HackMaster

HackMaster

4th edition Player's Handbook cover
Designer(s)	Jolly R. Blackburn, David Kenzer, et al.
Publisher(s)	Kenzer & Company
Publication date	2001
Genre(s)	fantasy
System(s)	Custom, derived from AD&D system
Spun off from the Knights of the Dinner Table comic strip

HackMaster is a fantasy role-playing game produced by Kenzer & Company. Originally published in 2001, it began as a fictional game, a parody of the most ludicrous aspects of D&D played by the characters of the Knights of the Dinner Table comic strip by Jolly R. Blackburn. The characters in the comic began playing HackMaster 3rd Edition, which was updated to a numerously revised 4th edition, and it has been hinted the name of the game was originally changed for copyright reasons. The current edition has removed most of the parody aspects, and contains game mechanics written from scratch in order to avoid any intellectual property problems.

In the current (5th) edition of the game, the setting has been switched to Kenzerco's "Kingdoms of Kalamar" (KoK) setting. KoK was originally developed as a D&D setting, and has been detailed in several supplements and adventures. Developers for Kenzerco have stated on their forums that the world will not be significantly altered for HM 5th.

In 4th edition, the official setting of Hackmaster was Garweeze Wurld, a giant continent on the planet Aldrazar based on the notes of Jolly Blackburn. This has been developed in the Garweeze Wurld Atlas and Garweeze Wurld Gazeteer. Garweeze Wurld is about eight thousand miles across, circling much of the northern hemisphere of its planet. The continent is mapped based on forty-eight "sectors", each one thousand miles across. The continent reaches from the tropical band of Aldrazar to its Arctic Circle. The name Garweeze Wurld was a play on the name of D&D creator Gary Gygax.

Some of the game rule changes include a count-up system, as opposed to a "combat round" type of in-game time-keeping method. Players plan their actions second-by-second, with little or no down time between actions. Player characters in combat actively defend as well as attack and various combat maneuvers are offered to create a more realistic feel to the hostile encounter. The magic system has been overhauled to use spell points rather than a fixed number of spells. Clerics are no longer a single class, but are specific to the various deities within the pantheon.