Bundle of Holding - Hackmaster

HackMaster is a solid OSR-style system, whether we are talking about the (parody) 4th edition or the now more than a decade-old 5th edition (which is what this current Hackmaster Bundle is all about).

Adventurer! We've resurrected (for a second time!) our March 2016 HackMaster Bundle featuring HackMaster, the tabletop fantasy roleplaying game from Kenzer and Company. Originally a parody introduced in Jolly Blackburn's long-running gaming comic Knights of the Dinner Table, HackMaster has evolved into a full-fledged, serious (well, semi-serious) FRPG. Once again this HackMaster offer – revived alongside our all-new companion offer from Kenzer, KoDT Trouble 7 – gives you everything you need for your own HM campaign, including all the core rulebooks, for an unbeatable bargain price.

For just US$12.95 you get all five titles in our Player Collection (retail value $57) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete 405-page HackMaster Player's Handbook; two volumes of priest spells, Zealot's Guide: Book 1 and Book 2; and the adventures In the Realm of the Elm King and its sequel Legacy of the Elm King.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $28.45, you'll level up and also get our entire Gamemaster Collection with three more supplements worth an additional $95, including the 370-page HackMaster GameMaster's Guide, the 387-page Hacklopedia of Beasts monster manual, and the campaign setting Frandor's Keep.

 

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Some Personal Experience with one of the KenzerCo D-Team

If you've been reading my ramblings here at the Tavern for the last couple of months you've got to have learned by now that I was a fig HackMaster player and used to volunteer for the folks over at KenzerCo.

I really considered the D-Team (Development Team) at KenzerCo as friends and when you're doing things for friends, working conventions and doing all the extra stuff I did really didn't feel like "work"....until it did and unfortunately that soured things for me. I could easily blame KenzerCo and if I layed everything out some of you may very well do so as well, but I clearly have to shoulder some of that blame not matter what.

I really try not to live with regrets and be accepting of the past that I cannot change, but one regret I have comes with souring my relationship with Steve Johannson, one of the D-Team. I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure Stevil from Knights of the Dinner Table was based on Steve Johannson and even though I think the character is an asshole, I lovingly called Steve "Stevil". This Stevil was also a character and could easily come across as an asshole, but in reality he was a great guy who had some awesomely epic rants. You'd be talking to him about something and BAM!, he'd go off on some long tirade sounding like Grandpa Simpson, but without (much) malice.\

One time when visiting the KenzerCo office, which was a hole-in-the wall small warehouse with a conference room and some odd office space (most of the guys worked from home 90% of the time), we we talking about printed modules and I mentioned I had a couple older ones that were in good shape except for some highlighting I had made. Stevil started just going off on how pristine printed adventure modules were an abomination.....an affront to gaming in general. Adventures were meant to be used and abused, dog-eared, and marked-up......basically giving up their "lives" in creating a great gaming session and memories that will last a lifetime.

For all the years volunteering for KenzerCo and with personal visits, etc., I actually had limited gaming experience with the D-Team. I wrote a tongue-in-cheek adventure for GMs at Origins one year and Stevil bellied up to an otherwise full table to play. Instead of playing an "appropriate" PC and overbalancing that table he decided to run a NPC torchbearer....a halfling IIRC. Now I was too busy GMing another table, but I remember seeing Stevil sitting on the floor, barely able to look over the table, his hand held high as he asks one of the PC's, "Do you have enough light?" At another Origins I actually got to play in a Roll-n-Run adventure (you quick roll up 1st level PCs and go on an adventure). Stevil rolled up a Magic User, which is usually considered a bit of a waste for this type of game. Since this was HackMaster 5th Edition you could (at an expensive cost) have your Magic User take a pole-arm for a weapon. For the rest of the game Stevil's Mage loved the spell he called "Cast Spear", which was of course just him using the spear like a really shitty 1st level Fighter. I also got to play at his table at GaryCon (2013) during a Sunday morning pickup game. We ran a few encounters out of the Temple of Existential Evil......I remember enjoying the game, but since it was Sunday morning at a Con...details will be lacking. I do remember the group had a barbarian so poor he had nothing but his weapon....yep, running around "adventuring" nekkid. To throw the guy a bone Stevil threw in as "loot" some nasty, used underwear just so the barbarian wouldn't be completely naked.

Well actually I did play in another of Stevil's games at GaryCon. He had a rough shell of an adventure seed that he ran a group of us through and towards the end of the adventure my Halfling Cleric saved the life of another PC using a particular spell. When that happened Stevil just freakin lit up and he had to stop and tell the rest of the D-Team what I had just done. These guys play together on the regular and when they wrote the new edition they pretty much all thought the spell I had used was pretty much useless and he/they were surprised to see if actually used for once, much less that it worked! After the game Stevil approached me with the idea of me writing/fleshing out the adventure and then he could edit it. Evidently he had the idea, but not the time to do the leg-work. I was elated at the opportunity to write a "real" adventure and went so far as to churn out a map, add art, and even do the cover. There was a drowning mechanic I wrote up, as the adventure required one. Stevil had a better mechanic and had to do some reformatting, but the adventure ended up largely as I wrote it. He even kept the title and cover (but he did change the font for the authors on the cover, which is the only change I didn't care for).

Unfortunately this was our only collaboration because initially I wasn't reimbursed for my work and since I was unemployed, taking a few days "off" to do unpaid work wasn't something I could afford to do. I HIGHLY suspect that in the end Stevil gave me $100 out of his own pocket to pay me for that adventure. I'm not really playing HackMaster anymore (but would like to!) and now that I have a good paying job I could afford to flesh-out more of Steve's ideas......

.....but unfortunately Steve passed away a year ago this weekend. Yes, I intentionally "buried the lead" (pun NOT intended, although I think he'd like that one), but I've been thinking of Steve lately and miss him more than I expected to. His "hands" were intimately involved in so much of my favorite gaming memories, basically anything involving HackMaster or Knights of the Dinner Table.

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share this here and hopefully someone here will tear off that shrink wrap on some saved adventure and start making some notes in the margins in preparation of running their home group in a dice-slinging session. You can always bag it and protect it for use again in the future.......

Bundle of Holding - HackMaster 5e

To go along with yesterday's Bundle of Holding Post (KotDT) we now share with you the HackMaster 5e Bundle of Holding. HM 4e was the AD&D 2e riff that was a fun reimagining. (read the Wikipedia article for the history of how Hackmaster came to be) I dont have much experience with HackMaster 5e.

$12.95 gets you in the door. About $28 bucks gets you the rest of the collection. Somewhere I have a print copy of HM Basic (the first 5 levels of HM 5e) but again, I don't have experience with the system.

Bundle of Holding - Hackmaster 5e

Hackmaster 5e is the latest RPG collection to hit Bundle of Holding. Unlike the concurrent OpenQuest 2 and Classic Paranoia Bundles, where I already own virtually everything, this is a collection that I own very little of.

Actually, all I own is the Hackmaster 5e Basic Rules in print.

So very tempting. $12.95 for the Player's Collection and currently about $28.50 for the Player's plus GM's Collection.

Can anyone sell me on the system? Should I jump in?

Mini Review - HackMaster Basic "Plus"

Do you remember when the new HackMaster Basic came out? They stripped out the over the top funny from the old HackMaster and were working on a new game. The original HackMaster Basic  (I bought a bunch of copies of the paperback at $5 a pop) covered levels 1-5. The New HackMaster Basic Plus covers from levels 1-10. Thinking back on the vast majority of D&D campaigns of run over the years, this would have covered all but two of them.

I would gladly play in a HackMaster campaign, but there is now way I could ever run one. It feels to rules heavy for me to be comfortable running with minimal referring to the rules, and that for me is a deal breaker. Maybe if I had 6 months of steady gaming of the system weekly as a player - but the odds of that happening for me are minuscule to nil. I just don't have the time.

For those willing to put the time into the system, the customization of the PCs is damn near amazing. I'd probably need a spread sheet to follow along, but that's why we have computers. The crunch I'm willing to deal with in a system is much greater when I'm not running the system ;)

Interesting - Giant Rats don't get the HP kicker that most monsters do in HMBP. They get abuse in every system.

I may just have to steal borrow the disease section for my own AD&D campaign. You know there have to be some kicking diseases in Rappan Athuk ;)

The HackMaster Basic Plus PDF is $9.99. The HackMaster Player's Handbook is $39.99 for the PDF. I suspect you can get a lot of mileage out of that $9.99 PDF, as it includes both the Player's and GM sections for levels 1-10.

From the blurb:


HackMaster Basic was released with the presumption that players wanted to learn the game – not the character generation system. As such, this version includes a selection of ready-to-play characters to facilitate rapid play.

Let’s face it. Learning how to build a character in any system takes some trial and error. You really have to play the game to know how to build a Player Character.

If you’ve played HackMaster and enjoy the game, HackMaster Basic Plus is the perfect step up. Here’s some of the added features:

• Character Generation
• Full details for advancing up to 10th level
• Extra Equipment choices
• More Spells
• More Skills
• Expanded Combat Options
• 12 Special Combat Moves
• Crunchier Initiative System
• PCs can survive past zero hit points
• Rules for Shooting into Melee

For the GameMaster
• Expanded Treasure Tables
• Disease Rules

227 page PDF

Characters in HackMaster Basic and HackMaster Basic Plus are fully interchageable and can be readily integrated into the grestly expanded rules system featured in the HackMaster Players Handbook.

Hackmaster Basic is Now Free in PDF

I wish I knew if this lined up with the print version of Hackmaster Basic or not - I bought 5 (actually they sent 6) copies when they had their 5 for 25 deal a while back. Meant to give copies out to my old group, but the time was never right and they are packed into storage.

This is the Next Edition of Hackmaster - their 5e if you will (as they started with 4e designation). It is not a system I am comfortable with myself. To my eyes it's more of a D&D / GURPS mash-up, which may be the ideal system for some but isn't the ideal system for me.

That being said, the buy in costs nothing and even includes 3 adventures in the rulebook to get you started.

Give it a shot - you might like it... if nothing else the cover rocks!

From the blurb:


Congratulations! In a world where there is no shortage of mediocre games, you’ve managed to find one of the true gems. Designed from the ground up to be played at a table with real life friends, this hard-hitting, old-school game makes no qualms about its heritage. This is the way role playing games were meant to be played and we present to you the best of breed.

This version of the game is 'basic' only in that it serves as a gateway to the dynamic thrill of the HackMaster game. Gone are the days of waiting around for your 'turn', of battling static opponents or of being anything but totally in charge of your own destiny.

We want you to try HackMaster so we're letting you download the basic game for free! What have you got to lose?


Here’s just a sample of what you’ll find in this free 231-page PDF:

• A combat system geared for quick, hard-hitting, dynamic action.
• 11 Ready-to-Play characters
• Knock-back rules that eliminate static “conga line of death” battles
• Penetration damage, damage reduction from armor and shields and revamped ranged combat rules, including shield 'cover'
• A combination of slot and spell point system that allows for 'straight up' mage play but at the same time allows your mage to change spells on the fly or increase a spell’s range, duration and other effects
• 70+ spells (including Skipping Betty Fireballs and Heat Seeking Fist of Thunder)
• Classic fantasy races (dwarf, elf, halfling, human) and classes (fighter, thief, mage, and cleric) for your campaign
• Five clerical classes to choose from!
• An all-new thief statistic: Luck Points!
• Quirks and flaws that transform your PC into a real character
• Building Point rules that let you customize a character to your own style (there are no ‘cookie cutter characters' here!)
• Quick-Start rules for even faster character creation 
• Skills, Talents and Proficiencies (including all weapons and armor) and specialization open to every character class... for a price
• Honor tightly integrated into play and with more flexible usage
• GameMaster chapters with treasure tables, 75 monsters, magic items, tips and more
• Three adventures included so you can start gaming immediately

If Hackmaster 5e Can Do IT, Why Can't Eldritch Ent.?

I'm looking through my many copies of Hackmaster Basic and I'm realizing the following:

1 - The new Hackmaster is no longer running off of the AD&D 2e license they previously used

2 - The new Hackmaster is not using the OGL

3 - The new Hackmaster is using Level (as a number, not a %), Hit Dice, Hit Points and Defense (for AC, as a number, not a %)

Hackmaster is obviously derived from, and compatible on some level with, the various edition and clones of (A)D&D.  I guess they went the Copyright route with their game terms and numbers.

Did Eldritch Ent. really need to use Power (as a %), Health and Defense (as a %).  Did they even have to use %'s at all?

Strangely enough, both games include an initiative modifier.

I'd assume since Hackmaster Basic is copyright 2009 and it wasn't apparently challenged (and Hackmaster Advanced is to be released shortly) by WotC that they filed off just the right parts of the serial numbers.

Are there any other games closely derived from (A)D&D that have gone the copyright route and avoided the OGL?

When Five is Six - My New Hackmaster Basic Collection

Yep, another picture of the games that arrived at my house yesterday.  In this case it's the five six copies of Hackmaster Basic that I ordered in the 5 for $30 promotion.  I am far from complaining about the extra copy, as I gave it to my sister to give to my brother in law.

This is pretty much a clearing out of old stock / possibly get new players into the fold with a cheaply priced intro product sort of thing, as Hackmaster Advanced or whatever the full product is going to be called will be released fairly shortly.  Hackmaster Basic, for those that don't know, only covers characters from levels 1 to 5.  The new book will carry characters through level 20.

Is Hackmaster going to be my next go-to system.  Nope.  But for $36 including shipping you can put a copy in 5 (or possibly even 6) players hands, it makes for a very nice diversion.  Besides, KenzerCo tends to do some very nice adventures (and I used to enjoy Knights of the Dinner Table until it started getting a bit stale... shame).

Hackmaster 5e Basic Priced at 5 For $25

James over at Grognardia mentioned this yesterday, but just in case you missed it:

KenzerCo is offering the Hackmaster Basic Rulebook as a set of 5 for $25 (plus $11 shipping and handling here in the states).

I've had the book since it's release back in 2010(?) and although I don't plan on running a straight Hackmaster game, there are bit's and pieces for me to steal for the OSR style games I plan on running.  Normally it's $19.99 a copy, so for an extra $5.01 you get 4 extra copies for your group.  Not bad at all.

I ordered a set for the next Gathering of Fools, which should be coming up in a month or so with my old gaming group.  I always like to bring gaming goodies ;)

Mini Review - Hackmaster 5e Quickstart Guide (Kenzer Co)

I am far from the Hackmaster expert.  I remember reading about the fictitious game in the early Knights of the Diner Table (probably back in Shadis Magazine).  It was very obviously a take on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ramped up to 11.  Then one day, Hackmaster actually appeared in gaming stores across the nation.  Fake game became real game, and it really was AD&D turned up to 11.

Flash forward to now.  Hackmaster reached it's 5th edition with it's release of Hackmaster Basic in 2010.  Kenzer is hard at work on releasing the full HM 4e rules (and I got some flack last year for not knowing rules for levels beyond 5 were available from Kenzer Co's website - ah well).  See, you CAN play 5e now!

Hackmaster's old edition could be considered fairly rules heavy.  From my reading of the Hackmaster Basic Book, I'd say the 4e rules are even heavier, at least at character generation.  What's a new Hackmaster player to do?

May we present to you the Hackmaster Quickstart Guide (for HM 5e).  It's an attempt to bring some sanity and order to the confusion that may just slam a new player in the gut.  Does it succeed in doing so?

Yes and no.

I'll explain the no first.  Hackmaster character generation is a convoluted, confusing system.  That's not a design flaw, it's actually a feature and it was designed that way.  You would probably need 40 pages alone to walk someone thru character generation, and replicating the charts would take up even more space.  So no, The Quickstart Guide doesn't show one haw to create a Hackmaster Character, but it does give you an assortment of fully stated and generated PCs with quirks and all, so you have an idea what to expect in the full game.  Character generation is beyond the scope of this Quickstart.

Now for the success.  It gives a very nice overview of how to actually play (and possibly run) a Hackmaster session.  41 pages on everything from how to read your character sheet, combat rules, spells in combat, spells... screw it, here's the table of contents:

1.1 Introduction Page 03

1.2 Basic Character Classes Page 04

The Basic Fighter Page 04

The Basic Thief Page 06

The Basic Mage Page 08

The Basic Cleric Page 10

1.3 QuickStart Mage Spells Page 13

1.4 QuickStart Clerical Spells Page 14

1.5 QuicksStart Skills Page 15

2.1 Learning the QuickStart Rules Page 23

2.2 Misc. Rules Page 23

2.3 Skill Checks Page 24

2.4 Combat Rules Page 25

2.4.1 Roll for Initiative Page 25

2.4.2 The Count Up Page 25

2.4.3 Movement in Combat Page 26

2.4.4 Rules of Engagement Page 26

2.4.5 Rolling for Attack & Defense in Melee Page 26

2.4.6 Ranged Attack Page 27

2.4.7 Spells in Combat Page 28

2.4.8 Taking Wounds Page 28

2.4.9 Using Luck and Honor Page 28

2.5 Advanced Option Rules Page 28

Knock-backs Page 28

Threhold of Pain Page 29

Alignment rules Page 29

2.6 Running Encounters in HackMaster Page 29

3.1 Appendix Page 30

How to fill out a character sheet Page 30

Glossary Page 32

Hacklopedia entry on Kobolds Page 35

PC Record Sheet Page 39

Pretty full Quickstart.  Doesn't even include an adventure and still hits 41 pages.  Did I mention it's free?  Hell, add it to your Quickstart PDF Collection ;)

If you want to give Hackmaster a peek and aren't sure if you want to pay the buy in, give the Hackmaster Quickstart a check.  It's free. and you might find something you'll enjoy playing as you await 5e (Hackmaster Advanced, D&D, Runequest - or some other RPG hitting high edition numbers - Tunnels & Trolls is already at 7.5 ;)

Mini Review - Dusk of the Dead (Hackmaster)

I'm a bit undecided about the relatively new Hackmaster Basic.  The system as presented is certainly viable, but with only the first 5 levels of character advancement covered, the scope of the game is fairly limited.  Then there is the problem of limited adventures and such for the system.

The latest adventure for Hackmaster is Dusk of the Dead, for characters of levels 5-7.  As Hackmaster Basic only covers up to level 5, does this mean that Hackmaster Advanced is just around the corner?  I don't know.

Dusk of the Dead is made to work as a followup to Frandor's Keep, so it can easily be dropped into the setting presented there or used on it's own.  Still, it works best with Frandor's Keep.

DotD doesn't have bookmarks, which probably aren't too useful in a short piece like this, but it does have hyperlinks.  Some, admittedly, are links back to the Kenzerco website, but most of them are aids to navigate the adventure.  I love me some hyperlinks, and I think they are well done for the most part.  Heck, even the maps have hyperlinks back to the room descriptions.

The maps are excellent BTW.  Nice use of B&W line drawings.

As for the adventure itself, it looks like a fun adventure for a Halloween themed nite of gaming.  Still, I suspect it might be a tough for a party on the low end of the 5-7 level range.  As Hackmaster Basic only goes to level 5, the whole party will be on the low end at this point.  Any news on when Hackmaster Advanced is coming out?

From the blurb:


"The long hours on the road have left you yearning for a good night’s rest at your favorite way station. Decent food, a clean bed and live entertainment have never sounded so good – especially so with those storm clouds looming on the horizon, mounting winds and periodic raindrops heralding some fouler weather to come. The warm glow of a fire and a hot meal will be welcome, but where is the wait staff?”


Dusk of the Dead is a new HackMaster adventure featuring a variety of challenges designed for four to six 5th to 7th level player characters.

Detailing a haunted location off the beaten path, Dusk of the Dead may be used by itself as a stand-alone one-shot adventure or easily placed anywhere in the wilderness of an ongoing campaign. Located in the wilderness near Frandor’s Keep, just off the Borderland Road, Dusk of the Dead may also be employed as a follow-on for characters completing the Frandor’s Keep mini-campaign and/or as an add-on or segue into the Mines of Chaos series of adventures. The adventure contains a myriad of hooks and ideas for introducing players to the scenario as well as follow-on integration for on-going play with Frandor’s Keep, the local towns of Vew and Sabden, as well as direct connections to the City-State of P’Bapar.

Like all Kenzer and Company products, Dusk of the Dead was designed with you in mind. The PDF is designed both for traditional use on a PC or to print out on your own as well as being optimized for tablet use with internal hyperlinks that allow you to tap on a map and jump right to the description or to follow other internal references direct to the relevant page! We prepare all the details so you can spend less time flipping pages (real or virtually) and more time gaming. Gamemastering has never been so easy or so much fun!

Dusk of the Dead also features maps and illustrations by Knights of the Dinner Table's favorite cartographer Craig Zipse!

Hackmaster 5e Basic - First Inpressions

The cover is awesome. Erol Otis did an amazing job.

Build Points are hard to follow. They aren't explained well and the rules for them are spread out.

Hit Points - the kicker is smaller and classes only get a new HD every other level. Constitution no longer adds a HP bonus per level. Combat looks deadlier.

Spells - spread out with spell levels advancing with character level. Need to look closer.

Haven't finished flipping thru it yet. I think it's more likely I'll steal bits and pieces from Hackmaster Basic then run it whole. I'll know more when I read more.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]