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HackMaster has always been a controversial game. Take Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (a game many people already had strong feelings about), cram 20 years of those occasionally contradictory rules (spread across two separate editions) into a 400 page "Player's Handbook", add in an equal number of new rules and sprinkle in a liberal amount of comedy and parody. To its detractors, HackMaster represented the worst excesses of "old school gaming"; the Byzantine game mechanics, condescending narration, endless tables and the adversarial approach to player and referee relations. To its supporters, the game was all of these things and more; fully embracing the idiosyncrasies of an age of Gygax and TSR in a way that made you laugh, while preserving the feel of the games you had cut your teeth on.
Winning Origin's Game of the Year award earned the fledgling game some credibility. While the game was as rock solid as AD&D ever was, fans would often cite the new rules added by Kenzer & Company as being the highlights of the game: the Honour system, the d10,000 critical hit chart, the Hit Point Kicker and so on. Innovative mechanics, entertaining writing style and excellent production value would win their next game, Aces & Eights, another Origin's award. But when the AD&D license was not renewed in 2007, and it was announced that Kenzer & Company was starting fresh with the next edition of HackMaster, people from both sides of the fence lamented the prospect of a new edition.
Critics of the previous edition of HackMaster assumed the new game would be overly complicated and dismissed it out of hand as ultimately a "joke game", while fans complained the game would likely be "dumbed down" and lose its distinctive style in an effort to satisfy the critics. After all, you can't please everyone, can you?
The Book
Weighing in at 192 pages, this soft cover black and white book is a great value for the $19.99 price tag, considering it is a complete game for characters level 1 to 5. The production values are all medium grade, and the design and layout is good. All the chapters you'd expect are there, including quick-start rules and a GM's section with treasure, magic items and 75 monsters. The book is missing an index, but this can now be downloaded from the website.
The quick-start rules in particular are an excellent addition, whether you want to throw a new character or NPC together quickly, or just don't like the crunch normally associated with building a HackMaster character. Unfortunately, once you create a character with the quick-start rules, there is no easy way to go back later and fill him out with the full character creation rules.
Character Creation
Full character creation takes about 30 minutes for new players. You get a handful of buildling points (or "BP"; these are used to customize your character concept by buying special skills, talent with different weaponry etc.) and you roll the dice.
The classic fantasy ability scores are there (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, Looks and Charisma), and these are each generated by rolling 3d6 (and percentile dice, showing the progress within that ability). Your choice of race can tweak these scores further, as can spending BP. After you roll, you are rewarded with bonus BP if you keep the scores in the order you roll them, but you can also swap two scores around (for fewer bonus BP) or rearrange them as you please (for no bonus BP). In our game, players tended to opt for the bonus BP and keep their scores mostly as rolled (which resulted in some very interesting and unique characters).
In general, ability scores range from 3 to 18 and average at about 10. Each ability provides bonuses or penalties (depending on whether it is above or below average) to different values in the game. Every ability appears to be useful and the first five (Strength through Constitution) all play a direct roll in combat (chance to hit is affected by Intelligence and Dexterity, chance to defend yourself is affected by Wisdom and Dexterity and so on).
Each race in HackMaster Basic (Human, Dwarf, Elf and Halfling) comes with specific strengths and weaknesses, resulting in races that are unique, yet on par with one another. Each race also has different class preferences (illustrated by varying BP costs for each class), so that Dwarf fighters remain commonplace and Dwarf mages very rare. Humans are naturally the most flexible (paying a mere 25 BP for any class). The result is that "old school" fantasy tropes are preserved while, again, the flexibility is still there.
Each character also gains a single Quirk and one Flaw, which helps give the character dimensionality (these are little traits like "Superstitious" or "Glutton"). Additionally, there is an optional chapter on randomly generating a detailed character background which, although it doesn't confer any statistical advantage to go through it, can give you good ideas for your character's story.
Classes
In addition to a race, each character chooses one class at character creation. All the classic fantasy roles are here (Fighter, Thief, Mage and Cleric). They are reminiscent of their analogs found in AD&D, although several are, in many ways, actually truer to the source material (fantasy literature) than their counterparts in any other fantasy roleplaying game to date.
As you'd expect, fighters remain the masters of weaponry and armour (able to cheaply specialize in weapons to boost their attack speed, accuracy, defense and/or damage). To give a sense of power scale, I'd estimate that a 1st to 5th level HackMaster fighter is equivalent to a 3rd to 5th level AD&D fighter; able to take a few blows at first level and deadly enough with a sword to hack through some goblins.
Thieves pay the second least of all the classes for skill in weaponry, due to the dangers of their profession, but are more limited in their choice of armour. They are clearly the "scumbag" class, able to slink ahead, scale a wall and jump an unsuspecting guard. Vulnerable in a straight-up fight, thieves have several abilities that let them excel at fighting dirty (cutting throats in 3 seconds flat, slipping a blade between chinks in the armour, getting the jump on enemies before combat etc). Traditional thief skills (like climbing walls, picking locks) are now open to every character, although specializing in these skills is incredibly pricey for non-thieves (who gain a handful of free advances in them each level). In other, related skills (like Appraisal, Fast Talking and Art of Seduction!), thieves simply advance more quickly in than other classes. Finally, thieves get a handful of Luck Points that refresh every level - these can be used to boost any die roll by an equivalent number of pips. This is an excellent mechanism to encourage thief characters to take risks like Gord or the Grey Mouser, but still allows for a very low roll to end up a disaster (as it would prove too pricey to Luck out on).
Mages resemble their Vancian AD&D counterpart, the Magic-User, as well as the magicians of many other sources of fantasy literature. A mage can memorize one spell for every class level, plus an Apprentice and a Journeyman spell (representing the spells the mage first learned as a young student). Casting these drains his pool of spell points, which are replenished by a full rest. Spell points can also be used to subtly alter the effects of spells or cast spells the mage hasn't memorized (at twice the casting cost), although his pool will then be too low to cast every spell he has memorized. As a result, "old school" magic finally feels right, allowing the mage to be flexible, while reinforcing the importance of proper planning. The spell point system allows the mage to really customize his magic (and gives the referee a wonderful tool to make magic truly magical).
Like mages, clerics prepare one spell (from the cleric spell list) for every class level per day. They don't use spell points, or get Apprentice or Journeyman spells, but instead are awarded a flexible choice of bonus spells for above average Wisdom (although you cannot use this to memorize the same spell twice). Additionally, while mages must study rare scrolls and tomes to learn new spells, a cleric already knows every divine spell available to him.
Each cleric also gains weapon and armour restrictions, special skills and bonus powers depending on their patron deity (five are provided, covering concepts broad enough to fit into any setting). For example, one deity, a chaotic evil being known as the Creator of Strife, prefers the use of the flail and grants his clergy the power to create a thick, evil smokescreen as a 4th level cleric spell (normally a 2nd level mage spell). In addition to these unique traits, a cleric may convert characters to his religion, which boosts the effects of spells he casts on them. This is a great way of encouraging the cleric to be the divine shepherd of the party.
Honour
Honour is an excellent subsystem that deserves its own discussion. Awarded for good roleplaying, and especially for roleplaying your class and alignment, high Honour means you are an imposing individual meant for the greatest legends and tales, whether as a villain or a hero. If you fail to roleplay your class or alignment, or "burn" chunks of your honour to gain re-rolls to cheat death, you slowly slip into obscurity as an untrustworthy or unreliable individual. When you drop to zero honour, you immediately switch alignment to something more suitable to your recent behaviour, and have a chance to build up your reputation as a new villain (for instance). Honour is an incredibly simple system to track, and helps bring your character to life and add new dimensions to your adventures. This is yet another way HackMaster Basic cuts more truly towards fantasy literature than any other game, since you are encouraged to partially surrender your narrative to the traditions of high fantasy adventure. In a way that only "indie" RPG's can normally capture, the stories almost write themselves.
Combat
Combat in HackMaster Basic is highly cinematic and deadly fast. Instead of fixed turns, skirmishes start on the first second and "count up" every second thereafter, with continuous movement and attacks landing every moment.
At the start of the battle, each combatant rolls 1d12 (or a smaller die type, if the referee wants to simulate one side being better prepared) to determine what second they start acting. Before your reach your first count, your character is considered to be caught flat-footed and surprised (effortlessly and realistically folding the traditionally complicated problem of surprise into the normal course of combat). After your count is reached, you may start to move around, draw weapons, make attacks and do anything else imaginable (the referee is free to make rulings on how many seconds any odd action would take). The result is heart pounding, punch for punch combat, where throwing the door shut against charging enemies might result in a single foot lodged in the doorway.
When two combatants reach one another, attacks are immediately made (in order of weapon length). While the two remain locked in combat, their subsequent attacks come after a number of seconds equal to their weapon's speed (which can be modified by specialization). Since movement is constant every second, retreating from melee can simply cause your opponent to pursue (optionally, he can delay pursuing to strike at you as you flee). There are a great deal of tactical options in combat (giving ground, attacking aggressively, holding enemies at bay) that I won't go into detail about here, but suffice it to say - if you've heard about a manoeuvre, you can do it in HackMaster Basic.
Attacks are resolved by a competing roll; the attacker rolls 1d20 + modifiers against the defender's die + modifiers (usually a 1d20, but 1d10's and even 1d8's can be used if you are outflanked or attacked from behind). If the attacker hits, he rolls damage according to his weapon (generally something like 2d4, 2d6 or 2d8) plus any strength modifiers. Damage is then reduced by armour (wearing armour actually reduces your chance to dodge blows, but the damage soak is invaluable) and applied as a wound. If the attacker misses, then the attack is ignored, unless the defender had a shield. In this case, the half the damage dice are rolled against the shield (too much damage can cause small amounts to pass through to the defender and can even splinter and destroy the shield). The difference of a shield can be life or death, as medium shields almost double your chances to avoid a direct hit, but the choice to rely on a shield is not automatic; misses (except for fumbles) always hit the shield, which could be your doom if your opponent is very powerful.
Fumbles (rolling a 1 on the d20) on an attack or defense roll allow the opponent to immediately make a free attack (outside of the speed count schedule), while rolling a natural 20 as an attacker results in a critical hit (double damage dice). Rolling a natural 20 on defense allows you to riposte (gaining a free, immediate attack) while rolling a natural 19 gives you a free, immediate, minor attack that causes a small amount of damage (described as bashing an overextended opponent with the pommel of your weapon, a headbutt or perhaps the edge of your shield).
Ranged attacks work much like melee attacks, except you roll a 1d20 plus attack modifiers against a 1d20 (for a mobile target) or 1d12 (for a stationary target) without any defense modifiers. At longer range, your attack die drops in size, until you are rolling a 1d4 at extreme range.
Great amounts of damage can send opponents reeling back (or flying, depending how hard you hit them) and can cause opponents to crumple to the ground in pain, effectively taking them out of the battle for a number of seconds (this is when the thief's speedy coup de grâce comes in handy).
The rules for combat are surprisingly streamlined and easy, and normal battles play out lightning quick (in our first game, battles with ten or more combatants averaged about 20 minutes each). As a downside, it can get tricky for the referee to remember the individual counts of every monster without having some scrap paper or a spreadsheet handy.
Miscellaneous Rules
Rounding out HackMaster Basic are a number of miscellaneous adventuring rules that you've come to expect, including skills, ability checks and sundry other things like illumination and saving throws.
Skills feature a traditional percentile system (roll under skill with 1d100). Relevant ability scores affect how quickly you advance in any given skill. Ability checks (like using Dexterity to balance on a ledge or Strength to bust down doors) are resolved with opposed rolls (1d20 + relevant ability score versus 1d20 + task difficulty). This may seem strange at first (compared to using a fixed target number), but it effectively changes tests from a predictable, linear progression to a being on a curve (that is, rolls are averaged and +1's are a bigger deal than you'd think). This is a nice way of making the character who rolled a natural 18 strength feel proud of his character, even though a couple other members of the party have 16 strength.
Similarly, magical saving throws involve a competing roll (with modifiers for the level of the mage and level of the target), resulting in mass target spells that can be extraordinarily effective (with a high roll by the mage) or sputter and fade ineffectively (with a low roll by the mage).
Other rules cover illumination (with nice shadowy, dim areas just beyond the well lit area), rules for dungeoneering (portcullises, secret doors etc), falling damage, the economy (coinage is on the silver standard) and healing time (a nasty wound can leave you laid up for a month of bed rest unless you find a cleric).
Summary
While the game doesn't feature any off the wall gimmicks or hooks, HackMaster Basic has deservingly become the roleplaying game of Conan or Cudgel, of Elric or Fafhrd. Here we have an old school adventuring game that is detail oriented, yet plays clean and quick, with simple, intuitive and clever game mechanics.
Most admirable about the game, however, is that everything seems incredibly sensible on three levels - it perfectly lines up with my expectations of real-world realism, it matches a well orchestrated sense of internal symmetry in the game mechanics and it even aligns with my conceptions of fantasy literature. And these three things to an extent that not only was unprecedented in RPG's, but also even surprised me (I guess I had become blasé after years of reading and playing other fantasy roleplaying games). While other games make design decisions for game reasons, HackMaster Basic manages to make design decisions for all three issues simultaneously, while remaining extraordinarily true to each.
Final Score
Style 4: A soft cover black and white book, helped out by good artwork and layout.
Substance 5: Reinventing swords & sorcery roleplaying, HackMaster takes us back to the books.
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