In Germany nobody groks it: More expensive than D&D, looks like a parody???

Is it a funny package for real 1st Edition Adventure? How do I play it? Are the modules itself good? Compatible to D&D?

Back in the 1980s I played a lot of AD&D 1st Edition*. I played Hackmaster at a GenCon demo in 2002.

It seemed like an intentionally unplayable parody to me. But we did play it. I recall that the guy running the demo was really emphasizing the "fun" of the playtest as how goofy the rules were and how often your character ended up dead for no good reason.

Kinda awful, but some people sorta took to it like Paranoia.

* I give this detail to establish that I know what the source material kinda is supposed to be.

It started out as the RPG that was played by the charecters in the comic Knights of the Dinner Table, the fans kept asking them to come out with a full rpg version, but the creator(s) weren't going to even try as they knew that they had based it  (in the comic) off of 1st ed. AD&D and anything short of that wouldn't do.  The joke snowballed over the years with crazy rules and whatnot showing up in the comic.

Then WotC screwed up BIG time...  when they put out the collection of Dragon magazine they assumed that they had full rights to everything that had been in it, including the KoDT strips...  This made a lot of people mad, and has been widely regarded as a bad move.

Parts of the settlement (if I've understood it right) with WotC was that Kalamar, Kenzer's genaric world setting, would become an official D&D setting, (which is why it says D&D on it instead of D20) Kenzer would have the license to produce the official D&D comic books, and they would get the ok to use 1st ed. AD&D as thier rulebase for a RPG version of the game that their charecters play in the comic strip.

This has caused confustion, as the game isn't about the comic strip and takes itself extremely seriously.  It is meant to be old school AD&D, but with the rules turned up another notch or two to 11.  The rules that were refferenced in years and years of the comic were all put in if possible.

It's hard for me to figure out how to describe, and I need to leave for work, I'll think about it and try to answer more later. (assuming that someone else doesn't step in a do a better job then I could, particularly since I never ended up playing, and as my HMGMA membership has long since lapsed)

Quotehe game isn't about the comic strip and takes itself extremely seriously

But why these horrible illustrations?

Quote from: SettembriniBut why these horrible illustrations?

By and large I would say that it was an attempt to echo some of the style of the 1st edition AD&D covers and interier pictures, just turned up a notch.  Myself I like some of them more then others, but that's true of most rpg books.

Its a genuinely funny read, that would probably ruin any group who attempts to run it.

Quote from: LawbagIts a genuinely funny read, that would probably ruin any group who attempts to run it.

:shrug: I don't know, anicdotal evidence suggests that some point enjoy it at least.

there are a lot of actual play thread on RPG.net, but I feel to play in the spirit of the game and comics would crucify the group, or at least the groups Ive gamed with over the years.

it is a homage/piss-take etc... but to play it in the spirit in which it was written, I think too much would be forced.

What exactly is that spirit?

Quote from: SettembriniWhat exactly is that spirit?

An adversarial relationship between GM and players, meatgrinder encounters, and organized, stratified min-maxing and "cheating."

And why is it so darn expensive? Who buys thes Hacklopedia of Beasts Vol. XIII? As said earlier, even D&D is cheaper nowadays.

Because the game started as the "Hackmaster" set of imaginary rules in the Knights of the Dinner Table comic, wherein there were rules and rulings for pretty much any occurence. It put the Lawyer into Rules Lawyer.

In many ways it has the same maxims as 1st Edition ADND, in that the DM is God and always right.

But it striped away any veneer of actual role-playing and turned it into a monster killing, treasure grabbing rules-quoting dice rolling fest.

I dont know whether it was fan-pressure or a late night drinking session when someone thought about releasing it as a real game.

The spirit of the game would be as the comic plays it. Its all about the weapons you have, that the dice land where they roll, the DM is god and no matter how hard you try, dont actually role-play your character.

Yeah, Hackmaster really loves seperate charts for resolving everything.

http://www.kenzerco.com/index.php?cPath=22_23_53
they have links to pdf samples

It's a great to read, (I've owned all but one issue so far) but I don't know that I'd want to be a part of the group. (though there is a player in my current group that can be close at times...)

I used to read the comics and say, "Man, if that game ever came out, I would totally play it."

Then it did, and I got bored making a dwarf.  

I agree about the art; I really don'tlike the Bros. Fram's style.  I'd describe AD&D 1st Ed. art as "unskilled but passionate", whereas the Fram stuff I'd say is "accomplished but lifeless".