Mythic Britain & Ireland
Mythic Britain & Ireland is a setting guide for the mythological horror RPG Vaesen, written by Graeme Davis and published by Free League Publishing.
By Aaron T. Huss
Learn more about Vaesen here
Purchase Mythic Britain & Ireland here (paid link)
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Mythic Britain & Ireland takes your Vaesen games from Mythic Scandinavia across the water to Great Britain within its varied myths of English, Welsh, and Celtic lore. Much like the core rulebook, it is a standalone setting although you will need the full core rules to play. It is comprised of a brief-but-kind-of-detailed overview of Great Britain during the 19th century plus a greater focus on playing within that setting including new character options, what it means to set games in that setting (i.e., The Society), lots of supernatural creatures, and a few fully-fleshed-out mysteries. The book very much focuses on the folklore and aesthetics of the setting and not so much on the depth of the locales themselves (honestly you can easily get that from historical information posted online).
History makes it easy to take folklore and turn it into horror. People of the time were already afraid of most of the supernatural creatures from these folktales and all you have to do is make them real. Keeping with that design, repeated from the core rulebook, the artwork depicting these supernatural beings, why they are important and dangerous, and the depth of which they are described is what makes this game so exciting! It has a very 19th century feel but ultimately it is the why that makes it so important. This is a time where people fear the ramifications of not sticking to tradition mixed with people who are trying to move on and away from those traditions. It creates an inherent conflict pitting those who embrace tradition against those who don’t. Stuck in the middle are the members of The Society and their ability to see why these traditions are so important and how to handle those who don’t understand. But conflict creates dangerous situations and supernatural creatures are fickle; if they are not pleased then bad things happen.
Roleplaying games have a tendency to throw magic into the mix, allowing the characters to defeat the creatures and typically view them as enemies. Vaesen takes such a different approach because there is no magic in the fantasy sense and you have to use your head to survive and win the day. Setting this game aesthetic into Great Britain is so natural, and is presented in such a natural way, because those outside of the big cities still cling to these traditional ways, creating an endless amount of potential gaming time. This is all fully described and wrapped into the book that it feels like a natural extension to the Mythic North and not a separate, disparate locale. It effectively creates one setting that is simply being extended westward.
Mythic Britain & Ireland is a perfect setting guide for Vaesen. I can see this same type of book being created for German lands in that time, capturing even more folklore well known in the area. It also provides gaming groups with even more storytelling opportunities!
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