Vaesen RPG: Free League at its Finest (and the NEW Solo Thursday's Child Rules)

[@jaykaye594]

Free League is hoovering up jaded D&D players left right and centre.

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Yeah, the more rakes WOTC walks into the more people see the great games not named D&D.😉

[@dangarthemighty0980]

Great coverage Justin, loved the video and can't wait for the solo in a few weeks. 😊

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Awesome! Thanks Dangar.

[@deltapi8859]

Attribute + Skills + Modifier is the magical combination that stood the test of time. GURPS and D6 started with it. Cyberpunk also works like this. Now it's the Norm. It just makes sense, because it's a sweet spot for simplicity and connecting Skills to their underlying attributes. Just "rolling under" or "above" is still somewhat not as settled. Both have their advantages. Above is simple and intuitive, but you need to figure out target values to beat. Rolling under simulates likelihood and chances and you only need proper modifiers.

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Yep.

[@andysimmons2648]

I love Vaesen RPG, it’s a wonderful game. I introduced it to my own group late last year and they loved it. They did insist we set it in England rather than Scandinavia which gave me a wonderful opportunity to go down a rabbit hole in researching and prepping games. I haven’t tried the solo supplement yet but I can thoroughly recommend the game for a group. It’s so easy run that you almost forget the rules system as you’re GMing.

[@booksbricksandboards783]

The only thing with the solo, is that the tools used to identify the Vaesen from the clues are all referencing core book Vaesen, and not the ones that appear in Mythic Britain and Ireland. That said, I was totally planning to play in Britain prior to the release of the official solo rules. Just the story seeds for historical figures alone in the book make it a treasure trove of opportunities!

[@BryanSpellman]

love this game, after playing 5E for years this is the one that got me looking outside the norm. Kickstarted and hope to get onto the table SOON!!! Keep up the great work.

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Awesome! Glad that you enjoyed the video.

[@perplexingruins]

Been tempted so often by this game! the art style alone, but it just seems to offer much else. appreciate your enthusiasm for this one!

[@booksbricksandboards783]

You’re welcome. I feel like it fills a spot of its own, which is a pro and a con… you won’t find anything close to it, which also means that there is not a pre-built audience for it either. I really like what they’ve done.

[@perplexingruins]

@@booksbricksandboards783 as a mostly solo player, it seems very much like a good slow burn game...that one builds over a long time in solitaire play! and seems less unwieldy than CoC...

[@booksbricksandboards783]

@@perplexingruins I think it works as an emergent solo play much better than CoC. Not sure I can place it fully above CoC solo, only because I really do enjoy Alone Against the Flames. The “Choose Your Own Adventure” storybook style of CoC solo might be a turnoff for a lot of players. For them, clearly Vaesen would have a more appealing style.

[@tasty_wind4294]

The Year Zero Engine is truly THE best RPG innovation of the century (f*ck off, PbtA). Have you ever looked into look into Free League’s version of Twilight 2000? It is absolutely *chef’s kiss*.

[@booksbricksandboards783]

It has been on my shelf since it released. I’ve read the rules a couple times and sleeved up the cards. Had a buddy that wanted to play it so I’d been waiting to run it and talk about it, but it is on the list. Thanks for watching.

[@whiskeygamesnerdstuff789]

Great Video

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Thanks Whiskey! Vaesen really deserves more love than it gets, it is just such a hard concept to pitch to a new player.

[@Le0byn]

Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Appreciate thanks for watching.

[@deltapi8859]

love the terrain set. efficient and beautiful to the "sight" (yeah pun intended :D ).

[@booksbricksandboards783]

lol thanks. Side benefit of 30 years of wargames!

[@deltapi8859]

@@booksbricksandboards783 "Side benefit of 30 years of wargames!" that's interesting. I'm in it for 3 years now after a long pause (of maybe 15 years :D ). I guess I should also take it more slowly and deliberately :-) Bc I made multiple terrainsets and they are in project limbo right now :D

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Terrain has become much more affordable as of late. There is some really nice stuff for less than $100. Always good to build up slowly.

[@AceneDean]

Awesome summary of the game. And that art is just incredible. Does this mean we get a solo play example of this game soon? 😊😊😊😊

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Hopefully in the next few weeks, but not next week. Lol. Got a busy week planned, but it’s my plan to cover it. Thanks Dean! Appreciate the comment buddy!

[@aw9182]

​@booksbricksandboards783 I just got this game about a month and a half ago with the solo rules and I would LOVE it if you did a solo playthrough. I had been having a tough time with doing it solo and bounced off it but would love to try it again and use your play as an example!

[@booksbricksandboards783]

I will at some point here soon. Hopefully in 2-3 weeks. Surprisingly, solo plays done with improvisation take a lot longer to film and edit(just due to overall length), so I have to plan them around slow weeks. Rest assured I will run a session on camera for the channel though. Thanks for watching!

[@GreekSoloRPG]

Great video. I have purchased the Thursday's child rules and I am planning on running a solo game soon. There is a translation error from Swedish on page 7 which was highlighted by the author on a different video. Where it says " Each success lets you roll for a clue on Vaesen tables 1, 2 or 3." is supposed to say "lets you choose a clue". I am very interested in seeing your solo game! P.S.: Consider making chapter to your videos. It is not much work and it greatly helps with viewing.

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Thanks for watching. Interesting on the error. I wonder if it is corrected if I redownload it? Also, totally get the request, I’m not sure I understand how to make that work, and I am generally right up against time every week to get something up. I work a full time job as a commercial banker, plus am involved with the chamber of commerce, several civic groups and I preach at a couple of churches, besides having a wife and a couple kids that like to see me once in a while… so, request noted but might not come to fruition anytime soon 😉

[@GreekSoloRPG]

@@booksbricksandboards783 You must have a few Vaesen on retainer to get all of the above done! I recently found your channel and subscribed and working my way through your videos. I understand that all of the above plus a very active youtube channel is a lot of work. Creating chapters is very easy. Just keep a note of the time (mm:ss) when you change topic and when you upload your video on youtube write in the description the time stamp, leave a single space and write a title for the chapter. For example, for this video it would have been something like 00:00 Intro, 00:31Discord invitation, 00:46 What is Vaesen etc. Then youtube creates the chapters automatically on your video. Do not go and do this retrospectively to all of your previous videos please!

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Thank you for the tip!

[@AceneDean]

@@booksbricksandboards783 How in the heck do you find the time!? Impressive. I mean, just preaching at more than one church sounds exhausting.

[@FamilyTableTop]

Thank you for explaining all of the things you are doing each week. You do a really good job putting your videos together - especially considering all of the other things you’re doing. God bless you.

[@bobsavage3317]

☮

[@booksbricksandboards783]

🫡

[@simontemplar3359]

Great video! This is comment attempt #3. not sure where my comments went. I have this from drivethru in PDF form and as much as I want to try the game, playing using a PDF on a tablet just doesn't work for me. The last 2 comments were way more effusive, but youtube being youtube...

[@booksbricksandboards783]

lol. You punched through the YT wall and jumped their moat! Good work!

[@michaelhill6453]

My players find Vaesen a refreshing change from Call of Cthulhu.

[@booksbricksandboards783]

It is funny how it scratches much the same itch as Cthulhu, but is such a different game. Cthulhu without the nihilism perhaps? I like Call of Cthulhu, but just as an observation that would be my take.

[@deltapi8859]

"too many books that don't get the appreciation they deserve" ... yeah, you don't have much control over the types of RPGs people want to play. It took me 3 yrs from purchase to my first cyberpunk red GM session. You have to strike a sweet spot between "concentrating on one game" vs "people are typically interested in this genre". However I would be interested how people manage to play a lot of TTRPG sessions over decades. How do you guys do that?

[@booksbricksandboards783]

My groups tend to have campaigns that last between 6 months to 4 years. Nothing shorter or longer than that.

[@deltapi8859]

@@booksbricksandboards783 "between 6 months to 4 years." awesome. Sound like an established group of likeminded

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Have had a few groups as an adult. This one has a core from 2020, and we just started our third campaign. I had a completely different group in the 2010’s that went on for 5 years, pretty much all one campaign.

[@reallivebluescat]

This game is not for murder hobos

[@booksbricksandboards783]

That is for sure… unless the murder hobo is the Vaesen you are trying to find… but not on the player side at any rate!

[@umbertoocto]

I think this review gives far too much credit to published adventures in both CoC and for Väsen. In40+ years with CoC (and Delta Green for 30-some), a handful of published scenarios were workable right out of the tin, and with Väsen, so far, each published work we've played needed a considerable amount of work because the scenario made great leaps of faith and assumption as to how the characters would approach it. Games like these shine brightest when the effort is put forth to personalize and/or customize for the characters involved and to make the critters faced not seem like a set of stats out of a monster manual.

[@booksbricksandboards783]

Thanks for your opinion.