Let's Talk Blue Rose

[Crothian]

A Narrators' toolkit that helps adapt the Blue Rose system to other romantic fantasy settings other than Aldea. Here is an idea of what I'd like to try. Too bad nobody's picked up on it.

You might have better luck on the BR forums.

 

[talinthas]

I'm incredibly torn by this product, fluff wise. On the one hand, i'm glad to finally see a game product specifically aimed at the shojou audience. On the other hand, i hate shojou literature and the genre as a whole. Mercedes Lackey, the prime inspiration, is probably my most strongly disliked author in fantasy. I can't stand the whole "Girl and talking animal companion goes to the big city and falls in love with the prince while saving the world from evil men" type of story thing.

However, i can fully acknowledge that there is indeed a huge market for this sort of stuff. And if Blue Rose can get more women gaming, then by all means, bring it on =)

I just don't know that the rules can be divorced from the core shojou concept enough for me to swallow it.

(for those who don't know, shojou is the genre of girl's anime, but i find that the core ideas apply just as strongly to romantic fantasy. Think stuff like Magic Knights Rayearth, Utena, Sailor Moon, Fushigi Yuugi, Rose of Versailles, etc. Stuff that primarily appeals to women, with strong female characters, sometimes talking animal companions, etc. There is nothing wrong with the genre; it simply doesnt appeal to me)

 

[Skywalker]

(for those who don't know, shojou is the genre of girl's anime, but i find that the core ideas apply just as strongly to romantic fantasy. Think stuff like Magic Knights Rayearth, Utena, Sailor Moon, Fushigi Yuugi, Rose of Versailles, etc. Stuff that primarily appeals to women, with strong female characters, sometimes talking animal companions, etc. There is nothing wrong with the genre; it simply doesnt appeal to me)

BTW Have you watched Twelve Kingdoms http://www.12kingdoms.us/? It is Shoujo but in a very subtle way. It is great inspiration for BR and I imagine would appeal to the greater audience of fantasy lovers.

 

[JEL]

(for those who don't know, shojou is the genre of girl's anime, but i find that the core ideas apply just as strongly to romantic fantasy. Think stuff like Magic Knights Rayearth, Utena, Sailor Moon, Fushigi Yuugi, Rose of Versailles, etc. Stuff that primarily appeals to women, with strong female characters, sometimes talking animal companions, etc. There is nothing wrong with the genre; it simply doesnt appeal to me)

"Shoujo" isn't a genre. It's a target audience (young girls, usually centered around early adolescence) and it covers a lot of different genres, such as hard SF (They Were 11), horror (Kyouketsu Miyu), historical fiction (the afore mentioned Rose of Versailles), comedy (Kodomo no Omocha), and even fantasy (much of the stuff you mention above). I think you might be able make an argument for "shoujo fantasy" as being a unique genre, but even then there's still a lot of diversity.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I wasn't even thinking of Willow, what I was thinking about what that the whole series was relationship driven. Sure it had the occasional easily identifiable evil monster to kill, but at its core it was about Buffy and crew growing up. Buffy hits a lot of the tropes of a a romantic fantasy. The reason it doesn't feel like a Lackey novel is because Whedon is a better writer.

And since there is no such thing as game police, I'm going to happily have sarcasm, shades of grey, and political intrigue in the Blue Rose setting. It easily supports it and also hands me easily identifiable evil creatures for the players to occasionally have fights with.

My biggest problem with the "romantic fantasy" genre (possibly aside from its political overtones) is the way it coopted the term romantic fantasy. I like writing and reading fantasy and relationships of soap operatic complexity. The more serious variety of space opera still has room for both in sci-fi, without the baggage; relationship fantasy seems wholly dominated by a cadre exclusively female writers with a very PC (and outdated PC, at that) outlook. Often with the interpersonal complexity divorced from ethical and plot complexity.

Which has nothing to do with "Blue Rose," of course.

I'm still interested in the system, but I'm starting to wonder if I don't have sufficient pieces in place to do everything I wanted from it without actually, y'know, buying it.

 

[Nomad4life]

As I continue to look over BR, I start to think that maybe, just maybe, the default romantic fantasy setting could work… If you TWIST it around a little bit.



Examples:



-An adventure where the environment is a danger to the common people (such as a festering swamp) but the “talking animals and neo-pagan girls” are dead-set on defending it anyway.



-Run a typical “misfit girl comes to town looking for friends and acceptance” adventure… Only to discover that there was a GOOD REASON this girl was an outcast!



-Run an adventure where the big-bad-prejudiced-male actually turns out to unexpectedly “save the day” due to his irrational suspicions.



You see where I’m going with this… Basically, keep the setting as it is, but remove the “objective” clear right/wrong element. Now THAT could be interesting…



At any rate, the mechanics continue to amaze me.

 

[Crothian]

not interesting no....ia failed attempt at irony is what I think you are going for. All you are doing is taking the things you don't like about the game and turning them 180 degrees.

Now, in a serious BR doing one of these things every now and agian could be good, but every time just looks like you are attacking the setting while playing the setting; and that doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Turanil]

As I continue to look over BR, I start to think that maybe, just maybe, the default romantic fantasy setting could work… If you TWIST it around a little bit.

Examples:
-An adventure where the environment is a danger to the common people (such as a festering swamp) but the “talking animals and neo-pagan girls” are dead-set on defending it anyway.
-Run a typical “misfit girl comes to town looking for friends and acceptance” adventure… Only to discover that there was a GOOD REASON this girl was an outcast!
-Run an adventure where the big-bad-prejudiced-male actually turns out to unexpectedly “save the day” due to his irrational suspicions.

You see where I’m going with this… Basically, keep the setting as it is, but remove the “objective” clear right/wrong element. Now THAT could be interesting…

LOL! I like your twisted mind!

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

If Joss Whedon ever wrote a 'romantic fantasy' novel, I am sure that it would be dripping with irony, self-deprecation, and a sense of irreverent self-awareness completely alien to overly eager neo-pagan, tarot card-reading, crunchy New Age types that love the novels of ML, et al.

Sure Buffy tVS has a Wicca lesbian witch, etc. But the tone of BtVS is fundamentally subversive and mocking. As far as I can tell, the genre of 'romantic fantasy' utterly lacks this feature.

At least that's my suspicion.

Sorry for the tangent. Back to BLUE ROSE ...

First, you're seriously mischaracterizing the romantic fantasy audience, in the same way that those who say gamers are "fat virgin losers with dreams of grandeur" mischaracterize the D&D audience.

Second, you're way off base with Buffy. It's a close cousin to romantic fantasy, through and through, even accounting for Joss Whedon's love of irreverence.

The whole story, from season 1 through 7, is all about the transformation from child to adult, and the development of relationships, and Joss Whedon and his writers embrace the conventions of those sorts of stories as much as, or even more than they mock them.

Season 2's arc would fit perfectly as a romantic fantasy novel: love betrayed and redeemed, the world threatened by the actions of a lover, and saved by the sacrifice of the same.

Season 3 is about family, and to a lesser degree sisterhood, and the climax of the story isn't the death of the mayor, it's the moment where the teens of Sunnydale stand up and fight - they're leaving their childhood behind, and making a place as adults.

Season 5 begins the story arc that runs through the rest of the seasons, with Spike beginning to be redeemed by his love for Buffy, and Buffy taking on the mother role as she assumes responsibility for her sister. And, again, the world is saved through a sacrifice made out of love - only this time, it's Buffy sacrificing herself to save her child/sister, Dawn.

Season 6 is again about relationships, and love, and the world ending threat is sparked by pointless hatred (born from misogyny), and ended by an irony free scene about the redemptive power of love - a theme that's everywhere in romantic fantasy.

Season 7 is all about female empowerment, and the strength of emotional bonds. We see Buffy reject the power offered by the men who bound the first slayer, and find her own strength with the help of her sisters, and we see the First evil destroyed only because of Spike's love for Buffy.

And the character of Buffy is a subversion of the typical female horror role in the same way that many of the characters in romantic fantasy are subversions of the typical roles for women in fantasy.

It would be incredibly easy to use Blue Rose's setting, as is, to run a Buffy-style game. Minor villains and big bads as stand in for real world issues, romantic and familial entanglements... it's all right there in the setting.

Patrick Y.

 

[Akrasia]

[Snarky comment deleted.]

... Second, you're way off base with Buffy. It's a close cousin to romantic fantasy, through and through, even accounting for Joss Whedon's love of irreverence. ...

But the irreverence makes all the difference.

It is why "Dr.Strangelove" is a brilliant film, and "Failsafe" is not.

----

That point aside, if you can recommend a 'romantic fantasy' novel that does indeed resemble Buffy in tone and character, I would be mosthappy to check it out!

----

Okay, sorry for the tangent. Back to BLUE ROSE.