Vaesen: The Night Sow - RPG Review 

Loved this run through of the Night Sow. I really fell in love with this scenario as it takes place around where I grew up. Most of the parts of the adventure, the Hotel, the locals dislike for it, the chapel are very real stories. Mölle was one of the few places in Europe where men and women were allowed to bath on one and the same beaches (Which is why its kind of funny that the scenario takes place in the dead of winter :)) and both locals and Sweden in general were up in arms about the sinful goings on in Mölle. Now mind you that during the time men and women wore bathing suits that were almost as covering as everyday clothes. I don't think anyone tried to burn the hotel down in reality, but the scandalous rumours, the issue of a fairly isolated community coming into contact with people from outside and the setting with the mountain, the caves and the man of the hill or Kullamannen are all either real or actual folklore from around Mölle. Really fun adventure and a great run through on it!

first of all I just have to say this is solid gold. as a GM prepping to run this game I found your delivery and side scenes hilarious which supports the framework of your overall video which is informative. restructuring the opening is such a needed piece of advice and I appreciate your ideas there. looking forward to digging into your entire catalog based on one video because you rock

Thanks for the heads-up on this! I want to run all the adventures in a Wicked Secret. Its namesake went extremely well, but took some revisions and additions. I really appreciate your videos!

So, I might have an idea on how to change the story in order for it to make a little bit more sense. What if, the real reason why Magnus turned Katarina into a Gloson, is that he plans on using her to spread the rumor about the monster in Mölle so that tourists do not wish to travel there in the first place? This is simply a better motive instead of killing her outright, because this way, she is still away from the hotel and under his control. Magnus could have simply kept the Gloson imprisoned within the Rooting cave until he needs it, but then realized that Olga and her witches who were newcomers to Mölle, had somehow found the cavern through old legends and fieldwork tied to Olgas past as a society member, and were headed there to peform a ritual by coincidence. So basically, the Gloson had already been created by Magnus and is sleeping inside its cage deep inside the Rooting cave when the witches arrived. They performed their ritual, but as the Gloson is drawn to people with magical properties, this could have awakened it and droven it into a frenzy. The witches managed to escape and Magnus is now realizing that they are a serious problem because they know where the cave is located, so he plans on taking care of them to conceal his secret but also to spread fear in the community so that tourists would think twice about going to Mölle. Also, to make things even simpler. You could just add a rule that the Linden staff also allows Magnus to see through the eyes of the creature he is controling, this way, it would explain how he knows about the witches when the Gloson awakened during their ritual and where they are. It could give Magnus this kind of Odin vibe, him being able to see everything the Gloson sees from the top of his lighthouse.

What a perfect timing. Running The Night Sow next weekend. I was thinking of running Silver of the Sea first but changed my mind as the The Night Sows setting is during the winter and unfolds in Mölle, 20 minutes from my hometown. Thank you for these videos. Great tips for a newb GM like myself.

I really like the idea of magic being performed near someone who is cursed transforms them into a Gloson. As if the curse or hex "primes" the transformation and then having magic happen suddenly pushes things over the edge, since it ties into the Gloson's "magic devouring" nature. Love your reviews, and I'll definitely look forward to running this one with my group!

Great video. I played the adventure last week. I enjoyed running it but encountered similar difficulties. One of the things I struggled with was finding a natural a way of introducing the information about the disappearance of the hotel owner without it seeming too contrived - the players simply didn't ask about it and it didn't feel realistic for the staff to force the issue. Similarly, I found it tricky to tell the players about Lundin's involvement in the arson attack - I didn't feel that the priest would grass on Lundin, especially after keeping it a secret from the authorities. I decided a local drunk would tell them, but, as with the hotel, they didn't pursue it. I think this was because they were focussed on investigating the death of Olga and wanted to stay focussed on that. As you suggested, my players were rather confused by the location of the cage in the rooting cave. In addition, they couldn't understand why, if the witches felt trapped, Olga had ventured out alone at night to meet them. Incidentally, I changed the hotel's name to Hotel Kullaberg because there really is one of that name in Molle and there are loads of great vintage postcards of it that I showed the players. Anyway, I plan to run it again in a couple of weeks with a few tweaks and will definitely take on your suggestion of moving the discovery of Olga's body to later.

Your videos are just brilliant. Thank you so much!

I just watched your review for "A Winter's Tale" before watching this one, and it occurs to me that the invitation to "The Night Sow" makes for a better setup for "A Winter's Tale" than a random invitation to a party that never happens. Players set off to help Olga, but get waylaid by the weather at an inn and have to solve the mystery there involving a grieving dwarf before continuing on their way. Then they arrive in Mola too late and Olga has been killed, all because of the events in "A Winter's Tale". You could potentially even give some clues to the slightly-too-complicated mystery presented in "The Night Sow" before the adventure even starts by putting them in "A Winter's Tale" - perhaps Greyfoot (or even the monster-hunting brothers) gives a hint that a Lindenwood Staff can be used to control Vaesen if prepared properly. Also both these adventures involve a hotel/inn keeper attempting to modernise, to the distress of the locals (either a Vaesen or the local populace). The primary conflict in both then becomes the friction between the traditional and the modern, but in one the Vaesen is causing problems and must be mollified, while in the other the Vaesen is a victim who is being used by mortals and must be rescued. They're also both winter adventures, so you could potentially include the cold as an extra threat in "The Night Sow", though it may be counterproductive to encourage the PCs to stay inside for this adventure (I haven't run it, so I don't know if that will help or hinder).

I love these Vaesen tips! They are awesome!

Gotta say that I am loving your videos. Insightful, succinct, clear *and* funny? Perfection. :) Thanks so much for these.

Great stuff. I'm getting ready to run this in a couple of weeks. So excited! Thanks for the advice.

Ive been running a group through all the published mysteries and we'll be starting The Night Sow this week. This review has been immensely helpful!

Yay! first comment. I was actually going to try to use this as a first adventure ever for vaesen. Glad you pointed out the problems with it. To make it even tighter in the plot I would probably adapt the guy controlling the creature to want to have it destroy the train tracks too but it needed the sacrifice of the witches to gain the power to wreck a lot of the tracks or something like that. Not just close down the hotel.

Yeah id change it so the witches know theres someone else using magic. Like maybe olga told them their ritual didnt work because someone else was already using the power there. Maybe even have the timeline go witches show up katarina gets kidnapped then the witches go to the cave. That way it looks like a frame job on the witches. Like they kidnapped her. But its clear they didnt because where would they stash her? And olgas dead now. Also this needs a few more characters as there only really 2 suspects. Maybe a mayor and a book keeeper. Then its a matter of snooping around till you find some mythos stuff.

I really enjoyed both your Vaesen videos! Do you plan to do more?

Good review, man. I am looking for a mystery to end a mini playtest campaign and I think you have sold me. I love the image of the female letter writer that appears at 2'15" in the video. What is the name of the piece and artist? I have found that most Vaesen mysteries are not written with the GM in mind and each one takes some reading, rereading, good pre-notes and seat-of-your-pants GMing to pull off so they make sense to the players. Many also hide clues behind skill checks which I am not a fan of.

It sounds like that boar hits them as hard as a train?