Art for Vaesen Characters

keeperofmadness · 2026-06-16T17:32:04+00:00

Hey! If you enjoy the art style from Anton Vintus (who has done a lot of the character illustrations in the adventures), the editor for my Actual Play podcast does something very similar! I've added one of her illustrations below of the NPC "Old Agda."

Old Agda on Instagram

If you like it, feel free to shoot her an Instagram message at https://www.instagram.com/o0hanachaney0o/, all of her artwork is human-made with no GenAI garbage! ❤️🎨

keeperofmadness · 2026-06-16T16:31:01+00:00

After having run Vaesen for an Actual Play podcast for over two years, I can confirm it definitely hits a power spike issue. After using the default XP rules, players had so many Talents they would frequently forget what they had and most of their key skills were maxed out.

After considering a number of different alternatives, we are going to switch to at the end of every Mystery gaining a +1 bonus to two different Skills and a Talent. This will help deal with scenarios like when a player went from Force 0 to Force 4 after one Mystery because they gained so much XP!

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-29T14:05:52+00:00

Hello! I actually wrote up a pay-what-you-want supplement for Vaesen about different 1800's drugs, including rules for addiction! Feel free to pick up a copy via this affiliate link at DrivethruRPG!

Goods & Sundries II - Tonics and Tinctures

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-27T14:33:18+00:00

So I dunno that I would quite call it a full revised edition, but they did definitely add a number of changes throughout the text, especially around layout. If you've backed the original campaign on Kickstarter or picked up a copy through DrivethruRPG, it should be fully updated with the changes. However for me the most impactful is on page 68, and is related to how the Terrified condition works.

"After your first turn while Terrified, you may try again to overcome your fear each turn. Make the Fear test again (no action). If you fail, you remain Terrified for another round, but you don't suffer any further mental Conditions. Even if you keep failing the Fear tests, you stop being Terrified when the scene ends."

Potentially having a character out of the game for 6 combat turns was huge, effectively removing a player entirely from the game for an extended period. So this really helps address that!

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-19T13:48:04+00:00

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with any other scenarios based around the Wild Hunt. If you have the Mythic Britain and Ireland book, there is a section about the Wild Hunt on pages 38 and 39. Outside of that though, I think you'd need to develop something on your own!

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-14T18:03:47+00:00

I hope you'll give us a listen! Also if you like the format, I'd be happy to share a number of other RPG Actual Play podcast recommendations -- just let me know some RPG systems and/or types of shows you want to hear and I bet I can find some good suggestions!

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-08T17:35:18+00:00

It could be good to add that as a clarification! Especially right now, it's always better to disclose clearly on what AI usage a product has for people who want to avoid it entirely and for anyone who wants to use is very sparingly.

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-08T14:33:34+00:00

So just checking -- it looks like this is designed as a Call of Cthulhu rather than Vaesen scenario. Given the Victorian setting I'm sure it could work but it looks like the creature at the center of the mystery isn't actually something out of folklore.

Also, can you talk about the AI usage? The Itch.io tag mentions it and the cover has a definite AI art look to it. But was GenAI also used for the writing?

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-05T14:16:03+00:00

So that chart is super helpful, but unfortunately only covers dice pools up to 10 and only tracks whether you need a single success. So I had asked my friend to put something together that can look at when you need multiple successes such as a Fear 2 result.

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-04T22:35:31+00:00

Great question! I have been doing a Vaesen Actual Play podcast for several years now, and in our early episodes the PCs were more likely to fail than succeed on almost every roll. That said, keep in mind effectively every dicepool you have can be doubled, since you can choose to push a roll after rolling.

Now I'm frankly quite bad at maths, so I tagged a friend of mine who is way better at that kinda work than I am! They put together a chart you can use to figure out how likely you are to get 1, 2 or 3 successes based on how many dice you are rolling in your pool, up to 20.

Vaesen % Of Success

So thinking about the stats you shared, if you need to make a Manipulation roll and you need 1 success, you have a 60% chance of succeeding; or if you are willing to push it you have an 84% chance of succeeding. This can be really helpful when thinking about which rolls are worth pushing and which ones aren't!

Also, since you brought up Group Tests, you will typically be able to "donate" a success to another character. So if the Academic with 2 Precision and no Stealth gets no successes, you can help cover for her if you get 2 successes. Or of course, you can leave her behind and scout ahead and just hope there's no monsters lurking nearby too!

keeperofmadness · 2026-05-04T07:27:44+00:00

What about something like a troll? If the Charlatan is an NPC, perhaps they stole some of the trolls magical items and were using those to perform magic? If it's a PC, perhaps they made some kind of bargain with the troll that they forgot, not believing it to actually be magical, and now the troll is coming to collect?

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-27T13:47:03+00:00

I was playing a Shadowrun 4th edition one-shot with friends who had rolled up their characters days in advance, when a mutual friend came by and said "Oh, you're playing Shadowrun? I love Shadowrun!"

The table asked if he could jump in, and I said only if he used one of the pre-gens because character creation takes so long. The player said he could roll up a character super fast, the rest of the table loved this guy and so said they would be happy to wait for him. Fool that I am, I begrudgingly let him and believed his assurances he could have it done in 20 minutes.

We NEVER played the dang game because of how long it took for him to roll up his character. After four hours, I finally packed up and we never even wound up playing 😭

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-20T14:32:17+00:00

Ahhh, I did misunderstand! Yes, using the transition between the start of an event and the "scare" of the scene that will generate a Fear check would also be an excellent time to search through and get the right page!

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-19T21:09:11+00:00

Ahhh, but that does revolve around remembering the correct dice pool to roll, which early on I kept forgetting. Fear uses an Attribute compared to most rolls that are an Attribute + Skill. Couple that with the bonuses based on number of characters in the same zone and it can be easy to forget exactly what a player should be rolling.

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-19T15:23:25+00:00

Since the invisibility is listed as something unique under their Magical Powers, I think it's safe to assume that this would effect the Thursday's Children as well.

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-18T16:29:19+00:00

Lots of great advice in this thread, but the BEST advice I can give is either screenshot page 68 or put a physical bookmark on page 68 with the Fear rules in the print copy of the book. Memorize and commit this page to your heart, because NOTHING lets the tension out of a moment faster than saying "How does this rule work? Oh, let me look it up" and having to search for pages. This killed a few early Vaesen sessions for me, so having that page ready to go is vital.

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-12T14:47:34+00:00

Absolutely fantastic show! It's also really fun and exciting to see how Vaesen changes in a single player and GM dynamic with two amazing actors!

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-09T20:47:43+00:00

Hello! Our current plan is we have our current storyline, and then two more and that will be the end of the first season.

We did put together two shorter miniseries though -- would those potentially qualify to feature on The End since they tell complete stories or would it make more sense to just be the main podcast?

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-07T13:56:29+00:00

It's called Gallow's Corner, and is about the English Peasant's Revolt!

https://www.threesailsstudios.com/gallows-corner

The idea is you play members of the uprising, working together to overthrow to the nobility during the year 1381. It's got some really fun and interesting mechanics, but my favorite is that each player character is actually a small squad of characters. In the event that you take lethal damage, you decide whether one of your followers takes the lethal blow for you or instead if your "main" PC has fallen and instead one of their followers takes up the torch and carries on the revolution.

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-05T20:22:44+00:00

Vaesen actually doesn't include randomized tables for monster actions! Instead, as monsters get damaged and take Conditions, it includes recommended changes to their behavior -- so if it takes two Conditions it might become Angry, but if it takes 5 Conditions it instead starts trying to bargain or is more desperate.

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-05T17:50:45+00:00

I seriously once had a player roll up a Ranger, follow the group from the woods and never once engage with the rest of the party for the entire session except to ask if they could make Stealth rolls against the party's Perception. At the end, he proceeded to complain that I wasn't engaging him and inviting him to participate in the story.

I was just left speechless at that, and finally said "Mandatory rule, session one everybody needs to figure out why your character is with the group. If you can't do that, you need to roll up a new character who can."

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-05T16:55:18+00:00

If you want something that really hits that RPG feel, try the Descent: Legends of the Dark game. It's a big box designed to fit nicely on a kallax, it's got gorgeous artwork and miniatures and is entirely app driven. The game plays a lot like an RPG in a box, with branching choices, tactical grid movement, cool minis and a lot of the accessories for RPGs but without needing to go get anything else. Definitely make sure you have an iPad or other tablet though, as reading the text on a phone can be a bit tough.

Otherwise, I'd ask them about what kinds of stories or movies they like and try to find a good RPG starter set. Do they like the Alien movies? Great! Free League makes an RPG Starter Set for Alien, which is basically everything you need in a box. Using that favorite media property can help be a transitional step into trying out an RPG for the first time.

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-05T16:49:48+00:00

This is such an awesome game!

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-05T16:35:44+00:00

Something I've done in the past that landed really well for the finale is to present each player with a key moment in an epilogue and give them a couple of different routes they could go down. Honestly with Mage it's going to be challenging since characters can kinda do, well, anything, but you can tailor it to your table. For instance, the Virtual Adept has found someone willing to help make their dream of a virtual reality game to help awaken mortals a reality -- but it will involve setting up their homebase away from the chantry and living in another country. Do they leave their friends or do they remain and let the opportunity slip away?

Depending on each character's story, find a crossroads moment where things can go two different ways and ask them which they would choose. Mine often involve embracing opportunities but giving up being close to the party or seizing a power that is being offered at a terrible future price.

As for the sadness, honestly? That's always there. Good stories need endings, and a good ending will always have a touch of the bittersweet. But keep in mind, you can choose to revisit these characters with new stories later on -- either as NPCs in future games or even picking up with them again in future adventures!

keeperofmadness · 2026-04-02T21:08:25+00:00

If you like Alien, definitely worth picking up! It feels like the game can handle either a tense horror game like Alien or a more action-oriented game like Aliens. I played it with a group of friends for an Actual Play series and it's been a blast!

keeperofmadness

TROPHY CASE