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<blockquote data-quote="rounser" data-source="post: 5416944" data-attributes="member: 1106">Hackmaster is desperately in need of some good computer utilities in order to make it a bit less overwhelming, IMO.&nbsp; Cranking out some BASIC code for that purpose at the moment.It's the best of AD&amp;D 1E (cantrips, DMG, assassins, monks, edgy spells and monsters, oriental adventures honor and martial arts systems made core, anti-paladins made core and given the decent name of &quot;dark knight&quot;) and 2E (wild mages, Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog, 2E thief skill choices, select kits like the Blade and the Gladiator) plus colorful stuff from other systems, like GURPS style quirks and flaws and Rolemaster style critical hits.&nbsp; Plus house rules like armor damage, saves versus apology (which make sense under honor rules), and Byzantine emphasis on things like alignment audits.The game needs it's splats and errata to make sense, and is buggy and exploitable, riddled with DM fiat and plays up GM versus players as a feature, not a bug.&nbsp; There is a lot to love and a lot to hate here, but after you begin to identify with Hackmaster's color and attention to detail, everything else begins to seem kind of bland.It's the other extreme of the pendulum to the way WOTC's 4E has swung.&nbsp; It is the antichrist to their design philosophy.&nbsp; I think it's worth another look because with Hackmaster 4E being everything D&amp;D 4E is not, you can see it's virtues moreso than when it was released (and the shine hadn't come off of 3E yet).But without utilities, it's a mountain of rules to run.&nbsp; It intimidates me without code on my side.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rounser, post: 5416944, member: 1106"] Hackmaster is desperately in need of some good computer utilities in order to make it a bit less overwhelming, IMO. Cranking out some BASIC code for that purpose at the moment. It's the best of AD&D 1E (cantrips, DMG, assassins, monks, edgy spells and monsters, oriental adventures honor and martial arts systems made core, anti-paladins made core and given the decent name of "dark knight") and 2E (wild mages, Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog, 2E thief skill choices, select kits like the Blade and the Gladiator) plus colorful stuff from other systems, like GURPS style quirks and flaws and Rolemaster style critical hits. Plus house rules like armor damage, saves versus apology (which make sense under honor rules), and Byzantine emphasis on things like alignment audits. The game needs it's splats and errata to make sense, and is buggy and exploitable, riddled with DM fiat and plays up GM versus players as a feature, not a bug. There is a lot to love and a lot to hate here, but after you begin to identify with Hackmaster's color and attention to detail, everything else begins to seem kind of bland. It's the other extreme of the pendulum to the way WOTC's 4E has swung. It is the antichrist to their design philosophy. I think it's worth another look because with Hackmaster 4E being everything D&D 4E is not, you can see it's virtues moreso than when it was released (and the shine hadn't come off of 3E yet). But without utilities, it's a mountain of rules to run. It intimidates me without code on my side. [/QUOTE]

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