The Sins of Grisham Priory

Words: Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor

Development editing: Maz Hamilton and Zach Cox
Illustration: Daniel Vega, Sam Lamont and Arborwin McJanda
Layout and graphic design: Minerva McJanda
Technical, line and copy editing: Maz Hamilton

Copyright © 2024 Rowan, Rook and Decard.

Published by Rowan, Rook and Decard Ltd.
First Edition (2024)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording,or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests,
check the RR&D Community Licence at rowanrookanddecard.com/rrd-
community-licence or write to the publisher at the address below.

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ROWAN, ROOK
AND DECARD
CONTENTS
Introduction 2 Grisham Priory 26
HOW TO PLAY 3 CONTENT WARNINGS 26
SAFETY TOOLS 3 THE TALE 26
THE WORLD OF HOLLOWS 4
ENTERING THE HOLLOW 30
HOW HOLLOWS WORKS 6
1. THE GRAVEYARD 30
THE SANCTUM 32
2. THE CLOISTERS 32

Core Rules 8 3. THE WORMERY

4. THE VESTRY
33
34
C ombat  9
5. THE CRYPT  34
THE HUNT 9
6. THE ROOT HOLE  35
THE GRID 9
7. THE GOLDEN PIT 35
TERRAIN11
SETUP, DOOM AND TERRAIN POOL 12 THE GUARDIAN HOUND 36
TURN ORDER 12 THE TAILOR 38
TURNS AND ACTIONS 12 THE VICAR 39
INTERRUPTS AND IMMEDIATE ACTIONS 13 THE BISHOP 40
USING ABILITIES 13
THREAT13
DAMAGING AND HEALING 13
HUNTER TURNS 14 What's Next? 42
ENTITY TURNS 16
EXAMPLE OF PLAY 18
DEATH19 Handouts 43
C haracters  43
E xploration  22 THE PRIEST 43
ROLLING DURING EXPLORATION 22 THE SOLDIER 45
HAZARDS23 THE AGENT 47
THRALLS23 THE NOBLE 49
RELICS24 THE EXPERIMENT 51
PLAYER TIPS 25
GAMESMASTER TIPS 25 GM C heat S heet  53
T he G rid  55
 NTRODUCTION
In wretched dimensional backwaters, vicious creatures stalk the blasted landscape
and spread sickness, blight and madness through the wider world.
Born of torment and trauma, these Entities are a sickness and a stain on the land.
You, scarred with your own darkness, hunt these monsters.

Hollows is a tactical combat roleplaying game about slaying other people’s personal demons
with malevolent weapons and revelling in the cursed joy of the Hunt.
This Quickstart is intended to give you a taste of the full game by pitching you headlong
into a Hollow – a decrepit maze of greed and hunger known as Grisham Priory. Here, you
will explore a desolate garden temple complex, meet the broken and dangerous people
trapped inside, and destroy the monstrous Entities that rule this rotten place.
How To Play As part of the core Hollows
Firstly, you’ll need to get some friends together. Most of you crowdfunding campaign,
will be playing Hunters; one of you will take on the role of the we will be creating a custom
Gamesmaster (or GM), who’s in charge of running the game and set of tokens which you’ll
steering the story. If you’re reading this, odds are that you’ll be the be able to buy alongside
Gamesmaster – that’s how these things normally shake out. the core book. If you’d
If you’re meeting up in person to play this game, you’ll need to copy, like to create your own
print or be prepared to tear out several pages of this document. set of tokens, here’s what
you’ll need, with some
l The character sheets (p. 43) notes on how we made
this work for playtesting:
l The token sheet (p. 55)
A printout of the tactical
l The tactical grid (p. 55)
grid. We recommend
If you want to get old-fashioned, you can glue the token sheet to a making this at A3
piece of card and cut out the tokens. Otherwise, you can use the paper, (or tabloid/ledger
or find stand-ins from things you already own. Things like coins, dice, size, in the US).
poker chips, toy soldiers and spare infant teeth all work fine, as long
A player token
as you’re consistent with what each type of item represents.
for each player.
Each player also will need a pen or pencil and two twenty-sided
We used: 28mm minis,
dice (also known as D20s); if you don’t have access to dice you can
chess pieces, meeples.
find plenty of dice rolling applications online for free.
If you’re playing online, there is a downloadable asset pack About 20 Threat tokens.
available which includes form-fillable versions of the character We used: glass drops,
sheets, and a large tactical grid image that you can use with your wooden cubes.
play tool of choice. At the time of writing, we are working on a
Two different kinds of terrain
Tabletop Simulator integration to help make play streamlined and
token, at least 4 of each.
seamless, as well as other VTT integrations. The latest info on these
We used: poker chips.
will always be available at rrdgames.com/hollows-resources.
At least one Curse
token per player.
Want more Hollows? We used: 6-sided dice.
If you enjoy this Quickstart, scan the QR code
An Entity token.
below or go to rrdgames.com/hollows to learn
We used: chess
more and support or buy the full game.
pieces, crystals.

Safety Tools A Bleeding token for the

Knife. We used: coins.
Hollows is a grim and unpleasant game, and it deals with themes of
trauma, violence, death and abuse. All the players at the table have Two Ready tokens for the
a responsibility to make the game fun and safe for everyone else. To Armour. We used: coins.
make this as easy as possible, we recommend that you use safety tools
A Loaded token for the
that work for your table. We’ve listed some here that we use ourselves.
Shotgun. We used: coins.
You shouldn’t feel you need to use all of these, and if there are
other tools your group prefers, go with what works well for you. The One Focus token per
most important thing is that when you sit down together to play, you player, plus an extra four
agree to play safely and look out for each other, and provide some for the Rifle. We used:
structure to support that socially. No detail or event in the fiction of pennies, paperclips.
the game is more important than a player’s comfort and safety.
Resource and Wound
tokens for each player
including the GM.
Lines and Veils We used: tiddlywinks,
A Line is a concept or event that someone doesn’t want to happen
spin-down D20s.
at all during the course of the game – you draw a line in front of
it that cannot be overstepped. A Veil is a concept or event that Two D20s per player,
someone doesn’t want the group to talk about in detail – it’s okay if or a pool you can all
it happens, but you draw a veil over it to put it at a distance. pick from to roll.
4
Some Things You Before the game starts, the GM should ask the table if they want
Can't Remove to establish any Lines or Veils. Some people have none and some
people have lots and they should both be welcome at the table.
If a player establishes Respect the wishes of people at the table and change the fine details
something like “giant of the game to accommodate them.
monsters”, “tactical Lines and Veils were first established by Ron Edwards.
combat”, or “thinly-
veiled analogues of
Victorian Britain” as The X Card
Lines you might have The X Card works as a safe-word for roleplaying games, allowing
a hard time running all participants to veto things they are not comfortable with.
Hollows as intended. To use it, draw an X on a card and place it in the centre of the
Most Lines and Veils table. If anything happens during the game that makes someone
can be incorporated feel uncomfortable in a way they don’t like (as opposed to
into the game without uncomfortable in a way they do like – this is a horror game, after
much incident, but all) then they can lean forward, tap the card, and ask for it to be
if the core elements changed to something else. The person who tapped the card doesn’t
of the game upset a need to explain why; just change it and move on.
player, they might be If you’re playing online, we suggest using a text channel to type
better off playing a an X rather than a physical card. You might also want to agree a
different one. Talk to verbal trigger or a gesture as additional X options.
each other and work The X-Card was first established by John Stavropoulos.
out what’s best for
everyone involved.
Traffic Lights
You can also use the traffic light system, adapted from the BDSM
community, which has the following three calls to make opting in
and out of experiences very easy:
l Red: Call “red” when you want the game to stop and change
what’s going on.
l Amber: Call “amber” when you want to pull back on whatever’s
happening – make it less intense, less detailed, or just draw it to
a close and move on.
l Green: Call “green” when you’re enjoying what’s happening and
want more of it.

The World of Hollows

The Isles
The Isles – the Kingdom, the Domain, the Royal Motherland – is
where the Hunters live. The Isles are a once-powerful group of
countries allied together under a bickering royal family and a
parliament hungry for civil war. Struggling in the death throes of
their empire, citizens sift through the industrial ruins and overgrown
wilderness of their once-great country in search of meaning.

Malignancies
In shadowed spaces beyond the real, vast and wretched things pick
at the stitches of the world in search of sustenance. These creatures
– neither god nor devil, barely conscious, a roiling fever dream of
want made manifest – are Malignancies, and they control the Isles
through a thousand dark and wicked promises of power.
 5
Hollows
If enough torment and hideousness are laid upon a person, a
Malignancy plants the seed of a Hollow within them, and that seed will
one day grow and burst into a cursed otherworld. Within the Hollow’s
boundaries, the world is twisted into violent and unsettling shapes.
Hollows lie adjacent to the real world and are invisible to all but
the most sin-stained and devastated, but the existence of a Hollow
bleeds through the veil and causes sickness, madness, and death.

Entities
While each Hollow is home to a host of inhabitants, the most
dangerous creatures within are Entities: great beasts that carry the
weight of spite, grief and shame upon them and visit campaigns of
violence and death upon their neighbours.
Some are mechanical monsters made of screeching metal and
uncanny clockwork; others are flesh and blood broken and remade
into strange forms; others still are semi-spectral, or garishly
beautiful, or even a mob of individuals acting with a single grim
intent. It is these Entities that hold the majority of the magical
essence within a Hollow, and usually most of the authority as well.

Lords
Each Hollow centres on a particularly powerful Entity: a Lord,
the origin of the trauma that grew cancerous and spread between
realities. They are guarded – and sometimes challenged – by
Vassals: lesser Entities within the Hollow, but still formidable beasts.
The only sure-fire means of closing a Hollow is to kill the Lord,
severing the link that sustains the environment – but all the guns and
soldiers in the Isles are worthless against a Lord and their Vassals, for
normal people cannot enter the Hollow to bring them to bear.

Hunters
Hunters are not normal people.
Hunters carry the ungerminated seed of a Hollow within their
souls; with some arcane tricks and metaphysical guesswork, they
can kick in the back doors of these personal hells and walk in like
they own the place.
Refusing to give in to the Malignancy makes them tougher,
faster, and more powerful. Their injuries heal in hours, not months.
By anointing themselves with the blood of fallen Entities they can
nourish the seed and become ever-stronger, and ever more damned.
Hunters carry Weapons. Uncanny instruments that bruise reality
with their very existence. Blades that beg to break through joint
and sinew, guns that buck against their holsters, bloodstained
bludgeons cracking bone and stone alike. Tools of terror that can
rend an Entity asunder. The Weapons whisper: you are great. You
are terrible. You are righteous. You are enough.
Hunters cannot die – not like regular folk are allowed to. If they
are killed in battle, they awaken soon after, unharmed. Each death
empowers the seed within them, and every Hunter knows that
eventually that blight will blossom and they will become Lord of their
personal Hollow. The longer it takes, the worse the Hollow will be.
You are a Hunter.
6

How Hollows Works

Much of Hollows takes place as an unstructured conversation
between the players and the Gamesmaster, but when it’s exciting
to introduce a random element, players roll dice to determine the
outcome of their actions.

Blackjack Rules Rolling Dice

When you roll a D20 to resolve an action, you will compare the result
Rolling in Hollows to two numbers – the stat you’re using to make the roll (p. 7)
works a little like the and the Target Number (TN). If an action doesn’t state which stat
card game blackjack. to use, determine the correct one with the GM. The GM will know,
You’re aiming to roll or make up, the Target Number. In combat, the TN is the same as
as close to your stat the relevant Defence stat of the Entity the Hunters are currently
value as possible, rather fighting. When exploring, the TN is usually defined by the Hazard
than simply trying to or Thrall the Hunters are trying to get past.
roll especially high or
especially low. This
means that each roll
Dice Result Outcome
has different target Under Stat Under TN Success
numbers, and it can be a
bit tricky for new players Match or beat TN Superior Success
to wrap their heads
around at first. It can Equal to Stat Critical Success
help if you explicitly say
what you’re aiming for Over Stat Failure
when you start the roll.
20 Critical Failure
Just to make things
clear: if the TN on
a roll is higher than This mechanic, and the steps of success, are the same regardless of
your stat, you aren’t whether you are exploring, fighting, defending yourself, or doing
able to roll a Superior any other action. The stakes will be different in different situations;
Success. (You can still if the mechanical details aren’t specified in the rules, work with the
get a Critical Success, GM to apply the results to your situation.
though, if you’re lucky.) If you are told to roll with advantage, roll two D20s and choose
whichever result you prefer to resolve the action. If you are told to
roll with disadvantage, roll two D20s and the GM can choose either
result. Advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out, and you
Glossary should never roll more than 2D20 to resolve a single action.
Later in this book, we go into more detail on what each result
There is a full rules
means in specific situations – attacking (p. 14), defending (p. 16),
glossary available online,
exploration (p. 22) and more. Not all actions have outcomes listed
updated with the latest
for every dice result – we encourage the Gamesmaster to use their
version of the rules and
judgement and create a fun experience for everyone present by
any errata. You can find
making their own rulings in response to player actions.
it at rrdgames.com/
hollows-glossary or
scan the code below.
 7
Characters Ability
There are five pre-generated characters to choose from in this Combinations
Quickstart. You’re free to call your Hunter whatever you like or
The rules in a Weapon
stick with the descriptive titles we’ve given them. Each character
ability can be applied
sheet breaks down as follows:
to either Weapon you
Description:Each Hunter has a brief paragraph describing their wield, unless they
outlook, motivations and behaviour. Change this entirely if you state otherwise in
want – it’s just a suggestion. their description. For
example, a Sword ability
Play X If You Want To...:Three bullet points that summarise the
that lets you inflict
Hunter’s role in combat – whether they’re a damage dealer or a
additional damage
support character, a precision shooter or a wild brawler, etc.
when you’re in the same
Background:The Hunter’s background offers details on who area as other Hunters
they were before they chose this life. The Isles is a big place, also takes effect when
and Hunters arise from all sorts of origins. When you act in you make attacks with
accordance with your background during the Exploration phase, your other Weapon.
roll with advantage.
Finding interesting or
Statistics:There are five statistics (hereafter called stats) that optimal combinations
govern your performance in Hollows. No stat can be increased above of abilities is part of
19. The human average is around 7 – but Hunters are more, and the fun of playing
less, than human. Hollows. Even if you
change the Weapons
l Strong . A measure of physical fitness and power.
you wield later on
l Hard . How difficult your character is to hurt, and how during a campaign,
intimidating they are. you keep any Baptised
abilities you gained
l Quick . Your speed, gracefulness and ability to get out of the
while using them.
way of attacks.
l Sharp. Your character’s situational awareness, insight and
accuracy.
Sawn-off
l Wise . How in-tune your character is with science, mysticism,
Characters
and the ways of the Hollow.
We’ve streamlined the
Resolve and Wounds:In addition to their stats, a Hunter also has characters and rules
two main measures of health. for this Quickstart,
R esolve is a measure of stamina, determination and physical so there are a few
fitness; Wounds are a measure of how much punishment you can things absent from
take before your body gives up and you die. character sheets that
A Hunter or Entity with 0 Resolve is Broken. If a Broken are important parts of
character would suffer Resolve damage, they suffer Wound the full game. These
damage instead; successful attacks against them all use the attack’s include Corruption,
listed Wound damage instead of its Resolve. An Entity with 0 Equipment and your
Wounds is dead; a Hunter with 0 Wounds is dying or dead. Seed: the awful event
that sent you down the
Weapons:Each Hunter carries two Weapons – terrible tools of
path of the Hunter,
destruction bound up tight with their malaise. Each Weapon has
which infects other
a profile which details how much damage it does, where it can
Hollows to remind
attack from and what stat it uses to attack Entities (p. 14).
you of the worst day
Abilities:The rancid energy bubbling within Hollows floods your of your life forever.
Weapons with power and lets you do things you’d never have You can learn more
imagined. At the start of the game, pick one ability from the list about these, and
given for each of your Weapons. Each time you kill an Entity, you about the Isles and
gain access to another ability of your choosing. the setting of Hollows,
in the core book.
CORE RULES
 COMBAT

The Hunt
The Hunt is the pinnacle of a Hunter’s existence: in a world of
uncertainty and terror, here they can destroy what stands against them
with unrelenting viciousness. Should they be successful, they can
drink deep of the curdled and rotten magic in the soul of this place, Different Rules
cleanse the world around them, and grow ever more dangerous.
Combat feels
different at the table
The Grid to Exploration (p.
The grid shows the position of Hunters relative to the Entity. The 22). They use
Entity never changes position on the grid: it’s always at the centre of different rules and
the fight. Your attention is always focussed on the Entity, and your enable different
position is only important in terms of its location. kinds of play, though
they do share some
similarities. Both of
them use your stats to
resolve every action.
Exploring the Hollow
is more abstract
and descriptive,
and Combat is
more tactical and
challenging.

No Escape
You can’t flee a
Hunt once you face
the Entity head-on.
The grid is divided into three main sections: Close, Ranged and The land outside
Support. of the lair darkens
Close areas are next to the Entity. These are: Front, Flank Right, pitch-black, doors
Flank Left and Rear. lock tight, stairwells
Ranged areas are more distant but still close enough to fight. vanish and yawning
These are: Ranged Front, Ranged Right, and Ranged Left. voids fill the spaces
These combat areas are arranged so that left and right are from where escape routes
the player's perspective as they face the Entity. once ran. The Hollow
The Support area is out of range of the Entity’s attacks. A wants this violence.
Hunter in Support recovers Weapon Capacity and Resolve at So did you.
the start of their turn, and gains access to the Recover and Heal
manoeuvres (see p. 15).
10
No Diagonals Actions
There are three types of action.
Adjacent areas
are orthogonally l Attacks usually involve making a damaging attack against the
connected, in that they Entity, or defending against one.
share a side (not a
l Manoeuvres are usually support actions. For example, they
corner). You can’t Move
might involve moving, recovery, using items, or taking cover.
or Shift diagonally.
l Immediate actions are instant, and can include both damaging
and supporting abilities. Immediate actions are almost always
Lock-On Targeting triggered by specific conditions, including turn order, grid
location, the actions of the Entity or of the Hunters.
Getting your head
Each round, Hunters and Entities may take either one attack and
around moving on
one manoeuvre or two manoeuvres on their turn. There is no limit
the grid can be a little
to the number of immediate actions that either may take, as long as
tricky at first. It can
their conditions are met.
help if you think about
it like a video game:
the camera, or the grid, Moving On The Grid
is locked on to the The Move manoeuvre indicates that a Hunter travels from one
Entity, so they don’t location to another under their own volition. Move the token
move. Your Hunters representing the Hunter from their current area to any adjacent
can choose to Move in area of the player’s choosing.
relation to where the The Shift keyword on an Entity ability with a Hunter target
Entity is, and when indicates that the Entity is moving the Hunter by physically hurling
the Entity moves, them, luring them in with mind tricks, or otherwise changing
that’s represented their position in space. If a Hunter is Shifted, move the token
by Repositioning representing the Hunter from their current area to an area indicated
things on the board. by the ability that’s being used. (Threat (p. 13) can also be
Both Hunters and shifted around the grid in the same way by some abilities.)
Entities can Shift When a Hunter Moves or is Shifted, they discard all terrain tags.
things around, moving If they Move or Shift more than one area, they are considered to be
them in relation to passing through all intervening grid areas, for the purposes of any
everything in play. effects that trigger when areas are entered or left.
The Reposition keyword usually indicates that the Entity has
moved, rather than the Hunter. Move the token representing the
Hunter from their current area to any adjacent area of the GM’s
choosing, or the area specified by the ability that’s being used. The
specific rules for an action with the Reposition keyword supersede the
need for the area to be adjacent. For example: a charge action might
Reposition a Hunter from Front to Rear, even though those two areas
aren’t adjacent, as the Entity runs past (or through) the Hunter.
When a Hunter is Repositioned, they retain all terrain tags. They
do not pass through any intervening areas between their starting
and final position.
If an ability keyword has instructions attached to it (Shift
towards Front, Reposition away from the Entity, Shift counter-
clockwise) then the GM should attempt to fulfil those instructions.
If there are none, they can move the token to whatever adjacent
area they desire. If the instructions cannot be fulfilled, the GM
should adjudicate an outcome themselves.
 11

Terrain
During a Hunt, Hunters can use the environment to shield
themselves from harm. On a player’s turn, they can use the Take
Cover manoeuvre to attempt to take advantage of terrain with a
successful roll under the relevant stat. There is a limited number of
terrain tags in each fight, and no more than one Hunter can claim
each terrain tag at once, though two Hunters can have the same
type of tag. A Hunter can have multiple terrain Tags at once, but no
more than one of each type.
When you use the Take Cover manoeuvre, choose a terrain tag
from the ones available in the terrain pool and place it under your
token or on your character sheet. From this point until the tag is
discarded or destroyed, you benefit from its effects. Roll under
the stat listed next to the terrain type you chose; on a success, you
suffer no ill effects. On a failure, choose one:

l Suffer 1 Resolve damage as you over-exert yourself; or

l Place 1 Threat on your area as you draw attention to yourself; or
l Return the terrain tag to the pool.
When you attempt to gain the same type of tag that a Hunter in
your area already has, roll with advantage.
You can voluntarily discard terrain as an immediate action on
your turn.
When a terrain tag is discarded, return it to the central pool.
When a terrain tag is destroyed it is not returned to the central
pool, and is instead removed from play.

Terrain types
Each Entity has the terrain pool for their Hunt listed as part of their
characteristics. The default terrain pool is three Elevated and three
Sheltered.
l Elevated. Towers, gantries, monoliths and cliffs. Roll Strong to
claim. Ranged attacks are rolled with advantage.
l Sheltered. Ruins, foliage, smoke and barricades. Roll Quick to claim.
When the Entity inflicts damage on you, take 1 less damage.
12

Setup, Doom and Terrain Pool

The Hollow doesn’t stand still and wait for the Hunters to kill it.
At the start of a Hunt, the GM should check the Doom track.
Each Entity has certain changes to stats and abilities which trigger at
different Doom thresholds. Everything listed at or under the current
Doom level takes effect for this fight. Doom is gained (and lost) by
the Hunters during Exploration (see “"Exploration" on page 22).
The GM also builds the pool of terrain tags. The default terrain
pool is three Elevated and three Sheltered tags, but each Entity
description specifies the exact mix of terrain used. See p. 11 for
more on terrain.

Turn Order
Turn brackets are defined at the start of a Hunt. Each player rolls
Sharp with a TN equal to the Entity’s Ranged Defence.
l On a standard success, they may choose to either place their
token anywhere on the grid or act before the Entity.
l On a superior success, they may do both.
l On a critical success, they may do both and also take an
additional manoeuvre on their first turn.
l On a failure, they do neither: the GM places their token on the
grid, and they must act after the Entity.
All players who do not choose to act before the Entity will act after
it each round. Players may take their turns in any order within their
bracket.
After successful players have placed their tokens, the GM places
the remaining tokens on the grid and makes a note of the turn
brackets. Any Hunter who chose to act before the Entity goes first,
then the Entity, and then any remaining Hunters.

Turns and Actions

Each Hunter and Entity gets one turn each before any of them may
act again. All of these turns in order are a round. Once one round
is complete, the next begins. Once turn brackets are decided at
the start of combat (see Turn Order, above), they remain the same
until the combat ends, but Hunters can act in any order within their
brackets each round.
A Hunter or Entity can perform an attack and a manoeuvre in
any order on their turn. Both Hunters and Entities can swap their
attack for a second manoeuvre if their players wish.
 13

Interrupts And Immediate Actions

When the rules say that a character may perform an immediate
action, it happens instantly – sometimes outside of the normal
turn order. Immediate actions do not count towards a character’s
maximum actions on their turn.
An Interrupt is an Entity action that can only take place at the
end of a Hunter’s turn. Each time a Hunter turn ends, the GM may
choose to pay any associated costs to trigger one of the Entity’s
Interrupt abilities.

Using Abilities
There are various ways that abilities can be triggered. Some are
conditional, some require trigger events or costs to be paid, and
others may be used in place of your action or manoeuvre on your
turn. In general, if you fulfil all the requirements to use one of your
abilities, you may choose to use it but do not have to.

Threat
Threat is a measure of an Entity’s intent, attention and behaviour
over the course of a Hunt. It is placed on the grid in specific areas,
and can be placed, manipulated and spent by both Hunters and
Entities in various ways. Successful Hunter attacks generate Threat,
as do some abilities. The GM can spend Threat to enhance the
Entity’s attacks (p. 14) and defence (p. 16) as well as to
trigger Interrupt actions. Usually, if a Hunter uses Threat, it will be
related to a specific Weapon ability.
When using the combat grid, physically place Threat tokens on
different areas of the grid to show how much Threat is present.
These can be beads, dice or other tokens if you don’t have the
Hollows token box. In this book, whenever the text refers to
spending, removing, or manipulating Threat, this should be
represented by movement of Threat tokens on the grid.

Damaging And Healing

Resolve And Wounds
Resolve is a measure of a Hunter or Entity’s stamina, defensive
capability, and spirit. It is easier to remove (and restore) than Wounds.
Wounds are a measure of a Hunter or Entity’s toughness,
willpower and survivability. They are harder to remove and restore
than Resolve, and most Entities do not have a way to restore them.

Breaking And Being Broken

When a Hunter or an Entity’s Resolve is 0, they are Broken, and
whenever an attack against them would inflict Resolve damage it
now inflicts its listed Wound damage instead.
If an attack or other source of damage only lists Resolve damage,
not Wounds, then it does no damage against a Broken target. If an
ability calls for the user to “mark Resolve” as an activation cost, the
user cannot activate it if they have no Resolve to spend.
14

Hunting Gear Hunter Turns

The full version of
Hollows includes
Hunter Attacks
A Hunter’s basic attack is an attempt to harm an Entity with a Weapon.
rules for hunting
Each Weapon form has its own core attack, and Hunters may use
equipment such
whichever they prefer. A Weapon’s profile dictates what areas it can
as spring-loaded
be used in and what stat is used to determine the attack’s success.
traps, flares, vitriol
Weapons also grant access to various abilities, some of which
and explosives –
augment their basic attack, or provide new ways to attack an Entity.
all of which are
These are described and rolled in the same way.
triggered with the
As an immediate action in response to being attacked, the Entity
Use manoeuvre.
may spend Threat in the attacker’s area to increase its relevant
Defence by 1 for each Threat spent until the end of the attacker’s
turn. This must be spent before the dice are rolled.
When you attack, make a roll as described in the basic rules (p.
6). You are aiming to roll under your attack stat, but over the
Entity’s relevant Defence. Resolve the roll using the table below.
If you would inflict Wound damage with your attack, you can
choose to inflict Resolve damage instead. If you would inflict
Resolve damage and the Entity has no Resolve remaining – it is
Broken – inflict the Wound damage value of your Weapon instead.

Roll Example Roll Outcome

A knife-using Hunter
Under Under Success: You deal a glancing blow. You inflict Resolve
in Front with Quick 11
Stat Defence damage (listed on the left side of the divide of your
attacks the Guardian
Weapon’s damage) and place 1 Threat on your area.
Hound, which has a
Close Defence of 9.
Match/ Superior Success: You strike a vulnerable area.
The outcome depends
beat You inflict Wound damage (listed on the right side
on the dice roll like so:
Defence of the divide of your Weapon’s damage) and place
1 Threat on your area.
Dice Outcome
Equal to Stat Critical Success: Fortune smiles upon you.
1-8 Success
You inflict 2+ your Wound damage (listed on the
right side of the divide of your Weapon or ability
9-10 Superior
damage) and place 1 Threat on your area.
Success
Over Stat Failure: Your strike goes wide. You inflict no
11 Critical
damage and place no Threat.
Success
20 Critical Failure: You dramatically miss the mark.
12-19 Failure
You inflict no damage and place no Threat. There
are no additional mechanical consequences for
20 Critical
critical failures in combat, but there may be
Failure
narrative ones.
 15
Hunter Manoeuvres
You have access to five core manoeuvres. You can usually perform one
on your turn; if you rolled a critical success on your setup roll for the
Hunt, you can also perform an additional manoeuvre on your first turn.
You can also swap your action each turn for a manoeuvre.
l Focus: Gain Focus (p. 15), to a maximum of 1.
l Guard: Restore 2 Resolve, or attempt to revive a dying Hunter
in your area.
l Move: Travel between two adjacent grid areas (see p. 10).
l Reload: Regain 1 Capacity on a Weapon you are holding, up to
its maximum.
l Take Cover: Claim a terrain tag (see p. 11).
l Use: Activate an ability, item or power as defined in its
description.

SUPPORT AREA AND SUPPORT MANOEUVRES

When you start your turn in the Support area, you may restore
your Weapons’ Capacity (if they have it) to their maximum values,
and restore 2 Resolve. Hunters in the Support location also have
access to additional manoeuvres, listed below:
l Recover: Roll Hard. On any success, restore 4 Resolve or 2
Wounds (your choice). On a failure, restore 2 Resolve.
l Heal: Roll Wise. On a success, restore 2 Wounds to another
Hunter in Support or restore 1 Wound to yourself. On a failure,
restore 1 Wound to another Hunter in Support.

Focus
Taking time to steady the mind can pay dividends. As an immediate
action, characters can spend Focus to roll with advantage on their
next roll. In general, a Hunter cannot have more than 1 Focus – either
you have it or you don’t. (Unless that Hunter is carrying a Rifle, which
means they can store up to 5 Focus at any time, or has some other
way to bend this rule.) Hunters always start the Hunt with 0 Focus.

The End Of The Turn And Interrupts

At the end of a Hunter’s turn, the Entity has an opportunity to use
an Interrupt from its character sheet. Once per Hunter turn, the
GM may choose to pay any cost associated with an Interrupt in
order to use it. This can take place multiple times per round, after
every Hunter turn, if the GM so decides and can pay the cost.

Marking and Taking Damage

If an ability asks you to “mark Resolve”, then you may choose to
spend Resolve if you have it, in order to trigger that ability. You
cannot trigger the ability if you have no resolve. If an ability states
that you “take Resolve damage” as a cost, however, then that
damage does not apply if you have no Resolve to spend.
16

1 The name of
the action.
Entity Turns
An Entity may make one attack and one manoeuvre on its turn, just

2 Target type. The

target/s of the
attack must satisfy
like a Hunter can. Also like Hunters, the GM may choose instead to
take two manoeuvres.

these conditions.
Entity Attack
3 The Target
Number and
stat associated with
The GM never rolls dice: Hunters roll to defend against their attacks.
Each attack on an Entity’s sheet has rules text which states
its target, difficulty, the stat the Hunter uses to avoid the attack,
the attack. Players damage dealt, and any special conditions or effects.
must roll equal to The GM chooses the Entity’s attack from the ones listed in their
or over the TN but specific rules. Here’s one broken down as an example.
under the listed stat
to avoid all damage
from the attack. Smash.1 One Hunter in a Close area.2 TN12, Hard.3 3/2.4
If the Entity inflicts Resolve damage, discard all Terrain
4 Damage dealt by
the attack, listed
as Resolve/Wounds.
tags from the target.5

5 Special effects
triggered as
a result of the
When an Entity makes an attack, the GM may spend Threat tokens
in the targeted area to increase the TN of the attack by the amount of
Threat spent. Threat spent in this way only applies to attacks against
attack, if any. Hunters in the area where the threat is spent. For example: if an Entity
attack targets all Close areas, and the GM spends 2 Threat in Front,
this has no effect on the TN of the attack for a Hunter in Flank Right.
When you’re targeted by an Entity attack, make a roll as
Do Some described in the basic rules (p. 6):
Damage
Roll Outcome
If the GM spends
Threat to boost Under Under TN Success: You suffer Resolve damage (listed
an attack, it’s Stat on the left of the attack’s damage stat) as you
much more likely expend energy avoiding the worst of the attack.
to cause Wound
damage, which is Match or Superior Success: You suffer no damage.
much harder to beat TN
heal than Resolve
damage. Use this Equal to Stat Critical Success: You suffer no damage.
to pressure the
Hunters and make Over Stat Failure: You suffer Wound damage (listed on
fights more deadly. the right of the attack’s damage stat) as the full
force of the attack hits you.

20 Critical Failure: You suffer Wound damage from

the attack. There are no additional mechanical ill
effects from a critical failure unless the GM feels
there is a justification for additional detriment,
but there may be narrative ones.

As an immediate action in response to an attack, you can spend

Focus to roll with advantage to defend.
If you’re Broken and would suffer Resolve damage, you instead
suffer the attack’s listed Wound damage – you have no energy,
power or ability left to avoid the attack.
 17
Entity Manoeuvres
Each Entity has its own set of manoeuvres, and they all have access
to the following four as a default:
l Advance. Reposition 1 Hunter closer to the Entity.
l Turn Around. All Hunters at Close are Repositioned clockwise
or counter-clockwise – choose one and apply it to all targets.
l Shrug Off. Restore 3 Resolve.
l Hunt Down. Target all Hunters in Support. Targets test Quick;
on any success, they are Repositioned to Ranged. On a failure,
they are Repositioned to Front.

Threat Placement
Threat is a measure of an Entity’s intent, attention and behaviour
over the course of a Hunt. The GM can spend Threat in the target
area to enhance their attacks (p. 16) and defence (p. 14).
Threat is also often the main cost to trigger Interrupt actions.
Unless specified otherwise in ability text, Threat must always be
spent from the area that an Entity’s ability is targeting.
Successful Hunter attacks (p. 14) generate Threat, as do
some abilities. After the Entity has made both of their actions, at
the end of their turn, the GM first checks whether current Threat
on the grid is lower or higher than the Threat Cap. If it is lower,
the GM may place Threat equal to the Entity's Threat Per Round
on the grid, spread across any grid areas except Support, up to the
Threat Cap total. If the Threat Cap has been reached, the GM must
remove any Threat over the Cap from the grid. They must not place
additional Threat, but may instead Shift Threat up to the Cap. Curse Varieties
The Tailor Entity in
this book uses Curse
Curse to punch crimson
Some Entities can corrupt, mark or otherwise influence the
threads through the
environment through Curse. When an attack says it inflicts Curse,
Hunters’ bodies, so
place the amount of Curse specified on the Hunter’s character
the Curse tokens go
sheet, using a 6-sided counter or a stack of tokens. A Hunter, Entity
on their character
or area cannot have more than 6 Curse placed on it at any one time.
sheets. Other Entities
If additional Curse would be placed, it is instead discarded.
in the Hollows core
game can place it
Entity Actions Outside Their Turn on the grid to affect
Unlike most Hunters, Entities have opportunities to act when it the battlefield,
isn’t their turn. Each Hunter turn ends with an opportunity for an or on themselves
Interrupt: an Entity ability which usually carries a cost to activate to gain power.
or trigger. The GM may choose to spend the cost of an Interrupt
at the end of any Hunter’s turn; there is no technical restriction
on how many times per round an Interrupt may trigger, but it may
only trigger once per Hunter turn. Interrupts do not trigger on the
Entity’s turn.
In addition, most Entities have abilities which trigger when they
are Broken, either for the first time or every time in a Hunt. These
are immediate actions which take place after the attack which
reduces the Entity to zero Resolve. If an Entity is Broken, it cannot
mark Resolve as a cost to trigger abilities.
18

Example of Play
Max is playing the Agent, who is fighting the Guardian Hound along with the Priest, played
by Sam. At the start of combat, they both roll for turn order.
Sam rolls against their Sharp of 14 and the Hound’s Ranged Defence of 12. They get a 13:
higher than the TN but under their stat. This is a superior success, allowing them to place
their token on the grid and act before the Entity.
Max rolls against their Sharp of 11 and the Hound’s Ranged Defence of 12: because the TN
is higher than their stat, they can’t roll a superior success but could still roll a critical. They
get a 15: a failure, which means they act after the Entity and the GM places their token.
The GM places the Agent token in Front, while Sam decides to place the Priest token in
Flank Left. Sam takes their turn first.
“I’m going to try to flank the Hound, and get on its bad side. I’ll use my Shotgun’s core attack
first: that runs off Sharp.”
Sam flips their Loaded token to Unloaded to make the attack. They roll a 6, which is below their
Sharp of 14, and also below the Hound’s Close Defence of 9: a standard success, inflicting 2
Resolve damage. The GM places a Threat token on their area.
“OK, so my bullet grazes the dog’s shoulder, forcing it to dodge back a little. I see I’ve gotten its
attention – I’ll Move backwards into Ranged Left to get away.”
The Hound can’t make its Interrupt attack this turn, because Sam has moved away from the
Threat. Now it’s the Entity’s turn.
“Right… the dog is still fixated on the Priest, so it’s going to Advance on you. That Repositions
the Priest back to where they were, into Flank Left. Then it bares its teeth and lunges for you,
attempting to Grab and Shake. Roll me defence against your Hard.”
The Priest has a Hard of 11, and the attack has a TN of 10. Sam rolls a 3: a standard success
below both numbers, avoiding Wound damage but suffering Resolve.
“The Hound’s sudden advance alarms you: you only just manage to dodge away from its vicious,
dagger-like teeth in time! You take 3 Resolve damage. And that’s the end of my turn, so the
Hound places Threat – 4 in total.”
The GM places 2 Threat on Front, and 2 on Flank Left – splitting the Threat between the
two Hunters – and motions to Max to take their turn.
“I’ve seen the Hound pounce on my friend so I’m not taking any chances. I’ve got a fully loaded
Pistol with 3 Capacity, so I’m using my Unload ability. That spends my full turn just firing at the
Hound: I get to make three attacks.”
The GM says:
“OK! You’re in Close, so you’re aiming to roll under your Quick of 14, and ideally over the
Hound’s Close Defence of 9. Let’s roll them all and see what happens.”
Max rolls: 6, 12, 17. One standard success, which inflicts 2 Resolve damage; one superior
success, inflicting 1 Wound damage, and one failure, which inflicts no damage. The GM
places 2 more Threat on Front, where the Priest is standing, in response to the two damaging
attacks, and says:
“You spray bullets at the Hound, and one of them lands true, gouging into its shoulder: it whips
around, dodging the second and lunging towards you, as the third shot goes wild. Now utterly
fixated on you, it’s going to Snap and Snarl.”
The GM spends 1 Threat from Front to trigger the Interrupt.
“Make me a defence roll, TN8 against your Strong.”
Max rolls a 9.
“Unlucky! The Hound manages to catch your firing arm, grazing your flesh with its jagged teeth.
It draws blood: take 1 Wound. And that’s the end of our first turn. Sam, you’re up again.”
 19

Death An Insidious
When an Entity has 0 wounds remaining, it dies and the Hunters Decay
can harvest it for grim power, through a Baptism (p. 19).
For the purposes of
When a Hunter has 0 Wounds remaining, they are dying. Dying
this Quickstart, you
Hunters can’t make attack or manoeuvre actions. At the start of
won’t be using the
each of their turns, a dying Hunter must roll under their Hard
rules for Corruption.
stat – if they fail, they die, and are removed from the tactical grid.
Suffice to say: the
If they succeed, they cling to life for a while longer. On a critical
more times you die,
success, they revive themselves as below.
the more likely it is
If attacked, a dying Hunter rolls to defend as normal – but if they
that you will blossom
receive any additional Wound damage, they die. A dying Hunter
into a Hollow yourself.
cannot be the target of interrupt actions from the Entity.
Any other Hunter can attempt to revive a dying Hunter by
performing a Guard manoeuvre in their area. Doing this restores
1 Resolve and heals 1 Wound to the dying Hunter (instead of the
standard effect), and the revived Hunter can make actions as normal
on their turn.
A Hunter can only be revived once per Hunt; the second time
they’re reduced to 0 Wounds, they die.
Hunters don’t get to stay dead. After dying in Grisham Priory,
they awaken in the Sanctum (p. 32) with a fierce metaphysical
headache and a grudge. In the core Hollows game, they awaken in
their Refuge: a base of operations which they use as a home outside
of space and time, and which may be upgraded to contain many
useful and interesting things.
Hunters cannot return back to the fight under their own steam:
they must pass through a door back into the Hollow. The Hollow
Wretched
actively resists the creation of any such doors until the Hunt is over,
Investments
whether successful or otherwise, and opening the door increases
Doom by 3. However, dead Hunters remain linked to the outcome
of the Hunt: if the Entity is killed, any Hunters who died during the When you kill a
fight gain the benefits of the Baptism. Lord, choose one of
the Weapon abilities
you earned during
Baptism the Hollow and make
When you slay an Entity you anoint yourself with its blood, it permanent. The
draining energy out of the Hollow and into your body. Broken others are removed
bones snap and set, torn wounds close and blood runs back into the from your character as
rift, and shattered teeth settle back into their sockets. the parasitic reality is
All surviving Hunters who killed an Entity restore all Resolve and sutured shut. As this
Wounds to their maximum values. Quickstart deals only
What’s more, the Seed within them pulses and roars in response with a single Hollow,
to fresh blood. Taking down an Entity results in a burst of malignant you won’t need to
power that takes up residence in the Hunters’ Weapons, whether worry about this – but
they are standing over its corpse or recovering in the Refuge. Killing it’s worth knowing
a Vassal Entity gives the Hunters access to one of the Weapon that this is the
abilities listed on their character sheet, for the rest of the Hollow they main way a Hunter
are currently in. Killing a Lord Entity makes one of those advances grows in power.
permanent, and closes the Hollow, curing the world around it.
20
Foregone Conclusions
You might get to a point in a fight where it seems as though the
players can’t possibly win, and it’s no fun to continue slogging
through it for either side. If this happens, surviving players can
elect to skip to the end and simply narrate their gruesome deaths;
they all awaken in the Sanctum as normal.

Reviving
When the Hunters are revived in the Sanctum, Varrick is there
to act as a helpful guide (or goad) to push them onwards. Have
them offer the Hunters cups of tea, sympathy, support, critique,
or anything you feel they would enjoy; these can be fun scenes
between gruesome battles and a nice opportunity for character
roleplay. Varrick flatly refuses to come with them or offer combat
support: they are far too scared of what they might become if they
die again, and they’ve lost too many friends and colleagues to the
Corruption that sits at the heart of every Hunter.
When it’s time for the Hunters to get back in the fight, they use
Varrick’s Key to open the door back into the Priory (costing them 3
Doom in the process). They can be dumped right back at the start
of the fight: as soon as they leave the safety of the Sanctum, the
Hunt begins again.

Evolving Tactics
If all the player characters die during a Hunt, you can offer them the
chance to swap out some of their abilities and modify their tactics.
They may replace any one ability with a different one from the same
Weapon by using Varrick’s rudimentary forge to modify their kit,
scavenging materials from the Hollow, or communing directly with
the malevolent intelligence caught within the steel.
21
22

EXPLORATION

When you’re in a Hollow but you’re not in a fight against an Entity,

you’re in the Exploration stage of the game.
Surrounding each Entity in a Hollow are blasted hinterlands
of rotten unreality where people, places and things have been
absorbed from the real world and remade into unsettling new
forms. Navigating these areas isn’t as dangerous as going-to-toe with
giant monsters, but it has the potential to cause tremendous harm
or misfortune – or, if you’re clever about it, give you an edge to
defeating your enemies.

Rolling During Exploration

You only need to roll dice when you’re interacting with a Hazard (an
obstacle or danger) or a Thrall (a person or creature).
When you’re asked to make a roll, first decide what stat is
applicable to the task you’re trying to achieve:

l Strong: Destructive, athletic or vicious.

l Hard: Tough, resistant, grim or intimidating.
l Quick: Fast, decisive, sneaky or deceitful.
l Sharp: Keen-eyed, aware and intelligent.
l Wise: Intuitive, introspective or mystical.
Once you’ve chosen your stat, roll as described in the basic rules
(p. 6). Remember: if you act in accordance with your
background during Exploration, you may be able to roll with
advantage. It’s up to you to decide how that should play out at the
table, and up to the GM to decide how strict or permissive they
want to be in allowing this.
 23

Hazards
Hazards are dangers which the Hunters must overcome, bypass or
neutralise to gain access to a location or reward. Usually, only one
Hunter from the group must bypass the Hazard in order to move
forward. Hazards have two stats associated with them:
l Target Number: The TN required to avoid damage entirely.
l Damage: Listed as X/Y vs Stat. The first number is Resolve Fixing Things
damage, and the second is Wound damage; these function in the
You can fix or
same way as Entity attack damage.
neutralise a Hazard
When you attempt to overcome a Hazard, resolve the roll as follows: instead of bypassing
it; if you do so, roll
Dice Result Outcome as above but with
disadvantage. On any
Under Under Success: Suffer X Resolve damage, as indicated by
success, the Hazard is
Stat TN the Hazard text, and bypass the danger.
removed from play.
Match/ Superior Success: You avoid all harm and bypass
beat TN the danger.
Improvising
Problems
Equal to Stat Critical Success: You avoid all harm, bypass the
danger, and reduce Doom by 1.
GM: sometimes
Over Stat Failure: Suffer Y Wound damage as indicated by a player will do
the Hazard text, and do not bypass the danger. something that
requires you to come
20 Critical Failure: Suffer Y Wound damage and in- up with a challenge off
crease Doom by 1. Do not bypass the danger. the top of your head.
In this case, feel free
Some Hazards don’t inflict Wound damage and instead increase to adapt the Hazards
Doom (written as 3/1 Doom). If a Hunter would suffer Wound and Thralls listed in
damage when interacting with these Hazards, increase Doom by the the Grisham Priory
listed amount instead. Hollow and create
It’s up to the GM and the group to decide whether retrying a your own (or just use
failed Hazard roll makes sense. them with the rules as
written, and change
the descriptions). Don’t
Thralls worry about balancing
Thralls are creatures that must be fought, bargained with or evaded. out damage or Doom
Thralls have three stats associated with them: to be “fair” – the
Hunters can take it.
l Target Number: The TN used on all rolls involving the Thrall.
l Damage: Listed as X/Y vs Stat. These function in the same way
as Entity attack damage.
l Health: X/Y. The first number is Thrall Resolve and the second
is Wounds.
When you interact with a Thrall with the intent to harm it, roll
as though you were attacking an Entity using one of your core
Weapon attacks (p. 14).
24
Non-Violent Compare the result of your roll to the Target Number of the
Solutions Thrall and to the stat required, according to the Attack column
below. Once you’ve resolved your action, the Thrall has a chance to
You don’t have to
retaliate. It makes an immediate attack against one of your stats with
kill everything you
the damage listed in its profile. Roll to defend against the damage
meet: you can usually
according to the Defend column below.
talk, sneak, think or
lie your way out of
a problem during Dice Result Attack Defend
Exploration. If what
Under Under Success: You inflict the Success: Suffer X
you want to do is risky
Stat TN Resolve damage of one of Resolve damage as
or time-consuming
your Weapons. indicated by the
but won’t directly
Thrall’s profile.
harm the Thrall, treat
it as a Hazard with
Match Superior Success: You Superior Success:
the same TN and
or beat inflict the Wound damage You take no damage.
Damage but no Health,
TN of one of your Weapons.
and roll as normal.
Equal to Stat Critical Success: You inflict Critical Success: You
the Wound damage of one take no damage and
Dying During of your Weapons +2. reduce Doom by 1.
Exploration Over Stat Failure: You inflict no Failure: Suffer Y
It’s possible, but damage. Wound damage as
unlikely, that a Hunter indicated by the
will be reduced to 0 Thrall’s profile.
Wounds during the
Exploration phase. In 20 Critical Failure: You inflict Critical Failure: Suffer
this case, they awaken no damage and increase Y Wound damage
in the Sanctum or Doom by 1. as indicated by the
the Refuge as normal Thrall’s profile and
(see p. 32). increase Doom by 1.

Relics
Relics resonate with power, and often require Hunters to bypass
Hazards or Thralls to claim them. When you claim a Relic during
Exploration, note down which Hunter is carrying it. Each Relic has
unique effects which are listed in their descriptions.
 25

Player Tips
Describe your actions. What does it look like when your character
does things? What do their Weapons look like? How do they
react to being hurt? Work with the GM to paint the world of
Hollows.
Read the rules. Make sure you know what your Weapon abilities do
and how they interact with other players. This game is a lot more
fun when you understand how all the pieces fit together and you
can use them effectively.
Lean in to your role. Hollows is designed so that not everyone can
do everything, but there are many different combinations of
Weapons and powers that give the game a different flavour. If
you’re set up as a tank whose abilities all trigger when you’re the
centre of attention, then aim to do that as much as you can, and
have fun with it. In the core game, you can always change your
setup later on.
Take risks. It’s only a game. And even if your character dies, they’ll
get right back up again and start causing havoc. Do the exciting
thing, trust your luck, and have a good time.

Gamesmaster Tips
Describe the world. Hollows are wretched places and Entities
are grisly nightmares, and it’s up to you to paint the world as
evocatively as possible. Mention what the Hunters can see,
smell, hear, touch or taste in any given moment. If you can, stand
up and stomp around to show the thunderous footsteps of a
behemoth, cower and shiver to portray a terrified ghoul, and
always remember that the place itself is hostile and wants the
Hunters to die.
When a player rolls dice, tell them what happens. Whenever a
player makes an action in a game, more than anything they want
something to happen – good or bad isn’t really important. They
want to feel as though their actions have consequences, so give
them some.
Balance story with fighting. While combat in Hollows is tightly
mechanical and detailed, exploration is meant to allow for much
more free-form play. The game should flow back and forth
between periods of roleplay, exploration and discovery, followed
by massive, epic boss fights where everyone needs to pay close
attention to the rules. Spacing these out and managing them is
your job as GM, and it’s important to pace things so that your
group finds a good balance that works for them.
Go hard. Hollows is intended to be vicious, and the mechanics
mean that player characters can die, get back up, and come
back for another go with better information. Be brutal and
uncompromising; choose the worst thing for the player
characters. Punish mistakes. If you pull your punches with
Entities and your players understand their abilities, the game can
be too easy. Don’t give the players an inch in combat.
Grisham Priory
Content Warnings
Dogs, animal attacks, dragons, spider analogues, poverty, starvation,
cruelty to animals, needles, religion and religious violence.

The Tale
B ishop Damien Loxley oversaw the diocese
of Grisham, and was renowned for his
keen tithe-taking and enforced piety. While
acts of service and tending the sacred orchards
were all well and good, he knew how the
world worked – money, and lots of it. His
desire to uplift his charges from poverty
through the blessings of the land became an
all-consuming obsession with wringing each
and every spare penny from those who lived
in, or even passed through, his territory.

G risham flourished, and Bishop Loxley

flourished alongside it. His robes were
more splendid than any other clergyman at
court, his festivals and feasts more lavish, his
gardens overflowing with rose and orchid. He
did well, and those under his care starved.
For decades he was able to shield himself
from the harm he was causing, but it couldn’t
last forever. One fateful afternoon, when
the malnourished peasantry of his parish
broke into his priory to find supplies, he
lashed out in fury. A dozen men died, and
a dozen families were turned out of their
hovels for daring to stand against him.

S omething blossomed in Loxley that day.

A whisper from the dark between worlds
took root in his soul – a revelation. Not only
did he deserve the riches he had taken, but
it was right that he had them. The land had
offered up this bounty in exchange for his
faith and hard work. Those who would seek to
take them are worse than thieves – heretics.
Personal Hells, Made To Order
Each Hollow has a Story – the genesis of
the seed planted in the Lord by one of the
Grand Malignancies that circle the Isles like
carrion crows. As with the Seeds that come
later on in each individual zone, these are
designed to give the GM some background
on the events that lead to the hollowing
and help them roleplay and invent details
on the fly.
Strange Things
Each Hollow is accompanied by a collection of Strange Things that can be
useful when describing the Hollow to your players. They often foreshadow
future Entities or locations, and are provided to aid the GM in adding colour
and flair to their descriptions of the Hollow.
l A coin bounces and rolls through a crack in the floor.
l Webs of fine red thread form trip-wires across thoroughfares.
l Porcelain fungi sprout from the desiccated earth.
l The wall is worn thin, revealing stained glass portraits beneath the stone.
l A thrall begs for food that they cannot draw nourishment from.
l A thin, greasy flurry of rain spatters against a window or roof.
l A song of praise to the Bishop echoes down a corridor.
l Your Weapon refuses to draw blood unless it’s “paid”.
l A bloated pig, dressed with ribbons and prayers,
farts and snorts its way through the Hollow in search of food.
l The ceiling collapses after decades of disrepair.

Priory Background
Sometimes while roleplaying, you might
want to introduce additional encounters
or rewards for your players. Here are
some incidental items and hazards that
your players might find while exploring,
in addition to (or instead of) the relics
that are associated with specific areas and
inhabitants of the Hollow. Bear in mind
that introducing new Hazards or Relics
can change the game balance in significant
ways; consider introducing them if your
players are having a hard (or too easy) time.
Supplementary Relics
Brittle Riches. Forgotten gold that turns to
ash when touched. One use. While in Close,
as an immediate action in response to a
target being declared, you may cancel one
Entity attack. This attack has no effect but
still incurs any costs.
Beautiful Silks. Once the height of fashion,
now best for binding wounds. One use. As a
Use action, you may restore 2 Wounds to
an ally in your area.
Supplementary Hazards
Fervent worshippers. The misguided often
fight the hardest. TN6, Hard. Damage 1/1.
Health 2/2.
 Pacing Yourselves
In the core Hollows game, most Hollows will
have a Doom track that goes up to 25. In this
quickstart, we’ve provided a shorter track and a
more immediate first combat, to get you into the
action more quickly.
The Hunters will accrue Doom through
exploration, so the longer they take to explore the
more risky their eventual Hunts will become. But
on the other hand, they’ll know more about the
Lord and its Vassals, and maybe even have access
to valuable tools they can use to change the fight.
It’s up to you as a group to decide how many risks
to take in discovering the story of this place.

DOOM
3 Awakened Senses. Replace the Tailor’s Vicious Web
ability with: Awakened Senses. Target any area with
less than 4 Threat. Shift up to 4 Threat to that area.

5 Improvised Barricades. Increase the Vicar’s

Ranged defence to 10.

7 Trapdoor Tailor. Hunters begin the Tailor fight

with 1 Curse each.

8 Ceremonial Armour. Increase the Bishop’s

Resolve to 9.

9 Fell Curses. The Vicar’s Bellowing Prayer

manoeuvre is now TN10, Wise. 3/1

10 Overconfident. Replace the Bishop’s Flee

Manoeuvre with: Scurry. Restore X Resolve,
where X is 6 minus 1 for each Hunter at Close.

11 Death Trap. The Tailor’s Threat Cap is

increased to 14.

12 Swell The Ranks. While the Vicar is not

Broken, it makes an immediate Advisory
Committee manoeuvre at the start of each of its turns.

13 Undermine. The Bishop gains the following

ability: When First Broken: Undermine.
Make a Money Sink attack targeting two adjacent
areas. This attack does not cost Threat.

15 Doom. If the Doom track is full, the

Bishop immediately attacks the Hunters.
Begin the Hunt. If all the Hunters are slain
during this Hunt, reduce Doom by 3 and
continue.
30
Entering the Hollow
There are a hundred ways and more to enter a Hollow. Some
Hunters rely on arcane tools like black scrying mirrors, rune-
etched pendulums, or ritual candles; some weaken the barrier
between worlds with sacred earth, rowan roots and devil’s-salt then
force their way through; some converse with the lost spirit of the
Hollowed, or pose as a loved one, and con their way inside.
This time, you were pulled in. As you prepared to make your
entrance, the world stuttered and cracked around you, and reality
seared with burning sigils and fell away.
The Hollow takes the form of an overgrown church complex;
you appear in front of a great door that seals it off from storm-
blasted wastes that stretch away in every direction.
You are in…

1. The Graveyard
Seed: The Bishop sacrificed a lot of people to get to his lofty position.
He never thinks of them at all.
A dilapidated burial ground. Maybe two hundred graves lie here,
with ornamentation ranging from simple wooden effigies of pig
skulls to great trees carved from marble. Every single one of the
graves is anonymous. Here and there, the Hound has dug up a
coffin or two and eaten the remains, but it looks like very few
people have been buried here in recent memory.
Before you stands a wide-eyed, haggard-looking occultist
clutching a staff in both their hands. The magic circle they
scratched into the dirt is already blowing away.
“It worked!” they exclaim.
“First things first: take this key.” They thrust a black iron key into
your hand with shaking, mud-stained fingers.
“It works on any door,” they continue. “If anything goes wrong,
you’ll be safe there.” They pause for a second, exhale, and collect
themselves. A relieved smile warms their face.
“Where are my manners? My apologies, you can call me –”
The doors behind slam open and a hound the size of a carriage
lands on them and tears them apart in seconds. It snarls and drags
what remains of their broken body back through the doorway.
Welcome to the Hollow.
T h e H un t B e
gins
: p. 33
The First Combat
The Quickstart begins with a battle against the Guardian Hound
(p. 36), a vassal Entity. Show the players the tactical grid and
have them roll for placement and turn order (p. 12) against the
Hound’s Ranged Defence of 12.
First, the group of Hunters who act before the Entity take their
turns (p. 14). After every Hunter turn ends, you may (and
should!) make an Interrupt action if you are able to spend Threat
to do so.
Then, you take the Entity’s turn (p. 16). At the end of your
turn, place Threat equal to the Entity’s Threat Per Turn (p. 17).
After that, the remaining Hunters take their turns. You may
make Interrupt actions after these turns as well.
 31
Once all the Hunters have acted, the first round is over and a new
round begins. Continue until the Guardian Hound is killed and
perform your first Baptism (p. 19). In the unlikely event all the
Hunters die, they awaken in the Sanctum (p. 32).

Introductions
The first round of combat is a great time to get your players
to introduce their characters. If you like, ask each one
to describe their physical appearance as they square up
against the Entity, and tell the group a little about how their
Weapons look and behave as they use them. Big showy
cinematic descriptions of combat aren’t to everyone’s taste,
but they can really enhance the way the game feels to play,
and help your players feel ownership over their new Hunters.

Baptism & Advancement

After the Hound is defeated, the players receive a Baptism: they
are imbued with a small portion of the Entity’s power, which allows
them to advance. Each Hunters involved in the Hunt – whether
living or dead at the end – may choose one new Weapon ability.
Hunters advance in this way after every successful Hunt.

Tracking Doom
Now the Hound is dead, you'll want to start tracking Doom. It starts
at zero, and is increased when the players fail Exploration rolls or
open doors into the Sanctum. As it increases, it makes combat more
challenging. You might want to describe it as a sense of foreboding,
or in terms of the supernatural strangeness of this place intensifying,
using the Strange Things list on p. 28 as a guide.

Looting Entities
In general, Entities in Hollows don’t grant equipment
as loot; instead, there is a rush of power that floods into
the Hunters and takes up residence in their Weapons,
unlocking new abilities within them. Feel free to describe
this however works for you: mystical energy, light or
darkness, smoke, thick ichor, mutterings and whisperings
from the Weapons, or even trinkets taken from the corpse
and tied to the Hunters’ Weapons.
Each Entity also leaves behind 4 Bone: physical tokens
of some kind that carry a small part of the Entity’s power,
ossified into solid form. For the purposes of this playtest,
there is no way to spend these resources, but if you’d like
to continue the game beyond the playtest – or your players
want some loot as a reward – describe the dog’s collar, a
hank of its hair, or a chunk of its chain, thrumming with
dark power and begging to be carried.
32
The Sanctum
Buried within the walls of the Priory is the Sanctum – the
paradimensional foxhole that Varrick, the occultist who pulled
the Hunters into the Hollow, is holed up inside. The Sanctum
is a cramped, wood-panelled room with mould on the walls and
flagstone flooring. Several pews have been dragged together to
form a sort of makeshift bed against one wall.
The Hunters can insert the key that Varrick gave them into
any door; doors that lack keyholes will morph one into being in
response to the key’s proximity. The door now opens into the
Sanctum instead of its original location. The creatures from the
Priory cannot enter here.
If the Hunters are eager to discover more about the key after
the Guardian Hound fight, encourage them to explore among the
mausoleums of the Graveyard, or suggest that the key pulls on their
fingers as they approach the door to the next area, the Cloisters.
When the Hunters enter, they restore their Resolve and Wounds
to their starting values as they catch their breath and bandage their
injuries; as this takes a while, add 3 to the Doom track each time
they do it.
After dying, a Hunter will wake up here with their Resolve and
Wounds restored to their starting values. When the Hunter opens
the door to return to the Hollow, add 3 Doom to reflect the time
and supernatural disturbance involved.
Varrick is hiding out here, and they are terrified of leaving the
Sanctum; although they too come back to life here if they die in
the Hollow, they’re feeling increasingly unstable after a dozen
deaths. The next one might be their last, and then they’d blossom
into a Hollow all their very own.

Take Refuge
In the core Hollows game, players gain access to their own
sanctum – a snicket in space and time, known as the Refuge.
In time, they’ll be able to welcome in other lost souls, construct
new rooms and arcane devices, augment and improve their
abilities and stats, and even rescue the tormented souls of
Lords to live in peace via Anchoring.

2. The Cloisters
Seed: The Bishop syphoned resources from his diocese to furnish his
estate with lavish trappings while the common folk under his care
struggled to survive.
The people trapped here have erected a makeshift farm in the outdoor
space between buildings, but it’s hard going. Tatty-looking potato
and turnip plants poke through the thin and gritty soil in clumps.
Furniture taken from inside the temple has been converted into
shelters and barricades – smouldering devotional candelabras
teeter precariously atop piles of wardrobes, pews and moth-eaten
chaise longues. The entire thing’s a death-trap but they’ve held out
until now.
 33
At the centre of the cloister is a shrine covered in images of
the dead, painstakingly drawn in charcoal by a careful, shaking
hand. This shrine holds the Accusing Ashes; the congregation
are unwilling to let them go, as they’re the last remnants of their
deceased loved ones. Bargaining, threatening or bribing them could
work – attacking them definitely will, if you’ve the stomach for it.

The Viridian Accusing Ashes

Congregation Blessed ashes of
A pathetic rabble, those who starved
THRALL the tatters of the RELIC due to the Bishop’s
congregation. insatiable greed.
TN7, Strong. Damage 2/2. One Use. As a Use action,
Health 4/4. Dealing with from Close, reduce one of
them gives the Hunters the the Entity’s Defences by 2.
Accusing Ashes. Effective against any Entity
within Grisham Priory.

Relics
The presence of a Relic is immediately obvious to any
Hunter; they look different from everything else around
them, weighed down as they are with power. If a Hunter
collects a Relic, tell them what it does in mechanical terms.
There’s no need to be coy and mysterious about it.

3. The Wormery
Seed: The Bishop strived to
The Choir
Spiralling devotees
maintain a public image of proper
whirl in the dark and
piety, building sacred wormeries, THRALL
the dirt.
compost heaps and pig farms
throughout the district. Anyone TN9, Wise. Damage 2/2.
who displeased him would wind up Health 3/5. Dealing with
as mulch in a matter of months. them gives the Hunters the
Dolorous Receipts.
A subterranean warren, dimly
lit by candles and braziers. It
houses a multitude of floor-to-
Dolorous Receipts
Reams of paper stuffed
ceiling interlinked glass boxes
into a leather binder,
filled with decomposing vegetable RELIC
each a statement of
matter, millions of worms and the
the Tailor’s wickedness – used
occasional skeleton. A whirling
to enforce a life-long contract.
mass of worshipers adorned with
Each time you look at it, it seems
paper streamers sing the praises
as though even more papers have
of the Bishop and his generosity;
grown from within.
on occasion, they form themselves
into the shape of a great wyrm with One use. As a Use action: from
a lit torch at the head, and dance Close, reduce the Resolve of
through the maze of glass and dirt. the Tailor by half its current
Among the material that makes value, rounding down.
up their costumes, a bundle of
If the Tailor has already been
paper stands out as important –
defeated when the Receipts
these are the Dolorous Receipts,
are acquired, then one Hunter
guarded by these zealots to keep
may consume them to start a
them safe from the Tailor.
Hunt with Focus.
34
T h e H un t B
4. The Vestry e gi n
s: p
. 33

Seed: The Tailor had a complicated upbringing and some controversial

appetites that would see her cast out of polite society; the Bishop kept
receipts of her indiscretions, and used them to blackmail her into his service.
Silks, bolts of linen and sheets of fine lace hang from the ceiling
in this chamber, but they do little to absorb the noise of the
chattering, grinding textile machinery that rattles away of its own
accord. Great piles of dye reach as high as the rafters – saffron
yellow, rich purple and boreal green – and man-sized spindles of
crimson thread blur with the speed of their ceaseless rotation.
At the centre of this web crouches The Tailor (p. 38), who
endlessly weaves a grand tapestry at the behest of the Bishop. Their
vital work interrupted, they lash out at the Hunters as they approach.

Hanging Cloth Roll to Hunt

Bolts of material hang Often, the Hunters will come
HAZARD from the rafters, stiff across a Hunt which requires
with sharp needles from them to traverse a Hazard.
the Tailor’s ministrations. Usually these Hazards carry the
risk of increasing Doom. Only
Either: TN14, Sharp. 1/1
one Hunter needs to successfully
Doom; or: TN 10, Strong, 2/2
bypass the Hazard; it’s assumed
Doom. Find or make a path
they show the others the safe
through the hanging cloth to
way to pass. Once the group
confront The Tailor.
has traversed the Hazard, the
Hunt begins automatically: they
attract the Entity’s attention and
violence cannot be avoided.

T h e H un t B
5. The Crypt e gi n
s: p
. 33
Seed: The Bishop guarded his money, and his secrecy, with the utmost care.
A crumbling, damp limestone vault carved out of the rock beneath
the Temple, with tree-roots questing down from the surface above.
The central chamber yawns impossibly tall above the Hunters’
heads; around the entrance, a ward of withered rowan roots has
been placed to offer protection. As the Hunters approach they can
hear devotional chanting issuing forth from cracked throats.
Lining the walls of the structure and enshrined in mausolea
are dozens of sarcophagi decorated with statues of the Bishop
in repose, as though he has died multiple times. As the Hunters
progress through the vault, the caskets become larger, and the
statues more monstrous and draconic. Opening any of the graves
reveals a skeleton roughly analogous to the statue on top and a
smattering of mouldered grave goods.
At the far end, the monstrous porcine form of The Vicar (p.
39) squats in front of an enormous rusted bank vault door
surrounded by ranks of the singing faithful. It’s distracted for now,
but it’s in your way.
 35
6. The Root Hole
Seed: As the Bishop grew in power and influence, he retreated from
the public eye and the responsibilities associated with his station.
When he finally Hollowed, he had not been seen by anyone other than
his closest attendants for months.
A winding cave system that stretches down far beneath the Priory
and deep into the earth. Though parts of it are open enough to
stand up straight without banging your head, the majority of the
system is made up of cramped tunnels, claustrophobic burrows
and partially-flooded passageways. Thankfully, the route down
isn’t hard to determine: torn fabric, scuff marks and cracked
outcroppings mark frequent passage.
While the walls start as dirt and mangled masonry, they quickly
transition to tightly-packed gold and gems. Cut rubies and jagged
emeralds jut out of tunnel walls, a loose scree of bent coins lies
precariously underfoot, and tarnished jewellery chain seems to
grasp and snare the Hunters as they descend. Near the end of
the crawl, a luminescent root shines from the depths of a foot-tall
passageway – a relic.

Roots of All Evil Rowan Roots

Jagged cut diamonds Gold veined roots
HAZARD and twisted coins tear with an opalescent
at knees and hands. RELIC sheen; the rowan tree
is holy, and a ward
TN11, Quick or Sharp. 4/1.
against malevolent forces.
Bypass the Hazard to get the
Rowan Roots. Carrying this into the fight
against the Bishop removes
his Avaricious Aura ability.

T h e H un t B
7. The Golden Pit e gi n
s: p
. 44
Seed: The Bishop was happy to throw away his faith, his duty and his
life in search of greater wealth.
A network of tunnels dug by claws and loaded with stolen wealth.
The floor is lousy with discarded crowns, bent sceptres, dented
chalices and torn-up portraits. Huge piles of coins stretch to every
wall. Scant illumination is provided by flickering torches mounted
in alcoves along the sides of the chamber. Murals, lovingly painted
by long-dead hands, depict the Bishop receiving tithes from his
diocese – crowds of nobles and peasants alike arrive to shovel
money directly into his great distended mouth.
In the shifting darkness at the centre The Bishop hangs
motionless in the shadows, withered arms by his side, gut swollen
with gold. As the Hunters
approach, they notice an
enormous eye open on each side
Golden Avalanche
Keep your footing on
of him, and the truth is revealed:
HAZARD a mountain of coins.
his desiccated remains are
protruding from the forehead TN15, Quick. 1/1. Scale
of the great dragon that he has the summit to confront
become in his greed. The Bishop (p.
(p. 40)
40)..
 The Guardian
36

Hound
Defences
Close 9
Ranged 12
Wyrd 7
The Hound is a simple beast: a physical manifestation of the Bishop’s
frantic desire to protect what he believes to be his. It takes the form of
a grotesquely-muscled dog – half-pitbull, half-wolfhound – and stands
Health
taller than a man at the shoulder. A rusted chain hangs from its collar,
binding it to a post in the centre of its graveyard hunting ground.
Resolve 7
Any fur it once possessed has been shaved away by terrified
attendants and brought to the Tailor to weave into clothing; the
Wounds 9
creature’s bare skin is covered in Viridian holy text instead.
Threat
per Round 4
Cap 10
Terrain Pool Manoeuvre
Walled Graveyard. Cracked tombstones, Bounding Leap. It hangs in the air for a
marble mausolea; all of it anonymous. second, then crashes to earth with a terrible
3 Sheltered, 2 Elevated thump. Cost: 2 Threat. Target any area
other than Front. All Hunters in that area
suffer 1 Resolve damage and are Reposi-
Interrupt tioned to Front.
Snap and Snarl. All teeth and spit and anger.
Cost: 1 Threat. Target all Hunters in any
area. TN8, Strong. 2/1.

Attacks Standard Manoeuvres

Grab And Shake. Put that down. You don’t
Don’t forget – the Guardian Hound, like
know where it’s been. Target any one Hunter
every Entity, has access to the standard
in Front or Flank. TN10, Hard. 3/4. If this
manoeuvres:
attack inflicts damage, attack all Hunters
in the target’s area: TN equal to the first l Advance. Reposition 1 Hunter closer
target’s Strong stat, Hard. 2/1. to the Entity.
Wild Chain. Rusted steel links the size of l Turn Around. All Hunters at Close
your fist whip through the air. Target all are Repositioned clockwise or
Hunters in Rear and Flank. TN7, Quick. counter-clockwise – choose one and
2/2. apply it to all targets.
l Shrug Off. Restore 3 Resolve.
When First Broken l Hunt Down. Target all Hunters in
Chase Down. Flee, for your own sake. Re- Support. Targets test Quick; on
position the Hunter that Broke the Entity any success, they are Repositioned
to Front. If that Hunter is already in Front, to Ranged. On a failure, they are
they suffer 3 Resolve damage. Repositioned to Front.

Location: The Graveyard (p. 30)

37
 38
The

Tailor
The Tailor was, once upon a time, well-regarded by
the fine folk of the city – her pieces were beyond
compare, and she charged appropriately steep
prices. Trapped in the Hollow, she has become
obsessed with making clothes for the Bishop and,
with surgical tools improvised from scissors, needles
and shears, woven herself into the fabric of her
workshop. She hangs in the centre of a maze of
cloth and rattling machinery; every thundering loom,
every dashing needle, every whirring wheel is a part
of her and moves with an imperfect, stuttering grace.

Terrain Pool
Decrepit textile factory. Walkways, offices, rigging, R Wyr
a d
machinery, mouldering bolts of red cloth. C n
3 Sheltered, 3 Elevated.
l
o g 12
s e
e d
10 9
Specials
Crimson Threads. Needle-keen, plunging through flesh
T

and stitching limb to limb. When a Hunter makes an attack,

h

they suffer 1 Resolve damage for each Curse on them. As a Use

r
e

action, a Hunter may roll under Strength; on any success, they

a
t

remove all Curse from one Hunter in their area. On a failure,

p

they remove 1 Curse from a Hunter in their area.

e
r

r
o

4
u

Sutured Senses. Skin and nerves become silk and needles, all
n
d

poised and ready for the kill. When a Hunter hits with an attack,
C

place 1 additional Threat on their area.

a
p
11

When First Broken

Seam Ripper. A dozen spindles burst to life, and tendrils streak with vengeance. s
d
Make a Punture attack against all Hunters. This attack does not cost Threat. u
n
o 8
W

Inter- Attacks e
lv
o
rupts
Ravenous Mangle. A whirring nest of gear and shuttle, e
S
R 8
razor-sharp and wicked-quick. Target 1 Hunter in any
Bound for Death. Tugged
Close area. TN8, Quick. 2/5. If this attack inflicts
like puppets, stumbling
Wound damage, the Entity recovers 4 Resolve, and the
towards their doom. Cost:
target is caught in the machinery: they may not Guard,
1 Threat. Target 1 Hunter
with at least 1 Curse. Shift
Move or be Repositioned until they are freed. As a Use DOOM
target towards the Entity.
Puncture. Bound to her
action, any Hunter may roll under Strength to free a
Hunter in their area from the machinery; on any
success, the target can act as normal.
3Awakened Senses.
Replace
Vicious Web
thrumming heart. Cost: 1 with “Awakened Senses:
A Thousand Needles. She reaps what she sews. Target all
Threat. Target 1 Hunter Target any area with less
Hunters in any area. TN6, Hard. 2/3. If this attack inflicts
in any area. TN6, Hard. than 4 Threat. Shift up to 4
Wound damage, place 1 Curse on the target. If this attack
1/2. If this attack inflicts Threat to that area.”
inflicts Resolve damage, place 2 Curse on the target.
damage, place 1 Curse on
the target.
Manoeuvres
7 Trapdoor Tailor.
Hunters begin the fight
with one curse token each.
Vicious Web. Fabric walls twitch and constrict, driving
you deeper. Target any area with less than 3 Threat.
Shift up to 3 Threat to that area from adjacent areas.
11 Death Trap. Threat
cap is raised to 14.
Location: The Vestry (p. 34)
 DOOM
The Vicar
The domestic pig is sacred to the Viridians; it is the ultimate expression of mankind’s
5
9
Improvised Barricades.
Increase Ranged
Defence to 10.
Fell Curses. The
Bellowing Prayer
39

dominance over nature. The Vicar was once human – a priest who collaborated manoeuvre is now TN10,
with the Bishop, covering up his many indiscretions and taking a sizeable cut Wise. 3/1.
for himself. Drawn into the Hollow, he has transformed into a bloated pig-
creature, and his vestments have long ago torn and mouldered into filthy rags.
Surrounding him is a gang of malnourished lay preachers and attendants bearing
12 Swell the Ranks.
While the Vicar is
not Broken, it makes an
improvised polearms and battered shields. On occasion, in moments of desperate hunger,
immediate Advisory
he will grab one of them and eat them whole. Plenty more where they came from.
Committee manoeuvre
at the start of each of its
turns.

Terrain Pool
Underground Crypt. Mausoleums,
caskets, ossuaries, pillars, and pits.
The Vicar can only stand up in the
centre of the chamber; otherwise he’s
crouched, head scraping against the
ceiling. 6 Sheltered, 2 Elevated.

When First Broken

B P . The Vicar cries out
estial anic
in pain and the building shudders
Per Round: 3 in response. Make a Rotting Ru-

Threat Cap: 9 ins attack against every Hunter,

ignoring the usual Threat cost.

Interrupt
R R
otting. The vault collapses around you as you
uins
fight. Cost: 1 Threat. TN10, Quick. 2/1. Targets holding
Terrain tags take +1/+1 damage.

Attacks Manoeuvres
C . Head down,
harge G . A fitting tithe, and a
orge
pounding towards you on noble end. Restore 5 Resolve.
all fours. Target 1 Hunter Reduce Close Defence by 1
in any area that contains for the rest of the Hunt.
Threat. TN11, Hard. 5/4. If
Bellowing Prayer.
the target has a terrain tag,
Mangled half-human howls
the Entity suffers 2 Resolve
that hang in the air like
damage and the terrain tag
greasy smoke. Target all
is destroyed.
Hunters in Close. TN8,
Sweep. The beast bears a Wise. 2/1.
club built from broken pews
Advisory Committee. The
and shattered masonry.
attendants clap, sing and
Must target all Hunters
shout to draw the lunatic
in any two adjacent Close
pig’s attention. Choose any
areas. TN9, Quick. 3/3.
area. Shift up to 3 Threat
The Entity takes 1 Resolve
towards or into that area.
damage per Hunter
targeted.
Location: The Crypt (p. 34)
 The Bishop
40

A despicable wyrm the size of a coal barge, scales rimmed with gold, eyes gleaming like rubies. Jackets, robes
and tapestries have been buttoned and lashed round the creature’s massive bulk, and each of its clawed feet is
dripping with rings, bangles and inlaid porcelain. Growing out of, or perhaps attached to, the wyrm’s noseless
face is the Bishop’s limp body – all that remains of the man’s original form. It sits defiant on the dragon’s brow,
taunting the Hunters from a safe distance.

Terrain Pool Attacks

Dragon's Hoard. A sea of gold and trinkets. Liquid Assets. Try as it might, the wyrm can’t derive
4 Sheltered, 1 Elevated. any nutrients from the coins it eats – but it can retch
them up like grapeshot. Mark 3 Resolve. Target all
Hunters in either Front or one Flank area, and all
Specials Hunters in the Ranged area adjacent to the initial
Avaricious Aura. Your hands shake and your stomach target area. TN9, Quick. 3/3.
twists with a sudden and desperate hunger. At the start
Thrash. Frantic, panicked, a storm of teeth and claws.
of the Bishop’s turn, all Hunters in Close suffer 1
Target all Hunters in any Close area. TN 11, Hard. 2/3.
Resolve damage.
Devour. Gold is good, but nothing beats fresh meat.
Gilded Scales. The benefits of wealth. Reduce
Target one Hunter in Front. TN8, Strong. 3/4. If this
Resolve damage suffered by the Entity by 1 (to a
attack reduces a Hunter to 0 Wounds, they are im-
minimum of 1).
mediately killed (remove them from the grid) and the
Bishop regains 6 Resolve.
Interrupt
Money Sink. Tarnished coins and rotting finery make
for unstable footing. Cost: 2 Threat. Target all Hunt-
Manoeuvre
Flee. Diving beneath a sea of coin and jewel to lick
ers in any area. Choose one:
its wounds. Restore X Resolve, where X is 6 minus
l Shift targets into an adjacent area. 2 for each Hunter at Close.
l Remove all Focus from targets. Sunk Cost. As the beast descends beneath the sea
of gold, the terrain collapses. Mark 2 Resolve. Make
l Attack all targets. TN9, Strong. 2/1.
a Money Sink interrupt action, ignoring the usual
Threat cost.

When First Broken

By default, the Bishop doesn’t have an
DOOM
ability that triggers when he’s Broken for
the first time. But the Doom track adds
8 Ceremonial Armor. Increase
Resolve to 9.
one, if the players haven’t made their
way swiftly through his domain. 10 Overconfident. Replace
the Flee Manoeuvre
with: Scurry. Restore X
Resolve, where X is 6 minus 1
for each Hunter at Close.

13 Undermine. The Bishop

gains the following
ability: When First Broken:
Undermine. Coins roar into
the depths. Make a Money
Sink attack targeting two
adjacent areas. This attack
does not cost Threat.
Location: The Golden Pit (p. 35)
 41

Wounds 16
olv e 6
Res

W yrd 11
Close 10 Ranged 11
Threat PCaer Round 4
p8
WHAT'S NEXT?
Following the Baptism with the Bishop’s ichor, the Hollow begins to fluctuate and collapse
without the wickedness that once fuelled it.
Ask the Hunters how they leave the place – do they take a shortcut through the Sanctum?
Does a writhing portal burst from the Bishop’s enormous corpse as golden sinkholes
threaten to claim their lives? Is it an arduous climb back up through the Root Hole, and
out to the surface, and from there an improvised ritual of their own to escape?
Whatever they choose, they leave and emerge in the Refuge – their own version of the
Sanctum, an interdimensional coaching inn run by a grumbling landlord bound to the
place known as the Keeper. A fire roars in the hearth and the Keeper squints at them as he
pours a pint of beer.
“Been wondering when you lot would show up. Sit down. And close the door, will you?
You’ll let all the bloody evil in.”

That’s it for this Quickstart version of Hollows – we

hope you had fun playing it. If you’d like to learn more,
or to sign up to be informed when our crowdfunding
campaign goes live, you can scan this QR code or go to
rrdgames.com/hollows.
THE PRIEST Play as the Priest if you want to:
• Heal and support other Hunters
• Blow holes in things with your Shotgun
• Have a religious connection with the Hollow

Y ou are a member of the religious Viridian sect who

sing of the glorious bounties that lay beneath the
earth. Many of your order are keen horticulturalists
BACKGROUND: SWINEHERD. The pig is a sacred
animal to Viridians, and you once roved the countryside
at the head of a gang of these ravenous beasts. Roll with
and farmers, and you have taken it upon yourself to advantage during Exploration when you: interact with
prune the rot from the Isles itself rather than limit animals, get up to your elbows in mud and shit, persuade
yourself to a sanctuary garden. someone to let you into their nice clean home, etc.

8 Strong 11 Hard 7 Quick 14 Sharp 11 Wise

Resolve       Wounds       
THE BOOK THE SHOTGUN
A well-loved book of prayers, wise aphorisms, A short-barrelled antique with a fat pig scrim-
veterinary advice and ideal planting times. It seems shawed into the stock. It wants you to destroy any
as though each time you open it, you always put problem you face with incredible violence, and
your finger on just the right verse. some days you can’t help but give in.
Attack with Wise vs Wyrd from Close or Ranged. Attack with Sharp from Ranged or Close.
Form: Sacred (1/1). When you Guard, an ally in Form: Sawn-Off (2/2). Roll with advantage
your area restores 1 Resolve. when attacking at Close.

Book Abilities Shotgun Abilities

Choose one at the start of the game. Get the Core Ability and choose one more at the start of the game.
† Witness. Watch closely – you’ve exposed a weakness. Core Ability: Loaded. The Shotgun is either Empty or
Once per round, when you miss with an attack, you Loaded. When it’s Loaded, you can change it to Empty to
may Focus as an immediate action. make an attack with it; when it’s Empty, you can make a
† Remake. Speak their bones back into their ordained Reload manoeuvre to change it to Loaded.
form. Mark 1 Wound to activate this ability as a
† Frantic. Kill it! Kill it now! The first time each turn you
manoeuvre. Roll Wise; on any success, an ally in your
miss with an attack, you must take 1 Resolve damage; the
area heals 3 Wounds. On any failure, an ally in your
Entity takes 2 Resolve damage.
area heals 1 Wound. If this action is performed in
† Hungry. More! MORE! At the end of your turn, if your
Support, roll with advantage.
Shotgun is Empty, you must suffer 1 Resolve damage
† Brand. Carve your dominion into its flesh. Make an attack
and make an immediate Reload action.
with the Book. If this attack hits, a Hunter in your area
† Knockback. Send it stumbling. When you inflict Resolve
or an adjacent area may Focus as an immediate action.
damage with the Shotgun, you may Reposition one
† Leash. Down, wretch. While you are in Close, when the
Hunter in Close or remove 1 Threat from your area.
Entity Repositions an ally or uses an Interrupt ability, it
† Kicking And Screaming. Never miss a chance to hurt
suffers 1 Resolve damage.
something. While you are in Close, when you reload, you
† Ward. Protective hexes shield you from the storm. While
may make an immediate 1/1 attack with Hard.
you hold a Sheltered terrain tag, it reduces damage
† Solid Shot. Thumb-sized slugs that tear and tumble. When
suffered by 2. As an immediate action on your turn, you
you make an attack with the Shotgun, you may use the
may mark 1 Wound to apply the effects of this ability to
following damage profile: 1/3.
a Hunter in your area until the end of their next turn. If
† Seeing Red. Time to die. While you are Broken, you
you do this, you no longer receive the benefit yourself.
inflict +1/+1 damage and take 0/+1 damage.
† Spur. Incite action when it is needed most. While you
have Focus, you may spend it as an immediate action
to grant advantage to other Hunters in your area.
Alternatively, you may mark 1 Wound and spend Focus
as an immediate action to allow a Hunter in your area
to re-roll a D20. You may use each of these abilities no
more than once per round.
 CORE MECHANIC COMBAT
ROLL A D20 AND COMPARE Setting Up Turn Order
Roll Sharp vs Entity’s Ranged Defence:
TO THE STAT AND TN l On a standard success, either place your token
anywhere on the grid or act before the Entity.
Result Attack Defend Explore l On a superior success, do both.
l On a crit success, do both and get an extra manoeuvre on
Under Under Success
your first turn.
Stat TN
Deal Resolve Suffer Suffer Resolve On Each Turn, pick one:
damage, Resolve damage, by-
place 1 damage pass hazard 1 attack & 1 manoeuvre 2 manoeuvres
Threat
Then the Entity gets an Interrupt if the GM so decides and
Match/ Superior Success pays the cost.
beat TN
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, Hunter Manoeuvres
damage, damage bypass hazard l Focus: Gain Focus, to a maximum of 1. You may spend
place 1 Focus to gain advantage on your next roll.
Threat l Guard: Restore 2 Resolve, or attempt to revive a dying
Hunter in your area.
Equal to Stat Critical Success l Move: Travel between two adjacent (flat sides only) grid
areas.
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, l Reload: Regain 1 Capacity on a Weapon you are
damage +2, damage; bypass hazard, holding, up to its maximum.
place 1 if Thrall, and reduce l Take Cover: Claim a terrain tag – roll Strong for
Threat reduce Doom by 1 Elevated or Quick for Sheltered. On a failure either:
Doom by 1 l Suffer 1 Resolve damage as you over-exert yourself;
or
Over Stat Failure l Place 1 Threat on your area as you draw attention to
yourself; or
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound l Return the terrain tag to the pool.
no threat Wound damage, do not l Use: Activate an ability, item or power as defined in its
damage bypass hazard description.

20 Critical Failure Support Area and Support Manoeuvres

When you start your turn in Support, restore Capacity to
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound max and restore 2 Resolve. You also have access to these
no threat; if Wound damage, do not support manoevures:
Thrall, add damage; if bypass hazard,
l Recover: Roll Hard. On any success, restore 4 Resolve
+1 Doom Thrall, add add +1 Doom
or 2 Wounds (your choice). On a failure, restore 2
+1 Doom
Resolve.
l Heal: Roll Wise. On a success, restore 2 Wounds to
Advantage: Roll 2d20, and Disadvantage: Roll 2d20, and
another Hunter in Support or restore 1 Wound to
the player picks which to use. the GM picks which to use.
yourself. On a failure, restore 1 Wound to another
For general rolls, players roll under their relevant stat and Hunter in Support.
check success, failure or critical success accordingly.
Terrain Types
l Elevated. Roll Strong to claim. Ranged attacks are
rolled with advantage.
l Sheltered. Roll Quick to claim. When the Entity inflicts
There is a full rules glossary available damage on you, take 1 less damage.
online, updated with the latest version
of the rules and any errata. You can
find it at rrdgames.com/hollows-
glossary or scan this code.
THE SOLDIER Play as the Soldier if you want to:
• Absorb lots of damage
• Draw attention away from your allies
• Protect and enhance other hunters

T he Crown maintains huge, inefficient and badly-

led armies – and you were one of the thousands
of soldiers that trudged into battle after battle at the
BACKGROUND: REGIMENTAL PEON . Sworn into
service before birth, you were marked as a militant by
the brand on your brow. Roll with advantage during
behest of their betters. You went AWOL after you Exploration when you: withstand horrible conditions,
saw something amidst the smoke and slaughter that march for hours, stand in the rain, etc.
destroyed your regiment single-handedly.

12 Strong 14 Hard 10 Quick 8 Sharp 7 Wise

Resolve       Wounds          
THE SPEAR THE ARMOUR
Once upon a time this was a rifle, but it doesn’t A weathered suit of half-plate, cobbled together
shoot anymore. The bayonet still works just fine. from hand-me-downs and stripped from dead
friends and enemies alike. Truth be told, you don’t
Attack with Strong from Close.
feel safe without it on.
Form: Heavy (2/3). You use Strong to attack
Attack with Hard from Close.
with this weapon, not Quick.
Form: Metal (2/1). Expend Ready to reduce Wound
damage suffered from an Entity attack by 1.

Spear Abilities Armour Abilities

Get the Core Ability and choose one more at the start of the game. Get the Core Ability and choose one more at the start of the game.
Core Ability: Arm's Reach. It’s a tiring task, but you keep Core Ability: Be Ready. At the start of a Hunt, you are Ready;
the beast at bay. Once per round, as an immediate action if you become Broken or expend Ready, you are not. You
on your turn, mark Resolve up to the amount of Threat can perform the Guard manoeuvre to become Ready again.
in your area. Remove Threat from your area equal to the Track this with a dedicated coin or token. Some abilities
Resolve marked. are only active while you are Ready; others require you to
expend Ready to activate them. Unless stated otherwise,
† Bristle. You’ve given it something to think about. Once
expending Ready is an immediate action you can perform
per round, when you miss with an attack, you may
once on your turn.
remove 1 Threat from your area or an adjacent area as
an immediate action. † Resolute. Your anger is yours and yours alone; use it.
† Goad. The stupid creature is two steps behind you. When Once per round, when you miss with an attack, you may
you Guard, you may also place 1 Threat on your area become Ready as an immediate action.
or an adjacent area, or Shift 1 Threat in your area or an † Bulwark. Everyone cowers while you alone weather the
adjacent area. storm. While you are Ready, allies in your area restore
† Trap. Just try and take me down. While you are in a +1 Resolve when they Guard. Expend Ready to grant an
Close area with 3 or more Threat on it, make attack immediate Guard manoeuvre to an ally in your area.
rolls with advantage. † Control. You unravel the chaos of combat into reason. At
† Pierce. Gouge a hole in its guts. While you are in Flank, the end of your turn, while you are Ready, Shift one
inflict +0/+1. threat in your or an adjacent area. Expend Ready to
† Back-To-Back. There’s more of us than there are of them. grant an ally in your area an immediate Reload, Take
At the end of your turn, restore Resolve equal to the Cover or Move manoeuvre.
number of allies in your area, and every ally in your † Stoic. You can endure anything. At the start of your
area restores 1 Resolve. turn, while you are Ready, restore 1 Resolve.
† Decoy. A sacrifice worth making. When an ally makes a † Martyr. Your body bears a litany of scars. When an ally
ranged attack through your area, they gain +1/+1. in your area would suffer Wound damage, you may
expend Ready; they take no damage, and you take the
inflicted Wound damage -1 instead.
† Masochist. Violence makes the heart grow stronger.
When you suffer Resolve damage from an entity attack,
expend Ready to restore 1 Wound.
 CORE MECHANIC COMBAT
ROLL A D20 AND COMPARE Setting Up Turn Order
Roll Sharp vs Entity’s Ranged Defence:
TO THE STAT AND TN l On a standard success, either place your token
anywhere on the grid or act before the Entity.
Result Attack Defend Explore l On a superior success, do both.
l On a crit success, do both and get an extra manoeuvre on
Under Under Success
your first turn.
Stat TN
Deal Resolve Suffer Suffer Resolve On Each Turn, pick one:
damage, Resolve damage, by-
place 1 damage pass hazard 1 attack & 1 manoeuvre 2 manoeuvres
Threat
Then the Entity gets an Interrupt if the GM so decides and
Match/ Superior Success pays the cost.
beat TN
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, Hunter Manoeuvres
damage, damage bypass hazard l Focus: Gain Focus, to a maximum of 1. You may spend
place 1 Focus to gain advantage on your next roll.
Threat l Guard: Restore 2 Resolve, or attempt to revive a dying
Hunter in your area.
Equal to Stat Critical Success l Move: Travel between two adjacent (flat sides only) grid
areas.
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, l Reload: Regain 1 Capacity on a Weapon you are
damage +2, damage; bypass hazard, holding, up to its maximum.
place 1 if Thrall, and reduce l Take Cover: Claim a terrain tag – roll Strong for
Threat reduce Doom by 1 Elevated or Quick for Sheltered. On a failure either:
Doom by 1 l Suffer 1 Resolve damage as you over-exert yourself;
or
Over Stat Failure l Place 1 Threat on your area as you draw attention to
yourself; or
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound l Return the terrain tag to the pool.
no threat Wound damage, do not l Use: Activate an ability, item or power as defined in its
damage bypass hazard description.

20 Critical Failure Support Area and Support Manoeuvres

When you start your turn in Support, restore Capacity to
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound max and restore 2 Resolve. You also have access to these
no threat; if Wound damage, do not support manoevures:
Thrall, add damage; if bypass hazard,
l Recover: Roll Hard. On any success, restore 4 Resolve
+1 Doom Thrall, add add +1 Doom
or 2 Wounds (your choice). On a failure, restore 2
+1 Doom
Resolve.
l Heal: Roll Wise. On a success, restore 2 Wounds to
Advantage: Roll 2d20, and Disadvantage: Roll 2d20, and
another Hunter in Support or restore 1 Wound to
the player picks which to use. the GM picks which to use.
yourself. On a failure, restore 1 Wound to another
For general rolls, players roll under their relevant stat and Hunter in Support.
check success, failure or critical success accordingly.
Terrain Types
l Elevated. Roll Strong to claim. Ranged attacks are
rolled with advantage.
l Sheltered. Roll Quick to claim. When the Entity inflicts
There is a full rules glossary available damage on you, take 1 less damage.
online, updated with the latest version
of the rules and any errata. You can
find it at rrdgames.com/hollows-
glossary or scan this code.
THE AGENT Play as the Agent if you want to:
• Support other Hunters.
• Manipulate the Entity’s attention.
• Draw power from inflicting Wounds.

Y ou used to collect unpaid taxes for the House – the

(supposedly) democratic government of the Isles that
sits awkwardly alongside the Crown. After an investigation
BACKGROUND: LOSS ADMINISTRATOR. You were a
high-end debt collector, going after the sort of people
who could afford to hire security and install iron vaults
led you into a Hollow, you realised that the corruption but not to pay their bloody taxes. Roll with advantage
you’d witnessed was only the tip of the iceberg, and during Exploration when you: sneak in somewhere you
you had more important things to do with your life shouldn’t be, intimidate and throw your weight around,
than kicking the tar out of someone for a few quid. deal with money, etc.

8 Strong 9 Hard 14 Quick 11 Sharp 9 Wise

Resolve         Wounds     
THE PISTOL THE SWORD
A black iron revolver with coins hammered into the A slim sabre poised to puncture eyeballs and sever
handle. You have to be accurate to inflict serious arteries. The tool of a real professional.
damage, but you love the feel of it in your hand.
Attack with Quick from Close.
Attack with Sharp from Ranged, or with Quick
Form: Noble (2/2). At any point during your
from Close.
turn you may place 1 Threat on your area. If you
Form: Revolver (2/1). Capacity 3. do so, restore 1 Resolve.

Pistol Abilities Sword Abilities

Choose one at the start of the game. Choose one at the start of the game.
† Dive Shot. Serves you right for showing off; at least you † Feint. Any fool could see this was part of your plan all
landed somewhere safe. Once per round, when you miss along. Once per round, when you miss with an attack,
with an attack, you may claim a terrain tag. you may Shift 2 Threat into or out of your area as an
† Skirmisher. Line up the perfect shot. If you Move to a immediate action.
Close area, gain +2 Quick until the start of your next † Charge. Lead from the front. If you Move to a Close
turn. If you Move to a Ranged area, gain +2 Sharp until area, Entity suffers 1 Resolve damage.
the start of your next turn. † Rally. Guide them to victory. When you Guard, an ally
† Brandish. The monster can wait; you’ve got things to do. in your area may Focus as an immediate action.
If you do not make an attack on your turn you may † Got Your Back. Gather them around you. While you are
make an additional manoeuvre (three in total). in an area with one or more other Hunters, inflict +1
† Unload. Keep shooting until it can’t get up. Expend both Resolve damage. If there is Threat in your area, other
your attack and manoeuvre actions to make a number Hunters in that area also inflict +1 Resolve damage.
of Pistol attacks equal to your current Capacity. † Exemplar. A true warrior’s mind is sharpened by danger.
† Momentum. Feels good, doesn’t it? Once per round, Once per round, during your turn, if there is Threat
when you inflict Wound damage, restore 2 Resolve. in your area, you may mark 1 Resolve to Focus as an
† Duck and Cover. Get your head down! Once per round, immediate action.
when you inflict Wound damage, you or an ally in your † War of Attrition. Draw strength from adversity. Once
area may Take Cover as an immediate action. per round, when Threat is removed from your area to
trigger or enhance an Entity action, make an immediate
Guard action.
 CORE MECHANIC COMBAT
ROLL A D20 AND COMPARE Setting Up Turn Order
Roll Sharp vs Entity’s Ranged Defence:
TO THE STAT AND TN l On a standard success, either place your token
anywhere on the grid or act before the Entity.
Result Attack Defend Explore l On a superior success, do both.
l On a crit success, do both and get an extra manoeuvre on
Under Under Success
your first turn.
Stat TN
Deal Resolve Suffer Suffer Resolve On Each Turn, pick one:
damage, Resolve damage, by-
place 1 damage pass hazard 1 attack & 1 manoeuvre 2 manoeuvres
Threat
Then the Entity gets an Interrupt if the GM so decides and
Match/ Superior Success pays the cost.
beat TN
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, Hunter Manoeuvres
damage, damage bypass hazard l Focus: Gain Focus, to a maximum of 1. You may spend
place 1 Focus to gain advantage on your next roll.
Threat l Guard: Restore 2 Resolve, or attempt to revive a dying
Hunter in your area.
Equal to Stat Critical Success l Move: Travel between two adjacent (flat sides only) grid
areas.
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, l Reload: Regain 1 Capacity on a Weapon you are
damage +2, damage; bypass hazard, holding, up to its maximum.
place 1 if Thrall, and reduce l Take Cover: Claim a terrain tag – roll Strong for
Threat reduce Doom by 1 Elevated or Quick for Sheltered. On a failure either:
Doom by 1 l Suffer 1 Resolve damage as you over-exert yourself;
or
Over Stat Failure l Place 1 Threat on your area as you draw attention to
yourself; or
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound l Return the terrain tag to the pool.
no threat Wound damage, do not l Use: Activate an ability, item or power as defined in its
damage bypass hazard description.

20 Critical Failure Support Area and Support Manoeuvres

When you start your turn in Support, restore Capacity to
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound max and restore 2 Resolve. You also have access to these
no threat; if Wound damage, do not support manoevures:
Thrall, add damage; if bypass hazard,
l Recover: Roll Hard. On any success, restore 4 Resolve
+1 Doom Thrall, add add +1 Doom
or 2 Wounds (your choice). On a failure, restore 2
+1 Doom
Resolve.
l Heal: Roll Wise. On a success, restore 2 Wounds to
Advantage: Roll 2d20, and Disadvantage: Roll 2d20, and
another Hunter in Support or restore 1 Wound to
the player picks which to use. the GM picks which to use.
yourself. On a failure, restore 1 Wound to another
For general rolls, players roll under their relevant stat and Hunter in Support.
check success, failure or critical success accordingly.
Terrain Types
l Elevated. Roll Strong to claim. Ranged attacks are
rolled with advantage.
l Sheltered. Roll Quick to claim. When the Entity inflicts
There is a full rules glossary available damage on you, take 1 less damage.
online, updated with the latest version
of the rules and any errata. You can
find it at rrdgames.com/hollows-
glossary or scan this code.
THE NOBLE Play as the Noble if you want to:
• Deal lots of Wound damage.
• Survive deadly attacks.
• Be the anchor point for the group

Y ou are the scion of one of the lesser noble families

cosying up to the King. The obligations associated
with your position saw you do some terrible things
BACKGROUND: BLUEBLOOD. Your nobility gives you
the edge in matters of etiquette and history. Roll with
advantage when you: stand on ceremony, refer to the
at your elders’ command, and you spent your days
glorious if chequered past of the Isles, dress up, impress
wracked with guilt and grief. In the depths of your
the middle classes, etc.
despair you glimpsed a great and terrible malignancy
at the heart of the Isles. It is your duty to defend this
land, and you have a soul full of sin to scrub clean.

9 Strong 11 Hard 7 Quick 13 Sharp 10 Wise

Resolve      Wounds       
THE RIFLE THE ARMOUR
A luxurious imported repeater with a walnut stock. A gorgeous peacoat embroidered with symbols of ancient
It’s heavy, but you bear the burden gladly. glory. To you, it’s as reassuring as a half-inch of steel.
Attack with Sharp from Close and Ranged. Roll Attack with Quick or Sharp from Close.
with disadvantage when you attack from Close
Form: Silk (1/1). Attack with Quick or Sharp from
with the Rifle.
Close, instead of Hard. When you Take Cover or
Form: Repeating (2/2). Capacity 4. Move, become Ready.

Rifle Abilities Armour Abilities

Get the Core Ability and choose one more at the start of the game. Get the Core Ability and choose one more at the start of the game.
Core Ability: Terribly Calm. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Core Ability: Be Ready. At the start of a Hunt, you are Ready; if
You may hold up to 5 Focus. (If you don’t have enough you become Broken or expend Ready, you are not. You can
tokens, use a D6 to keep track of your current Focus perform the Guard manoeuvre to become Ready again. Track
total.) Discard all your current Focus when you are Broken this with a dedicated coin or token. Some abilities are only active
or enter Support. Unless you have abilities which state while you are Ready; others require you to expend Ready to
otherwise, you still begin each Hunt with 0 Focus. activate them. Unless stated otherwise, expending Ready is
an immediate action you can perform once on your turn.
† Drill. Do. It. Again. Once per round, when you miss
with an attack, you may Reload as an immediate action. † Resolute. Your anger is yours and yours alone; use it.
† Pristine. Don’t let them touch you. While you have your Once per round, when you miss with an attack, you may
maximum number of Wounds, +1 to all stats. become Ready as an immediate action.
† Walk In Like You Own the Place. The decor isn’t up to † Bulwark. Everyone cowers while you alone weather the
much, but at least it’s sturdy. As an immediate action on storm. While you are Ready, allies in your area restore
your turn, you may spend Focus to immediately claim a +1 Resolve when they Guard. Expend Ready to grant an
terrain tag. immediate Guard manoeuvre to an ally in your area.
† Aim For the Head. One shot is all you need. When you † Control. You unravel the chaos of combat into reason. At
spend Focus as part of an attack, you may activate this the end of your turn, while you are Ready, Shift one
ability. Your next attack gains +1/+1 for each Focus threat in your or an adjacent area. Expend Ready to
spent, but you do not roll with advantage as you grant an ally in your area an immediate Reload, Take
normally would. Cover or Move manoeuvre.
† Satisfaction. Nothing like spilt blood to clear the mind. † Stoic. You can endure anything. At the start of your turn,
When you inflict Wound damage, gain 1 Focus. while you are Ready, restore 1 Resolve.
† Forewarned. Avoiding pain and suffering is often simply † Martyr. Your body bears a litany of scars. When an ally
a matter of not standing in the way of an enemy’s attacks. in your area would suffer Wound damage, you may
When you would suffer or mark Resolve or Wound expend Ready; they take no damage, and you take the
damage, you may discard Focus up to the amount you inflicted Wound damage -1 instead.
currently hold. Reduce damage suffered by the amount † Masochist. Violence makes the heart grow stronger.
of Focus expended. When you suffer Resolve damage from an entity attack,
expend Ready to restore 1 Wound.
 CORE MECHANIC COMBAT
ROLL A D20 AND COMPARE Setting Up Turn Order
Roll Sharp vs Entity’s Ranged Defence:
TO THE STAT AND TN l On a standard success, either place your token
anywhere on the grid or act before the Entity.
Result Attack Defend Explore l On a superior success, do both.
l On a crit success, do both and get an extra manoeuvre on
Under Under Success
your first turn.
Stat TN
Deal Resolve Suffer Suffer Resolve On Each Turn, pick one:
damage, Resolve damage, by-
place 1 damage pass hazard 1 attack & 1 manoeuvre 2 manoeuvres
Threat
Then the Entity gets an Interrupt if the GM so decides and
Match/ Superior Success pays the cost.
beat TN
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, Hunter Manoeuvres
damage, damage bypass hazard l Focus: Gain Focus, to a maximum of 1. You may spend
place 1 Focus to gain advantage on your next roll.
Threat l Guard: Restore 2 Resolve, or attempt to revive a dying
Hunter in your area.
Equal to Stat Critical Success l Move: Travel between two adjacent (flat sides only) grid
areas.
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, l Reload: Regain 1 Capacity on a Weapon you are
damage +2, damage; bypass hazard, holding, up to its maximum.
place 1 if Thrall, and reduce l Take Cover: Claim a terrain tag – roll Strong for
Threat reduce Doom by 1 Elevated or Quick for Sheltered. On a failure either:
Doom by 1 l Suffer 1 Resolve damage as you over-exert yourself;
or
Over Stat Failure l Place 1 Threat on your area as you draw attention to
yourself; or
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound l Return the terrain tag to the pool.
no threat Wound damage, do not l Use: Activate an ability, item or power as defined in its
damage bypass hazard description.

20 Critical Failure Support Area and Support Manoeuvres

When you start your turn in Support, restore Capacity to
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound max and restore 2 Resolve. You also have access to these
no threat; if Wound damage, do not support manoevures:
Thrall, add damage; if bypass hazard,
l Recover: Roll Hard. On any success, restore 4 Resolve
+1 Doom Thrall, add add +1 Doom
or 2 Wounds (your choice). On a failure, restore 2
+1 Doom
Resolve.
l Heal: Roll Wise. On a success, restore 2 Wounds to
Advantage: Roll 2d20, and Disadvantage: Roll 2d20, and
another Hunter in Support or restore 1 Wound to
the player picks which to use. the GM picks which to use.
yourself. On a failure, restore 1 Wound to another
For general rolls, players roll under their relevant stat and Hunter in Support.
check success, failure or critical success accordingly.
Terrain Types
l Elevated. Roll Strong to claim. Ranged attacks are
rolled with advantage.
l Sheltered. Roll Quick to claim. When the Entity inflicts
There is a full rules glossary available damage on you, take 1 less damage.
online, updated with the latest version
of the rules and any errata. You can
find it at rrdgames.com/hollows-
glossary or scan this code.
THE EXPERIMENT Play as the Experiment if you want to:
• Inflict lots of damage.
• Be fast and fragile.
• Draw strength from the Entity’s pain.

T he Conclave is a secretive order of scientists,

doctors and occultists that plumb the depths of
Hollows and the strange energies found inside. Destitute
BACKGROUND: TEST SUBJECT. After the experiments
concluded, you were left with a network of scars,
resonant metals implanted under your skin, and an
and desperate, you volunteered for experimentation and uncanny sense of the malignancies that gnaw ravenous
went under their knives several years ago. Since then at the Isles. Roll with advantage during Exploration when
you’ve been haunted by visions of unreal worlds and you: use your unnatural senses, withstand punishment or
monsters beyond reckoning – but you can find peace by torture, escape a dire situation, etc.
delving headlong into the nightmare and bleeding it dry.

7 Strong 8 Hard 14 Quick 11 Sharp 12 Wise

Resolve        Wounds     

THE KNIFE THE PISTOL

A wicked sliver of steel, twitching in your hand, A home-made hand cannon that fires huge lumps
begging to sever and silence. of lead at dreadful velocities.
Attack with Quick from Close. Attack with Sharp from Ranged. Attack with
Quick from Close.
Form: Keen (1/3).
Form: Hand Cannon (3/3). Capacity 1.

Knife Abilities Pistol Abilities

Get the Core Ability and choose one more at the start of the game. Choose one at the start of the game.
Core Ability: Bleeding. When you inflict a Wound with the † Dive Shot. Serves you right for showing off; at least you
Knife, the Entity begins Bleeding. Place the Bleeding token landed somewhere safe. Once per round, when you miss
next to the Entity as a reminder. At the start of the Entity’s with an attack, you may claim a terrain tag.
turn, toss the Bleeding token like a coin. If it shows Bleeding, † Skirmisher. Line up the perfect shot. If you Move to a
the Entity retains the Bleeding status. If it shows Whole, the Close area, gain +2 Quick until the start of your next
laceration Ruptures: the Entity suffers 1 Resolve damage and turn. If you Move to a Ranged area, gain +2 Sharp until
the Bleeding status is removed. An Entity can’t Bleed more the start of your next turn.
than once at a time (if you have two Knife wielders in your † Brandish. The monster can wait; you’ve got things to do.
party, for example). Bleeding persists if the Knife-wielding If you do not make an attack on your turn you may
Hunter dies, along with any abilities which apply while the make an additional manoeuvre (three in total).
Entity is Bleeding, until the laceration Ruptures. † Unload. Keep shooting until it can’t get up. Expend both
your attack and manoeuvre actions to make a number
† Scramble. Nothing can stop you from getting where you
of Pistol attacks equal to your current Capacity.
need to be. Once per round, when you miss with an
† Momentum. Feels good, doesn’t it? Once per round,
attack, you may Move as an immediate action.
when you inflict Wound damage, restore 2 Resolve.
† Backstab. They left themselves open; it’s more their fault
† Duck and Cover. Get your head down! Once per round,
than yours. Inflict +1/+1 damage while in Rear.
when you inflict Wound damage, you or an ally in your
† Dodge. They’re going to wish they’d killed you sooner.
area may Take Cover as an immediate action.
Mark 1 Resolve to defend from an Entity attack with
Quick instead of any other stat. If you roll under
your Quick on the defend roll, you may Move to any
adjacent area as an immediate action.
† Whisper-Quick. Kill them before they can hurt you. Mark
1 Resolve to attack with Quick instead of any other stat.
If this attack inflicts Wound damage, restore 2 Resolve.
† Rivers of Blood. Bleed the bastard dry. While the Entity is
Bleeding, it suffers 2 Resolve damage at the end of its turn.
† Anointed. Daub your body in the blood of the beast.
While the Entity is Bleeding, when you end your turn
in Close, restore 2 Resolve.
 CORE MECHANIC COMBAT
ROLL A D20 AND COMPARE Setting Up Turn Order
Roll Sharp vs Entity’s Ranged Defence:
TO THE STAT AND TN l On a standard success, either place your token
anywhere on the grid or act before the Entity.
Result Attack Defend Explore l On a superior success, do both.
l On a crit success, do both and get an extra manoeuvre on
Under Under Success
your first turn.
Stat TN
Deal Resolve Suffer Suffer Resolve On Each Turn, pick one:
damage, Resolve damage, by-
place 1 damage pass hazard 1 attack & 1 manoeuvre 2 manoeuvres
Threat
Then the Entity gets an Interrupt if the GM so decides and
Match/ Superior Success pays the cost.
beat TN
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, Hunter Manoeuvres
damage, damage bypass hazard l Focus: Gain Focus, to a maximum of 1. You may spend
place 1 Focus to gain advantage on your next roll.
Threat l Guard: Restore 2 Resolve, or attempt to revive a dying
Hunter in your area.
Equal to Stat Critical Success l Move: Travel between two adjacent (flat sides only) grid
areas.
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm, l Reload: Regain 1 Capacity on a Weapon you are
damage +2, damage; bypass hazard, holding, up to its maximum.
place 1 if Thrall, and reduce l Take Cover: Claim a terrain tag – roll Strong for
Threat reduce Doom by 1 Elevated or Quick for Sheltered. On a failure either:
Doom by 1 l Suffer 1 Resolve damage as you over-exert yourself;
or
Over Stat Failure l Place 1 Threat on your area as you draw attention to
yourself; or
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound l Return the terrain tag to the pool.
no threat Wound damage, do not l Use: Activate an ability, item or power as defined in its
damage bypass hazard description.

20 Critical Failure Support Area and Support Manoeuvres

When you start your turn in Support, restore Capacity to
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound max and restore 2 Resolve. You also have access to these
no threat; if Wound damage, do not support manoevures:
Thrall, add damage; if bypass hazard,
l Recover: Roll Hard. On any success, restore 4 Resolve
+1 Doom Thrall, add add +1 Doom
or 2 Wounds (your choice). On a failure, restore 2
+1 Doom
Resolve.
l Heal: Roll Wise. On a success, restore 2 Wounds to
Advantage: Roll 2d20, and Disadvantage: Roll 2d20, and
another Hunter in Support or restore 1 Wound to
the player picks which to use. the GM picks which to use.
yourself. On a failure, restore 1 Wound to another
For general rolls, players roll under their relevant stat and Hunter in Support.
check success, failure or critical success accordingly.
Terrain Types
l Elevated. Roll Strong to claim. Ranged attacks are
rolled with advantage.
l Sheltered. Roll Quick to claim. When the Entity inflicts
There is a full rules glossary available damage on you, take 1 less damage.
online, updated with the latest version
of the rules and any errata. You can
find it at rrdgames.com/hollows-
glossary or scan this code.
 GM CHEAT SHEET
Core Mechanic Stats
Roll a D20 and compare to the stat and TN: l Strong: destructive, athletic or vicious.
l Hard: tough, resistant, grim or intimidating.
Result Attack Defend Explore l Quick: fast, decisive, sneaky or deceitful.
l Sharp: keen-eyed, aware and intelligent.
Under Under Success l Wise: intuitive, introspective or mystical.
Stat TN
Deal Resolve Suffer Suffer Resolve
damage, Resolve damage,
Health: Resolve and Wounds
Resolve is a measure of stamina, determination and
place 1 damage bypass hazard
physical fitness. Narrate Resolve damage as the target
Threat
dodging, blocking, shrugging off the pain, becoming tired,
and losing heart.
Match/ Superior Success
Wounds are a measure of how much punishment the
beat TN
target can take before its body gives up. Narrate Wound
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm,
damage as (gruesome) physical injuries.
damage, damage bypass hazard
A Hunter or Entity with 0 Resolve is Broken. Often,
place 1
Entities have an ability that triggers When First Broken.
Threat
If the Entity recovers Resolve and becomes Broken again,
this ability doesn’t trigger a second time. Successful attacks
Equal to Stat Critical Success
against a Broken target inflict the attack’s listed Wound
damage instead of Resolve.
Deal Wound Suffer no Avoid all harm,
An Entity with 0 Wounds is dead. A Hunter with
damage +2, damage; bypass hazard,
0 Wounds is usually dying. If they have any Resolve
place 1 if Thrall, and reduce
remaining, they lose it when they are reduced to 0
Threat reduce Doom by 1
Wounds. They must succeed on a Hard roll on their turn
Doom by 1
to revive themselves with 1 Resolve and 1 Wound; if they
fail, they die and awaken back at the Sanctum. A Hunter
Over Stat Failure
can revive a dying Hunter to 1 Resolve and 1 Wound by
making a Guard manoeuvre in their area and forgoing the
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound
usual Resolve recovery.
no threat Wound damage, do not
damage bypass hazard
Threat
20 Critical Failure Each time the Entity is damaged by a Hunter attack, you
must place Threat on the attacker’s area. This happens as
No damage, Suffer Suffer Wound soon as the attack is resolved, and allows you to spend
no threat; if Wound damage, do not that Threat in order to power Interrupts at the end of the
Thrall, add damage; if bypass hazard, Hunter’s turn (or other attacks as you see fit).
+1 Doom Thrall, add add +1 Doom When an Entity is attacked, you may spend Threat in
+1 Doom the attacking Hunter’s area to raise its relevant defence by
1 for each Threat spent. This raises the TN of the attack,
Advantage: Roll 2d20, and the player picks which to use. making it less likely the Hunter will inflict Wound damage.
The boost lasts for the rest of the attacking Hunter’s turn.
Disadvantage: Roll 2d20, and the GM picks which to use.
When the Entity attacks a Hunter, you may spend
For general rolls, players roll under their relevant stat and Threat in its target’s area to raise the TN of the attack by 1
check success, failure or critical success accordingly. for each Threat spent. This makes it more likely the Hunter
will suffer Wound damage. The boost lasts only for this
attack, and if the attack has multiple targets then Threat
Entity Standard Manoeuvres must be spent separately for each one.
l Advance. Reposition 1 Hunter closer to the Entity.
At the end of the Entity’s turn, you must check how
l Turn Around. All Hunters at Close are Repositioned
much Threat is on the grid. If it’s less than the Entity’s
clockwise or counter-clockwise – choose one and apply
Threat Cap, you can place Threat equal to the Entity’s
it to all targets.
Threat Per Round on the grid, spread across any grid areas
l Shrug Off. Restore 3 Resolve.
except Support, up to the Threat Cap total. If the Threat
l Hunt Down. Target all Hunters in Support. Targets
Cap has been reached, you must remove any Threat over
test Quick; on any success, they are Repositioned to
the Cap from the Grid. You cannot place additional Threat,
Ranged. On a failure, they are Repositioned to Front.
but may instead Shift the same amount of Threat as you
would have placed.
The Hound

The Tailor

The Vicar

The Bishop
You will also need:
l A coin to flip for Bleeding
l A Curse D6 for each person
l Threat tokens
l Markers for your Hunters
See p. 3 for suggestions for
what to use.
You will also need:
l A coin to flip for Bleeding
l A Curse D6 for each person
l Threat tokens
l Markers for your Hunters
See p. 3 for suggestions for
what to use.