Tim Hutchings' Thousand Year Old Vampire is a solo RPG that puts you in the role of the titular bloodsucker as, guided by prompts, you’re steered through a millenia of undeath.

In our debut issue Anna Blackwell recalled her own vampire’s centuries-long selfish rampage, accumulating kith and kin, only to discard them as their value expired, and hailed it as a horrific, emotionally charged game that would surely inspire writers to put pen to paper. 

And, as it happens, artists too. 

When Aotearoa based artist and games designer Tim Denee picked up the book he was inspired to produce a series of stunning illustrations capturing the horrors enacted by, and upon his, character from his first death in 11th century Denmark through to the war torn 20th century.

Over the course of several weeks, drawing on mid 20th century aesthetics such as screen-printing and poster art, Denee produced over 80 illustrations following his own vampire, Othin's, thousand long years of existence. We loved it so much we had to find out more.

After a tragic fishing accident that sends the Dane to the briny depths, and the clutches of an ancient vampire, we bear witness as Othin travels the world, learning about himself, moving from country to country, continent to continent, history and the world around him relentlessly moves on. Guided by the game Denee's illustrations tell an engaging story of a man adrift in time, both responsible for, and the victim of, countless cruelties.

'I played a lot of tabletop in high school, AD&D, Gamma World, Deadlands,' says Denee. 'But when I went to university I no longer had a gaming group and fell out of the hobby.' Studying design Denee shifted his creative energies to illustration and it wasn't until a decade later with the release of D&D's fifth edition that he found his way back to tabletop games. 

Tempted by the game's stunning art and design he admits that he 'was actually quite skeptical of solo RPGs, but TYOV was so beautifully made I had to give it a go.'

Denee’s play-through was his first bite at the game and he tried to not be influenced by his decision to illustrate it. 'I played the game as honestly as I could,' he says. 'Now that I've played it I can say that the game is wonderfully designed, and I was completely engrossed. When I was playing, all I was thinking about was the game itself.'

The game's ability wrong-foot the player is one of its notable aspects and Denee was often surprised by the unfolding story. 'My favourite "oh wow" moment was when one character betrayed me and became an eldritch horror,' he explains. 'This happened entirely through random prompts in the game, it really felt like something happening to me rather than something I authored.'

Othin's travels eventually take him to the new world in an ill fated sequence of events that leads to several evocative scenes. 'My favourite moment to illustrate was losing control in America and getting sealed off in a cave for centuries,' Denee admits. 'I knew this needed a really bold, simple approach that would suit my illustration style.'

Denee's has previously illustrated a play-through for the game Dwarf Fortress and it's something he's keen to repeat. 'I'd like to try Thousand Year Old Vampire again, maybe some other solo RPGs,' he says, 'and there are moments from over the years of gaming with my regular group, playing various different systems, that I think deserve to be illustrated.'

But first though there's the matter of Denee's own game, Blood Red Clouds in the Western Sky, a new western themed Forged in the Dark game he hopes to release later this year. 

'I played a lot of Deadlands as a teenager,' he explains, 'so I have a real soft spot for western RPGs. I think FitD is a great fit for the genre, so this is something of a passion project; an attempt to create a modern, narrative western RPG. It's mainly inspired by revisionist westerns; Deadwood, Cormac McCarthy, that kind of thing, with Red Dead Redemption sprinkled in for a bit of action and excitement. I'll have a beta / quickstart version ready for playtesting before the end of the year.'

To see Denee’s playthrough in full and his other work head to olddog.games

Try your hand at TYOV here thousandyearoldvampire.com

This feature originally appeared in Wyrd Science Volume 1, Issue 2 (Sept '21)

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