The following is pretty rough, and I am learning how difficult it is to write rule books which actually convey their ideas. That being said, here we are.
The Hell Game
The Hell game will be a Role Playing Game created, by me, you, and everyone else who is joining us. It will be an experience (hopefully) somewhere between hideous torture and exuberant fantasy. Together we will (hopefully) talk to otherworldly terrors and simple relatable people, explore a world in which there are no shackles of morality to hold you down since everyone gets their just desserts, and explore a plane of meaningless existence where everything has a purpose.
Below are the rules of a game about a group of people who wake up on the First Layer of Hell and delve their way down to the Ninth. I tried to write a new system stealing ideas from everything I like including AD&D, OSR, 5e, modern indie RPG's, and anything else which got in the way at the time. After reading this broad overview I hope to have given you some knowledge of how to play the game and an idea of if you would like to play.
I. What is Hell?
At the end of their days, everyone gets what they deserve and where they end up fits the life they led. Hell is one of the places where people who we can all agree are Evil end up. Hell is not for those who randomly destroyed and lashed out at the world, reveling in and creating meaninglessness, those souls end up in the all consuming Abyss. Hell is instead the nine layered pit where those who did terrible things with a purpose end up; a place for those filled with desire, passion, and the willingness to do anything to achieve their dream. Hell is not just terrible: it is terrible with a greater purpose.
Since Hell is a terrible place, terrible people and terrible actions are all around. In this horrible existence "bad" decisions almost always turn out better than what people consider to be "moral". Mercy is almost never shown, since it always brings about betrayal. Everyone has been trained to take advantage of any goodwill and thoughtfulness shown towards them, lest they simply open themselves up to be taken advantage of. Perhaps one could be "good" in Hell, rising above the petty actions, the betrayals, and the pure undeserved cruelty, but it would be for all but naught: Hell's only rewards would be internal satisfaction and external hardship.
With positive benefits removed from positive behavior, Hell provides a wonderful place to ask questions about our understanding of morality and how to act in the face of Evil. Characters will be forced to answer if they would be heroic if no one is watching and no one cares. With the Hell game I hope to provide a sandbox where characters can battle with these ideas and questions while players can contemplate and consider them.
Another aspect of Hell is that its metaphysics are significantly different from those of the "normal" world. Being the afterlife, Hell's physics don't stem from the same material interactions we see in the real world, but instead are a result of the effect of belief on reality. Rocks fall, fire burns, and F = ma not because of fundamental unbreakable laws, but instead because the inhabitants of the plane (consciously or unconsciously) believe that they will. The consequences of this effect not only physical interactions, but also everything in Hell. How smart one is is a direct consequence of how intelligent everyone (including the person in question) thinks they are. Training may make one more powerful, but only because of the interpersonal proof of competence and personal confidence it provides. This concept is baked into the structure of the game and will come up often.
Another metaphysical quirk of Hell is that its inhabitants are only dead souls. This means that unlike common understandings of metaphysics on the material planes there is no soul/body distinction between what makes up an entity, since they are all soul. Hell's denizens instead break up entities into 3 parts, Material, Mind, and Mouth. Material is the stuff which makes up people: their hair, their muscles, their horns. Physical stats, physical actions, and one's Humanity all fall under the scope of the Material. Mind is instead the internal state of the a being. What they're thinking at any given time, their plans, and their personal Traits and abilities. Finally Mouth is the outward understanding of Hell's occupants. The sense of who one is that one projects, how others interpret that projections, and the Adjectives used to describe something are all components of Mouth. These three components come together to create the inhabitants of Hell and how they exist in the plane, and is a concept which can be used to better understand how things work.
II. Who are you?
i. Character Rules
If you're reading this then chances are you're interested in being a core member of the campaign as the game goes on. The current plan is to have three to five core members of the party who can make it to most/all of the biweekly sessions and are willing to talk about, think about, answer questions about, and maybe even roleplay their characters in-between sessions. The goal is to have each of the characters be at least two dimensional with ideas, views, goals, and mannerisms different than their players, and perhaps even to be three dimensional with their own doubts, flaws, and ways of thinking. If this sounds like too much but you are still interested in being a part of the group in some way I'm planning on having opportunities to be a guest/recurring/side character or be involved in the game in another way which may work better.
If you decide to be one of the core members you can choose your character from one of the nine premade options. These have their mechanical aspects defined and a vague start to their backstory waiting to be fleshed out. The intention here is not to unduly constrict your creativity, but instead to provide help outlining an idea of the tone, themes, and mechanics of the campaign while reminding everyone that they can't undo the sins they committed before they arrived in Hell. Below I will generally explain what is on the character sheets and how each part works (hopefully) well enough to help you make a decision of which characters to play before giving an overview of each of the characters and then a description of how each session will generally function. More detailed character sheets for the premade characters will be provided somewhere else (so far I have these and this finished and published, with more coming soon).
Each character will have the classic six D&D stats which each mean approximately the same thing they do in that game as they do here. Each stat provides a bonus or penalty on checks and actions related to them based on its value (bonus/penalties done ala 3rd-5th ed D&D). In addition to stats, this system also shares the ideas of levels with D&D. Each character will start at 1st level with significant progress or actions earning them an experience point. After five such points are accumulated they will gain a level giving them additional hit points and access to or changes in powers based on who they are. Each character will also have a list of things which they get to add their level to when making related checks. They will also have a list of actions which they only have some skill in which they will instead get to add half their level (rounded up) to.
Each character also starts with two Traits, one at Rank Two and one at Rank One. Traits represent how the character sees and understands themselves in the world; a kind of quantified sense of self. If a character takes an action which falls in line with a Trait they posses they can add their level as a bonus to the action if they couldn't before (or half the level if the relatedness is kind of a stretch). In addition, each Rank of the Trait also provides the character with a new action they can take. The first Rank only provides the character the opportunity to make a check to take an action (usually outside of tense combat situations) while the second Rank gives them an action to take automatically even in tense situations. Ranks Three, Four, and Five each provide another possible action to take, each more extreme, powerful, and reality breaking than the last. The Rank of the Trait represents how ingrained in the character's psyche this aspect of who they are is, with Rank One perhaps being almost subconscious and Rank Five being a fully embraced almost all encompassing ideal which dominates the character's every waking and sleeping thought. Throughout play, a character's actions can change how they see themselves, and so change their Traits and their Traits Ranks. At the end of each session, everyone will talk about how their characters' views have changed over the course of the game and come together to decide if its caused a change in a characters Traits. Each Trait will have an "experience" bar which can be raised or lowered based on if the character's actions have reinforced or contradicted the Traits they already have. Once that bar reaches 5 points the Trait will Rank up, going up (to a maximum of Rank 5) and needing another five points to achieve the next Rank. If a bar ever goes below zero points the Trait instead Ranks down (with a Rank Zero Trait simply being removed). If a character with less than three Traits exhibits behavior which is fitting of gaining a Trait for two sessions in a row, the character acquires the new Trait at Rank One. As Traits Rank up the behavior necessary to gain points and increase Rank will become more and more extreme. An action which would have granted a point at Rank One may be necessary to simply stay at Rank Four without loosing a point. Awarding and loosing Traits means that though a character may not be who they (or you) want them to be at the start of their journey, they can change through consistent action and patience. Changes of Traits shouldn't be surprising rewards or punishments so much as the logical consequences of the actions which character take throughout the game. Since Traits represent the internal thoughts of characters, discussions on how they should change should center the character's player, since they can best understand the internal thoughts of their character.
In addition to up to three Traits, characters can also have up to three Adjectives which represent how everyone else views them. Since belief makes reality each Rank in an Adjective effects all the actions of a character, giving them a +1 per Rank to any check which lines up with the Adjective. In addition these Adjectives effect the characters who have them how their actions are carried out. In addition to the numerical bonus Rank One Adjectives change the special effect of how a related action happens while higher Ranks change everything about how a character appears to exist in the world and how others react to them. Since the game starts with their arrival none of the characters start with any Adjectives, however just like Traits their actions in game can cause them to gain them. Each Rank is gained all at once from significant actions taken by character which cause them to gain a reputation. These reputations don't have to be accurate to what the character actually behaved like, only how they are viewed by Hell and its inhabitants based on what they have heard about them. When figuring out how a character's Adjectives may have been effected at the end of a session the discussion should center everyone besides the character's player, since Adjectives represent how others see a given character as opposed to how they see themselves.
In Hell, each character also has a Stage in Humanity they are currently at. When a character first arrives in Hell they will be at the Stage closest to Human: Person. As the many hardships of Hell continue to effect the characters and they stop behaving as if they are living beings their Humanity will falter and lower. This makes them appear less whole, vibrant, and alive and instead more worn out, tiered, and corpse-like. At the end of each session if a character hasn't taken the necessary actions to uphold their current Stage of Humanity it will decay down a Stage: from Person to Wanderer, from Wanderer to Scavenger, and finally from Scavenger to Lost Soul. Each Stage requires less and less in order to maintain, and in fact are better at surviving in Hell in general. Though a Person may require a mask to keep Hell's sulfurous fumes from burning their throat, a Wanderer would be used to the pain, and won't even need to drink water to keep themselves from deteriorating to the Scavenger Stage. At the Stage of Lost Soul the only thing a character needs to do to maintain their position is have the will to live. If this is too much then the character gives up and stops being a playable entity in Hell, instead finding a place to lie down and become a part of the landscape. Perhaps they are tortured for eternity as the old man sleeping over his drink at the bar, unable to wake from their drunken stupor. Perhaps they sit down and never get up, eventually being eaten by and becoming a gnarled and spiky bush. Perhaps they simply lie in a field and are ground into dust, becoming the very substance of Hell, tread upon by and choking the throats of every other tortured being who comes after them.
Humanity can also be lost if the character takes a grievous wound which they couldn't otherwise recover from. The details of this will be further covered when talking about play below, but if a character takes a wound and doesn't have another way to recover from it, they can heal it and return to full health by going down a Stage of Humanity. It is also possible to go up the track. If a character takes a human action significantly above what is needed for their current Stage of Humanity, whether that be easting a lavish meal, taking a spa day, or something else equally refreshing, they can go up to the next Stage. Alternatively, such a lavish expenditure can be used to heal all injuries as one would by loosing a Stage without actually losing it.
In addition to the Human side of the scale, characters can also decide to instead become more Fiendish, and try to become a Devil. Just like increasing Humanity, increasing Fiendishness requires the character to spend above and beyond what is needed. Unlike Humanity, increasing Fiendishness requires the character to become Diabolical by acting like a Devil: usually through torturing another and consuming the horrible and terrifying creations of Hell. These stages go instead from Lost Soul to Nuisance to Tormentor to Fiend. Just like Humanity, greater and greater upkeep (of the Devilish kind) is required to keep these Stages and they can be sacrificed to heal. Unlike Humanity, the more Diabolical a character becomes the easier it is for them to exist in Hell. They become protected from its fires or other "natural" obstacles and instead of looking at the characters as a mark, target for torture, or a meal other Devils will look at the character as rival to be feared, respected, or envied.
Finally every character comes with a unique power which defines something only they can do. Each of these are different, so I suggest reading the summary of each of them to give you an idea of how they work. Each of these determine the main thrust of what playing each character is like, and often incorporate their own unique mechanics and the mechanics introduced above in their own unique way.
ii. Character Examples
a. Lord
The Lord was once a passionate leader who cared deeply for their domain, and ruled over it as best they could. Eventually this was used against them and they were manipulated into making terrible decisions which eventually led to not only their demise, but also that of their subjects.
The Lord's power it to be able to gain the trust of others and to act as their leader. The Lord must balance the power they can wield against their Underlings loyalty and desires.
Play the Lord if you want to be responsible for forming, holding together, and wielding the power of the most powerful alliance in Hell.
+lvl : Ruling, Combat
+lvl/2 : Oration, Strategy
Traits: Rash ● ● ○ ○ ○ Responsible ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: Edelgard von Hresvelg from FE:3H, Most GoT Characters, the Player from Kind of Dragon Pass
b. Crusader
The Crusader was a staunch defender and champion of the weak, sticking up for those who needed sticking up for. They made their life into a quest against injustice and devoted themselves to good. As time went on their quest stopped leading them to combat evil and instead brought them into conflict with innocents. Eventually their actions against those innocents left them ostracized by the community they used to stand for, which led to their demise.
The Crusader's power is to declare Oaths to themselves which grant them tremendous abilities as long as they are upheld and Pledges to Hell which grant protections as long as they serve as a proper symbol.
Play the Crusader if you want to become the ultimate champion of a cause by holding yourself to a personal code and managing your public perception.
+lvl : Combat, Evangelizing
+lvl/2 : Theology, Tactics
Traits: Stubborn ● ● ○ ○ ○ Protective ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: Miko from Oots, Arthas from Warcraft, Overzealous Paladins/Holy Warriors from everywhere
c. Priest
The Priest was once a respected healer and thinker in their community, but they let this go to their head and became corrupt in their position. Their ego and indulgences eventually caught up with them and caused them to fail their community and, ultimately, led to their demise.
As the Priest, you can find and define what is true and meaningful in Hell. By specifying a set of truths you can control what miracles you have access to and to what you will be held accountable to.
Play the Priest if you want to explore what is and isn't true for you in Hell, and gain power from you findings.
+lvl : Theology, Medicine
+lvl/2 : Combat, Science
Traits: Arrogant ● ● ○ ○ ○ Caring ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: Dr. Strange from Marvel, Jordan Peterson from The Horror Which is Real Life
d. Rebel
The Rebel was once an outcast in their community. On the edges of society, they found an organization to belong to which gave them what they needed. They used the knowledge they gained to set up their revenge on the community, which led to the downfall of themselves and everyone else involved.
As the Rebel, you get your power from both your relationships with those you left behind and those you joined in Hell. You start with contacts in the real world and in Hell who you can exchange favors with for spells and powers.
Play the Rebel if you are interested in wheeling and dealing with the powers of Hell and unfortunate souls back on Earth in exchange for power.
+lvl : Philosophy, Combat
+lvl/2 : Subterfuge, Theology
Traits: Manipulative ● ● ○ ○ ○ Sensitive ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: idk, like a communist spy or leader of a cult/splinter cell of a cult?????
e. Genius
The Genius was a respected and distinguished leader in their field, who was working on an awesome and terrible project for their organization. An outside force came and threatened the Genius, forcing them to be their agent and work against the original organization. Eventually, the Genius' betrayal was discovered, and brought about their demise.
The Genius's power is to prepare terrible and powerful spells which they can unleash to great effect. Any number of spells can be prepared or learned, the only limitation is the Genius' time, resources, and desire to do so.
Play the Genius if you want to create plans and manage resources to wield the most powerful magics and overcome the largest obstacles.
+lvl : Engineering, Math
+lvl/2 : Science, Subterfuge
Traits: Cowardly ● ● ○ ○ ○ Ingenious ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: Walter White from Breaking Bad, Rhialto the Marvelous from Vance's Dying Earth, Elon Musk from The Horror Which is Real Life
f. Villain
The Villain was a scourge on the land, spreading their dark power into all the cracks and crevices of the world. Eventually they got their hands on a captive who even the Villain couldn't bring themselves to kill, and eventually let go free. The release of the prisoner was the Villain's one redeeming act, and it brought about their demise.
The Villain's power is to invoke powerful Sorceries core to their being without relying on any outside objects, ideologies, or relationships.
Play the Villain if you want to wield terrible forces inherent to you, which no one else can have any effect on.
+lvl : Intimidation, Scheming
+lvl/2 : Philosophy, Authority
Traits: Distant ● ● ○ ○ ○ Thoughtful ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: Elric of Melniboné from Moorcock's Books, Talion from SoM, Guldan from Warcraft
g. Thief
The Thief stole with from whomever they desired with not a care in the world, spending weeks and going days without rest to take well earned prizes from their victims. This eventually all came crashing down when they acquired knowledge they shouldn't have, and brought about their own demise.
The Thief's power is to steal not only physical objects, but also the have access to take form the Material, Mind, and Mouth of anything or one encountered in Hell.
Play the Thief if you want to have a finger in everything else's things, knowledge, and relationships, and be able to take them for yourself.
+lvl : Subterfuge, Discretion
+lvl/2 : Finance, Science
Traits: Obsessed ● ● ○ ○ ○ Inquisitive ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: Cugel the Clever from Vance's Dying Earth
h. Fake
The Fake was once a member of an oppressed group who became someone else in order to escape their tormentors. They committed heinous acts in order to keep their cover until, eventually, their died after living their life as a lie.
As the Fake you are able to take on disguises and personalities in Hell. Each of these can become more or less real, perhaps even eclipsing you in the eyes of everyone else.
Play the Fake if you want to create and cultivate personalities to solve problems while trying to figure out what makes you you in the process.
+lvl : Murder, Subterfuge
+lvl/2 : Combat, Revelry
Traits: Ruthless ● ● ○ ○ ○ Comfortable ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: Bash from GLOW, a Jew who became a Nazi to escape the Holocaust
i. Performer
The Performer was once a successful artist who, upon reaching the top became corrupted by fame. They abused their powers while doing everything they could to keep others down and hide their sins. Eventually their misdeeds got out, which led to their demise.
As the Performer, you can determine the reality of Hell. You can create places to go or things to retrieve, changing the game everyone is playing.
Play the Performer if you want to forge your own reality and make the game you're playing yours.
+lvl : Artistry, Revelry
+lvl/2 : Combat, Finance
Traits: Liar ● ● ○ ○ ○ Inspirational ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Examples: Like any of the horrible artists you hear about on this godforsaken planet. everyone is problematic. everyone is canceled.
III. How does the game work?
So I've done a lot of rambling about all these systems and ideas, but how does the game actually play? How do things go down, what dice are rolled, how does it all work? This is the section where I'll try to talk about all that. There are going to be many things which are left unsaid or not given enough detail to actually play. Part of this is may be that I probably haven't thought about the question you're asking, part may be that I haven't gone into so much detail to keep this document readable, and part may be that I haven't decided how I want it to go down yet. The great thing about running your own system is if we need answers to questions we can decide them for ourselves. I'm hoping here to give a broad enough outline to let people understand the other things I've written and to also decide if they would like to play or not.
i. Structure
The overarching structure of the game which I envision is a trek of characters from the First Layer of Hell, where they wash up after their death, all the way down to the Ninth Layer where they will finally be able to meet with its Lord and perhaps achieve their goals. Though each individual character's reason for delving deeper will be unique, the need to reach the 9th is driven by the fact that in Hell any true change can only be achieved by reaching the bottom. The structure of Hell naturally divides our story into nine different parts, one for each layer. The pacing, themes, and mechanics of each layer will vary widely, but the general mechanics and ideas outlined in this document should remain relatively constant.
Its likely that between each layer I will have to take a break to get everything together for the next one, but excusing that I hope to have sessions regularly every other week when possible. The plan is to end each session early in order to give time to have a debrief/recap about what has occurred and come to an agreement as a group as to how the party has progressed. It is during this recap that we will figure out if the characters change their Experience Points, Traits, Adjectives, Humanity, or any other progress markers that may come up. This is also a great time to get a broad understanding of what will happen for the next game and if any preparations need to be done before the next session. After the game, I plan on writing up a recap to post to Discord in less than a week, containing any specific questions that need to be answered before/at the next session. After posting this the remaining week off can be used to tie up any loose ends, such as any solo actions party members wish to take or figuring out what characters absent from the previous session were doing in the meantime. This is also the time to meet up and discuss the necessary preparations for any non-core members who may want to come for the next week so we can figure out what their roll will be.
At the start of the next session I will provide the recap of the previous one and fill in the players on anything which happened between sessions that they need to know. From there the session itself will start and the process will begin again.
ii. The Game
I would be lying if I said that I fully know how all of the rules for this game will work through all Nine Layers, since I will be writing and making up a large chunk as things go along. I'll try to give enough of an overview as to not surprise anyone in this section. The basic mechanic which I'll be basing most of the game off of is the same most of D&D: rolling a die, adding bonuses, and then comparing it to a number to try to do a thing. There are the new mechanics as to what can apply bonuses which were talked about above, so I'll outline specifically what most rolls will look like with the following equation:
d20 + Stat Modifier + Level Bonus + Adjective Bonus + Misc. Modifiers
Where:
Stat Modifier is the modifier provided by the Statistic related to the action
Level Bonus is +lvl if related to Character/Trait, + lvl/2 if kinda related to Character/Trait, or +0 if not related to character
Adjective Bonus is +Rank of the highest Rank Adjective which matches with the action in question.
If this sounds confusing, don't worry, I'm sure we'll all get the hang of it after a bit and I'll be there to help you through it.
In addition to die rolls, I'd like to center in game descriptions and plans for actions. Instead of a, "There is a trap," "OK I disarm it," exchange, I'm hoping to spend more time actually describing situations and hoping that players do the same for their characters. This is important because with the addition of Traits and Adjectives, how an action is done can be more important that what is done for the game. If a character with Reckless as an Adjective disarms a trap by throwing a bomb into it they can use it to give them a bonus, while a character sneakily getting an enemy to walk into it to set it off may use this at the end of session debrief as evidence that they should improve the Rank of their Conniving Trait. In the past I have done a poor job of making space for other's ideas when doing this, so I'm planning to focus on being more accepting and generous with allowing things to work than I have been.
Above I mention HP and damage, but don't really explain the system I was thinking of using to make this all happen. In the Hell Game HP will only represent an abstract protection from damage due to rolling with the blow, getting lucky, or otherwise avoiding physical harm. When a character is reduced to 0 HP they don't suffer any immediate negative effects, but all addition damage done to them from now on will cause serious wounds to their body. This is represented by taking the damage dealt and using it as severity for the wound chart in 2nd Edition's Combat & Tactics. In this system critical hits will simply cause increased damage, making them much more likely to cause these sever wounds, but not causing them in and of themselves.
IV. Why Write Up All These Rules?
Well, I mean, it would be nice if you read them so that when we play the game we are all on the same page, but theres more than that. A big reason is just to have one place to go back to in case I forget what I have said or decided before. In addition, I hope this document has given you a feel for what the game will look like, which hopefully can help you decide if you are interested in playing in it or not. Though I have thought a lot about and worked on this for a long time, none of the rules have actually been play tested and I have shared my thoughts with very few people up to this point, (and the thoughts I have shared often have become abandoned or are no longer relevant to the game as it exists now) so please let me know if you disagree with the ideas presented, don't understand something, or have any other feedback you think would be helpful to me in designing/running this game. RPGs are nothing without players, so please be a part of this experiment with me.
V. When?
Session 0 and 1 of The Hell Game will be occurring in January 2020.
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