Indiana Jones versus dinosaurs ... you're hooked already, aren't ya?Hollow Earth Expedition was launched at Gen Con last year to rave reviews, and it soon hit these shores. It wasn't long until it was in my hands ... and, as you can tell from my review on RPGnet, I fell in love with it.
In retrospect, I might have been slightly lovesick when I wrote the review, seeing the game through rose-tinted glasses and maybe choosing to ignore some very minor flaws (for instance, for a rules-lite game, you still appear to need massive stat blocks for every character and monster).
Having joined their forums I even started contributing rules suggestions and monster write-ups (something I've never done before or since). This was it, I thought. I had found my dream game ... I just needed some more source material and I'd be set to go (I even had a provisional gaming group warmed up).
Then, despite the active boards and the lovely personalities of the creators at Exile Game Studio ... nothing. Even the scheduled new releases were each six months apart (and the first was "only" going to be a gamesmaster's screen!)
So, sadly, I lost my nerve for running a face-to-face tabletop game and with the lack of support material, the game - as beautiful and brilliant as it was - went into storage.
But now, the year is up! Kicking off with an interview on The Games The Thing podcast, Exile Games Studio is roaring back to this Gen Con (next weekend) with the lovely looking gamesmaster screen (which should be out here in the next week or two ... fingers crossed) and news that the first major supplement - Secrets of The Surface World - should be hitting the shops in October (preview copies at Gen Con).Suddenly I'm all excited again ... I know I'm as fickle as a schoolgirl, but until I can actually get a regular RPG game going again, my tastes are going to keep switching (even if within increasingly narrow parameters). Better get those Pulp miniatures painted as well!
Heya Flea,
ReplyDeleteThanks for getting all excited about the game again. All of us at Exile are pretty excited by all the new stuff coming out too!
I hear you about the dearth of product there for a while. We sold out of the first printing of HEX, which was both a blessing and a curse because I had to invest in a second printing sooner than I expected.
Still, the Gamemaster Scree turned out beautifully. It's sturdy and full of good info. Secrets of the Surface World turned out great too. I have to tell you, that book was a real balancing act. How much supernatural stuff can you put in without losing the Indiana Jones level of heroism? But there is plenty of new setting material in there, and I think it really expands the scope of the game. I'm excited for people to see it.
Anyway, thanks again for getting fired up about the game and for posting about it on your blog here. I really appreciate you helping to get the word out!
Looks like I'll be borrowing the rule book next time I'm around then (especially as my broadband is stil %$!!@d)
ReplyDeleteAfraid it's like I said, the rulebook's in storage and I just spent a futile hour this afternoon going through floor-to-ceiling boxes at the "in-laws" trying to find it! Did find some more unpainted Pulp figures though ... and Rachel's offered to buy me a spare copy of HEX! Ain't she the best :-) ?
ReplyDeleteWow, that's the first picture of the cover for the new book I've seen. THANK GOODNESS! For awhile I was getting scared that the images they'd had up on their site and in the back of the main book were going to be the actual covers. When is this getting released?
ReplyDeleteSecrets of The Surface World (like HEX, written by Jeff Combos, who posted above) is being released in limited quantities this weekend at Gen Con and is due to go on general sale sometime in October, I believe).
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