Peril Within the Hollow Earth: A Solo Hollow Earth Exploration Adventure Game

Peril Within the Hollow Earth “You found me! Thank goodness you found me! I’m Professor . . . Um . . . Uh . . . that doesn’t matter, look at my map! I’ve been in the hollow earth for years! I’ve mapped its regions, see? See, right there, that’s the Lost city of Zokar. And there is the Jungle Ruins of Omari. Those are the lands of the Reptilians, and over there is where the Legionnaires rule. And that area is where the descendants of Nazi explorers live. Be careful around them. Then that’s the Plains people, there is the Cave People, and that’s the Rainbow River. It’s all there! What was that? That roar. It’s a sabretooth, we have to find cover! Move! Quickly! This way!” You’ve entered the hollow earth. Be it by caves, beneath the sea, entering the artic, or stepping over a magical portal, you find yourself in a world curving over your head with a stationary small sun lighting the vast interior. You can be from the upper world or a native of the inner world meeting explorers from above. It’s a land of dinosaurs, magic, ancient foes, and present day friends and colleges. As you explore its vast world and the curving mountains and land overhead, you’ll meet other explorers and natives. There are dangers of every sort. You might even meet people from other times. If you’re a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidarseries, you’ll find even more adventure here Materials you will need. You will need some simple items as follows: • A Standard Deck of Playing Cards (with Jokers): I own several decks with different face card themes. You can use a standard deck or a unique one to play solo games with themes. Every card will have a different meaning as you draw one. They produce the adventures to start you on your way, a side quest, a discovery, how your character may feel, or people or creatures you will meet along the way. • Paper and pencil, or a writing program: I prefer a writing program or a spreadsheet to log in order with your ideas as you travel the world. Now, before you begin, you have to decide who you are: 1. Are you from modern time or the late 1800s? Are you an explorer, soldier, sailor, airman, scientist, or a native of the inner Earth? Are you traveling with a group or a survivor of some catastrophe? What’s your gender? Are you from the city or country? If you are a native, what landscape type are you from? Are you rich, middle class, or poor? 2. Choose Your Role: Are you on a mission, a quest, research, or exploration? Are you here because you were forced to come on direct orders, or lost and wound up in this landscape? Are you a warrior? Pacifist? Daredevil? Roll with events? Any bad habits? A risk taker or risk avoider? How old are you? How experienced are you with worldly matters? 3. Prepare your Deck: Shuffle your deck of playing cards and place the stack face down. With your character’s nature made, your role in the story selected, and your cards ready, it’s time to start your journey. Gameplay: Each card creates a new event or discovery for your character; make sure to chronicle them in order. A series of turns of fate may reflect on the card you have two cards later. 1. Draw a single card at a time from the deck. 2. The prompts below will tell you the card’s meaning by number and suit. Try to imagine the scene with all five senses. 3. Write your entry describing the moment using your senses. Imagine it’s a scene in a movie, comic, or novel, and play with it. Use that imagination! 4. After writing down your scene, draw the next card to continue your adventure. When you reach the end of the deck, you can imagine returning to where you started or using it as a cliffhanger for your next story after you shuffle the deck. You just completed “Book One” of your adventure. Create your worlds!