Hollows is a tactical powerhouse of a TTRPG that’s both easy to learn and satisfying to master. It’s based around a simple D20 mechanic where actions can fail, succeed, or succeed brilliantly. Failure is always interesting – it exposes the Hunter to greater risk, creating moments for other players to step in, support, and help hold the line. 

Character creation and advancement is simple but powerful. The Weapons a Hunter chooses to wield and the abilities they select for them open up hundreds of possible character builds. Players select new abilities with every kill and choose which ones to make permanent when they baptise themselves in the blood of a Hollow’s Lord.

Gameplay moves elegantly between exploring a Hollow’s poisoned world – rules-light and roleplay-heavy – and many-v-1 tactical boss fights unlike anything you’ve seen in a TTRPG. Hollows’ combat keeps the player characters right at the heart of the action, with the battlefield changing and developing with every action. It encourages players to work together, paying close attention to each other’s moves and devising clever, cooperative strategies to take down Entities far bigger and stronger than they are.

The world of Hollows is rotten and more putrid by the day, infested with awful realities that swell like boils around the worst people in the Isles – Hollows. If there’s to be any hope at all, Hollows need lancing. Armed with your Weapons – manifestations of humanity’s worst instincts poured into forms of shot and steel – you and others like you are the only things powerful enough to do it and human enough to still care.

Designed to echo video games like Dark Souls, death is expected and intended. Dying slows a character down and gives the Hollow more opportunities to work against them, but it also gives a Hunter a chance to come back stronger.