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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:

October 2025 Preview Draft [TOPAZ CHARIOT]
10 months ago – Tue, Oct 21, 2025 at 05:08:31 AM

Dear wanderers, I'm pleased to announce that there's a new preview draft of the core 2e rulebook. PLease click the link to download! We are now at 317 pages(!), so almost the whole book is in a rough layout. 

Note on the name: this preview is subtitled TOPAZ CHARIOT. From this point on, I'm going to be giving preview drafts code names to quickly identify which draft someone is reading from. Currently TOPAZ CHARIOT 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 doesn't matter a lot right now, but in a few months there might be multiple preview drafts floating around and I'm hoping this will ease some of the headaches. 

What's new in TOPAZ CHARIOT?

I'm currently focusing on getting new content laid out and drafted rather than updating existing pages. 
  • The armour spread now includes options for generating helmets and shields (p.41)
  • There is a new random monster generator! This spans four pages of tables, and is found on p.193-196
  • We have 25 Minor Exotica, on p.197
  • Some rules for Barter and d100 Trade Goods (p.203-204)
  • A spread to generate Rival Adventuring Parties (p.213-214)
  • The Trading City of Gnomon, a fully fledged mini campaign setting in its own right, now occupies pages 227 to 264. This content was originally issue 2 of the Vaults of Vaarn zine series, published in 2021, and will be familiar to some of you and new to others. 
  • The Tomb of Nassak An-Rah, a starter vault for Level 1 PCs, is found on p.265-270. 
  • The Fount of Illustrious Flesh, a vault for Level 1-3 PCs, is found on p.271-276
  • Caeba in the Maw, a roaming trundletown that scavenges the corpses of sandworms, plus the Corpse of the Grandfather, a dungeoncrawl set inside a dead sandworm, are found on p.279-286.
  • Khenet Rock, a starter lair adventure for Level 1 PCs, is found on p.287-292.
  • Appendices, covering the Titan AIs, Languages, Religion, and other little lore essays, are found p.305-310.

Still to come

  • More Hypergeometric Equations
  • Sample Elixirs
  • Factions - reputation, and details for all of the major factions. Some are more finished than others, and I'm aware this section needs work.
  • Vault Fauna
  • Foraging
  • Hegemony Protecterate Location
  • d100 Lairs
  • d100 Landmarks
  • Oracle's Sanctum location
  • Sample Encounter Tables
  • Treasure Cache Types
  • Minor Exotica
  • Major Exotica
  • The Head of Briareus (an adventure site)
  • d100 Set Dressing Objects
  • Fine Art generator
  • Innumerable tweaks and edits. 

Thank you all for your patience and support as I work on this mammoth project. I think the big pieces have all been put in place now, and what remains is filling in the missing spreads, as well as beginning to edit and polish this blue behemoth. I will update again in November with my progress.

Surveys Sent
11 months ago – Mon, Sep 29, 2025 at 06:35:52 AM

Hello everyone, another brief update to let you know that all backer surveys were sent out over the weekend. These surveys allow you to enter your address for physical reward delivery, as well as add items to your pledge or change your tier.

I should note that none of this information is final. I will not be locking your orders and shipping addresses until it is time to manufacture and distribute your goods, which should be happening next summer. So if you move house or change your mind about your add-ons, you have a good long while to update the survey.

If you are a backer and have not received a survey, you can visit this link here and enter the email address associated with your pledge to receive a new survey link.

Work is steadily progressing with the core rulebook, and I will update you here when a new draft is ready for your perusal. I would imagine this to happen next month.

Discord Commmunity

For Vaarn enthusiasts who want a central hub to discuss the 2E core rules and wider setting, we have a thriving Discord server which you are welcome to join. I look forward to speaking with some of you there! 

Pre-Order Store Now Live
11 months ago – Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 02:49:20 AM

Another quick update: the Pre-order Store is now live and open for business. If you missed out on the main campaign, you can now pledge for the hardback book and associated add-ons. This pre-order store will run until summer 2026, when I will have to lock in for order numbers and shipping addresses. 

If you have any friends who missed the campaign and wanted to see what the fuss is about, let them know! Thank you all and should have a more substantial update regarding progress on the manuscript next week. 

Back in the Office
11 months ago – Mon, Sep 22, 2025 at 02:07:59 AM

Hello everyone, just a quick update to let you know I am back in the office after my break. I had a lovely time abroad but picked up some kind of illness on the journey home and spent a few days recovering. Happily everything is fine and I'm back at work this morning. 

The first thing to work on is setting up the pre-order store and reward fulfilment portal. I am hoping to have that all working before the end of the week, so anyone who wants to make a late pledge should be able to do so by Friday. More as it happens!

Final Days of the Campaign
12 months ago – Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 01:19:00 PM

Dear wanderers, we are almost into the final 24 hours of the BackerKit campaign! This has been a crazy month for me and honestly a life changing success for a one man creative team! I will be able to focus solely on delivering this project to you all wherever you may be. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much. I know you have put your trust in me and I do not intend to disappoint.

Once the campaign finishes on the 30th of August, BackerKit will begin collecting pledges and processing the payments. Please do make sure you have the right payment method connected to the pledge. You will be able to alter your pledge until we lock orders, which won't happen until next year, so you have a few months to grab some more add-ons if you'd like.

I'm going to be on holiday from the 2nd to the 16th of September, so I won't be answering comments or making any updates. Once I return all pledges should have been processed and I will set up the BackerKit pledge manager and begin distributing some PDFs. Everyone who pledged for a digital download of Vaults of Vaarn #4 or Pariahs of Vaarn will get those zines as PDFs as soon as I'm back, and a full preview PDF of the core rulebook should follow soon afterwards. 

US Tariffs

Just a note to say there has been some noise regarding the suspension of the de minimus threshold for US customs. My understanding is that this should not affect the delivery of the project. Books are still exempt from tariffs and the only added charge is an extra 50p paid to the Royal Mail to ensure my packages are customs compliant. It is irritating but such is life. 

If it looks as though the tariff-exempt status of printed matter is changing, I will let everyone know and discuss options moving forward.