City of My Nightmares features a sprawling four-part story, a truly ambitious approach. It’s large enough to double as a framing device, for players to insert other storylines.

This scope feels like an appropriate angle to further expand the Society, and to fill out a bustling city.

Instead of reviewing each part separately, I’ll go over this expansion as one whole. I will also avoid specific spoilers—only speaking about broader details, since this is such a massive campaign, fueled by intrigue.

Premise & Setting

Vaesen delights in taking players to niche locations, to discover equally unusual lore. To my surprise, this narrative embraces a handful of mainstream threats, in addition to exotic Vaesen.

Some might find familiar territory a bit underwhelming, for such a long commitment and crucial backstory. However, I feel that both longtime fans and newer players can find something to enjoy here.

Since Vaesen revels in the obscure, hardcore fans should enjoy visiting these themes for a change. Conversely, brand-new fans will probably feel more open to this expansion, bridging the knowledge gap.

The key here is that City of My Nightmares never loses the essential Vaesen flavor, unmistakable and clever as always.

This expansion remains deeply rooted in historical inspiration, distinct characters, and compelling tragedies. City of My Nightmares successfully gives classic mysteries and Gothic lore a Vaesen twist.

I do feel that it operates better as a larger arc that you can happily return to between mysteries, than as one straight campaign.

Story Arcs & Characters

City of My Nightmares’ world is unusually dense, as needed, but clues consistently drive the plot forward—at a slow and steady pace. I appreciate this balancing act, it couldn’t have been easy.

In fact, the story does include an unexpected, sandbox-style chapter! This imaginative take mostly works, in context. It offers a good breather for playing the full campaign through.

However, this kind of lull might throw off pacing for smaller mysteries in-between. It can also feel a bit redundant sometimes, both on its own and within the larger story. I wish the campaign spent more time brewing the public unrest.

Fortunately, City of My Nightmares has an extraordinary payoff that delivers on every reason you paid the price of admission. Excellent thematic parallels, moral dilemmas, meaningful change for the Society, all of it. Avoiding direct spoilers, I’ll say that it immediately drew Scorsese to mind!

There are even breadcrumbs here and there, to inspire future campaigns and help weave Nightmares into your regular sessions.

The cast throughout the story is generally rich with opportunity! There are only a few tropes and signaled turns.

Most characters have a personality that’s fun to play and discover, with memorable quirks and sensible motivations. I enjoyed how empathy and relationships tend to motivate the players as much as the investigation.

The artwork breathes even more life into the NPCs, antagonists, and setting. All of the illustrations and handout props impressed me, brimming with detail! Any fan will enjoy scrutinizing the map and newspaper, both display-worthy.

Final Thoughts

The scope of this was clearly tricky, with some pacing issues that point to a stronger framing device than a standalone tale. A small handful of tropes and the Vaesen selection might also divide some fans.

However! City of My Nightmares is patient and intimate as ever, with character-driven quests and a simmering city that really fires up when it boils. It has true crowd-pleaser potential with intricate settings, genuine suspense, and satisfying clues.

Score: 7.5 / 10