Green Ronin Publishing

From the press release it sounds like a D&D inspired fantasy game that uses the damage save from MnM instead. But between the adjective "Romantic" and the title "Blue Rose", I'm wondering if it's some kind of Harlequin romance game where the equipment section is full of dresses and shoes.

So what is this new OGL game?

Iain.

Think along the lines of Mercedes Lackey's "Valdemar" fantasy books: sensitive telepaths, winged cats, animal companions, and such.

Hi all!

I can't wait to get my hands on this game. This subgenre has been drastically overlooked by game publishers. I'm hoping that it'll widen the gaming audience by bringing in enthusiasts of "romantic fantasy," typically a female demographic.

Here are a few links for those of you interested in checking out this subgenre:

www.romanticsf.com

www.sfronline.com

BTW: let's avoid stereotyping a billion dollar industry with a larger readership than the entire mystery and SF/F genres combined, IIRC. There's more to romance fiction than dresses and shoes, just as there's more to fantasy fiction than swords and pointy wizard hats. Moreover, some of us have actually worked for Queen H, and don't really enjoy the implied slam.

In any case, thanks for reading. Kudos to Green Ronin for creating a product that actually tries to reach out of the traditional gaming circles.

---Olivia

And no doubt Olivia my mother has indirectly given you some income.

Allow me to play devil's advocate for a second though.

Do girl's not play RPGs because there isn't a girl friendly RPG or is it that they aren't interested in the idea of RPGs? If a market is dominated by testosterone filled teenaged boys who can't deal with romance at all, then are we really surprised that this genre is relatively unexplored?

Back to discussion mode. I'm glad I read the posts on RPG.net before here. I could do with a game with more social interaction and less orc slaying. On some level a romantic RPG is going to face the same problems as the BoEF. Sure BoEF is shot on video with a cheesey synthesizer soundtrack, but MF, MM, FF, MF+ relations no matter how they are handled seem to wig-out the typical RPG buyer.

I personally don't have a problem with any of these things. I've role-played a day in the life of a tattoo artist whose world got stranger and stranger. The magic was the least of his worries compared to his "love" life. I'd like to play a game where I could own property (read: live somewhere) and interact with people while darkness descends.

We accept romance in LotR, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Matrix, ... The question is how does Green Ronin make a game that puts romance on equal footing with kicking ass and yet not weird out the homophobic 15-year old boy?

Iain.

Hi all!

I think that the lack of a "girl friendly" RPG is a major turn-off to female participation in tabletop rpgs. Women are just as interested in playing "imagination" as men, at any age. Just check out the chat room roleplaying based off of soaps or romance-oriented properties; these freeform online rpgs are hugely popular. So why not at the table top?

In D&D, everything from the art to the play paradigm is male-oriented. Long and tedious rules for hacking your opposition, poor social simulation, and a total lack of rules for "community" building. Look at the "girl" games like Amber, Ars Magica, or the WoD line. These games take a step away from D&D in actual play implementation, and are therefore more friendly to "feminine" interests.

If a "fantasy romance" game had come out back in '84, I'm certain there would be many more women in this hobby. Look at the old TSR books, with their naked goddesses and "spider/module" artwork. I hated touching those things; barf me out!! My sister, who was also a gamer back then, felt the same way. Where are the cute animal companions and pegasi and the crystal castles in the sky? They aren't there, because TSR had no interest in making even the slightest concession to female interests. Nope, we get cleavage shots of a succubi instead.

And that's why the market is dominated by males. Girls can go play with their Barbies and make up their own chase rules for Malibu Barbie and her pink convertible. The market has been stunted from its inception so that the only relevant demographic is male.

However, this game might be the breakthrough. There are many women out there who are interested in related subject matter, be it romantic fantasy fiction or shoujo manga or paranormal romance. Most women know how to roleplay, even if its only with dolls. It's my hope that this game can reach these women.

I want Chris Pramas to be a very rich man.



If this were a D&D game supplement on "adding romance" or "romantic fantasy elements" to your game, I'd agree with you. However, the Blue Rose is a stand alone game, which will entail its own play paradigm, much as Mutants & Masterminds does. People will buy this game because they are interested in its basic premise.

OFF TOPIC: Just how well has the BoEF sold? I know that it sold-out at GenCon SoCal, which indicates a certain level of interest, IMO, especially considering how much the product is bashed online.



This product shouldn't be targetting the "geeks," and therefore doesn't need to deal with their screwed up sexual maturity. The health of this hobby lies in leaving the social misfits behind, or else it'll never grow beyond its (aging) current confines. Products like the Blue Rose are essential in expending the baseline tabletop roleplaying population.

Again, kudos to Green Ronin for having the guts to make this product. Thanks for reading.

---Olivia

I'm well aware of girls being interested in role-playing, but are they interested in a tabletop game is really my question. D&D isn't a boy's game, it's a tiny faction of some boy's game.

My own personal take is that there is only a small fraction of people interested in table-top role-playing and probably equal in gender. AD&D was never aimed at me even though I was the target market. To this day I don't understand why people get interested in rolling initiative and beating up orcs in a highly ordered way. It isn't fair to say that all women don't like kicking orc ass in a very structured and methodical way.

Many of the games that you call girl friendly have all the aspects of D&D ass kicking, but I dare say they have a purpose for ass kicking. Amber, Ars Magica and especially WoD games are highly political, which usually means socially focussed. It's not that violence isn't even common in these games, but that there is a purpose beyond XP, gold and more ass-kicking power ... thouigh some psycho-analysts might disagree about questing for power.

What I really meant to ask by my opening question about women and RPGs is where does the cultural teaching influence and where does genetics influence? Chris and Steve seem really pumped about this game and I believe they are both biologically male. I don't think a game about romance or cuddle animal companions is going to attract girls to RPGing. There would have to be a sizable amount of women to introduce girls to the hobby at at the same time be a game that appeals to both teenaged boys and girls. (Whether you like it ot not, if the main market now doesn't buy into a game the life span will be brief.)

As for the need for a game like Blue Rose it should be interesting to see. How did HeartQuest do? It is a game that has a bit narrower focus (at least to westerners who think anime/manga are genres rather than mediums) and doesn't have the link to the best selling RPG. I still think that Blue Rose will be a game that sinks or swims by how the predominate market accepts it. That means do boys find the game worthwhile? Blue Rose could be the game that people play because their girlfriends or sisters will play, but it still needs to get some of the main RPG market.

Me personally, I'd love a game less focussed on 5-ft. steps and AoOs. I'd like social combat rules. I want to do big picture stuff, not clean out another orc infested dungeon. But I do want to get into duels for a Lady's honour and swing from chandeliers as well. If they can empower the feminine without neutering the masculine then the game will be a success. (And there is nothing wrong with a woman defending her own honour nor being a lecherous hire sword either.)

Off Topic: I'm not sure about the BoEF. I've never seen a real copy of it, but it seems to be selling quite well inspite of what I believe to be a homophobic backlash against sex in gaming. Why do I say homophobic, remember our target market. "Sex has no place in gaming." "Sex is OK, if it happens off screen." The problem with this is imagine we are taking about movies instead of RPGs. Same people wouldn't object to a Red Shoe Diaries marathon. "Why would I do something in a game I could do in real life?" There are a hell of a lot of things you do in RPGs that you do in real life, but no one ever complains about walking, eating ot sleeping in RPGs. No, the real peoblem is that people aren't comfortable talking about sex and even romance. Two teenaged boys tend to freak out at the thought of same sex PLAYERS being involved romantically or sexually.

Unfortunately Blue Rose by being a role-playing game IS being targetted at geeks. Luckily not all geeks are male and not all male geeks are interested in Medieval Psycho d20. Vampire, the WoD and LARPs were written by male geeks who weren't satisfied by slaying the dragon and getting the XP and gold. The female geeks around them said, that sounds neat I want play.

I'm sorry if I came across as belittling Blue Rose, but I was trying to cut through the P.R.ese and find out what the game really is. I really don't think there is a market for a Barbie RPG, but I do think there is room for more games that are socially based and have consequences for actions. More L5R and less Rokugan d20.

Iain.

You're writing this? Oooh. It's bound to be good then.

You're the new rockstar of OGL development.

VALDEMAR!!! Holy prancing molely.
I read one of the trilogies. It is a pretty neat world. Good fantasy world AND romantic...

Thanks for the vote of confidence, however, I have nothing to do with the writing or development of Blue Rose beyond the fact that it uses the (Open Content) Damage saving throw from Mutants & Masterminds. Still, with folks like John Snead on the job, and Green Ronin's usual high standards, I'm sure it's going to be a cool game.

I just finished reading Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy and have been trying to figure out how I'd do it as an RPG...

this answers my question nicely.

sooooo.... when does it come out?