At the goading of the ominous and omnipresent Leading Player, Pippin, the eldest son of King Charlemagne, samples life's pleasures to discover his place in the world and the meaning of his life.
Pippin, first in line to inherit the throne of King Charlemagne, decides his life is lacking real meaning and accompanied by the ever present Leading Player, sets out to find it. Along the way he encounters love war sex and power to finally realize that his life never was what he thought it was.