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Vaults of Vaarn Second Edition

Created by Vaults of Vaarn

The second edition of Vaults of Vaarn, the acclaimed science-fantasy adventure game.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

May 2026 Update [CRIMSON HOUND]
4 months ago – Thu, May 07, 2026 at 05:41:13 AM

Greetings wanderers,

I write to you with another missive from the blue deserts at the end of time. We have a new WIP draft, codenamed CRIMSON HOUND, of the VOV 2E rulebook for your edification. I have also drafted out a Character Sheet, for use when playtesting. 

Currently CRIMSON HOUND is the most recent draft. If you have comments/questions/typos/suggestions on content, please try to identify which draft you're reading from! It makes it much easier for me to keep track.  

What's new in CRIMSON HOUND?

I am pleased to announce that we are content complete, and only one spread remains unfinished. Amongst the additions this month: 
  • Expanded the list of Elixirs (p.53-54). There are now 40, 8 of each potency level. 
  • Expanded the list of Hypergeometric Equations (p.59-60). There are now 40.
  • Added a new type of Vault room: Treasure Rooms (p.111). These replace the old Exotica room types, and now scale with vault depth to provide greater and more varied rewards on deeper floors. 
  • Expanded the Vault Hazards (p.113-114) to be a double page spread. It's now easier to read and includes clues for each hazard type.
  • New Exotica Generator (p.125-126). This is a 4d100 table, which gives inspiration for random items of Exotica (in case the d100 pre-written Exotica aren't enough). You do need to interpret the results yourself however. 
  • You can now generate Place Names (p.159-160) during region creation. This spread is not quite finished yet! It is harder than it seems to come up with the themed place names. 
  • New monster: the Kalopede (p.198). I promised myself I wouldn't add any more but here we are. I regret nothing. 
  • Eigin Oasis (p.289-290) now finally has location text like it should have since the first draft of this book.

Patch Notes

  • Removed a few monsters from Lair generation that no longer appear in the Bestiary.
  • Moved the Treasure chapter to follow the Creating Vaults material, since those tables are referenced repeatedly during vault creation.
  • Moved the Drugs and Musical Instruments to the Equipment chapter, since both tables can be referenced during PC creation.
  • Added stat blocks for the Spawn of An-Rah's Guts and Brain, which were missing from Tomb of Nassak An-Rah.

What's Next?

You'll be excited to learn that we are now going into editing! I have engaged the services of Christian Sorrell who previously acted as copyeditor and proofreader for my award-winning adventure module The Shrike. Christian will be helping me edit, proof-read, and index Vaults of Vaarn 2E over the summer, so hopefully we can remove a lot of the typos and unclear language. 

I anticipate this work will take us through to September. In the meantime I will be full-steam ahead on the artwork and fine-tuning the layout. It is likely that I will be updating you all with monthly artwork previews instead of updates to the rulebook, as we're content complete with this rough draft.

April 2026 Update [SABLE GECKO]
5 months ago – Tue, Apr 07, 2026 at 03:21:20 AM

Greetings wanderers,

I hope spring is treating you well, I have been delighted to finally see some blossoms around the Vaults of Vaarn bunker. We have a new WIP draft, codenamed SABLE GECKO, of the core rulebook for your edification. 

Currently SABLE GECKO is the most recent draft. If you have comments/questions/typos/suggestions on content, please try to identify which draft you're reading from! It makes it much easier for me to keep track.  

What's new in SABLE GECKO?

I'm focusing on getting the last bits of new content laid out and drafted rather than updating existing pages.
  • Minor Factions (p.84). Some dice tables to help you create minor factions, including ambitions, leaders, and more. 
  • New Faction creature: Unfolder (p.94). A spooky hypergeometric horror, which serves the Jigsaw Autarch.
  • Settlement Quirks (p.118). These tables create some additional quirks and features for Vaarnish settlement, including festivals, fashionable clothing, and entertainments. This completes the settlement-generation content.
  • d100 Landmarks (p.159-160). One hundred landmarks to add further texture to your overland maps. This completes the region-generation content.
  • New monster: Witchgrub (p.xx). A rather horrid beast, which damages armour with sprays of acid. 
  • Updated Bestiary: now contains stat blocks for some missing creatures (Hagfluke, Fleshwarp, Laser Shrimp). All Faction-aligned creatures now appear in the Bestiary as well. This should complete the Bestiary. I know there has been some desire for more creature illustrations so I'm looking at ways to expand the Bestiary and get some more space for art in there.

Still to Come

  • Expanded list of Hypergeometric Equations
  • The Lithic Lyceum (major faction)
  • The Head of Briareus (an adventure site)
  • Innumerable tweaks and edits. 

You will note that the list of content to be added is quite short now, so the end of drafting is in sight. I'm hoping to make one more major text-only update and then move into illustrations over summer while my editor does their thing.

March 2026 Update [LAPIS SERPENT]
6 months ago – Tue, Mar 03, 2026 at 04:13:44 AM


Hello wanderers,

This missive comes a little later than I wanted, as I've been waylaid again by the typical February plagues that ravage everyone who has small children.  Anyway, production continues! We have LAPIS SERPENT, a new preview draft of the core rules, to download if you so desire.

Currently LAPIS SERPENT is the most recent draft. If you have comments/questions/typos/suggestions on content, please try to identify which draft you're reading from! It makes it much easier for me to keep track.  

What's new in LAPIS SERPENT?

I'm still focusing on getting new content laid out and drafted rather than updating existing pages.

  • Sample Elixirs - we now have d20 example Elixirs to find as treasure. This also now completes the starting equipment for all PC options, so there should be no more holes in PC creation. Find on p.51.

  • 100 Story Seeds - this is quite a big piece of new content, found on p.81-82. You can use 4d100 to create weird emergent fragments of narrative, suitable for backstories, incidental drama, myths and legends, narrative songs, prophecies, rumours, news from afar. They require quite a bit of interpretation but I think they're fun and some Referees will get a lot of use out of them.

  • Fortress Location - a new regional location type. Fortresses are what they say on the tin - fortified positions that are usually controlled by one of the Major Factions. Create one on p.157.

  • Oracle's Sanctum Location - a new regional location type. Sanctums are the dwelling place of a mysterious Vaarnish Oracle. Create one on p.166.

  • Creedspeaker - a new synthetic monster, found on p.175.

  • Drill Drone - a new synthetic monster, found on p.176.

  • Jollyhoss - a new hypergeometric monster, found on p.182.

  • Magneticrab - a new synthetic monster, found on p.183.

  • Sawbone Drone - a new synthetic monster, found on p.188. (this should hopefully conclude the Bestiary, I really need to stop adding more monsters!)

  • New Encounter Tables for various environments like Sky Islands, Hypergeometric Labyrinths, and Deathlands. See p.196.

  • Barter Rules have now been fully drafted, including Merchant reaction rolls. See p.209.

  • Fine Clothing and Musical Instruments - a pair of d20 generator tables to create fine Vaarnish clothing and weird musical instruments. No real gameplay purpose but it's a lot of fun and fleshes out the world in a small way. See p.220.

  • Influences - we have a short list of fiction, games, etc that influenced Vaarn. More to come. See p.315.

Still to Come
  • Expanded list of Hypergeometric Equations

  • The Lithic Lyceum (major faction)

  • d100 Landmarks

  • Settlement Quirks

  • The Head of Briareus (an adventure site)

  • Innumerable tweaks and edits. 

You will note that the list of major content to be updated is quite short now, so the end of drafting is hopefully in sight.

January 2026 Preview Draft [ONYX LOTUS]
7 months ago – Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 03:53:00 AM

Hello wanderers,

wishing everyone a happy new year! I hope the festive season treated you well. This missive comes a little later in the month than I wanted,

Anyway, production continues! We have ONYX LOTUS, a new preview draft of the core rules, to download if you so desire.

Currently ONYX LOTUS is the most recent draft. If you have comments/questions/typos/suggestions on content, please try to identify which draft you're reading from. 

What's new in ONYX LOTUS?

I'm still focusing on getting new content laid out and drafted rather than updating existing pages.

  • Major Factions. This is a large piece of missing content, which is now less missing than before. We have details on the faction reputation system (p.81), and some ideas of how to gain, lose or spend reputation. 
  • Major Faction: The New Hegemony. A proud, expanding true-kin empire. Find details on the Hegemony's goals, allies, enemies, how to join the faction, what Vaarn would look like if they won, and ideas on gaining Hegemony Reputation. The stat blocks for Hegemony Legionaries and Centurions are now found here too, on p.83-84.
  • Major Faction: Faa Nomads. Blue-skinned nomads, who have long travelled the wastes of Vaarn. Find details on the Faa's goals, allies, enemies, how to join the faction, what Vaarn would look like if they won, and ideas on gaining Faa Reputation. A new creature is detailed here: the Faa Sniper. Find this on p.85-86.
  • Major Faction: Seekers of Eyeless Wisdom. The Seekers are a remnant of the synchronistic religious/scientific programs that attempted to expand human consciousness in the lost ages of Urth. Find details on the Seekers' goals, allies, enemies, how to join the faction, what Vaarn would look like if they won, and ideas on gaining Seeker Reputation. A brand new creature is detailed here: the Master of Eyeless Wisdom. Find on p.87-88.
  • Major Faction: Cacklemaw Clans. Raucous, deranged hyena-women. Find details on the Cacklemaw's goals, allies, enemies, how to join the faction, what Vaarn would look like if they won, and ideas on gaining Cacklemaw Reputation. You'll now find stats for the Cacklemaw warriors, berserkers and viragoes here on p.89-90.
  • Major Faction: Court of the Jigsaw Autarch. The courtiers of an arrogant Autarch, who
    sought to cheat death by dividing himself into 999 hypergeometric figments. Find details on the Court's goals, allies, enemies, how to join the faction, what Vaarn would look like if they won, and ideas on gaining Court Reputation. p.91-92.
  • Major Faction: Titan Cults. The worshippers of the Titan AIs, seven god-like machine consciousnesses that once ruled Vaarn. Find details on the Titan Cults' goals, allies, enemies, how to join the faction, what Vaarn would look like if they won, and ideas on gaining Cult Reputation. Two new creatures are statted here: the Chromepriest and Titan Acolyte. p.93-94.
  • Major Faction: Children of the Darkling Sun. An ancient cult that is proscribed everywhere in civilisation, but thrives in dark corners of Vaarn. Find details on the Children's goals, allies, enemies, how to join the faction, what Vaarn would look like if they won, and ideas on gaining Darkling Sun Reputation. p.95-96.
  • Desert Foraging - Foraging is now a d100 table, found on page 135-136. The idea here is basically that dying because you ran out of food and water is unsatisfying to most groups, but I think the threat of it is still compelling. Foraging now requires a d100 roll, and can either trigger a desert encounter (10% chance), give you nothing (20% chance), or present you with a variety of mini encounters and dilemmas that allow the PCs to grab some water or food. 
  • Echopraxist - a new mimic-monster, found on p.172.

Still to Come

  • Expanded list of Hypergeometric Equations
  • Sample Elixirs
  • Story Seeds (for emergent narrative creation)
  • The Lithic Lyceum (major faction)
  • Fortress Location
  • d100 Landmarks
  • Oracle's Sanctum location
  • The Head of Briareus (an adventure site)
  • d100 Set Dressing Objects
  • Innumerable tweaks and edits. 

November 2025 Preview Draft [EMERALD SCARAB]
9 months ago – Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 05:11:36 AM

Production continues! We have a new preview draft of the core rules to download if you so desire.

Note on the name: this preview is subtitled EMERALD SCARAB. From this point on, I'm going to be giving preview drafts code names to quickly identify which draft someone is reading from. Currently EMERALD SCARAB is the most recent draft. If you have comments/questions/typos/suggestions on content, please try to identify which draft you're reading from. 

What's new in EMERALD SCARAB?

I'm still focusing on getting new content laid out and drafted rather than updating existing pages. However I have done a few edits and moved some stuff around:

  • The mutations table is now spread across three pages rather than two. This gives the text more room to breathe and allows for a bit more detail on some individual mutations. I don't like expanding content beyond a two-page spread if I don't have to, but this one was too much text. You'll now find it in the equipment section (p.37-39) rather than attached to the Cacogen Ancestry.
  • There is one new mutation: 'Larynx Darts' to replace the repeated mutation 'Long Tongue', which was a copy of 'Frog Tongue'. Find it on p.38
  • Vault Fauna - you now have d20 creatures and plants that can inhabit vault rooms. This is found on p.108.
  • Settlement Encounters - a new encounter table for use when exploring settlements, if you like. A mixture of civilised creatures and monsters that might plausibly sneak in at night. p.130
  • d100 Wilderness Lairs - a major missing piece of content is now complete. You can generate d100 monster lairs for stocking the overworld. p.155-156
  • Treasure Caches - these allow for the generation of caches of valuable goods of various types, with which to populate graves, bandit lairs, occult sanctums, and more. Find them on p.205-206
  • We finally have d100 Exotica, starting on p.197. This was a pretty major part of the current update, as it now completes the treasure generation rules. The Exotica are a really big part of world-building as well, so I'm happy to get them fully drafted at last. 
  • Fine Art and Jewlery generators - you can now generate Vaarnish art objects and jewelry items. For example, you might find a melancholy video-collage depicting a mycomorph looking at the moon. Find them on p.210

Still to Come

  • More Hypergeometric Equations
  • Sample Elixirs
  • Grand Factions - reputation, and details for all of the major factions. Some are more finished than others, and I'm aware this section needs work. This is the largest piece of currently missing content.
  • Foraging
  • Hegemony Protectorate Location
  • d100 Landmarks
  • Oracle's Sanctum location
  • Finish the Sample Encounter Tables
  • The Head of Briareus (an adventure site)
  • d100 Set Dressing Objects
  • Innumerable tweaks and edits. 

Islands of Weirdhope

Some news: my good pals at Copy/Paste co-op have asked me to write an adventure for their nautical science-fantasy RPG setting, Islands of Weirdhope, which takes inspiration from Miyazaki, Moebius, Chrono Trigger, Star Wars and Wizard of Earthsea (influences I think will appeal to some of you!). My guest adventure will be called The Wreck of the Katabasis and will be about delving the ocean floor for the corpse of a dead kaiju. It's an exciting project and I thought it would be good to give a little shoutout here as the potential audience overlap is likely quite large.

Thank you all for your patience and support as I worked on this mammoth project over 2025. I have a lot of  work in December, and then the obvious family comittments over the festive period, so I think it's best if I update again in early January 2026 with an updated draft.