Vaesen Core Rulebook

The old ways are fading, but the old things haven’t gone anywhere. Vaesen is a gothic horror roleplaying game set in the Mythic North: a 19th-century Scandinavia where the creatures of folklore are entirely real. Factories and railways are spreading across the land and cities glow with new ideas. Out in the vast, dark forests and lonely villages, though, people still leave offerings and lock their doors at dusk, and they’re right to.

Your characters are among the rare few born with the Sight, the ability to see the vaesen. Trolls, water spirits, hungry ghosts and stranger things move unseen among ordinary people. Together your group investigates mysteries, uncovers what the vaesen want and decides whether to bargain with them, drive them off or destroy them. Over a campaign you also build up your group’s headquarters, so it becomes a home base for your investigations.

Nils Hintze wrote the game, which brings to life the haunting artwork of Swedish illustrator and author Johan Egerkrans. His paintings of the vaesen fill the book and make it a stunning piece for any shelf. It runs on an adapted version of Free League’s Year Zero Engine. You roll pools of six-sided dice and look for sixes, with streamlined rules for investigation, combat and the slow creep of fear. The game won three ENnie Awards in 2021, for Best Cover Art, Best Interior Art and Best Monster/Adversary.

If you like folk horror, gothic mystery or Scandinavian mythology, or you’re looking for an investigative horror RPG with a fresh setting, Vaesen is the one to pick up.

Inside you’ll find:

• Ten ready-to-play archetypes, plus life-path tables for creating characters at random
• Fast rules for investigation, combat and horror, using the Year Zero Engine
• Headquarters rules for building up your group’s base over a campaign
• A gazetteer of the Mythic North, including a detailed guide to the town of Upsala
• Twenty vaesen, each illustrated by Johan Egerkrans
• The Dance of Dreams, an introductory mystery to start your first game

Specifications:

• Writer: Nils Hintze
• Art: Johan Egerkrans
• Publisher: Free League Publishing
• Edition: Revised Edition (2025)
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: approx. 240
• Size: approx. 8.5 × 11.3 × 1.2 in (21.6 × 28.6 × 3 cm)
• Weight: approx. 2.5 lb (1.14 kg)
• System: Year Zero Engine
• Language: English
• EAN: 9789189143920
• Awards: Three 2021 ENnie Awards (Best Cover Art, Best Interior Art, Best Monster/Adversary)