JRRNeiklot
First Post
Hmmm. I wonder how much the monster manuals 1-3 and Fiend Folio cost?
What Hackmaster is?
Lucias
First Post
John Q. Mayhem said:
It's not that much. You can buy the PHB and the GMG, which are packed with info and well worth their cost, and then just pick up the Monster Field Manual which has stats for the most popular monsters.
I've been in a Hackmaster group playing biweekly for over a year and a half now and we've had an absolute blast. It's just good old-fashioned fun.
Fathead
First Post
Alright...I thought that I'd pitch in my opinion. I've played D&D since the basic game came out when I was a kid. My group was also one that had the opportunity to playtest D&D 3E before it had been GREATLY refined. My group has faithfully purchased every new incarnation, and currently plays 3.5....but, we also run a Hackmaster game (we have a website dedicated to it - www.lamegamer.com).
So, here is my opinion (from someone who loves both 3.5 and Hackmaster):
Hackmaster does have a parody element to it (as evidenced by spell names, rules like "save vs. apology)...but those can be largely ignored. With that out of the way, you can make a serious campaign and the combats are FUN. Some of the rules could be organized better, but the crunchy bits are well worth it.
The game introduces things like "penetration damage" (whenever you roll damage, if you roll the highest number on a die, you continue to roll...it makes it interesting when a dagger can sometimes do 10 points of damage instead of the standard 4), critical hit charts (characters and creatures can suffer wounds to specific body parts with effects that will stay with them until it is properly healed or cured), fumbles, etc.
While combat is certainly more lethal, it is also more compelling, and makes for better stories (I've seldom heard my 3.5 group regale others with combat tales....but when they speak of the time in Hackmaster when Scrum the half-ogre was cripled by the blow of a club from a giant and had to hobble down the cliffside...that's fun!).
If you've run AD&D games and miss some of the nostalgia, this will certainly bring it back.
So, here is my opinion (from someone who loves both 3.5 and Hackmaster):
Hackmaster does have a parody element to it (as evidenced by spell names, rules like "save vs. apology)...but those can be largely ignored. With that out of the way, you can make a serious campaign and the combats are FUN. Some of the rules could be organized better, but the crunchy bits are well worth it.
The game introduces things like "penetration damage" (whenever you roll damage, if you roll the highest number on a die, you continue to roll...it makes it interesting when a dagger can sometimes do 10 points of damage instead of the standard 4), critical hit charts (characters and creatures can suffer wounds to specific body parts with effects that will stay with them until it is properly healed or cured), fumbles, etc.
While combat is certainly more lethal, it is also more compelling, and makes for better stories (I've seldom heard my 3.5 group regale others with combat tales....but when they speak of the time in Hackmaster when Scrum the half-ogre was cripled by the blow of a club from a giant and had to hobble down the cliffside...that's fun!).
If you've run AD&D games and miss some of the nostalgia, this will certainly bring it back.
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
Alzrius said:
No, that is right. The KoDT play 3rd. Here is the thread at the HM discussion boards where I asked:
http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=636694&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1
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Henry
Autoexreginated
Turanil, you're doomed. I'm sorry. 
Curiosity will probably eat at you until you pick up the Player's Handbook, if not the GMG.
One day, I'll play this game. For the time being, I can't get my group interested in it, when we have so many other great games to go through. But for the parts that made me smile:
--The races, from all the standards (human, elf, half-elf, half-orc, etc.) to "grunge elves," "gnome titans", complete with gender-damaging combat moves, to "pixie-fairies."
--The classes, from the standards (again, fighters, magic-users, illusionists, etc.) to Battle mages (what Teflon Billy in the comic is), to berserkers (who MUST fight something every day or go increasingly mad), to knight errants, to the spell-jacking that several classes employ.
--The spells themselves. Screw Metamagics! Why need them when you can have 5 versions of raise dead (including a VERY FLAWED version you can cast at 3rd level!), and sidewinder and skipping betty fireballs, and spells that make runes that can make a reader's eyes go "pop."
--The honor system, whose benefits can make purely gamist players forcibly roleplay to gain bonuses. Ever heard of having "too much honor"??? It's in here.
--Finally, complete rules on rubbing dice across famous signatures to gain luck, as well as how to properly roll dice - no more of those cheap chintzy players who just "drop a roll".
It's just pure fun for anyone who ever picked up a book before 1990.
Curiosity will probably eat at you until you pick up the Player's Handbook, if not the GMG. One day, I'll play this game. For the time being, I can't get my group interested in it, when we have so many other great games to go through. But for the parts that made me smile:
--The races, from all the standards (human, elf, half-elf, half-orc, etc.) to "grunge elves," "gnome titans", complete with gender-damaging combat moves, to "pixie-fairies."
--The classes, from the standards (again, fighters, magic-users, illusionists, etc.) to Battle mages (what Teflon Billy in the comic is), to berserkers (who MUST fight something every day or go increasingly mad), to knight errants, to the spell-jacking that several classes employ.
--The spells themselves. Screw Metamagics! Why need them when you can have 5 versions of raise dead (including a VERY FLAWED version you can cast at 3rd level!), and sidewinder and skipping betty fireballs, and spells that make runes that can make a reader's eyes go "pop."
--The honor system, whose benefits can make purely gamist players forcibly roleplay to gain bonuses. Ever heard of having "too much honor"??? It's in here.
--Finally, complete rules on rubbing dice across famous signatures to gain luck, as well as how to properly roll dice - no more of those cheap chintzy players who just "drop a roll".
It's just pure fun for anyone who ever picked up a book before 1990.
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