History TabletopGame / TheUnofficialHollowKnightRPG

* AdventureFriendlyWorld: The entire point of the setting is to provide a world more suited to TTRPG adventures than Hollownest. The centerpiece is a massive tree inhabited by numerous cultures from enigmatic nomads to ruthless autocrats with a GreatBigLibraryOfEverything in its leaves and an EldritchLocation beneath its roots; while the land beyond the Great Oak has pirates, spirits, witches, monsters, and mysteries aplenty. Not to mention that the region has been thrown into instability due to a desperate war for survival due to an ongoing invasion from an OmnicidalManiac and his armies of twisted BattleThralls, adding even more chaos and conflict in which adventures might take place both in the Oak and outside of it.

* BlackMagic: Dust magic is this. Aside from being this setting's equivalent of {{Necromancy}}, dedicated to inflicting pain, hunger, and undeath, it also originates from the [[OmnicidalManiac Lord of Dust]] and causes the wielder to slowly turn evil. Just knowing it transformed the peaceful and pastoral crickets into the endlessly ravenous locusts, and it's the reason why his BattleThralls are so loyal - they're just as twisted and evil as he is.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: All wyrms possess an innate desire to forge a great civilization, but this is an impossible goal for the Sandwyrm [[WalkingWasteland whose presence spreads madness and death regardless of intent]]. Eventually it shed its skin to take a new form as the Lord of Dust, deciding that if he could not forge his own kingdom, he would steal the kingdoms of others, moving on to the next as each inevitably withered and died from his influence.

* ParasitesAreEvil: This trope is {{Downplayed}} with the ticks and fleas, who are portrayed as mostly being made up of criminals who use trickery and misdirection to pull one over on their opponents. This is implied to be due to their size rather than their parasitism though, as they need to use underhanded tactics to make up for just how much smaller they are than all of the other bugs. It's worth noting that the other two bloodsuckers, leeches and mosquitos are painted in a fairly positive light.
* ThePerfectionist: The Mantid Clans' hat. They believe in seeking perfection in everything, refusing to do almost anything publicly until it can be done flawlessly. This applies to nearly everything they do, to the point that most mantises will even refuse to lie as they consider it imperfect speech.

* ParasitesAreEvil: This trope is {{Downplayed}} with the ticks, who are portrayed as mostly being made up of criminals who use trickery and misdirection to pull one over on their opponents. This is implied to be due to their size rather than their parasitism though, as they need to use underhanded tactics to make up for just how much smaller they are than all of the other bugs and the other two bloodsuckers inhabiting the Bayou are painted in a fairly positive light.

* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: Due to their yearly hibernation cycle the cicadas didn't even realize that the Lord of Dust had invaded them until the war was already lost. Unfortunately for them they woke up just before him and his armies started to move on to the next land, and the Lord of Dust added them to his army of BattleThralls due to the utility of having soldiers who can sleep through supply shortages.

Due to the constraints of ''Hollow Knight's'' setting of Deepnest, the creators of the RPG have also made an original setting called Oakshade, meant to serve as a world more conducive to tabletop RPG adventures.

* BattleThralls: The Lord of Dust has a habit of taking a single species from each kingdom he conquers, typically against their will.

* ParasitesAreEvil: Largely {{Averted}}. Ticks are stereotyped as tricksters and criminals, but it's implied that their underhanded behavior is mostly just for the sake of survival, while the other two bloodsuckers in the Bayou are actually painted in a fairly positive light. Leeches are a culture of mystics and witch doctors who practice bloodletting and believe that in drinking the blood of a creature they can drain the guilt and sin from it as well, while mosquitos view blood as sacred for its part in their reproductive cycle, with the male mosquitos being described as living peaceful, studious lives.

* TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: The scarab who rules the desert oasis known as Sourcepool is a scarab named Nasyrin, Renowned Sultan of the Great Oasis Sourcepool, Guardian of the Sacred Waters, Gilded Lord of the Endless Sands, Kin to Wyrms, Slayer of Dragonflies, Ouster of Traitors, Master of the Dunes, and Bearer of a Thousand Honors, He Whose Ichor Flows Through the Ages.

* WorldTree: The reason why the setting is called "Oakshade." The Great Oak, also known as the God-Tree, is large enough to house an entire civilization and is said to have been created in order to shelter the bugs of the land from the scorching sun.

* AdventureFriendlyWorld: The entire point of the setting is to provide a world more suited to TTRPG adventures than Hollownest. The centerpiece is a massive tree inhabited by numerous cultures from enigmatic nomads to ruthless autocrats with a massive library in its leaves and an EldritchLocation beneath its roots; and the land beyond the Great Oak has pirates, spirits, witch doctors, monsters, ruins, a brutal barbarian horde led by an omnicidal tyrant, the heroic resistance movement trying to undermine him, and innumerable mysteries and secrets for the players to discover.

* InsectQueen: The leader of the Vespine Authority holds the title of High Queen while individual cities and provinces are ruled by Low Queens, who are also called Overseers. The society of the ants has mostly collapsed following the Sandwyrm's conquest of their lands, but they seem to have had a similar system. The bees were an aversion, as while they did have "Queens," the Apidaen Union was actually a democracy where the Queens only acted as temporary leaders in times of crisis.

* PoliticallyActivePrincess: "Princess" is the title for any of the Overseers that the High Queen deems worthy of becoming part of the line of succession, and as such any who hold the title of princess has already proven herself a competent ruler.

* WorldTree: The reason why the setting is called "Oakshade." The Great Oak, also known as the God-Tree, is large enough to house entire civilizations and is said to have been created in order to shelter the bugs of the land from the scorching sun.

* ScaryScorpions: The scorpion tribes inhabit the desert wasteland to the northeast of the Great Oak. As a culture, they're described as a horde of brutal, merciless barbarians who take from the weak, worship the Sandwyrm, and practice [[BlackMagic Dust magic]].

* InsectQueen: The leader of the Vespine Authority holds the title of High Queen while individual cities and provinces are ruled by Low Queens, who are also called Overseers. The bees were an aversion, as while they did have "Queens," the Apidaen Union was actually a democracy where the Queens only acted as temporary leaders in times of crisis.

* SapientEatSapient: It's implied that the inhabitants of the Oak don't really have much trouble with eating other sapient bugs.

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* InsectQueen: Naturally for a setting where everyone is an anthropomorphized bug, the leader of the Wasp Authority holds the title of High Queen, while individual cities and provinces are ruled by Low Queens, also called Overseers.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: [[Pun Dragonflies]], also known as Lesser Wyrms, are massive, flying, predatory bugs possessing great speed and an electric BreathWeapon.

* VirtuousBees: The bees once ruled Oakshade long ago, before they were ousted by the wasps. Not much detail is given on them, but they're described as being deeply spiritual and were willing to go into exile to avoid a bloody coup when the wasps began their rebellion, all of which paints a pretty flattering picture of the bees.
* WarriorPrince: The current High Queen of the wasps, Gorgatha, was the former Overseer of a fortress right on the frontline of the Dust war, earning a reputation as a skilled warrior and general. Due to their nature as a ProudWarriorRace this is likely quite common for wasps.
* WickedWasps: The Wasp Authority rules Oakshade, and is presented as authoritarian, [[ChurchMilitant fanatical]], and elitist, as well as discriminating against non-wasps - particularly Oakshade's remaining bee population.

* WickedWasps: The wasps are the rulers of Oakshade, and are presented as a somewhat malevolent force, being authoritarian, [[ChurchMilitant fanatical]], and particularly oppressing the bees to the point of driving most of them from the Great Oak altogether after overthrowing them. Despite this, they are also noted to be skilled and unwavering protectors of Oakshade and sworn enemies of the Dust and anything else that might threaten the Oak, so they're more morally grey than outright evil.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Dragonflies, also known as Lesser Wyrms, are massive, flying, predatory bugs possessing great speed and an electric BreathWeapon.

* WorldTree: The reason why the setting is called "Oakshade." The Great Oak is large enough to house entire civilizations and is said to have been created in order to shelter the bugs of the world from the scorching sun.

!!''The Unofficial Hollow Knight RPG'' contains examples of the following tropes:

* CuteClumsyGirl: The Clumsy trait provides a small increase to the character's Cute score, presumably in reference to this trope.

* DreamWalker: The Speak With Dreams spell allows a bug to enter the dreams of a sleeping creature. After the fact, the target doesn't fully remember what happened in the dream and is convinced that anything they were convinced of in the dream was actually their own idea.

* ManaMeter: Called "Soul," just like in ''Hollow Knight.'' Soul can be regained by resting, as well as by striking enemies with a melee weapon, and a few Mystic paths add some other methods to regain it.

** Path of the Dream: This Path allows the bug to harness the powers of mind and memory, granting them clairvoyance, the ability to communicate with spirits, and spells that allowthem to weave illusions and peer into the minds of others.

* CastFromCalories: Certain traits allow a bug to expend Belly to gain some other benefit, such as the Regeneration trair allowing a character to regain Hearts at the cost of Belly, or the Large Stomach trait allowing them to spend Belly in place of Stamina.

* PlayingWithFire: The Path of the Nightmare grants a bug control over fire,

** Path of the Spire: The "purest" Mage of the Mystic Paths, granting bonuses to all spellcasting and a very generalist choice of Arcana, including support, utility, and damage.
** Path of the Cloak: An extremely mobile Path, allowing a bug to move around the battlefield with ease and granting them Arcana that increases this capability even further, including {{Teleportation}}.
** Path of the Dream: This Path allows the bug to harness the powers of mind and memory, granting them clairvoyance, the ability to communicate with spirits, and Arcana that allows them to weave illusions and peer into the minds of others.
** Path of the Nightmare: A more sinister counterpart to the Path of Dream, allowing a bug to draw power from death and granting them Arcana that [[PlayingWithFire summon flames]] and manipulate the mind.
** Path fo the Bloom: The WhiteMage, with abilities themed around nature and healing and Arcana almost entirely devoted to support.
** Path of the Thorn: This path focuses more on the nastier parts of nature, granting the bug skill with poisons and Arcana that allow them to conjure thorns and poisons.
** Path of the Dust: The {{Necromancer}}, able to turn dead bugs into Husks under their control and use Arcana that inflicts pain, death, and madness.

* WhiteMage: The Path of Bloom grants a bug magical abilities to heal and defend their allies.

* BewaremyStingerTail: Any character with the Stinger and Prehensile Tail traits has one of these.

* MixNMatchCritters: Due to the flexibility of the game's character creation, it is full possible to make a bug with physical traits from all sorts of different arthropods, such as a bug with no shell, several dozen legs, a scorpion's tail, wings, and the ability to spin webs.