What do you think?
Rate this book
Nordiska väsen - rollspelet
Nordiska väsen : Skräckrollspel i 1800-talets Norden
Välkommen till ett 1800-talets Norden där myterna är verkliga. Där vindpinade vidder täcks av ändlösa skogar, och ett fåtal städer står likt upplysningens ensliga fyrbåkar – en föraning om den stundande industrialiseringen. På landsbygden härskar fortfarande den gamla tron. Där vet folk vad som döljer sig i mörkret. De vet att dessa varelser måste blidkas. Fruktas.
Nordiska väsen – skräckrollspel i 1800-talets Norden är skrivet av Nils Hintze och baserat på illustratören och författaren Johan Egerkrans konstbok med samma namn. Spelet presenterar en mörk gotisk värld, stöpt i nordisk folktro och uråldriga myter. Spelreglerna använder en anpassad version av den prisbelönade År Noll-motorn.
Nordiska väsen – skräckrollspel i 1800-talets Norden är skrivet av Nils Hintze och baserat på illustratören och författaren Johan Egerkrans konstbok med samma namn. Spelet presenterar en mörk gotisk värld, stöpt i nordisk folktro och uråldriga myter. Spelreglerna använder en anpassad version av den prisbelönade År Noll-motorn.
235 pages, Hardcover
First published July 9, 2020
43 people are currently reading
238 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
March 12, 2023
This is a fascinating game of solving mysteries and confronting creatures from fairy tales and folklore. Stories in the roleplaying system focus more on solving mysteries than on combat, although combat is also included. However, combat is not always needed to solve a mystery. Sometimes a creature is acting up because of something that humans have done. By removing the thing that is irritating the creature, it is possible to solve the mystery without killing or banishing the creature. The artwork in the book is beautiful and evokes a dark and mysterious atmosphere.
My intuition is that it would take an experienced GM to run this game. Games hinge on clues that players find from their investigations. So, a GM would have to be skilled at giving clues without creating the sense that he or she is just telling the players how to solve the mystery. I'm not confident that I would be able to do that well, but the only way to get good at that is to get practice, so if you're not feeling confident as a GM, give it a try anyway.
My intuition is that it would take an experienced GM to run this game. Games hinge on clues that players find from their investigations. So, a GM would have to be skilled at giving clues without creating the sense that he or she is just telling the players how to solve the mystery. I'm not confident that I would be able to do that well, but the only way to get good at that is to get practice, so if you're not feeling confident as a GM, give it a try anyway.
December 11, 2021
I always wonder if I should post reviews of role playing books - true the site does recognise the ISBN number so it must be fair game but then again this site is powered by Amazon and that bemouth will probably have every ISBN on record store somewhere.
Anyway the thing is that I used to enjoy playing the games especially the more obscure horror and weird it was. And even to this day the books fascinate me if for no other reason than the creativity and sheer amount of work that must go in to producing these books.
So here you have an exquisitely illustrated book (really look them up) about a hidden Nordic world of the Vaesen and how you are one of a special few who try and work out what is going on - for good or bad.
So why give this such high praise - well even if you have no intention of running any of the games these books are a wealth of source material, ideas and concepts presented in a matter of fact way. So if you were ever looking for inspiration or just curious who something really is these books are an absolute mine of information.
And finally the publisher Free League have such amazingly high production standards the books is glorious and should have space on your shelves for that reason alone and if you want more they publish books on tales from the loop, Aliens and many more and will shortly be giving Bladerunner a similar treatment - I cannot wait
Anyway the thing is that I used to enjoy playing the games especially the more obscure horror and weird it was. And even to this day the books fascinate me if for no other reason than the creativity and sheer amount of work that must go in to producing these books.
So here you have an exquisitely illustrated book (really look them up) about a hidden Nordic world of the Vaesen and how you are one of a special few who try and work out what is going on - for good or bad.
So why give this such high praise - well even if you have no intention of running any of the games these books are a wealth of source material, ideas and concepts presented in a matter of fact way. So if you were ever looking for inspiration or just curious who something really is these books are an absolute mine of information.
And finally the publisher Free League have such amazingly high production standards the books is glorious and should have space on your shelves for that reason alone and if you want more they publish books on tales from the loop, Aliens and many more and will shortly be giving Bladerunner a similar treatment - I cannot wait
August 7, 2022
My new favorite RPG that moves away from D&D combat games, focusing on the mystery and mythology as a means to solving a problem. Stay clear, power gamers.
MY GRADE: A minus.
MY GRADE: A minus.
August 15, 2020
TL;DR: I really like this game. Throughout reading Vaesen, it was giving me ideas for mysteries to run. The streamlined version of the Year Zero Engine is light enough to work well, and the nature of the Vaesen gives the game a unique feel. I love the way the Mythic North is presented, giving just enough detail a hook a game around and enough space to make it easily your own. The somewhen in the nineteenth century approach is brilliant, giving a soft focus setting that has plenty of atmosphere. I'm going to run this soon.
Fria Ligan had me with Vaesen right from the first image they used for the Kickstarter. Enigmatic, beautiful and scary, the artwork drew me straight in. I loved the concept of a more mythically led horror game; all to often, roleplaying horror games default to Lovecraftian starkness. This was more layered, more nuanced.
Vaesen is presented beautifully. The production values don't quite match those in Vaesen: Spirits and Monsters of Scandinavian Folklore (link to my previous comments) but they come very close. The 232 page hardback has a linen-effect cover, and rather than the flat spine you usually see in roleplaying games, this one has a curved spine like an older book. There's a dark green ribbon to mark your place. Page thickness is less than the source book, but on the heavy end for a roleplaying game. The art is glorious, drawing on Johan Egerkrans' images to great effect. Layout is clean and simple, and there's a decent index.
The game is set in the 'mythic north', an alternative Scandinavia sometime in the 19th Century. You're encouraged to be non-specific with datas and technologies to make it your own. The setting draws on the impact of industrialisation as mining, logging, railways and factories start to impinge on a way of life that has fundamentally been unchanged for centuries. Vaesen are spirits and creatures, perhaps monsters, which have co-existed with humanity over the ages, and the change is disturbing them. In some places they are resisting the change, in others their suffering has an effect of the symbiotic relationships with the villages and peoples of the north.
Characters all have the sight; they are amongst the few who can usually see and sense Vaesen, as they are all Thursday's Children. They are members of the Society, an organisation based out of a run-down castle in Upsala in Sweden which seeks to study the Vaesen and also to protect mankind from them.
Characters are built from a number of archetypes (academics, doctors, hunters, occultists, officers, priests, private detectives, servants, vagabonds, and writers) which make it easy to establish a group that matches the fiction of the period. There are twelve core skills, and each archetype has access to a talent which gives a bonus in certain situations. There are four core attributes (physique, precision, logic, empathy). Each character establish a relationship with the others (effectively a positive or negative bond). Wealth is abstracted into a resources score. Everyone has a memento which can be drawn upon to heal mental or physical conditions. Each character also has a dark secret which can be drawn on by the GM to place pressure on them.
The game engine is a lightweight take on the Year Zero Engine, most similar to that seen in Tales from the Loop. It's stripped back and light touch; just enough to add tension. Rolls can be pushed at the cost of a condition.
The Society has its own chapter, with a history and roles that the players can have their characters take up. There are campaign rules for developing the society and its facilities. If they player's are successful, the society will thrive and grow.
Another chapter provides high level guidance on Scandinavia in general and Upsala specifically. It's a strong framework to build the game from.
The Vaesen chapter details twenty-one Vaesen[1]; this isn't an exhaustive list, and the GM is encouraged to draw upon other sources, especially Egerkrans' book. It describes the history of how the Vaesen and humanity have interacted. The game leaves plenty of spaces to make this your own; it specifically doesn't make a call whether God and the Devil exist, merely noting that Vaesen can be fearful of the symbols of Christianity. The Vaesen range between nature spirits, familiars, shapeshifters, spirits of the dead and monsters. They often have access to magical powers which fall into three categories; Enchantments, Curses and Trollcraft.
The mechanics of how the magic works aren't described, merely the effects. Enchantments are powerful and can affect a location and all those living there; they succeed automatically and can cause characters to suffer a fear test. They are not usually direct in nature, mainly creating an atmosphere, such as raising a fog or darkness. Curses are used by Vaesen to attack individuals. They cause an effect and extra successes may cause conditions. An example would by Night Terrors, locking a victim into a terrifying sleep and causing mental damage. The final form of magic, Trollcraft, allows Vaesen to bend time and space or alter reality. However, the game is clear that the story comes first over the mechanics. There are rules for player characters using magic, but it is made clear that this is quite rare.
Vaesen have four stats; might, body control, magic and manipulation. They cannot push rolls. They also have a fear value which characters have to resist the first time the Vaesen is revealed or become terrified (fleeing, fainting, freezing or attacking). Each Vaesen has a list of conditions that they will take if they are damaged. Their magical powers are described, along with the ritual which will banish the creature. There's also a secret which will complicate the ritual. Finally, a number of examples of conflicts involving that Vaesen are given. Of course, it's beautifully illustrated by Egerkrans. A key thing to note is that combat is not usually the solution; in most cases it will only gain you a temporary respite until the angered Vaesen returns.
A chapter is dedicated to how you design a mystery for the players to explore. It starts with the selection of the Vaesen and the source of the primary conflict between it and humanity. There will then usually be a secondary conflict which may engage into the character's dark secrets. It may be completely unrelated to the Vaesen but it will drive drama. The primary conflict will have began with some form of misdeed, prompting the Society to investigate. The location is decided, linked to the kind of Vaesen chosen and an appropriate map prepared. Elements to build atmosphere are selected to call upon in descriptions to raise player's engagement. Clues are then selected; central cases will solve the primary conflict, peripheral clues will flesh out what is going on. The text recommends having at least two places that each clue can be found and also ensuring the player's get it if the characters end up in the right place or person. Finally, a countdown is established - effectively the beats of the mystery that will happen if it is not averted. The ultimate catastrophe is also described if the characters fail.
A recommended structure for the mystery is given:
Prologue
Invitation (to the mystery)
Preparations
The Journey to the Mystery
Arrival
Places
Confrontation
Aftermath
It's a good working form. There's great examples of how to make the situation unpleasant and scary for the characters. There's also advice on building a campaign.
The final chapter is the introductory mystery, 'The Dance of Dreams', which is aimed to run for two to three sessions. I won't spoil it, but it drops in some lovely hooks for the future of a campaign.
There is an appendix with an alternative life path character generation approach, similar to that seen in Forbidden Lands.
I really like this game. Throughout reading Vaesen, it was giving me ideas for mysteries to run. The streamlined version of the Year Zero Engine is light enough to work well, and the nature of the Vaesen gives the game a unique feel. I love the way the Mythic North is presented, giving just enough detail a hook a game around and enough space to make it easily your own. The somewhen in the nineteenth century approach is brilliant, giving a soft focus setting that has plenty of atmosphere. I'm going to run this soon.
15 August 2020
[1] A twenty-second Vaesen is presented in 'A Wicked Secret'.
Fria Ligan had me with Vaesen right from the first image they used for the Kickstarter. Enigmatic, beautiful and scary, the artwork drew me straight in. I loved the concept of a more mythically led horror game; all to often, roleplaying horror games default to Lovecraftian starkness. This was more layered, more nuanced.
Vaesen is presented beautifully. The production values don't quite match those in Vaesen: Spirits and Monsters of Scandinavian Folklore (link to my previous comments) but they come very close. The 232 page hardback has a linen-effect cover, and rather than the flat spine you usually see in roleplaying games, this one has a curved spine like an older book. There's a dark green ribbon to mark your place. Page thickness is less than the source book, but on the heavy end for a roleplaying game. The art is glorious, drawing on Johan Egerkrans' images to great effect. Layout is clean and simple, and there's a decent index.
The game is set in the 'mythic north', an alternative Scandinavia sometime in the 19th Century. You're encouraged to be non-specific with datas and technologies to make it your own. The setting draws on the impact of industrialisation as mining, logging, railways and factories start to impinge on a way of life that has fundamentally been unchanged for centuries. Vaesen are spirits and creatures, perhaps monsters, which have co-existed with humanity over the ages, and the change is disturbing them. In some places they are resisting the change, in others their suffering has an effect of the symbiotic relationships with the villages and peoples of the north.
Characters all have the sight; they are amongst the few who can usually see and sense Vaesen, as they are all Thursday's Children. They are members of the Society, an organisation based out of a run-down castle in Upsala in Sweden which seeks to study the Vaesen and also to protect mankind from them.
Characters are built from a number of archetypes (academics, doctors, hunters, occultists, officers, priests, private detectives, servants, vagabonds, and writers) which make it easy to establish a group that matches the fiction of the period. There are twelve core skills, and each archetype has access to a talent which gives a bonus in certain situations. There are four core attributes (physique, precision, logic, empathy). Each character establish a relationship with the others (effectively a positive or negative bond). Wealth is abstracted into a resources score. Everyone has a memento which can be drawn upon to heal mental or physical conditions. Each character also has a dark secret which can be drawn on by the GM to place pressure on them.
The game engine is a lightweight take on the Year Zero Engine, most similar to that seen in Tales from the Loop. It's stripped back and light touch; just enough to add tension. Rolls can be pushed at the cost of a condition.
The Society has its own chapter, with a history and roles that the players can have their characters take up. There are campaign rules for developing the society and its facilities. If they player's are successful, the society will thrive and grow.
Another chapter provides high level guidance on Scandinavia in general and Upsala specifically. It's a strong framework to build the game from.
The Vaesen chapter details twenty-one Vaesen[1]; this isn't an exhaustive list, and the GM is encouraged to draw upon other sources, especially Egerkrans' book. It describes the history of how the Vaesen and humanity have interacted. The game leaves plenty of spaces to make this your own; it specifically doesn't make a call whether God and the Devil exist, merely noting that Vaesen can be fearful of the symbols of Christianity. The Vaesen range between nature spirits, familiars, shapeshifters, spirits of the dead and monsters. They often have access to magical powers which fall into three categories; Enchantments, Curses and Trollcraft.
The mechanics of how the magic works aren't described, merely the effects. Enchantments are powerful and can affect a location and all those living there; they succeed automatically and can cause characters to suffer a fear test. They are not usually direct in nature, mainly creating an atmosphere, such as raising a fog or darkness. Curses are used by Vaesen to attack individuals. They cause an effect and extra successes may cause conditions. An example would by Night Terrors, locking a victim into a terrifying sleep and causing mental damage. The final form of magic, Trollcraft, allows Vaesen to bend time and space or alter reality. However, the game is clear that the story comes first over the mechanics. There are rules for player characters using magic, but it is made clear that this is quite rare.
Vaesen have four stats; might, body control, magic and manipulation. They cannot push rolls. They also have a fear value which characters have to resist the first time the Vaesen is revealed or become terrified (fleeing, fainting, freezing or attacking). Each Vaesen has a list of conditions that they will take if they are damaged. Their magical powers are described, along with the ritual which will banish the creature. There's also a secret which will complicate the ritual. Finally, a number of examples of conflicts involving that Vaesen are given. Of course, it's beautifully illustrated by Egerkrans. A key thing to note is that combat is not usually the solution; in most cases it will only gain you a temporary respite until the angered Vaesen returns.
A chapter is dedicated to how you design a mystery for the players to explore. It starts with the selection of the Vaesen and the source of the primary conflict between it and humanity. There will then usually be a secondary conflict which may engage into the character's dark secrets. It may be completely unrelated to the Vaesen but it will drive drama. The primary conflict will have began with some form of misdeed, prompting the Society to investigate. The location is decided, linked to the kind of Vaesen chosen and an appropriate map prepared. Elements to build atmosphere are selected to call upon in descriptions to raise player's engagement. Clues are then selected; central cases will solve the primary conflict, peripheral clues will flesh out what is going on. The text recommends having at least two places that each clue can be found and also ensuring the player's get it if the characters end up in the right place or person. Finally, a countdown is established - effectively the beats of the mystery that will happen if it is not averted. The ultimate catastrophe is also described if the characters fail.
A recommended structure for the mystery is given:
Prologue
Invitation (to the mystery)
Preparations
The Journey to the Mystery
Arrival
Places
Confrontation
Aftermath
It's a good working form. There's great examples of how to make the situation unpleasant and scary for the characters. There's also advice on building a campaign.
The final chapter is the introductory mystery, 'The Dance of Dreams', which is aimed to run for two to three sessions. I won't spoil it, but it drops in some lovely hooks for the future of a campaign.
There is an appendix with an alternative life path character generation approach, similar to that seen in Forbidden Lands.
I really like this game. Throughout reading Vaesen, it was giving me ideas for mysteries to run. The streamlined version of the Year Zero Engine is light enough to work well, and the nature of the Vaesen gives the game a unique feel. I love the way the Mythic North is presented, giving just enough detail a hook a game around and enough space to make it easily your own. The somewhen in the nineteenth century approach is brilliant, giving a soft focus setting that has plenty of atmosphere. I'm going to run this soon.
15 August 2020
[1] A twenty-second Vaesen is presented in 'A Wicked Secret'.
November 12, 2024
Finally finished the rulebook!
I can't wait to prepare my first game.
I can't wait to prepare my first game.
July 24, 2025
Un grandisimo juego de horror nordico.
Ambientado en un pseudo siglo XIX en escandinavia, los jugadores son miembros de una Sociedad que se dedica al estudio de los Vaesen, criaturas del folklore que habitan en los espacios de la creencia.
El arte y el diseño son hermosos y la ambientación increible.
El juego da herramientas para crear misterios y Vaesen, y un modo campaña muy resultón. Los vaesen no son buenos ni malos, solo gente diferente, y la violencia pocas veces es necesaria contra ellos.
En este club de lectura desgranamos todo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToBLs...
Ambientado en un pseudo siglo XIX en escandinavia, los jugadores son miembros de una Sociedad que se dedica al estudio de los Vaesen, criaturas del folklore que habitan en los espacios de la creencia.
El arte y el diseño son hermosos y la ambientación increible.
El juego da herramientas para crear misterios y Vaesen, y un modo campaña muy resultón. Los vaesen no son buenos ni malos, solo gente diferente, y la violencia pocas veces es necesaria contra ellos.
En este club de lectura desgranamos todo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToBLs...
May 11, 2024
Rating: 5 stars.
An enchanting game of Nordic folklore and horror, centred on investigators in 19th-century Scandinavia investigating conflicts between humans and Vaesen—fairies, spirits, and the undead. It's a beautiful book and a well-written, streamlined system. I can't wait to run it!
An enchanting game of Nordic folklore and horror, centred on investigators in 19th-century Scandinavia investigating conflicts between humans and Vaesen—fairies, spirits, and the undead. It's a beautiful book and a well-written, streamlined system. I can't wait to run it!
July 8, 2021
This is among the most beautiful RPG books I’ve ever seen, and very likely is THE most beautiful. The art is otherworldly, striking a balance between darkness and whimsy that really transports you to the book’s unique setting.
Simply put, Vaesen is a horror/mystery RPG set in Scandinavia, and your group is part of an organization that hunts down and banishes supernatural beings known as vaesen. What’s fun is that it incorporates a Witcher-like puzzle element to the hunt, wherein you have to discover, via clues and research, what the creature even is in the first place, how to banish it, its secret and the rituals involved with it.
This book was also unique in that it was interesting to read just from the standpoint of myths and legends of Scandinavia. The whole book is sprinkled with little tidbits of trivia (which I assume are real) explaining the proper rituals to discover witches, speed along conception, and more. The stats for the creatures in the book contain the proper rituals, as well as secrets about the vaesen, making each session a mystery that must be solved before the vaesen can be defeated or banished. There is no hope of brute forcing your way past these creatures; they will just come back until their secrets are revealed and the rituals performed.
I would highly recommend this! I do wish they had expanded on how to make Vaesen work in any location worldwide, and maybe provided some more ritual/secret stats for various creatures from other cultures. As it is, it’s definitely possible to run Vaesen in Britain or America, for example, but you’d be doing most of the legwork, including looking up rituals, etc.
Still, it’s a beautiful book and the game is fairly straightforward to run and play, so it’s definitely worth a look.
Simply put, Vaesen is a horror/mystery RPG set in Scandinavia, and your group is part of an organization that hunts down and banishes supernatural beings known as vaesen. What’s fun is that it incorporates a Witcher-like puzzle element to the hunt, wherein you have to discover, via clues and research, what the creature even is in the first place, how to banish it, its secret and the rituals involved with it.
This book was also unique in that it was interesting to read just from the standpoint of myths and legends of Scandinavia. The whole book is sprinkled with little tidbits of trivia (which I assume are real) explaining the proper rituals to discover witches, speed along conception, and more. The stats for the creatures in the book contain the proper rituals, as well as secrets about the vaesen, making each session a mystery that must be solved before the vaesen can be defeated or banished. There is no hope of brute forcing your way past these creatures; they will just come back until their secrets are revealed and the rituals performed.
I would highly recommend this! I do wish they had expanded on how to make Vaesen work in any location worldwide, and maybe provided some more ritual/secret stats for various creatures from other cultures. As it is, it’s definitely possible to run Vaesen in Britain or America, for example, but you’d be doing most of the legwork, including looking up rituals, etc.
Still, it’s a beautiful book and the game is fairly straightforward to run and play, so it’s definitely worth a look.
March 18, 2021
I don't recall ever being so blown away by an RPG book. This is a great game:
* The book itself is gorgeous. It has lots of great art, a cover with a classy linen finish, and nice thick paper on the inside. I can easily see non-gamers flipping through it just for the art.
* It uses a relatively simply d6 dice pool system that allows room for some nice tricks (pushing a failed roll at cost, extra success mean extra effect, etc.)
* The setting is dark and evocative with the PC's as investigators and monster hunters. The scenarios I read emphasize investigation and role-playing.
* There's some great advice here on building up mystery scenarios that can used for any RPG system. Call of Cthulhu Keepers in particular should be interested.
Needless to say I'm a huge fan and eager to give this game a shot.
* The book itself is gorgeous. It has lots of great art, a cover with a classy linen finish, and nice thick paper on the inside. I can easily see non-gamers flipping through it just for the art.
* It uses a relatively simply d6 dice pool system that allows room for some nice tricks (pushing a failed roll at cost, extra success mean extra effect, etc.)
* The setting is dark and evocative with the PC's as investigators and monster hunters. The scenarios I read emphasize investigation and role-playing.
* There's some great advice here on building up mystery scenarios that can used for any RPG system. Call of Cthulhu Keepers in particular should be interested.
Needless to say I'm a huge fan and eager to give this game a shot.
November 26, 2022
What an awesome roleplaying introduction! This will be so much fun to lead as a game master.
March 26, 2022
I'm conflicted about this book. On one hand, the production value is awesome! It feels lovely and the drawings are great, but...
The system is simple enough attribute + skill = number of dice rolled. Success is a six on at least one of the dice.
But the game is all tied into a background that feels forced. You are all members of The Society which collapsed some time ago. This gives a reason for the characters to be sent off on adventures but adds a level of complexity which might be a bit distracting for new DMs, starting players, or one-off scenarios. The included scenario is a little overly complex and, in my opinion, should have been simpler and more focussed on the mystery. YMMV
The system is simple enough attribute + skill = number of dice rolled. Success is a six on at least one of the dice.
But the game is all tied into a background that feels forced. You are all members of The Society which collapsed some time ago. This gives a reason for the characters to be sent off on adventures but adds a level of complexity which might be a bit distracting for new DMs, starting players, or one-off scenarios. The included scenario is a little overly complex and, in my opinion, should have been simpler and more focussed on the mystery. YMMV
Read
December 27, 2020So excited to run through this with my friends!
October 13, 2024
My guts say it's more a 3'5*.
August 22, 2025
Excelente manual de rol. Propuesta de juego sólida y envolvente, sobre todo si se es amante de las leyendas y el folklore europeo
September 17, 2024
About as enjoyable as an instruction manual can be. Thoroughly enjoying that the author & creator of the game uses she/her pronouns to describe player characters, NPCs, and monsters, almost exclusively.
June 1, 2021
Overall, a very nice book that contains all you need to run the game, though I wish there was something like player handouts or the GM info to be in a separate book so it would be no issue to pass it to one my players for reference. I'm pleased that just buying this one book gives you everything including a starter mystery to work with or use as an example, and not spend a small fortune to just get playing.
One of the first things that stood out to me was that the reader/player/gamemaster is pretty much always referred to as female with she/her pronouns, while my experience with TTRPGs is that that is more often masculine or neutral. The second thing was how they encourage you to make your own supernatural creatures and give you tips to do so. I've been tempted early on in reading to make my own and am currently trying to work out the details.
Vaesen themselves are rooted in real folklore but given general information such as statistics and abilities but also countdowns for their behaviour, examples for occurances and ritual banishing info. It's complete 3nough to run it and generic enough to adapt it to your own game situations.
The quality of the book is stunning, as are the illustrations and design work. It's big, size is the same as my D&D 5e books but much thicker (and nicer looking with he textured cover)
(This part contains vague spoilers and perhaps a mild content warning for those sensitive to it)
While the book does sell the mythic supernatural and human mortality quite well, the horror, outside of body horror, wasn't that strongly expressed to me until reading the introduction adventure Dance of Dreams. It felt much more like tension and tragedies. This is primarily why I was surprised to read in the mystery how a ghost would try force an NPC to take their own life for the guilt not of their own, and that same NPC be the abuser in multiple cases of domestic abuse that we are indirectly exposed to (it says to describe abusive treatment between father and daughter, daughter being covered in bruises and why her mother left because of the abuse). It's not that badly phrased that I felt triggered, it was just unexpected and did make me question if I was the only one feeling that. This is also why I want to utilise some sort of safety tool when I do end up running the game, which I can't remember the book covering at all. I want to have fun playing this game and my players being able to express their limits in doing so when it does get grim.
In the same mystery there's hinted at a metaplot for which we've been given limited info, which supposedly gets touched on in a later book. It's frustrating in a way, as the info we get is very limited and if you do wish to implement them jn your game, you need to answer a lot of questions we don't yet have the answer for. I believe this may be why the majority of people I've seen run Vaesen skip the Dance of Dreams and run the pre written adventures in A Wicked Secret (which doesn't contain the info for the metaplot) to run with the more general mysterious side of the game, and dropping the metaplot.
One of the first things that stood out to me was that the reader/player/gamemaster is pretty much always referred to as female with she/her pronouns, while my experience with TTRPGs is that that is more often masculine or neutral. The second thing was how they encourage you to make your own supernatural creatures and give you tips to do so. I've been tempted early on in reading to make my own and am currently trying to work out the details.
Vaesen themselves are rooted in real folklore but given general information such as statistics and abilities but also countdowns for their behaviour, examples for occurances and ritual banishing info. It's complete 3nough to run it and generic enough to adapt it to your own game situations.
The quality of the book is stunning, as are the illustrations and design work. It's big, size is the same as my D&D 5e books but much thicker (and nicer looking with he textured cover)
(This part contains vague spoilers and perhaps a mild content warning for those sensitive to it)
While the book does sell the mythic supernatural and human mortality quite well, the horror, outside of body horror, wasn't that strongly expressed to me until reading the introduction adventure Dance of Dreams. It felt much more like tension and tragedies. This is primarily why I was surprised to read in the mystery how a ghost would try force an NPC to take their own life for the guilt not of their own, and that same NPC be the abuser in multiple cases of domestic abuse that we are indirectly exposed to (it says to describe abusive treatment between father and daughter, daughter being covered in bruises and why her mother left because of the abuse). It's not that badly phrased that I felt triggered, it was just unexpected and did make me question if I was the only one feeling that. This is also why I want to utilise some sort of safety tool when I do end up running the game, which I can't remember the book covering at all. I want to have fun playing this game and my players being able to express their limits in doing so when it does get grim.
In the same mystery there's hinted at a metaplot for which we've been given limited info, which supposedly gets touched on in a later book. It's frustrating in a way, as the info we get is very limited and if you do wish to implement them jn your game, you need to answer a lot of questions we don't yet have the answer for. I believe this may be why the majority of people I've seen run Vaesen skip the Dance of Dreams and run the pre written adventures in A Wicked Secret (which doesn't contain the info for the metaplot) to run with the more general mysterious side of the game, and dropping the metaplot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2022
Vaesen is a fine game about interacting with monsters from Scandinavian legend. It's based on the work of illustrator Johan Egerkrans and is packed with excellent drawings and a nifty folk horror feel. The whole thing feels like a Swedish Call of Cthulhu, and is of the typical high quality that anyone familiar with Free League's releases might expect.
The mechanics are a tad simple though. It's relatively standard stuff - you roll a pool of d6s for skill checks and occasionally get extra die for modifiers. Success usually requires at least one 6, and extra successes can be traded in for certain benefits at times, though the GM I played with rarely took advantage of this mechanic. Character classes include stuff like writer, doctor, vagabond, etc, and each class has appropriate talents - for instance, the doctor can still treat people even in the midst of combat and other stressful situations. Most of the talents are a bit fluffy, as is the headquarters that you level up between sessions. While anyone who likes rules-light storytelling games will consider this a plus, I was hungry for more crunch.
Nevertheless, the game stands out from other investigative RPGs in its setting. Our GM was of Swedish descent, and it was fun hearing him talk about myths that he grew up with. I probably won't ever run Vaesen, but I do like playing it - and I'm happy that it's a game about Swedish folklore created by actual Swedes.
The mechanics are a tad simple though. It's relatively standard stuff - you roll a pool of d6s for skill checks and occasionally get extra die for modifiers. Success usually requires at least one 6, and extra successes can be traded in for certain benefits at times, though the GM I played with rarely took advantage of this mechanic. Character classes include stuff like writer, doctor, vagabond, etc, and each class has appropriate talents - for instance, the doctor can still treat people even in the midst of combat and other stressful situations. Most of the talents are a bit fluffy, as is the headquarters that you level up between sessions. While anyone who likes rules-light storytelling games will consider this a plus, I was hungry for more crunch.
Nevertheless, the game stands out from other investigative RPGs in its setting. Our GM was of Swedish descent, and it was fun hearing him talk about myths that he grew up with. I probably won't ever run Vaesen, but I do like playing it - and I'm happy that it's a game about Swedish folklore created by actual Swedes.
June 18, 2023
An absolutely beautiful book of high quality. This is some of the best, and short/sweet, structure and explanation of how to run a role playing game appropriate to this setting.
I feel very confident how to write and run an adventure in thise setting and system.
That said I don't know if I will: its a very traditional kind of horror/ghost story and not for every group. And I feel like I'd need to take time to familiarize myself better with Scandinavia of the 1800s.
All that said, there's so much to look at here and so many amazing ideas and great art.
I feel very confident how to write and run an adventure in thise setting and system.
That said I don't know if I will: its a very traditional kind of horror/ghost story and not for every group. And I feel like I'd need to take time to familiarize myself better with Scandinavia of the 1800s.
All that said, there's so much to look at here and so many amazing ideas and great art.
October 17, 2020
Can’t wait to run/play in this setting. Easy system. Lots of source material and beautiful art. Wish I had known about the Kickstarter. This is definitely a game to get.
April 12, 2021
This is the prettiest book for a game I will probably never get to play :)
June 29, 2021
Beautiful. The best art I’ve ever seen in a RPG product. A gorgeous product. Good system, verging on great. I’d put some of the art on my wall.
Read
December 16, 2024How? I don't exactly recall -- some combination of Free League sale and VintageRPG posts?
What? This is a review of
* Vaesen
* Mythic Britain & Ireland (sourcebook for the area)
* A Wicked Secret (anthology of adventures)
* The Lost Mountain Saga (campaign)
Vaesen is based/inspired on the folklore monster drawing of Johan Egerkrans, a Swedish illustrator whose work (a) is all over these books, (b) reminds me sometimes of Theodor Kittelsen, and (c) often has a vibe that is both cartoonish (characters have strong shapes, ƒwith black line outlines -- maybe reminiscent of Ivan Bilibin's Russian fairytale work) and also gothic/melancholy.
And that's kind of the game: it's the 19th century and Scandinavia is undergoing some changes, as people move to the cities for factory job, and the old compacts with monsters are being forgotten. The PCs belong to a Society dedicated to keeping the peace and/or stopping monsters -- a once strong society, but since all but dissolved, and you are the first people to revive it. (Bonus for me: as you gain experience, you can add facilities to the society headquarters -- and gosh, do I love base building.)
So what do you do in the game? You go on journeys, often to far-flung and remote places, and learn that the people and the monsters (the _vaesen_) are, for some reason, not getting along. And often the reason they're not getting along is because the people are behaving badly for one reason or another. So you go to a place (in all of the published mysteries there's a journey scene that helps set the mood), try to figure out what monster is there, why there's another problem on top of that one, and figure out how to stop the monsters (since monsters aren't defeatable by combat).
That's the core book. The other books do what you would think they do: the Britain & Ireland book talks a little bit that geography and monsters from those folklores; the adventure book has four adventures; the campaign is about a dead giant who turned into a magical mineral and the competing human forces who want to exploit that mineral.
Yeah, so? This game should rock so hard. Halfway or more through the main book, I was really going along with this idea: there's a monstrous horror and there's the human horror of, say, the priest who will stop at nothing to destroy the hotel where women and men go to the sea together (or, more horribly, the mother who killed her child). I really like the idea of having to make things better by figuring things out (whether that actually makes things better is another question...).
And yet, just about all the adventures here don't quite work for me. Like each adventure has a section describing the conflict in thematic terms, but sometimes they talk about, say "modernity vs. ancient rituals" (which doesn't actually describe the situation of a priest upsetting mining kobolds by preaching in the mines) and sometimes they talk about "character A vs. character B." Now, that could just be an inconsistency in the product line (or we could say: a flexibility), but I think that actually matters for how you run and think about adventures--about what the conflict actually is.
(That said, I have just lined up the podcast that was the basis for the Lost Mountain Saga.)
What? This is a review of
* Vaesen
* Mythic Britain & Ireland (sourcebook for the area)
* A Wicked Secret (anthology of adventures)
* The Lost Mountain Saga (campaign)
Vaesen is based/inspired on the folklore monster drawing of Johan Egerkrans, a Swedish illustrator whose work (a) is all over these books, (b) reminds me sometimes of Theodor Kittelsen, and (c) often has a vibe that is both cartoonish (characters have strong shapes, ƒwith black line outlines -- maybe reminiscent of Ivan Bilibin's Russian fairytale work) and also gothic/melancholy.
And that's kind of the game: it's the 19th century and Scandinavia is undergoing some changes, as people move to the cities for factory job, and the old compacts with monsters are being forgotten. The PCs belong to a Society dedicated to keeping the peace and/or stopping monsters -- a once strong society, but since all but dissolved, and you are the first people to revive it. (Bonus for me: as you gain experience, you can add facilities to the society headquarters -- and gosh, do I love base building.)
So what do you do in the game? You go on journeys, often to far-flung and remote places, and learn that the people and the monsters (the _vaesen_) are, for some reason, not getting along. And often the reason they're not getting along is because the people are behaving badly for one reason or another. So you go to a place (in all of the published mysteries there's a journey scene that helps set the mood), try to figure out what monster is there, why there's another problem on top of that one, and figure out how to stop the monsters (since monsters aren't defeatable by combat).
That's the core book. The other books do what you would think they do: the Britain & Ireland book talks a little bit that geography and monsters from those folklores; the adventure book has four adventures; the campaign is about a dead giant who turned into a magical mineral and the competing human forces who want to exploit that mineral.
Yeah, so? This game should rock so hard. Halfway or more through the main book, I was really going along with this idea: there's a monstrous horror and there's the human horror of, say, the priest who will stop at nothing to destroy the hotel where women and men go to the sea together (or, more horribly, the mother who killed her child). I really like the idea of having to make things better by figuring things out (whether that actually makes things better is another question...).
And yet, just about all the adventures here don't quite work for me. Like each adventure has a section describing the conflict in thematic terms, but sometimes they talk about, say "modernity vs. ancient rituals" (which doesn't actually describe the situation of a priest upsetting mining kobolds by preaching in the mines) and sometimes they talk about "character A vs. character B." Now, that could just be an inconsistency in the product line (or we could say: a flexibility), but I think that actually matters for how you run and think about adventures--about what the conflict actually is.
(That said, I have just lined up the podcast that was the basis for the Lost Mountain Saga.)
August 17, 2022
"It is our third day in Lund. The nights are filled with the flapping of wings and this morning another villager was found dead. We are nearly at the end of our clues for the weakness of these creatures and I begin to suspect that this village harbors a dark secret."
The industrial revolution is in full swing. The territories of humanity are expanding and its engines of industry are effecting the environment. Populations swell and those who live in the gaps of modernity are at risk of being swept away. You are a member of a Society dedicated to compiling knowledge on mythical creatures known as Vaesen and, where needed, to try and resolve tensions between the Vaesen and humans.
Vaesen are ancient, mythical creatures that may have existed before humanity. They have strange supernatural powers and industrialization has led to people not performing the rituals and sacrifices to placate them. Many Vaesen are lashing out.
At its core, it's an investigative horror game in the vein of Call of Cthulhu. It differs thematically in that the Vaesen are more natural in the vein of folk horror rather than the cosmic horror of CoC. This leads to my few complaints with the book: The book tries to stress that Vaesen are neither good nor evil but the actions and examples listed for several of them are difficult to interpret as anything but evil. Flavor text talks of Vaesen murdering entire villages in a single night. I know that jumping to bloodshed is a fairy tale trope but it doesn't lend them the neutrality the book wants them to have. They need to have inscrutable motives not obviously bad ones. The other complaint is wanting to have a deep revelation that Vaesen exist because humans think they do and human belief powers them and I think that's just kind of getting way out in to the weeds. It seems to be trying to be an explanation for differences between Vaesen of the same type ("This village believes *this* about Mares so their Mare is different!") but I just think it's unnecessary and is unlikely to develop into good gameplay.
The gameplay itself isn't bad. It's a D6 dice pool system where only 6s are successes. It does give a steep difficulty curve as having only a 1/6 chance of success with any given die yields low success counts and getting two or more successes will be particularly rare though having surplus successes can be spent on bonus abilities or actions. The steep difficulty curve will definitely feed in to the horror elements of the game.
Johan Egerkrans's art is phenomenal using a brilliant color palette that gives an eerie look to all the images in the book. And this is appropriate as the game is drawn from Egerkrans's art book about Vaesen of Scandinavia. The use of his artwork really ties the game together and makes every page on which it appears a joy. The book quality itself is top notch with a nice cover and paper quality of the pages. It has the feel of a book much older than it is and it's just nice to hold.
Vaesen is great. Go play it.
The industrial revolution is in full swing. The territories of humanity are expanding and its engines of industry are effecting the environment. Populations swell and those who live in the gaps of modernity are at risk of being swept away. You are a member of a Society dedicated to compiling knowledge on mythical creatures known as Vaesen and, where needed, to try and resolve tensions between the Vaesen and humans.
Vaesen are ancient, mythical creatures that may have existed before humanity. They have strange supernatural powers and industrialization has led to people not performing the rituals and sacrifices to placate them. Many Vaesen are lashing out.
At its core, it's an investigative horror game in the vein of Call of Cthulhu. It differs thematically in that the Vaesen are more natural in the vein of folk horror rather than the cosmic horror of CoC. This leads to my few complaints with the book: The book tries to stress that Vaesen are neither good nor evil but the actions and examples listed for several of them are difficult to interpret as anything but evil. Flavor text talks of Vaesen murdering entire villages in a single night. I know that jumping to bloodshed is a fairy tale trope but it doesn't lend them the neutrality the book wants them to have. They need to have inscrutable motives not obviously bad ones. The other complaint is wanting to have a deep revelation that Vaesen exist because humans think they do and human belief powers them and I think that's just kind of getting way out in to the weeds. It seems to be trying to be an explanation for differences between Vaesen of the same type ("This village believes *this* about Mares so their Mare is different!") but I just think it's unnecessary and is unlikely to develop into good gameplay.
The gameplay itself isn't bad. It's a D6 dice pool system where only 6s are successes. It does give a steep difficulty curve as having only a 1/6 chance of success with any given die yields low success counts and getting two or more successes will be particularly rare though having surplus successes can be spent on bonus abilities or actions. The steep difficulty curve will definitely feed in to the horror elements of the game.
Johan Egerkrans's art is phenomenal using a brilliant color palette that gives an eerie look to all the images in the book. And this is appropriate as the game is drawn from Egerkrans's art book about Vaesen of Scandinavia. The use of his artwork really ties the game together and makes every page on which it appears a joy. The book quality itself is top notch with a nice cover and paper quality of the pages. It has the feel of a book much older than it is and it's just nice to hold.
Vaesen is great. Go play it.
November 10, 2024
Το Vaesen είναι ένα πολύ ωραίο και καλογραμμένο βιβλίο στο σύνολό του.
Είμαστε κάπου μέσα στον 19ο αιώνα. Στις περιοχές της Φιλανδίας, Σουηδίας, Νορβηγίας και Δανίας. Το κεντρικό σημείο είναι η πόλη της Ουπσάλα. Στον κόσμου υπάρχουν φανταστικά πλάσματα τα Vaesen που μπλέκονται με τους ανθρώπους και δημιουργούν είτε συμμαχίες είτε προβλήματα. Εμείς είμαστε άνθρωποι με την Ενόραση δηλαδή μπορούμε να τα βλέπουμε. Αυτό μας κάνει να πρέπει είτε να τα βοηθήσουμε είτε να τα πολεμίσουμε. Τα Vaesen είναι πλάσματα των μύθων και των θρύλων των περιοχών αυτών. Είναι το μικρό ξωτικό που μπαίνει στα σπίτια, τέρατα που ζούνε στις λίμνες, νύμφες κτλ Δεν είναι πολλά. Είναι λίγα και σιγά σιγά με την άνοδο της τεχνολογίας είτε πεθαίνουν είτε αντιδρούν πολύ έντονα. Το παιχνίδι είναι τρόμου και investigate όπου συνήθως καλούμαστε να διαλευκάνουμε ένα μυστήριο στο οποίο εμπλέκετε ένα Vaesen. Το ποια θα είναι η στάση μας κάθε φορά εξαρτάτε από εμάς τους ίδιους. Πάντως τα Vaesen δεν μπορούν να σκοτωθούν με κανέναν τρόπο. Μπορούν μόνο να τα διώξεις με συγκεκριμένα ritual χαμένα μέσα σε βιβλία, τραγούδια και ιστορίες.
Σαν υλικό να πω ότι είναι πολύ καλή η ποιότητα και αν και το έχω διαβάσει αρκετά δεν έχει πάθει τίποτα. Οι σελίδες είναι από χοντρό χαρτόνι και όχι πλαστικοποιημένες. Η εικονογράφηση είναι καταπληκτική και βοηθάνε πολύ στην ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου.
Το βιβλίο διαβάζετε άνετα και με ωραίες εικόνες και αναφορές στους λαϊκούς μύθους της Σκανδιναβίας. Οι κανόνες είναι λίγοι και ωραία γραμμένοι με μόνες απορίες και ερωτήσεις σε 1-2 θέματα που δεν εξηγεί επαρκώς.
Έχει υλικό για το setting και για τα ίδια τα Vaesen αλλά και για τον ψυχρό Βορρά. Αναφέρει όλα τα πράγματα σε σωστή αναλογία (μηχανισμών VS setting).
Ο αφηγητής έχει όλα όσα χρειάζεται για να ξεκινήσει άνετα το οτιδήποτε. Εξάλλου τα επόμενα supplements είναι απλά ιστορίες έξτρα γιατί ειλικρινά δεν χρειάζεσαι κάτι περισσότερο.
Ένα περίεργο που έχει είναι το setting που σου λέει το βιβλίο απλά ότι είναι στον 19ο αιώνα (δηλαδή μεταξύ 1800 - 1899) χωρίς να σου λέει κάτι παραπάνω. Σκόπιμα. Επίσης σου λέει ότι είναι εντελώς up to you το τι γίνεται με την τεχνολογία στην ανθρωπότητα. Θα μπορούσες να το πεις και ότι βαριούνταν να γράψουν ακριβώς τι γίνεται, μπορείς να το δεις και σαν ελευθερία να κάνεις ότι θέλεις και σε συνδυασμό με το fantasy βγαίνουν διάφορα. Δεν μου άρεσε το τόσο γενικό του 19ου αιώνα αλλά δεν έχω παράπονο ούτε με κρατάει από το να χαρώ το κείμενο.
Επίσης θα μου άρεσε να είχε σημαντικά γεγονότα, βιβλία, ανθρώπους του 19ου αιώνα των Βόρειων Χωρών για καλύτερο reference αλλά εντάξει. Μπορώ να τα βρω και μόνος μου.
Τελικά έχουμε ένα καλογραμμένο και καλαίσθητο βιβλίο με όλα τα υλικά για να τρέξεις την ιστορία σου. Οι κανόνες είναι τόσο όσο και δεν ζαλίζουν και διαβάζονται άνετα. Το ταξίδι στον Βορρά με τις περιγραφές και τις εικόνες είναι φανταστικό και σε ταξιδεύει άνετα.
Προτείνετε άνετα…
Είμαστε κάπου μέσα στον 19ο αιώνα. Στις περιοχές της Φιλανδίας, Σουηδίας, Νορβηγίας και Δανίας. Το κεντρικό σημείο είναι η πόλη της Ουπσάλα. Στον κόσμου υπάρχουν φανταστικά πλάσματα τα Vaesen που μπλέκονται με τους ανθρώπους και δημιουργούν είτε συμμαχίες είτε προβλήματα. Εμείς είμαστε άνθρωποι με την Ενόραση δηλαδή μπορούμε να τα βλέπουμε. Αυτό μας κάνει να πρέπει είτε να τα βοηθήσουμε είτε να τα πολεμίσουμε. Τα Vaesen είναι πλάσματα των μύθων και των θρύλων των περιοχών αυτών. Είναι το μικρό ξωτικό που μπαίνει στα σπίτια, τέρατα που ζούνε στις λίμνες, νύμφες κτλ Δεν είναι πολλά. Είναι λίγα και σιγά σιγά με την άνοδο της τεχνολογίας είτε πεθαίνουν είτε αντιδρούν πολύ έντονα. Το παιχνίδι είναι τρόμου και investigate όπου συνήθως καλούμαστε να διαλευκάνουμε ένα μυστήριο στο οποίο εμπλέκετε ένα Vaesen. Το ποια θα είναι η στάση μας κάθε φορά εξαρτάτε από εμάς τους ίδιους. Πάντως τα Vaesen δεν μπορούν να σκοτωθούν με κανέναν τρόπο. Μπορούν μόνο να τα διώξεις με συγκεκριμένα ritual χαμένα μέσα σε βιβλία, τραγούδια και ιστορίες.
Σαν υλικό να πω ότι είναι πολύ καλή η ποιότητα και αν και το έχω διαβάσει αρκετά δεν έχει πάθει τίποτα. Οι σελίδες είναι από χοντρό χαρτόνι και όχι πλαστικοποιημένες. Η εικονογράφηση είναι καταπληκτική και βοηθάνε πολύ στην ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου.
Το βιβλίο διαβάζετε άνετα και με ωραίες εικόνες και αναφορές στους λαϊκούς μύθους της Σκανδιναβίας. Οι κανόνες είναι λίγοι και ωραία γραμμένοι με μόνες απορίες και ερωτήσεις σε 1-2 θέματα που δεν εξηγεί επαρκώς.
Έχει υλικό για το setting και για τα ίδια τα Vaesen αλλά και για τον ψυχρό Βορρά. Αναφέρει όλα τα πράγματα σε σωστή αναλογία (μηχανισμών VS setting).
Ο αφηγητής έχει όλα όσα χρειάζεται για να ξεκινήσει άνετα το οτιδήποτε. Εξάλλου τα επόμενα supplements είναι απλά ιστορίες έξτρα γιατί ειλικρινά δεν χρειάζεσαι κάτι περισσότερο.
Ένα περίεργο που έχει είναι το setting που σου λέει το βιβλίο απλά ότι είναι στον 19ο αιώνα (δηλαδή μεταξύ 1800 - 1899) χωρίς να σου λέει κάτι παραπάνω. Σκόπιμα. Επίσης σου λέει ότι είναι εντελώς up to you το τι γίνεται με την τεχνολογία στην ανθρωπότητα. Θα μπορούσες να το πεις και ότι βαριούνταν να γράψουν ακριβώς τι γίνεται, μπορείς να το δεις και σαν ελευθερία να κάνεις ότι θέλεις και σε συνδυασμό με το fantasy βγαίνουν διάφορα. Δεν μου άρεσε το τόσο γενικό του 19ου αιώνα αλλά δεν έχω παράπονο ούτε με κρατάει από το να χαρώ το κείμενο.
Επίσης θα μου άρεσε να είχε σημαντικά γεγονότα, βιβλία, ανθρώπους του 19ου αιώνα των Βόρειων Χωρών για καλύτερο reference αλλά εντάξει. Μπορώ να τα βρω και μόνος μου.
Τελικά έχουμε ένα καλογραμμένο και καλαίσθητο βιβλίο με όλα τα υλικά για να τρέξεις την ιστορία σου. Οι κανόνες είναι τόσο όσο και δεν ζαλίζουν και διαβάζονται άνετα. Το ταξίδι στον Βορρά με τις περιγραφές και τις εικόνες είναι φανταστικό και σε ταξιδεύει άνετα.
Προτείνετε άνετα…
May 8, 2024
J'ai pris beaucoup de temps pour le lire, mais il fait parti des jeux auxquels j'aimerais jouer et faire découvrir.
Époque où l'industrialisation se propage, laissant moins la place au forêt et autres étendues sauvages pour laisser la place aux grandes villes et chemins de fer.
Ce changement provoque la colère des esprits et autres créatures qui autrefois vivraient en harmonie avec les humains ou presque du moins.
Nous y incarnons des Enfants du Jeudi, des gens ayant un dons, celle de la Clairvoyance. Dons ou malédictions, la Clairvoyance permet à ces personnes de voir l'invisible et les créatures qui s'y cachent. Pouvant ainsi résoudre les enquêtes ésotériques que propose cet univers.
On reprend les bases du MYZ Engine, avec un petit côté horreur et épouvante. On reste des humains face à des créatures usant de griffes, de crocs et de magie. Toutes confrontation directe est voué à l'échec et à la Mort.
Il faudra donc enquêter et découvrir quelle(s) créature(s) sèment la zizanie dans des contrées plus ou moins éloigné de la civilisation.
J'ai adoré la partie détaillant les Vaesens, iels sont nombreu.x.ses et bien décrit avec toujours une manière de les vaincre, et des idées de scénarios dans lesquels ces Monstres peuvent apparaître.
Et c'est un des autres points qui m'a fait adoré ce livre. Les exemples. Ils sont nombreux et intéressant, faisant en sorte de non seulement proposer des accroches de scénarios mais aussi proposer des conseils pour les mettre en place et les faire vivre. Une d'elle, que j'ai trouvé magnifique, m'aura fait pleurer.
Bref, Vaesen est un jdr d'horreur scandinave qui utilise des règles simple et se concentre sur la narration et la résolution de mystères. Le livre donne les clés pour jouer, créer et animer ces propres parties, avec scénarios, pour jouer directement sans suppléments et de s'amuser.
Un beau livre, visuellement magnifique et aux contenus foisonnant. Je recommande.
Époque où l'industrialisation se propage, laissant moins la place au forêt et autres étendues sauvages pour laisser la place aux grandes villes et chemins de fer.
Ce changement provoque la colère des esprits et autres créatures qui autrefois vivraient en harmonie avec les humains ou presque du moins.
Nous y incarnons des Enfants du Jeudi, des gens ayant un dons, celle de la Clairvoyance. Dons ou malédictions, la Clairvoyance permet à ces personnes de voir l'invisible et les créatures qui s'y cachent. Pouvant ainsi résoudre les enquêtes ésotériques que propose cet univers.
On reprend les bases du MYZ Engine, avec un petit côté horreur et épouvante. On reste des humains face à des créatures usant de griffes, de crocs et de magie. Toutes confrontation directe est voué à l'échec et à la Mort.
Il faudra donc enquêter et découvrir quelle(s) créature(s) sèment la zizanie dans des contrées plus ou moins éloigné de la civilisation.
J'ai adoré la partie détaillant les Vaesens, iels sont nombreu.x.ses et bien décrit avec toujours une manière de les vaincre, et des idées de scénarios dans lesquels ces Monstres peuvent apparaître.
Et c'est un des autres points qui m'a fait adoré ce livre. Les exemples. Ils sont nombreux et intéressant, faisant en sorte de non seulement proposer des accroches de scénarios mais aussi proposer des conseils pour les mettre en place et les faire vivre. Une d'elle, que j'ai trouvé magnifique, m'aura fait pleurer.
Bref, Vaesen est un jdr d'horreur scandinave qui utilise des règles simple et se concentre sur la narration et la résolution de mystères. Le livre donne les clés pour jouer, créer et animer ces propres parties, avec scénarios, pour jouer directement sans suppléments et de s'amuser.
Un beau livre, visuellement magnifique et aux contenus foisonnant. Je recommande.
October 20, 2021
Que maravilla de juego se han marcado en Fria Liga y Devir.
Partiendo que de nuevo cogen a un ilustrador tremendo para dar vida a los mundos de las historias originales, el juego consigue no quedarse en algo bonito por lo visual, sino que en cuanto a estructura y contenido esta más que a la altura del arte. El mundo de Vaesen es muy atractivo, con unas historias planteadas de manera muy sencilla, pero que prometen intriga, misterio y horrores apartes iguales.
El planteamiento recuerda mucho a otras cosas como Hellboy o las versiones de cuentos de hadas mas cruentas que hay por ahí fuera, llamando la atención no solo por la parte mágica de las criaturas que los investigadores deben investigar, sino por la parte humana. El relato parte de que tanto Vaesen como humanos pueden ser los auténticos monstruos de las historias que se narran, y la incertidumbre de todo ello, y los secretos que se guarda en la manga para el Narrador, le da una dimensión tremenda al juego.
Es impresionante la cantidad de material que te proporciona el juego en tan pocas paginas. Hay quien se queja de que hay pocos Vaesen, pero si usas las propuestas de historias de cada uno de esos monstruos podrías jugarte más de 50 historias antes de quedarte sin material. Esas pequeñas historias de ejemplo contienen todo un hervidero de estilo y narración del que tirar, y dejan muy claras las intenciones del juego.
En definitiva, un juego que hace falta en tu ludoteca. Visualmente espectacular, una edición muy cuidada (no he visto ninguna queja de las típicas con Devir por ahí) y un cumulo de ideas para sacarle partido en noches oscuras.
Partiendo que de nuevo cogen a un ilustrador tremendo para dar vida a los mundos de las historias originales, el juego consigue no quedarse en algo bonito por lo visual, sino que en cuanto a estructura y contenido esta más que a la altura del arte. El mundo de Vaesen es muy atractivo, con unas historias planteadas de manera muy sencilla, pero que prometen intriga, misterio y horrores apartes iguales.
El planteamiento recuerda mucho a otras cosas como Hellboy o las versiones de cuentos de hadas mas cruentas que hay por ahí fuera, llamando la atención no solo por la parte mágica de las criaturas que los investigadores deben investigar, sino por la parte humana. El relato parte de que tanto Vaesen como humanos pueden ser los auténticos monstruos de las historias que se narran, y la incertidumbre de todo ello, y los secretos que se guarda en la manga para el Narrador, le da una dimensión tremenda al juego.
Es impresionante la cantidad de material que te proporciona el juego en tan pocas paginas. Hay quien se queja de que hay pocos Vaesen, pero si usas las propuestas de historias de cada uno de esos monstruos podrías jugarte más de 50 historias antes de quedarte sin material. Esas pequeñas historias de ejemplo contienen todo un hervidero de estilo y narración del que tirar, y dejan muy claras las intenciones del juego.
En definitiva, un juego que hace falta en tu ludoteca. Visualmente espectacular, una edición muy cuidada (no he visto ninguna queja de las típicas con Devir por ahí) y un cumulo de ideas para sacarle partido en noches oscuras.
Read
April 11, 2023Ambivalent if this is for me and my group, but as expected from my previous reading of Forbidden Lands and its similar engine, Vaesen is a perfectly pitched bit of RPG writing, every bit of lore and rules and themes and flavour all working in service of the tone and genre here--although the dials can easily be turned in favour of investigation, of various shades of horror, or even of action and adventure.
'Monster hunters in 19th century Scandinavia' is a niche game pitch, but they absolutely nail it, making it seem pretty appealing. It helps as well that 'hunters' maybe isn't the right word; the game's explicit in saying that the vaesen cannot be fought, not really, and they're certainly not evil--'monsters' isn't the right word either. It's more about finding out what they want, the specific way to banish or contain or placate them, and then executing that plan before the damage gets any worse.
Even the gamemaster advice, so often rubbish or useless, is good here, containing a template for the structure of a mystery, guidelines of ratcheting tension and keeping the pace moving, as well as something I've not yet seen elsewhere: advice on how to bring themes and images into alignment. There are major conflicts and minor conflicts and character conflicts, and ideally they all ought to be operating along similar lines, reflecting and refracting off each other to illuminate the connections and the differences. It's the kind of storytelling advice that a lot of other games could do with, I think. Anyway, maybe one day I'll get this to the table, in some form or another.
'Monster hunters in 19th century Scandinavia' is a niche game pitch, but they absolutely nail it, making it seem pretty appealing. It helps as well that 'hunters' maybe isn't the right word; the game's explicit in saying that the vaesen cannot be fought, not really, and they're certainly not evil--'monsters' isn't the right word either. It's more about finding out what they want, the specific way to banish or contain or placate them, and then executing that plan before the damage gets any worse.
Even the gamemaster advice, so often rubbish or useless, is good here, containing a template for the structure of a mystery, guidelines of ratcheting tension and keeping the pace moving, as well as something I've not yet seen elsewhere: advice on how to bring themes and images into alignment. There are major conflicts and minor conflicts and character conflicts, and ideally they all ought to be operating along similar lines, reflecting and refracting off each other to illuminate the connections and the differences. It's the kind of storytelling advice that a lot of other games could do with, I think. Anyway, maybe one day I'll get this to the table, in some form or another.
March 26, 2024
Vaesen is a detective-roleplaying game with a low-fantasy, horror setting, in the somewhat historical location of the Mythic North (which is mainly Sweden, and the neighbouring countries, in an unspecified time between the late 18th century and the late 19th century), where the players take the mantle of people of various social extractions (mechanically represented by the archetypes, the "classes" for this system), which have no special qualities if not the Sight, the ability to see fairies, trolls, ghosts and the supernatural, usually represented by traditional, fantastical creatures (vaesen, in swedish) and magic of Northern Europe.
Because of this, they go on adventures, under the name of the Society, to solve mysteries involving both humans and vaesen, trying to solve their problems and to reconcile the two parts. The game stresses the relationship between nature (vaesen) and industrialization (humans).
This is, in short, the jist of the setting and system.
Going through the actual book, I've bought the english version of the handbook, directly on the Free League (the publisher) website, for about 40 euros, which comes in hardcover format and PDF, for about 240 pages.
The book is divided in 10 chapters, going over introduction, character creation and abilities, combat, Society and the Mythic North, vaesen and magic, structure of a mistery and an introductory adventure.
The art is beautiful, made by the skilled Johan Egerkrans and the order of presentation is quite good.
The system is very simple but not shallow, allowing the players to use rules easily (the system is the classic one for Free League games), though the game, and the book reminds it, is more diegetic than rule-heavy, and on one hand requires a good preparation for the Gamemaster, on the other hand some find the system a bit too vague (such as for resources and magic), but the narrative and roleplaying aspect play the major role here.
All in all, a fantastic game in a beautiful book.
Because of this, they go on adventures, under the name of the Society, to solve mysteries involving both humans and vaesen, trying to solve their problems and to reconcile the two parts. The game stresses the relationship between nature (vaesen) and industrialization (humans).
This is, in short, the jist of the setting and system.
Going through the actual book, I've bought the english version of the handbook, directly on the Free League (the publisher) website, for about 40 euros, which comes in hardcover format and PDF, for about 240 pages.
The book is divided in 10 chapters, going over introduction, character creation and abilities, combat, Society and the Mythic North, vaesen and magic, structure of a mistery and an introductory adventure.
The art is beautiful, made by the skilled Johan Egerkrans and the order of presentation is quite good.
The system is very simple but not shallow, allowing the players to use rules easily (the system is the classic one for Free League games), though the game, and the book reminds it, is more diegetic than rule-heavy, and on one hand requires a good preparation for the Gamemaster, on the other hand some find the system a bit too vague (such as for resources and magic), but the narrative and roleplaying aspect play the major role here.
All in all, a fantastic game in a beautiful book.
November 24, 2020
Jag har letat något slags alternativ till D&D alltsedan min son och hans kompisar började intressera sig för rollspel tack vare Hjältarnas Tid. Var med och Kickstartade den här och har nu äntligen tagit mig tiden att läsa igenom den. Gillar hur hela rollspelskonceptet tycks ha utvecklats, samtidigt som det i vissa lägen känns mer "låst" än tidigare (men det förstås, allt som står i regelboken är ju mer ett slags fingervisningar än absoluta regler). En annan sak som tilltalar mig med just detta rollspel är att det utspelar sig i ett fiktivt 1800-tals Norden, som gör det möjligt att förlägga äventyren till bekanta miljöer, men att ändå kunna ta sig "kreativa friheter" med detta fiktiva 1800-tals Norden.
Kul. Men det återstår att testköra i skarpt läge. Hade tänkt göra det till jul, men nu verkar coronan sätta käppar i det hjulet. Vi får se vad det blir av det hela.
Kul. Men det återstår att testköra i skarpt läge. Hade tänkt göra det till jul, men nu verkar coronan sätta käppar i det hjulet. Vi får se vad det blir av det hela.
March 6, 2022
I don’t typically like horror RPGs. Stuff like Chronicles/World of Darkness are exceptions because they are more about YOU becoming the horrorfic thing and exploring those themes. But games like Call of the Cthulhu have never really appealed to me.
To a large degree this is because I have no idea where to start regarding forming a campaign. The PCs generally have very little agency and mysteries are frequently handled very poorly in an RPG. I know these types of games are popular, but I just cannot fathom as to why.
But Vasen is different. It presents a very clear starting point while putting the PCs front and center. The Vaesen themselves have built in story hooks and Free League has provided a huge number of tables and GM tools to make the game highly playable. It’s like they took a lot of what worked in Mutant: Year Zero and Forbidden Lands and incorporated it into the horror genre.
Further, players will find a lot to do here besides just investigations. There are even “domain” rules to some extent as you improve your HQ (a dilapidated castle in Sweden) while dealing with the locals. The assumed campaign is truly excellent and inspirational. Overall, this is an incredible game.
To a large degree this is because I have no idea where to start regarding forming a campaign. The PCs generally have very little agency and mysteries are frequently handled very poorly in an RPG. I know these types of games are popular, but I just cannot fathom as to why.
But Vasen is different. It presents a very clear starting point while putting the PCs front and center. The Vaesen themselves have built in story hooks and Free League has provided a huge number of tables and GM tools to make the game highly playable. It’s like they took a lot of what worked in Mutant: Year Zero and Forbidden Lands and incorporated it into the horror genre.
Further, players will find a lot to do here besides just investigations. There are even “domain” rules to some extent as you improve your HQ (a dilapidated castle in Sweden) while dealing with the locals. The assumed campaign is truly excellent and inspirational. Overall, this is an incredible game.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews