What is HackMaster???

[Ferret]

"Hey, my borothers a Hackmaster +12"

 

[Dinkeldog]

*snip*
The GM screen is nearly a must for the GM... And it's the best GM screen I've ever seen. It has all the complexity of 1E/2E, with a few of it's own things thrown in (All stats are now fractional, for example... the honor system... building points... )

The GM screen is a wonder of modern architecture. Saw it at GenCon and almost got it out of a fun factor, even though I'll never play the game itself.

Oh, and fractional stats aren't such an innovation, after the Cavalier came out, one of my groups house-ruled those in for all stats.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Hackmaster is D&D the way GOD intended.

 

[Tsyr]

Hackmaster is D&D the way GOD intended.

Well, yes, but... I rather think His memory is vast enough to hold all those charts... us mortals are out of luck

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Firstly, I played Hackmaster at GenConUK and really enjoyed it. It was fun, it was nostalgic (remembering how to calculate THAC0 again, argh!) and everybody died at the end.

BUT - I can't believe someone put up a post about how D&D3e is all about making money when I saw at GenConUK the Hackmaster Beasts Compendium - Book 8 or something. The number of supplements to that game seemed to me to be more than 'official' D&D3e products.

I think the basic game is very good, but I also think the joke has gone a little too far to seriously consider buying the thing. Ask yourself, do you really WANT to have a critical hits table that rolls a d1000? If yes, great. But think about it.

(But of course, getting your hands on a Hackmaster +12...that's a different story).

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Well, I haven't gotten through the GMG yet and I haven't played yet, so I don't feel qualified to get up on the HackMaster soapbox.
I did go to the HM forums, though, and found what I thought was the most descriptive post on the game, if a bit emotional. This is what Chris Seconus on the KenzerCo boards had to say:



The complete thread is here.

OK. I didn't post this to start a war over which is the "better" system. I'm simply trying to give Griswold a little more information than what he's gotten so far and I thought this described how the difference in the "feel" of the two systems might be. I think it's a great system, but I'm just an old grognard. Enjoy.

Edit: Here's another thread you might be interested in.

The trouble with HackMaster fans is that they have spent too much time defining what the game is by comparison to other games. That is, they waste effort by saying stuff like: "HM isn't d20!" or "HM is better than 3e, which sucks!" HackMaster is a good, solid game, and does not need to be defended with the increasingly tired "geeks calling geeks geeks" arguments. It does a disservice to HackMaster, because such declarations indicate doubts or misgivings about what is being defended. The only comparison I make is one of necessity - HM is a gussied up and improved version of 1e/2e AD&D. But it's more than that, and does not need to be upheld by the continual downgrading of another game.

 

[the Jester]

Haven't played HM yet, but I love the looks of it and I bought the GM's Screen months ago. It's the greatest advancement in dming technology since the Battlemat.

I would so love to run my old superhero dnd game in HM... Iron Dwarf, Dr. Magic, and the rest of those guys were hilarious.

 

[Emiricol]

A little irritating that the Kenzer guy thinks playing 3e players are idiots (which is the only thing I can conclude, reading his insulting post).

Kinda like the Dragon cartoon, Zogonia, from #299 (p12 for those who care to look it up).

I get that he likes Hackmaster, but that shouldn't give him license to bash.

 

[madriel]

We played a one-shot a couple of months ago. I've never laughed that hard when making up a character.

 

[Greylond]

3rd Edition has done one great thing for me.

It made me go seek out Hackmaster as an alternative.

I've found it to be a great game.


Greylond