Welcome to town
Solemn Vale is a quaint town in Southwest England, isolated from the world by a jagged coastline and dense woodland, scarred by mining works thrashing and rioting at the threat of closure. The close-knit community gives rise to a village mentality where the newest visitors and smallest infractions can become sources of gossip and scandal overnight. It is a land steeped in history, where forgotten sects pray to pagan gods in the dark corners of Thatcher’s Britain.
A narrative-driven storytelling game set against the backdrop of 1970s England, Solemn Vale explores an abhorrent world of Folk Horror and the Supernatural. Each game is a communal storytelling experience, with two or more Players taking on the roles of visitors or inquisitive residents whose eyes have been opened to a festering evil, ensnared in a tale of mystery and survival. Guided by the Narrator, each story will deliver a small glimpse into the grim underbelly of the Vale and the festering malevolence feeding it. Success is by no means certain, as the Wyrd corrupts and destroys all those who confront it.
Solemn Vale is a state of mind, twisted and macabre, laced with dread and paranoia and occasionally tinged with dark humour. It is the darkness in the cave, the shopkeeper’s stern glare, the lone voice urging you forward when every sight, sound, and shiver of your spine tells you to turn back…
What is Folk Horror?
Every village has a place best ignored. The crumbling cottage with skeletons in the walls, the briar-choked cemetery, the circle of scarred trees deep in the woods. The places on the periphery where dark deeds linger.
Every village a beast to avoid. The wolf with a baby’s cry, the ragged man with yellow eyes, the rotting horse dragging victims into the ocean. The monsters who attack when you stray from the path.
Every village has a superstition to be obeyed. A path walked in groups of three, a skull paraded in the winter months, a summer sacrifice made of straw. The rites that keeps the darkness at bay.
Folklore is a body of traditions and stories created and shared within a community. These stories create a communal memory which endures as unverified truth, traded in secret around the playgrounds, taverns, and flickering campfires of the modern world. Like a memory, they can change, adding and losing characters, twisting to fit into new places. Hiding from the light of day, these stories spread like a fungus, attaching themselves to dead memories to create something imitating life.
Folk horror is what arises when these stories and traditions become enmeshed with the darkest fears of the primitive mind. Over time, local custom and pagan symbolism reveals itself as a mask for forces ancient and cruel. The warnings are subtle at first; congregations walk through cobbled streets and sing in gentle harmony. They gather in the woods by candlelight, cutting away the branches with curved, glinting knives. They form a circle around a standing stone, pitted with moss stained black and brown. They look to you, the stranger in the circle, and the singing stops. Harvests demand offerings of blood, children howl at burning effigies and the horned hunters of the forest become monsters when they step into the light. These forces, as old as the earth, are a rot in the heart of the community. The idyllic facade of rural bliss masks dark and sinister agendas. This secrecy begets fear of the unknown. Paranoia condemns newcomers as something Other, and mobs of ‘good’ and ‘local’ people form to bay for the blood of outsiders.
The Wyrd
The Wyrd Abacus underpins the stories told in Solemn Vale’s nexus of the weird and the horrible. This game system serves as the bones upon which Solemn Vale’s flesh is draped, facilitating the narrative of your own journey through the seething cauldron of both occult and entirely human nastiness that lies just beneath the village’s placid, bucolic veneer.
The Wyrd Abacus uses attribute pools, dice, and a simple bidding mechanic to support the flow of the fiction as each story unfolds. As characters become more embroiled in the blood, fear, and witchcraft of Solemn Vale, they risk being caught in the threads of the Wyrd itself — a force of destiny and fate. When faced with threats and challenges, you can draw upon the Wyrd to tilt the odds in your character’s favour, but beware; the consequences of doing so will linger, risking outcomes both fair and foul.
The Book
Each of the 3 variations of the Solemn Vale core book will be full colour, in the 6″ x 9″ format. Interior paper will have a matte finish to increase vibrancy of the artwork and reduce page glare. Currently we are estimating around 320 pages.
Solemn Vale – Standard Soft Cover – 6″ x 9″
Solemn Vale – Hardcover – 6″ x 9″
The Wyrd Pink version of the Solemn Vale core book in hardcover format. This version is the standard 4c hardcover with a matte finish.
Solemn Vale – Limited Edition Hardcover – 6″ x 9″
It’s not often we get the chance to do a super Limited Edition, so with this version of the Solemn Vale core book we are doing just that. A KS exclusive that won’t be reprinted.
Bound in imperial cloth with foil stamped cover design, gilded edges, bookmark ribbon, and custom endpapers, it’ll be a rare beast indeed.
Each Limited Edition comes with a Solemn Vale Regional Survey Map.
Retailers who want to order copies of Solemn Vale. Please note that the Retailer reward tier is a deposit only. Once the project is complete we will be in touch to discuss how many copies of the game you’d like with a retail friendly discount.
Stretch Goals
Into the Wyrd: Volume 1 is a PDF where we will consolidate all the all story modules and fiction unlocked during the Solemn Vale KS campaign. All backers who receive a Solemn Vale PDF will receive a copy of Into the Wyrd: Volume 1 in PDF format.
Stage Rules – We’ll introduce more stage rules covering Challenges, Denizens, Locations and Encounters. All backers who receive a Solemn Vale PDF will receive a copy of the Stage Rules in PDF format. Once unlocked, each set of Stage Rules will also be available for purchase as a physical deck of cards and a Print & Play PDF.
UNLOCKED
Once Stretch Goals start to unlock, we’ll place them here.
LOCKED
- $10,000 – Emily’s Tale by Steffie De Vaan – A module for Into the Wyrd
- $12,000 – Stage Rules – Challenges
- $14,000 – Human Chemistry by Justin Achilli – A module for Into the Wyrd
- $16,000 – Stranded by Danielle Lauzon – A module for Into the Wyrd
- $18,000 – Terror of the Dekons by Kenneth Hite – A module for Into the Wyrd
- $20,000 – Stage Rules – Denizens
- $22,000 – The Lock by Howard David Ingham – Short fiction for Into the Wyrd
- $24,000 – The Muse by Graeme Davis – A module for Into the Wyrd
- $26,000 – The Bride by Justin Achilli – Short fiction for Into the Wyrd
- $28,000 – Stage Rules – Locations
- $30,000 – The Ride of Their Lives by Richard Dansky – A module for Into the Wyrd
- $32,000 – A Bit About the Margins by Phil Brucato – A module for Into the Wyrd
- $34,000 – A Dark Legacy by Graeme Davis – A module for Into the Wyrd
- $36,000 – Book Expansion – Spells, charms and invocations
- $38,000 – Stage Rules – Encounters
We have a few more ideas waiting in the wings so if we get through all of the above, we’ll introduce a range of new Stretch content.
A full list of the project contributors, including the core team and Stretch Goal writers, can be found HERE on the Dirty Vortex website.
Add-Ons
All Add-Ons will be finalised via BackerKit. If you are interested in including any of the Solemn Vale Add-Ons, be sure to increase your pledge amount accordingly by the values listed below.
$80 Limited Editiion Hardcover
$50 Standard Hardcover
$35 Standard Soft Cover
$15 D6 Set – Wyrd Black
$15 D6 Set – Wyrd Pink
$15 Regional Survey Map
$15 Narrator Screen
$20 Character Journals: Pack of 5
$15 Character Sheet: 50 Per Pad
$15 Jubilee Coin
$12 Stage Cards: Challenges
$12 Stage Cards: Denizens
$12 Stage Cards: Locations
$8 Art Print: Single
$20 Art Prints: Pack of 3
.STL Miniatures
$5 Tourist Aisha
$5 Tourist Rodney
$5 Vicar
$5 Nurse
$5 Police Constable
$5 Nosey Old Dear
Solemn Vale miniatures are sold purely as .STL files and the print ready models will be delivered digitally. The colours used above are purely for render purposes.
Product Details
We have a range of Add-Ons available for those that might be interested.
For clarity, these Add-Ons are NOT required for play. They are purely to support play and expand the experience of Solemn Vale.
$15 – Wyrd Black D6 Set
$15 – Wyrd Pink D6 Set
The first Dirty Vortex project was the Deco Dice Kickstarter > HERE so It goes without saying that we love dice and want to produce some for Solemn Vale. Our goal is to have 3 or 4 colour options, but for now we offer two sets: Wyrd Black and Wyrd Pink. Each set has 11 resin D6 at 16mm with a 10/1 colour split and comes in a sheer organza draw-cord pouch.
$15 – Regional Survey Map
A large fold out map. We’re aiming to get it printed at 24″ x 24″ and folded down to match the 6″ x 9″ format of the core books. It will include Solemn Vale itself and around 6 or 7 square miles of the countryside that surrounds the town, including all the creepy locations discussed in the Solemn Vale core book and some special additions.
$15 – Regional Survey Map
The low format Narrator screen consists of 3 panels at 9″ x 6″ featuring panoramic artwork that matches the cover of the Standard soft cover edition of the core book.
Dice shown purely for scale
$20 – Character Journals: Pack of 5
These soft cover character journals each have 32 pages at a trim size of 3.5″ x 5.5″. Each journal will have 5 character sheets at the front of the book, a place for notes, and a section devoted to very important local information such as, “how much does a 99 cone cost off of the Browne’s Ice Cream van?” or “how about a pint of Badger’s Stump down the Bowler’s Arm?”
$15 – Tear-Off Character Sheets
A set of tear-off character sheets. 50 sheets on uncoated paper at 6″ x 9″.
$15 – Silver Jubilee Commemorative Coin
The coins we had produced for our Deco Dice Kickstarter from Campaign Coins were outstanding so we had to get something a little special made for Solemn Vale.
Each coin will be 2″ in diameter (north/south) and about 1/8″ (4mm) thick. Physical examples of the Deco Coin can be seen on our Deco Dice BackerKit page > HERE
In 1977, the Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee and a commemorative coin was released to mark the occasion. Not to be outdone by the Queen, Weirdo Bob started handing out his own version of the Jubilee Coin. Super limited edition and potentially cursed, handle with care.
$12 – Stage Cards or $6 for Print & Play PDF
Challenges, Denizens, and Locations
As we unlock sets of Stage Rules, we’ll be making them available to purchase as a deck of cards. Each deck will contain 54 cards and will be available as a physical set of standard poker-sized cards (2.5″ x 3.5″) and a Print & Play PDF.
These are NOT REQUIRED TO PLAY and are purely a support item.
Keep in mind that everyone who backs a reward that has a Solemn Vale PDF will also receive a PDF version of the Stage Rules.
Art Prints: $8 Singles and $20 Packs of 3
Mark Kelly created the concept of Solemn Vale a few years back as an inspirational backdrop for a range of weird, British folk horror inspired artwork. The book will be packed with artwork that brings Solemn Vale to life in all its sinister malevolence.
A limited range of work from Mark will be made available as art prints. Below are some examples, but more will be made available once the BackerKit goes live.
TEMP NOTE: Information detailing print quality, size etc goes here
Family Matters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUdGZjTPuXQ&ab_channel=RedMoonRoleplaying
Host: Red Moon Roleplaying
Adventure: Family Matters
Gamemaster: The Gentleman Gamer Matthew Dawkins
Guest Players: Mark and Tracey Norman of The Folklore Podcast
Full 6 episode playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP3vIEdQUkMFniyJRYRuHW5ViHh_l5pD4
The Team
We had a great team of writers working on the project. Check out their bios, and those of our Stretch Contributors via the below link.
Creative Director and Artist: Mark Kelly
Project Developer: Matthew Dawkins
Writing: Christopher Allen, David Cartwright, Ross Fisher-Davis, Alan Gowing, Ashley Perryman, Hilary Sklar
Editing: Allen Stroud
Shipping
All shipping costs will be collected via BackerKit after the campaign closes.
We are currently US and EU friendly with our US orders shipping from the USA and the EU orders shipping out of Germany. We are investigating various options to help reduce shipping costs for countries outside the US and the EU.
PDFs will be distributed via DriveThruRPG
Connect
Website: www.dirtyvortex.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dirtyvortex
Solemn Vale Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/2036226089767650
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dirtyvortex
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dirtyvortex
Discord: https://discord.gg/c7acXrD
A text only version of the Solemn Vale KS page can be found on the Dirty Vortex website linked below.
https://dirtyvortex.net/solemn-vale-ks-text
Risks and challenges
The book is fully written and has been handed off to the art department. The next few months will be spent finalising the artwork and layout.
All product images shown on the page, unless stated otherwise, are digital renders and not final designs. We don’t expect any major shifts in designs shown on the page so images are indicative of final art direction.
There are many variables in the supply chain that can impact on-time delivery and we’ve taken this into consideration when estimating the delivery date of the project. Delays in production, shipping, or customs clearance are common, and we’ll keep the backers informed along the way on how the project is progressing.
