That would be me...
DM_Jeff said:
That's actually pretty funny! No, as expected I was completely referring to D&D 3.5 as my group plays and sees it. C&C is cool, however.
Anyone here actually PLAY Hackmaster sessions and have good memories to share of how the system and the rules made the session great?
-DM Jeff
First of all, you'll probably find more HackMaster bashers than supporters here largely in part because "we" all tend to hang out on the KenzerCo forums. I came here to look at a different post, stumbled on this one and had to register to respond.
Yes, there's a fair amount of useless "humor" in some of the core books and earlier modules. I saw it the first time, chuckled, and haven't "seen" it since. The real humor comes from a group of players sitting around the table. HackMaster has nothing on a bunch of guys who sat through "The Gamers" and identifies with the characters. No matter the game system, my PCs tend to make called shots to the nuts and whiz in the pool. Ok, that's a bit extreme, but stuff like that happens with most any gaming group I've been in.
As for the paper and font size.......what I've seen is comparable to the original. There were some complaints when they went to the fancier paper in the Pixie Fairy Guide. I prefer the older "crappy" paper. It's held up amazingly well. Most of my books have been taken to Kinkos, had the spine cut off, and spiral bound. That makes it a bit rough on a lot of the interior pages.
KenzerCo didn't just reprint the 1st edition rules and add a few bits....a lot of times it feels like 1st edition with their home rules added in, but a lot of the old stuff has been improved in the process. You think looking up THAC0 is a PITA? I do too....which is why the combat wheel is a gawdsend. That one tool simplifies combat immensely and does a doozy on saving throws to boot.
The game is very, very playable. Most GMs tweak things to suit their style of play and even if you wish to remain "sanctioned" so your player's can bring their PCs to a HackMaster tournament, you have a lot of flexibility. Some GMs take out the training rules, or a portion of the rules....whatever works.
Now as far as needing $300 in books to start play....I call BS. You need the GMG (available "free" for a limited time..check elsewhere on these boards), a PHB, and an adventure (battlesheets in the adventure or free for download from
www.kenzerco.com take care of the monster necessities). Bought at full price from Kenzer & Company (though they'd prefer you support your Favorite Local Game Store...FLGS) your'e looking at about $80. If you were serious about giving HackMaster a go, I'd personally recommend making a Combat Wheel and buying the GM screen...but they aren't needed.
Compare that with the current iteration of D&D. I've only played that game, not run it, so I don't know if the DM requires a Monster Manual. Also, a lot of people have started out just picking up a 1st edition Monster Manual/Adventure and adding the 20 hit point kicker. Again, whatever works.
Now I've found the rule changes and editions in 4th Edition (what we generally call HackMaster) a fun addition to the game and very playable. Like any game you have to look at what you have problems with and tweak as needed. HackMaster has a fumble chart for when you roll a 1 on an attack roll (or maybe a 2 or 3 with the "right" quirks and flaws). That chart is a d1000.......or 3d10. The first time playing it might take a while to get that you have to roll those extra dice and consult a chart. After a game or two the players know to roll those dice if they fumble.....same with the Crit table. The formula for determining the severity level seems to be a pain the first few times. Soon many players shorten the process to having a BSL (Base Severity Level) determined ahead of time....and the Combat Wheel shortends this considerably (again).
I can easily think of several times the party has scored a lucky crit at an opportune time, and even a few at an inopportune time. My next-to-last game I played in my thief backstabbed a fellow party member (alignment differences and playing style clash....no hard feelings between the players). I only had to do 10 points damage to kill the other PC, but I did a critical that could've done a total of 47 hp damage.....snapping the PCs leg like a twig. I was trying to do it on the sly since the rest of the party was engaged in some in-fighting. Everybody stopped what they were doing when I killed the other PC....."whoops, did
I do that?"
I especially like using the Honor rules to help motivate the PCs to play their professed alignments....I also enjoy the training rules...helps me keep the PCs from accumulating too much cash and makes it possible to bleed off magic items they've acquired. As a rule it's easy to give PCs "stuff", but much harder to take it away. If they need to train, I can have them give me their "stuff" quite willingly.
Also....important to note that HackMaster is a living game that is always growing and being refined. Aside from new material being published from the development team (D-Team), there is a base of fans in the HackMaster Association (yes, it really exists) that put together a quarterly publication: HackJournal. We have 21 issues already....the articles range from "fluff" pieces like "A Day in the life of....." to (only a few) new class or race features. Heck, I think I've had four or five articles published.
HackMaster does have a rather large errata, which some find an issue. The overwhelming majority of the errata has to do with issues that have come up in tournament play. Some things needed to be adjusted/tweaked to level the playing field for Official HackMaster Association Tournaments. Most of the rest is to fix problems with some errors in first-print run copies.
Overall the game is quite playable. If you'd like to check out a game, pop over to the
www.kenzerco.com/forums and scroll down to "seeking players" sub-forum. Look for a table at a local con or come to Origins or Gen Con. The big cons always have tournaments aimed at brand new players and often you can score a fair bit of swag for your efforts.
