fragments of a blue ruin
https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQvCU3CM86U?si=uci3Xf0fwteEhUvM I had the pleasure last week of running Vaults of Vaarn 2E live on Twitch for the Weekly Scroll Podcast hosts and Chris P Wolf of Offworlders fame!1 There's now a video of the session on YouTube and an audio podcast version on Spotify. We also talk about the creative direction that I've taken… Continue reading VAULTS OF VAARN 2E: ACTUAL PLAY
As we get closer to the launch of the Vaults of Vaarn: Second Edition crowdfunder campaign, I'm going to share a few more extracts from the upcoming book. I've been working hard over the past year to expand the material on offer for players and GMs, without the book becoming overwhelming. Something I've noted from… Continue reading CAMPAIGN SCOPE: 2E PREVIEW
Autarch Cults The Autarchs were gods in flesh, bearers of the polychromatic Peacock Crown whose dominion over other men was as natural as taking breath. Small wonder that they remain objects of veneration long after the Autarchy fell. Autarch cults can be found across the Urth and beyond it, the statues and relics of the… Continue reading MAJOR FAITHS OF VAARN
It's been quiet on the blog recently. The reason is that I'm busy beavering away on Vaults of Vaarn: Second Edition, which I'm hoping to bring to crowdfunding this year. To give you a preview of some of the expanded content I'm creating for the new edition, here's an unfinished draft of the settlement creation… Continue reading VAARNISH SETTLEMENTS: 2E PREVIEW
Greetings wanderers, just wanted to update you on the progress of my projects and the future of Vaults of Vaarn. Specifically I want to address an issue of much discussion: the availability of the Deluxe Edition hardback. Having spoken with Games Omnivorous, I've made the decision to part ways with the publisher. There's no hard feelings… Continue reading VAULTS OF VAARN: SECOND EDITION
I dreamed of ranks of human beings, dreamed of their remote and ancient faces over which the faintest expressions of love and rage flickered like hints of light from a distant fire. None spoke. The figures were bent to their tasks, each shackled to a desk of fine hard wood on which parchments and stylus… Continue reading HESYCHIAN CONFESSOR
I am pleased to announce that Jacob Marks's entry to the 2024 Vaarn Summer Jam, Penumbral Oasis: Part One, is now available in print format from Antipode Zines. Penumbral Oasis is a three-level dungeon suitable for starting PCs. It contains plenty of new monsters and Exotica, as well as a hook for a second installment… Continue reading PENUMBRAL OASIS: PART ONE
Trade goods are common units of exchange in the blue wastes. The worth of trade goods is measured in an abstract stat called Value, which generally correlates to an item slot’s worth of the good. Therefore 100 grubs can be exchanged for a single bottle of wine, or for any other item or tool that… Continue reading VAARNISH TRADE GOODS
Hey folks, I know things have been quiet recently here. I've been extremely busy and hopefully will have stuff to post about soon. In the meantime here's a podcast interview with yours truly. I appeared live on the This Is Your Lifepath podcast hosted by Kayla Dice. We had a good wide-ranging talk about my… Continue reading This Is Your Lifepath (Live from Norwich)
Vaarn’s microbiome is just as varied as its macrobiome, and aeons’ worth of genesculpting have left a fearsome legacy within even the smallest of Urth’s creatures. The biomancers and alchemists of the Long Ago devoted much energy to breeding pestilences to vex their enemies, and while the monarchs who funded the creation of such horrors… Continue reading VAARNISH DISEASES
VAULTS OF VAARN 