The Hollow Queen

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"I don’t remember how it all began. It could have started when the street lights of the dirty alley started to go off one by one. Or when a chilling wind of thick air filled the sewers. When the retired chief of police decided that putting his wife in the oven was a good idea. I remember that the news filled with bizarre crimes, comitted with citizens with no previous criminal records. Strange black altars started to appear everywhere, with new cults gathered in humid basements and abandoned factories.

But I clearly remember the first name I heard her name. It was but a whisper in the subway, repeated with reverence: The Hollow Queen. Then came the cryptic graffiti, the songs that the children sang to scare each other, the screams of the patients of the pyschiatric wards. Rumors about a portal, a chosen one... What the hell?"

The Hollow Queen is a horror noir storytelling game, inspired by "True Detective" (Season 1),  "Se7en", "30 Coins" and "Archive 81". Although set in a modern city, it can be easily transported to other periods, including dystopian futures like cyberpunk. In this city, the supernatural is not common, so events related to the Hollow Queen often test the sanity of investigators and other characters.

You don't need a game master to experience this cooperative storytelling. You can play The Hollow Queen solo or with two other friends. Draw your own city and visit places in each of its four districts as your four protagonists follow the trail of a dark and cruel force. Use the fun 10 Coins system to bet on your characters, and use the results to select prompts for each scene. Don't let the Darkness coins fill the map and watch your Light reserve if you want to frustrate the plans of the evil Queen before she ends it all.

The Hollow Queen is a hack of  La Herencia by Pepe Pedraz, and uses its 10 Monedas system.

Images thanks to Jonny Clow, Marianna Smiley y Briann Tucker (Unsplash)