Hollow Earth Expedition RPG Inspiration and Sources

One of the biggest problems that a lot of GameMasters for various rpgs have is coming up with ideas and concepts for their games. Hollow Earth Expedition is no exception to this rule, but because of the richness and detail that went into the game world and the like, some GMs might be a bit puzzled or at a loss for some good material on which to base their game sessions of HEX . The following consists of a list of various sources of inspiration for Game Masters and players alike of the game, taken from different sources and the like. The list of inspirations and source material below is by no means complete, and I am constantly ready, willing and able to update these listings and add any new Hollow Earth Expedition sources of inspiration to this file of resources. If you know of any new sources of material that are applicable here, or can provide me with any corrections and/or clarifications, please send me e-mail.

Books

Aristophanes, The Frogs. This classic of ancient literature tells of how Dionysus, the God of Drama, had to go to the Underworld (Hades) to retrieve Euripides. The plot of the story may not seem fitting for the game, but the trip that Dionysus takes and some of what occurs to whom makes for good HEX fodder.

Greg Bear, Dinosaur Summer. This wonderful book is the sequel to The Lost World, and is very much in the spirit of the original. Set in 1947, the novel features a photographer for National Geographic and his son accompanying an expedition to return the last of the dinosaurs to the Plateau. It has a very young Ray Harrryhausen tagging along, among other things. Highly recommended.

Raymond Bernard, The Hollow Earth. Non-fiction book published in 1979, that deals with the Hollow Earth Theory. This is the book that started it all with me, and has led me to run HEX . Well worth reading.

Douglas Botting, Dr. Eckener's Dream Machine: The Great Zeppelin and the Dawn of Air Travel. This non-fiction book traces the history of the zeppelin and the dirigible, through the development and demise of these huge, wonderful machines. The book is somewhat uneven, but the book is a useful resource for those who want to run HEX and their players.

Goran Burenhult, People of the Stone Age: Hunter-Gatherers and Early Farmers (Illustrated History of Humankind, Vol. 2). This non-fiction book covers the transition when human technology, food production, and human settlements advanced remarkably, and deals with the human domestication of plants and animals - and the cultural expressions of the new way of life. This book offers something for the aspiring anthropological scientist and the archaeologist and the gamer, with its massive number of illustrations, photos and the like, and should inspire all manner of ideas for the HEX rpg.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, The John Carter of Mars series. While not as pulpy as most the other stuff listed here, the series about a CS army veteran swept to the planet Mars and encountering the alien civilization found there is full of the style of adventures that marks Pulp fiction. And who can forget Dejah Thoris?

Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land that Time Forgot series. The first book, of the same title, deals with a German U-boat that is torpedoed during World War I, and the resulting group of adventurers are marooned on Caprona, a hidden island suspended in time and inhabited by dinosaurs, cavemen, and scattered bands of human beings. Interesting series, if a bit dated.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Pellucidar series. Beginning with At the Earth's Core and Pellucidar, this series of novels very strongly influenced the development of the HEX roleplaying game, and is quite marvellous and full of ideas for use with the game by both players and GMs.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, the Tarzan series. This series that began with Tarzan the Ape Man, concerns Lord John Greystoke, who is raised by apes in the jungles and has all manner of fantastical, very Pulp adventure tales.

Ian Cameron, The Lost Ones. This 1968 book was also published as Island at the Top of the World after it was turned into a Disney movie. In this novel, a group of characters searching for a missing person go looking for the legendary graveyard of the whales. They stumble on the remote Prince Patrick Island in far northern Canada, that is supposedly uninhabited, but find the island inhabited by descendants of the Vikings from Greenland. Captured, aided in an escape by a Viking maiden, they find the missing person, the precious ambergris of the whale graveyard, and survive attacks by vicious killer whales. The stuff that HEX scenarios are made of!

Ian Cameron, The Mountains at the Bottom of the World. Another novel with good potential for HEX , and full of cryptozooology. In the tradition of Jules Verne, the story deals with a young college student/adventurer whose grandfather had seen a large, ape-like creature in South America. He journeys to the southernmost part of Chile and the Andes mountains in search of the Vulcan Videma and a large undiscovered, ape-like Sasquatch or Yeti. Has good potential for a HEX scenario.

Lin Carter, The Zarkon, Lord of the Unknown series. This series, beginning with Zarkon: Nemesis of Evil, is about a genetically engineered individual somehow sent back to the past, with his heroic Omega Crew (the sidekicks), where he deals with similar issues to those found in the Doc Savage books. The series provides some ideas on how a lost civilization might evolve (or not) in the Hollow Earth.

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness. This novel, a literary classic, takes the reader on a jungle cruise that illustrates quite nicely how thin the line is between savagery and civilization. Highly recommended.

L. Sprague de Camp, "A Gun for Dinosaur". This is still one of the best short stories for illustrating the perils of mucking about in a lost world when you don't really know what you're doing.

L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine de Camp, Spirits, Stars and Spells: The Profits and Perils of Magic. This book is a non-fiction anthropological treatise on the belief in magic, and why it persists into modern times. The book examines the major magical beliefs and tries to determine hwo they came about and why they continue to survive. This book may prove useful to a HEX GM who wants to give the witch- doctors and magic wielding shamans of the Hollow Earth a sense of realism.

James de Mille, A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. This book from around 1888 is a wonderful Victorian satire about the inverted society found inside the Hollow Earth. Funny read in some ways, but can also be inspirational for GMs and players alike.

Lester Dent, The Doc Savage stories. One of the archetypal heroes of the 20th century, Doc Savage was a physician, surgeon, scientist and adventurer who had near-superhuman abilities created by Lester Dent, whose novels appeared under the name Kenneth Robeson. He appeared in Doc Savage Magazine from 1933 to 1949, a total of 181 issues, and after the stories were republished in paperback during the 1960's, eight new novels were commissioned based on notes and outlines left by Lester Dent. Will Murray wrote seven of the later novels under the Kenneth Robeson pseudonym. Highly recommended reading.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World. This novel, told from the point of view of journalist Edward Malone, tells the story of the George Challenger expedition to a mysterious plateau in South America, where dinosaurs still roam the earth and ape-men are still a terrible threat. A must for all HEX Gamemasters. Highly recommended.

Alistair Durie, Weird Tales. This non-fiction book surveys the entirety of the pulp magazine world, and includes authors, illustrators, and publishers.

Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum. This thriller features dubious characters who dream of an absolute power stemming from telluric currents, which they believe to be possibly related to the hollow nature of the Earth, and supposedly known to the Templars. Not directly related to the game per sé, but certainly worth checking out for the ideas and the like. Besides, it's a terrific novel.

Willis George Emerson, The Smoky God. This early science fiction novel (1908) tells the adventures of Olaf Jansen, a Norwegian fisherman, who travels into the interior, finds an advanced civilization in the world of Agartha, and then leaves. As I understand it, some folks regard this novel as non-fiction, but I found it highly entertaining.

José Philip Farmer, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. A non-fiction sort of biography of the life of the hero of the 1930's, this is an exhaustive resource, and offers HEX Gamemasters a wealth of ideas for heroes, villains, sidekicks, supporting characters, and suitably futuristic (but retro) equipment.

Fergus Fleming, Ninety Degrees North. This non-fiction book details the history of the search for the North Pole in the aftermath of the disappearance of Sir John Franklin in 1845. Drawing on unpublished archives and long-forgotten journals, Fleming tells the story with quite good craftsmanship, and this book is full of valuable information.

Ron Goulart, Cheap Thrills. This really nice non-fiction book is a survey of the pulps, that covers a number of mini-genres and featuring interviews with some of the authors of the times (in the more recent printing by Hermes Press).

Martin H. Greenberg, Robert Weinberg, and Stefan R. Dziemianowicz (eds.), Rivals of Weird Tales: 30 Great Fantasy and Horror Stories from the Weird Fiction Pulps. This is a marvellous collection of short stories and tales originally published in various pulp magazines from the 1920's to the 1950's (but not from Weird Tales magazine). There is some wonderful stuff contained herein, but much of it is pretty dated.

H.Rider Haggard, Ayesha: The Return of She. The sequel to She, written in 1904, this story continues the quest of L. Horace Holly and his adopted son, Leo Vincey, in their search for the reborn Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. Their search takes them deep into the steppes of Asia (near Thibet and China), and the legendary people of Kaloon, where Ayesha has been reborn again. With avalanches, monastery retreats, the well-developed culture of Kaloon, the Death-Hounds, and the return of Ayesha, the story is well-written, even if somewhat slow at the beginning, and is an interesting read.

H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines. Written in 1885, this novel is the tale of an over-the-hill "white hunter" taken into the service of two English gentlemen, seeking the brother of one of them, who had disappeared years before on the edge of a great desert in pursuit of the fabled mines of King Solomon. Joined by an enigmatic guide who is much more than he seems, the characters come upon a previously unexplored tract of Africa that holds a lost nation related to the Zulus of southern Africa. Drawn into the internal politics of these people, our heroes are soon in deadly peril from the cruel king of the country in question and the evil sorceress who conspires behind his throne. A wonderful action story, filled with what we would call the clichés of the genre (this book started the genre, after all!), this book is an excellent adventure tale that has something for everyone. Highly recommended.

H. Rider Haggard, She. This wonderful tale from 1886-1887 recounts the exploits of L. Horace Holly and his adopted son, Leo Vincey, as they undertake a journey to Africa following a series of clues and hints that find them in a fabled lost city ruled by elusive white queen, Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. There, a tale of timeless love and betrayal takes place, and an offer of immortality brings the story to a somewhat deadly, if not appreciated, conclusion. Wonderful stuff, and with a lot of potential for HEX . Highly recommended.

Franz Hartmann, Among the Gnomes: An Occult Tale of Adventure in the Untersberg. Hartmann was a famous occultist, and this adventure yarn is quite interesting and contains dozens of ideas for adventures and the like for HEX .

Robert E. Howard, The Solomon Kane series. The Solomon Kane stories, reprinted in Solomon Kane: Skulls in the Stars and Solomon Kane: The Hills of the Dead, are Howard's pulp adventure stories dealing with a Puritan fanatic who hates the inquisition and witch hunters as much as he does necromancers and murderers. Kane doesn't preach - he doesn't need to: his actions, and his sword, speak for him. Recommended.

Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne, The Lost Continent. First published in serialised form in Pearson's Magazine in 1899, and then in hardcover in 1900, this novel is a fictional retelling of the sinking of Atlantis that combines elements of the myth first told by Plato and the earlier Greek myth concerning the survival of a universal flood and restoration of the human race.

Peter Levenda, Unholy Alliance: The History of Nazi Involvement with the Occult. This non-fiction book by a researcher and historian of occult practices has some fascinating stuff in it that can be used by a creative HEX GM, and traces it up to the modern day. Well worth the read.

Adrian Lister and Paul Bahm with Jean Auel, Mammoths. Like the title says, this book is about mammoths and mammoth hunters. Filled with colour drawings, photographs of artifacts and fossils, and wonderful text, the authors provide an insight and understanding of these giant creatures that lived 60 million years after the dinosaurs. A terrific non-fiction book. Recommended.

John Uri Lloyd, Etidorhpa. Published in the 1890's, this book concerns a person who travels from the Outer Surface to the Inner Surface of the Earth.

H.P. Lovecraft, The Cthulhu Mythos series. These stories first appeared in the pulp magazines of the 1920's, and their treatment of strange, alien civilizations and deities are good inspirations for ways to handle Atlantean technology in the HEX RPG. Of special note are "At the Mountains of Madness", "The Call of Cthulhu", and "The Shadow Out of Time".

Richard Lupoff, Circumpolar. This hard-to-find book from 1984 features a donut-shaped Earth, and tells the story of Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and various famous aviation pilots who must fly through the middle of the planet to win an air race. Wonderful read, and well worth tracking down a copy.

William F. Lyon, The Hollow Globe, or The World's Agitator and Reconciler. This non-fiction work is a treatise on the physical conformation of the Earth.

Alberto Manuel and Gianni Guadalupi, The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (Expanded Edition). This wonderful book, best described as a guidebook to the make-believe, needs to be on every gamer's bookshelf for all sorts of reasons, has mentions about Pellucidar and other fictional places that could serve as inspirations for HEX .

Edgar Allan Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Pym of Nantucket. While this is not quite the easiest way to get to the Hollow Earth, this story is the fast-paced narrative that chronicles the adventures of a stowaway who finds himself amidst a mutiny, survives a shipwreck, and encounters fantastic creatures and visions as he journeys to the South Pole. It's good for a whole series of ideas of rough adventure and horror.

Byron Preiss (ed.), The Weird Heroes series. This anthology series featured four to six stories per volume, and these stories are a wonderful source and treasure trove for stories and plots of all kinds for a HEX Gamemaster.

Kenneth Robeson, The Doc Savage series. Robeson is a pseudonym for Lester Dent, the writer of these books. The series is one of the main inspirations for the HEX roleplaying game and is well worth finding, even if the books are difficult to locate. See the separate entry on Lester Dent for more info.

Chris Roberson, Paragaea: A Planetary Romance. This entertaining novel features a trio of characters setting off across a single giant continent and inland sea that hosts dinosaurs, giant sloths, and snake men, and bird men, and...well, you get the picture. In the best pulp tradition, this book features an alternate Earth worth of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and favours enthusiastic exposition and travelogue with dashes of swashbuckling, in which the colourful characters and setting transport readers to a simpler era when every story offered new worlds to explore. Highly recommended.

James Rollins, Subterranean. This interesting novel deals with an expedition of scientists who descend beneath the surrface of the Antarctic near the south pole, unaware of the dangers that befell a previous expedition, and discover a mysterious, lost race. The book owes a lot of Verne's classic work, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (see below), with such things as the glowing algae and the giant reptilian beasts, but has some features that didn't appeal to me - the Arabic traitor in the group, the tough gal/single mom who brings her kid with her, the hunky military type (Navy SEAL), and a couple of others. Still, the book has some good stuff in that can be mined by a creative HEX GM for use.

Rudy Rucker, The Hollow Earth. Set in 1836, this story deals with Mason Algiers Reynolds, who leaves his family's Virginia farm with his father's slave and a couple of animals. After being branded a murderer, he finds sanctuary with his hero, Edgar Allan Poe, and together they journey to the South Pole, and find an entrance to the Hollow Earth. At the center of the world, they encounter strange physics, strange people, and even stranger creatures, and their bizarre journeys begin. Wonderful novel, and quite different than most other stories of the genre, that is well worth tracking down. Highly recommended.

David Standish, Hollow Earth. This simply marvellous non-fiction work consists of a discussion of the various people who, over the last few centuries, believed in a hollow earth for various reasons, as well as the fictional stories and adventures that have been written about the world beneath the earth's surface. The book is well-written, entertaining, quite witty, and will likely appeal to sociology buffs and literary critics as well, and will give the reader a good understanding of Symmes' Holes and other Hollow Earth theory material. Highly recommended.

William B. Stoecker, The Atlantis Conspiracy. A rather weird non-fiction book that talks about the evidence mounting that the world of today is coming under the control of a group whose secret organization began some 12,000 years ago in the legendary Atlantis. Showing an interesting set of evidence and the like, the book is one that offers some interesting ideas for a HEX GM and players alike.

Jules Verne, Journey to the Centre of the Earth. One of the classics of the field of speculative literature, this novel deals with an expedition mounted by Professor Hardwigg (Liedenbrock in the original French version) to follow the route of famed explorer Arne Saknussen down to the center of the Earth. A world of dinosaurs and all sort of other cool stuff that can inspire GMs and players alike can be found here. Highly recommended.

William F. Warren, Paradise Found. Once a Boston University president, the author wrote this book with the emphatic statement that the book was not the work of a dreamer. He believed that the Garden of Eden was truly at the North Pole, and this book is a valuable non-fiction resource in its own way for both the players and GMs of the HEX rpg.

Ken Weiss, To Be Continued. This volume is simply a marvel, containing a comprehensive listing of nearly every pulp adventure serial ever made (including plot synopses and cast lists), complete with photos and sidebars on the cliffhanger perils. Superb book. Highly recommended.

Manley Wade Wellman, The Silver John series. This series of novels that began with The Old Gods Waken includes four other novels and also has several short story collections about the character as well. The tales are about a wandering singer named John who travels with a guitar that has silver strings in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina in an unspecified time (likely to be the middle of the twentieth century). He frequently deals with creatures and superstitions from the old folk tales of the mountain people, his courage, wit, and basic goodness allowing him to triumph over the various evils. Has a lot of potential for the HEX universe, and well worth reading.

H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Although he published his novels and stories well before the true pulp era began, this novel offers the reader a first look at the half-human beastmen. When Edward Prendick, a British scientist, finds himself shipwrecked on a palm tree-ed island paradise in the South Seas, all is not what he might wish it to be. For the island is home to the mad scientist, Dr. Moreau, whose life's work has created a twisted menagerie of beasts who share both human and animal traits, and Prendick's arrival is a catalyst for change and revolution. The story is full of metaphors and marvellous, deep-reaching themes, and is an inspiration for HEX that no player of the game should ignore.

H.G. Wells, The Time Machine. Although he published his novels and stories well before the true pulp era began, this novel offers a fun example of a hidden world adventure. This classic novel of a Victorian scientist, only referred to as "The Time Traveller", who has created a time machine and tells his remarkable tales of his encounter with the Eloi and the Morlocks at some time in the distant future, is a marvellous tour de force. More than that, however, it is a lesson most appropriate even today, as it shows how what we perceive to be the truth is often much more complex. Highly recommended.

Weta Workshop, The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island. This lovely fictional hardcover presents the sketches, journals and detailed notes of the scientists who braved Skull Island in the superb movie (primarily the remake by Peter Jackson), basically presenting the natural history of the island.

Television & Movies

Angel Eyes - This 2001 movie featuring Jennifer Lopez and James Caviezel, about a troubled cop who falls in love with a mysterious man, has all the elements of some of the Pulp stories, but lacks the atmosphere.

Atlantis - Yes, the Disney movie of the same name. This has a lot of potential in the context of the HEX rpg and would make for a great HEX adventure in and of itself.

Cast A Deadly Spell - Directed by Martin Campbell, this movie from 1991 features Fred Ward, David Warner, Julianne Moore, Clancy Brown, and Alexandra Powers. Set in 1948, H. Phillip Lovecraft is a hard- boiled private detective who, in a world where everyone uses magic, refuses to use the occult for "personal reasons". Hired by a mysterious, rich man to recover a stolen book, the Necronomicon, he discovers that the book holds the key to taking over the world by magical means, and releas ing the "Old Ones". Truly remarkable film, and truly wonderful to watch. Highly recommended.

Creature From the Black Lagoon - This wonderfully evocative movie from 1954 features Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, and Antonio Moreno, and was directed by Jack Arnold. A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discovers a prehistoric gill-man in the legendary Black Lagoon. Breaking free after they have captured it, the gill-man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, the fiancée of one of the expedition members, with whom it has fallen in love. Delightful, evocative film. All of the sequels were really bad, but this movie is highly recommended.

Deep Core - This terrible movie from 2000, starring Craig Sheffer and Harry van Gorkum, about a madman who tries to drill into the middle of the Earth, gives a good grounding in some of the mad scientist premises that can be used as inspiration for the game.

The Descent - This neat 2004 Neil Marshall UK film, starring Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, and several others, about six women with secrets and traumas of their own who venture underground in the Appalachian cave system and encounter a troglodyte-like species called the Crawlers, offers some fine fodder for HEX , and makes for an interesting film about claustrophobia and the horrors beneath the earth, both internal and external.

Earthquake - This 1974 movie with Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner, about people fighting to survive after a quake hits Los Angeles, has some interesting stuff that might inspire GMs for their underground elements in the game.

The Emerald Forest - This 1985 John Boorman film is one that deals with Bill Markham (Powers Boothe), an American engineer whose son has been kidnapped by a tribe of natives in the Amazon rainforest. Naturally, he goes searching for him. It's a pretty good film in its own way, and can provide inspiration for HEX GMs and players alike. The film also has a relatively young Meg Foster and Charlie Boorman (John's son) as the kidnapped son.

The Indiana Jones movies - These three movies, the first being Raiders of the Lost Ark, featuring Harrison Ford, are a terrific introduction to the visual Pulp style feel that HEX strives for ( but that one is unlikely to achieve in a mere roleplaying game). Great stuff, lots of action and adventure, with plots that can be stolen for the game easily enough.

Island at the Top of the World - This 1974 movie based on the Ian Cameron novel The Lost Ones (see the book reference, above) featuring David Hartman, Donald Sinden, Mako, David Gwillim, and Agneta Eckemyr, deals with a Victorian gentleman hoping to find his long-lost son, who vanished whilst searching for a mysterious Viking community in a volcanic valley somewhere in uncharted Arctic regions. He puts an expedition team to take up the search, but when they reach their destination, they must escape from some Viking descendants who will kill to keep their existence a secret.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth - This wonderful 1959 film, based on the book by Jules Verne (see above), featuring James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, and Diane Baker, tells the story of a scientist who leads an expedition to the centre of the earth via an Icelandic volcano. While evocative of the game setting, and providing some good visuals and ideas for the stories to be told in the Hollow Earth, it's not overly faithful to the book as one might wish. Still, I adore this movie, and recommend it.

The Jurassic Park movies - Based on the book Jurassic Park, and while not to everyone's taste, the three movies have dinosaurs aplenty in them, and offer some good potential plot ideas that would have to be modified for use in the Pulp period.

King Kong - This 1933 film starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot is the wonderful story in which a film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shot, and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to the blonde female star of the movie. When the expedituion captures the giant ape and returns to New York planning to use him as an exhibit, Kong's love of the female star leads to the marvellous scene atop the Empire State Building that we've all come to know and love. Superb movie, far better than Peter Jackson's 2005 remake, so watch the original and get your ideas for HEX scenarios there.

King Solomon's Mines - The 1937 film featuring Cedric Hardwicke in the role of Allan Quartermain. Kathy O'Brien (Anna Lee), the daughter of Patrick O'Brien (Arthur Sinclair), hires Quartermain to find her father, a fortune hunter who has gone missing in Africa while searching for the fabled diamonds of King Solomon. Helped by the guide Umbopa (Paul Robeson), the film has an excellent cast, intriguing special effects for its time, and a story full of adventure and romance. Well worth watching for some ideas.

Land of the Lost - A wonderful old television series produced by Sid and Marty Kroftt back in 1974, this series concerns Rick Marshall, a park ranger, who is transported back in time with his two kids, Will and Holly, back to a time when the land was populated by dinosaurs, ape-men and the dreaded Sleestak. The world is actually called Altrusia, but that's another matter. Later in the series, Rick managed to find his way home, and was replaced by Uncle Jack (who had rafted down the same river looking for his family). This series basically was about strangers in a strange land, wherein the Marshalls survived on their wits, compassion, and sense of humour. Good for some ideas for the HEX GM.

The Lost World - Based on the book of the same title by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, about an expedition to a land that holds dinosaurs, hostile, primitive tribesfolk, and a host of other dangers. There have been many versions of this movie, but the best of these is the 1929 film. There is also a 1992 Canadian version with John Rhys-Davies and David Warner that was only so-so.

The Mask of Zorro - This terrific film from 1998 featuring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, and Catherine Zeta-Jones that updates the story of Zorro as a thief is tutored by Zorro to take over his duties, is filled with action/adventure, old-fashioned romance, and has a lot of good Pulp-style moments in it. Forget about the sequel.

The Mummy - This movie from 1999 starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz is one in which archaeologists unwittingly awaken the spirit of a mummy. This movie and its sequel, The Mummy Returns, are excellent examples of Pulp-style adventure, and can certainly inspire players for the HEX game.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World - This television series produced by a combined Australian/Canadian production company lasted for three years and a total of 66 episodes. Based on the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the series featured the Challenger expedition, along with a mysterious female benefactor, Marguerite Krux, arriving in the Lost World, and meeting Veronica Layton, the daughter of two previous explorers to the Plateau. This series is ripe for grabbing a ton of inspiration and plenty of plot points for a great HEX campaign.

The Thing - The classic movie from 1951, featuring Kenneth Toby and Margaret Sheridan. Scientists find an alien buried in the Arctic permafrost. Creepy, evocative, atmospheric movie, that offers a lot of good plot material for the game.

Tychus - This terrible 2000 movie featuring Dennis Hopper and Todd Allen about people who shelter in an underground city to avoid a comet has little to offer as a film, but does show something of life in an underworld society which might be of use to HEX GMs and players alike.

Zwartboek - Directed by Paul Verhoeven (who lived through the occupation as a child), this 2006 film (the name translates as Black Book) concerns the Dutch Resistance and the liberation of the Netherlands from the Nazis. Excellent film, but might be hard to find.

Comics & Graphic Novels

Athena Voltaire - This series of comics is set in the 1930's and depicts the adventures of a female adventurer fightng Nazis and exploring mystic locales. It has featured the Thule Society and has also mentioned Hollow Earth theory. You can check out the Athena Voltaire website for more about the comic, the characters, and all sorts of other stuff.

BRPD - This comic book series by Mike Mignola had a collection called "The Hollow Earth", where the team journeys into great caverns inside the Earth inhabited by Hyperborian people and fantastic machines, some emblazoned with a swastika. Interesting storyline, well worth checking out.

Crash Ryan - This four issue mini-series from Epic Comics by Ron Harris has a very nice alternate world setting, where Crash and his crew battle against an evil organisation bent on world conquest. The story and concepts can certainly be translated to the Hollow Earth by a creative GM and all.

Luftwaffe: 1946 - One of the Families of the Altered Wars comic series by Ted Nomura, this series has a lot of obscure historical and occult tidbits. Not that good, but interesting. Mika Oberlicht, one of the main characters in the series, is an SS archaeologist and sort of the German version of Dana Scully, and often studies ancient things.

The Phantom - Who could possibly forget the Phantom as one of the great, all-time Pulp style of heroes? Really good stuff. 'Nuff said.

The Rocketeer - This wonderful comic series by Dave Stevens is just top notch Pulp storytelling and setting, and can now be found in graphic novel format. While there are no Hollow Earth references, it still catches the mood and feel well.

Shanna, The She-Devil - This comic series by Frank Cho is a wonderful inspiration for HEX , dealing with Marvel's jungle girl and your best hope for escaping the raptors ripping at your heels. Created as part of a Nazi genetic experiment with stories set in the equivalent of a Land that Time Forgot, this comic series will enchant all the fans of HEX , both GMs and players.

Warlord - This comic series by Mike Grell in the 1970's was about Travis Morgan, a pilot who finds himself in Skartaris, a sword-and-sorcery world reaching through an opening at the North Pole. At first thought to be the hollow interior of the Earth, Skartaris was later revealed to be a parallel dimension. Still worth checking out for all the cool ideas and the like.

Xenozoic Tales - This was a marvellous series of comics written and illustrated by Mark Schultz, that ran for some 18 issues. The series takes place in the future, when the Earth has rejected mankind's technology and a cataclysm has reverted humans to a more savage lifestyle, with dinosaurs once more inhabiting the Earth. A grand story of the perils of ecologically destructive practices and the need for a form of balance with the environment, one of the highlights of the series was the Grith, telepathic holistic bipedal dinosaurs who communicated through Scrabble tiles. The comics were adapted into an animated tv series called Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, and a roleplaying game by that name was published by GDW.

Album and CD Music

Chris Christensen and Mark Schultz. Songs From the Xenozoic Age. C&D soundtrack. The music on this CD is inspired by the Xenozoic Tales comics by Mark Schultz, and is a fusion of rock 'n roll meets priimitive re-enlightenment and jazzy side music. Well worth finding for the sake of music to inspire for the game. On top of that, there was no computer programming or sequencing done for the CD despite how it sounds.

Mike Oldfield, The Songs of Distant Earth. This wonderful CD by an artist who is best known for his work Tubular Bells, is a musical rendition of the book of the same name by Arthur C. Clarke. The music is highly evocative, and quite suitable for the HEX rpg.

The Alan Parsons Project. There are some really good albums of music that could be used with the HEX rpg, including The Time Machine

John Williams. One of the best movie soundtracks for the purposes of HEX is the Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack. The music is perfect for strapping on a pistol, checking one's whip, and going out to fight some Nazis on top of a zeppelin.

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Hollow Earth Expedition is a trademark and copyright of Exile Game Studio, LLC. The Hollow Earth Expedition Logo and other graphics are copyright of Exile Game Studio, LLC, and are used with their permission. The Ubiquity game mechanics are copyright of Exile Game Studio, LLC, and are mentioned and used with their permission. All distinctive Hollow Earth Expedition logos and terms are trademarks of Exile Game Studio, LLC. No attempt is being made here to supercede any of the copyrights and trademarks mentioned above. The Hollow Earth Expedition Logo for this website was created by Colin Chapman. The background graphic for this page was created by Daniel Potter. The permission of John M. Kahane, Colin Chapman, and Daniel Potter is required for use of this Logo and background by any other persons.