Lazarus Long
First Post
Kenzer sent me the Hacklopedia III for review about 3 weeks ago. I've read it off an on for those three weeks and once all the way through cover-to-cover.
Initial Impressions:
The book itself is a nice soft-cover, and seemingly durable. The binding is holding up perfectly, with only a very little space developed between the cover and the pages when the book lies down.
The Cover art is intense, the front showing a half-orc being smashed face-first into a dungeon wall while the other adventurers look on with a "oh no… we have to fight THAT?" look on their faces. The back has a description of a monster whose picture is in full color (all the other illustrations are black and white): the Gummy Fiend… yep a monster made out of "gummy" bear stuff.
Flipping through the book, I first noticed that all the monsters have an illustration. Second, these monsters want to eat you… and most want to play with their food first. Some of the concepts are a tad silly, others more than a tad gross. But I enjoyed looking through the book.
The Rules:
I first started playing D&D with a friend’s older brother’s First Edition books. And reading through the monsters’ descriptions and the rules explanations made me think back to those days. The triggered memories were sweet, but I didn’t get a feeling for nostalgia. I’m glad that D&D evolved into its present incarnation. The few rules descriptions here made me appreciate 3e more.
I can’t really back up these feelings, I realize. I read a monster manual, not the actual rules.
The Monsters:
Overall, the monsters here seem a tad silly, in my opinion. The frog that flies through someone’s chest is too over the top for me, I guess. Of course, the book comes out and says that Hackmaster is a Parody of D&D, so I shouldn’t only look for "serious" monsters.
My favorite are the carnivorous faeries, I might consider the concept for my own campaigns. Their freaky, and seeing them feeding off of another faeriy’s arm chilled me.
The one I dislike the most is the Gummy Fiend. Its just plain stupid, in my opinion.
Final Impressions:
Hackmaster is not for me. I’ve heard that it’s a fun game on its own, and that the silliness enhances the play, which is totally fine- for other people. This book’s price is $20. There’s going to be eight volumes for the hacklopedia- that’s $160. Add the two rule books (I’m assuming they’re ~$30 each, but I could be wrong), and this is one expensive joke.
Initial Impressions:
The book itself is a nice soft-cover, and seemingly durable. The binding is holding up perfectly, with only a very little space developed between the cover and the pages when the book lies down.
The Cover art is intense, the front showing a half-orc being smashed face-first into a dungeon wall while the other adventurers look on with a "oh no… we have to fight THAT?" look on their faces. The back has a description of a monster whose picture is in full color (all the other illustrations are black and white): the Gummy Fiend… yep a monster made out of "gummy" bear stuff.
Flipping through the book, I first noticed that all the monsters have an illustration. Second, these monsters want to eat you… and most want to play with their food first. Some of the concepts are a tad silly, others more than a tad gross. But I enjoyed looking through the book.
The Rules:
I first started playing D&D with a friend’s older brother’s First Edition books. And reading through the monsters’ descriptions and the rules explanations made me think back to those days. The triggered memories were sweet, but I didn’t get a feeling for nostalgia. I’m glad that D&D evolved into its present incarnation. The few rules descriptions here made me appreciate 3e more.
I can’t really back up these feelings, I realize. I read a monster manual, not the actual rules.
The Monsters:
Overall, the monsters here seem a tad silly, in my opinion. The frog that flies through someone’s chest is too over the top for me, I guess. Of course, the book comes out and says that Hackmaster is a Parody of D&D, so I shouldn’t only look for "serious" monsters.
My favorite are the carnivorous faeries, I might consider the concept for my own campaigns. Their freaky, and seeing them feeding off of another faeriy’s arm chilled me.
The one I dislike the most is the Gummy Fiend. Its just plain stupid, in my opinion.
Final Impressions:
Hackmaster is not for me. I’ve heard that it’s a fun game on its own, and that the silliness enhances the play, which is totally fine- for other people. This book’s price is $20. There’s going to be eight volumes for the hacklopedia- that’s $160. Add the two rule books (I’m assuming they’re ~$30 each, but I could be wrong), and this is one expensive joke.