Vortex Verlag has today launched Serenissima Obscura on BackerKit, and the scale of the magical Renaissance and dark secrets of the setting is impressive. There are more than 400 pages, half of which are adventures that can interlock or be dropped into other games.
Furthermore, Serenissima Obscura is broadly system agnostic but comes with 5e and Ars Magica rules. The latter is a favourite of mine, a game built for troupe-style play.
Also, not insignificantly, if you back Serenissima Obscura in the first 48 hours, you’re given €5 to spend!
Imagine a 16th-century Venice with masks, glorious yet somewhat faded architecture, gondolas, and magic and politics!
That’s not the Venice of Serenissima Obscura because this setting has a dark side as well, with forgotten crypts, cults, crime, and something ancient.
Player characters could negotiate or battle with the monstrous children of the canals; they might try to face the agents of the Stupor or discover what happened to the tragic vuoti, the once-human vessels of an alien evil.
The book has 27 modules, which can link together for a campaign, or not, and the plots can twist towards investigation or confrontation. Serenissima Obscura introduces the notion of setlets, which are micro-settings bound into the campaign context.
There’s a companion Kickstarter for STLs for Serenissima Obscura, and pledges here unlock maps, new rules for Ars Magica and 5e, over 150 NPCs, and more than 60 monsters.
Venice is a city of many dangers. This is why our adventure modules are filled with the most gruesome monsters, fascinating villains and creepy creatures that crawl out of the canals. All of them can be confronted in the course of the campaign or used independently.
Encounter Il Capitano, the Sisterhood of the Queen, the Society of Bacchus, the Drowners, the Ombrolanti, the Black Doge, Niómë, the Lurkers in the Canals and many more.
All come equipped with with our own shorthand universal stats, with full stats blocks for 5e and – in the extra booklet – for Ars Magica.
A pledge of €20 unlocks the digital edition of Serenissima Obscura and form-fillable character sheets for 5e and Ars Magica.
At €60, backers also receive the print edition of Serenissima Obscura, with shipping fees to be determined later. A small bump to $65 adds the digital edition of the 5e extra content, The Magical Renaissance Player’s Guide.
Backers who can step up to €80 get the print Serenissima Obscura, The Magical Renaissance Player’s Guide and several sets of digital maps for the setting.
Then, the most popular tier at the time of writing, €95 includes The Magical Renaissance Player’s Guide in print, as well as this time for Ars Magica. At this tier, the maps also get print versions.
There is a retail tier, but there is also a €110 upgrade tier for supporters, which includes The Magical Renaissance Player’s Guide 5e to print, as well as both the street and battle map sets.
Vortex Verlag will run the campaign for Serenissima Obscura until June 27th and say they aim to ship in April 2026. I’m sorry if you’re not there. The publisher is also at UKGE this year, booth 3A-758.
