News Archives for September, 2001

September 28, 2001

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me! Man, am I getting old, but it always beats the alternative... :-)

In an effort to come to grips with the growing errata problem, Kenzer & Co. is asking everyone to email their rules questions to tenakka@montyhaul.com. This will make it easier for them to collate all of our questions and problems into the official errata.

Check out my new monster- the Pyscho Cave Frog. One of these little beasties actually lives outside my front door where I saw him sleeping on my garbage can the other day. My wife is dreadfully afraid of it and is convinced that it will one day leap on her face in a fiendish attempt to drive her insane.

A new section of the site has been opened- the tavern! Do you have any dead characters or characters that you don't want to play? If you do, send 'em in and I will find a place in the tavern for them. I want this to be a resource that GM's can use to get good NPC's or that players can get a new character quickly without the need to roll one up. So, don't let your dead or unused characters go to waste- put them to work!

September 26, 2001

For those of us who have given up on getting more rules clarifications, Noah Kolman had this to say:

I just wanted to assure you that you have not been forgotten. We are currently trying to compile all the questions that have been asked and get to answering them while working on the GMG. Right now we have decided it is more important to finish the GMG and get it into your hands before we address all the errata. This will allow you to keep playing while you wait for some clarification. I want to stress that we do appreciate you alerting us to problems with the game, and that we do want to fix it. Your input is very valuable to us as is your enjoyment of the game. We understand that your enjoyment can be hampered by errors, and we will fix that.

I found a review of the PHB that I haven't seen yet. Also, Will sent in this HPMA recruitment flyer. Give one to all your friends!

September 24, 2001

The poll has closed on what you like to see next from Kenzer & Co. Here are the results:

Garweeze Wurld campaign setting 38%
Deities & DemiGawds 14%
Adventure Modules 11%
CattlePunk game 11%
Basic HackMaster boxed set 7%
Unearthed Arcana 6%
SpaceHack game 5%
Psionics Handbook 3%
Hactionary 0%
Oriental Adventures 0%


The results weren't too surprising. The thing that most everyone wants to see come out after the GMG is the Garweeze Wurld Campaign Setting. Hopefully, this would be a boxset just like the old Greyhawk box set.

I thought it strange that support for new modules was not greater than was shown. Also, I was surprised to see so many people wanting a CattlePunk game. Since when did rpg's set in the old west become popular? Most surprising of all though was that not one person voted for a new Oriental Adventures book. I can't say that I would care about that one either. Of course, my vote went for a Basic HackMaster boxed set.

Now go vote in my new poll- Are you going to join the HackMaster Player's Association?

September 21, 2001

Hooray! I got my computer working again! Now, if it will just stay fixed...



Three new monsters are online. The Bag Freak by "Dug", The Magic Cow of Delusion by Will, and the Sword Spirit by yours truly. Enjoy!

September 19, 2001

Updates to the site may be more sporadic in the near term as my home computer system failed last night. Arrgh!!! Why can't someone make a reliable computer?

David Kenzer posted this bit of exciting news on the success of HackMaster:

HackMaster sales are far in excess of what we expected. I do not know what's happening in individual retail stores, but the distribution channel orders and reorders continuously.

For an RPG not made by TSR, 5,000 is successful, 10,000 greatly successful and 15k phenominal (I believe WW prints around 18k and hopes to have stock for a year and Palladium prints in the 10k range I think).

Our first print run for the PHB was 10k and sold out in a week or so.

So I'd say HackmAster may very well be the #2 rpg in the world right now or darn close to it. And the GMG isn't even out yet!

Doug Curtis has sent four more really kewl monsters complete with pictures. Take a look- Eddie Sells sent in his great rendition of the Adventure Company Log Sheet. And last, but certainly not least, "Janothar" has sent in a very interesting article on adding an Education Stat for Players.

September 17, 2001

Allright, back to your regularly scheduled program...

Kenzer & Co. has announced that the 4th volume of the Hacklopedia is now shipping. Hopefully you will see it in stores soon. Unfortunately, I still haven't seen volume 3 in a store yet. :(

Kenzer has also announced that they are working on a Character Generation program for the PC. If you would like to be a playtester (and are a member of the HMPA), let 'em know. Also, there is a website for the program with info and screenshots for it.

September 14, 2001

This week, pray for the dead, the injured, and their families. Next week, pray for vengeance.

September 10, 2001

The poll has closed on what you disliked the most about HackMaster. Here are the results:

No hardcover books 28%
8 volumes of the Hacklopedia 24%
Too much errata 10%
Takes too long to create a character 10%
Race level limitations 8%
Training requirement when leveling up 7%
Based on 1st/2nd AD&D instead of being a D20 system 4%
Klunky multiclass and dualclass system 4%
Humans are underpowered 3%
Classes are unbalanced 0%


I guess this says that people would have been happier with what they were used to- 3 hardcover core rulebooks with the other volumes of monster released as optional books.

The main problem that was found with the rules is the long amount of time it takes to create a character. I must say that the first characters that my friend and I created took us over two hours to do. But this seems to be a problem that all modern rpg systems have in common. I much prefer the older systems like basic D&D where you can roll up your character in about 10 minutes.

Don't forget to vote in the new poll. What would you like to see Kenzer & Co. work on publishing when they are finished with the GM's Guide?

More new stuff has been submitted for your gaming pleasure. Paul Backstrom has sent in research on playing a Minotaur character. John Lach also sent in the ultra-powerful Hellstorm magic spell.

Other HackMaster sites are starting to bear fruit. Check out Delcar's very kewl character generator spreadsheet on his website. Also, take a look at the maps from KODT #58 on Uquay's website.

In the news from Kenzer & Co, Jolly has announced that we should be seeing the 3rd volume of the Hacklopedia in stores anyday now. He also put out the call for everyone to try to preorder their copy of the HackMaster Gm's Guide from their local game store. This will give them a better idea of how many copies to print in their first run.

September 6, 2001

Dug has sent in some more of his weird creations: I have added a few new sections to the site. The Articles Page is for optional rules or articles on how to play, etc. The Magic Emporium is for new magic items. The Spell Shoppe is for new magic spells.

These sections are mainly empty or empty right now, so I need your help in filling them up! If you have any kewl ideas for optional rules, new magic items, or new spells for HackMaster then Email them here.

September 4, 2001

More new monsters are online. Check 'em out: Also, "Dug" was kewl enough to send in an illustration for the Rabid Kobold!

Ray HJ Editor posted this news on the HackJournal:

#1. HackJournal #1 should be going out in October.
#2. If you are a paying member of the HMPA/GMA, HJ is free.
#3a. We absolutely DO need submissions for HJ!
#3b. HackJournal is planned to come out quarterly (4 times/year) for now.
#4. What's the big idea with HackJournal? HJ is something we wanted to do that would be primarily fan-driven (aka lots of submissions) that will act as part posting board, part idea factory, part rules gawd, and part contact list.

For the full text of his message (there's alot more), read this post over on the message board.