Blue Rose: The AGE Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy

New Postage Rates: Finalize your BackerKits, please!
about 7 years ago – Mon, Feb 27, 2017 at 11:50:31 PM

Hi folks,

Just a short one to let you all know that the shipping rates have been updated. We've done what we could to find alternatives for everyone and we're getting ready to lock things in. We will be shipping US non-exception orders in March and people who want to hold their product shipment so that they can combine their shipment with the Narrator's Kit can still do that by selecting the HOLD add-on. The Narrator's Kits are still on track to be delivered for April shipping.

It's just about go time!

Nicole

We are at print!
over 7 years ago – Sat, Dec 31, 2016 at 12:06:46 AM

First and again I would like to thank everyone for their patience on this project. I have been chomping at the bit to make the announcement that we're at print but I also wanted to be sure our BackerKit survey was locked in and approved when I did so. I'm happy to say you should all be getting a nice BackerKit message in the new year. The book should be in our hands and shipping out to backers before the end of January!

I also have some good news about add-ons, including some beautiful conviction tokens that are being created by our friends at Campaign Coins, also the makers of our beautiful Golden Hart pendant.

Featuring a romantic heart design by Daniel Solis, the tokens are 25mm diameter (about the size of a United States quarter) and stack perfectly. They will be finished in gleaming platinum with lustrous transparent blue enamel in the depths of the coin. I have the prototypes in hand and they are gorgeous. 

Anyway, that's the good news for now! I have some other things to announce once the BackerKit folks give me the thumbs up to invite you to the survey. Expect to hear something from me shortly into 2017 on that. 

Happy New Year!

November Update
over 7 years ago – Fri, Nov 11, 2016 at 10:33:31 PM

This week has been dark. The US election raised issues of racism, misogyny, religious bigotry, and hate, and acceptance and tolerance seem to have lost, at least for now. We can't tell you it's not as bad as it looks; we honestly don't know. But we do want you all to know that Green Ronin is committed to Blue Rose, OrcaCon, and open, inclusive gaming. Games and gaming may be a small corner of the universe, but we want everyone to have a place in it.

Now, for the work in progress. Hal has continued to massage the layout and ask for refinements in some of the art turnovers. This is the most frustrating part of finishing any project but at this point we've been delayed enough already that there is not point in not insisting that things be done exactly the way we want them. With that in mind (and since I was going to be out of town last week anyway) I hired two great professionals to make one additional proofing pass on the manuscript. They worked away while I was out of town and turned up over 100 small corrections that have polished and improved the material. I couldn't be more thrilled that we took that additional time to polish the content one last time. 

The next update will include the long-awaited BackerKit information but I didn't want to wait to put out this message and take the chance to express our commitment to safety, unity, and tolerance in our game world and in our real world.

Be well everyone!
Nicole

Update and Art Preview
over 7 years ago – Mon, Aug 15, 2016 at 11:25:47 PM

Hi all,

I had hoped to have a final layout to share with you by this point but a few of our artists needed a little more time because of life events and we're still waiting on the last few pieces. Without going into too many details 2016 has been notoriously bad for a lot of people and Green Ronin's freelancers and staff haven't been spared in that regard either, so we're just going to keep plugging away and getting everyone else up to speed as they get back to it.

Meanwhile, we did make it to GenCon where we were able to show off Blue Rose in the Green Ronin game room thanks to our volunteer GMs. Many people came by to ask about the progress of the game and we couldn't be happier to hear that so many people are looking forward to it the way we are.

I will be offline for some unexpected personal business all of next week but when I get back I hope to have a couple additional updates to share, including FINALLY getting Backerkit live and (hopefully) at least a date to expect the final layout PDF to be available, if not the actual document. I'll be at Fan Expo in Toronto September 1-4 and Rose City Comic Con in Portland, OR

September 9-11 and I've signed up to run a couple of Blue Rose games at each of those cons. If you're attending, please come by and say hello!

Until I get back, I'll leave you to peruse this art preview that Hal put together. You can download the PDF from Dropbox here.

Thanks for sticking with us as we try to survive convention season and get this baby off to press!

Update on the state of Blue Rose
almost 8 years ago – Tue, May 31, 2016 at 11:28:17 PM

Hi all,

Steve has a great update on the state of Blue Rose! Take a look:

Welcome! No, we haven’t accidentally reposted a previous Ronin Roundtable. This week we return to the development of the new edition of Blue Rose Romantic Fantasy Roleplaying for the AGE (Adventure Game Engine) System rules, following our successful Kickstarter for the game.

Blue Rose is through editing and now in production and layout, with Production Manager Hal Mangold hard at work both on laying out the book and assigning art to various artists to bring new visions of the world of Aldea to life. You can see a small sample of Hal’s design magic in the updated logo to grace the game’s cover above the fantastic new painting by artist Stephanie Pui-Min Law.

In addition to art, we’re working with cartographer Phillip Lienau, who provided the maps for the first edition of Blue Rose (as well as the comprehensive map of Freedom City for Mutants & Masterminds) to update his work for the new edition, particularly for the two-sided poster map for inclusion in the book. We’re eager to be able to present Phillip’s work in full color this time.

In terms of production, the new edition of Blue Rose is going to be sizeable: easily 300 pages (at Green Ronin, we like big books and we cannot lie), not quite as massive as the complete Dragon Age Core Rulebook, but easily the size of the Game of Thrones edition of A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying as a beautiful full-color hardcover book.

Meanwhile, in addition to working with Hal on copyfitting and layout matters, I am working on the collection of pre-generated Blue Rose heroes for the Narrator’s Screen booklet, offering a representative cross-section of novice characters, complete with backgrounds and customization options, usable for quick-start play and great for demo adventures and convention games to introduce new players to Blue Rose and the AGE System

Speaking of adventures, I’m also developing the first drafts of a number of short Blue Rose adventures by an exciting collection of authors, including Jaym Gates, Elsa S. Henry, Steven Jones, Kira Magrann, Alejandro Melchor, and Rebecca Wise. We intend to release these adventures as short, stand-alone PDF products and to collect them into a print edition to provide Blue Rose Narrators and players with a wealth of opportunities to tell stories in the world of Aldea.

As you can see, that’s a lot of Blue Rose in the works! We’ll keep you updated as things progress, perhaps with some additional previews and looks “behind the curtain” as the book finishes production and gets ready for pre-order and PDF release. Naturally, our Kickstarter backers will have the first look at anything new that comes along, but we’re looking forward to making the new edition of Blue Rose available to everyone!