Is Hackmaster a joke?

[Maggan]

Why is Hackmaster a joke?

I might be a disturbed individual, but I would have liked Hackmaster to be MORE of a parody than it is. As it stands now, I get more chuckles out of comparing my 1e books to the spanking new d20 books I buy.

As to why HM is considered a joke, I think it could be in some ways explained by reading the "Foreword: Interrupt Illusion".

The word "spoof" is mentioned four times, for example once in the sentence "...given a green light to spoof the game we grew up playing.").

Also, the game is described by its designers in the same forword as a "side-splitting parody of the AD&D game".

For me it's no wonder people think Hackmaster is a joke, when the designers flat out says it's a spoof and a parody of the AD&D game. Who are we to trust, if not the designers themselves?

Hackmaster is good read, but the game is not for me.

Maggan

 

[Maggan]

Thanks for your input, thegreatbuddha

Looks to me like anybody who would spend their money on such a system is eithera die-hard powergamer or an idiot.

Well, I'm not a power-gamer, so I must be an idiot then.

Funny you calling me (among others) an idiot, just yesterday I read a posting on the KenzerCo boards where you called us who frequent these boards "sheep". Seems to be your style of posting, and I find that rather sad.

Also, you say on the KenzerCo board that you're "gonna lay down the gauntlet if somebody tries to refute my post." (The post, I assume, being the one found above on this board).

On the same topic on KenzerCo:s board, Outlaw (who also started this thread) asks Hackmaster fans the following:

"BUT, if you are going to comment, please use common sense. Calling people stupid or telling them they're wrong does not help your argument. If you want to support Hackmaster, do so intelligently and credibly. Please."

So, how is it going to be? Are Hackmaster fans going to be rabid fanatics, foaming at the mouth and calling people idiots, or are they going to be level headed fans of the game, whose opinion we can respect?

The choice is all yours thegreatbuddha. You decide whether Hackmaster fans are a joke or not.

Maggan

 

[Numion]

I've leafed through the HM books in my gaming store, and it's a damn shame they've made 3e. Because otherwise I'd try HM; it'd probably be just right for my groups style of play. The sad thing is that I can't conceive or even want our group to go back to previous edition rules. My group hated 1e and 2e; we didn't play them. 3e was godsend, and revived our hobby.

So it's too bad they've based it on (IMHO) obsolete gaming system.

 

[thegreatbuddha]

In my experience, most of the people who frequent ENworld are sheep, incapable of forming their own opinions.

I'm terribly sorry for calling you an idiot. i forgot that here on Enworld, it's perfectly fine for someone to look down their nose at hackMaster, because it's just a joke. It would certainly be out of line for someone to use irony to make a statement, since it attacks 3e and supports HackMaster. Don't take things so personally. I echoed the common sentiments I've seen here about hackMaster, but I applied them to 3e, which they ft much better.

Last but not least, I don't play hackMaster. I play 3e. i just recognize the superiority of the hackMaster system over the pile of broken rules that is 3e. There also aren't any HM players in my area.

 

[hong]

In my experience, most of the people who frequent ENworld are sheep,

Dire sheep, thankyouverymuch.

incapable of forming their own WANGERS.

I can.

 

[Numion]

In my experience, most of the people who frequent ENworld are sheep, incapable of forming their own opinions.

I don't think there's any point in calling people sheep because of their gaming preferences. ENWorlders aren't sheep because they like 3e more than HM. They're ENWOrlders because they like 3e more than HM

Just like Kenzerboarders look down on 3e (and ENWorlders). Thank good fans of different games can choose the boards they frequent.

 

[Legba]

HackMaster is a very large game, with a lot of intricate details. Of course, it also allows you to play it simply, glossing over details here and there (like not bothering to keep track of alignment infractions -- a pretty momentus task that I myself have problems managing), and simply enjoying a good game that encourages and rewards roleplaying (and at the same time punishes a lack of roleplaying). Despite it's name, HackMaster is less about the Hacking than other editions of D&D, and more about the imersion into a world where the smack must be laid down on upity NPC's. (Not to be confused with eachother. You might not want to actualy kill said NPC's.)

As I said, HackMaster is all about imersion. I find it a lot easier to get into character in this game than any other I've played. I simply take one look at the background, quirks and flaws of the character, and I'm good to go. Which is how I come to play in 3, soon to be 4, distinct campaigns at the same time. One of which (the soon to be fourth) I run myself. How seriously you play the game is, like any incarnation of D&D, entierly up to you -- HackMaster just lends itself better to other styles of play than pure hacking, is all.


Emanuel

 

[thegreatbuddha]

I didn't make the sheep comment in regards to this thread. I did it regarding the general feel I get from these boards.

Example: Hong has a question about AoOs. I respond with a ruling backed up by multiple passages from the core rulebooks.

Kreynolds doesn't like my answer, and instead decides to post a retort to my post, backed up only by something like "I remember a Sage Ruling about it," without backing his statement up.

Result: Kreynolds has a higher post count than I do, so people side with him.

Note: Before somebody runs and tells kreynolds I'm attacking him, I just used his handle because he has a high post count, he is known on the boards, and he answers a lot of the questions I see posted here.

 

[hong]

Example: Hong has a question about AoOs. I respond with a ruling backed up by multiple passages from the core rulebooks.

Kreynolds doesn't like my answer, and instead decides to post a retort to my post, backed up only by something like "I remember a Sage Ruling about it," without backing his statement up.

Result: Kreynolds has a higher post count than I do, so people side with him.

Note: Before somebody runs and tells kreynolds I'm attacking him, I just used his handle because he has a high post count, he is known on the boards, and he answers a lot of the questions I see posted here.

Geez d00d, just because you're still bitter about getting reamed out is no reason to be spreading it everywhere.

 

[thegreatbuddha]

Who's bitter? I was citing an example of what is par for course here at ENworld. This happens routinely. I notice it when it happens to others far more often than I notice it happen to me, because I no longer bother posting after somebody "famous" posts. There's no point.