Blue Rose

Among the various roleplaying games I've read, Blue Rose is one of the few that I've found impossible to recruit people for. I don't know if it's the high levels of idealism, the widespread acceptance of differences or the fact that they have a setting-specific term for gay people (which apparently makes some people think of it as "the gay RPG"), but I am yet to find anyone share my interest in the setting. I admit that the rules can be kind of... wonky, but given that Green Ronin has shown some interest in revamping them, I can't help but wonder if there is anyone willing to talk about the world of Aldea.

For my part, I've wanted to run an all-rhydan game, possibly with one rhy-bonded human or vata for some time, set in the dawn of the Kingdom of Aldis before acceptance of the rhydan became commonplace. It would be interesting to see how the P Cs would handle being outsiders in several ways and adapt to the challenges a humanoid-dominant society poses for them. Unfortunately, the lack of players prevents me from running such a game.

Does anyone have any experience with the setting? Is it difficult to run a game without deviating from the intended themes of Blue Rose? Are there any scenarios people are willing to share?

I'll admit that I only know of the system as a curiosity. Have you actually played it, then?

Sadly, I haven't. Actually, it might not be that sadly, because while I'm pretty fond of the setting, a playtest of the rules leaves something to be desired, which is likely why the final version of True20 is not the same as the proto-True20 used in Blue Rose. There are certain parts of the Blue Rose version that I prefer (such as the way magic works), but those are generally few and far between.

A tweet I sent to Green Ronin revealed that they might have plans to revisit Aldea one day, possibly with another rule system that isn't based on d20 System, so that gives me some hope that people that might have been interested in the setting and didn't like the rules might change their minds about the whole thing. Hence why I'm more interested in talking about the setting than the rules.

The one Blue Rose game I was ever going to join, unfortunately, never got off the ground. (And my planned character actually mocked one of the intended themes, though I doubt that this would have seen much play.)

It's an interesting setting, certainly, and I think it's a good one once you get past the more preachy parts of the book (which can be laughed off at need; the Cult of Trendy Leftism at White Wolf didn't destroy Werewolf The Apocalypse's playability, after all).

I think that the way to run Blue Rose is to soft-pedal the "message fantasy," to use Limyaael's term for it. There really isn't much drama involved in the gay issue if homosexuality and tolerance are Good Things by divine decree, almost everyone in Aldea (except for the Jarzoni exiles) agrees with that, and the players agree with it too. A Babylon5-esque "Aldis doesn't make a big deal about sexuality, move on" is entirely in theme, and Jarzoni bigots can be left as an occasional problem for the party's socialites to sort out. There are other interesting things to do with the setting, both classic adventure (Robin Hood meets Scarlet Pimpernel in Kern, for example, where the PCs arrange to steal shas crystals and liberate slaves), messy politics, and even examination of the ethics of sorcery; PC psychic adepts should be given plenty of situations where they will have the option of making the story easy if they'll just take that check for Corruption...

Bottom line, Aldis and the Queen are best off seen as something worth defending, instead of as a vehicle for a message.

edited 2nd Apr '13 7:09:16 PM by Ramidel

You have my support. I own most of the books for this line and would be happy to try a game. More than any other tabletop game, Blue Rose just speaks to me.

The new edition, using Green Ronin's AGE system is out in PDF now (with hard cover on preorder). I'm actually planning on running a game for some of my friends using it. I actually really like the setting. Maybe idealistic "message fantasy" appeals to me because I grew up on Star Trek (or rather its various spinoffs), and Star Trek is both idealistic and "message-ey."

That said, I'm probably going to use the "Aldis is accepting" thing more for the "Aldis is worth defending" aspect than to lecture my players about gay people (I'm in a bisexual polyamorous open relationship, three of my four players are either my partners or my partners' partners. I think they already know). I will probably use the "Jarzon is a religious fundamentalist state" thing to create conflict or to give NP Cs sympathetic sad backstories.

Arguably the one complaint against Aldis that I actually agree with is that it's a little undemocratic. I plan on addressing this in my game with an NPC social reformer who wants to create a democratically elected Citizen's Council. She's on the side of good (and passed the test to become a noble), and will aid the P Cs whether they agree with her politics or not, but she's basically there to show that social change can be created within the system and to create political conflict where both sides are well intentioned (as some other nobles will think this is a terribly risky idea, and not without good reason).

I think this is a good review of Blue Rose- it's what got me interested in the AGE system. Apparently, the Golden Hart isn't a separate entity, but the collective will/subconscious of the entire nation. So when it's picking someone, it's choosing someone who best fits the desires of most of the country.

I haven't bought the Blue Rose book, but I just received the AGE Fantasy book, and I like what I see. Classes are simplified to fighter/mage/rogue, races and classes are more flexible when you build them, and I really like the weapon proficiency system. I was actually fiddling around with something like that, to avoid Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards, and because I didn't like how useless shields were in D&D.