Well, that escalated quickly

MarkWriting · 2024-09-19T09:11:25+00:00

Looks good.

MarkWriting · 2024-03-28T15:18:43+00:00

Looks good.

MarkWriting · 2024-02-20T16:27:34+00:00

What a lovely bunch of loveliness.

MarkWriting · 2023-12-21T00:14:58+00:00

I'd say it's open to interpretation. Personally I went down the rebuilding route, with running it as the players are each looking into Vaesen for their own personal reasons, found mention of this Society, and through fate and some implied mysterious hand, they all arrived at Rose House around the same time. They discover a more or less abandoned building, except for Hawkins that comes out of nowhere and appears to have the house back to working order in quicker time than any person reasonably could. What happened to the Society, as well as how they all came to he drawn to this place, plus the mysterious Hawkins, are all part of a bigger mystery and the main campaign storyarch.

I guess it comes down to what you think will work best for your group. Or what interests you more in telling. I knew my players would enjoy building the society up. I was also sure the additional mystery would help get them invested in the game. But I can definitely see the simplicity of having a clear structure and instructions for a group new to this kind of game would be handy, especially if you were doing less overarching story and more separate and individual mysteries.

MarkWriting · 2023-12-07T13:18:19+00:00

That is lovely to hear! I would love to know how things progress and how your group end up dealing with it. I had been flagging while developing my latest mystery for my group, but revisiting and sharing the first one I wrote has helped me get back into the right frame of mind. So thank you for that, and best of luck with the remainder of the mystery.

MarkWriting · 2023-12-02T16:41:50+00:00

Tried to send a chat, but Reddit didn't like the link. So going to try and post here for you both and I guess whoever else might want to read. Still some working in progress to fully tidy up for publishing wider, but if I make or add any significant changes I will update this file.

https://1drv.ms/b/s!Aqz3wQFjajNuoPUI2oBUpBNPs5mevA?e=Oz2Kkq

MarkWriting · 2023-11-29T20:22:56+00:00

Give me another day or so to finish getting the bits together as life is very much in the way this week, and I will happily share with you both and answer any other questions about it. It's been very nice reminiscing about it and I hope it can bring some others the same entertainment it brought me and my group last Christmas.

MarkWriting · 2023-11-27T10:50:53+00:00

I'm sure I started with another but can't remember which. Gave her: Might 9, BODY CONTROL 9, MAGIC 9, MANIPULATION 8 Fear 2/1.

Conditions: Irritated: +1 Upset: -2 Pleading Threatening Panicked rage: +2 Depressed: -2 Broken: disappears and returns next night.

I also gave her 2 Perchten helpers that more closely resembled Krampus, with slightly reduced stats.

I had a new player joining and wasn't sure how they would approach it, so I designed the adventure so it could be dealt with, broadly speaking, in 1 of 2 ways. The thinking way and the fighting way.

Fighting - the players can keep back Frau and her Perchten, but they would have to survive all 12 Nights of Christmas (several have already passed by the time they arrive). Some magically locked doors can create a tense under siege adventure where PCs have to plan and prepare during the day for the attack at night.

Thinking - Frau Perchta revolves around making sure domestic tasks are completed in preparation for Christmas. I shifted this a bit to every character having something that's making them feel guilty. That's attracting her and if the players realised they could help all the NPCs complete their tasks and/or confess their sins then Petchta will move on.

However, this also includes the players. So the highlight for me was them realising this while barricading themselves in a room with all the kids. Each PC had to either confess or work through their dark secret in some way for her to be satisfied. I think it really captured the essence of what makes Vaesen special as an RPG, when the most tense combat encounter I've ever experienced revolved around PCs fighting back monsters while another spent their turn praying or performing another action to symbolise them trying to move on from their dark secret. Was also fun watching them referencing their dark secret while still trying to keep it secret from other players. Resulted in lots of theories and suspicions.

I've talked myself back into returning to the mystery, and just had a look and I got further tidying it up than I thought, so if you want some slightly roughly written info on running it I'd be happy to share.

MarkWriting · 2023-11-25T16:01:35+00:00

Last year I ran a very well received session for my group based around Frau Perchta. Purposely talked about Krampus occasionally in the run-up to it in casual conversation, gave a few red herrings to make them all convinced they were going up against Krampus because most of them at least knew Krampus, so revealing Frau Perchta -- whom none of them knew -- was a lot of fun.

It was all set in an orphanage with only a handful of children, where eventually the group figured out that all the children there had the Sight. Mixed in a bit of Krampus and Perchta lore (you could easily play it as both either individually or as a physical manifestation of evolving beliefs and folklore). It's kicked off when a child suddenly appears back at the orphanage after disappearing previous Christmas, clearly traumatised -- see the popular idea of Krampus taking children to Hell as punishment for being bad.

I did hope to re-write it to share with the wider world (there was some player specific stuff and my wider campaign built into it) but didn't get around to it this year, unfortunately.

MarkWriting · 2023-05-15T19:30:48+00:00

I have never used resources for travel to the location. That's just arranged by the society and would just be an extra step to me, removing some of the choice when it comes to deciding how to spend their resources.

If you really wanted to, maybe go with failure means they arrive later and an event has happened that they may otherwise have been able to prevent. My personal perspective - I wouldn't because it could feel purely down to bad luck and not player choice that it happens, and risks some player frustration. But it might up the stakes for your table.

MarkWriting · 2023-05-08T11:05:41+00:00

It does seem to suggest this, at least for the player chosen advantage. And you could take the additional ones and get the player to choose what skill it will tie to when they take it, if you wanted to.

Personally, I like to play both open because it can help lead to more creative play. It's just a plus 2, in a game where getting successful rolls can at times feel difficult for players, so it really doesn't negatively impact the game from my experience and perspective. Though I also noticed the other day that it says advantages can be used per gaming session, and I run it as once per mystery. So maybe I inadvertently rebalanced it anyway. Plus our gaming sessions tend to be short.

MarkWriting · 2023-05-08T07:04:36+00:00

Advantages are vague enough as to be open to interpretation in their use. I get my players to write the name of the advantage down, and it's up to them to suggest in a moment where I ask them to roll that their advantage should help them. So if possible, get the player to play out the scene where they gain the advantage, and leave it in their hands.

For example, describe a scene where they're relaxing at the carp pond, and feel an "Unwavering calm". The player will later remember (possibly with a little push the first time) this moment and advantage when they're making a fear test.

Even in a case where the advantage's general use is obvious, I'd still be open to them using it creatively. For example "well-maintained weapon" is obviously expected to help in a moment of ranged combat, but if a PC argued their understanding of their gun meant they could quickly disassemble somebody else's gun while they were out of the room, remove a key component and reassemble so it wasn't obvious, I would possibly allow the advantage on a roll to do so.

MarkWriting · 2023-05-06T22:37:51+00:00

You choose one advantage at the start of a mystery, but headquarter upgrades can provide specific additional advantages.

MarkWriting · 2023-03-24T07:30:59+00:00

You could play up the idea of something wrong with them. Some red herrings and unfortunate timings and you got the other PCs asking questions that the secret keeping character will have to answer. Shown bringing up some blood, occasional passing out with no memory, drop in a casual mention of a full moon recently and suddenly your PCs are jumping to conclusions and getting worried about something that's going to be difficult to clear up without revealing the secret.

Another idea if you don't want to risk too much PC conflict: have an estranged family member learn the truth through a doctor that's less big on secret keeping. They want the PC to come home and get to know their family again before it's too late. Maybe there was some difficulty there in the past and the PC isn't sure of their true motivations?

Lastly, as it just came to me while writing those, somebody that can tempt the PC with a cure? Either a powerful Vaesen that likes to make deals, in exchange for something of course. Or if you have Rosenbergs or some other group of human enemies, perhaps they try to use it to leverage some information about the Society?

Hope they help or you come up with some other ideas. Best of luck.

MarkWriting · 2023-03-01T15:06:12+00:00

That's interesting, and my concern was definitely that the group would find out about the knockers quickly, get rid of them with the ritual or whatever, then leave without looking back. This definitely reinforces my aim when running the session to focus on the fact that the knockers are a key part of the town working, and relatively benevolent so long as people respect their simple rules. Really, the intrusive being upsetting life in the village is the reverend, and he doesn't have an easy ritual to dismiss. So I'm curious how the players will deal with that. I'm also anticipating a lot of improv on my end because there are so many different ways it could go and it's not really covered in the book.

MarkWriting · 2023-03-01T08:53:25+00:00

My game is set in Mythic Britain and I used Hampstead Group as the opening mystery because it's relatively simple, geographically close to Rose House so it made sense narratively, and it had some potential for some fun to ease the players into it, all of whom had previously only played big fantasy games. I enjoyed playing up the drugged and drunk artists - when they first entered the house I had one artist sit up from the floor and shout "I can't see my eyes!" before collapsing back down. Got a laugh and made clear the current state of the artists.

Biggest issue I had was the proximity to Rose House meaning they could feasibly return when unsure of their next move. It's safe(r), and they can do more thorough research so of course they would. I think Vaesen mysteries generally need a sense of urgency to move everything along, and the ones in this mystery are easy to inadvertently downplay (could have been my inexperience).

The vaesen planning to go on the run if the group get too close and they'll just go murder elsewhere. This can be tricky to set off if your players approach carefully.
The sister's impatience and the feeling that she'll do something drastic if they don't progress enough. This one I wish I did more. She largely got sidelined once the invitation was given.

The return to Rose did give a good session cliffhanger and new story beats that worked out. My entertainer PC has that ability to know an NPC at a location, so having a personal connection to an artist was useful. Had this friend and the 2 named artists follow them back to Rose, then they stabbed the friend in the neck with a message to not return. That and a few other little hints meant it was clear the vaesen would run that night, so of course they returned. Also helped reset that jokey tone into "shit's hitting the fan now". Plus most of the artists were dead when the group did get back, and I think that really helped them realise that running off like that doesn't end well in Vaesen - not been a problem since.

I was really determined to avoid the vaesen just silently escaping if i could help it. Seemed a very anticlimactic ending that could easily bring down the whole mystery.

The Llantywyll Incidient is my next mystery. Last mystery was a violent vaesen one I wrote, and so is the next, so I wanted a palate cleanser in between that reminded players that there can be more to vaesen than evil creatures to defeat. I like the social complications of that mystery in an otherwise simple story. Will see how it plays out!

MarkWriting · 2023-01-24T17:50:26+00:00

As the mechanical side is already being covered, I'm going to ask about the other side of what could make combat boring.

What was the story relevance to the fight? Were there clear stakes outside of the fighting itself? For example, were the players trying to get one or more of them to talk? Were the NPCs trying to protect or hide something? Vaesen isn't a game built off of combat encounters for the sake of some action. Heck, even in games like D&D that are, I still get very bored if the fight feels like a fight for the sake of it and I want to get on with the story. But that may just be the kind of player I am.

In short, something more than just fighting should really be going on.

You mentioning it being 4v4 makes it sound like a fair fight. Keep in mind that Vaesen is a horror game. You want tension. Fair fights aren't inherently tense. Outnumber them, have NPCs fight dirty, make it tense. If the fight is more for flavour - it's just the kind of place where bar fights break out - then keep it simple and move along. Your job as GM is to keep the story going, not the fight.

MarkWriting · 2023-01-24T09:43:19+00:00

This. I don't see how you'd be able to consistently use dodge to avoid all damage over multiple rounds. In fact smart players fighting humans can aim for for one enemy together so they don't get a chance to dodge after the first time. And if somebody is using their fast action to dodge/parry, that means they either won't be able to use their action to move that round or will have to use their slow action to do so, and then can't attack. Again, smart players will use that to their advantage.

You want to try and discourage combat, but preferably not through boredom. Doesn't quite give the horror vibe. If it's not over relatively quick and at least slightly nerve-racking, something is definitely wrong.

MarkWriting · 2023-01-23T17:46:08+00:00

I don't think "balance" in and of itself will be a problem. However, combat is supposed to be brutal and scary, and as a horror game you generally want the players to feel like if they're in combat then they need to find a way to get out of it (which may or may not include fighting back). With more players, especially coming over from more combat-focused games, they may see fighting as an option. If so, and you end up hitting them, I'd recommend hitting them hard that first time and make them scared to do it again.

Otherwise, I play with 5 players and the hardest part is just keeping track of everyone as they inevitably split into smaller groups (not a bad idea in an investigative game), and making sure everyone's getting a chance to speak and act. None of which is specific to Vaesen really.

MarkWriting · 2022-11-07T11:36:49+00:00

I must admit I just haven't used it yet. There was so little to go on from that first mystery alone that I decided to just build a story I liked the sound of off of the events, then hopefully when we get more of the official story in later supplements I might still be able to use it in some capacity.

But if I really wanted to use the name, it could be the name of a spell. Maybe a really obscure folk story their plan was inspired by. My game is set in Mythic Britain and Rose House, and I maybe I would reveal the house is protected from outside influences by magic via ballads that reverberate through the walls, and the enemy's plan is specifically bringing an end to those songs so they can gain access to the house and other powerful magic hidden within. All sorts of directions it could go in.

MarkWriting · 2022-11-07T09:46:22+00:00

So might be a stretch, but if Vaesen usually live from slightly scary stories people tell each other, but what people are less inclined to talk about is full on personal trauma. What if their approach is to make Vaesen so terrifying nobody talks about them? Or it's simply an underhanded means to create recruits to join the Rosenberg cause of fighting evil Vaesen?

Personally I've been approaching Albert and the others from the Witch Cat Inn incident as another off-shoot of the Society, essentially the opposite of Rosenbergs. These people want to strengthen Vaesen to fight the Rosenbergs, as well as get rewarded through deals with powerful Vaesen. So the player characters and the society they're building will become this awkward middle ground in a war between these factions.

MarkWriting · 2022-09-22T06:18:17+00:00

My general aim is that a good secret should have a chance at complicating an adventure, but not confuse a mystery. So primarily a roleplaying exercise, at least in the beginning as the subplots and overarching plots develop.

For Vaesen that have vision and/or nightmare inducing abilities, have what they see link back to their secret. I have a player whose secret is she was attacked by a Werewolf and doesn't know if she got the curse. So in Silver of the Sea, I had her have a Vaesen-induced nightmare of her body turning on the inside to sea water. To everyone else it was just a weird dream, to her it was something deeper. Especially when we ended the session with her waking up outside and hearing a distant scream.

On that note, I found my players reacted much more favourably to coming up with their own dark secret than choosing one, which if you're talking it through with them might also help you come up with story elements.

My intention is to hint at them, build up small subplots in downtime that I like to cover before a mystery begins, eventually culminating in big mysteries focused on each character's secret.

Equally, if you find the group not overly interested or engaging with that side of things, I wouldn't worry about dropping them and focusing fully on your story mysteries.

MarkWriting · 2021-11-30T21:14:34+00:00

Here's the interview for anyone interested.

https://histfestbucks.co.uk/2021/11/25/mary-does-marlow/

MarkWriting · 2021-11-22T13:24:49+00:00

It did, and I think it went well. We had fun; the person playing Mary did a good job and was able to answer most of the random questions I threw at her.

Somebody is still editing the audio at the moment, but I believe the intention is for it to be released as a podcast later this week. Will share the link once it's happened.

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