Such is the case with Good Society: An Expanded Acquaintance, a new book of expansions for the Jane Austen roleplaying game Good Society. The original core game was a Kickstarter hit, completing in March 2018, and while the Kickstarter campaign to fund print and digital copies of An Expanded Acquaintance has been live for just one day before the release of this article, the campaign has raised nearly three times its original goal.
Good Society is a game by Storybrewers Roleplaying, made up of Game Designer and Graphic Designer Vee Hendro and Game Designer and Lead Writer Hayley Gordon. The game is a storytelling-driven roleplaying game that invites a table of players to create their own Jane Austen novel over the course of a few sessions of gameplay. We had the opportunity to chat with Vee and Hayley about the game, the Kickstarter, and some of their favorite things about Good Society.
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For our readers who haven’t heard about you before, tell us a little bit about Storybrewers Roleplaying and about yourselves. How did you get started making games?
Vee Hendro: Storybrewers Roleplaying is is our commitment to bringing fun, off-beat tabletop roleplaying games to all the players out there! As for how we got started – we just kind of did! Neither of us has formal learning in game design, but we learned by making lots of games (some of our early ones were pretty terrible!). It’s a very fun and rewarding process, so I’m really glad to be involved with it.
Last year’s Kickstarter for the base game, Good Society, raised over $150,000 AUD to fund print and digital editions of the book and cards. Did the Kickstarter meet your expectations for demand?
Hayley Gordon: We were completely overwhelmed by the response to the Good Society Kickstarter and had to retire to our swooning couch post-haste! In all seriousness, we never expected so much interest and we are hugely grateful to every person who supported the project and helped make the game a reality.
I’ve been lucky enough to (virtually) talk to or play with a lot of the people who backed us, and they are super nice folks who have contributed to make the game so much better.
VH: Very much agree!
A love for tabletop roleplaying and a love for the works of Jane Austen don’t necessarily seem as if they’d go together, but the reaction to Good Society would beg to differ. What inspired you to create a game based on Austen’s work, and what’s some of your favorite feedback you’ve received by players of the game since it released last year?
HG: I’ve always been quite the Austen fan. However I remember the moment we first had the idea for the game – we were watching Pride and Prejudice (the 2005 version, sorry!) and I found myself thinking “what would I do in this position?” And in my experience when you find yourself thinking that it’s a sign there’s fertile ground for a roleplaying game. So we did the thing!
Favourite feedback has to be when people tell us about their games and all the shenanigans that unfolded – particularly when they share all the brutal shade the characters threw at each other!
VH: I love the feedback from first-time roleplayers who tell us “I’m not usually a roleplayer, but this was something I really wanted to play – I had a great time.” It’s awesome to see new people approaching TTRPGs through this game.
Which of Jane Austen’s novels would you say has influenced you and your work the most?
HG: Ooooh that’s a really hard one to answer as they all have in their own way. For me, I would definitely say the central two are Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion.
Pride and Prejudice not only sparked the original idea, but really embodies the game’s moniker of scandal, drama, manners and marriage! I vibed a lot off that novel.
Persuasion for me was the source of the more serious undertone in Austen’s work that I think is just as important – that undercurrent of desire and longing that makes her novels so compelling.
VH: For me, the character of Emma is particularly instructive in the many ways that scheming and meddling can be great fun! I’d also add that lots of inspiration came from the different ways that her works have been adapted over the years, from TV adaptations to movies like Love & Friendship.
Good Society: An Expanded Acquaintance will collect four different game expansions, including two that were released digitally last year as part of the original Kickstarter. What can players expect from the expansions when they release?
Here’s a little bit about each of our expansions! (we have a longer and more detailed explanation on our website here):
PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND PRACTICAL MAGICS
Pride, Prejudice and Practical Magics adds a magical backdrop to regency society and provides your characters with both the power and the burden of arcane arts and otherworldly politics. Cast spells and manipulate magical factions to achieve your own ends – but remember, no magic is without a price.
DOWNSTAIRS AT THE ABBEY
Downstairs at the Abbey explores the hidden lives of servants and the trials and tribulations they face. If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, Longbourn or Girl with a Pearl Earring you’ll really enjoy this expansion.
In it, you tell parallel stories of life upstairs and downstairs which cross and entangle in unexpected ways.
SENSE, SENSIBILITY AND SWORDSMANSHIP
Sense, Sensibility and Swordsmanship adds evil plots, daring deeds and deadly secrets to Jane Austen’s world. Take on a masked identity by night, whether you are a vigilante fighting for justice, or a bounty hunter tracking down thieves and criminals in the shadows.
EMMA, FORGET ME NOT
Emma, Forget Me Not tells sprawling stories about the rise and fall of fortunes and careers, and the bittersweet taste of longing. It’s inspired by novels like Wuthering Heights, Master and Commander and North and South. Imagine if Persuasion had started eight years earlier when Captain Wentworth went to sea.
Follow the progress of your naval career, textiles empire or family household as decades pass, punctuated with single, lingering moments of love, loss and reunion
VH: On top of all this, players can also mixed these expansions together to create even more unique stories!
This might be like asking about your favorite child, but… do you have a favorite out of the four expansions to be included in the Kickstarter?
HG: Cruel! But I think we both do have a favourite in our deepest heart of hearts.
Personally I’m a massive Downton Abbey fan so I’m super pumped for Downstairs at the Abbey. That said, I’ve had an amazing amount of fun so far playing Sense, Sensibility and Swordsmanship with all the double identities, crazy action sequences and shock revelations that the expansion always delivers!
VH: My soft spot is for Pride, Prejudice & Practical Magics, though I fear it may be just an enchantment laid upon me. I have high hopes for both Downstairs at the Abbey and Emma, Forget Me Not and look forward to playing these with our Kickstarter backers.
For players who don’t own a copy of Good Society yet, will the Kickstarter include options for print and/or digital versions of the core game?
HG: It sure will! You can grab the new stuff, the old stuff, or the lot.
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about Good Society or roleplaying games?
HG: No matter what you love, there’s a roleplaying game out there somewhere for it! In the last few years we’ve seen games to cover every genre from queer supernatural high school drama (Monsterhearts) to game of throne style face offs (The King is Dead). Go find what you love!
Oh, and also if you’re just digging your toes into roleplaying and aren’t ready to commit to a purchase we have stacks of free games here.
VH: It’s been really nice seeing more and more diversity in RPG players and creators, with more marginalised people getting involved. RPGs are for everyone!
How can our readers keep up with Storybrewers online?
You can follow us on twitter (Hayley: @storybrewers and Vee @rocketeer_vee), and Facebook (Storybrewers Roleplaying), or check out our website.
