I'm not very familiar with Hackmaster, but I am a fan of Knights of the Dinner Table. I have read 4 HM modules, and I can tell you that the level of detail is astounding. For example, the HM treatment of Keep on the borderlands, Little Keep on the Borderlands, really details the adventure denizens. If you like detail, you'll love HM modules.
Hackmaster?
- Thread starter cheerio730
- Start date
diaglo
Adventurer
i bought a ton of 4ed. (for those not in the know, HackMaster is the real 4ed)
the hacklopedia, the GMG, the Players guidebook, the modules, the minis, the...well just a lot of the stuff.
they even have never before released modules.
or ones made for other settings.... Like the City of Brass.
edit: and bar none the GM Screen is the best out there
the hacklopedia, the GMG, the Players guidebook, the modules, the minis, the...well just a lot of the stuff.
they even have never before released modules.
or ones made for other settings.... Like the City of Brass.
edit: and bar none the GM Screen is the best out there
I pick up a copy of the PHB every once in a while. It is never long before I put it back down. I just can't imagine choosing to play it instead of the Basic/Expert, OAD&D, or AD&D2e books that I already have. (& which are still easy to find 2nd hand for a good price.) (Or 3e or C&C or LA or LotR or Rolemaster or Hackmaster or Pendragon or Prince Valiant or GURPS Fantasy/Magic or BESM or Ars Magica.) (Or Fudge or Risus or...)
On the other hand, I'm tempted to buy some of their modules. They wouldn't be hard to use with other editions, & they look to have just enough differences from the originals to make them fresh again. But I don't tend to buy a lot of modules.
(Edited to add the one fantasy game on my shelf that I forgot: Ars Magica.)
On the other hand, I'm tempted to buy some of their modules. They wouldn't be hard to use with other editions, & they look to have just enough differences from the originals to make them fresh again. But I don't tend to buy a lot of modules.
(Edited to add the one fantasy game on my shelf that I forgot: Ars Magica.)
Last edited:
Yeah, almost all of the modules are updates of old favorites, like Annihilate the Giants, Quest for the Unknown, and White Doom Mountain.
I read somebody complaining about the complexity of it all, calling it Chartmaster, and Turnmaster(Page turning, that is). But the funny thing is I recently broke my brother and his friends, all 15 to 16 on it, and they had a blast running Little Keep on the Borderlands. I think style-wise it is a real good game to break people in on. If they've been weened on Diablo and the like they know the drill. You can then use some of the funnier skills like Snappy Comeback et. al. to get people into the game. The mandatory mechanical penalties randomly enforced at character generation personalize each character and make it easy for a new player to have hooks for his character AND make characters memorable. The real con is how money intensive it is, but for a game 5 years old that didn't go big guns you can find everything online in conditions from gently used to mint for less than half retail, even with shipping and handling. The books at the prices you can get them for are good deals as they are crammed with material(very dense, small, uncluttered B & W drawings)So for about 100 dollars you can get a lot of books.
Edit: I'd just like to add that the new players didn't think something this rules heavy was out of the ordinary, as it fits the common conception of what D & D is/used to be. A simpler time where people worried less about "immersion" and not being a "min-maxer" and more about dungeon delving.
I read somebody complaining about the complexity of it all, calling it Chartmaster, and Turnmaster(Page turning, that is). But the funny thing is I recently broke my brother and his friends, all 15 to 16 on it, and they had a blast running Little Keep on the Borderlands. I think style-wise it is a real good game to break people in on. If they've been weened on Diablo and the like they know the drill. You can then use some of the funnier skills like Snappy Comeback et. al. to get people into the game. The mandatory mechanical penalties randomly enforced at character generation personalize each character and make it easy for a new player to have hooks for his character AND make characters memorable. The real con is how money intensive it is, but for a game 5 years old that didn't go big guns you can find everything online in conditions from gently used to mint for less than half retail, even with shipping and handling. The books at the prices you can get them for are good deals as they are crammed with material(very dense, small, uncluttered B & W drawings)So for about 100 dollars you can get a lot of books.
Edit: I'd just like to add that the new players didn't think something this rules heavy was out of the ordinary, as it fits the common conception of what D & D is/used to be. A simpler time where people worried less about "immersion" and not being a "min-maxer" and more about dungeon delving.
Last edited:
Mark Plemmons
Explorer
Good story! 
Just got back from Origins, so I wanted to mention that our "Learn to Hack" events at Origins and GenCon are always full and overflowing. It's a good opportunity to create a character for some hacking (at that session or a later event), and HM PHBs are provided for all!
Just got back from Origins, so I wanted to mention that our "Learn to Hack" events at Origins and GenCon are always full and overflowing. It's a good opportunity to create a character for some hacking (at that session or a later event), and HM PHBs are provided for all!
Voadam
Legend
With Kenzer having put their Fairy Meat game up as a pdf for sale at www.dtrpg.com I am hopeful we will see more Hackmaster stuff in pdf as well soon.
IMHO, Hackmaster is a great game if you like old school and don't mind complex rules. Whereas 3.0/3.5e made a conscious shift toward simpler, more coherent rules, Hackmaster takes the complex rules of 1e and 2e and parodies their complexity. Still it is a very playable game, albeit with a sense of humor. It's best played with old school players who were around to face White Plume Mountain, the Tomb of Horrors, etc.
Similar Threads
