01/19/2024 10:49 PM

Six Crowns in Hell is a really cool solo system. I've never played anything quite like it (I realize that's not saying much compared to what is out there). Every action is 2D6 versus two cards from a conventional 52-card deck. Beating both cards is a strong success, beating one card is a weak success and under or equal to both is a fail. Failure and some weak successes cause you to gain damnation points. You also use cards to build out the map, and to fight. So it kind of represents your endurance. If you run out the draw pile or accrue five damnation points, you need to get somewhere you can rest, which means you need enough cards to get away before you run out or get a sixth damnation - that's game over. Upon rest, you clear damnation, shuffle all discards back into the deck and and are supposed to write your journal entry. But the cards on the map are not discarded (cards farther than 3 cards away from you can be shuffled back in, representing hell changing when your not looking) and any cards used in a fight you ran from are still sitting in that fight, until you go back and kill that demon. You travel around hell, building the map as you go, binding lost souls (currency you can spend to get information and sometimes to avoid/reduce damnation), dealing with demons when you find them, in attempt to find and kill the six kings of hell so you can either get back to a mortal life or challenge the Great Evil in a bid for the Hell-Throne. It's different. Not quite an RPG. Maybe more of a roll-and-write feel, with less writing because most of it is handled with cards.