Month / June 2026

by guyeatsfood

Whimsymaxxing : Running Under Hollow Hills One-Shots

It’s fairly unusual that a game blows me away with entirely different gameplay to what I’ve seen before, but Under Hollow Hills has done that. It’s also really great for one-shot gaming! So here’s my guide to the game, and how to get a great one-shot out of it.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, and the chance to request articles or content, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks! Patrons also get three ready-to-run Occasions uploaded with this post – a Patreon exclusive!

Under Hollow What?

Under Hollow Hills is a Powered By The Apocalypse (PBTA) game by Megeuy and Vincent Baker. Its core gameplay system is standard PBTA, but it twists some other aspects of the system in other ways – you’ve got Plays, not Moves, and instead of choosing Attributes in character generation, you assign bonuses directly to the Plays. 

In it you play a fairy circus, travelling through Fairyland and the Mortal World, putting on shows at various Occasions. These could be a change of seasons, a funeral, a wedding – or sometimes your circus just shows up, and an audience wanders in. The core gameplay loop is that you arrive at a location, explore and find out what is up with the people there, and then put on your show – where you’re probably trying to resolve some of the problems you heard about in the first part.

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by guyeatsfood

Everything But the Bottle Of Rum – Review: Pirate Borg Starter Set

I’ve had a lot of fun running Pirate Borg, and similar games, on Unconventional GMs and elsewhere. So I’ve taken a look at the Pirate Borg Starter Set. Like all of my reviews, I’ve played it before reviewing – there’s too many reviews just based on a read through. I did one 3-hour one-shot session online, in which my players just got off the first island – which is what’s suggested in the set for a one-shot aim. I’ll be running it again at a convention later this year, face to face – which will let me use the copious bling in the set. I was sent a comp copy to review by Free League; to be honest if I hadn’t I might have bought it myself.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, and the chance to request articles or content, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

Actual Prep – Neil Gow’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse

The Actual Prep project is a chance to showcase TTRPG prep, in all its forms –  one-shot, long-form, session notes, handwritten scribbles. For this post, I’ve got somebody else’s – Neil Gow, designer of Duty & Honour and author of Liminal Case Files from the desk of Professor Cain Moore. Neil was kind enough to share his prep for an ongoing duet game of Werewolf 5e, which I’ve reproduced below. Half of my Actual Prep posts are Patreon exclusive – have I mentioned my Patreon? – but this one is going out to the masses, just 7 days after patrons have it.

1 Player

4 hours (over 2 sessions)

Ran face to face

Chatting online with Neil, this is an ongoing campaign that, while still in its infancy, has covered a lot of ground – you can do that with one-on-one games! It’s also well supported – both Neil and his player are blogging about the campaign as it goes on – so check it out there.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, and the chance to request articles or content, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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