A vague meta-concept for a game, free to anyone who can make good use of it –

The game requires exactly three players.  This is because there are three roles in the story: Hero, Maiden, and Monster.

In the broadest sense, there is only one way the story can play out.  The Monster, who is transgressive, lays a claim on the Maiden, who is desirable and pure.  The Hero contests this claim, defeats the Monster, and saves the Maiden.  Everyone knows that this is how things are going to go.  Everyone accepts it.  Why else would you become a Hero, a Maiden, or a Monster in the first place?

But this primordial story-skeleton has room for lots of variation.  And it is within those variations that the conflicting interests of the participants play out. 

The Hero believes that the story should be an adventure story, or (with extreme success) an action story.  He wants the tale to be a showcase for his skill, his bravery, and his savoir-faire.  In his eyes, the Monster should be primarily a gnarly obstacle that he can use to show off his stuff, and the Maiden should be a Men’s Own Fantasy prize that he receives for being so awesome. 

The Maiden believes that the story should be a comedy of manners in the spirit of Jane Austen, or (with extreme success) a rom-com.  She wants the tale to be a showcase for her charm, her character, and her pathos.  In her eyes, the Hero should be a Woman’s Own Fantasy prize that she receives for being so lovable, and the Monster should be unpleasant and unworthy (so as to demonstrate how much better she deserves) but fundamentally non-threatening. 

The Monster believes that the story should be a gothic melodrama, or (with extreme success) a horror story.  It wants the tale to be a showcase for its memorably weird nature and for the profundity of the threat that it represents.  In its eyes, the Maiden should be reduced to spellbound helplessness by its grasp, and the Hero should be a blank-faced cypher serving as an agent of Inexorable Fate. 

Gameplay consists of the three of them tussling with one another over these issues, and collectively shaping a narrative through their attempts to get as much of what they want as they can. 

(I honestly don’t even know whether this should be an indie tabletop RPG, or a silly John Kovalic-esque card game, or what.)