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Message: <blockquote data-quote="darjr" data-source="post: 4806547" data-attributes="member: 52905">For <a href="http://www.exilegames.com/games/hex.html" target="_blank">Hollow Earth Expedition</a> there is the 2008 <a href="http://www.exilegames.com/downloads/hex_freerpg_2008.pdf" target="_blank">quick start and adventure</a> and <a href="http://www.exilegames.com/downloads/hex_characters.pdf" target="_blank">pregens</a>. In their <a href="http://www.exilegames.com/downloads.html" target="_blank">downloads</a> page you can find an example of play and other adventures. More pregens can be found at their <a href="http://www.exilegames.com/games/secrets.html" target="_blank">Secrets of the Surface World Supplement</a> page and one more at their <a href="http://www.exilegames.com/games/mysteries.html" target="_blank">Mysteries</a> suplement page.It's a dice pool system that uses rolled evens as successes and can use any group of dice. The players choices of which dice to use was interesting, some chose D20's some chose D6's only a couple used a mash up of different dice. I used as many different dice as I could. Each stat and skill is a number for the amount of dice to roll for task resolution, which is rolled against a set number of required successes. Combat is slightly different, a number of dice are rolled for the weapon and the defender rolls their defense, the difference in success is the amount of damage. There are called shots and aiming and burst/full auto fire and a couple of other combat actions. This game also has style points for purchasing extra dice or powering character traits and other benefits. The quick start rules don't really go into how powered traits work so we, unfortunately, skipped using that feature.The art on the pregen character sheets is gorgeous and very evocative. I printed them out in their full color glory so I could display them for the players to choose. Those sheets set the mood immediately, and my players oohed and awed over them as they decided which to play. The included background text furthered the atmosphere and really helped the players with their chosen PCs. Note that some of the backgrounds do not fit with the adventure. I didn't restrict pregens but instead changed the beginning to add a bit about how those characters came to be with the rest. Finally about the pregens, some of the others I pointed out use magic, you'll have to make up magic your self, it isn't in the quick start. I don't count that as a knock, just a notice, I think the magic is for a supplement that the quick start wasn't meant to cover.The adventure is a great introduction to some of the setting tropes. [spoiler]Dinosaurs, lost world, jungle wilderness, Nazi's that need punching[/spoiler] and a pulpy atmosphere. I'm not entirely sure what I am meant to mean by pulp, but if it's world war II era grand adventure with a bit of mystery and magic, it has it. It can also end in a cliff hanger of sorts with the players [spoiler]stranded in the Hollow Earth with cool leads and even a captured Nazi submarine[/spoiler]. That is great quick start design, it left my players wanting more, they want to continue with the characters they picked and find out what happens. Just note that it is a lot of combat, the adventure is there and the bones for lots of rp is there, but you'll need to flesh out some of it. Reading between the lines and playing the NPCs to their full should go a long way.</blockquote>

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