Jaded Gamer - Know your history

 

One thing I can't stand is when people start talking about the history of the ttrpg hobby who don't actually have a fucking clue about it. I've ran into many folks who only been gaming for ten years or so who show up and act like they are the walking talking expert. Puking forward opinions that seem to be coming from popular streamers or influencers... who have only been gaming for the same amount of time or a few years longer. 

Not to long ago I saw one person saying that there is no reason Traveller should ever be mentioned since it really wasn't the scifi defining ttrpg that people think it was. Really? It was the science fiction game for decades. Sure as shit wasn't Star Frontiers, a game that only lasted about maybe four years.

Because it's not making big splashes like it used to doesn't mean it wasn't ever anything. Besides that game still has a rather huge fanbase which you can see based on how well it sells and is supported. But they just aren't vocal youtubers and wannabe influencers. Hell I don't think I've ever seen a Traveller fan put up a video screaming mad about all the changes coming with the newest edition like DnD 'fans' do. 

Another one that really gets me is when people say Vampire the Masquerade didn't have any real effect on the hobby. I was very active in the hobby when that game dropped. Attending conventions, playing different games, really deep diving as best one could back then. The internet wasn't even there yet, CERN hadn't placed the software into public domain yet. Contact through BBS set ups and Usenet was how people kept in contact.

What I saw and witnessed during that time was a massive amount of change. New folks pouring into the hobby, not old folks coming back, but new folks coming in. An entire subculture of club kids, goths and horror buffs. I will also mention that as a hormone fired up youth at the time seeing the amount of women coming into the hobby was a huge surprise (a very welcome surprise). 

They tried to base the game more on the story than the system. By todays standards it's not that big of a push. But back then it was huge. There were a few games that tried but none of them made the attempt with as much success. In an era where things were getting more crunchy and more detailed when it comes to game systems they went the other direction. Plus they tried to make some of it more story and socially oriented. Also, bear in mind, the ultra rules light game Over The Edge didn't come out until the year after VtM. 

There were months where White Wolf products out sold TSR products. People saw that success as well and took note. It became a reason why many folks started looking at making more games that lean towards story more than system. Paving the way for a lot of new games with a new style. The ripples of effect from that game are one of the big reasons why we have story games in such quantity now.

To say that game had no affect on the hobby is showing your ignorance of the history of the hobby. One day I need to make up a list of 'hobby changing moments'. Things like DnD 3.0 with the release of the SRD under the OGL, the influencergasm that came with DnD 5.0, Magic the Gathering disrupting damn near everything, stuff like that. You can damn well be sure that VtM would be on that list.

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Vaesen Starter Kit play review

 

This review is for the Vaesen Starter kit from Free League Publishing. Vaesen is a Nordic horror roleplaying game based off of the artwork of Swedish illustrator and author Johan Egerkrans. It uses the Year Zero Engine that powers many of the Free League products. 

You can pick up the physical starter kit at your friendly local game shop (like the one I work at) and if they participate in the Bits n Mortar program you get the pdf for free.

If not you can pick up the physical copy over on Amazon while the pdf is available for purchase over on DrivethruRPG in the regular version or optimized for Roll 20 VTT . 

This review is based on actual play where I ran the starter set for a game group at my local shop. I was not gifted the kit for review but was actually purchased by myself.

Straight out of the production quality is top of the line. The box is very durable and strong, all the material inside is printed on quality stock. You get a set of ten dice, initiative cards, maps (of the mythic norse, the city and castle) and everything else you really need. Including rules summary hand outs that come in very handy at the table for the players. You get a condensed version of the rules in one booklet that is easy to navigate and the adventure itself in another. To go through this episode you have five pregenerated characters. 

The adventure itself is pretty straightforward. You little group of 'Thursdays Children' (those who can see the Vaesen) are approached to investigate a castle formerly occupied by a group called the society. It has since fallen into massive disrepair and other Thursdays Children have been lured there and gone missing. Given the tools you need in the form of a booklet with information on many of the Vaesen types and a map they set off. 

I will say the pregenerated characters all seem to fit really well. None of them fall into the fifth wheel problem I've seen with other starter kits. Each one has a purpose and comes in very handy at various times. Now a couple of them reference a few things that aren't discussed in this kit but nothing major that would ruin any sense of the game. Just had us flipping pages for a bit. 

With the group I played with they figured out what the encounter was beforehand by using the booklet of Vaesen and grasping a few clues. But they also snagged onto a red herring that could have also been in there. So it's not one of those discover everything at the end kind of stories. The ended is open ended and can lead you straight into regular games using the full corebook.

The mechanics are easy as most Year Zero Engine games are. Roll a number of six sided dice, sixes count as successes. Most checks require only one or two successes. Various rules for pushing the rolls are there to help get you success at a cost. There are no hit points but a more narrative condition system which helps set the tone of the game even more.

Not to mention that the artwork is also immaculate. Every Vaesen product I have looked at has been beautiful and this one is no different. 

In the end I give this starter set two thumbs up and highly recommend it to others.

UPDATE: Here is a Reddit Thread where a person running the starter kit asks a few questions and gets some really answers. 

Getting ready to run Vaesen.

 

Well I've wrapped up my short four session stint back into my Cyberpunk 2020 campaign. Putting the Church of the Righteous Hand in a position to really alter the future of Night City if they choose to do so. But it will be a while before we get back to that. Most likely it's going to be a campaign I bring back a couple times a year for a few sessions. 

So the next game I will be running is going to be Vaesen from Free League Publishing. Ever since I saw it on the shelves at my FLGS it had my interest. But it wasn't until I got to play in a game at DieCon last year that I finally decided to take the plunge and buy the game. But there's a lot to take in and I couldn't quite figure out where to start. 

So finally they came out with a Starter Set and I picked that up.

Told my group I will be running the starter using the pregenerated characters. That way they get a feel for the system and setting a little bit before making their own characters. Then after that I'll be running the published adventures straight out of the various campaign books. 

I'm excited to run it. My group is excited to play it. So it's going to be fun. If I can just finish wrapping my head around the starter kit by next Sunday. 

Changes and getting to the new normal.

 

Well it's been a bit since my last blog post. But there have been some changes in my life that occurred and I've been rather busy with that. So let's get into a few details here.

I work for a FLGS (Friendly Local Game Shop) and have done so for almost four years. The name of the place is Aesop's Treasury Books and Games. It's a job I took because I could no longer do factory work due to how badly Covid affected my lungs. The owner had been my friend long before he owned the store, he even officiated my wedding, so when I needed work he helped me out. In turn I found a job that really worked for me. 

Well eventually his store had outgrown the space it was in. So last October he found a new location but it needed a lot of work. I began doing some more hours at the shop so he could be over there getting it done. When I had time I also dropped by the new space and helped move debris, give my opinion on things and help set up fixtures. 

January we closed the old shop and moved everything in six days. I never want to do that again. It was a nonstop run to get it all moved over, reset, adjusted and ready to go by opening. Even then we had things that hadn't got done. Also a new part time employee was hired to help out. We opened the doors on January 21st. 

We were hopeful for a good boost in business. We exceeded expectations. Our new employee got a trial by fire on a grand opening day that was extremely busy. It's been going very well ever since.

So now we were dealing with ordering and checking in a LOT more product than usual while dealing with a LOT more customers coming through the door. It's been quite a task that's for sure. Which meant extra hours and more mental exhaustion than I had been previously used to. 

With GAMA coming up the owner thought about skipping it this year because of how busy we were. I advised him not to as did several others. Every year he finds some great new stuff at the show and brings it into the store. So he went and we all worked a lot extra that week. But he came back with some great stuff, a lot of new things on order and some new, much needed, connections for our supply chain.

So I was offered a promotion. Given the title of 'General Manager' and, unlike most other places I worked for, I got good pay raise with that title. Also I'll be working full time now, have the ability to make orders, and we'll be getting another part time person or two coming in over the next month or so. This job is the first one I ever that I actually, honestly, enjoyed. I'm happy to see it has grown this much and the owner has taken me along with it. 

With all this going on I was just pretty mentally and physically taxed. Which is why I stopped blogging for a bit. But now that things are a bit more settled down, or at least I'm more used to the level they are at, I should be doing more once again. Starting with doing some more content for this blog and working on the next release for Truly Rural. 

90% of D&D discourse is BS

This is some top shelf Jaded Gamer worthy stuff right here. Two thumbs up. 

Be A Better Player Updated

 

I updated 'Be A Better Player' just a bit. Added in some new pics and improved the layout a little. Put the 100% Human logo on the front as well as the copper medal the book has earned. It's over on DrivethruRPG and if you bought the original you can just download this version for free as I just added it to the original listing. 

I should have a few more blog posts starting to roll out in this next week as we're finally done moving the FLGS that I work at. Along with some amazingly busy first days there. The move has been nothing but an improvement for Aesop's Treasury that's for sure.