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Vaarn! i do love Vaarn! And there aren't much vaarn adventure out there. And this is a very fine, simple in concept but clever in execution adventure. One in which feelings are at stake, is feeling is what you are looking for. The Despair counter is devilish and looks like something that could work smoothly setting the whole vibes on the right track. That's a special one for sure. Top notch stuff here. (graphic also is crafted with care but also makes a sens in the whole scenario menaing and vibes!)
I love the concept of a time-travelling hexcrawl! Visuals are fantastic, and the items and monsters seem like a lot of fun. The permanent despair track is interesting and locking travel inwards to the black hole seems like a good way. I’d be curious to see how things would play out as the party keeps meeting the same characters after a couple of trips through the gravity well.
One oddity I noticed is that you can lose a character, roll a new one to join the party, then travel into the well. I guess then the original party gets retconned to start with the new member, right? :D I thought it could be interesting if the new character really reset to their own timeline, though I guess that would be a headache to run.
Loved it. Adding a whole mechanic based on the title was clever. Despair and black hole go hand in hand for me. The Groundhog Day-esque loop gives the players a chance to learn a lot, while also allowing the Despair to become a ticking clock. Great work and beautiful presentation!
I love Vaults of Vaarn but have struggled to find easy-to-use adventures for the system. This one delivers on literally everything I'm looking for. Thanks to the print-friendly version you've generously supplied, I'll be printing this out and putting it in my hardcover edition.
Yeah, I’ve only really run and played in a few things with Vaarn that weren’t just generated from the tables inside, which I think is just such a wonderful resource. I am hoping this finds its way to plenty of Vaarn tables and I get to hear all the crazy stuff that goes on. I heard one group hit the Kronophage already, devestating.
Fantastic entry! The vibes, theme, colors, map, layout, the despair track, the navigational gravity mechanics- you nailed every aspect of this!
This is the only Vaarn entry I’ve seen so far, which is yet another reason for this one to really stand out. Fantastic job!
Thanks so much, you are too kind. I have been head over heals into a vaarn hole so when the star aligned with this title I had to do it.
Dammit, I am kicking myself at the missed opportunity to hyperlink to the Black Sword Hack SRD. Super big brain move that meant you didn't need to list all those tiresome page references.
I legit love the whole framework of this scenario and I think that when I run Vaults of Vaarn, I'll likely use this adventure to bring it to the table. It's one of the more effective ways of implementing a time loop I've seen and I like the despair mechanism that makes the looping finite. Very clever!
You've crammed this thing full of science fantasy and I adore the injured time traveller. Wish you'd had room for a little easter egg reference in naming him, but he's a standout feature nonetheless.
The visuals are fab. 100% nailing the Vaarn vibe and evoking a blue desert that gives you the blues! The hexflower with the keys around it is a genius piece of layout and design. Another one I'm jealous of not thinking of.
Really nicely done, sir.
Page refs are a pain, especially when there are 2 existing versions of the books, a new one (2e) in development and the first version is just 4 zines. Pure chaos! I will leverage my electron wizard powers and hoist words from castles of caged light. Anyway man, thanks for reading it and sharing your thoughts, I really laboured my ass off over this so I’m really glad it landed for you. I deeply admire your work, and respect your taste.
Gorgeous and evocative. I can't comment on play-ability, since I've never heard of the game system, but everything I can vouch for looks great. Nice job.
Well, you have heard of the game system now, AND I linked to the SRD, so you can go check out the rules and stuff for free. If you get nothing else from this, exposure to vaarn is what I want you to have.
Strong gravitational pull on this one, dense with gameable information, but do not despair! It has a clear hexcrawl framework for approaching its bespoke mechanics that will not weigh us down.
Yeah I know there its a heavy subject, but don’t let it get your down, you can always try again next loop!
Gorgeous to see, with a really cool layout and dense of informations, I am sure it's a pleasure to play. I was thinking if there is a specific design reason to start in a specific hex, by what I read any border hex should work quite well.
Hey thanks for reading. You know originally the idea was the party could start from any hex, and only one of the hooks started you in a specific hex, but in the end I decided it was less clunky to run from the hip if you just have a place to start and restart from, save the GM some work, and we can always just override that at our own tables anyway. I feel like designing in small spaces you get a lot of value from just deciding on the thing sometimes.
This. Is. Outstanding. Absolutely engaging "story", design and vibe. The travel rules regarding light and dark hexes really punctuate the element of despair. I'm not a VoV player but I'll convert this. 🤘
I’d love to hear how it goes! Thanks for checking it out. I had considered Black Sword Hack for it originally (would have been more sorcerous) but was also dancing around the idea of Mothership.
Great to see some VoV in this jam! I love the colour scheme (I guess we both agree that blue rules) and great layout to match. Centralising the hexflower is a really cool move. Awesome art too. I like how fleshed out the location keys are and bonus points for that Mein table, it adds another level of gameability!
You are too kind. I’m a huge fan of your work, so it means a lot to hear you think well of mine.
This is very cool, and I think the visual design is one of the most striking I’ve seen. The creativity in general is off the charts, and a very clever way to introduce a black hole. The worldbuilding is also very intriguing, and something I can see players becoming invested in. Overall, fantastic work!
Thanks for the kind words. I really enjoyed reading yours as well. That lava trap at the end is devilish stuff.
I guess there’S a lot of lore, items and mechanics from the system referenced. Which is interesting to read, but difficult to parse when one tries to understand the module itself.
Nethertheless it’s a good read, the small nuances like “Drifts of dust and microplastic ash” make this dense and deep.
Also the idea of the map you can only go inwards on is a cool mechanic and a great interpretation of a black hole/singularity.
I read Dune and - don’t hurt me - Starfield in this, but that might be the theme and underlying system and not your intention.
I’ve never played starfield or really heard much about it. Dune is definitely in the register for Vaults of Vaarn, as is Gene Wolfe and a bunch of other Appendix N influences. I think at some level with these things, you are relying on the evocative quick jab of words to deliver a mental image that isn’t necessarily going to land for everyone. Thanks for checking it out.
Many others have praised the fun mechanics of the adventure, but I want to highlight the way you write as well. You manage to do a tremendous amount of worldbuilding in only a few sentences. "A gravitational studies library from the age of titans" is such a dense (hah!) sentence, and tells the reader a lot about the world :)
Too kind, I did work pretty hard to achieve some brevity here, but I admit to standing on the shoulders of titans (the age of whom is a Vaarnism)
I have yet to play Vaults of Vaarn but have adored everything that I've seen of it - so was very excited to see your entry. Awesome layout and I really liked the art how you layered it in the background. Great touch to hyperlink SRD items! Some really creative ideas I like the Serpent with a half opera mask - just a very cool visual! Awesome module! 🌌
Thanks for reading! I love my little phantom of the opera snake. Glad I added to the hype pile for Vaarn, a worthy system for exploration, to be sure.
Wow the vibes on this one rip. It’s jam packed but it’s very well structured. I love the concept of a black hole at the centre. Very ominous.
I’m glad you feel the vibes came through. I was really trying to hit a tone I didn’t know would land. The gravity well, the impossibility of escape, really seemed to line up with my conception of despair.
I am unfamiliar with the Vaults of Vaarn, but I'll try my best to provide useful feedback.
When I looked up "councilor vs counselor" it suggests that councilor is specifically for elected officials and not mental health professionals.
Great use of the word ulfire.
I don't understand the purpose of the decimal digits on the hexes. I assume it's a Vaults of Vaarn thing.
I would love another sentence on the 21st century man's character/state of mind.
This is an extremely inventive and fun adventure. I love the art and the color scheme. The use of water rationing is also great. I have a clear understanding of how to run it and, assuming I knew Vaults of Vaarn, think this would be easy to pick up and play with little additional prep. You did a good job of packing in a lot of content while making it clear, imaginative and visually interesting. Loved the x-ray lantern, Faa nomads, space whale, Autarch clones and gravity well- very cool ideas!
Haha, dangit. Yeah I had made that note for myself (councilor -> counselor) and I guess just missed implementing the fix. Good catch. The hex coordinate system is just being expressed as X.Y instead of X,Y because I thought it looked more sci-fi. Agreed on the brevity of 21st century digital boy, but alas the space taketh away. Thanks for reading.
If I had to describe this adventure, it would be innovative and solid. Innovative, as in all the mechanics are all tied up together to create a completely new, unique, fluid experience for both GM and Players. Solid, as in this adventure has all the checklist of great adventure. You have your brilliant despair tracker for tension, bestiary, hooks, encounters, and that wonderful movement mechanic. Descriptions of each places are evocative and high quality. To top it off, all of this revolves on the excellent hexcrawl design, and the beautiful art and aesthetics. Truly amazing work!
Wow, that’s so kind. Thank you!
I know next to nothing about Vaults of Vaarn but this has so much to offer outside of the game mechanics. Some of my favorites are the Clones (creepy bastards!), the Whalefall, and the Archive. The setting is very versatile, people could make cool adventures/scenarios set in this world regardless of system. Great work!
Thanks for the kind words. Honestly I feel like I’ve stolen some of the fire from the gods that came before me on this one. You should definitely check out vaarn (the linked entries in the module go to srd), it’s a really rich and vibrant setting. Offers much for a creator to build on.
Beautiful work. So imaginative with intriguing mechanics. I almost think this could use a larger form factor to provide more room for the ideas to breathe.
The eternal refrain on these jams “but it needs lore space!” So true. I might be up for expanding it into a larger format and bringing a lot more art.