You simply can't go wrong with Ubiquity, and especially with Hollow Earth Expedition. The unique Ubiquity system takes the idea of number of successes (like Shadowrun and World of Darkness) and turns it on it's head. Fantastic background, a great setting, and a solid system all wrapped around action and adventure in the true Pulp style. If you're in the market for a new game, or simply looking for inspiration, take a chance with Hollow Earth Expedition or any of the Ubiquity titles. You won't regret it... I sure don't.

Just tried it out and it's definitely a fun game. Thanks!

The Hollow Earth has always been one of those fringe theories that always sounded like a lot of fun in a game. I loved the Jules Verne tale "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and the movie based on it. My exposure to the idea for a game came originally from the old Mystara campaign set, The Hollow World. Later I discovered the "Shaver Mystery" and the Pellucidar series. While I know there is no basis whatsoever in scientific fact for a Hollow Earth, it is a lot of fun. I have even contributed to a Hollow Earth book myself. So it was with much excitement that I picked up Hollow Earth Expedition. Full Disclosure: I did write a Hollow Earth book for a different publisher. I avoided looking at or reading this book till long after my own ms was sent in. Full Disclosure 2: I am reviewing both the Hardcover and PDF versions of this game.

Let's begin. What is Hollow Earth Expedition? HEX, as it is known, is the first Ubiquity powered game on the market (as far as I know). The setting is "Pulp-era" which I have always roughly translated as the time between the two world wars. Others might have a more nuanced view on this, but this has served me well enough. If gumshoes walk the streets, Indiana Jones is still working at the University and fighting Nazis and cults then this is the time. HEX is two things to me. It is a new game system (Ubiquity) and a new game setting (Hollow Earth). I will deal with each in turn.

The HEX hardcover is a gorgeous book. It is 260 pages, mostly black & white (which I want to address) and some color inserts. The PDF is set up in similar fashion. Ok, so the interior is black & white. You know what else is? King Kong, Bela Lugosi's Dracula, Tod Browning's Freaks. All the movies I associate with this era are in black & white as well. Save for Journey to the Center of the Earth and Raiders of the Lost Ark. To me, along with the fantastic art, it really sets the stage for the story I want to tell. So giving the book "the flip test" ie just flipping through it, it has passed well.

Chapter 1: Setting sets us up for the rest of the book. We learn a bit about the Pulp Era, the time; it;s 1936, the obligatory "what is Role-playing" section and a brief overview on the book. Then we get right into it with the setting. We start off with an overview of the last 25 years or so from the character point of view. In particular I rather like the section on what characters would know and the speed of information in 1936. Case in point, one of the films mentioned in the game, Becky Sharp, was considered one of the highest tech films made at the time. I can look it up and learn it was a landmark of cinema. I can even watch it at my leisure. But not everyone in 1936 saw it, and not everyone or indeed most people knew what a landmark it was. A lot of people knew it was special. It was color after all, but that was it. The chapter continues with some great overviews of the world post WWI with WWII looming large and frightening on the horizon. There is enough here for a game it's own right and indeed there are many games, good games, out there that never go beyond this. But for HEX this is stage dressing. The real setting is yet to come.

Chapter 2: Characters covers what you expect. Character creation. This is where we are introduced to the Ubiquity system for the first time. Character creation is a point-buy affair like many games. In this though they recommend you begin with an archetype in mind. Not a bad place to start really. To me Pulp is about two fisted action. So, and I mean this in the best possible way there is, the characters are often well...stereotypes. "Big Game Hunter", "Gumshoe", "Silver Screen Starlet" and so on. This is Pulp and here it works. Not to sound to cliched, but the difference between a character and caricature is the player. So choose that archetype and embrace it. We are doing more next. Next step is choose your motivation. This is your character's reason for adventure. Quite literally their raison d'être. Next are your Primary Attributes. There are the customary six and you have 15 points to spread between them. These are very similar attributes you find in Unisystem. They are even on a similar scale. The names are different for a few, but the translation is one to one. Ok, to be fair, there is not of a lot things you would call these and it could be said that they are the same as D&D too. So it gets a pass, but I am watching you Ubiquity! Secondary attributes, which are derived. Skills, which are bought with another 15 points. The max is 5 skill levels at character creation. Like d20 (but unlike Unisystem) skills are tied to a particular attribute. You can then choose a Talent or a Resource and then a Flaw. A Flaw gives you a Style point. You are then given another 15 points to spend on Attributes, Skills, Talents or Resources.
I don't mean to do this much, but "point wise" this puts a starting Ubiquity character right around the same level as a starting Unisystem character. This is good if you like to move from system to system like I do. (NOTE: I ran a Ghosts of Albion adventure using Ubiquity characters and system and it worked great.) What follows are archetypes and motivations. There is a lot here really and it works well. Attributes are next. Attributes are scored 0-6 with 1-5 as the range of normal humans, 2 being average. Skills are discussed at length. Ubiquity has 30 skills with some having many specialities.
Talents are something special about your character, so aptitude in a particular skill, or a natural ability. Resources are something you have. The section ends with the color pages of various archetypes. If you are short on time you can grab one of these as a your new character. There are plenty of great choices to be honest.

Chapter 3: Rules does exactly what it says on the tin. Covers the rules. This is where we are introduced to the Ubiquity dice. Now normally I shy away from games that require me to buy a another set of special dice. But these dice are the most part just d8s. Some are numbered a little differently since they mimic the rolling of 2d8 or 3d8 on one die. The mechanic is simple. Roll a given number of dice (dice pool) and then each even number is a success. So in this respect you can roll anything, d6s, d12s, flipping a coin. The number of sides needs to be even. The successes are added up and compare to a difficulty level. "Easy" would be 1 success, "Average" is 2 and so on. Impossible is anything higher than 9 successes. How many dice do you roll? The number of points in your Skill or Attributes + Skill. So if I want to check the authenticity of a scroll I could use Academics. I'll say I have a 5 in that. Let's say I am a nerdy academic type (yeah real stretch I know) and I have specialization in this, I add +1 so I can roll 6 dice. But say my GM has set the difficulty at 4. I would need to roll 4 or more successes in order to pass it. If I didn't have this skill then I base it on my Intelligence and then -2. There are other modifications to my dice pool. It's sounds difficult but it plays fast. There are also situations where I can "Take the average"; if a situation will result in a success 50% of the time the character can take the average and succeed. There is no style or flair in this, but not everything is a deed of derring do. Like many simple mechanic systems it does fade into the background with play. There are also degrees of Success and Failure. So if you gain 3 successes over what is needed then that is a "Major Success". These extra successes or failures are typically role-played.
Style Points are also gained and spent here. Style Points can be added to pools. You gain style points in various ways. My favorite is "bringing the treats". Hey. Every little bit helps.

Chapter 4: Combat covers a very specific sort of ruling of the rules presented in Chapter 3. The basic mechanic is the same, but there are other situations. This chapter could have been folded into Chapter 3, but I see why it is seperate.

We take a brief intermission for an Example of Play. This is rather handy to be honest to see how everything comes together.

Chapter 5: Equipment covers all the gear and weapons your character needs. This is a pretty robust chapter to be honest. If you never play HEX but play other Pulp games then it is worth having a look at this chapter anyway. The costs of weapons alone is very helpful.

Chapter 6: Gamemastering details the setting. Ah if the previous chapters were the meat then this is the...well...other meat with more gravy. Ubiquity is a fine, but a system without a setting is an experiment or an SRD. This setting is what makes the system shine. They could have cleanly split the book in half at this place.

Chapter 7: The Hollow Earth covers the setting in detail. There is a great mix of all the myths, legends and stories of the Hollow Earth here. Regardless of your familiarity with those myths there is enough here to get you going and get you playing. Let's be honest, you have always want to hunt T-Rexes while running through the jungle with a shotgun. Suspend your logical 2015 mind and take on an adventurous 1936 mind and load up.

Chapter 8: Friends and Enemies details what is going on on the Surface World and the Hollow World. This covers the world and presents some important NPCs and their organizations. Yes. You get to kill evil Nazi cultists and Interior Sea pirates. If you are lucky in the same adventure.

Chapter 9: Bestiary is our manual of monsters. We have dinosaurs (and a proper Brontosaurus, no Apatosaurus), Ice age mammals, giant versions of nearly everything, sea monsters, and killer plants. There are no "magical" animals or monsters; no dragons, no centaurs and the like. This is 1936 and magic has given away to reason and to science.

Another break for a Sample Adventure.

We spend the last few pages with an Appendix on Pulp Resources and Inspiration. Lots of great resources here including books on the Pulp Adventure Era. Yes, Lovecraft is present here, but there is not much in this game that is "Lovecraftian" as it typically defined. This is a good thing in my mind. Books get the most treatment. Comic Books, Movies and TV series get lists.

There is also a rather good Glossary and Index. There is a character sheet for your use as well.

All in all a great game. I have played it a few times and it is really, really fun. The setting is gonzo but without the crazy. I could have a lot of fun with this.

This game was nominated by Origin for "Best Roleplaying game in 2007".

I played it at Kublacon 2007 and had a great time.

Okay. So what's this game all about?

Think of pulp action stories.

If that doesn't ring a bell, think if movies like INDIANA JONES, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, ROCKETEER, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, DOC SAVAGE, DICK TRACY, KING KONG, JURASSIC PARK, AT THE EARTH'S CORE, THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, LOST HORIZON, SHE, THE SHADOW, LAND OF THE LOST, TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY, YOUNG INDIANA JONES and THE TIME MACHINE. Or, think of authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, H.P. Lovecraft, Philip Jose Farmer, H.G. Wells and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

You get the idea.

Action is meant to be fast and furious (you can use special dice that quicken the game), characters are always bigger than life, the villains are meant to also be bigger than life and extra evil (think black and white morality here which means lots of Nazis), the unbelievable becomes believable, science and magic/occult cross paths, dinosaurs walk the Hollow Earth with other types of long past creatures, history can be used or made into an alternative world (i.e. setting is typically early 1900s), various areas still remain unexplored (and are therefore ripe for holding the unknown) and, while Hollow Earth is the main setting, there's enough information here to do something different or even have adventures set in the surface world.

What about characters? Think of fun archetypes from the movies (some here are listed in the core book): Indiana Jones, a cowboy, a big game hunter (who is bored with lions and wants to kill dinosaurs), a curious female reporter (in a man's world and out to prove she's the best), a snooty know it all professor, a dying rich industrialist (looking for the fountain of youth to cure him of his cancer or other disease), a peaceful missionary, a mad scientist, the imperiled actress, the fortune hunter, etc. All have special reasons for desiring to explore Hollow Earth.

I would say the characters are balanced enough, especially if the GM doesn't make it all combat. Most of the characters start not with similar skill levels, of course, but with similar enough ability point distribution (and you can only go so high or low when picking your stats), so, when I played it, even the weakest characters had a fighting chance (though this was based more on surviving than wiping out a more powerful enemy).

Last on characters, there's a good spread of advantages and disadvantages in this game, as well as enough skills and sub specialties to make it interesting for a long term campaign.

Three special highlights of the game come to mind:

1. FLAWS: a flaw is something you play up in the game, like being overconfident in your field or stubborn to the point of it working against you or being a danger magnet (i.e. you attract bad things or go out seeking them). When you play this properly, you get a style point (see number 2).

2. STYLE POINTS: style points can absorb damage, increase your skill ability, sometimes affect the story, give you more of a chance of success in combat or be up to the GM for other matters. One basically gets it for playing their flaws properly, pursuing your motivation, being in character and/or adding to the quality of the game.

3. CHANCE DICE: when the chips are down and you're about to die or get into a very bad situation, you can call on more dice to increase your chances. The only problem is that the number of dice you select makes the obstacle harder to accomplish. As the chance is typically 5-10%, you really only want to use this if you are truly desperate.

OTHER NOTES: this game lets you take your average roll as a default to rolling. Think of it like "taking 10/20" in D.20/D&D. Another thing, similar to D.20/D&D, is that you can use your soft attributes (like intelligence and dexterity, per D&D) in combat with the right talent/advantage that lets you. That's a nice touch for the smart or agile types.

What about knowing the setting? There's some chapters on understanding The Hollow Earth as well as what was taking place in the USA and other countries (focused mostly on 1936 but with some basic overviews back to the very late 1800s). There are special resources in Hollow Earth and there are several organizations on the surface world who want to get them. The big problem is that Hollow Earth is very hard to get to and even harder to leave.

The core book also starts you with NPC stats (villains and allies), a basic adventure, equipment (gotta love the "Tommy" submachine gun), and, of course, a bestiary (yes, it has a T-rex).

Overall, this is a superb game for getting into the spirit of pulp. It does use Hollow Earth as its setting but it implies/lists other settings, and, with all the supplements coming out, GMs can run their games in other settings.

Absolutely fantastic pulp game. I have both the pdf and print copies and both are of excellent quality and are fine additions to my library of games.

There's a newer 6x9 print edition of it available now too which packs a lot of awesome into a convenient size!

If you are at all interested in the pulp genre you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.

I DARESAY I MIGHT HAVE ENJOYED THIS PRODUCT WERE I ABLE TO READ IT. When I saw the book version at Gen Con a few years back it looked awesome.

THE PDF IS UNREADABLE on my computer the majority of it looks like a blackhole on the page. I would really love a refund because what I bought from you people was a black book with nifty illustrations in some of the margins!

I WISH YOU PEOPLE HAD A PHONE NUMBER SO I COULD VERBALLY COMPLAIN TO SOMEONE. Do yourself a favor. If you want this product by it as physical media and not a PDF!

A thoroughly enjoyable book. Really well put together and a joy to read.

This an an AMAZING product. When it comes to PULP...these guys didn't write A book, the wrote THE BOOK!

10 out of 10!

What an awesome product. I have the hardback book as well, but having the PDF just seemed like a must have to compliment the paper book. This has fasone of my favorite games. The Ubiquity system that this setting uses is very easy to understand and learn in about 5 minutes.

Like: What's not to like, it is well done, well written and has a beautiful layout.

Dislike: None

I highly recommend this book to anyone want a change from the ho hum of D20.