Rating: [ 6.85 / 10.00 ]

Game Info

Title  Hot War
Author  Malcolm Craig
Book Type  Core Rules
Rank: [ 136 / 4196 ]
Genre  Alternate History
Setting  1960s
Awards 
ENnie (Nominee for Best Setting, 2009)
ENnie (Nominee for Best Writing, 2009)
Indie RPG (Indie Game of the Year Runner Up, 2008)
Indie RPG (Best Support Runner Up, 2008)
Indie RPG (Best Production Runner Up, 2008)
Indie RPG (Most Innovative Game Runner Up, 2008)

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Game Summary

London. Winter. 1963.

It is a year since the Cold War went hot.

And this was not just a nuclear war.

Far more sinister, darker weapons were deployed from the shadows.

Survival and re-building are all that matter now. But human nature and tragic circumstances mean that everyone has their own ambitions.

...a Government desperate to hold on to what remains of the country.

...military forces who wish to expand their power and influence.

...frightened and brutalised refugees who simply want a place to call home.

Into this maelstrom steps the Special Situations Group, a motley band of men and women tasked with the jobs too dirty or dangerous for anyone else.

This is Hot War: A game of friends, enemies, secrets and consequences in the aftermath.

This alternative history/horror game for three or more participants has players dealing with life a year after the apocalypse. You'll confront hidden agendas, sinister factional machinations and see the changes in relations with friends and enemies.

Hot War allows both short term and campaign play, with a system that allows the group to work out exactly the kind of game they want to play amongst the wreckage of 1960s London.

Game Editions

Notes on Editions
There are 3 editions of Hot War. Click on an individual title, below, for more information on that edition.

Game Editions

Articles

Related Articles

Article Type Issue
The Quatermass ConsolidationInformation: GeneralThe Hot War Transmission #1

Comments & Reviews

All RPGnet Reviews

See 2 Reviews | Link Reviews ]
Rating User Summary
5 + 4San Dee Jota. Hot War wasn't the monster filled, mad science fueled apocalypse I was hoping for. But it won me over anyway.
5 + 5Claus. A little girl clutches her teddy bear. Shadows creep out from the ruins around her as a red sun recedes below the horizon. Two towers defiantly resist the pull of the filthy waters of the Thames, but already one is leaning and the bridge that once joined them has long since collapsed. Something, something awful, crawls up the wall and the girl sings to her filthy teddy; "London Bridge Is falling down, Falling down, Falling down..."

All User Comments

See 6 Ratings | See 2 Comments | Add Rating ]
Rating User Comments
9 / 10Malcolm CraigSo, yes, I wrote the game. However, I do think that it very successfully blends mechanics, setting, graphic design and artwork to create a game that will tell genuinely human stories against a background of horror and desolation.
10 / 10TancredPitch-perfect setting wedded to a system precisely suited to the subject. Perhaps a niche game (Post-apocalyptic London 1963!), but taps neatly into British sci-fi like 'Day of the Triffids' and 'Quatermass' while remaining very much its own thing.

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