IT'S VASSIN' TIME!
The Game: Vaesen
The Publisher: Free League Publishing
Degree of Familiarity: None yet
Books Required: Just the one
Vaesen is an investigative horror game, and if I'm honest it reminds me quite a bit of Chill, at least where story structure is concerned. Characters are folks with the Sight - the ability to see the titular vaesen (spirits, monsters, supernatural beings), who are otherwise invisible unless they want to be seen. Vaesen have always had a place in the world, but now (where "now" is "the 19th century") the world is getting industrialized and changing and the vaesen are reacting to it. PCs are folks who have learned of the Society, a group of people dedicated to investigating and/or hunting the vaesen, and are trying to restart the organization after it kinda fell apart.
Like I said, some clear parallels to Chill - investigative focus, secret society that is pretty much the underdog, protecting people from the horror of the supernatural even when people bring it on themselves. I may have to give this game a go at some point, though I might need to brush on my Swedish first.
Now, there are two methods for making characters presented in the book. One is a pretty standard pick an archetype and fill in stuff by choice, the other involves random tables and lifepaths. And y'know, I don't have a concept and I love lifepaths, so let's do that!
First thing, I roll for class (as in, social class). I roll...ooh, aristocrat. OK, cool. My starting Resources is 5. Now I roll for Upbringing on the Aristocrat table. "Spoiled."
So far, so good. Now we roll for Profession. Author. OK, then. That gives me +1 Resources, and puts me on the Writer table (not sure what that means yet). Oh, wait, I see. There's a life events table, which is where I'm rolling now!
I roll Sweetheart! Basically I have, or had, a happy romantic relationship. Given where this comes up in my guy's life, it's likely to be young love, which is a very different thing than a September romance.
I could now stop and say my guy is Young, or I could move on to Middle Age and roll again. I think I'll do that, actually. I roll again on the Life Events table and get...Addiction. Oof. Well, why not.
I think I'll stop here and be Middle Aged. I have to lower an Attribute of my choice. I think I'll lower Precision and say that his hands shake now.
Now I can raise an Attribute of my choice by one; I shall raise Empathy to 4.
Two more Skill points; I can go to 3 in Inspiration if I want. Let's see. Presently I have:
Ranged Combat 1
Stealth 2
Learning 2
Manipulation 2
Inspiration 2
Medicine 1
I think I will buy Observation 1 and Vigilance 1.
And now back to random; I roll a d3 for Motivation, Trauma, Dark Secret, and Talent. (Trauma here is the trauma that gave me the Sight, and I might just choose that one.) Rolling for Motivation I get Revenge. That's...actually something I hadn't considered. Hmm. I don't love the example Traumas given. Oh, I've got an idea.
Hugo Skytte married his childhood sweetheart Helena when he was a young man, and enjoyed a career as an essayist and novelist for some years. But then like his father before him, he started drinking very heavily. He was not an angry or mean drunk; he was much more likely to get sleepy. In fact, he was fast asleep at a party at a friend's country house the night Helena went walking in an orchard, got led away into by a will-o'-the-wisp, and tumbled down a hillside to her death.
Hugo vaguely remembers the lights in the trees and hearing her scream, but he thought he dreamed it. It wasn't until he learned what happened that next day that he realized what those lights were.
All of that in mind, I think Revenge works as a motivation. Probably not against that particular vaesen, but against any that take advantage of the innocent. Dark Secret, then? Actually, let's say it's that he's still drinking.
And then, Talent. Oh, Wordsmith is perfect. I can ignore penalties from Conditions when making Inspiration rolls. Might as well call that one "functional alcoholism." And now I get an extra piece of equipment. I shall take a book collection.
Normally at this point I would come up with relationships between Hugo and the other PCs, but seeing as how it's just me, I think we call it done.
Hugo still dresses smartly, but his hair isn't as well groomed these days. It's shaggy and blonde, and his beard comes in white in places, perhaps a little prematurely. He drinks from a flask and chews mint leaves from his garden constantly to hide the smell, and he walks with a cane that he doesn't really need, but it keeps him steady on the bad days.
Hugo is aware that other members of the Society find the vaesen fascinating or even beautiful. Hugo wants them all to burn while he screams his wife's name at them.
And that'll do it!
