Free Vaesen TTRPG Available This Halloween on DrivethruRPG

In celebration of Halloween, Free League Publishing is giving away copies of their Nordic horror TTRPG, Vaesen, through DrivethruRPG.


Published: October 30, 2023 3:28 PM /

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Cover artwork of the TTRPG Vaesen, showing an investigator in a coat, wielding a lantern and a handgun, a horned monster can be seen in silhouette.

Fans of horror TTRPGs have been eating well. Candela Obscura is finally getting a core rulebook release. The Crooked Moon has raised more than $3 million on Kickstarter. Call of Cthulhu: Arkham brings investigators back to the iconic town. Now, free Vaesen PDFs are available on DrivethruRPG.

Free Vaesen on DrivethruRPG

If you search for Vaesen - Nordic Horror Roleplaying on DrivethruRPG, you'll find the core rulebook for Free League Publishing's TTRPG on sale at 100% off.

Artwork of a ghost from the RPG Vaesen
Credit to Johan Egerkrans' take on a ghost.

Built on Free League's Year Zero RPG engine, Vaesen is set in northern Europe in the nineteenth century. But this is a version of Europe's countryside where Nordic tales and Scandinavian myths are true, including those that keep people afraid of the night.

Players take on the roles of investigators, attempting to bring rational enlightened truth to these far-fetched tales. But there's a good reason why people fear what is in the dark.

Vaesen is written by Nils Hintze and is based on the work of Swedish author and artist Johan Egerkrans. Egerkrans' artwork is used in the book, bringing a dark gothic look to the titular vaesen or supernatural beings investigators will encounter in their mysteries.

This core book contains ten different playable character archetypes, a lifepath system for character creation, a gazetteer of the Mythic North, quick and flavorful rules for combat and investigation, and an introductory mystery titled The Dance of Dreams.

As an entry point into Nordic horror, the free Vaesen PDF is a solid one. It is a TTRPG that has received plenty of expansions and support. These include the Mythic Britain and Ireland expansion as well as the prewritten adventure, The Lost Mountain Saga.

Sadly both of those books are still at full price on DrivethruRPG.

At the time of writing, it is unclear how long the free Vaesen PDFs will be available. However, given the game's horror roots, there's a chance this promo will end around Halloween.


Note: TechRaptor participates in an Affiliate Partnership with DrivethruRPG.

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Ever since he was small, Tyler Chancey has had a deep, abiding love for video games and a tendency to think and overanalyze everything he enjoyed. This… More about Tyler