🎉 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.