Ohhh, most defiantly not!!! It didn't win
RPG of the Year for 2001 because it was silly. Yes there are jokes scattered through-out the books, but hey so does the 1st edition
DMG. I think the reason people have the opinion about Hackmaster being silly is because the game itself was created old school gamers. They love playing
RPG's, especially old school style and found an opportunity to continue to do so. They realize the game is a game and have added some sillyness to it. take all that away and you have a very good fundamentally sound gaming platform. Oh and
BTW, Mr. Gygax himself has even been seen roaming around the
Hackmaster boards.
If anyone is a true 1st edition geek, (like myself) Hackmaster is a natural progression. You have the same core rules as 1st edition but tweaked a bit. Honor has been added to the game and plays more of a role. Much like the old Oriental Adventures. An extensive list of skills and talents have been added to develop and enhance your characters. Note these skills are not like kits or packages for characters, they're more like non-weapon proficiencies but are actually useful.
Kenzer & Co. have also added some new tables and charts for things like Spell Failure and Mishap, Weapon Fumbles, and my favorite, Critical Hits.
They have added a very interesting balance for the game in terms of Character Quirks and Flaws. Most of these are not intended to "help" a character. You take (or roll) quirks and flaws to get building points. In return you spend those building points to get your skill.
For example, one of my fellow party members has a half-orc fighter. During character development, he ended up taking something like 6-7 quirks and flaws. He figured he needed many building points for skills to compensate for bad stats. Well lets just say that many Q & F's did more harm to his character then all his new skills helped. Here are just a few of his Q & F's…Excessive Drooling, causing is character to consume 2x normal water per day. Multiple Personalities, well that one is pretty much self explanatory. A quirk called Hack Lust, which if triggered, causes the character to kinda go into a "fighting frenzy" attacking first any enemies and if the lust is not broken, attacks friends. Couple that with an intelligence of 4 and you have a real, well lets just say, interesting character to play and watch play. These type of things are what make Hackmaster fun for me.
I could just keep going on about Hackmaster, but you would be reading for a hour. Really what I'm saying is Hackmaster is as serious and as silly as any game out there. It's all about how you play and who you play with.
~Hal
