How it plays

Build the ship. Out-fly the pilot.

A two-player starship duel. Bring a ship, a system loadout and a 40-card deck. Spend five action points each round to build your position, attack and defend.

Play the duel

The round

A round is a dogfight, not a pair of solo turns.

Reduce the enemy frame to zero, or force a draw from an empty deck. Trade single actions until both captains disengage, then Refresh together.

5 AP

Each round

React

Defend incoming attacks

Open

AP you can both count

Every turn

A puzzle to solve

01 · Act

Trade actions

Power a system, fire a ready weapon or play a card. Then the other captain acts.

02 · Defend

Answer a shot

An attack opens a defense window. Use ready Reactive systems and Reactions, or take the damage.

03 · Disengage

Choose your moment

The first captain to disengage takes initiative next round. The other may keep acting; both can still defend.

04 · Refresh

Reset together

After both disengage, refill AP, ready online systems unless suppressed, and draw 1 up to the hand limit.

Where the depth lives

Why a duel keeps you guessing.

Hollowstar is built around a handful of ideas that make every single turn matter. Master these and you master the fight.

Five points, real choices

Both captains have 5 AP each round. Powering hardware, shielding and firing compete for the same budget.

One action at a time

Trade actions and read what your opponent keeps ready. Attacks open a defense window before damage lands.

Defense takes preparation

A ready screen and AP can stop a shot. Multiple small attacks can exhaust defenses before the strongest attack arrives.

Hardware you can rebuild

Your loadout starts offline. Power it into play, install Programs and protect the investment from shutdown.

Five disciplines

Assault, Maneuver, Intel, Endurance and Disruption shape your deck. Their commitments determine which cards you can bring.

Timing creates openings

Boost a shot, ready a weapon for another attack or disrupt a defense. Every AP saved or spent changes the next decision.

The five disciplines

Choose how you fight.

Discipline commitments shape your deck; all cards use the same action-point budget.

Assault

Red · A

Burst attacks, heat and weapon boosts put the opponent under pressure.

Tradeoff — Spending everything on damage leaves fewer AP for defense.

Maneuver

Yellow · M

Ready weapons, repeat attacks and exploit openings after the opponent disengages.

Tradeoff — A ready weapon still needs a way to pay for its next shot.

Intel

Blue · I

Draw, Cloak and Programs reward planning your hand and hardware together.

Tradeoff — Setup consumes time and AP before it pays off.

Endurance

Green · E

Shield, repair and reclaim resources to keep your ship fighting.

Tradeoff — Defending too much can delay your own finishing attack.

Disruption

Purple · D

Exhaust, suppress and shut down systems to interrupt the opponent’s plan.

Tradeoff — Disruption needs timing: exhausting a defense after your last attack may gain nothing.

The three hulls

The chassis sets your pace.

Your ship sets its frame HP, weapon weight and signature ability.

Interceptor · Light

Cockpit and a prayer.

Hotwire

Hotwire turns a lean hand and empowered weapons into pressure.

Frame HP24
Hand limit5
MountsLight weapons

Lancer · Medium

The freighter that fights.

Vanguard 500

Vanguard builds an advantage around cloaked weapons and damage counters.

Frame HP26
Hand limit5
MountsMedium weapons

Bastion · Heavy

Make the big shot count.

KH-3 Juggernaut

Juggernaut disrupts enemy weapons while preparing its next heavy attack.

Frame HP29
Hand limit5
MountsHeavy weapons

The cards

Your ship, hardware and hand.

Your ship defines the loadout. Systems begin in its bays, offline. The forty-card deck holds Tactics, Reactions and Programs.

ART

Lodestar v2

Rare

Ship · Lancer · Meridian

26HP

mediumMounts

Ability

Meridian systems you control have +1 damage. When a Meridian system you control is exhausted, you may ready a non-weapon Meridian system.

Siege Driver

Rare

System · weapon · heavy · Weapon · Kessler

3Attack

Activate3 AP

Attack 3 damage.

Siege Protocol

Rare

Program

This weapon gets +4 damage. Attacking with it or activating it costs 1 more.

Deckbuilding

Choose your disciplines. Build your forty.

cards in your deck

3-of

copies of any one card

combat disciplines

ships · five per class

Choose a ship and legal loadout, allocate its discipline commitments, and build exactly forty cards. You can normally bring up to three copies; printed limits and restrictions still apply. The deck builder checks legality before you fly.

The vocabulary

Speak like a captain.

The words that come up most across the table.

Action points: Spend AP to Power systems, activate abilities and play cards. Both players refill to 5 at Refresh.
Frame: Your ship’s life total. Attacks hit the frame; systems have no HP.
Power: Pay a system’s Power cost to bring it online exhausted. Quick Start brings it online ready.
Offline: A system that cannot activate. It stays in its bay and can be Powered again.
Shield: Prevent the stated damage from the incoming attack. Unused shielding does not carry over.
Reactive: A system ability usable while defending against an incoming attack.
Disengage: Take no more actions this round, but keep defending against attacks. The first player to disengage gets initiative next round.
Dodge: Stop an attack completely: no damage and no on-hit rewards.
Fire: Activate a ready weapon using the Fire card’s cost instead of its base activation price. Its weapon effects and activation modifiers still apply.
Program: Install on an online system to modify it. Shutting down the host uninstalls its Programs.
Suppression: When a system would ready, remove one suppression counter instead.
Heat: At 3 heat counters, a system shuts down and loses its heat. Heat does not cool at Refresh.
Cloak: While this system is ready, the opponent cannot target it with cards or abilities.