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Mythic Britain & Ireland is part of the Vaesen Nordic horror roleplaying game world from Free League Publishing, which takes you through lands populated with the strange and macabre. Vaesen began as a sourcebook for dark fantasies in 19th-century Scandinavia, but it can be readily adapted to any region that has legends of unseen monsters and human drama, which is just about everywhere.
Previously I wrote about Vaesen adventures in eastern Europe with Mythic Carpathia. Today I dive into explorations from London to the Shetlands, across the islands that hold endless secrets, some mystical and some terrifying.
A New Society
The core of Vaesen is its take on “Thursday’s Children,” those who have had a traumatic encounter with the supernatural that allows them to see what is typically invisible. They are loosely organized into the Society, a group of researchers and people who are willing to calm the friction between the human world and that of the unseen.
Like Vaesen’s societies based in Sweden and Prague, the Apollonian Society of Britain is based on actual historical figures such as John Dee, Isaac Newton, and the witch-hunter James VI of Scotland as well as the later Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Bram Stoker. The players’ characters are members of the Society in the Victorian setting, creating the perfect prompts for adventures as the players seek to unravel the mysteries that beset each victim.
A World of Hidden Corners
Like the other Vaesen sourcebooks, Mythic Britain & Ireland shows the complexities of the 19th-century world. Science and reason have created wondrous new technologies, drawing the world together with fast transport on railways and steamships and even faster communication with telegrams. Yet the wonders of the supernatural refuse to be forgotten, whether it’s Knockers in Cornish mines despising religious artifacts or whistling; Redcaps sneaking out of the ruins they haunt to find prey; or a vicious Dullahan racing along Irish roads, seeking a new head for its empty shoulders.
A few scholars, such as the poet W. B. Yeats, may research them, but most will dismiss them as mere superstitions. As the knowledge of the esoteric fades, or as the supernatural finds easy prey among newcomers, the players stand on the brink to defend each side from the other.
While the mysteries in Vaesen stem from interactions with the supernatural, the game is rooted in human drama. Populations are shifting, with neighborhoods of immigrants growing in the big cities, especially London, newcomers from the hamlets in the countryside as well as distant nations. Creatures, too, sneak into the city, where they can become invaders or terrified victims in a landscape of iron and religion poisonous to them.
Often the outside world will come into small towns where elders are well familiar with the rules of living alongside the Fair Folk, but newcomers want to chop down sacred groves or move ancient stones in the name of progress or profit. Sometimes the humans with knowledge of the supernatural might take the lead on using the creatures to their own advantage.
New Victorian Archetypes
The original Vaesen sourcebook set out a list of Archetypes like Academic, Doctor, Priest, and Writer to give guidance to players during character creation. Mythic Britain & Ireland adds three more centered on 19th-century British culture.
First is the Athlete, a physique-focused class representing the professional sportsman of the era, with skills and talents that cross over well into tackling the supernatural. The other new Archetypes, Entertainer and Socialite, comment on the growing luxury of the day with specializations in Empathy to manipulate or inspire NPCs as players navigate their mysteries.
More Fantastic Creatures
Just as Mythic Carpathia added regional creatures to Vaesen, Mythic Britain & Ireland supplies supernatural beasts linked to the British Isles. They are heavily fae, including the easily upset Knockers, hardworking Leprechauns, tricky Pixies, and murderous Redcaps. Others are types of ghosts, like the banshee, while still others are hard to classify, such as the shapeshifting Pooka and rampaging, one-eyed, skinless centaur Nuckelavee of the Orkneys. Since there are so many cultural links between the British Isles and Scandinavia, many of the vaesen in the other books may be used. For example, the Brook Horse is similar to a Scottish Kelpie, and a Grindylow resembles a Neck.
Added Adventures
Mythic Britain & Ireland also includes three mysteries for players to solve. Traveling to the mines of Wales, the farmlands of Gloucestershire, and the blossoming art scene of London, players will have to gather clues through investigation, both observing and interviewing, to find out what is truly going on. Some of the problems are caused by rampaging vaesen, while others come about from human interference, but they are all packed with drama.
Game masters may also borrow stories set in Scandinavia, just as the vaesen may cross over or stray into distant lands, such as the famed Dracula venturing from his home in central Carpathia to find new hunting grounds in Europe.
