stat: Averted; all the girls work hard to ensure they have high Charisma despite it being virtually worthless to dungeon crawlers. Likely influenced by their attempt to seem desirable to the Catacombs Master and by extent his NPCs.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: There's a monster encountered down below in the Catacombs. Guess what it is. Go on, guess.
- Experience Points
- Fighter, Mage, Thief: Averted. The group doesn't bring a single Tmhief along, which leads to problems when they start to encounter traps.
- Game Master: Catacombs Master, in this case. Kimihito takes the role so the girls can play as adventurers, though it helps that he's the only one who knows the rules at first.
- Gold–Silver–Copper Standard: Played straight.
- In and Out of Character: Mero sometimes slips into this, but most of them play their adventurers as themselves, so it's hard to tell a difference.
- Insistent Terminology: It's not a dungeon, it's a catacomb. We’re not getting sued!
- Leeroy Jenkins: Miia tends to charge headfirst into a fight, which can get her into trouble.
- Magic Missile Storm: Used by both Papi's Mage and the Wicked Queen.
- Magic Wand
- Magocracy: The Wicked Queen rules over the Evil Empire with a magical iron fist.
- Obviously Evil: Wicked Queen? Evil Empire? Black Knights? Seriously? Justified, in that it's an early attempt to give them an idea of how the game works and just have fun, not world build.
- Player Archetypes:
- The Real Man: Miia, arguably Papi.
- The Roleplayer: Meroune.
- The Munchkin: Rachnera, and to a lesser extent Cerea.
- Plot Tailored to the Party: Mostly played straight, but the one time they need a Thief type to find and disarm traps, they find themselves without one to do it. They end up Taking a Third Option.
- Power Glows: The +1 Sword.
- Ring of Power: The ring entrusted to the party for the Prince, which has a +2 armor.
- Rule of Fun: Firmly adhered to by the Catacomb Master, or CM, in regards to his players. He doesn't make it too easy for them to win, but he doesn't go out of his way to inflict suffering either. Considering the players are his housemates and vastly stronger and more dangerous than the average human, it's a wise move on his part.
- RPG Elements: Of course.
- Sourcebook: The Catacombs Manual.
- Special Snowflake Syndrome: Somewhat, since Miia, Papi, and Cerea all ask for nonstandard character races to play that match their real-life counterparts. Also discussed with regards to the drow and their penchant for heroic members. Rachnera doesn't really act all that heroic herself, but she is on the party's side (most of the time) and doesn't immediately sacrifice them to her spider deity in-game, so there's that.
- Support Party Member: Mero, both by her class being Bard and her personality being hardcore role player, doesn't get directly involved in many fights.
- Squishy Wizard: Papi. Averted with Suu, who despite being a slime she plays a human Druid whose shapeshifting allows her to fight on even terms with the Fighters of the group.
- Title Drop: At the end of Chapter 6.
- The GM Is a Cheating Bastard: Albeit on the players' side. Kimihito deliberately fudges die rolls and sets encounters on Easy Mode for the girls so they have a good time.
- The Six Stats: Frequently referenced.
- Spell Blade:
- The +1 Sword Miia picks up early on may qualify.
- The Shilleleag spell is employed to empower a non-magical staff.
- Spellbook: Papi, as a Wizard, has one, though it isn’t brought up often.
- Weapon Of Choice: Each girl employs one suited to their class. Cerea and Miia are the only two who overlap with swords, but even then it's a bastard sword for the lamia and a mighty two-handed great sword for the centaur.
- Writing Around Trademarks: Catacombs & Chimeras is an obvious homage to Dungeons & Dragons.
Word of God is that it was partially to avoid trademark infringement, but equally Played for Laughs and to allow more creative use of common gaming themes, not having to adhere to a strict ruleset from an established game. The author also says it allowed him to make use of a monster that, in the setting of Monster Musume, was highly unlikely to actually make an appearance as a Cute Monster Girl. - You All Meet in an Inn: As per standard. Kimihito sticks to the classics in grand tradition.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Not just the name of the story (albeit gender-flipped) but also employed halfway through, when the girls find their Prince is indeed in another location (a high tower instead of an underground dungeon) and they have to fight their way to him (again).
