Welcome to my Hollow Earth Expedition set of pages. One of the first things that you will likely notice here is that Hollow Earth Expedition is a roleplaying game that is not your standard fantasy or science fiction rpg, falling instead into the category of the Pulp adventure rpg. The Hollow Earth Expedition (abbreviated HEX ) RPG first came out from Exile Game Studio (XGS) in August, 2006 when it was launched at GenCon, and while it is very new, has been well-received in the gaming marketplace. The game has received a good deal of support from Exile Game Studio so far, primarily on the XGS forums (see the HEX Links Page for more details), and there is an active HEX following on the internet. In my humble estimation, Jeff Combos and the folks at Exile Game Studio have produced a true winner in this game.
Hollow Earth Expedition is not one of the most innovative roleplaying games out there, as the game does not use a brand new, innovative set of rules and the like (the Ubiquity system, see the HEX FAQ for more, is very simple and easy to work with), but does offer a game system that is simple, fits the needs of the Pulp era genre, and offers very little interference in the ongoing flow of the game. The game certainly does offer some imaginative and creative setting material, seeing as how it concentrates on the element of the Hollow Earth and that setting, as opposed to an overall Pulp setting (how large would that sourcebook have to be?!). HEX owes its origins to some of the classic fiction of the Pulp era, and more directly to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The Lost World), Jules Verne (Journey to the Centre of the Earth), and the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs (the Pellucidar series and The Land That Time Forgot books). The game is by far a Pulp adventure roleplaying game with its focus being the Hollow Earth, and as such has certain elements of the gothic, horror, romance, and science fiction, and fantasy to it, too, depending on what the GameMaster has in mind for the game. First and foremost, however, it is an *action*-oriented game. The game is very much based in the abilities and skills that characters possess, but is remarkably oriented towards roleplaying through the use of Style points, and towards the use of wits and conversation swaying situations as much as combat and swashbuckling. The writing found in the HEX rules fits in perfectly with the feel of the Pulp era, but there is even a slightly dark slant to the game with the weird science element and the wonders to be found in the Hollow Earth present as well. I am fond of Hollow Earth Expedition because while I love running the other two systems that I run - The Dying Earth and a|state - I have a need, nay a desire, to run rpgs that have a unique perspective on the world. The strength of the HEX RPG is that I have long had an interest in Hollow Earth theory (see some of the links on the HEX Links page), and it is a pleasure to finally have a roleplaying game based on the works of Verne, Burroughs, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with the Pulp 1930's action feel come to fruition. The game provided in the context of HEX offers up and provides for a whole different style of roleplaying, and one that I really appreciate - and my players have come to love it for its differences from the standard fantasy and science fiction rpgs out there.
What you will find on these web pages devoted to the game is a lot of Hollow Earth Expedition material, and I hope that some of the material here pleases you and perhaps encourages you to look at this truly unique, wonderful game of Pulp action and adventure. So step out into the streets of the 1930's, where a solid fist and a sense of adventure can truly mean the difference between life and death...
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