Tempted to Run Blue Rose backwards

[Nisarg]

So you are saying that they DON'T call it justice?



Do all nations in this setting get to protect their rulers with this effectiveness? Or is there something more to this than simply protecting their ruler?

Well, on the game level there's the deus ex machina of making sure that no one can successfully change Aldis' political system, ever. They get to forever be slaves of the MAGIC DEER, citizens of a nanny-state kingdom that treats its citizens as children, with no possibility of ever evolving into something like rationalism or democracy.

Nisarg

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

No, I'm pretty sure they call it protecting their ruler.

It was a joke.

I think the only reason that people get more interested in turning BR on its head than, for example, turning "orcs vs. elves" around is because in BR, because it's tied into a real-world silliness it'a more obvious to people. They're both sillinesses, it'd just that in BR it's connected to the real world and therefore more obvious.

 

[Razuur]

Hmmm, does Godlike propagate a Nazi agenda because you can play a nazi supernatural?

Does Viking Age promote brigandage, raping, and looting because you can play a viking?

Does Spycraft promote assassination becasue you can assassinate someone?

Blue Rose emulates a genre, not a view on the universe.

It is amazing how worked up people are getting over this game.

Oh yah, and the rules are real neat an 90% of the book.

Razuur

 

[BryonD]

Blue Rose emulates a genre, not a view on the universe.

The genre has a built in view of the universe, making the second half of your statement incorrect.

It is amazing how worked up people are getting over this game.

I find it amazing how worked up people get over others challenging the moral presumptions of the setting.

 

[Nisarg]

Hmmm, does Godlike propagate a Nazi agenda because you can play a nazi supernatural?

If Godlike had a setting where "Nazi supermen are our superiors"; where it was blatantly clear that the Nazi government was a utopia, and the people in it lived in happiness and peace while other lands lived in misery; and where all characters who questioned or opposed Nazism were either ignorant at the very best, or more likely stupid and evil, then I might say it was propagating a Nazi agenda.

Nisarg

 

[WayneLigon]

... And while "slave" may be a strong term for its own rhetorical purpose, not voluntarily submitting your actions to the moral code of the Golden Hart defines you as one of the setting bad guys.

And you can be fair and just and still be "evil" if your own ideas of fair and just are not in tune with the Golden Hart's. I'll take D&D alignment over that any day.

The Hart helps prevent them from having a monarch that is just in it for himself, that will ruin the country with taxes or foolish wars of expansion or building a empire for her personal agrandizement. He helps find a monarch that will work for the people, be a good steward of the country, and in general be something that the rest of the people can look up to. He doesn't always succeed, and as noted in the book a ruler can turn away from the people. He shows up, marks them with the 'sorry, throw this one back' symbol and leaves. It's apparent that the Hart itself doesn't do anything else. The court, the military and everyone else would be the ones to deal with getting rid of the monarch. Presumably if they didn't, the Hart would just go 'silly gits' and eat celestial grass or something and protect the Rhydan until things changed.

For the nobility, you don't have entrenched dynasties of power that don't have to answer to anyone. You have powerful families and interests, which only serves to make things in the setting interesting and prevents it from being a true (and thus boring) paradise - but those entrusted with true power over others have to have at least be vetted for by passing the test. They can and do change later, but at least people can rest somewhat easier knowing that going into the position the noble isn't a total bastard.

This last actually expands your story ideas and plays directly into the romantic fantasy angle of the setting. Everyone likes a sympathetic villain. When the PC's deal with a noble who is cruel or greedy they can't sit back and think 'well he's just a totally evil person'. At some point, he wasn't or he wouldn't now be a noble. Much more interesting to look at this man now and wonder 'how did he go from being what he was to what he is now; what turned him into this?' And also they should be thinking 'I think of myself as a good person, but so was he at one time. Could I become like that?'.

Certainly an improvement on many kingdoms where the ruler is hereditary (and if he's been nice you can only cross your fingers that his son isn't going to be a tyrant), more often than not has no real brakes put on his power, and can only be deposed in a bloody revolution that kills thousands and leaves the kingdom ripe for takeover by someone who's probably worse than the previous king.

From the text, it appears as if nobody else but the monarch and potential nobles has to have anything to do with the Hart or the scepter.

There is not one damn thing that says most Aldins think that everyone oppossed to them are evil. Misguided, yes. As long as they behave themselves, they encourage people from other nations to settle there because they can afford to be compassionate; they have tons of rich farmland and clear water.

There isn't even as clear a demarcation of good and evil such as there is in D&D.

Light
Light-aligned individuals follow their Light nature, doing their best to overcome their Shadow nature. Generally, the Light-aligned believe in community and the good of all over mere self-interest. They seek peace, harmonious coexistence, and the general good; although, there is sometimes disagreement as to what exactly is best for everyone.

Shadow
Shadow-aligned individuals follow their Shadow nature, ignoring the twinges of conscience from their Light nature. The Shadow-aligned are typically selfish and solely interested in satisfying their own desires and goals. Some justify what they want, but many don’t bother. The Shadow-aligned are interested in cooperation and community only so far as it benefits them.

Twilight
Twilight-aligned individuals are balanced between their Light and Shadow natures, shi�ing between them. Some are torn between the two sides of their character, while others manage a careful balancing act between their own wants and what they feel is right and proper.

 

[Desdichado]

There isn't even as clear a demarcation of good and evil such as there is in D&D.

I disagree. The two demarcations are very different, and almost imcomparable. In D&D characters can be evil, but as they're fictional anyway, that's no big deal to anyone playing. In Blue Rose a worldview can be evil, and as such worldviews can be mapped to current worldviews outside of the game, that's a bigger deal.

So yeah, you've got light and shadow instead of good and evil. Despite the lack of the same terminology, I think Blue Rose certainly is more overt in it's "preachiness" than the fact that D&D has its alignments.

 

[Gomez]

I wonder why the The Red Star Campaign Setting didn't produce such a fervor.

 

[Rikandur Azebol]

Guys ! Guys ! And Ladies.

Someone there is misinterpreting all things. In all romantic fantasy/fiction etc. movies and books that I had read/watched there wasn't something like.

We are good, if You disagree You are evil.

It was alvays more like, main chars are created to be sympathetic, so reciver of the story would be happy when His opponent, dangerous but with his own charm, will get beaten.

There is nothing about good and evil in Blue Rose, in my opinion. Simply creators of the setting tried to make Aldis more sympathetic for people buying it than it's neigbourns. That's all ... and I propose people disagreeing, like Aphrodite and Nisarg to clearly state what they dislike/like and if they care, to write "why". Then real debate could start. For now it si slowly going into meaningless flaming.

So says MAGIC DEER !

P.S. And I'm of course Shadow aligned.

 

[Razuur]

The genre has a built in view of the universe, making the second half of your statement incorrect.

I find it amazing how worked up people get over others challenging the moral presumptions of the setting.

By "the universe" I meant it's implications on the REAL universe/real world/real life. Not the game universe.

I am not sure what you mean by the second part, I think you are agreeing.

A game is a game. I respectfully disagree. I ran a game in WOD in which a player was a mummy in WWII, and he did some rather atrocious things. Am I nazi - never. Do either of us believe or promote nazism? Nope. But RPing is about RPing something outside of yourself. Should we take this opinion about a PC playing a tiefling being part demon or Mongoose's new game Infernum playing a demon lord? I guess that makes them proponent of satanism and demonology, right? Wrong, unless your name is Jack Chick.

Itr is a game, and all RP games are about experience.

Razuur

Razuur