Written in the quiet, historic wooden town of Kaskinen, Finland, the game came to life during the long, storm-lashed autumns and brilliant summer twilights on the island where the town is nestled.
While the storms outside raged, the author wrote of the merciless witch-hunters of the Church of Luca; when the sun shone, he charted the paths of explorers sailing from the tradeports of The Great Kingdoms of Vidoq to the lands of legends.
Building on the foundation of the Parabellum RPG (2006), Hex Ferrum is a polished, balanced, and deep experience, refined through over 1,000 hours of playtesting. This is a labor of love, designed for players who, like the author, want a deep and immersive game that rewards their imagination.
About the creator
Jan-Erik Ehrström is a Finnish game designer, writer, and visual creator with an academic background in:
• History (Master of Arts, University of Turku)
• Game Design and New Media (Master of Arts, Aalto University)
He has worked across writing, game design, and visual production for more than 25 years and has been involved in tabletop role-playing games since the 1980s.
Hex Ferrum is the culmination of decades of interest in role-playing games, worldbuilding, history, game systems, and interactive storytelling. Its roots can be traced back to Parabellum RPG, first published in 2006, which provided the foundation upon which Hex Ferrum was later developed.
Published works include:
• Metallion (2019)
• The Mystery of Waverley House (2025)
Hex Ferrum is a standalone game, but its roots lie in a TTRPG called Parabellum, released in 2006. A large part of the skill system, including its check-based resolution rules, as well as a significant portion of the combat mechanics, have been carried over to Hex Ferrum in a refined and even more playable form. The two games also share the world of Vidoq, which has been vastly deepened, enriched, and expanded for Hex Ferrum.
"Jan-Erik Ehrström's Parabellum (2006) represents the Finnish adventure game tradition: its level-based system with 14 abilities, detailed combat system, and over 130 skill options make for a comprehensive set of rules. The geography, history, and religions of the game world, Vidoq, are also introduced in the rulebook. In addition, Ehrström has produced a substantial amount of supplementary material."
"Parabellum (Mr Punch Productions, 2006) is a role-playing game set in a fictional late-medieval period, created by Jan-Erik Ehrström. The 189-page, illustrated fantasy RPG book features maps and tables that, along with the text, bring the fantasy world of Vidoq to life. The text, illustrations, and layout are all the work of the designer himself."
