Rosewood Abbey hits a significant milestone with this major update and new play-aids.

If you like backstory, I started writing this one while on holiday at Centre Park. 

I recently felt old when our Google Image overlord reminded me that it happened more than two years ago. 

*Insert "It's been 84 years" meme*

This update happened thanks to the encouragement and excellent feedback from our first playtest series (available via YouTube). A huge thank you to Sabine, Jim, Kieron, and Michele. 

What's new?

Urgh... Where do I start?

There's a lot so please excuse if the following is in a somewhat random order.

Routine almanac

This little piece of play-aid should help the Cantor and the players to get their heads around the daily life at the Abbazia di Palissandro.

The Abbazia di Palissandro days and nights are "strictly" regimented by the routine established by St Benedict’s Rule (or rather the following play structure it loosely inspired). The hours mentioned for reference below would change depending on seasons.

This almanac is freely inspired by monastic life. It's simplified (it's complicated enough as it is) to inspire Rosewood Abbey sessions. I leave to the most dedicated among you to identify how it differs from historical practices.

The routine is intended as a framework for the Cantor and the players. It offers a robust rhythm for the narration while identifying breathing spaces for the creativity solicited for Vignettes and Memories. It is welcome to flex or ignore the proposed routine whenever it’s fostered by fictional circumstances, participants’ improvisation, bravado, inspiration, or tastes.  

Friar moves

The Friar Moves are the subject of various updates. It mostly boils down to making "Prick of a Thorn" a player choice rather than something that happens automatically when a 7-9 is rolled. Several moves also offer opportunities to rewrite a Talk of the Moment. This will hopefully lead to fun twists in how your Rumor Mill turns out.

On a 12+, you find a Clue.
In addition, you find a second Clue OR rewrite a Talk of the Moment already transcribed in the Rumor Mill.
You can change its details including whether it is Virtuous or Sinful.
The total number of Sinful and Virtuous Rumors from the Rumors Tracker is unchanged.
The Cantor and the Players agree on a scene that is an opportunity for the Fratres Herodoti to convincingly make to a group of monks and/or locals.

Providence moves

"Providence" is a new designation gathering all the moves directly tied to the Rumor Mill. It includes the Spinning Rumors move, the Prick of a Thorn move, Tribunal & Judgement move.

The section also includes new details regarding the Rumor Mill. In the future, the Rumor Mill explanations might move to a dedicated section (feel free to make suggestions).

When a Talk of the Moment is needed, it isn't written by the player who triggers the Prick of a Thorn move. Instead, that player designates another player. This enables the former to concentrate on their Virtuous/Sinful memory. Meanwhile, the latter focuses on transcribing a Talk of the Moment (more about that below).

Players don't have to come up with their Sinful/Virtuous Memory or Talk of the Moment on the spot. They're encouraged to do so at an appropriate time later in the game. The Routine recommends times when it's appropriate to narrate those creations.

When marking a Thorn of Virtue:
- Mark any of the 7 virtues on your sheet: Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, Humility
- At the next convenient time (see The Routine - page 6), narrate a memory that answer either of the following:
        o How does this virtue apply to someone you resent for over-indulging in it?
        o  How were you mistakenly praised for abiding by this virtue?
- Mark one Virtuous Rumor in the Rumor Mill tracker. There can only be either a Virtuous or Sinful Rumor per column.
- Designate another player to transcribe a virtuous Talk of the Moment. This player will narrate this Talk of the Moment at the first convenient time .

Rumor Mill

The currently available version of the Rumor Mill is for around 4 sessions. This includes seven Rumors Tracker slots. I should soon add versions for around 6 sessions (9 slots) and 8 sessions (13 slots). More playtesting is needed to identify if the estimated numbers of sessions match.

Sections are added for The Ancient, the Virtuous Figure, and the Sinful Figure (more about them later).

The Rumor Mill doesn't include pre-written text to fill in. The previous version turned out to be too vague. Instead, the Rumor Mill is mostly blank with Talk of the Moment areas where players transcribe texts pulled from the Rumor Apocrypha (more about it later). 

The Ancient, the Virtuous Figure, and the Sinful Figure

As part of framing things better, players are now invited to identify three characters as they populate the Rumor Mill.

The Ancient

At the beginning of the first session, the players roll or pick the Ancient’s name from the following table. Alternatively, the players can also make up a name. 
The Ancient is the subject of speculations, wonders, and fears. The inquisitive Fratres Herodoti doubt such a character ever existed, yet few events go by at the Abbazia di Palissandro and its neighboring village without being blamed or praised for it.

The Virtuous Figure and Sinful Figure

Once it’s time to fill the first “Obsession” Talk of the Moment, the designated player must pick a character among the suspects encountered through the current and previous mysteries. Write the suspect’s name in the Rumor Mill in the designated space for the Virtuous or Sinful Figure. 
This suspect becomes the Virtuous Figure or Sinful Figure based on whether the Talk of the Moment is itself virtuous or sinful. Later another figure might be picked for the second. In any case, there’s only one Virtuous Figure and one Sinful Figure for the duration of the campaign.

Moving forward, the Ancient, Virtuous Figure and Sinful Figure all play a role when a player transcribes a Talk of the Moment from the Rumors Apocrypha to the Rumor Mill.

Rumor Apocrypha

As mentioned above, playtests identified the need to be more prescriptive with the Talk of the Moment. The solution was inspired by Cy_Borg's "Miserable Headlines". The Rumor Apocrypha is a collection of pre-written potential Talk of the Moment for the designated player to transcribe.

The Delusions include mentions of (The Ancient) to be replaced with the name the players rolled or made up. The Obsessions and Deliriums include the (Virtuous Figure) or (Sinful Figure).

The act of transcribing isn’t as straightforward as one might imagine. Details might change when copied by overworked or facetious scribes under the spell of Titivillus. In game terms, the designated player is welcomed to adapt the prompt as they see fit.

When they do so, they should keep in mind what distinguishes Delusion, Obsession, and Delirium Talks of the Moment.

Delusion applies to local legends regarding the region and the Abbazia di Palissandro several generations ago, too long for anyone alive to remember.

Obsession applies to how the past and The Ancient bleed into the present. Locals increasingly indulge in their wishes or fears that someone among them, the virtuous or sinful figure, continues The Ancient’s legacy.

While they increasingly thrive in the region, both Delusion and Obsession remain hearsay with little or no truth behind them.
Delirium applies to an event occurring when the designated player narrates them. The Fratres Herodoti should directly witness this event or be informed of it. They should be compelled to intervene to stop it or to mitigate its consequences within the community and on the hapless Virtuous or Sinful Figure.

The Rumors Apocrypha is probably what will require the most attention moving forward. I didn't even come up with 8 virtuous and sinful ones for the Obsessions (but I really really wanted to release this update without further delays). They're not proofread at all yet. Playtesting is needed to see which ones are popular and work best. I'm hopeful it should be less confusing and time-hungry than the more freeform version of the previous version of the rules.

Just one more thing

There's probably more I could write about here (I should have posted multiple devlogs along the way instead of this infodump) but here's a last one.

Collaboration sheet

What's better than a playtester pointing out an issue AND then immediately suggesting a potential solution to this issue?

Thanks, Sabine for bringing to my attention the Collaboration Sheet from Good Society: A Jane Austen RPG.

Sabine recommended this tool for the Cantor and players to agree on the level of historical accuracy. I took advantage of it to also agree on safety tools, and tone, and clarify explicitly some things regarding various prejudices. 

Like the Rumor Apocrypha, the Collaboration Sheet wasn't proofread yet. 

It will also need some playtesting and feedback.

What's next

First, I plan to rest a bit. 

I took advantage of some holidays abroad to give Rosewood Abbey a big push.

On the one hand, I'm excited about taking the project further. On the other, I need a breath. Google Image reminded me recently that I started this project two years ago.  I wish it would go faster but it is what it is. I'm glad with my approach to developing my projects before engaging in any crowdfunding campaign. 

I'm thankful for the help from my playtesters, Simon with proofreading/reviewing, Sean F Smith's who wrote a mystery (playtested but not published yet - coming soon), and ArranRP who motivated a GM to try Rosewood Abbey on their Discord.

Please, everyone, have a read and ideally a go at playing Rosewood Abbey. 

Leave a comment below or email me about your experience and feedback.

Sincerely.

Kalum

PS: I still need to update the Gdoc Character Keeper. I'll do so before the end of the week. Thanks for your patience.