RPG Spotlight: Vaesen, A Game Of Nordic Horror
Dark forests hide darker horrors and shadows of strange beings lurk at the edge of your vision in Vaesen; a horror game with a Nordic Twist
Based in Nordic folklore and old Scandinavian myths, Vaesen bills itself as a Nordic Horror Roleplaying game. Cold forests surround lonely nineteenth-century cities, but on the outskirts and in the countryside people know what unseen creatures lurk in the dark and they know to fear them.
Players are members of The Society, and they have The Sight. They can see the vaesen that have lived besides humans for centuries and they understand the uneasy peace that isn’t quite there anymore. Sometimes fairies will lure children into the woods or trolls will… you know, troll, and members of The Society will have to go into the woods armed with little more than their ability to see and understanding of the supernatural. You can bring weapons, but most of them won’t help you much against the vaesen. And of course, any time you decide to take on a supernatural terror that most cannot see, even when you win, sometimes aspects of your adventure will stick with you long after the physical injuries heal.
A little like Call of Cthulhu, Vaesen creates a world where you can take physical or mental injury, and these conditions will stick with you until you find a way to heal yourself. And if you don’t, a mental breakdown isn’t outside of the realm of possibility.
As a system, Vaesen is pretty narrative-heavy and rules-light, using an adapted version of Year Zero Engine, which you may recognize from games like Tales From The Loop, and the Alien RPG. Players have four core stats and twelve skills associated with various stats. When it comes time to roll for one of these stats or skills players roll a number of d6s equal to the stat and skill associated with the action. Rolling one six will result in a success unless the DM deems it a particular difficult task to succeed at. If a player fails they can choose to take on a condition in exchange for a one time re-roll. Too many conditions can lead to injury, death, or that aforementioned break down.
Interestingly though, vaesen can also take on conditions which may directly alter how they act compared to how injured they are. Unlike the human adventurers though, vaesen won’t always die by reaching the end of their condition track. For that you’ll need to discover the correction action or ritual that will drive them away for good.
Vaesen is a game rooted deeply in an already established land with its own aesthetic, architecture, lore, and monsters. And based on the works of Swedish illustrator and author, Johan Egerkrans, it’s also a visually gorgeous system. You will immediately understand the setting and mood of the game after spending just a little time with the book, and with a rich background in some myths and monsters that were interesting on their own, you’re going to be excited to jump right in.
If you’d like to learn more about Vaesen, you can find more information here: Free League official website.
Have you played Vaesen? Do you have a favorite Scandinavian myth or monster that you would like to encounter (or avoid at all costs) as a member of The Society? What’s your favorite horror RPG to play? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
