Quote from: Jaeger on March 10, 2024, 05:31:03 PM
But still only one session in, I'll be back and post a mini-review of the game in a day or two.

Yes, please do.  I look forward to that.

I do not own the Vaesen rpg book; but from what I've seen and heard, I like the look and concept of the unfamiliar mosters.  I have considered purchasing it before, but i probably wouldn't run Vaesen.  I'd just borrow some monster concepts.

Alrighty then! Let's get to it...

Quote from: PencilBoy99 on March 10, 2024, 07:46:44 PM
I ran it for a bit. The mechanics actually worked fine, though my player's felt the system was super whiffy.
...

Quote from: S'mon on March 09, 2024, 10:34:25 AM
...
I played it, it was OK. I'm not a fan of the YZE, I like Dragonbane a lot more. I never really got into the base building aspect. Overall I think I enjoyed it, great art, but would much rather the system was Call of Cthulu/BRP.

You know that your house system is swingy when people familiar with many game systems pine for the far more predictable results and outcomes of the CoC/BRP rules sets.

Let that sink in for a second...


The conceit of the system as presented in the rules is that you only roll when you absolutely have to.

The reality of the system is that it is so easy to fail; that the GM and players are looking for opportunities to roll as much as possible to offset the high failure rate.

Yes, It is just a basic d6 die pool stat + skill system, both on a 1-5 scale, with a combined pool of 10 being the max. Similar to Shadowrun.

But why then is the failure rate so high you ask?

Because you only count a 6 as a success...


I Like the premise. My players like the premise.

I Like the base upgrade system. I Like the way character talents work.

Free-League is clearly in love with their playing card initiative system. Me; not so much. But it is livable. I'm not a fan of their 'zones' system for ranges in combat either. It's supposedly an abstract system meant for theater of the mind combat, but in practical terms you need to draw stuff out on a map to keep things straight.

The short stat and skill lists also mean PC's will tend to advance rather quickly given the rate that game hands out XP. This may be a plus or minus depending on the intended length of your campaign.


Normally I toss games like this when we bounce off of the system, but we all really liked like the premise and the two adventures we've done so far so much; that I am willing to make an exception in Vaesen's case.

Luckily I and doing the game designers work for them are not strangers. The wiffle-ball system will be dealt with.

The main reason that I am down to fix it being that Vaesen's d6 diepool system lines up with other d6 diepool systems I am familiar with to such a degree, that conversion over to something less swingy will be virtually seamless without having to even touch the monster stat blocks.


Jagers verdict:

You need to ask yourself one question: "Do I like Free Leagues YZE system?"

If the answer is : "No." You might want to look elsewhere for your victorian folklore monster hunter fix...

That being said:

If people are interested, I'll post my system mod later on once I have run a few sessions with it.

And I'm also here all week to answer more specific questions about the game if you have any.

Quote from: Jaeger on March 13, 2024, 06:02:03 PM

If people are interested, I'll post my system mod later on once I have run a few sessions with it.

And I'm also here all week to answer more specific questions about the game if you have any.

I certainly would be interested in your mod because it could be useful for similar games, such as Leagues of Adventure/Leagues of Gothic Horror (I dislike the Ubiquity system).

Jaeger, thank you for your insight and review.

Which two adventures did you play?

Quote from: Rhymer88 on March 14, 2024, 03:15:06 AM
I certainly would be interested in your mod because it could be useful for similar games, such as Leagues of Adventure/Leagues of Gothic Horror (I dislike the Ubiquity system).

I have hollow earth Expedition! Yeah, wanted to love but wound up being disappointed as well...
When I get something done in a week or two I'll get one of my friends to throw it up in a google drive file tingy...

FYI: It will be in the form of a rules-reference MS word document, so don't go expecting any of that fancy PDF stuff!

Quote from: Vanadium Angel on March 15, 2024, 08:40:05 AM
Jaeger, thank you for your insight and review.

Which two adventures did you play?

I ran the started adventure in the core rulebook and one from their adventure book called the Silver of the Sea.

The Monsters are no joke, which is expected...

But they hilariously do not want you to use violence to solve the adventure.

And by hilariously I mean that they give a Grandmother NPC better physical and combat stats than most of the PC's. And her two sons that are described as "Heavyset and in their Fifties" had close combat stats even better than hers!

Ware the Elderly Swedes In the Mythic North of the Vaesen RPG...