Free HackMaster supplement/adventure

[KJSEvans]

Hi folks,

Hopefully I'm posting this in the right place ... if not, I understand and welcome any flaming and apologize in advance.

With the permission of Dave Kenzer, I have written a document titled "HackMastering Kalamar" which is designed to introduce the game to new players. It answers a number of common questions -- ie "is HackMaster a joke game," "shouldn't I wait until 'Advanced' comes out," and so on -- while providing information on the default HackMaster setting, Tellene.

Furthermore, the supplement also includes a very short, one-off introductory adventure that allows new players to create quick-gen characters and try the combat/skill check system.

There will be hard copies available for free at GenCon, but if you aren't going or are curious, you are welcome to download a copy by following this link.

If you decide you want to try the game with some friends, they can access the QuickStart Character Generation guide at the Kenzer website, which is also where they can download free character records.

Enjoy,

Kurt

 

[Ktulu]

If they have groin leeches, then you're paying whether it's free or not


As saddened as I am to see Kalamar get Hacked, I'm still glad my first and favorite campaign setting lives on.

 

[ExploderWizard]

As saddened as I am to see Kalamar get Hacked, I'm still glad my first and favorite campaign setting lives on.

Have you seen the new HM Basic rules? They are no joke. I'm probably going to run my next game using HM when my current one wraps up.

 

[KJSEvans]

Have you seen the new HM Basic rules? They are no joke. I'm probably going to run my next game using HM when my current one wraps up.

For sure. HackMaster's "joke game based on a comic strip" status is very erroneous. My understanding is that the new HackMaster game will indeed be VERY serious, although it will also be a lot of fun. Kenzer & Co is extremely protective of Tellene/Kalamar, but the NPCs we'll see in a lot of adventures should fill the Hackfans' required quotient of silly/fun.

The supplement I've linked above answers a lot of those questions about how silly -- or serious -- HackMaster is meant to be, and whether or not there's a good reason to wait for "Advanced." (Hint: there's not)

 

[Treebore]

The new Hackmaster is definitely not a "joke" game. Neither was the old one, for that matter. But the new one is an opposed D20+modifiers system with a very low magic powered system that makes it feel pretty gritty.

Take 20 points of damage in this game and your going to spend a few days recovering even WITH a cleric on hand.

 

[KJSEvans]

the new hackmaster is definitely not a "joke" game. Neither was the old one, for that matter. But the new one is an opposed d20+modifiers system with a very low magic powered system that makes it feel pretty gritty.

Take 20 points of damage in this game and your going to spend a few days recovering even with a cleric on hand.

qft

 

[Ktulu]

I'm aware it's not a "joke game" Been a long-time fan of Kalamar and very knowledgeable of Kenzer's products. Just sad that Kalamar didn't go full 4e. Not that It needs to, seeing how it's mostly non-system-specific.

Hope the world continues to thrive in its new system.

 

[Treebore]

I'm aware it's not a "joke game" Been a long-time fan of Kalamar and very knowledgeable of Kenzer's products. Just sad that Kalamar didn't go full 4e. Not that It needs to, seeing how it's mostly non-system-specific.

Hope the world continues to thrive in its new system.

The Kalamar 4E PDF doesn't fully convert it to 4e? The comments I saw about it said it covered pretty much everything.

I didn't buy it for myself, after about 100 hours of playing it became very clear its not a game I prefer to play.

 

[Ktulu]

Regardless of whether it does or not, everyone should buy the 4e Kalamar .pdf. One, it's updated with a lot of information that came out in later books, along with having a digital version of the atlas.

When I say I wish they went full on 4e, I mostly mean continuing to put out products in the line, as well. I'm currently putting together a 4e Kalamar game and it's a breeze, since there's very little mechanics to deal with.

The only real issues are that of some race/class options that aren't very well covered or covered at all. Dragonborn, along with the explosion of divine classes, are something that it is lacking.

I went the easy route and swapped Hobgoblins for Dragonborn--they're still Kargi and Krangi, etc.., just dragonborn instead. Didn't have to, but I think it fits the 4e better, and makes the race a bit more playable if someone's inclined.

The harder part is the divine classes. kalamar only really represents the idea of a cleric (much less so the paladin) when it comes to divine. 4e now has 5 divine classes (cleric, runepriest, paladin, avenger, and invoker), and should be respected in the Kalamar world. I'm hard at work detailing how the different classes work within the respective churches (or which ones have 0 of a class (i.e. battle ragers hate paladins. I'm sticking with that just cause it's funny)

Otherwise, to make a long post short, one can play 4e in Kalamar with almost no work. I'm going the extra mile for things I'd like to explore, but other than some (sub)races and classes, there isn't much effort required to start playing.