History TabletopGame / BlueRose

* RedemptionEarnsLife: In this setting, mercy towards one's enemies is a Good Thing, except for creatures that are [[AlwaysChaoticEvil irredeemably part of the Shadow]] (and even then, a case can be made for trying). Aldis has no death penalty, and the book instructs players not to kill when redemption is an option.
** Invoked in the Sourcebook ''Aldis: City of the Blue Rose''. One of the pillow-houses in Aldis is run by Julinn the Masqueless, a mysterious [[HighClassCallGirl High Class Call Person]] who works alongside a troupe of other prostitutes. Julinn has the uncanny ability to change body features, sex, and gender from day to day to meet the needs and wants of their clients. Their coworkers think Julinn is a master of flesh shaping arcana who uses it to ply the worlds oldest profession. Unfortunately, the truth is considerably darker: [[spoiler: Julinn is actually a ''whisperer'', a demon in the lore of Blue Rose, that has found redemption through being shown true love. Their lover died freeing Julinn from their summoner's hold and Julinn now spends their time trying to share the experience of healthy, kind, physical love with as many people as possible.]] Needless to say, were the truth to ever come out, it would generate considerable scandal, isolate Julinn from their coworkers, and potentially even create a TorchesAndPitchforks situation- in a realm where such a thing ''does not happen''.

** ''Envoys to the Mount'', an upcoming splat expanding upon the lives of the psychic Rhydan.

In March 2015, Green Ronin announced plans to revive the setting with rules based on the AGE system, which was originally developed for the ''TabletopGame/DragonAge'' RPG. In June 2015, they ran [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/504269797/blue-rose-the-age-roleplaying-game-of-romantic-fan/description a Kickstarter for the new edition]].

* ''Those Who Wait, Part 4'', by Rhiannon Louve

* PantheraAwesome: Rhy-cats. (They don't correspond to any specific real-world big cat, but they're something like cougars, with coloration resembling domestic Siamese cats.)

** ''Pit of Vipers'', a prequel novella to ''Shadowtide''

* ''Sovereigns of the Blue Rose'', a collection of 14 short stories by various authors, one about each of the 14 Sovereigns of Aldis

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Blue_rose_cover_2706.jpg]]

* AfterTheEnd: Aldea only ''looks'' like a medieval fantasy world; it's actually very much post-apocalyptic. Aldis has spent three centuries rebuilding itself into a nation worth living in after the dystopia and tyranny of the past was overcome, but there is ''still'' work to be done. Which is where you come in...
* ApocalypseHow: Aldea fell victim to a Class 1 through Magical Civil War. The Sorcerer Kings helped Usurp the Old Kingdom, then divided it up and made war on each other to take the dead Empress' place. When they started running out of living warriors, they resorted to summoning undead and demonic soldiers. And when that didn't do the trick, more than one FantasticNuke was employed (see: the Veran Marsh). And when the remaining living people had had enough, the Great Rebellion added even more corpses to the world until all but [[BigBad one]] of the Kings was destroyed. Then the victorious rebels got to work building a better world rather than descending into a Medieval ''Film/MadMax'' society.
* AristocratsAreEvil: Generally averted in Aldis -- because despite government officials being ''called'' nobles, it's actually a meritocracy, not a hereditary aristocracy.
** Played straight in that, while nobles are able to pass the tests of the kingdom by holding the Scepter of the Blue Rose (a magical detect evil/corruption artifact), they can and do fall into corruption AFTER passing the test. There are also occasional aristocratic land owners, but they have no say in the lives of people who may be living on their lands.

* BandOfBrothels: A legal organization throughout Aldis. Called "The Guild of Intimates," the pillow-trade is regulated by the Kingdom, though said regulation usually boil down to "Are you doing this of your own free will?" and "Have you had your regular health checkups?"

** WhiteAndGreyMorality: Aside from the Lich King and his agents, most antagonists are actually [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]], [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] and similar misguided types.
* BlackKnight: Kern's elite, the Knights of the Skull. If your party encounters one, always remember that [[DontAskJustRun discretion is the better part of valour.]]

* BondCreatures: Any rhydan -- intelligent, telepathic animals -- can form this kind of psychic bond with a compatible human. (It's not explained why this happens, or why it's only with humans.) As the rhydan species are playable races, you can also play a rhydan PC who has a ''[[InvertedTrope human]]'' Bond Creature.

** As of second edition, Jarzon follows a more Aldin approach to this. Jarzoni Confessors only rearrange people's minds with their consent, though this can mean such things as religious unorthodoxy or [[CureYourGays being gay]].

* CharacterAlignment:[[invoked]] [[LightIsGood Light]], [[DarkIsEvil Shadow]], or Twilight.

* CityOfAdventure: Aldis- now with its own splatbook for creating urban adventures in the land of the Rose.

** Lord Sayvin of Aldis, whom everyone expected to be chosen as the next king; he's not actually evil ''yet'', but he's increasingly put out about the whole thing.
** Played straight in Second Edition. [[spoiler:Sayvin lets the Lich King's forces into Aldis, then is forced to flee to Kern when his gambit for the crown fails]].

** The Lar'tyans are about a 50/50 blend of Indian and Polynesian culture, with a Matriarchy caste system thrown in.

** The Pirate Isles are a copy/paste of the Republic of Pirates found in the early Bahamas.

Most action is assumed to take place within the land of Aldis itself. While full of interesting takes on traditional fantasy races (Psychic Animals, Half Elves, Merfolk, Orcs, and Dark Elves), the setting also has a lack of certain ubiquitous tabletop fantasy creatures (Dwarves, Halflings, High Elves) with more emphasis instead placed on the numerous human nationalities that comprise Aldis' people and their neighbors.

''Blue Rose'' is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game published by Creator/GreenRonin in 2004. Its innovative mechanics, based on a revised version of the UsefulNotes/D20System, formed the basis of Green Ronin's generic True20 system.

''Blue Rose'' is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game published by Creator/GreenRonin in 2004. Its innovative mechanics, based on a revised version of the TabletopGame/D20System, formed the basis of Green Ronin's generic True20 system.

* SoiledCityOnAHill: The original homeland of the Roamers, Faenaria, once rivaled the power of the Old Kingdom itself. As the Shadow Wars and the Great Rebellion raged and consumed the world, their politics became corrupted with shadow magic and covert assassinations, all to keep their nation's borders closed and secure. Their Empress used Shadowgates to summon armies of Darkfiends to hold on to her power and repel the other Sorcerer Kings. When the armies of the Great Rebellion arrived, she used the Shadowgates to try and create a barrier that would kill any living thing that entered her territory. [[ExactWords It went]] [[ReducedToDust as planned.]]

* ABoyAndHisX: Any rhy-bonded character.

* SoiledCityOnAHill: The original homeland of the Roamers, Faenaria, once rivaled the power of the Old Kingdom itself. As the Shadow Wars and the Great Rebellion raged and consumed the world, their politics became corrupted with shadow magic and covert assassinations, all to keep their nation's borders closed and secure. Their Empress used Shadowgates to summon armies of Darkfiends to hold on to her power and repel the other Sorcerer Kings. When the armies of the Great Rebellion arrived, she used the Shadowgates to try and create a barrier that would kill any living thing that entered her territory. [[ExactWords It went]] [[EarthShatteringKaboom as planned.]]

* MindOverManners: Psychic ethics are a big deal in Aldis, where about one in ten people have some kind of psychic power. Reading emotions is okay, reading thoughts is very much not. Influencing thoughts is [[BadPowersBadPeople frowned upon]] unless used by Aldin Judges.

** Invoked in the Sourcebook ''Aldis: City of the Blue Rose''. One of the pillow-houses in Aldis is run by Julinn the Masqueless, a mysterious [[HighClassCallGirl High Class Call Person]] who works alongside a troupe of other prostitutes. Julinn has the uncanny ability to change body features, sex, and gender from day to day to meet the needs and wants of their clients. Their coworkers think Julinn is a master of flesh shaping arcana who uses it to ply the worlds oldest profession. Unfortunately, the truth is considerably darker: [[Spoiler: Julinn is actually a ''whisperer'', a demon in the lore of Blue Rose, that has found redemption through being shown true love. Their lover died freeing Julinn from their summoner's hold and Julinn now spends their time trying to share the experience of healthy, kind, physical love with as many people as possible.]] Needless to say, were the truth to ever come out, it would generate considerable scandal, isolate Julinn from their coworkers, and potentially even create a TorchesAndPitchforks situation- in a realm where such a thing ''does not happen''.

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Embracing Corruption often leads to this in First Edition. In Second Edition, a character can access powerful magic and use it without fear, but if their Stamina drops to -5 from the constant Corruption, they are consumed by the evil magic.

* FighterMageThief: The system divides characters into Warriors, Adepts, and Experts (although cross-classing is easy and encouraged).

* TheEmpath: Heart Reading is another standard power used by Psychics in Aldis. (Heart ''[[CharmPerson Shaping]]'', on the other hand, is...widely frowned upon.)

** The Kernish combine the bloodthirstiness of Viking Raiders with the horrid living conditions of the Spartan Helot slaves. Once you add in TheNecrocracy elements, their society is most likely to resemble the kind of LowFantasy world found in GameOfThrones or DungeonsAndDragons.