A Year in the House of HADES

State of the House

Oops it’s been half a year since the last update!

I had to go back and read the last few posts to remember where I left off. Time moves differently in the House. As if some deep thing is pulling the whole world downwards, slowing everything down… down… down…

So, What’s New?

New house. New rules. New layout. Everything but the monsters skulking along the walls freshly painted with some poor un-survivor is new.

Since the last test, a lot of things went well. The addition of horde monsters, as well as hunters and tweaked rules made the players tense most of the time, frantic some times, and having a blast all of the time. It’s safe to say that the House of Hades is out of its alpha stage. All the rules are in place. The stage is set. The House is… not open yet, but it’s getting there.

NPCs

One of the major changes that is both exciting and horrifying are the introduction of NPCs. Players have the chance to encounter other characters moving through the mansion. Are they friendly? Are they who they say they are? Are they… to be trusted? That all depends on the player’s investigations.

Investigations

Previously, player characters had very minimal backstory leaving most of the characterization up to the players. Now however, each character will have an investigation; their true motive for being in the HOUSE of HADES. Some investigations are simple search and rescue while others may involve collecting information, destroying monsters, or even eliminating NPCs. Whether players decide to see their investigation through or choose survival above all else depends on them. Either way, the horrors of the house will change them forever.

Et al.

But hey, this isn’t a sales pitch. This is an update.

The real reason for the delay has to do with the core rules. Porcelain Dolls is getting a full make-over completely with updated rules (Thanks to playtesting in the HOUSE of HADES) but more importantly all of the jank AI art is being replaced with jank hand-made art, and I do mean hand-made.

Hand-made art takes a long time to conceptualize, but it’s all worth it in the end. I can’t say when this is going to be finished, but there’s only a few spaces left in the book, so hopefully soon!

Expect it by [invalid date format] !

Also…

Going to have to renege on that early adopter offer, but it’s okay because no one went for it anyway and good thing too.

See? Procrastination wins again!

Til’ Next Year!

-Jon Fox