created by Lee Stemkoski
http://stemkoski.net/hex
copyright © 2023; all rights reserved
In The Dungeons of Hexahedrazar, you play as a group of four characters adventuring through dungeons as they attempt to thwart the schemes of the evil demon Hexahedrazar. Along your journey, you will fight enemies with weapons and magic, encounter wayfarers and arcane objects, and collect treasures and epic equipment, helping your characters grow stronger as they face the ever-increasing dangers that lurk in the shadows. This game features a customizable class/race character creation system, an interconnected framework of equipment, magic spells, and status conditions, and a large assortment of enemies and equipment to discover. During combat, your characters have many possible actions to consider: attacking, defending, casting magic spells, drinking potions, activating items, using special skills, or even fleeing when necessary. Furthermore, these actions are differentiated by each character’s background, current equipment, and blessings and curses
Gameplay can be either solitaire or cooperative multiplayer, and either a one-shot adventure or a six-dungeon campaign. The experience has been designed to present a balanced challenge, plenty of opportunities for strategic gameplay and luck mitigation, and enough variety to ensure replayability.
To begin playing, you will need the rulebook, two six-sided dice, a pencil and eraser, and printed copies of: the Character Sheet, the Inventory and Progress Sheet, an Enemy Tracker Sheet, one of the six Dungeon Maps, and if desired, the Quick Reference Sheet. Optionally, you can use a small cube, coin, or token to track your position in the dungeon.
There are countless stories of the eternal conflict between the forces of good and evil. It seems a foregone conclusion in all such stories that good shall prevail – an observation that has not escaped the notice of evil. What exactly is the combination of qualities, skills, and circumstances that assures victory? What must evil do to be victorious? These questions constantly occupy evil thoughts. And then, an idea slowly begins to take shape: if the good people destined for victory are converted to the side of darkness, perhaps the victory itself will be converted as well – a long-awaited triumph for evil. These are the thoughts of the demon, Hexahedrazar, forever trapped in the astral plane.
Unable to interact with the mortal realm directly, the demon focuses its otherworldly vision on a small kingdom, one similar to those from the stories the demon finds so irksome. Setting its plans into motion, Hexahedrazar commits all of its spiritual energy to corrupting six heroic adventurers, tasking them to gather and strengthen the forces of evil. Each journeys to one of the cave systems in the outskirts of the countryside surrounding the central city of the kingdom. As they arrive, they set to work immediately, with blackened souls and fiendish enthusiasm. Under the leadership and protection of these corrupted adventurers, evil shall make a stand once more.
Time passes, and unrest grows among the people of the kingdom. An unseen shadow creeps over the land, growing darker and closer each day. And then, by providence, fate, destiny – call it what you will – four new arrivals to the central city hear the rumors, and join together to investigate...