HoL (sometimes written as "HōL") is a role-playing game created by Dirt Merchant Games and produced by Black Dog Game Factory, a subsidiary of White Wolf which produced adult oriented RPGs. The HoL Core Rulebook was published in 1994, and was followed up by one other supplement Buttery Wholesomeness in 1995. Although HoL is playable, it was meant as a satire of RPGs. The pages of the books are written by hand, and the authors freely take stabs at other popular role-playing games, particularly Vampire: The Masquerade and Dungeons & Dragons, and those who play them. History HoL was first published by Dirt Merchant Games in 1994 and had received acclaim as a satirical indie publication. In the 2011 book Designers & Dragons, Shannon Appelcline commented that the game was "funny and profane – even offensive – and it went against the tropes of many RPGs. Though it was probably never played that extensively, HoL did prefigure the wacky directions that indie RPGs would take in the 2000s". White Wolf Publishing published HoL in 1995 as their second new RPG not related to the World of Darkness. Hol was sufficiently adult that White Wolf was concerned it might damage the company's reputation as a publisher of entertainment intended for young adults, so White Wolf created the new imprint, Black Dog Game Factory, which published HoL and one supplement, Buttery Wholesomeness (1995). The game was published as a 140-page perfect-bound softcover book, with design by Todd Shaughnessy, Daniel Thron, and Chris Elliot, and cover art by Simon Kono. Setting HoL is a science fiction game set in the very distant future where mankind has colonized the entire galaxy. Characters in the game have been either trapped or imprisoned on the planet HoL (The Human Occupied Landfill), which is located outside the galaxy as far away as possible from everyone else. HoL is a penal colony for the scum of the galaxy as seen in the eyes of the C.O.W. (Confederation of Worlds), which is the ruling government body of the human territories. Over the centuries, mankind has colonized space through the use of the Quazi-Dimensional stardrive, which is powered by energy produced through the mating rituals of Jumpslugs, giant slugs that feed on human corpses and are tended by social rejects in full-body containment suits. The enemy of C.O.W. are the aliens known as the S.N.E.E. (Sedud Neerg Elttil Esoht, or