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Our gaming group had our first session of Vaesen last night. The consensus seemed very positive overall and the players enjoyed the setting. The players consisted of a Hunter, Private Investigator and a Servant. I decided to start the session in Stockholm with the players being acquaintances and Linnea speaking to them in a dream. Ultimately the players took time to research and dig into the heritage of the Castle and The Society. This then led them to head to Upsala and seek out the Castle. The game felt like a "slow burn" but in a good way. Ultimately, the players arrived at the castle and met up with Algot Frisk who provided a bit more information. I wanted Linnea to be more mysterious and unknown so I decided to make her a patient at the asylum. This played well into her providing bits of information in and our of her lucid states. It made for a great role playing scene when the players arrived and had to find a way to see Linnea. It also created a lot of mystery around what happened to her, how did she come to be there, etc. After the players concluded the scene they returned to the castle and that is where I introduced the letter from "Klint". By this time the gaming night was winding down and a great place to stop until the next session.

My initial thoughts
- This was our first experience with a year zero engine. My players mostly have a background with D&D 5E, CoC, etc. Rolling only when needed and offering rewards for role playing took a bit to get used to, as the other systems we play are so dice heavy.
- On the same note, as a starting GM I was probably overly cautious on skill checks and probably rewarded more "information" than I should have for role playing. I found myself being timid on the players receiving conditions. I was a little worried it would slow the game down vs. making the game interesting and dynamic.
- Preparation is key. As Vaesen plays like a "who done it?" as a GM you really need to be familiar with the clues, information and how the story will unfold. Vaesen seems to really shine when you can let the mystery unfold naturally. I was quite prepared for the opening session but there were a couple of things the players did that I had to improvise. One example was I had overlooked Olympus on the Upsala map, and of course the players asked around about it. I ended making it into a elegant hotel, rather than the newpaper shop. A small thing but a detail I'll have to follow through going forward.
- I really like how the skills are generalized, to allow for flexibility. It did take the players a little while to figure that out. This was especially true for a couple of the players coming from a CoC background where you have a ton of skills.
- Given the session was more of an information gathering type session, it felt like the hunter was a little out of his element. We are starting "Dance of Dreams" next session and his skills will be more helpful. I plan on trying to work more ways for the player to enjoy the archtype. But this can happen in any system.
- Each player came up with their dark secret and have a unique idea. I didn't implement them into the opening session. Given we are going to play another couple of sessions, I didn't want to rush and fumble these scenes into the game.


The big take away for us is that Vaesen is a finesse style of game. Players that thrive on role playing out their scenes vs. rolling dice to make something happen found the game very rewarding. As I have a mix of player styles in my group, I plan on trying to encourage this aspect of the game with those who prefer dice to see if I can get buy in. We will be playing again next week and will drop back with an update for those that are interested.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Tenz

Hi Tenz

I think your observations are spot on. It is much more of a 'social encounters' game - and can be less fun for the die hard murder hobos. Remember that you can fail forward, no successes can mean they achieve their aim but at an additional cost; picking lock opens the door but breaks the mechanism so now their entry will not go unnoticed.
Dance of Dreams can really become action focused once the 'puppets' wake up, feel free to add more guests in the inn if you have a larger group who are itching for some old school dice rolling - those conditions can stack pretty quick!