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Board Games and TCGs

Vaesen is the Prettiest Mystery TTRPG You Need at Your Table

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I was sent a free copy of the Veasen core rulebook to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

What is Vaesen?

Long ago, Vaesen and man lived side by side in harmony. Vaesen are powerful creatures with the power to control the world around it. Man would make offerings to the Vaesen in exchange for their powers. The Vaesen would make it rain, fill the forests with game, and anything else supernatural. As the industrial age dawned on Sweden, people began their migration to the big cities. Soon, there was no need for the Vaesen’s power and they slowly faded into fairy tales. Most lost their ability to see Vaesen.

Man may have lost their ability to see Vaesen, but the creatures live on in their separate world alongside man. The Vaesen keep to themselves for the most part. Occasionally, however, man’s impact on the planet goes too far and sends the Vaesen into a terrorizing rage. Stories circulate of castles haunted by terrifying ghosts, of witches that snatch up children in the middle of the night, or of trolls terrorizing villages. The people have learned to cope with the unexplainable, and most have forgotten about the Vaesen.

But not all is lost. The society was formed to keep man safe from rampaging Vaesen. The society is a secret organization made up of the few people left in this world with the ability to see Vaesen. People gain this ability by experiencing some kind of supernatural trauma. While these folks may not be the most stable, they are humanity’s only hope.

Gather your friends as you investigate the supernatural in this dark and edgy tabletop roleplaying game. Can you bring peace to the Vaesen before it is too late?

The book

The Veasen core rulebook is the prettiest RPG book you’re ever going to own. The cover and pages are textured to feel like an old book. The formatting is easy to read and search through. The illustrations in this book are breathtaking. The art style is amazing and the use of color is astounding. I’ve read this book as a PDF, but nothing beats flipping through its pages. This is a very high-quality book and one that elevates the look and feel of any bookcase and table.

Gameplay


Vaesen is a D6 system that is easy to learn. Players will spend their sessions investigating mysteries and trying to bring peace to a raging Vaesen. This doesn’t have to mean combat. Vaesen seems to be a more roleplay-heavy system due to how investigations work, but you can always adjust the rules to fit the needs of your table. If you would like to learn how to play Vaesen before picking up the game, AlchemyRPG has a solid tutorial series. They also have a very good official module for their VTT. If you’re planning to run Vaesen online and don’t mind doing it through theater of the mind, AlchemyRPG might be the solution you’re looking for. I am not affiliated with the company, I just like the module.

Impressions

Veasen is a terrific RPG that deserves some attention. The system is unique and easy to learn, and the book is full of fantastic lore and flavor. The rulebook contains everything Gamemaster’s need to run a successful mystery, and there is even a prewritten module for those who need it. I felt like the system is better when players can get into character, struggle with their flaws, and roleplay through the investigation. While I am sure you can make the adjustments to focus on the needs of your table, the game is meant to be a monster of the week mystery-type game. I do like that there is a combat and skill system because things are better with RNG. Besides, it doesn’t matter what type of game you want to run, you’re players are always going to want to hit things.

The game has a tremendous amount of flavor. Even if you don’t end up playing a game of Vaesen, it’s going to be hard not to, you’re going to enjoy reading through the monster profiles. The lore is so good, and it reads like a fairy tale. The classes are all unique, but I like that they aren’t restricting. Classes feel like they are suggestions for roleplay because players have the freedom to play the character how they want. I like that the book gives a good amount of ideas for all sorts of creation for those who need it. The book ends with a well-written first mystery, making the core rulebook an invaluable resource for both players and gamemasters looking into running the game.

If you enjoy murder mystery roleplay, dig the 20’s aesthetic, or want something new to run at your table, check out Veasen. It is a beautiful book with some amazing lore that belongs on a lot more tables.

You can pick up the Vaesen rulebook in Hardcover on Amazon for $49.99 (Currently $40.79) through my affiliate link. If you don’t care about physical media, you can grab the PDF over on DriveThruRPG for $24.99.

Board Games and TCGs, Series Reviews

Baranger’s Illustration of Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror is Amazing!

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I was sent a copy of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror illustrated by Baranger to cover on my blog. I am very grateful for the opportunity, but these will be my honest impressions. If you enjoy my content, please leave a like, comment, follow, and share this with your friends! You can also always buy me coffee.

Impressions of the Book

Our friends at Free League Publishing have a series of Lovecraft books they’ve been releasing works of Lovecraft illustrated by Baranger, and if you’re a fan of Lovecraftian horror, you need to get yourself some copies. As of writing this, you can pick up The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, and At the Mountains of Madness Vol 1 & Vol 2 for $33.87 each. You can pick up both volules of At the Mountains of Madness for $52.53. If the quality and detail of my copy of The Dunwich Horror is anything to go by, you can’t go wrong with any of these books.

The book turns Lovecraft’s classics into a unique storybook that you’ll need to hold to appreciate. This is a massive book, it does not fit on your traditional shelf. It was designed to fit the story without compromising Baranger’s illustrations, and it works. The illustrations are beautiful and full of rich detail and imagination. I love the style and attention to detail. The way the scenes he chooses to illustrate and the way they interact with the narrative give this classic new life. I love seeing how art inspires art, and this book is a wonderful example of that.

The quality of the book is exceptional. The binding is great, and the work is printed on high-quality paper. I felt guilty flipping through the pages, even though the book is going to outlive me.

If you’re a fan of Lovecraft, the Baranger-illustrated versions are a wonderful addition to your collection. I recommend you get them all, but The Dunwich Horror is a good place to start. 

Impressions of the Story

I love H.P. Lovecraft’s clinical and calculated voice. The way he crafts his images describes the sleepy town and contrasts it against the peculiarity of this family creating this decaying image of society. You have this sleepy town of Dunwich that exists isolated outside of industrialized America. Despite the town existing in the middle of all this natural beauty, the isolation sets up the horror. Readers get the sense that whatever happens in Dunwich is inescapable because of how removed it is from the rest of the world. 

What’s more terrifying are these ancient evils that exist around mankind. All the institutions, science, and discoveries that have come into existence throughout are meaningless against the might of a single failed ritual. They are meaningless against the might of this other terrifying world. Ultimately, it’s these ancient magics that somehow have seeped into the world that save humanity for the time being, but the danger still exists, and next time it might be successful. 

I love how Lovecraft is able to create all this magic, world, and lore in such a small amount of space. The way he uses language, existing works of literature, and even dialect helps create such an authentic experience that the terror comes from the tale’s possibility. 

Mostly, I enjoyed the tragedy of The Dunwich Horror. You have a man who spends his whole life trying to complete this ritual, but he dies before he can see it through. You get a mother who only wants to love her child, but her child hates her and becomes a monster. You have Wilbur who spends his entire existence being hated. Whose only reason to live is to complete this ritual, but he’s never strong enough. Finally, you have the horror who spends his existence alone and in agony, spending his final moments calling for a father who is never there for it.

I liked the book, and am glad I got to read it. While the Baranger Illustrated copy is a fantastic way to enjoy this book, a copy from your local library is just as good. And for those who don’t have the time, the Audiobook on YouTube is fantastic and free!

Series Reviews

Series Review: Shining Girls (2022)

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If you haven’t watched Shining Girls, you need to stop reading this and check it out now. This well-made and confusing mystery is worth every twist and turns it throws at you. You can stream it now on Apple TV. Trust me, this show is at least worth the free trial.

Years after her assault, Kirby is still having trouble adjusting to life. She plans to move to Florida in hopes that starting anew will help ease her trauma. But before she can make her move, a recent murder of a woman changes the course of her destiny. The details of this new murder are frighteningly familiar to hers. Could this murder lead to the identity of her assailant? Determined to put an end to her nightmare, Kirby must now piece together a mystery that gets more confusing the more she uncovers. Will she be able to solve the mystery of her assailant, or is this whole ordeal an obsession-induced delusion? 

This show understands how to establish proper tension. If you are not at the edge of your seat throughout this series, you are not paying attention. This is a disorienting trip that gets more confusing as you go. It all makes sense in the end, but you might need to watch this show a couple of times to catch some of the nuances. I liked that I was consistently confused throughout this series because this confusion is frightening. Kirby doesn’t know what is going on and it scares her. We get to experience a similar fear. 

What really makes this show work so well is the acting. Elisabeth Moss is a fantastic actress, and watching her cement herself in this genre has been a treat. The fear she emotes helps create the tension that drives this narrative. The chemistry with the rest of the cast is what gives this show its substance. Together they create one of the strangest thrillers I have seen this year. We cannot ignore Jamie Bell’s frightening performance as the series’ villain. Without him, we wouldn’t have the compelling narrative this turns into. You should at the very least be watching this show for the acting. I wish I could say more, but I don’t want to ruin it.

If you are a fan of thrillers and mysteries and don’t mind being confused, check out Shinning Girls on Apple TV.

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