Ten New/Upcoming RPGs Worthy of Your Attention in Late 2016

Blue Rose: The AGE Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy – Green Ronin Publishing (Late 2016)

When the first edition of Blue Rose hit the scene in 2005 plenty of gamers took note of a nicely detailed and fleshed out game world and society. There was some controversy surrounding the title because of a rather modern (and non-judgmental) approach to sexuality identity and gender equality within the fantasy setting and some felt the authors were trying to push an “agenda” of political correctness. Truthfully, the main gist of the game was to create a positive and cooperative experience for the players and I never understood what anyone was getting worked up about.

In 2015 Green Ronin Publishing launched a very successful $85k+ Kickstarter project to update Blue Rose to take advantage of the Adventure Game Engine, or “AGE”, System which powers the company’s Dragon Age and Titansgrave titles. The gameplan is to expand Blue Rose from what were essentially D20 sourcebooks to a full blown core system with a multitude of new micro settings and series frameworks.

While Blue Rose isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea but the ideas and core concepts behind the world of Aldea – and the game’s take on romantic fantasy – is certainly interesting and I’m eager to see how the designers build upon the foundation of the first edition. At this point an exact release date hasn’t been established (in fact the Kickstarter promised an August 2016 availability) but the word on the street is we should see the 300+ page core PDF sometime before the end of the year.

There isn’t any specific sell sheet info about the upcoming edition but here’s the write up for the first edition from Green Ronin:

Adventure & Romance Await!

Aldis, the Kingdom of the Blue Rose, shines as a new light following the dark age of the Sorcerer Kings. Now, envoys of the Sovereign’s Finest strive to protect Aldis from threats like the Lich Kingdom of Kern and the fanatical Theocracy of Jarzon, as well as monsters and dark magic left over from the Shadow Wars of the Sorcerer Kings. Aided by the rhydan—their psychic animal companions—the champions of the Blue Rose guard the Light against the power of the Shadow. Blue Rose, the Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy, allows you to adventure in the fantastic world of Aldea. Based on the world’s most popular roleplaying system, Blue Rose gives you everything you need to play. In this 224 page book you will find:

• A streamlined game system, requiring only a single twenty-sided die to resolve any action your heroes may take.
• Fast and dramatic action resolution, with systems for everything from fighting to social repartee.
• Complete and flexible rules for hero creation, with options to play rhydan (intelligent psychic animals) as well as humans, sea-folk, the night people, or the mystical vata.
• A complete system of arcane and psychic powers, from empathy to the darkest depths of sorcery.
• A system for defining your hero’s light and shadow natures, and using the strength of your hero’s conviction to influence the flow of the game.
• Narrator advice, and the introductory adventure The Curse of Harmony, everything you need to begin telling your own stories in the magical world of Blue Rose.

The word has gone out, the land of Aldis needs heroes! Will you answer the call? Join the Sovereign’s Finest and the Knights of the Blue Rose in safeguarding the kingdom and its people. Swear your allegiance to the Light and to the rightful Sovereign…

For Aldis, and the Queen!

Blades in the DarkCryptomancer

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Jeff McAleer

Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media for fifteen years, Jeff takes on any and all sorts of games but is especially ready to tackle roleplaying games and strategy games. He's been involved with the hobby since he was just a wee grade school lad, over four decades ago.

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