EDIT: I just discovered that an actual glacier collapse occurred in Switzerland on the same day that I published this blog post. My thoughts are with all of the residents of Blatten. If you want to help the residents of Blatten, I encourage you to donate to the Swiss Red Cross program for its support. I have, and am planning to do the same with any income I receive from the below scenarios for the next year.
Years ago, while doing research about Frankenstein for my first (and so far, only) trip to Chamonix, France, I read a recommended book called Tambora: The Eruption that Changed the World. It’s a fascinating book about how the eruption of one volcano in Indonesia (Mt. Tambora, if you were wondering) set off a three-year climate change around the world that, among other things, helped inspire Mary Shelley’s gothic tale.
One of the anecdotes in the book was about the collapse of the Giétro Glacier, in Switzerland. The sudden global cooling caused by the volcanic dust caused the glacier in Giétro to grow, and a large lake built up behind it. Then, as the climate returned to normal, the glacier began to melt, and the pressure of the water behind it threatened to shatter it and flood the towns downstream from it. The Swiss attempted to drain the lake by drilling a long tunnel under the glacier, which I’ve always thought was pretty bold. They were partially successful, and managed to drain some of the water, but eventually the ice dam failed and the flood caused significant damage. (It also contributed to our modern understanding of glaciation! So that’s nice.)
That story stuck with me, and a few years ago, I decided to create a Vaesen scenario based around it called Before the Flood. I’ve previously written about Vaesen and its strange but magical blend of gothic horror, mystery, and Norwegian folklore, and this (potential) tragedy felt like a good match for it; plus the risk of avalanches and floods is even higher in the fjords of Norway! After a number of playtests and edits, I have finally published it on DriveThruRPG. It is (if I do say so myself) a fun and challenging mystery, with recommended audio tracks from the official Vaesen soundtrack (no kickback, just pointing you to an amazing soundtrack that you can also find on Spotify) for each location. And the quality of the props is top notch! 😉
The other product that I published is my new Pocket Dungeon, also called Before the Flood! It uses the map that I drew for the Vaesen scenario (of which I’m fairly proud) and outlines some of the plot hooks in the scenario. But as with all of my Pocket Dungeons, you can easily adapt it to the RPG of your choice. I used this as my “business card” at this year’s Kubla Con (about which I’ll write a blog post next week; my games were amazing!).
Dear reader, I hope you go take a look at them, and maybe even buy one or two! And until we next meet, be well!