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[Mini-Let's Read] The Blue Rose Adventurer's Guide (5e)
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8329841" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/mpasqkn.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>As far as fantasy RPGs go, the True20/AGE versions of Blue Rose weren’t exactly swimming in monster and NPC stat blocks. So in a strange way, 5th Edition’s cavalcade of creatures can be a great benefit. We do have some new monsters, although first we’ll detail existing beings and how they fit into Aldea.</p><p></p><p><em>Aldean Creature Tags</em> discuss new descriptors that are added on top of base monsters. The first is (rhydan), which are intelligent animals and applied on top of creatures of the Beast type. Additionally, (shadowspawn) is a broad tag that represents creatures altered, transformed, and created by the occult and powers of Shadow.</p><p></p><p><em>Aldean Creature Types</em> covers the basic 5e ones in broad strokes. Aberrations were created by the Shadow Lords or summoned from worlds beyond the shadow-gates, and are thus (shadowspawn) and almost always evil. Same for Monstrosities and Oozes, with the latter creature type being so rare as to be unique. Beasts are more or less unmodified save that dinosaurs didn’t exist on Aldea until occultists summoned them from worlds beyond the shadow-gates, and we have a sidebar of new Aldean Beasts such as greenwolves (fey-touched wolves that can can cast the druidcraft spell), Plains deer (tiny-sized deer found on the Rezean plains), and Talya-cats (panther-sized Siamese cats from which rhy-cats are derived). Celestials don’t exist on Aldea, and unicorns are instead beasts with the (rhydan) tag. Constructs are rare relics of the Old Kingdom and Shadow Lords. True Dragons don’t exist and are instead creatures of legend. But other dragon types such as pseudodragons and wyverns exist, the latter of which has the (shadowspawn) tag and are ridden by the Skull Knights of Kern.</p><p></p><p>Elementals and Fey are spirits of the land, with fey a higher class of being formed from multiple elemental types. Neither have souls of the Eternal Dance and thus are incorporated back into the world’s foundation upon “death.” Plant monsters are in fact a type of elemental manifesting as a floral being. Blights are spirits tainted by Shadow, and myconids do not exist on Aldea but some suggestions are provided for where they’d be found if they do (mostly far-flung forest regions such as Wyss and the caverns of Kern).</p><p></p><p>Fiends are more commonly known as darkfiends, servants of the Exarchs of Shadow, and all have telepathy if they don’t already have it due to being expert corruptors of the mind. Giants are warped humanoids born in Shadow-Touched areas, most common in the Golgan Badlands and are even more evil than their counterparts in other D&D worlds. The only Humanoids which exist in Aldea are the non-rhydan PC races. However, there exist beast-folk who can emulate the “evil humanoid” types such as goblins, troglodytes, and such and are evil (shadowspawn). Finally Undead are separated into two types: corpses and remains reanimated by occult magic, and souls of the Eternal Dance unable to pass on to the Wheel of Rebirth and trapped in unliving bodies. Intelligent undead can only come from the souls of the PC races, and undead of other creatures can only be reanimated as skeletons and zombies.</p><p></p><p><em>Modified Creatures</em> note particular Monster Manual creatures and how they differ in Aldea. Centaurs are fey, doppelgangers are shadowspawn spies created by the Shadow Lords, stirges are shadowspawn with the Aberration type, griffons are intelligent rhydan with the supernatural abilities of a unicorn, while unicorns are also rhydan. Hippogriffs, lycanthropes, modrons, and slaadi don’t exist in Aldea. Merrow and sahuagin are sea-folk and aquatic beast-folk respectively tainted by Shadow. As for undead, Jarek is the last known lich, the other known ones being Shadow Lords who have (hopefully) been long laid to rest. Shadows are known as shades, and vampires are the most powerful undead and are a common sight among Kern’s hierarchy. Yetis live in the Ice-Binder Mountains on the Aldis-Kern border, and are more commonly known as “white howlers.”</p><p></p><p>We have several stat blocks and templates for new creatures of Aldea. <em>The Fey</em> have Reveler and Noble stat blocks; the former is a CR 1 being with various druidic-style abilities and can teleport and charm targets, while the latter is a more powerful version being CR 6 and attuned to one of the four elements that provide unique attacks and special qualities. <em>Rhydan</em> provides stat blocks for NPC versions of the four sample rhydan races and are basically intelligent versions of their mundane animal counterparts. Rhydan is a simple template, adding +8 Intelligence, +4 Charisma, the ability to understand and speak languages, and the benefits of Psychic and Psychic Shield feats.</p><p></p><p>For templates we have <em>Clockwork Creatures,</em> artificial beings built during the Old Kingdom and Empire of Thorns. They change a creature’s type to construct, grant +4 Strength and Constitution, reduce Intelligence to 3 and Charisma to 1, gain a variety of construct-style damage immunities and conditions, blindsight 60 feet, advantage on saves vs magic, and are susceptible to anti-magic abilities which can render them unconscious. <em>Fiendish Creatures</em> are darkfiends taking on a disguise in the mortal world, effectively becoming that creature. The template grants the fiend type, changes Intelligence and Charisma to 10, grants an assortment of damage resistances and immunities, darkvision and telepathy up to 60 feet, gains advantage on saves vs magic, and becomes evil alignment if not already. Finally, <em>Shatow-Touched Creatures</em> are those who become corrupted by the Shadow, but are for NPCs rather than PCs. The creature gains the (shadowspawn) tag, adds double their proficiency bonus to Stealth, is immune to necrotic and poison damage and the poisoned condition, is vulnerable to radiant damage, gains darkvision 60 feet and advantage on Stealth checks in shadowy and lightless areas, suffers disadvantage on d20 rolls if in direct sunlight, and becomes evil alignment.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/015PFFo.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>This is a sample adventure for 4-6 1st level PCs. It was present in the AGE version as well, making this more or less a straight conversion. The pitch is that PCs are patrolling the Pavin Weald as part of their duties as the Sovereign’s Finest, and receive a psychic message of someone in trouble in the Tanglewood, a section of forest nearest the Ice-Binder Mountains and thus the kingdom of Kern. The source of the message is Talaith, an injured vata scout who watches over the border for soldiers and spies from that dread realm. His fellow guard and lover Dartis came upon the Ebban Mask, an occult artifact found within the ruins of a forested manor. The mask gradually took over his mind, forcing him to attack Talaith who realized the malign influence and managed to escape.</p><p></p><p>The adventure proper begins as the PCs heed the call, and will come upon a sprite by the name of Florin who can impart some information and help pick up the trail, but the sprite will run away in fear as a pack of shadow-touched wolves come upon the party. After the fight, the PCs find Talaith who can be nursed back to health and returned to the outpost, but isn’t in any shape to sustain another fight. The last encounter the PCs get before coming to Ebban Manor is a corrupted fey reveler who tries to lure the PCs into a trap with the Entangle spell.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/tB4Gm5w.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Ebban Manor proper is a mini-dungeon crawl of 13 rooms, most of which are unoccupied but contain some clues and journalistic writings of the manor’s former occupant descending into madness from the Mask’s influence. There’s a table of random encounters (mostly mundane animals plus stirges and violet fungi), and the non-random inhabitants include another corrupted fey reveler who is building clockwork sprites to patrol the area. The self-proclaimed Lord of Tanglewood and leader of the corrupted fey is a satyr by the name of Deradiz, who will try to lure the PCs to sleep with his pan pipes in the hopes of imprisoning and converting them to his cause. Dartis is with Deradiz in a converted shrine to the Exarchs of Shadow, acting as a trusted servant and enforce of the satyr’s will.</p><p></p><p>Dartis has the statistics of a scout, but is attuned to the Ebban Mask. Although I touched upon it in the last chapter, I should go over what it can do. It grants +2 to AC and 10 temporary hit points, and also grants telepathy and darkvision out to 60 feet. It also grants five spells for the wearer to cast: eldritch blast and mage hand at will, and also mislead, phantasmal killer, and telekinesis once per day each. Dartis’ soul is struggling against the Mask’s influence so his attacks have disadvantage and those resisting his spells have advantage, although such modifications cease in regards to any target who attacks him. PCs who successfully use Persuasion can impose further doubt in his mind, forcing him to not act on his turn per check. If Talaith is present he can grant advantage to such rolls, and 3 successful checks can cause Dartis to remove the Mask and throw it away. Deradiz will attempt to flee if the battle turns against him, taking the Ebban Mask if possible. Otherwise he will try to retrieve the Mask as a potential recurring villain if the PCs have it.</p><p></p><p>Although Dartis’ effectiveness in combat is blunted a bit, his spell allotment makes him a very deadly encounter. Phantasmal Killer is capable of doing 4d10 psychic damage on a failed Will save, and can be cumulative if a target continues failing. Mislead and Telekinesis are more manageable, but it’s very likely that Dartis may kill a PC. Add on top of this Deradiz’s panpipe music and the overall lethality of 1st-level adventures, this can be a very difficult encounter unless the PCs get the drop on both parties.</p><p></p><p>The adventure’s epilogue has several suggestions for further adventure material: dismantling the Shadow shrine will gradually reverse the taint in the region and some of the corrupted fey, and as the Ebban Mask cannot be physically destroyed it would be pertinent to deliver it into the hands of specialists to safeguard it from wrongdoers. Finally, Dartis and Talaith may be allies for the PCs in future adventures, and Dartis will need help shedding the Corruption from his soul.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> The new monsters in Chapter XII are few and far between, although the templates are convenient for customizing creatures. I mentioned earlier about Blue Rose’s relative lack of monsters, but the diverse concept of shadowspawn is a good means of importing creatures from the Monster Manual and other bestiaries into Aldea. I will say that I’m not really fond of the use of humanoids and giants as always-evil shadowspawn. The backstory of night people showcases that even those created by Shadow can become good. Furthermore, the variant ability score rules and use of “ancestry” instead of “race” was popularized by gamers who sought to move farther from D&D’s more problematic elements which this book uses. Although beast-folk existed in the AGE version and this cannot be laid entirely on the 5e conversion, the suggestions of taking humanoids such as goblins and troglodytes and using them as “always evil” cannon fodder goes against these ideals in a rather explicit manner.</p><p></p><p>As for Shadows of Tanglewood, thematically it’s a good way of introducing the characters to the dangers of Shadow, although for the broader themes of Blue Rose it is a bit lacking. The border guards are same-sex lovers so it has that LGBT+ content, and the corrupted person can be saved via <s>the Power of Friendship</s> via talking instead of murderhoboing. But it’s in a rather distant corner of Aldis, combat-heavy, and it’s quite easy for the PCs to die without outside help. I don’t know how the original adventure fared with the AGE system, but in terms of both fluff and crunch Shadows of Tanglewood doesn’t rate highly as an introduction to the setting.</p><p></p><p><strong>Final Thoughts:</strong> Blue Rose has always had a troubled history when it came to finding the ideal system for its world and themes. True20 was by no means bad for its time, but was still derived from a system that heavily prioritized combat, caster supremacy, and dungeon crawls. AGE committed many of the same sins while also not having a lot to distinguish itself from many fantasy heartbreakers. 5th Edition doesn’t stray far from the tree, its major advantage being a popular potential entry point to the world of Aldea. Unfortunately, the conversion makes it all the more clear just how poorly D&D fits into Blue Rose, and how many aspects of the world have to be changed around for even a passable fit. As such, campaigns utilizing the Blue Rose Adventurer’s Guide are more likely to feel like D&D with Romantic Fantasy rather than Romantic Fantasy Using the D&D Engine. And given the fact that the AGE version has much more fluff and setting material, Blue Rose’s most modern incarnation is clearly an inferior product in several ways.</p><p></p><p>I’ll be going back to my Brancalonia review, although I have a few ideas of what books to cover next. I’m debating whether to continue with 5e books or doing another system, or 5e books that aren’t settings for a change. I’ll probably have an answer by the end of Brancalonia.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8329841, member: 6750502"] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/mpasqkn.png[/img][/center] As far as fantasy RPGs go, the True20/AGE versions of Blue Rose weren’t exactly swimming in monster and NPC stat blocks. So in a strange way, 5th Edition’s cavalcade of creatures can be a great benefit. We do have some new monsters, although first we’ll detail existing beings and how they fit into Aldea. [i]Aldean Creature Tags[/i] discuss new descriptors that are added on top of base monsters. The first is (rhydan), which are intelligent animals and applied on top of creatures of the Beast type. Additionally, (shadowspawn) is a broad tag that represents creatures altered, transformed, and created by the occult and powers of Shadow. [i]Aldean Creature Types[/i] covers the basic 5e ones in broad strokes. Aberrations were created by the Shadow Lords or summoned from worlds beyond the shadow-gates, and are thus (shadowspawn) and almost always evil. Same for Monstrosities and Oozes, with the latter creature type being so rare as to be unique. Beasts are more or less unmodified save that dinosaurs didn’t exist on Aldea until occultists summoned them from worlds beyond the shadow-gates, and we have a sidebar of new Aldean Beasts such as greenwolves (fey-touched wolves that can can cast the druidcraft spell), Plains deer (tiny-sized deer found on the Rezean plains), and Talya-cats (panther-sized Siamese cats from which rhy-cats are derived). Celestials don’t exist on Aldea, and unicorns are instead beasts with the (rhydan) tag. Constructs are rare relics of the Old Kingdom and Shadow Lords. True Dragons don’t exist and are instead creatures of legend. But other dragon types such as pseudodragons and wyverns exist, the latter of which has the (shadowspawn) tag and are ridden by the Skull Knights of Kern. Elementals and Fey are spirits of the land, with fey a higher class of being formed from multiple elemental types. Neither have souls of the Eternal Dance and thus are incorporated back into the world’s foundation upon “death.” Plant monsters are in fact a type of elemental manifesting as a floral being. Blights are spirits tainted by Shadow, and myconids do not exist on Aldea but some suggestions are provided for where they’d be found if they do (mostly far-flung forest regions such as Wyss and the caverns of Kern). Fiends are more commonly known as darkfiends, servants of the Exarchs of Shadow, and all have telepathy if they don’t already have it due to being expert corruptors of the mind. Giants are warped humanoids born in Shadow-Touched areas, most common in the Golgan Badlands and are even more evil than their counterparts in other D&D worlds. The only Humanoids which exist in Aldea are the non-rhydan PC races. However, there exist beast-folk who can emulate the “evil humanoid” types such as goblins, troglodytes, and such and are evil (shadowspawn). Finally Undead are separated into two types: corpses and remains reanimated by occult magic, and souls of the Eternal Dance unable to pass on to the Wheel of Rebirth and trapped in unliving bodies. Intelligent undead can only come from the souls of the PC races, and undead of other creatures can only be reanimated as skeletons and zombies. [i]Modified Creatures[/i] note particular Monster Manual creatures and how they differ in Aldea. Centaurs are fey, doppelgangers are shadowspawn spies created by the Shadow Lords, stirges are shadowspawn with the Aberration type, griffons are intelligent rhydan with the supernatural abilities of a unicorn, while unicorns are also rhydan. Hippogriffs, lycanthropes, modrons, and slaadi don’t exist in Aldea. Merrow and sahuagin are sea-folk and aquatic beast-folk respectively tainted by Shadow. As for undead, Jarek is the last known lich, the other known ones being Shadow Lords who have (hopefully) been long laid to rest. Shadows are known as shades, and vampires are the most powerful undead and are a common sight among Kern’s hierarchy. Yetis live in the Ice-Binder Mountains on the Aldis-Kern border, and are more commonly known as “white howlers.” We have several stat blocks and templates for new creatures of Aldea. [i]The Fey[/i] have Reveler and Noble stat blocks; the former is a CR 1 being with various druidic-style abilities and can teleport and charm targets, while the latter is a more powerful version being CR 6 and attuned to one of the four elements that provide unique attacks and special qualities. [i]Rhydan[/i] provides stat blocks for NPC versions of the four sample rhydan races and are basically intelligent versions of their mundane animal counterparts. Rhydan is a simple template, adding +8 Intelligence, +4 Charisma, the ability to understand and speak languages, and the benefits of Psychic and Psychic Shield feats. For templates we have [i]Clockwork Creatures,[/i] artificial beings built during the Old Kingdom and Empire of Thorns. They change a creature’s type to construct, grant +4 Strength and Constitution, reduce Intelligence to 3 and Charisma to 1, gain a variety of construct-style damage immunities and conditions, blindsight 60 feet, advantage on saves vs magic, and are susceptible to anti-magic abilities which can render them unconscious. [i]Fiendish Creatures[/i] are darkfiends taking on a disguise in the mortal world, effectively becoming that creature. The template grants the fiend type, changes Intelligence and Charisma to 10, grants an assortment of damage resistances and immunities, darkvision and telepathy up to 60 feet, gains advantage on saves vs magic, and becomes evil alignment if not already. Finally, [i]Shatow-Touched Creatures[/i] are those who become corrupted by the Shadow, but are for NPCs rather than PCs. The creature gains the (shadowspawn) tag, adds double their proficiency bonus to Stealth, is immune to necrotic and poison damage and the poisoned condition, is vulnerable to radiant damage, gains darkvision 60 feet and advantage on Stealth checks in shadowy and lightless areas, suffers disadvantage on d20 rolls if in direct sunlight, and becomes evil alignment. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/015PFFo.png[/img][/center] This is a sample adventure for 4-6 1st level PCs. It was present in the AGE version as well, making this more or less a straight conversion. The pitch is that PCs are patrolling the Pavin Weald as part of their duties as the Sovereign’s Finest, and receive a psychic message of someone in trouble in the Tanglewood, a section of forest nearest the Ice-Binder Mountains and thus the kingdom of Kern. The source of the message is Talaith, an injured vata scout who watches over the border for soldiers and spies from that dread realm. His fellow guard and lover Dartis came upon the Ebban Mask, an occult artifact found within the ruins of a forested manor. The mask gradually took over his mind, forcing him to attack Talaith who realized the malign influence and managed to escape. The adventure proper begins as the PCs heed the call, and will come upon a sprite by the name of Florin who can impart some information and help pick up the trail, but the sprite will run away in fear as a pack of shadow-touched wolves come upon the party. After the fight, the PCs find Talaith who can be nursed back to health and returned to the outpost, but isn’t in any shape to sustain another fight. The last encounter the PCs get before coming to Ebban Manor is a corrupted fey reveler who tries to lure the PCs into a trap with the Entangle spell. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/tB4Gm5w.png[/img][/center] Ebban Manor proper is a mini-dungeon crawl of 13 rooms, most of which are unoccupied but contain some clues and journalistic writings of the manor’s former occupant descending into madness from the Mask’s influence. There’s a table of random encounters (mostly mundane animals plus stirges and violet fungi), and the non-random inhabitants include another corrupted fey reveler who is building clockwork sprites to patrol the area. The self-proclaimed Lord of Tanglewood and leader of the corrupted fey is a satyr by the name of Deradiz, who will try to lure the PCs to sleep with his pan pipes in the hopes of imprisoning and converting them to his cause. Dartis is with Deradiz in a converted shrine to the Exarchs of Shadow, acting as a trusted servant and enforce of the satyr’s will. Dartis has the statistics of a scout, but is attuned to the Ebban Mask. Although I touched upon it in the last chapter, I should go over what it can do. It grants +2 to AC and 10 temporary hit points, and also grants telepathy and darkvision out to 60 feet. It also grants five spells for the wearer to cast: eldritch blast and mage hand at will, and also mislead, phantasmal killer, and telekinesis once per day each. Dartis’ soul is struggling against the Mask’s influence so his attacks have disadvantage and those resisting his spells have advantage, although such modifications cease in regards to any target who attacks him. PCs who successfully use Persuasion can impose further doubt in his mind, forcing him to not act on his turn per check. If Talaith is present he can grant advantage to such rolls, and 3 successful checks can cause Dartis to remove the Mask and throw it away. Deradiz will attempt to flee if the battle turns against him, taking the Ebban Mask if possible. Otherwise he will try to retrieve the Mask as a potential recurring villain if the PCs have it. Although Dartis’ effectiveness in combat is blunted a bit, his spell allotment makes him a very deadly encounter. Phantasmal Killer is capable of doing 4d10 psychic damage on a failed Will save, and can be cumulative if a target continues failing. Mislead and Telekinesis are more manageable, but it’s very likely that Dartis may kill a PC. Add on top of this Deradiz’s panpipe music and the overall lethality of 1st-level adventures, this can be a very difficult encounter unless the PCs get the drop on both parties. The adventure’s epilogue has several suggestions for further adventure material: dismantling the Shadow shrine will gradually reverse the taint in the region and some of the corrupted fey, and as the Ebban Mask cannot be physically destroyed it would be pertinent to deliver it into the hands of specialists to safeguard it from wrongdoers. Finally, Dartis and Talaith may be allies for the PCs in future adventures, and Dartis will need help shedding the Corruption from his soul. [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] The new monsters in Chapter XII are few and far between, although the templates are convenient for customizing creatures. I mentioned earlier about Blue Rose’s relative lack of monsters, but the diverse concept of shadowspawn is a good means of importing creatures from the Monster Manual and other bestiaries into Aldea. I will say that I’m not really fond of the use of humanoids and giants as always-evil shadowspawn. The backstory of night people showcases that even those created by Shadow can become good. Furthermore, the variant ability score rules and use of “ancestry” instead of “race” was popularized by gamers who sought to move farther from D&D’s more problematic elements which this book uses. Although beast-folk existed in the AGE version and this cannot be laid entirely on the 5e conversion, the suggestions of taking humanoids such as goblins and troglodytes and using them as “always evil” cannon fodder goes against these ideals in a rather explicit manner. As for Shadows of Tanglewood, thematically it’s a good way of introducing the characters to the dangers of Shadow, although for the broader themes of Blue Rose it is a bit lacking. The border guards are same-sex lovers so it has that LGBT+ content, and the corrupted person can be saved via [s]the Power of Friendship[/s] via talking instead of murderhoboing. But it’s in a rather distant corner of Aldis, combat-heavy, and it’s quite easy for the PCs to die without outside help. I don’t know how the original adventure fared with the AGE system, but in terms of both fluff and crunch Shadows of Tanglewood doesn’t rate highly as an introduction to the setting. [b]Final Thoughts:[/b] Blue Rose has always had a troubled history when it came to finding the ideal system for its world and themes. True20 was by no means bad for its time, but was still derived from a system that heavily prioritized combat, caster supremacy, and dungeon crawls. AGE committed many of the same sins while also not having a lot to distinguish itself from many fantasy heartbreakers. 5th Edition doesn’t stray far from the tree, its major advantage being a popular potential entry point to the world of Aldea. Unfortunately, the conversion makes it all the more clear just how poorly D&D fits into Blue Rose, and how many aspects of the world have to be changed around for even a passable fit. As such, campaigns utilizing the Blue Rose Adventurer’s Guide are more likely to feel like D&D with Romantic Fantasy rather than Romantic Fantasy Using the D&D Engine. And given the fact that the AGE version has much more fluff and setting material, Blue Rose’s most modern incarnation is clearly an inferior product in several ways. I’ll be going back to my Brancalonia review, although I have a few ideas of what books to cover next. I’m debating whether to continue with 5e books or doing another system, or 5e books that aren’t settings for a change. I’ll probably have an answer by the end of Brancalonia. [/QUOTE]
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[Mini-Let's Read] The Blue Rose Adventurer's Guide (5e)
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