Free League makes some of the best tabletop RPGs out there, and - largely thanks to star artist Johan Egerkrans' haunting yet enchanting illustrations - its spoopy folklore tabletop RPG Vaesen has a reputation as the best looking horror game in the biz. But, in the five years since it first hit shelves, Vaesen has yet to touch Europe's most famous haunt of mythical monsters: Transylvaaaaaania! Well, no longer. Free League has today released the Mythic Carpathia expansion, featuring folkloric creatures from Eastern Europe, centering on Prague, Ukraine, and, of course, Transylvania. And yes, there are Vampyr.
As standard for Vaesen, this is no lazy cash in on well worn movie tropes: the book packs 16 lovingly researched monsters, stepping out of folktales from across the central and eastern European Carpathian mountains - the historical home of beasties even rarer and more chilling than ol' Papa Dracula.
Yes, we're getting Vampires, Dhampir and Romanian proto-vampires the Strigoi - but there's also the horrendous Drekavac, or 'screamer', the cursed child of Slavic myth you see below.
We'll meet curious undead hybrids like the Varkolac, a werewolf/vampire cross, or Vrykolakas, a liver-eating vampiric creature from Greece that migrated into slavic myth later on. The infamous Baba Yaga and her walking bird legged treehouse make an appearance, and, while I haven't seen that bit of the book yet, it's sure to be a darker and more true to life portrayal than D&D's.
Most exciting to me is the fearsome Golem. Commonly thought of in its popularized videogame form - a generic, hulking automaton servant of clay, stone, metal, or blood (thanks, Diablo) - it was originally a totemic, supernatural monster that protected the Jewish people in folk stories, the most famous of which are from medieval eastern Europe.
As per usual for Vaesen expansions, Mythic Carpathia isn't just a spooky bestiary. We also get a brand new playable character archetype, the Vampire Hunter (I'm practicing my Hugh Jackman voice already) and full setting information to play campaigns in the Carpathia region.
There's background info on Pravda, the local Vaesen-hunting society based in the Czech capital of Prague, maps of the region, and three full pre-written adventures set in Prague, Ukraine, and (you guessed it) Transylvania.
The book's out now on Free League's webstore, priced at $44.99 (£38.62) - and as usual you get a full PDF digital copy via DriveThruRPG too. You can also get just the DriveThruRPG digital edition for 22 bucks if you prefer.
Halloween is almost upon us, and I honestly can't think of a better gift for a scare-loving RPG player. Will you and your players be taking a trip to Mythic Carpathia? Or is Vaesen not quite your cup of suspiciously gloopy red wine? Come let us know in the free Wargamer Discord community, we promise we won't bite. Much.