Hackmaster

[mhensley]

After reading the example combat, I think I'm going to pass.

Pro-tip: The combat example makes a lot more sense after you read the rules on combat.

 

[mhensley]

I should mention that I LOVE this game. It has now become my all-time favorite fantasy RPG - even over AD&D, and for me, that's saying a hell of a lot.

+1

I dare not say this too loud (for fear of jinxing myself) , but this might be the legendary chosen one that has long been looked for.

 

[Treebore]

Yeah, it doesn't "look" rules lite, but I have found a couple of games where it looks like rules will get in the way, but actually seem to disappear when the playing gets going. Hopefully that will be the case here.

 

[theemrys]

I love crunch, but there is way too much of it here for what is essentially a routine combat between three PCs and four minor monsters.

Definitely each to their own, but having read the book, I'd argue that there aren't any "minor monsters".. In HMB you basically start pretty close to an average joe with a few bits of training... so goblins are not anything to sneeze at.. especially if you're jumped.

I'm looking forward to playing through a combat this weekend, but from what I've seen and heard, it does sound like combat will flow pretty smooth as you play...

 

[SteveC]

Pro-tip: The combat example makes a lot more sense after you read the rules on combat.

Thanks for the tip, but the combat made perfect sense, it was just waaaay too involved for me these days. Back in college, I would have been all over it, (I was playing a game called Swords Path Glory--which tracked actions in 100s of a second) but that makes me think that there is a definite audience for the game and that it will be fairly successful. You just have to really be on the heavy crunch side of the crunch/fluff axis.

--Steve

 

[Nebulous]

I've preordered this and am waiting for it to show up at the hobby store. Never played the earlier incarnation although i bought a few of the books. I NEVER would have run such a game, although it looked intriguing. But the Basic...now this i might be able to get a grasp on. i'm liking 4e well enough but a gritty old school dungeon romp where you surive by wits and luck, not your superpowers, seems like a helluva fun time.

 

[Baumi]

What are the tactics in this game?

So far I would love to try a tick based System and I think the KODT Combat Explanation is superb (WOTC should hire them to do a 4E-Combatbooklet) , but I don't like that there seems many random rolls without any player influence. Defense is randomiced, Shieldpenetration (destroing the shield) is random, push back is random, knock out is random,...

Can anyone who has the book tell me some cool things about hackmaster combat that the comic ignored (they cannot show everything..)?

 

[mhensley]

What are the tactics in this game?

Pretty much just like D&D - gang up on enemies and try to roll 20's.

The main tactical choices in HMb come from weapon and armor choices. Armor makes you easier to hit (gives negatives to defense mod) but reduces the damage you take. Faster weapons allow you hit more often but don't do as much damage and may not penetrate your opponents armor. Longer weapons let you hit before shorter ones. There's a lot more tactical thinking involved in these things than in D&D. For example, the guy playing a cleric in my playtest game chose to wear no armor and just use a shield and a sword. He also pumped up the stats that added to defense. He was really hard to hit, but would take a lot of damage when it did happen.

Personally I don't find it a very hard system to run and I'm saying that as someone who found HM4 impossible to run.

 

[Agamon]

I think he meant tactics in play, as opposed to build. While it looks like a fun game to me (I like randomness, it brings out the storyteller in me), I do like more tactical games as well, like D&D.

Looking forward to checking this out... *crosses fingers that the pre-order is waiting for me at the post office*

 

[mhensley]

I think he meant tactics in play, as opposed to build. While it looks like a fun game to me (I like randomness, it brings out the storyteller in me), I do like more tactical games as well, like D&D.

I've played every version of D&D and haven't seen a whole lot of this tactic thing you speak of. I mean other than moving to set up a flank or a rogue trying to get a sneak attack. All of that is in HM as well. More advanced combat maneuvers are promised to be in AHM.