Vortex Verlag
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vortex-verlag.bsky.social
Vortex Verlag
@vortex-verlag.bsky.social
We are an indie publishing house that creates wonderful ttrpg setting guides and adventures. Check us out at www.vortex-verlag.com
This venerable gentleman here is Kallistratos Palaiologos ex Jerbiton, an old magus from Constantinople.
Buy The Ars Magica Guide to the Magical Renaissance through our pre-order store. serenissima-obscura.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
November 10, 2025 at 2:01 PM
We have ordered some more illustrations for the Serenissima Obscura add-ons:
Here are a putèo arsenale worker and a gnome clockmaker by Mark Smylie. We are working non-stop to produce our books in time!
Check out our pre-order store:
serenissima-obscura.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
August 19, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Krönchen Convention in Siegen (Germany).
Meet us at stand MM20!
August 1, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Vortex Stand @ Comic Con Saar:
Join us! Kommt vorbei!
July 27, 2025 at 5:49 AM
You have missed our campaign? Don't worry – you can still join the Magical Renaissance. Pre-Order Serenissima Obscura here: serenissima-obscura.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
July 9, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Building magical items – one of the stretch goals for Serenissima Obscura: Veil of the Forgotten Fragrance ... Galla’s Judgment ... The Cape of the Damned Doge... and more!
And we'll soon open the pre-order store for everyone who has missed out on the campaign. Stay tuned!
July 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
June 27, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Last chance to discover the dark secrets of Venice! Campaign ends on June 26, 20.00 Pacific Time.
Back us here: www.backerkit.com/c/projects/v...
June 24, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Looking for a ready-to-play sandbox that oozes mystery and magic? Serenissima Obscura has you covered – but don’t wait, only a few days left to back the crowdfunding campaign!
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/v...
June 20, 2025 at 3:29 PM
The last seven days of Serenissima Obscura are here.
This is your only chance to grab:
- Exclusive content only available during the campaign
- Print versions of select add-ons
- A free VTT token for Hedron
If you’ve been waiting to pledge – now’s the time.
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/v...
June 19, 2025 at 3:17 PM
We have unlocked our 3rd STRECH GOAL.
Help us reach the next one: 5 additional magical items to find in Serenissima Obscura.
June 17, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Eleven days until the door closes to Serenissima Obscura. Join us, before it is too late! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/v...
June 16, 2025 at 9:01 AM
We have just unlocked the second stetch goal!
Help us achive the third – Extra Rooms for the Adventurer's Hub!
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/v...
June 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
One of the greatest joys in designing an RPG setting is imagining your characters: quirks, goals, secrets, voices, and then seeing them come alive through the work of a great illustrator. Grazia de' Lezze – I love her, squint and all!
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/v...
June 10, 2025 at 5:54 PM
🏛️Your Magical Venetian Stronghold
In Serenissima Obscura, your party can build and customize their own palazzo in Venice. Install magical wards, secret canals, cursed relics...
Turn it into your fortress or folly.
Then defend it when Shadow Venice rises…
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/v...
June 7, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Exhausted and exhilarated after our first UKGE!
Now on our way back home to push Serenissima Obscura. We are shortly before reaching our first stretch goal. Will you help us reach it? Back here: www.backerkit.com/c/projects/v...
June 2, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Busy at the UKGE meeting a lot of potential backers of Serenissima Obscura, team members and RPG-media. Here together with Andrew Girdwood from Geeknative.
Have you already backed us????
May 30, 2025 at 6:55 PM
🇬🇧 Vortex Verlag at UKGE
Come find us at the UK Games Expo — we’re bringing stories, shadows, and special deals!
🕯️ Get The Straight Way Lost at a discount
🕸️ Discover Serenissima Obscura
🧙‍♂️ Take home a free Savonarola miniature from The Straight Way Lost — while supplies last!
Meet us at stand 3A-758
May 24, 2025 at 2:38 PM
We launch on Tuesday, 18.00 CEST / 9AM pacific time.

The Black Doge waits in the palace that mirrors no light. Cloaked in the finery of a forgotten century, unmoving, unblinking. He is the ruler of the Shadow Side, master of memory, betrayal, and arcane decay.
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
May 22, 2025 at 8:05 AM
9 days left before we go live!
Beware of the things that come out of the canals — like Niómë, who dreams of true love and drowns her way toward it. Not all fairytales in Venice end the way they should.
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
May 18, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Just 10 days left!
Have you heard of Queen Kalliya, the Fae sovereign who weaves mortal fate and casts long shadows into Serenissima Obscura?
Below: her husband, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and their daughter Bianca—born of magic and ambition.

Join the conspiracy: www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
May 16, 2025 at 7:48 AM
The city is not asleep. It has forgotten.
They do not cry. They do not speak. These pale children with empty eyes.
Locals call them Vuoti. The emptied.
No one knows where they come from.
And if you follow one for too long, you will forget why you began to walk.
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
May 11, 2025 at 9:48 AM
We go live in 3 weeks!
Check out two of the pledge levels.

Do not miss the early bird reward of 5€ towards shipping costs or add-ons. Sign up here:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
May 7, 2025 at 6:16 AM
We might be the first to publish a setting guide & adventure for D&D and Ars Magica together.
Why? Ask me!
May 3, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Creating Quasi-Historical Maps for Serenissima Obscura – Part 2.

Full video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ao1...
May 1, 2025 at 8:59 AM