Hollow Earth Expedition - Wilderness Kids Adventure
Hollow Earth Expedition - Wilderness Kids Adventure
Hollow Earth Expedition - Wilderness Kids Adventure
Welcome to the first in what we hope will become a Several new Specializations, Talents, and Skills are
series of adventures designed and written to be easily available for Wilderness Kids characters (these new
accessible to young adults and children or adult players features will be posted at WWW. EXILE-
that wish to experience the joy of childhood again. The GAMES.COM).
scenarios that are offered in the Wilderness Kids are not
watered down adult adventures, but instead are fully Pre-generated characters can also be found at
realized adventures that play to the abilities and likes of WWW.EXILEGAMES.COM, and we encourage every-
a younger audience. The Wilderness Kids adventures are one to create themselves as children and share them with
not necessarily traditional Hollow Earth Expedition sce- everyone else on the HEX forums.
narios in terms of setting. The Wilderness Kids find
adventures in their neighborhoods, on camping trips, or When running a Wilderness Kids adventure for children
just going for a bike ride to the lake. The might not be their characters should never die. Some GMs may balk
fighting dinosaurs or Nazis all the time, but that’s not to at the idea of no character deaths, and each GM can
say that they couldn’t come face to face with saboteurs, make their own decision if they will follow such a rule
evil scientists, or Thule agents that are skulking about or merely heed it as a suggestion. However, the writer’s
their neighborhood. of this material strongly urge you to carefully consider
the affects of character deaths on young children. Dying
When running a Wilderness Kids adventure the GM in any game is hardly ever fun, but dying in game that is
should keep in mind his audience: Children. What works based around children can be a sticky situation, and may
well for an adult audience may not translate to a younger ruin the fun for everyone. Wilderness Kids adventures
audience and this isn’t a bad thing. It’s your job as a GM are scenarios that thrive on having fun and allowing
to pay attention to your players, what they are enjoying, young players to enjoy roleplaying on a level they can
and what they don’t care for, and steer your session to- be comfortable. These adventures, while they can be, are
wards the enjoyable pieces. Glossing over or hurrying not meant to be life lessons, after school specials, or
the points that don’t interest your players will only play “very special episodes”. Wilderness Kids adventures are
to your advantage at the end of the session as they are meant to be escapist fun that allows players of all ages
packing up their material with smiles on their faces tell- to leave the reality of the real world behind for a few
ing you how much fun they had. Forego using language hours, and enjoy the fun and excitement in the world of
that is overly complex, but at the same time don’t talk the Wilderness Kids.
down to the players. It’s a fine line that you’ll have to
tread, but you’ll know your walking it when you see While we advice that you spare characters from death,
your players having fun and enjoying your session. we don’t advice letting ANY player ever feel “safe”.
Make them fear for their characters life, make them
There are few things in life more enjoyable than running tremble at the sight of a giant robot coming to crush
an excellent scenario for a group of friends, but the thrill them, make them worry, and fret. It’s like a roller
of introducing a young person to the Ubiquity system coaster ride, everyone wants to feel the adrenaline and
and gaming for the first time may rival it. Every game is fear, but no one actually wants to get hurt. So ramp your
a chance to show players a new world, a world of excite- roller coaster up with 20 barrel rolls, swing your players
ment, fun, and challenges that can be enjoyed by a group upside down, rush them 100 miles per hour straight to-
of friends. This is the world of the Wilderness Kids, and wards the ground, but make sure when the ride is over
we hope you enjoy your time as its tour guide. they are excited about going again!
RULES VARIANTS FOR WILDERNESS KIDS Remember, the theme here is to teach children the game,
ADVENTURES not challenge adult players. If you can do both then
you’ve accomplished something special, and should take
In the scenarios featuring the Wilderness Kids there are some pride in your GM skills.
a few minor rule tweaks that affect game play:
The creators of this adventure want to thank the play
The Flaw Young (SOTSW) is not available. testers, and everyone that has shared their PC creations.
A special thanks to the entire Exile Game crew and
Children are considered to be size 0 instead of size –1. Steve Hammond, John Kahane, Robert Bree, and S.
Ross for allowing me to use them in the game.
REEL ONE: THEY LOWER THE SILVER MR. HAMMOND
SCREEN & THEN BOOM! The mysterious Stephen Hammond stands near 6’2’’,
and appears to weigh around 220 pounds. His complex-
The five PCs have received a special award for their ion always seems a bit red due to his constant blushing.
hard work cleaning up Highland Park, repainting all the A nervous man who doesn’t like to touch or be touched
benches and picnic tables in the park, and put on a talent by anyone and to aid in this he always wears gloves. His
show to raise money to restore the old covered bridge clean shaven face always appears to be baby smooth, his
that has been a staple of the park for nearly 80 years. For eyes always seem to be distracted because he never
their efforts they’ve been awarded a special Wilderness looks anyone squarely in the eye. His massive shoulders
badge, and passes to the grand opening of the new have people whispering about the possibility that he
movie: MIND-SUCKING ROBOTS FROM OUTER- might have once played football. Those who have met
SPACE, in MIND-BLASTING-O-VISION. The Wilder- him, on the few occasions he’s gone out in public, have
ness Kids are being accompanied by their PACK MAS- remarked how polite and friendly he is, but how pain-
TER: Robert Bree who is a good friend, mentor, and fully shy he appears. His purchase of the Isis Theater
father figure to the kids. Robert picked up all the kids, has helped pump some money into the local economy,
and told their parents he’d have them back right and several contractors have benefited from his many
after the movie. projects. However, a few contractors have come down
ill lately, and there are murmurs that they may have
THE LIGHTS GO DOWN AND SO come into contact with something in the theater left over
DOES from the war that has made them sick.
TROUBLE
Two robot ushers guide movie goers to Hammond explains that the Isis Theater is a
their seats, taking tickets, giving shallow state of the art, electronic, robotic master-
bows, and making sure that everything piece of perfection that will revolutionize
runs smoothly. The kids get a chance the way movie theaters are built in the
to see all the important people of their future. He directs the crowd’s atten-
community: Mayor Turner, police tion to the center of the 20-foot ceil-
commissioner Ashley, fire chief ing, and what they behold is the
Brannon, and Mr. McColl BRAIN-O-MATIC. The BRAIN-O-
the owner of McColl’s MATIC is a three foot sphere of
Soda Shoppe. As eve- chrome, wires, vacuum tubes,
ryone settles in, a mu- coils, tiny pin points of light, and
sical flourish takes four antennas that extend two
place and Mr. feet from each of the cardinal
Hammond comes into points of the ball. The four
the theater to a round antennas have red lights on
of thunderous ap- their tips, and they occasion-
plause and a standing ally blink. Hammond informs
ovation. He seems to the audience that the BRAIN-
blush at the accolades O-MATIC is his latest de-
he’s receiving, and vice, and that it, with the
asks everyone to help of his SENSOR-
please have a seat. He ENHANCER 5000, a hel-
straightens his tie, and met device that is a porcu-
brushes his black pin- pine of tubes and coils on
striped suit with huge the outside, and a red and
shoulder pads, his slicked-back black hair gleams, and green eye piece that cov-
his teeth seem to sparkle as he smiles nervously to the ers the entire face plate, brings the images on the screen
crowd. Hammond thanks everyone for coming out to the to full three-dimensional life. Hammond caps off his
premiere, and he can tell by this support that he made speech, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, the BRAIN-O-
the right choice in foregoing New York, Massachusetts, MATIC and the SENSOR-ENHANCER 5000 will allow
and California as the site for his mechanical marvel the the audience to view movies in a way that no other audi-
Isis Theater. Of course if you’re running the game in ence has ever been able…until now. This is the most
one of those states substitute it for another state. realistic 3-D that the world has ever seen, you will
SMELL the movie, FEEL the film, and it will seem as if
you’re living IN the film!” This is a perfect opportunity to introduce the dice rolling
method used in the UBIQUITY SYSTEM. Explain how
As the applause trails off, the red-faced Hammond says the dice work and how the color of the dice determines
the film will begin, and that everyone should put on how many dice are being rolled. Take your time and
their SENSOR-ENHANCER 5000s as they slowly drift make sure every player understands how the system
down from the ceiling to the audience on silver cables works.
and wires. Once on, the SENSOR-ENHANCER 5000
does not allow any cables around it to be seen. The GUIDE TIP:
lights go down, and the PCs will notice that Getting free in this manner is so easy that it is practi-
their helmets don’t fit right – they’re barely stay- cally impossible to fail, and really doesn’t need any
ing on their heads, and they are very roll. However, this is an important area to see if the
uncomfortable. players are learning the dice rolling method used
in HEX, and calculating successes. More
REFLEXIVE DEXTERITY important this part of the scene teaches
ROLL: DIFF (3) that cooperation is the key to overcoming
Successful characters easily difficult situations, and that lending a
squirm out of their seats, but those helping hand really does make a dif-
that fail start seeing strange ference.
colors, smelling rotten eggs
and sour milk, and hearing a As the movie beams into the BRAIN-O-
cacophony of feedback and buzz- MATIC it splits into a rainbow of colors
ing, and their whole body be- that erupts onto the screen, and just as
gins to tingle like when the first image of the ZEITGEIST PRO-
an arm or leg has gone to DUCTIONS’ exploding volcano em-
sleep. Other characters will blem erupts onto the screen, all of the
notice that the PC has a silly grin grown ups sit up squarely in their chairs in an
on their face. overly stiff manner. All of the grown ups feet
go together and make a military sounding
If a PC goes to help someone stomp as they all come together at once, and
trapped inside the SENSOR- then all their arms, in unison, snap out to
ENHANCER 5000 they may their armrests and lie there firmly holding
make a: the edges to the point their knuckles turn
white. Then metal bracelets snap out of
REFLEXIVE STRENGTH the chairs over the hands and the feet of
ROLL: DIFF (3) the adults firmly locking them into place.
and the trapped PC may make a:
PERCEPTION ROLL: DIFF (2)
REFLEXIVE DEXTERITY Successful PCs will notice the robotic
ROLL: DIFF (3). ushers standing at the front of the theater watching the
All of the successes are added together, and if they equal crowd carefully. If a PC should state that they are look-
3 then they have successfully freed the trapped PC who ing for the robot this roll is not necessary to locate the
suffers one round of being stunned for each round they robot. However, they will have to make the roll to notice
were trapped. the other items noted below.
Brawling 2 2 4 (2)
Con 1 3 4 (2)
Lies 4 1 5 (3+)
Craft: Electronics 6 4 10 (5)
Firearms 3 2 5 (2+)
-Ray Gun 5 1 6 (3)
Linguistics 6 1 7 (3+)
Pilot Saucer 3 2 5 (2+)
Science: 6 3 9 (4+)
Engineering
Talents
Intelligent (+1 to Intelligence)
Time Sense (always knows what time it is)
Resources
4 Usher Bots
1 Hover-Bot
1 Ray Gun
Flaw
Disfigured (when not in human suit)
Weapons
Rating Modifier Attack Avg
*Ray Gun: 2L 6 8L (4)L
Disintegrate
*Ray Gun: 1N 6 7N (3+)
Stun
Tentacle 1N 4 5N (2+)
Swipe
Languages
Robot, Ka-Haneian, English, French, and Canadian
*The ray gun has two settings (disintegrate and stun), but it
was damaged recently when Hammond dropped it on the
floor. He hasn’t had time to fix it so the gun doesn’t keep a
charge. The gun can fire only 2 disintegrator blasts, and 6