Everyone loves a good re-imagining of the Disney Princesses. From Star Wars to Game of Thrones to My Little Pony, there’s something for everyone (just keep Safe Search on when Googling, because when I say everyone, I mean everyone. Hello, Rule 34). So now it’s time to meld these archetypes of animated femininity with the archetypes that influence our favorite hobby: the Disney princesses as D&D characters. If these women were all gathered at the same table, what class would they pick up?
Ariel: the Bard
While most of the Disney princesses can sing, and many are even said to have beautiful voices, only one has musical talent as part of her core abilities. Ariel would gravitate towards playing the under-appreciated Bard, and there would be no half-assing her buff-granting songs at the table. There’s be a whole production number complete with backup dancers.
Aurora: the Ranger
AKA Sleeping Beauty, Aurora grew up in the forest as a humble peasant girl. Expect lots of arguing with the GM from her on whether on not you can really track deer through dry underbrush, or whether deer would even be in this climate at this time of year.
Belle: the Wizard
If anyone would appreciate having to memorize a whole separate section of the book just for spells, it would be Belle. And she really would memorize them too, because this is a girl who not only loves to read, but loves to re-read. Plus, you know the Beast’s library has all kinds of supplements with new spells, so Belle is going to be one of the most min-maxed characters at the table.
Elsa: the Warlock
Okay, ignore for a second that Elsa isn’t technically part of the Disney Princess lineup (she’s a queen, thank you very much). Elsa, reveling in her newfound appreciation for her own magic powers, would gravitate to another magical class, but while Belle’s wizard needs to study spells intently, Elsa’s warlock was born with mysterious, arcane powers that she uses to help the adventuring party. In between ruling a kingdom, of course.
Jasmine: the Rogue
Jasmine is a pampered princess who has always longed to escape the confines of her role as a princess. The Rogue class would appeal to her, as someone who is bound to no one’s authority but her own. She’d also get to re-live her brief foray into thievery, and cross her fingers that she didn’t roll a one this time.
Mulan: the Fighter
One of the few princesses to ever see combat, Mulan would love the opportunity to go into battle without having to hide who she is. She’d bring disturbingly accurate combat tactics to the table, and make some of the more delicate ladies squeamish with her descriptions of disembowelment.
Pocahontas: the Druid
Already able to call upon the spirits of the animals to aid her, Pocahontas picks up the Druid at the table. Her biggest struggle would be narrowing down her animal companion options to just one companion – raccoons can go pretty much everywhere and have thumbs, but hummingbirds can fly. Tough choices.
Snow White: the Paladin
Everyone knows the Cleric is the most insufferable player at the table. Snow White is not only the youngest princess at the table (strike one), but she’s the one who already has an entourage of followers (strike two). She’s also exceedingly good of heart – she’s so pure she doesn’t even have to say anything to convince grown men that it would be a better idea to try to trick an evil sorceress queen than to cut out the girl’s heart. Snow White would want to bring these traits into the game, inspiring people to follow her and her goodness.
Tiana: the Cleric
Practical Tiana would want a versatile character, one who isn’t boxed into solving problems with just magic, just her words, or just fighting. The Cleric lets her do a little bit of everything, not unlike her day job as proprietor of her own restaurant. She’d also be the designated snack-bringer every week, earning her a few extra XP that she would hoard until it was time to level up EVERYTHING.
And that’s it!
Oh, am I forgetting someone?
Of course.
Cinderella: the Barbarian
You may not see it in the film, but think about it: Cinderella has got to have some anger issues. Abused, belittled, and coerced into following the whims of her stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella is finally out from that terrible house and living the high life as a princess. Of course, princesses can’t be angry, either. Playing the Barbarian, especially when tapping into the infamous Barbarian rage, gives Cinderella a constructive outlet for her feelings.
And who do we trust to lead this band of women on their adventures?
Rapunzel: the Dungeon Master
It’s tough to know who is better read at the table, Rapunzel or Belle, but Rapunzel takes the DM’s chair for a few reasons. One, imprisoned by your fake-mom in a tower is kind of like living in Mom’s basement. Two, she’s read the DM’s guide at least once a day, every day, for 18 years. Three, she totally kills at painting miniatures and when everyone showed up the first day she already had their minis fully customized and ready to go. And she makes everyone roll their dice in her frying pan so she doesn’t end up stepping on d4s while barefoot.
Every discussion of D&D classes and/or Disney characters deserves some good debate, so have at it in the comments below! Bonus points to anyone with actual artistic skill who wants to try their hand at character portraits…
Fandible.Com is now on Patreon! If you enjoy our weekly blog posts and actual play podcasts, please consider supporting us.
I know she’s not a Disney princess but who would Sally be from Nightmare Before Christmas?
Just one question: which version of D&D?
Technically Leia Organa, now a Disney Princess but I assume she passed that mantle on to Kylo Ren. Who plays the insufferable whiner/power gamer.
Fun post.
I could see Jasmine having some real buyer’s remorse when she finds out that there is a supplement for the Hexblade Class that lets you trade your familiar for a large hunting cat made of shadow that can debuff enemies, and can not be killed.
Dark Rajah the Everliving!
Don’t forget that girl from Brave (can never remember her name) who would play a Chaos Sorceror from 5e just so she can change fate almost all the time, wether it’s for good or bad doesn’t matter she changed her fate and now she is a pot plant
I’d call Aurora the Warlock (she has a pact with the faeries) especially the recent Maleficent movie version.
Elsa is more a sorceress since inborn power is the hallmark of the sorceress.
And as usual the girls forgot to invite Eilonwy to the game table. She is an actual princess in an actual disney movie. She has more princess creds than half of them and she can do magic too ! Let her in !
Pathfinder actually released a class called vigilante that revolves around a character having a public face and a secret badass alternate identity, which I could totally see appealing to Jasmine. (You can also use it to play what is essentially a sailor moon-esque magical girl, so that’s fun)
I <3 all of you.
Joey - Sally would definitely use poisons, so I'm thinking if this were 5E (it's 5E since that's the only edition I have any real familiarity with), she'd be a Rogue that specializes in Assassin at 3rd level
Arlene - While I've declared it's 5E, I DO NOT want to see the edition wars Belle and Rapunzel would get into.
Chris - Billy rolls his eyes whenever I bring up Leia! Of course, she's now General Leia, and would probably prefer to play something less crunchy than D&D since her day-to-day life is all about battle tactics. Maybe a nice game of Monsterhearts?
CallmeIshma3l - Dark Rajah the Everliving FTW
Fairystail - Merida is technically a Disney Princess - she got swapped out for Elsa here because while I loved Brave, character-wise I like Elsa more. Plus I was automatically slotting her into Ranger but you're right on the chaos sorcery being a REALLY good fit.
Luke - Uh, I'm going to blame Billy for the warlock/sorcerer mixup, since we all know my strong aversion to magic 😀 I had to use him as a resource on some of these.
Decarcassor - This is already a huge group, a cut off had to be made somewhere! (But you're right that Eilonwy doesn't get enough love)
Sam - That would be an excellent class for Jasmine. Jasmine is a bit of a cypher - since she isn't the star of her own movie, she's not as developed as the rest of the women at the table, so there are a lot of ways you can take the character!
What about Jane Foster? Technically Thor. Technically a princess, and also Disney.
Classes are what you do, but Disney Princesses are more often about why they do what they do. Their stories are about the people, not what exploits they are capable of. The actual princess from Frozen is arguably pretty weak as a D&D character. She gets tricked, goes after her sister and gets whammied, and finally sacrifices herself to save her sister (the queen). She isn’t all the capable, but she has the right motivations.
So which class is she? Who cares? It’s not about how they acomplish what they do, it’s about why they did it.
Wouldn’t Elsa be a Sorcerer? They tend to get the bloodline powers. Warlocks are all about making a pact with some higher power.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…
As Angela pointed out, Elsa should have been a sorcerer. I gave her the wrong information. I got the warlock and sorcerer class mixed up when I came up with the Elsa one. My bad!
Hey Angela, Poison Assassin is good but what if her time with Dr. Finkelstein and her use of poisons/potions she gets to make a 5th Ed Alchemist? Rapunzel would have to approve of the homebrew…
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?361024-New-Class-Alchemist
=P
I think that Elsa would be better suited to a sorcerer and Cinderella a warlock, since Elsa was born with her magic and Cinderella literally has a fey patron. I think Rapunzel fits really well as the dm, but if she was a pc I think she would be barbarian.
Edit, Snow White could also be bard tbh but Ariel suits it better and i want to retract my statement of barbarian rapunzel as I think she would be better suited to a cleric or paladin(healer build) because I forgot she literally has healing powers â€â™‚ï¸
You could give Eilonwy the Monk class since their combat skills are actually pretty versatile and they have their own version of magic. Also I would say Anna is a secondary option since we’ve all seen her balance on her bike and her ability to zzom around her castle and shoot herself up in heels no less.
I really feel like Merida from Brave should be a Ranger.
I was going to mention that you missed Elena, then saw that this post was written on 2016, when Elena was not part of the Disney Princess roster yet.
Hello;
This is kind of embarrassing. You see, I had written a short paper on Deviant Art about what DnD roles the princesses would play some months ago and I just now found your site!
I meant no plagiarism and my effort is different, so I hope you don’t take offence and accuse me of stealing your idea.
Yours truly,
AKA nancyzatanna
(I couldn’t use “Green Hornet” for some reason, and I used two of my favorite female characters)
Uuuh, shouldn’t Elsa be a sorcerer? Sorcerers are born with their powers, which is what you describe in her character’s backstory, whereas theres nothing really mysterious about Warlocks powers. They are Servant/Slaves to a higher power and in exchange for their service are allowed to borrow some of their masters arcane powers. Expecially since Sorcerers have a whole Wild Magic thing going on, which seems to be the direction disney has taken Elsas magic in Frozen 2.