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Hello folks, I am checking on the interest of people in playing a game of pulp adventure in the 1930's called "Hollow Earth Expedition". It is a game where you play as people from the surface world who end up finding their way into the Hollow Earth of the world, a place of lost treasures and civilizations but also filled with long extinct species or creatures never before seen on the surface world. It is a place of high adventure and danger but also a place which is easier to enter but much hard to escape. Think Journey into the Center of the Earth, King Kong, The Lost World, Doc Savage and other pulp inspirations.
The system uses a very easy to use mechanic called the HEX system. It involves rolling a dice pool where Evens are successes and odds are failures. This can easily be simulated by rolling a number of 1d2's where 1 is a failure and 2 is a success. However you could easily still do it by rolling d6's, d8's, d10's, d12's, d20's or whatever other dice work as the odds remain exactly the same. The game uses a form of Hero Points called "Style Points", which can be spent to give you extra dice, invoke a minor environmental change or alter the plot in some way. As I want the characters to be somewhat larger than life but not superhuman I am using "Pulp Adventure" style points except I want style points to have more umph than the normal rules so 2 dice per style point instead of 1 (But still a cap of 10 dice will be in place). I will also be using Chance Dice rules (You can take +2 dice for a +1 difficulty to the check to a maximum of +10 dice).
As for books I will be using for source material, I will allow any non-Hollow Earth native Archetype from the Core Hollow Earth Book and Secrets of the Surface world as well as magic rules from Mysteries of Hollow Earth. Still I would prefer that characters don't have any overt magical abilities to start as all of you will be pretty clueless to the Hollow Earth at the start. I will allow at most a single Atlantean Blooded individual if someone wants to play someone of that heritage.
As for characters in the game the concept of the game is that a movie director from Hollywood who is down on his luck has brought a crew of actors, consultants, staff and extras to the Rocky mountains in British Columbia in hopes of creating a masterpiece film that will put him back in the spotlight. These 3 PC's Archetypes must be players in the game.
1. One PC must play as the Film Director.
2. One PC must play as a Female Lead.
3. Once PC must play as a Male Lead.
Beyond that most other archetypes work. This could include supporting actors/actresses, extras, security, wilderness scouts, assistants, press crew, consultants or whatever other person you could reasonably think of being there.
Character creation will be as normal (15 attribute and 15 skill points to distribute, 1 Talent/Resource and 15 XP points to spend). However as I want the PC's to be the heroes of the story I will be giving an extra Talent or Resource for free at character creation to better make the PC's resemble a star in a feature film. ALL PC's MUST take a Flaw for their character. I find flaws add flavor to a character and give the benefit of allowing more Style Points to be distributed. The game format will work much like a movie and thus PC's will be able to survive a good deal of punishment and may have "Coincidences" save them from being outright killed in random situations. Still this does not make your character's immortal and they can still die in suitably dramatic moments or if they continually put themselves in deadly situations without any form of self-preservation. There will be Mooks and Extras though that don't have this form of plot immunity however. In case of PC death a NPC might be promoted to PC status or a new cast member will be introduced to replace the old.
So folks, would you be interested in taking a step into the depths of the Hollow Earth?
Oh hell yeah! I played a session of this just before gencon last year and have wanted to play again since.
I always wanted to try Hollw earth, so yes I'm interested.
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Good to see some budding interest in the concept so far. As for the game I will take up to 6 PC's for the game. They will not be alone though as there will be a number of NPC "Extras" with the group as well. Some of the Extras include:
1. The Cameraman
2. The Assistant Director
3. The Script Girl
4. Local Labourers (Hired Help)
5. Park Ranger / Wilderness Guide
Other Extras may be added before the game begins depending on the number of players. Less players = More Extras.
As before extras are expendable but irreplaceable if killed so don't throw away their lives needlessly. Saving extras is a good way to give you some Style & XP rewards. Extras also provide opportunities for replacement PC's if your main character dies.
I don't have any of the books, I had a pregen made by the GM for that one game, so what does Atlantean blood mean rules wise?
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Atlantean blood is a Talent out of Secrets of the Surface World. It means you have a strong Atlantean ancestry and thus are "Superior" breed of humanity. At level 1 you have an extended lifespan aging much slower than normal humans and have a lifespan that stretches into centuries. You also might also get some RP advantages when interacting with Atlantean Artifacts and learning and using Atlantean Words of Power. If you take the talent twice you get a +1 die on all die rolls. If you take it 3 times you have a +2 dice on all die rolls. You can buy the level 2-3 later but Level 1 can only be taken at character creation.
As for character creation I am willing to walk you through it. Generally its not too hard.
1. Chose Archetype
2. Chose Motivation
3. Primary Attributes (You must put 1 point in each of your 6 attributes and then have 9 more to distribute but you can not have more than 5 in any attribute. Attributes are Body, Dexterity, Strength, Charisma, Intelligence, Wisdom)
4. Determine Secondary Attributes
Size = 0 (unless adjusted by talent or flaw)
Move = Strength + Dexterity
Perception = Intelligence + Willpower
Initiative = Dexterity + Intelligence
Defense = Body + Dexterity - Size
Stun = Body
Health = Body + Willpower + Size
5. Skills: You have 15 SKill Points to spend. You can buy flat dots or you can spend 1/2 a skill point to apply a specialty that grants a die only in certain circumstances. You can find a list of talents & Skills by searching google for "Hollow Earth skill list"
6. Talents & Resources: You get to pick 2 Talents/Resources.
7. Pick Flaws
8. Experience (15 points to spend, costs are as follows.
New Attribute = New Level * 5
New Skill = New Level * 2
Skill specialization = 3
Talent: 15
Resource: 15
Starting Style Points: You will start the game with 4 Style Points (3 Base and 1 for taking a flaw)
I have Hollow Earth on PDF, but never played it. I am considering the Celebrity for the male lead or a worldly Soldier of Fortune for security.
Ah, style, that was fun, the one and only time I pulled bribe the GM with food got me my fourth, or maybe it was third.
I have the pdf but never really learned the rules, I would need a couple of days for that.
I'm thinking about being the guionist of the movie, but I can be any of the 3 required roles if needed.