I originally wanted to do more updates myself, but last week I was called to deal with a serious family emergency. As we slide toward the end of the campaign, however, I’d like to talk a little bit about maturity and tone.
In my opinion, a lot of people confuse harshness with maturity, and maturity with a work’s worth, whether it’s a game, film, book, whatever. When we’re younger, we often look to extreme, dark stuff to explore the cultural world beyond what our families and other elders have provided for us, and for a while, we might associate seeking these things out with maturity. And certainly, there’s a lot to learn from dark themes. Most of my own work has been in dark fantasy and horror, and it’s a genre I plan to return to—but it isn’t the most mature or worthy.
I started playing around with the ideas that would coalesce into Wardens of the Blue Rose because I was fascinated with the simple proposition of the game’s subtext: What if the type of good in a fantasy world actually matched the values we want to see? And that raises this question: Why do we think that focus is less interesting or elevated than something darker? One reason is simple and value-neutral: Whenever you solve a problem, you prevent a conflict, and while we can have stories without conflicts, the ones we enjoy in roleplaying games usually have them. “But!” I said to myself at the battered coffee table where I do my work, “Conflict for a good cause is cool.”
And conflict doesn’t need to be lethal or otherwise catastrophic. In real life we have very meaningful struggles and reconciliations without gods, monsters, and death. Wardens of the Blue Rose probably wouldn’t exist without slice-of-life narratives finding a place in genre media, because that makes people used to exploring fantasies where the goal isn’t to satisfy a prophecy, bring things back under a good deity, or whatever, but to be good to people, and help them solve their problems. Sometimes we’ll find the fight for goodness goes to dark places, but whether it’s about a fencepost or something from the Shadow, these are worthy stories, because they offer us more than hope for an imaginary land. They remind us that we can take up goodness—real goodness instead of a fantasy metaphysics of gods and magic—and it can drive us to communicate, join together, and make the world better. I think I decided on younger adult protagonists both to appeal to all ages and as a reminder that we can renew ourselves, even our tastes.
I’m hardly claiming that this game is a social good, but it is valuable to remind us, in play and work, that we can do that, and it can be as fascinating as a dark lord on a lonely throne.
~Malcolm Sheppard, Wardens of the Blue Rose developer
We have another update from developer Malcolm which talks a little more about the SAGE system, and how it differs from our other AGE games. But first...
🎉 STRETCH GOAL UNLOCKED! 🎉
The Meeting Manual is a 24-page guide to the people and creatures you might meet on the road, expanding the possibilities in the core rulebook. Some might be called “monsters,” but you’re not there to fight—you’re there to meet!
Now let's see if we can hit that next one for the short adventures and scenes anthology!
Take it away, Malcolm!
Hi folks,
I’d like to chat a bit about how the SAGE System we’re using in Wardens of the Blue Rose came to be, and why we’re using it instead of the classic Adventure Game Engine (AGE).
SAGE’s basic ideas were first described by Steve Kenson, in a mid-pandemic design document. At the time I was doing intense work on Fantasy AGE, Modern AGE, and Cthulhu Awakens, all classic AGE games, but for a long time we’ve been interested in adding shorter games to our repertoire than Big Book Games. I love those games, and I will be making more—SAGE isn’t a replacement for classic AGE. But I did like the idea of shifting gears a bit.
So, I took Steve’s design document and basically added ideas from classic AGE I thought would be cool or add depth to characters, working up the Bonds and expanding the core mechanics a bit. At the time I was working on Engine, the AGE System magazine, and I realized I could put a whole SAGE system in there, and due to the small wordcount and modest production costs, I could use it for some really interesting settings, so I got four writers to work on settings, including Sian and Katherine, who are working on Wardens with me.
It was a compelling test drive, so I did two things. First, I designed a book-length implementation of SAGE, revising some things and adding options instead of complexity. That’s in layout now. Second, I started experimenting with applying SAGE to Blue Rose, in response to some of what I experienced promoting Blue Rose, which I talked about in my previous update. A light, character centered system seemed like the best way to support solo and GMless group play along with traditional play. That triggered the first story generation notes, and the desire to give those a compelling direction led to…well, the very premise of Wardens of the Blue Rose: Young heroes on the road, meeting people, solving problems, and maybe falling in love.
So, this game stands on some sturdy shoulders. There’s Chris Parmas, who designed the original AGE System, Blue Rose and SAGE designer Steve Kenson, and Blue Rose developer emeritus Joe Carriker—and that’s before looking back at other great writers and designers. I can’t wait to show you the result.
We've gotten some questions about adding stretch goals to the campaign and so we've added a few items that will give every backer a little something extra. Your support can help us unlock these great expansions to the Wardens of the Blue Rose base game!
At $25,000 we’ll produce a 24-page guide to the people and creatures you might meet on the road, expanding the possibilities in the core rulebook. Some might be called “monsters,” but you’re not there to fight—you’re there to meet!
At $35,000 we’ll create a 32-page anthology of short adventures and scenes to spark and enhance a Narrator’s imagination and open new stories for Wardens, whether in the middle of a generated campaign or through traditional adventures.
At $50,000 we’ll create Deluxe version of the map, either in cloth or as a foldable trail map. Format will be decided by a poll of backers and included with all pledge levels that include a physical reward.
At $65,000 we’ll send your Wardens into real danger! Only a few Wardens are called to travel to the Theocracy of Jarzon, a land of strict tradition bound to religious zeal. Where Wardens travel Aldis openly, they crawl through Jarzon by stealth, rendering aid in secret. Discover new story generation tools and arcs, as well as an overview of this land beyond Aldis in this 56-page supplement.
We might have another thing or two up our sleeves for Wardens of the Blue Rose if we start knocking these down, so keep an eye out for future updates!
Also, be sure to check out Thursdage today on Youtube for more information about Wardens of the Blue Rose and the Wardens Quickstart!
Malcolm Sheppard brings us this update with some details on how Solo-play works in Wardens of the Blue Rose, and what you can expect.
Take it away, Malcolm!
That’s right. It’s not your parent or guardian’s Blue Rose. We’re taking a different approach because we love the setting, but we’ve noticed barriers to people getting into it. Some of the new things we’ve designed exist to bypass these issues.
One of the big issues I saw repeatedly is people being absolutely dazzled by the core book for Blue Rose: The AGE Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy, which we’ll call the Big Gorgeous Book (BGB) because it is. People would pick up the BGB, be entranced, read, want it!
Then they’d ask their friend or partner, who “runs the games for us,” but “We mostly play” D&D or another traditional fantasy RPG. If the designated GM said no, they’d leave it, even though they really wanted it.
I wanted to free those gamers to play without asking for permission. I wanted to make it easy for them to enjoy it by themselves, and to invite other people to get involved on their own terms. It’s the more inclusive way to do it, and of course, that fits Blue Rose’s revolutionary values (people forget Aldis was founded by rebels).
The basic process is that as Wardens move to a new hex on the map of Aldis, the story generation system provides the terrain, a possible road encounter, and areas of interest before kicking off the story. An oracle mechanic (partly previewed in the Quickstart slice) deals with events by probability, including yes and no questions. When the story concludes, it’s time to record the effects on the area, and if anything fits certain creatures or sets of motifs, it increases the related Arc Meter.
The Arc Meter rules develop a story over multiple adventures. When an event in the hexcrawl relates to a potential long-term story, it progresses along the Arc Meter, adding new events and encounters, leading to a climax.
this map is not final
This makes Wardens of the Blue Rose a game to play by yourself, without asking anyone else for permission—and when you master its easy to learn SAGE System rules, you can invite other people to play with you, whether to help tell the story as a Narrator, play it as a Warden, or both.
~Malcolm Sheppard, Wardens of the Blue Rose developer
It has been a wild first 24 hours, and we are so excited that you've all shown up with such enthusiasm for this new project! We even managed to fund in the first hour!
We have more on the way in future updates, with stretch goals, and more information about solo-play coming next week, but we wanted to take a moment thank you all for supporting Wardens of the Blue Rose. You're all amazing.
Before we sign off for the weekend, which is always full of such promise and possibility on Friday afternoon, let's take a look at what you'll find in the free Quickstart you can download for Wardens, which at 36 pages is one of our biggest yet!
This free Wardens of the Blue Rose quickstart, Wardens of Claythrow Lake, is a playable slice of Wardens of the Blue Rose: streamlined rules (well, in some places—Wardens of the Blue Rose is easy to learn already) allowing you to play through a dramatic scene of the kind you might experience in the full game. You can play this solo or in a group.
This slice has the following sections:
Wardens 101: A brief introduction to what this is, what role you play, and what you do.
Using the SAGE System: The basics of the Simple Adventure Game Engine as it applies to this slice.
Conflict Rules: Rules for fights, competitions, debates, and other conflicts.
Welcome to Claythrow Lake: A few scenes to start you off.
Wardens: Five pre-made Wardens, in a separate PDF file. The full Wardens of the Blue Rose rules will tell you how to make your own.
I originally wanted to do more updates myself, but last week I was called to deal with a serious family emergency. As we slide toward the end of the campaign, however, I’d like to talk a little bit about maturity and tone.
In my opinion, a lot of people confuse harshness with maturity, and maturity with a work’s worth, whether it’s a game, film, book, whatever. When we’re younger, we often look to extreme, dark stuff to explore the cultural world beyond what our families and other elders have provided for us, and for a while, we might associate seeking these things out with maturity. And certainly, there’s a lot to learn from dark themes. Most of my own work has been in dark fantasy and horror, and it’s a genre I plan to return to—but it isn’t the most mature or worthy.
I started playing around with the ideas that would coalesce into Wardens of the Blue Rose because I was fascinated with the simple proposition of the game’s subtext: What if the type of good in a fantasy world actually matched the values we want to see? And that raises this question: Why do we think that focus is less interesting or elevated than something darker? One reason is simple and value-neutral: Whenever you solve a problem, you prevent a conflict, and while we can have stories without conflicts, the ones we enjoy in roleplaying games usually have them. “But!” I said to myself at the battered coffee table where I do my work, “Conflict for a good cause is cool.”
And conflict doesn’t need to be lethal or otherwise catastrophic. In real life we have very meaningful struggles and reconciliations without gods, monsters, and death. Wardens of the Blue Rose probably wouldn’t exist without slice-of-life narratives finding a place in genre media, because that makes people used to exploring fantasies where the goal isn’t to satisfy a prophecy, bring things back under a good deity, or whatever, but to be good to people, and help them solve their problems. Sometimes we’ll find the fight for goodness goes to dark places, but whether it’s about a fencepost or something from the Shadow, these are worthy stories, because they offer us more than hope for an imaginary land. They remind us that we can take up goodness—real goodness instead of a fantasy metaphysics of gods and magic—and it can drive us to communicate, join together, and make the world better. I think I decided on younger adult protagonists both to appeal to all ages and as a reminder that we can renew ourselves, even our tastes.
I’m hardly claiming that this game is a social good, but it is valuable to remind us, in play and work, that we can do that, and it can be as fascinating as a dark lord on a lonely throne.
~Malcolm Sheppard, Wardens of the Blue Rose developer
The anthology looks so cool!!! If we don't happen to reach the last >$2k unlock amount, would anyone else also be interested in having it as an add-on PDF post-campaign goal?
P.S. I did do my part to nudge up the number a little extra by adding a pin to my pledge this morning 💙🌹
We have another update from developer Malcolm which talks a little more about the SAGE system, and how it differs from our other AGE games. But first...
🎉 STRETCH GOAL UNLOCKED! 🎉
The Meeting Manual is a 24-page guide to the people and creatures you might meet on the road, expanding the possibilities in the core rulebook. Some might be called “monsters,” but you’re not there to fight—you’re there to meet!
Now let's see if we can hit that next one for the short adventures and scenes anthology!
Take it away, Malcolm!
Hi folks,
I’d like to chat a bit about how the SAGE System we’re using in Wardens of the Blue Rose came to be, and why we’re using it instead of the classic Adventure Game Engine (AGE).
SAGE’s basic ideas were first described by Steve Kenson, in a mid-pandemic design document. At the time I was doing intense work on Fantasy AGE, Modern AGE, and Cthulhu Awakens, all classic AGE games, but for a long time we’ve been interested in adding shorter games to our repertoire than Big Book Games. I love those games, and I will be making more—SAGE isn’t a replacement for classic AGE. But I did like the idea of shifting gears a bit.
So, I took Steve’s design document and basically added ideas from classic AGE I thought would be cool or add depth to characters, working up the Bonds and expanding the core mechanics a bit. At the time I was working on Engine, the AGE System magazine, and I realized I could put a whole SAGE system in there, and due to the small wordcount and modest production costs, I could use it for some really interesting settings, so I got four writers to work on settings, including Sian and Katherine, who are working on Wardens with me.
It was a compelling test drive, so I did two things. First, I designed a book-length implementation of SAGE, revising some things and adding options instead of complexity. That’s in layout now. Second, I started experimenting with applying SAGE to Blue Rose, in response to some of what I experienced promoting Blue Rose, which I talked about in my previous update. A light, character centered system seemed like the best way to support solo and GMless group play along with traditional play. That triggered the first story generation notes, and the desire to give those a compelling direction led to…well, the very premise of Wardens of the Blue Rose: Young heroes on the road, meeting people, solving problems, and maybe falling in love.
So, this game stands on some sturdy shoulders. There’s Chris Parmas, who designed the original AGE System, Blue Rose and SAGE designer Steve Kenson, and Blue Rose developer emeritus Joe Carriker—and that’s before looking back at other great writers and designers. I can’t wait to show you the result.
The book bundle add on says one novel, two anthologies, two novellas, and five short stores. The picture shows one novel, three anthologies, two novellas, and one short story (though the short stories all have the same cover, so it might just be a space saving thing).
Anyone know if this is just a typo or which of the anthologies will actually be included?
Tales of the Mount, Sovereigns of the Blue Rose, and For Hart and Queen are all shown in the image and are all listed as anthologies on the Green Ronin website.
