What is the Vaesen Roleplaying Game?
Forget typical fantasy tropes. The Vaesen Roleplaying Game drops you into a moody, atmospheric 19th-century Scandinavia – the setting known as the Mythic North. Think fog, dense forests, isolated villages, and the slow creep of industrialization pushing against ancient ways. Here, the creepy creatures from folklore – the vaesen – are real, lurking just out of sight for most people. It's less high fantasy, more like the eerie, hidden world feeling you might get from The X-Files, but set a century earlier with deep roots in actual folklore. The sense of something ancient and hidden just beneath the surface is palpable in this Nordic horror RPG.
But you aren't most people. Your characters have "The Sight," letting them see these hidden beings. You're part of 'The Society,' a group dedicated to investigating weird happenings, protecting communities, and dealing with these vaesen in this intriguing investigation RPG.
Here's the cool part that sets the Vaesen TTRPG apart: it’s not just about monster hunting. Vaesen are often more like forces of nature or misunderstood spirits than typical evil villains. Your guns and swords might scare them off, but they rarely kill them. The real challenge is investigation: figuring out what you're dealing with, why it's causing trouble, and often performing specific Rituals based on old legends to resolve the situation. Think Call of Cthulhu meets Grimm's Fairy Tales, with a distinctly Nordic flavour. Sometimes you don't need a bigger gun; you need the right knowledge, almost like figuring out not to cross the streams in Ghostbusters. Success feels earned through cleverness and nerve.
Vaesen RPG Character Creation: Secrets, Scars, and Skills
Vaesen's character creation is heavily geared towards story and personality, perfect for diving deep into roleplaying and bringing that character depth you saw develop in 80s cinema beyond just the action scenes:
Archetype (Your Concept): Pick a starting concept like the studious Academic, the healing Doctor, the wilderness expert Hunter, the strange Occultist, the disciplined Officer, the devout Priest, the clue-finding Private Detective, the sturdy Servant, the well-traveled Vagabond, or the perceptive Writer. This gives you a fantastic starting point for your Vaesen RPG character.
Age Matters: Choose Young, Middle-Aged, or Old – this tweaks your starting points for core stats vs. learned skills, letting you balance raw potential against life experience.
Attributes (Core Stats): You get points based on age to put into Physique (strength/toughness), Precision (coordination/dexterity), Logic (smarts/reasoning), and Empathy (social skills/intuition). These are the bedrock of your character's abilities.
Skills (Learned Abilities): Spend points on specific skills like Investigation, Stealth, Medicine, or Manipulation, which build upon your Attributes. Even with 0 points, you can still try a skill, just relying on your Attribute – no skill is ever truly impossible to attempt.
The Story Bits (Crucial!): This is where your Vaesen TTRPG character truly comes alive:
Motivation: Why do you do this dangerous work? What drives you into the darkness?
Trauma: The specific (often unsettling) event that awakened The Sight. This scar shapes who you are.
Dark Secret: A personal problem you hide, which the Game Master (GM) will bring into play to create compelling drama. Everyone's got something hidden, right?
Relationships: How do you connect with the other players' characters (PCs)? Teamwork is essential for survival, very Goonies or Stand By Me in that regard.
Gear & Wealth: Your Archetype influences your starting money (Resources) and equipment. You also get a personal Memento – an item tied to your past that can help you recover mentally when things get tough.
How to Play Vaesen RPG: The Mystery Loop
Playing the Vaesen RPG usually involves tackling "Mysteries" over one or more game sessions. The rhythm feels very natural for an investigation RPG:
The Briefing: You start at the Society HQ in Upsala, prepare, and then get a case – maybe a desperate letter, a strange newspaper article, or worried whispers from a contact. Classic adventure hook!
The Journey: Traveling isn't just hand-waved; you gain a temporary boost called an Advantage representing your specific preparations or a useful encounter on the way. A nice touch that makes the travel feel meaningful.
The Investigation: This is the heart of the game. You arrive at the location, explore atmospheric sites, interview locals (NPCs), search for Clues, and face Challenges. Finding clues (often by using skills like Investigation or Observation in the right place ) is key to identifying the Vaesen and learning its weaknesses or the crucial Ritual needed.
The Confrontation: You'll likely face the Vaesen. Combat is possible and very dangerous, but the goal is usually to perform the specific Ritual you uncovered to banish, appease, or trick the creature. Vaesen fights back with claws, teeth, and unsettling Magic (like illusions, curses, or reality-warping effects ) that you'll need to resist.
Debrief & Downtime: Back in Upsala, you recover from injuries and stress (Conditions), and spend earned Experience Points (XP) from the mystery to improve skills or gain new Talents. Ready for the next unsettling case in the Mythic North.
Vaesen RPG Mechanics: Dice, Danger, and Desperation
The core Vaesen game mechanics, stemming from the Year Zero Engine principles, are refreshingly simple but carry weight, using regular six-sided dice (d6s):
Skill Tests: When things get risky, the GM calls for a test. Roll several d6s equal to your relevant Attribute + Skill score.
Success: Any die showing a '6' is a success. Usually, one '6' gets the job done. More sixes mean you do exceptionally well. Simple and fast.
Pushing Your Luck: Here’s where it gets interesting. If you fail (or need more successes), you can choose to Push. You must take a Condition (see below), then you get to re-roll any dice that weren't 6s. It's a core tactical choice: risk getting hurt or stressed for that crucial success? This adds fantastic tension to key moments in the Vaesen RPG.
Conditions (Damage/Stress): Instead of just Hit Points, Vaesen uses Conditions – specific negative states like Exhausted, Wounded, Frightened, or Hopeless. Each one gives a -1 die penalty to related rolls. They represent getting worn down, physically injured, or mentally frayed, adding narrative weight beyond just numbers. Managing these is vital.
Broken: Pile up too many Conditions (4 of one type), and you're Broken – physically incapacitated or mentally shattered. This is serious business and can have long-term consequences.
Fear: Encountering Vaesen or truly disturbing scenes triggers a Fear Test. Roll Logic or Empathy; failure makes you Terrified (panicked, frozen, etc.) and inflicts Mental Conditions. This really sells the Nordic horror RPG aspect effectively.
Vaesen TTRPG Feel: Conflicts Beyond Combat
Like many good stories, the Vaesen TTRPG is built on conflict, just not always the sword-swinging kind. The tension comes from multiple angles:
The Seen vs. The Unseen: The fundamental friction of normal life rubbing against hidden, dangerous folklore. That feeling that something isn't right, like in Poltergeist or Gremlins.
Past vs. Present: The tension of the 19th century – old ways and beliefs clashing with new technology and ideas, often upsetting the delicate balance with the vaesen.
Personal Demons: Characters battling their own Trauma and Dark Secrets add layers of internal conflict and vulnerability.
Moral Grey Areas: Vaesen aren't simple monsters. Sometimes humans are the cause of the problem, forcing players into difficult ethical choices where the 'right' answer isn't clear.
Final Thoughts on the Vaesen Roleplaying Game
Vaesen offers a compelling, genuinely atmospheric experience focused on mystery, investigation, and roleplaying in a unique Nordic Horror setting. Its rules are relatively light, designed to facilitate story and quick resolution, but the Condition and Push mechanics provide meaningful, tense choices under pressure. If you enjoy horror TTRPGs like Call of Cthulhu, appreciate deep folklore TTRPG dives, or want a game where knowing the secrets is as vital as landing a blow, the Vaesen RPG from Free League Publishing is worth checking out. It feels like the kind of game that could have spawned some wonderfully moody, low-budget horror flicks back in the 80s.
