Vortex Verlag creates tabletop RPG books, campaign settings, and adventures for 5E and beyond – blending historical fantasy, dark intrigue, and imaginative high-fantasy worlds.
Our published works form the Magical Renaissance line, a unique approach to tabletop roleplaying that weaves real-world history with magic, philosophy, and the supernatural.
The Magical Renaissance Line
Explore Renaissance Europe as you’ve never seen it before:
- The Straight Way Lost – a 5E adventure and setting inspired by Renaissance Italy and the Divina Commedia, taking players on a journey through a mythic vision of Heaven and Hell
- Serenissima Obscura – a modular Venice campaign setting filled with conspiracies, hidden worlds, and supernatural forces shaping the fate of the city
Both titles are fully compatible with D&D 5E and can be adapted to other systems. With the Magical Renaissance Conversion Guide for Ars Magica, they can also be seamlessly played within the Ars Magica rule system.
They also introduce numerous new character options, including original classes, subclasses, and species, allowing players to fully inhabit the world of the Magical Renaissance – from philosophers to the gonneslingers and beyond. All of these options are also presented in the Magical Renaissance Player’s Guide for 5e – and in the conversion guide for Ars Magica.
To support your table, we also offer a wonderful choice of battlemaps for both settings and detailed Venice street maps – all designed by Mark Smylie, a renowned artist in the tabletop RPG industry, bringing clarity, usability, and visual depth to your games.
We are proud to collaborate with a wide range of talented human artists, whose work brings our worlds to life with distinct style and care. We do not use generative AI for artwork or creative content – everything you buy is crafted by real people. AI is used only in limited, supportive roles such as first proofreading (before a work goes to our human proofreader and editor) or to help with marketing.
What people say about the Magical Renaissance
“The Straight Way Lost is an impressive work. […] for the right table, this is going to be an adventure folks will remember for the rest of their lives. (Matthew Constantine)
Coming in 2027: Shanarel
Beyond the shadows of history lies something entirely different:
Shanarel is a whimsical high-fantasy campaign setting for tabletop RPGs, set on a vast continent where the strange is ordinary and the impossible always feels just within reach. Designed for 5E and adaptable to any system, it offers a colourful, hopeful world full of curious cultures and joyful adventure.
Follow us on Backerkit to stay updated about this project.
Shipping Notes:
As a small publishing house, we ship our physical book once per week.
Non-EU customers: Shipping costs from Germany can be quite substantial, depending on where you live. You might pay less for shipping if you order via DriveThruRPG. Be aware, though, that none of the print-on-demand versions have quite the same excellent quality as our original offset-print hardcovers.
