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Hackmaster Player's Handbook Price: £39.99 Currently unavailable Problem solving underpins the play of any roleplaying game, regardless of genre. Whether that means overcoming foes with superior tactics, answering a tough riddle or discovering the secret room concealing fabulous treasure, all involve overcoming a difficulty with your friends. Nowadays, a fantasy RPG devotee has many choices in which to indulge problem solving with his fellow enthusiasts. The trend over the last decade or so has been leaning toward the heroic game. After all, who doesn’t want to roleplay a hero? Heroes are very good at resolving a crisis, whether through force of arms, might of magic or otherwise. Here is where the HackMaster game sets itself apart from other fantasy roleplaying games. The HackMaster game is about more than just playing a hero that fixes troublesome predicaments. Indeed, HackMaster allows for heroic play – play long enough and you will experience such a game. But HackMaster includes another element overlooked by the other games – the journey to becoming a hero. In HackMaster, players begin running characters generally little better than the local commoner. True, some may be head-and-shoulders above their fellow man, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Most HackMaster characters even have one or more weaknesses that make the road to hero even more difficult. The challenge of the game is to overcome difficult situations with a band of allies, none of whom are overly exceptional. To find a literary example of this type of story, one need not look far. Arguably (if not factually) the most popular fantasy story of all is such a tale. In Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the main character (as well as his dwarven companions) is a plain everyday person. One of the reasons we love this story is because we can identify with Bilbo; he’s just like us. We root for him as he overcomes the odds on his journey to becoming one of the most storied heroes of Middle Earth. The Hobbit is about the journey to becoming a hero. This is also the essence of HackMaster. Certainly, playing a roving band of superheroes a la the Justice League has its place, but arguably this is far less heroic than a commoner rising to the challenge. True heroism comes from overcoming the odds and risking life and limb in a perilous situation not the faux valor that comes from defeating supervillains when the chance of failure is slim or none. Does our society not love the story of the everyday man that saves a child from a burning building or rushing river? In HackMaster, your character will be asked time and time again to display true heroism, to overcome personal and situational deficiencies and rise to the challenge. This is not to say that other games are not fun, but I submit to you, gentle reader, that the journey from hero to superhero is less rewarding (and therefore less enjoyable) than the journey from average to hero to superhero. In HackMaster the most atypical thing about your character vis-à-vis society is his will to strive against the odds and make his mark in the world. If problem solving is the essence of roleplaying, then the journey to hero is the ultimate method of play. The multiplicity and diversity of available quandaries in HackMaster-type play unquestionably exceeds those of the ‘begin play as hero’ types of game. Why bother ensuring your character carries enough rope when your party wizard can simply conjure some? With every move, from positioning in combat, to how rooms are searched, to equipping properly and so-on, if your characters begin as everyman, you’ll need to think through each and every aspect of play. Your characters will need to work as a team and plan to overcome obstacles. And when you do prevail, you will experience a feeling of exhilaration like no other – knowing you succeeded by relying on your wits and gaming skill rather than the sheer awesome power of your character. This is what sets this game apart. Play HackMaster for a few sessions and you will realize that this is the last fantasy roleplaying game you will ever need. The world of HackMaster needs heroes like you – steel your nerve, ready your wits and answer the call!Your Back?“ - Each character class has a specific role. Fighters fight and should be in front. Mages should be kept out of melee at all costs Thieves should be on point but ready to let the fighters take the lead in combat. Clerics are the party\'s all around support. Each role is important to party survival. Playing a thief like a fighter, or worse a mage like a fighter, just gets the character, and sometimes the party, killed. - All the min/maxing during character creation doesn\'t mean a thing if you don\'t use your brain during the game. That spreadsheet that managed to save you 4 BPs on your mage/thief’s Lying skill doesn\'t mean much if you try to straight-up melee a troll. - 3d6 in order does NOT mean you usually get an unplayable character – HackMaster drags the average 3d6 character ability back to 10-11 from 15-16. - Intelligence is important in melee – it increases your chance to hit an enemy. That’s why the stupid giant can be defeated by the clever warrior. - There are no perfect characters, but there are many different ways to create a great character. - You can never tell the outcome of a battle before it starts - just because your fighter is at full hit points doesn\'t mean killing that goblin with the spear is a sure thing. - Simply because you\'ve encountered goblins/kobolds/zombies in other games doesn\'t mean they\'re just as easy to defeat in HackMaster. - The GM is not out to kill you – he’s out to kill you if you are foolish. A tactical withdrawal is a perfectly acceptable option – far more often than in other games you’ll wind up in over your head. In the end, the best advice I can give you is that HackMaster is a game of difficult choices. You will never have enough building points to buy everything you want (or even need). There is not one ‘no brainer’ weapon that every combatant should use, nor is there one class that bests them all. The BEST advice is to just play the game with an open mind, ready to learn. Nothing brings out the genius of HackMaster like actual play. During play you begin to see how well the system flows and works. This is a Game written by people who love to play it. More ...

Main Catalogue |  Roleplaying Games |  H |  Hackmaster (Kenzer & Co.) |  Hackmaster Player's Handbook