You’re good at killing: Rowan, Rook and Decard put the call out for the Hollows RPG
The publisher of Spire, Heart, Royal Blood and other games like Unbound has been working on another RPG called Hollows and they’ve been working on it for years.
Now Rowan, Rook and Decard are looking for people to visit this sick world and become playtesters. There’s a sign-up form online.
We’re told that death, sin and fear can collect in the world’s dark places and eventually transform the area into a Hollow. This Hollow changes things trapped inside it outside of time and space, and beasts become creatures of legend.
Characters are not ordinary people. They have the seed of a Hollow in their heart and will one day become corrupted and transform into a monster.
Rowan, Rook and Decard describe the one thing that might save you.
Unless: you hunt down the hollowed creatures and kill them. You put the land to rest and clear the metaphysical rot in the bones of the world. You bathe in the sticky-black blood of these creatures and push back your doom by another dawn. Some people are happy to see you because you kill the pallid beasts that prowl between the shadows at night; others, wiser, know what you could become given one bad day and a handful of wrong decisions, and shun you.
You’re good at killing. It’s all you’ve got.
Hollows isn’t set in the Destera universe of Spire or Heart, it’s more like our world (apart from the giant monsters) so that gaming groups can (and must) fill in the details yourself.
In Hollows, the weapons you carry hate you.
Each Hunter carries two Weapons; capital-W weapons that tap into the platonic ideals of what a weapon is rather than being a mere lump of sharpened metal or a lead slug and some gunpowder. The same magic that pumps through the Hollows and corrupts the land can be turned to your ends – and what ends are more human than weapons? What better ways of imposing your will on the world? What better way of elevating yourself above the luckless wretches stuck in the Hollow than brutal, unremitting violence?
As you might expect, this is a combat game. There’s still roleplaying, but the indie publisher clearly focuses on tactics, teamwork, risk management and the thrill of the chase.
Hollows will use a grid, not a battle map but a device with the monster in the middle and the action calculated around that.
This is an RPG that vibes off Dark Souls, Bloodbourne and even Monster Hunter. It’s a different beast from Spire entirely.
Quick Links
- Hollows sign-up for the playtest.
- Hollows introduction.
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