Going Way Beyond

Hackmaster 5th edition
There are times when I seem to yearn for the heavy encumbrance of a detailed rule system, times when I tire of improvisation and welcome “looking it up” rather than “making it up”.  This isn’t often, but there are times…

During those brief times I have been turning to Kenzer & Co.’s Hackmaster 5^th ed. Hackmaster 5 seems to me to be the rules-heavy logical successor to the family of games began with the white box. This is going to be a bit like a medieval line of succession discussion, so having said that I will go on and step into it fully.  3^rd ed. wavered from and 4^th edition broke the succession line for me. 5^th ed. is much better and I give Mr. Mearls credit for pulling the game many of us loved for so long out of the flames, brushing it off, cleaning it up and giving it back to us, well, selling it back to us as 5^th ed. There’s some 4^th ed. DNA in 5^th however, so although it feels like old D&D, it’s also a bit like 4^th.  Hackmaster 5^th is the direct descendant of Hackmaster 4^th which is pretty much early AD&D 2^nd with a lot of humor thrown in. 

I really try to avoid negativity on my blog and before I offend anyone, I want to say unlike a lot of older gamers I played 4^th for a number of years, don’t hate it and think it’s a pretty good game.  It’s just a different game than the one I grew up loving. The change really started with WotC’s later 2^nd ed. and especially 3^rd ed. skills, feats, and so on. As these changes occurred some of us like me played the new editions, but continued to be in love with the old game and playing it when we got the chance.

Well, that’s my wacky excuse for being the way I am, but it’s time to move on.

So what’s so appealing to me about Hackmaster 5^th? The book(s) is gorgeous…which doesn’t hurt. Some of the humor of Hackmaster 4^th is still present and, yes, I kinda enjoy a little humor in my fantasy roleplay. The rules are the real gem, of course, but in Hackmaster 5^th the gem has so many facets it’s hard to know where to begin. Hackmaster 5^th is really three books, a player’s handbook, a bestiary, and the recently published GM guide. Most of the rules are in the PHB, so that’s what I will focus on here. There is a free download for those interested.

The PHB is 400+ pages and starts predictably enough with character generation.  The familiar 3d6 roll for attributes is there plus some points buy elements for classes, proficiencies, talents and skills.  There are eleven races from which to choose, ten classes and fourteen clerics, one each for all the alignment combinations. Honor and fame are tracked as well as experience. Quirks and flaws add character and role-playing opportunities. Magic uses spell points and components. Combat is involved and crunchy using a second-by-second count system so that every character is making decisions every second. Weapon speed, casting time, combat maneuvers and constant movement combine to give combat a very realistic feel. Wounds are tracked individually and may disable or incapacitate without reaching zero hit points. Armor makes one easier to hit, but reduces damage and shields are given their realistic roll as frequent life-savers.

Realism is the overall theme here and it comes through at all levels of the game. One of the things that really appeals to me and sets Hackmaster apart from the later editions of D&D/Pathfinder is the emphasis on starting characters being not much above average folks.  It’s the old story of “zero to hero” that white box gamers are familiar with. I can play the “hero to superhero” games and have fun doing so.  I have found that I do not like refereeing those games. PCs level rather slowly and require time and money spent training in order to level-up.

Having played it twice I find Hackmaster despite all the rules heaviness is a surprisingly simple game.  Part of this comes from the fact that it seems inherently logical and is generally consistent. It all makes sense to me. There is a lot to this system and it has rules to cover just about everything, but it seems to flow and rarely bogs down. Part of it is my own style, but I don’t find a need to thumb through the rules during play like frequently happens with other large rulebooks (looking at you Pathfinder). The combat system requires a good way to keep count of seconds and the referee needs to be organized regarding monsters. Otherwise the system seems to do most of the heavy lifting and play seems rather easy at the table. The system does move slower than white box and combat takes longer. The trade-off is that crunch detail we can think of as “realism”.

The Hacklopedia of Beasts or bestiary actually preceded the PHB and is also a gorgeous book, inside and out. The monsters are illustrated and described in a manner suggestive of a scientific field guide; lots of flavor here for enjoyment! The referee/GM will want to keep the combat stats (rose) handy for use at the table. The Game Master’s Guide is a little more plain in looks, but of the same high quality as the other game books. It contains lots of tables including the critical hit and fumble tables referred to, but not included in the PHB. The GM advice in this guide is direct, meaty and way above the advice usually found in such tomes making this the best GM’s guide since Mr. Gygax’s AD&D 1^st edition in my estimation.