Hackmaster Basic vs. Pathfinder Basic

[rkwoodard]

this helps

Check your used book stores, physical and online. Odds are you'll be able to find an OoP game and plenty of supplements & adventures for a reasonable price.

For example, HERO 4Ed* and the Fantasy Hero supplements for that edition of the game are running about $8-14 a book. If you buy the softcover version of Hero 4th, it's about $11. So for something like $50, you'd have access to the entirety of HERO 4ths FRPG output. Add another tenner for Ultimate Martial Artist so you can get the most out of melee for everyone, and you're set.

I'm sure you could do likewise in an old game more suited to your tastes.





* not your kind of game, I know- chosen for purposes of illustration only.

Thank You. This helped alot, I already have C&C, and older games. If all I want is an easy D20 game, I have that.

So, if I am just wanting some new, I should go with HMB. If I am happy with D20....well, I am already set.

Now for some soul searching to see what I am really wanting.

R

 

[KJSEvans]

Thank You. This helped alot, I already have C&C, and older games. If all I want is an easy D20 game, I have that.

So, if I am just wanting some new, I should go with HMB. If I am happy with D20....well, I am already set.

Now for some soul searching to see what I am really wanting.

R

Glad to have been of help, btw. Whatever your final choice, I hope you have many long hours of great gaming ahead of you!

 

[mhensley]

I like simple, quick, inexpensive, with good support.

HMB fails on all 4 counts. It ain't simple or quick. Creating a full character can easily take a couple of hours and combats are long, fiddly affairs. The basic game is inexpensive but it doesn't go very far and past that is nothing but $60 books. And unless your idea of good support is one book a year, HM fails on that too.

 

[KJSEvans]

lol even when I was a new player it never took "a couple of hours" to fill a character sheet. Once you know the game you can do it in about 20 minutes. Or you can use the QSG to do it in 5.

I've played in 4 groups and none of us have ever found combat to be too long or at all fiddly. In any case, the comparison between the two games I wrote above should serve.

 

[Falstaff]

I run a weekly HackMaster campaign and we love it, so my vote is for HM!

 

[mach1.9pants]

I haven't played either, and while I love the idea of the per second combat (especially after the long turns of crunching/thought that takes place in 3E and 4E DnD) and love to geeky squee the production quality of the Hacklopedia, I would use the Pf BBox for new players. The BB is a great production and I like it more than real Pf (no Attacks of Opportunity, buff/dubuff number crunching reduced and 4E style monster blocks etc). As a beginner game with medium crunch, compared to the high crunch of Pf and HM, it ticks all the boxes. The only change I would make is to add a penalty to stealth and swimming in armour (-2/-4 medium armour and -4/-8 heavy armour, respectively)

However "simple quick inexpensive and good support" is a wide range. Which of those is the most important?

EDIT: Disclosure: as my terribly sad status says I am not gaming ATM but have been gaming (on and off) for 30 yrs. However I own and have read hundreds of rule systems including all the HM and most Pathfinder books.

 

[Sizzaxe]

Not sure if you're still looking for an opinion, but I might offer a unique perspective. I am currently playing in a PF game, and it is going okay. It wasn't the game I would have chosen but my current gaming group agreed to run a PF game first, but I can't help but see all the things HM does better--at least for me. I mean don't get me wrong, PF plays well and is as good a game as 3.5 was, maybe a little better, but I have had to "HackMasterize" some things about it. So I now call the PF game I run PathCore--for hard core PF.

For the longest time I was an AD&D 1e man through and through. Still am at heart really. But now, my preferred game is Hackmaster, and I would much rather be playing that. It's true, Paizo puts out tons of books, and they are well done. The writing is strong, and their Golarion setting is good. But they still don't quite compare to the elegance of design & "D&Dness" of Hackmaster. Nor the absolute coolness of the books Kenzerco publishes. HM really hits the sweet spot for me.

Oh, and the KCo community is more like "home" for me than other places I've tried. But I still frequent several fora.

As an aside, even though I know you didn't ask about this, but a good second choice after HM would be Castles and Crusades, but you can ask about them later if you find HM doesn't cut it for you.

Whatever you choose, have fun!

 

[rkwoodard]

Thank you.

I decided on HM Basic, with a 6 month sub to KODT. I have my 3.5 and my C&C so I realized I really wanted something different.

Plus I realized that Kenzer was located in the town I was born in (but have not been to in over 25 years).

R

 

[KJSEvans]

Awesome! You've come to KODT at a good time. On top of the strips, which remain at an outstanding level, Jolly has been working on a series of articles about the Dobo Spine, a HackMaster setting in the Kingdoms of Kalamar. They also release statted NPCs in every issue, all of which are extremely useful and fun.

 

[jbear]

I know its not entirely on topic, but I'd be very interested to hear a bit about the HERO system in comparison to Hackmaster and Pathfinder as well.

Thanks by the way to KSJEvans and GreyLord for your insights.

I really don't have an opinion, but you may like to know (if you don't already) that all the rules of Pathfinder are online and available for free. Cheaper than that is pretty darn difficult