History YMMV / BlueRose

%%zero context* DesignatedVillain: Unless the campaign is a traditional dungeon romp in Kern, most of the villains in the game qualify as this.

* AcceptablePoliticalTargets: The religion and culture of the Theocracy of Jarzon is pretty clearly based on the worst aspects of fundamentalist Christianity (though it's worth noting that Jarzon is explicitly stated to be more a society of [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well Intentioned Extremism]] than evil).

* BrokenBase: Even among the fandom, the Golden Hart was a divisive element (while being a rallying point for detractors of the game). Many players felt that the idea of divine right undermined the idea of Aldis as a MarySueTopia whose morality they expected to agree with. 2e both tried to answer that by stating that the Golden Hart was actually a psychic manifestation of the will of the people, and that [[spoiler: it might be dead and not matter anymore]]. This just broke things again in a different direction.

* MarySueTopia: Aldis can come across this way -- it's specifically designed to strike players with modern liberal sensibilities as a fundamentally good place worth defending. The authors did work pretty hard to justify it, though ({{Magitek}} and excellent medicine make it possible for women to have a lot more freedom than they would in your usual medieval fantasy kingdom, for instance), and Aldis is not entirely free from bigotry and violence.
** Second Edition places a lot of focus on political upheaval and intrigue to try and change this perception. The most recent war with the Lich King seems to have hit the country especially hard, his surviving lieutenants are undermining Aldis with their own individual schemes, refugees are streaming south from Kern fleeing the civil war there, not everyone speaks well of Jaellin's Vata'sha Kernish husband, and the Court Nobles are expressing open dissent about Jaellin's decision to increase the acceptance of the study of Sorcery (though practicing Sorcery is still banned). Then there's the rumor that [[spoiler: the Golden Hart, the protector of the Kingdom since its founding, died in the final battle with the Lich King.]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: The first edition was the first RPG work of one Jeremy Crawford, who went on to be a major player in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Fifth Edition.
* UnfortunateImplications: While the First Edition of Blue Rose was hailed/criticized as being inclusive and LGB positive, the use of the Sorcery Flesh-Shaping Arcana to [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} change one's body to align with one's gender]] still required a Corruption test.
** Updated in Second Edition: Trans characters are now included in the lore, and fluff offers many ways for a character to change their sex/gender. The Corruption test for this particular use of the above sorcery was also removed.

* DesignatedVillain: Unless the campaign is a traditional dungeon romp in Kern, most of the villains in the game qualify as this.

** Second Edition places a lot of focus on political upheaval and intrigue to try and change this perception. The most recent war with the Lich King seems to have hit the country especially hard, his surviving lieutenants are undermining Aldis with their own individual schemes, refugees are streaming south from Kern fleeing the civil war there, not everyone speaks well of Jaellin's Vata'sha Kernish husband, and the Court Nobles are expressing open dissent about Jaellin's decision to continue allowing the study of Sorcery (though practicing sorcery is still banned). Then there's the rumor that [[spoiler: the Golden Hart, the protector of the Kingdom since its founding, died in the final battle with the Lich King.]]

** Second Edition places a lot of focus on political upheaval and intrigue to try and change this perception. The most recent war with the Lich King seems to have hit the country especially hard, his surviving lieutenants are undermining Aldis with their own individual schemes, refugees are streaming south from Kern fleeing the civil war there, not everyone speaks well of Jaellin's Vata'sha Kernish husband, and the Court Nobles are expressing open dissent about Jaellin's decision to allow the study of Sorcery (though practicing sorcery is still banned). Then there's the rumor that [[spoiler: the Golden Hart, the protector of the Kingdom since its founding, died in the final battle with the Lich King.]]

* InternetBackdraft: The First Edition game was subject to a bit of this when it first launched in the early 2000's, with people objecting to its open inclusion of Same-Sex couples in its setting and Lore. Thankfully, Second Edition received an equal-but-opposite reaction- numerous "hardcore" tabletop gaming sites heaped praise on its setting, art, and non-combat focus.

* AwesomeArt: Especially noticeable in the work of the cover artist for both First and Second Edition, Stephanie Pui-mun Law. Her whimsical watercolor style goes a long way to portray the Romantic Fantasy roots of the game.

* UnfortunateImplications: While the First Edition of Blue Rose was hailed/criticized as being inclusive and LGB positive, the use of the Sorcery Flesh-Shaping Arcana to [[UsefulNotes/Transgender change one's body to align with one's gender]] still required a Corruption test.

* BrokenBase: Even among the fandom, the Golden Hart was a divisive element (while being a rallying point for detractors of the game). Many players felt that the idea of divine right undermined the idea of Aldis as a MarySueTopia whose morality they expected to agree with. 2e both tried to answer that by stating that the Golden Hart was actually a psychic manifestation of the will of the people, and that [[spoiler: it might be dead and not matter anymore]].

* InternetBackdraft: The First Edition game was subject to a bit of this when it first launched in the early 2000's, with people objecting to its open inclusion of Same-Sex couples in its setting and Lore. Thankfully, Second Edition received an equal-but-opposite reaction- numerous "hardcore" tabletop gaming sites heaped praise on its setting, art, and non-combat focus.

** Second Edition places a lot of focus on political upheaval and intrigue to try and upend this. The most recent war with the Lich King seems to have hit the country especially hard, his surviving lieutenants are undermining Aldis with their own individual schemes, refugees are streaming south from Kern fleeing the civil war there, not everyone speaks well of Jaellin's husband, and the Court Nobles are expressing open dissent about Jaellin's decision to allow the study of Sorcery (though practicing sorcery is still banned). Then there's the rumor that [[spoiler: the Golden Hart, the protector of the Kingdom since its founding, died in the final battle with the Lich King.]]
* UnfortunateImplications: While the First Edition of Blue Rose was hailed/criticized as being inclusive and LGB positive, the use of the Sorcery Flesh-Shaping Arcana to [[UsefulNotes/Transgender change one's body to align with one's gender]] still required a corruption test.
** Updated in Second Edition: Trans characters are now included in the lore and fluff offers many ways for a character to change their sex/gender.

* BrokenBase: Even among the fandom, the Golden Hart was a divisive element (while being a rallying point for detractors of the game). Many players felt that the idea of divine right undermined the idea of Aldis as a MarySueTopia whose morality they expected to agree with. 2e both tried to answer that by stating that the Golden Hart was actually a psychic manifestation of the will of the people, and that [[spoiler: it might be dead and not matter anymore]]. This is not helping the debate.

** Second Edition places a lot of focus on political upheaval and intrigue to try and upend this. The most recent war with the Lich King seems to have hit the country especially hard, his surviving lieutenants are undermining Aldis with their own individual schemes, refugees are streaming south from Kern fleeing the civil war there, not everyone speaks well of Jaellin's husband, and the Court Nobles are expressing open dissent about Jaellin's decision to allow the study of Sorcery (though practicing sorcery is still banned). Then there's the rumor that [[spoiler: the Golden Hart, the protector of the Kingdom since its founding, died in the final battle with the Lich King.]]

* LoveItOrHateIt: Roleplayers fall into three camps: the fans of the game, who see it as a breath of fresh progressive air among the multitude of games that runs on [[OnlyInItForTheMoney mindlessly assembling riches]] by [[WhatMeasureIsAMook killing hordes of nameless enemies]], the critics of the game, who see it as [[RedScare borderline communist propaganda]] at worst and PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad at best, and the vast majority of roleplayers, who have never actually heard of it. You wouldn't know that the third group even exists from [[FanMyopia the way the first two groups talk about it,]] though.

* BrokenBase: Even among the fandom, the Golden Hart was a divisive element (while being a rallying point for detractors of the game). Many players felt that the idea of divine right undermined the idea of Aldis as a MarySueTopia whose morality they expected to agree with. 2e both tried to answer that by stating that the Golden Hart was actually a psychic manifestation of the will of the people, and that it might be dead and not matter anymore. This is not helping the debate.

* BrokenBase: Even among the fandom, the Golden Hart was a divisive element (while being a rallying point for detractors of the game). Many players felt that the idea of divine right undermined the idea of Aldis as a MarySueTopia whose morality they expected to agree with. 2e both tried to answer that by stating that the Golden Hart was [[VoodooShark actually a psychic manifestation of the will of the people, and that it might be dead and not matter anymore]]. This is not helping the debate.

* MarySueTopia: Aldis can come across this way -- it's specifically designed to strike players with modern liberal sensibilities as a fundamentally good place worth defending. The authors did work pretty hard to justify it, though ({{Magitek}} and excellent medicine make it possible for women to have a lot more freedom than they would in your usual medieval fantasy kingdom, for instance), and Aldis is not entirely free from bigotry and violence.

* BaseBreaker: The game itself is this to the roleplaying hobby to some extent. Roleplayers fall into three camps: the fans of the game, who see it as a breath of fresh progressive air among the multitude of games that runs on [[OnlyInItForTheMoney mindlessly assembling riches]] by [[WhatMeasureIsAMook killing hordes of nameless enemies]], the critics of the game, who see it as [[RedScare borderline communist propaganda]] at worst and PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad at best, and the vast majority of roleplayers, who have never actually heard of it. You wouldn't know that the third group even exists from [[FanMyopia the way the first two groups talk about it,]] though.

* ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch: Oh boy, did ''Blue Rose'' get a lot of that, from people who thought (mostly based on the marketing campaign) that the game was too girly, too politically correct, or promoting socialism.

** The last one is especially bizarre, since the core rulebook makes it explicitly clear that Aldis has a thriving market economy and even gives merchants a role in government.

* ComplainingAboutGamesYouDontPlay: Oh boy, did ''Blue Rose'' get a lot of that, from people who thought (mostly based on the marketing campaign) that the game was too girly, too politically correct, or promoting socialism.