fragments of a blue ruin
The Vaults of Vaarn are subterranean ruins that riddle the blue desert. Crucially, these Vaults will always contain Exotica, the far-future treasures the PCs are searching for; therefore, the GM is advised to create one such location before the campaign begins. Follow these steps to begin drafting a Vault. Roll a d20 to determine the… Continue reading CREATING A VAULT
An incursion from another fevered sphere of reality, a bizarre hypergeometric monster which feeds upon paradox and whose mere regard unwinds the weave and weft of space-time. The Fractalisk resembles a lizard from some angles, a blossoming flower from others, and at times can seem no more substantial than a fan of light reflected upon… Continue reading FRACTALISK
Elixirs are the province of the Vaarnish alchymist, a catch-all term for wondrous unguents, salves, tonics, nectars, and draughts, the recipes for which have been passed down through the eons. Infused with exotic molecules and enthusiastic nanomachinery, these single-use concoctions grant the drinker a variety of beneficial effects. They may be ingested by all PCs… Continue reading ELIXIRS
After a long gestation, my RPG zine about vampire thieves, Bloodheist, is out now in PDF! The full PDF costs $4.99 or you can download a free demo version that is basically all the rules and character creation content needed to play! Why are you still here? Go have a look! You can now buy… Continue reading Bloodheist Zine Released
As a follow-up to my last post on Toxin Dice, I thought it would be fun to showcase a few Vaarnish creatures that attack with or use toxins. Toxic attacks are indicated with the abbreviation TOX. If the affected character fails a CON save, they gain a Toxin Dice of the size indicated. So a… Continue reading TOXIC CREATURES
I very rarely make posts about game mechanics, but there's something I've started thinking about recently: poison! How does one make it engaging? I don't really like Save or Die type poisons and I haven't given any Vaarn monsters this ability. The closest is the Amaranthine Death-Worm, which can inflict you with a special status… Continue reading TOXIN DICE
Last time, the gang fought off a rustacean in the depths of the Water Baron's Aquifer machine, escaped the attentions of the Hydra's tentacles by taking refuge inside some broken cryogenic tubes, and descended deeper into the complex in search of the mechanism that would drain the water from the flooded lower levels. In their… Continue reading VAARN ACTUAL PLAY: EPISODES 29 & 30
A small bit of news: Vaults of Vaarn now has a digital System Reference Document for you to peruse. This was initially the work of a reader and fan, Desolate Drifter aka Gulluth Gulch, and I got involved once the hard part was done. The SRD compiles everything from issues 1-3 in a searchable online… Continue reading VAARN SRD
For eons unguessed at, the imminence of death has been a fearful black wing that unfurls across the minds of sapient beings. To escape mortality has been the pre-occupation of magicians, philosophers, kings, science mystics, gene-sculptors and demon-speakers and fortune-twisters alike. Throughout the long-faded eras of Urth, the means by which a mortal man could… Continue reading THE FIVE IMMORTAL PATHS
Last time the players fought some rustaceans and evaded the attentions of the Hydra, a tentacled monster. They then discovered a secret room that contained a gravity manipulator, and managed to shut down a malfunctioning magnet. However, the objects stuck to the ceiling of the magnetised room creating a lot of noise when they fell,… Continue reading VAARN ACTUAL PLAY: EPISODE 28
VAULTS OF VAARN 