HackMaster: Character Generation

Having messed around a bit with the earlier release of HackMaster Basic, I was delighted last week to finally receive my copy of the HackMaster Player's Handbook. This morning I have been exploring character generation and wanted to share my two-penneth on why this is a cracking game.

Before we start, however, a caveat: HackMaster is NOT a joke game! We need to make it very clear that this article is about the new HackMaster. This is a serious fantasy RPG with some really positive innovations that, frankly, make the current generation of D&D editions look a bit crap. 

Gentle reader... take a deeper look before you discount the new HackMaster.

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Unpacking HackMaster 5th

There was a knock at the door and the postie delivered a package that I've been waiting for since before Christmas. Today I received my copy of the HackMaster 5th.

Rather than write a lengthy review I thought that I'd just share some pictures.

You can read my fumbling comments from when I read the rules earlier in the year if you like what you see.

Here goes...

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My Fantasy Hack

Today I took the plunge and, using the two heroes I had created for the HackMaster Basic rules that I mentioned last time, ran a combat against a pair of Goblins.

The game was fun, revealed to me the intense coolness that is HackMaster combat, and then... well then...

Then I got to thinking about my own Fantasy Dreams. My musings have taken me to the past, the present and the future.


The Past
I started playing Fantasy RPGs back when I was first getting into Secondary School.

I remember that my Dad had bought a copy of the RuneQuest boxed game (early 1980's?) and that whilst he hated it, I ended up coveting it and loving it. Somehow the mysterious and wondrous world of Glorantha appealed deeply to me.


Soon after, once attending high school, I started gaming with my friend Daniel (and several others) and remember my first fumblings with D&D Basic. We played Traveller too and, eventually, Rolemaster. The latter became the fantasy system of choice for me... and the most memorable game was our 24-hour charity game in which we entered the Mines of Moria.

Looking back I feel an intense yearning for a bygone sense of fantastic adventure in very dark, brooding settings. The heroes were comparatively weak (by today's standards) and there was a deep sweetness in surviving from 1st Level (D&D) or the equivalent (in the skills-based systems).

This is an aspect of the gaming experience which seems to have been left behind... and I mourn the demise.

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