The talk at Gen Con might have been about a crop of forthcoming dark RPGs like Wrath & Glory, Vampire: the Masquerade 5e and The Witcher RPG but this month a very different style of tabletop adventure opened up to pre-orders.
Storybrewers Roleplaying are now taking pre-orders on Good Society: A Jane Austen Roleplaying Game.
Good Society is a tabletop RPG about romance and manners. It’s also a tabletop game about scandals, obligation and social ambition. Just like in Austen’s books there’s, at times, quite a different undercurrent to the stories of gentlemen and ladies sharing sly glances and taking turns about the garden.
While Good Society might be quite removed from space marines of the far war-torn future and orc corruption there absolutely is a demand for it. The Storybrewer team raised AU$150,000 for it on Kickstarter with well over 2,500 backers.
Every character has four components; a character role, a family background, a relationship and a secret desire. Is this the sort of story that a group of talented voice actors streamers could bring to life in a soap opera-esq way and bring in the crowds? Perhaps.
You can have Good Society as a full colour and hardcover book. The Kickstarter said over 150 pages. There are also decks of NPC cards (such as non-male, non-white regency characters) to assist the Facilitator quickly conjure up scenes.
Good Society: A Jane Austen Roleplaying Game Preview
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The Storybrewers Roleplaying team have been kind enough to share with Geek Native and readers a glance inside the final book. No one has seen this artwork before.
What we have is a diverse group of (apparent) friends out on a picknick. It’s the introduction to the Collaboration section which reinforces Good Society’s storytelling approach to gaming.
Collaboration lets the players and Facilitator make important decisions about the story’s tone and content. It gives all participants equal control over the game, and helps to make sure everyone feels comfortable during play. It’s a simple and quick process, but an essential one.
Your group will perform Collaboration once at the start of each new game of Good Society. All players should have the chance to contribute during this process to that everyone has a say in shaping the story ahead.
Watch a Good Society actual play
Want to learn more about Good Society? Check out Storybrewer’s page or watch an, in costume, actual play from Geek Space TV featuring Lauren Bond as Facilitator while Andy Solorsano, Aria Coveney, Lizzie B and Aljernon Bolden play characters.
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