“Vaesen” Review, 1-20-2022

By Talia Heart

            “Vaesen” is a relatively new tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) system by Free League Publishing which focuses on supernatural creatures from Scandinavian mythology with an emphasis on mystery, suspense, and horror.  The core rulebook explored here is 229 pages long and has already won three gold 2021 Ennie Awards (for Best Monster/Adversary, for Best Art: Cover, and Best Art: Interior). These Ennie Awards are, in my opinion, well-deserved as the art is beautiful but also haunting. The creatures depicted in the art are at the same time haunting, possessing an otherworldly quality about them.

            In “Vaesen” you play a human who has “the sight”, which grants you the ability to see vaesen, (usually invisible to average people). Types of Vaesen include Fairies, Ghosts, Giants, Trolls, & Mermaids, among other creatures, and they have become hostile and possibly mad, and all have different weaknesses you must discover (though vaesen have no official stats to keep them mysterious & their magic system is likewise loosely defined).  Your PC seeks out others like yourself, and in ”The Society” they shall find them. The Society is an organization located in in Upsala (which is just north of Stockholm) and Castle Gyllencreutz, situated within, will become your headquarters

            The character creation process in “Vaesen” is rather simple, starting with one of ten archetypes such as Hunter, Occultist, Priest, Servant, and Vagabond. Then through determining character traits, you decide PC appearance, thoughts, feelings, and reactions that give life to your PC (who also holds a dark secret that you do your best to hide).  Free League has, and I think wisely, also encouraged you to create the kind of character that would be possible in today’s day and age, regardless of restrictions that would have been barriers to your PC in the historical 1800’s (gender, race, disability, etc.) as the setting is in an “alternate 1800’s”.

            The game uses a D6-system like previous Free League Publishing releases with each “6” counted as a success and a variable number of successes being required to complete an action. If you fail the initial roll, you can “push it” and roll again but at the cost of gaining one of three physical or three mental conditions.  A character who gains all the conditions becomes “broken” and cannot continue the mission in any significantly helpful capacity without medical attention.  Specialty dice for “Vaesen” from Free League are available either separately or as part of a bundle with the core rulebook (which also includes Initiative Cards, a GM screen, and a beautiful map of “The Mythic North” & Upsala).

            Missions in “Vaesen” normally last one to three sessions of four to six hours each and a starting adventure, “The Dance of Dreams”, is included. Guidelines for creating vaesen from other cultures and mythologies are also provided. The book is printed on high quality paper with excellent art throughout, though a bit sparse thanks to the 229-page count (a bit shorter than I’ve come to expect from Free League in a core rulebook). The idea of using Scandinavian mythology to create modern mystery, suspense, and horror is quite original, however and the system is easy to use. Given all this, I rate the QUALITY & CONTENT at 4.5 stars each.  Priced at just under $50.00 USD (at the time of this review) for the book alone and given the lower page count I give “Vaesen” 4.0 stars for VALUE and an overall rating of 4.5 stars.

            The instant popularity of this game line has already spawned a supplement of four further adventures, titled “A Wicked Secret & Further Mysteries” (available for purchase separately by Free League Publishing) and a further project, focusing on mythic Britain & Ireland, was fully funded last month via Kickstarter in just six minutes and is in development now.