I played a game of Aces & Eights at Origins this year.  I thought it had some neat elements to it, but I decided that the initiative system was a little fiddly and I would need a little time to fit it into my standard groove of gaming.  I particularly liked the crunch of the character creation system.  There was a chart for nearly everything, but it was augmented with points so that you could pay for a re-roll, or pay even more to straight up select something off of the charts.  The kind gentleman running the game (who’s name escapes me, although he was part of the Kenzer demo crew,) talked very shortly about the new HackMaster using a very similar system.  The wild west has served as an occasional tryst for me but never been my fictional home.  Swords and sorcery, however, is a core of my tabletop subsistence.

I like bringing home at least one core rules book from Origins every year.  It is a good excuse to spend money on a system I otherwise might let pass.  When the last day of the con came rolling around and I had yet to purchase something, I settled on HackMaster Basic.  I was hoping it had the same character generation charts, and I was interested to read more about the initiative system (in hopes that it was presented in a way that I could more easily integrate into my gaming toolbox.)  The fact that the core book was only $20 was also a bonus.

Unfortunately, there isn’t the same depth of character creation charts in HackMaster Basic as there are in Aces & Eights.  There are, in fact, only 3 or 4 charts in that vein.  It is a slight letdown.  I’m hopeful that HackMaster Advanced makes with the charts to improve the situation.  That is fine, though, because the rest of the book makes up for it.

What you get is a set of rules that feels fairly old-school, but features enough of a fresh angle as to not be boring.  The skill system is not particularly ground breaking, but is palatable.  Combat seems fairly quick and lethal, like D&D editions of yore, and could be played without the aid of any minis or maps.  The initiative system still seems a bit fiddly, but it is different enough to be refreshing, so I haven’t given up on it yet.  You get the four vanilla fantasy classes, and there isn’t much in mechanical options or builds, which is just fine for the target audience of this product.  You only get the first 5 levels of each class, which seems like it should be enough to hold most gamers over until the Advanced edition comes out.  You get a respectable list of spells, monster, and magic items as well.

Ultimately, the game feels like it is incomplete.  I can’t help but read between the lines and see that they have pulled their punches, reserving rules and options for the future.  This makes sense, because it is essentially just a vertical slice of what HackMaster Advanced will be.  I feel that for $20 this is completely acceptable, because in the end you get a tight little fantasy game that is instantly playable.

In the end, if you own an older edition of D&D already and are completely happy with it, you might want to let this one pass.  On the other hand, if your older edition has lost its spark and the current retro-clones are just a little too close to their grandparents to excite you, then HackMaster Basic might be exactly what you are looking for.

Tags: HackMaster

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 1:47 pm and is filed under HackMaster, News, Reviews & Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.