In August 2023 we present two offers featuring the 2017 Second Edition of Blue Rose, the RPG of romantic fantasy from Green Ronin Publishing. The revived March 2020 Blue Rose Bundle had the core rulebook and essential supplements, and its all-new companion, Blue Rose Aldean Adventures, added recent campaigns and adventures set in the land of Aldea.
Inspired by authors like Mercedes Lackey, Diane Duane, Tamora Pierce, and many more, Blue Rose makes you an envoy in service to the Sovereign of the peaceful and prosperous kingdom of Aldea. As much problem-solvers and diplomats as warriors, envoys uphold civilization’s ideals and protect ordinary people from danger. Aided by the rhydan – your psychic animal allies – you and your companions guard your homeland from aggressive neighbors, ancient monsters and artifacts, and a resurgent Shadow.
Funded in a successful June 2015 Kickstarter campaign, the 2017 edition of Blue Rose uses Green Ronin’s Adventure Game Engine (AGE), the popular rules that power the Fantasy AGE, Dragon Age, and The Expanse RPGs. The game and setting emphasized gender equality and inclusion, along with themes of cooperation and individuality. In “Controversial RPG Blue Rose Returns With More Intrigue, Psychic Powers” (Gizmodo, July 2015), Ed Grabianowski interviewed Blue Rose co-designer Steve Kenson (ICONS) about the “romantic fantasy” label. “‘Romantic’ refers to a style and a point of view that’s generally positive, hopeful, and cooperative,” Kenson said. “Good people can make a difference, true love can and does win in the end, we can make the world better, people of good conscience can work together (and even disagree) but still coexist peacefully, and, ultimately, there is good in the world and it’s something worth fighting for. That romance often includes interpersonal relationships, from boon comrades to passionate love, and such things are both the reasons why characters take action and the rewards they receive for their efforts.
“In this day and age, even mature adult gamers won’t blink at games and stories that model the most terrible forms of violence, but become sheepish and embarrassed by stories modeling love and friendship and family. [This] powerful story element has been missing from games aimed at telling legendary or mythological stories: the notion that love and connection are powers as great, if not greater, than any magic, any battle-prowess, or any cunning scheme.”
BLUE ROSE BUNDLE [from March 2020]
This March 2020 Blue Rose Bundle had the core rulebook and key supplements. If you’re new to the game, start with these titles. There were four titles in this revived offer’s Starter Collection (retail value $38), including the complete full-color, 384-page Blue Rose core rulebook; the full-length novel Shadowtide by Joseph D. Carriker Jr. (plus its novella-length sequel Pit of Vipers and the free Shadowtide: Recipes from Aldea); and the 14-story fiction anthology Sovereigns of the Blue Rose.
This offer’s Bonus Collection added five more titles worth an additional $45, including the massive city sourcebook Aldis: City of the Blue Rose, the scenario anthology Six of Swords, the Blue Rose Narrator’s Kit, and two more Tales of Blue Rose: Of Shadow and Light and Heartsong.
BLUE ROSE ALDEAN ADVENTURES [all-new]
This all-new Blue Rose Aldean Adventures companion offer added recent campaigns and adventures set in the land of Aldea. There were four titles in the Aldean Collection (retail value $48), including the recent scenario collection Six of Cups, the full-length campaign Envoys to the Mount (plus the free Pregenerated Characters), and two short Adventures in Aldea: Nightmare Rider and Flight of the Snow Pearl.
Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) for these two Blue Rose offers went to the charity chosen by Green Ronin owner Chris Pramas, Pride Foundation. Pride Foundation is building a better, safer, and more equitable world for LGBTQ+ people and their families in the American Northwest.
