Vikings & Valkyries: The Hapless Adventuring Party You Didn't Know You Needed

Dive into Ian Stuart Sharpe's alternate Norse universe in this actual play podcast

What if Christianity had failed to gain a foothold in Viking Age Scandinavia? And what if, instead of failing, the Vikings had managed to not only sack the great cities of the West, but hold them? These are some of the questions Ian Stuart Sharp, author of The Vikingverse, explores in his books and, now, in his role-playing game titled When the Wolf Comes. And I was lucky enough to be invited to play on his actual play podcast: Vikings & Valkyries.

The year is 1974. The place: Hjálpmakaar, a desolate town on the coast of a fictional albeit brutally cold island named Heimsslit, or World’s Edge. In this alternate universe, the Norse gods won out over all the others, and Norsemen have set out into space and discovered nine new worlds to conquer and inhabit. Blending science fiction with Norse mythology, and not to mention the Norse language, Sharpe’s vision is a masterpiece of creativity that lends exceptionally well to a role-playing game.

Having played Dungeons and Dragons, I jumped at…