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Hullo, folks,

The eighth chapter in the Vaesen RPG rulebook is all about the Vaesen.

This is what the game is all about!

Needless to say, I'm not going to reveal too much about stuff from this chapter... This chapter marks the beginning of the section of the rulebook that players should not be reading. It covers the true nature of the vaesen (for the GM), where they can be found, magic, and the rules for vaesen and their game stats, leading into the description of 21 specific vaesen. It is superb material, offers a real different kind of feel to the horror genre, and will make each vaesen unique.

This is followed by material on specific vaesen. Twenty-one beasties lovingly rendered and written up very nicely. Following that are some basic animal stats and some stats for humans of various types. In many ways, this is the meat chapter of the Vaesen RPG rulebook to this point, with the rationale for some of the creatures provided and with a very storytelling oriented approach to them. The section on the vaesen makes for excellent reading, with an Examples of Conflict section for each vaesen that provides scenario ideas and material all over the place. Just excellent!

If I had one wish for this chapter, it is that there would have been more vaesen included!

So far, this is the best chapter of the rulebook to this point, and I'm hoping the rest of the book material for the Gamemaster is as good and engrossing a read as this chapter was.

JohnK, you missed the idea with setting. This game is all about solving mysteries in the mythic north, not in the historical north. The book give some basic information about the setting but then it also say:

Use what you know, or think you know, about the 19th century, or whatever fantasies you might have about the era <>

So if you want to focus on a historical correct 19th century Scandinavia, then you have to do some research, but the idea is to use the information in the book and then add whatever you know about the 19th century Scandinavia or think you know about the 19th century Scandinavia. The mysteries focuses about various Vaesen and NPCs not that the location of the mystery is historical correct.

Hullo, folks,

The ninth chapter of the Vaesen RPG is appropriately enough titled The Mystery.

This is the chapter of the rulebook that deals with adventuring in the game world, creating adventures (or Mysteries, as the game calls them), and offers some solid advice on how to design adventures and things to watch out for.

I can't really say all that much about this section without giving away a lot, but the elements of a scenario/mystery in the Vaesen RPG are key to it all. There are lots of examples provided here,
some random tables that can be used to generate an adventure/mystery for the game, and some interesting GM technique tips.

This is a well written chapter, highly insightful, and worth reading for every GM out there.

Hullo, folks,

The tenth chapter of the Vaesen RPG is a scenario called "The Dance of Dreams."

Obviously, I'm not going to reveal any details about the adventure itself. "The Dance of Dreams" is an 18-page adventure for the game that shows off some of the system elements well, but doesn't really seem all that good as an introductory adventure for the Vaesen RPG in many ways to me. I can't really say all that much more about it without spoiling the plot and experience, but it reminds me of a few adventures I've seen in other horror rpgs.

This one definitely has the flavour of the game world and is unique in its own way. I just wouldn't use it as an introductory adventure to the game. Ymmv,

Hullo, folks,

The eleventh, and final, chapter (if it can be called that) of the Vaesen RPG rulebook is the Background Tables.

This chapter is actually the alternate life path character creation method (that was mentioned back in Chapter 2) and is a solid chapter with some interesting options, creates a character that really fits the game world, and offers a heck of a lot of surprises, some good and some bad. The randomness of the character created could be a challenge for some players to put the pieces together into a whole, but since one can also choose one's results on the various tables rather than randomly roll dice for them, I think it's quite a lovely little system for handling character creation through life paths.

What really makes this section special, and this is true of all games that use Life Path tables and charts for character creation, is that each character created through this method *feels* like it belongs in the world of the Vaesen RPG, is based around a series of events (or random circumstances) that provide some background on the game world and brings this game universe to life a bit more (at least for this Gamemaster).

Lovely set of game resources, and these tables can also serve as inspiration for both players and GMs who might need it.


And that's my reading of the Vaesen RPG rulebook. Once I spend some time absorbing everything I've read in the main rulebook, I'll create a couple of characters using the regular rules and the life path rules. Should be...interesting, and fun.

Hullo, Fenhorn,

JohnK, you missed the idea with setting. This game is all about solving mysteries in the mythic north, not in the historical north. The book give some basic information about the setting but then it also say:

Use what you know, or think you know, about the 19th century, or whatever fantasies you might have about the era <>

So if you want to focus on a historical correct 19th century Scandinavia, then you have to do some research, but the idea is to use the information in the book and then add whatever you know about the 19th century Scandinavia or think you know about the 19th century Scandinavia. The mysteries focuses about various Vaesen and NPCs not that the location of the mystery is historical correct.

To be honest, my friend, I didn't miss what the idea is with the setting at all. I understand that it's meant to be a game about the mythic, and not the historical, North. That is to me one of the strengths of the game. I adore folklore, and that's one of the central elements of the game.

But when it comes down to it, I'm a North American (well Canadian, specifically) not a European and though I do have an education that covered some of the history and the like of Scandinavia, it's not something that I (and perhaps other North Americans or those elsewhere) know about. Let alone have fantasies about.

I don't want to run a game that is historically correct or even based in the real, historical 19th Century Scandinavia. That said, the world in which the players and their characters play and live has to have a feeling of verisimilitude to it. If it doesn't, the sensa wonda and the players' ability to believe in the game world environment/place they're in won't work all that well.

What I'm likely to do for this game is to pick a community or place for an adventure, read up on what I can find on it on Wikipedia or other sources, and then give it a fantasy and horror spin based on that. That will likely work for me, quite well, as long as I keep a few notes to keep the version of my game world consistent.

I´ll be glad to help you out.

Here are a couple of links
https://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/history/summary/ - brief history if the University
https://ekomuseum.se/en/ - The region of Bergslagen west of Uppsala, for me perfect setting for mysteries with lots of mines, forests, ironworks and more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla_Uppsala

I've compiled some basic background information for a game I'm about to run for some non-Swedes. I'll see if I can format it in a useful way and maybe post it somewhere here on the forums.