Vaesen

Once upon a time in a big house, in a big city, lived a family of monster hunters. They had six children, but over time five left to seek their fortunes, with only the youngest left to mind the big house. That was a long time ago. The youngest has died without an heir, and the estate has summoned all of you as the surviving heirs to the house. Because there are still monsters afoot in the world.

Vaesen is about the New World encroaching on the Old, fairytales with teeth, and investigators solving mysteries. It is also about family, the one you have and the one you make.

This is a LARP adaptation of the Free League’s Vaesen (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/games/vaesen/ ) set in London, 1800s(ish). Players investigate supernatural mysteries and explore their ancient house. Sessions will alternate between social sessions where players share their discoveries and plan for the next expedition, and mystery sessions where they solve the mystery and learn more about the world.

Content warning: Vaesen is set during the 1800s in England. Content may include religious references, fairy tale scenes and period themes. We are setting the game as M for Mature, with mature themes, moderate violence and death. See the Lines and Veils survey for more detail.

Principles of the Game

1. Vaesen are neither good nor evil: The creatures encountered by the player characters have their own daily lives, their own dreams and plans. Some are cooperating with human locals; others are mischievous or downright murderous. Whatever the case, they always have a motive for their actions.

2. Nature is dark and dangerous: The player characters have their homes and headquarters in the city; that is where they feel most safe. Nature represents the unknown - the other, the different - and anything can happen in the dark woods and lonely mountains. No one will find you if you go missing.

3. The World is changing: The old world is being swept away by industrialisation, and signs of this often violent shift are everywhere: abandoned farms, paupers roaming the streets, and confused vaesen seeking their place in the new world of factories and steam engines.

4. Knowledge and cunning are the keys to success: The mysteries of Vaesen can rarely be solved with violence. Instead you must use your abilities to study clues, contextualise the information you discover, and convince humans and vaesen to share their secrets.

5. The journey is part of the goal: The mysteries are not merely problems to be solved or overcome - their whole point is to pull the players and the player characters into the story that emerges during the course of the game. Another important focus is each player character’s journey from naive and untrained novice to seasoned and experienced - and likely scarred - veteran.

6. You will not survive without each other: The player characters will face creatures the mere sight of which can drive a person mad, and beasts that can kill a man with a single blow. The only way to survive is to stick together. The player characters’ relationships with each other and with important NPCs are crucial, both to the story and for healing injuries that are sustained during the game.

Game Details

When? Saturday Evenings - 6.30pm start, third Saturday of the month
Where? Bargoonga Nganjin, North Fitzroy Library
Who? STs are Laura Wilkinson, Rhys Pritchard, Ren Vice, William Arnott and Adrian Guthrie.

To stay up to date join the Facebook Group or the Caligo Mundi Discord channel

ST Email: vaesensts@gmail.com