HackMaster
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{{Infobox RPG |title= HackMaster |image= |caption= |designer= Jolly R. Blackburn, David Kenzer, et al. |publisher= Kenzer & Company |date= 2001 |genre= Parody, fantasy |system= Custom |footnotes= Derived from the Knights of the Dinner Table comic strip }} HackMaster is a role-playing game produced by Kenzer & Company. It started out as a fictional game, a parody of Dungeons & Dragons played by the characters of the Knights of the Dinner Table comic strip by Jolly R. Blackburn. The characters in the comic play HackMaster 3rd Edition, and it has been hinted the name of the game was changed for copyright reasons.
Kenzer & Company received many requests from fans of the comic to produce an actual HackMaster game, but initially they thought that licensing Dungeons & Dragons would be impossible. However, when they asked Wizards of the Coast about creating a derivative work, they reached an agreement that lead in 2001 to the publication of HackMaster 4th Edition, sometimes ironically referred to as the most realistic and complete set of role-playing rules in existence.
K&C is speculated to have acquired the rights to produce HackMaster after the Dragon Magazine Archive software was published where Wizards of the Coast failed to get permission to reprint many of the original articles such as the Knight of the Dinner Table comic in the electronic media archive. A lawsuit settled out of court and K&C started producing HackMaster afterwards. In part of that ability to use AD&D rules, K&C is required to maintain a higher (or lower depending on what you find humorous) level of humor than in the Knights of the Dinner Table comic.
Whereas Wizards of the Coast overhauled the rules for 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons, removing arbitrary limitations and streamlining play, Kenzer & Company took the opposite action, creating a parody of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First and Second Edition rules. Despite more complex rules, even more arbitrary limitations, and a byzantine character creation process, HackMaster is a playable game. HackMaster has a fan community, the HackMaster Association, which organizes HackMaster events at large and small conventions throughout the world (primarily in the U.S. and United Kingdom based on the present membership).
There was a certain amount of fan rebellion and loss of interest in the product by some gamers when Kenzerco revealed that the Hacklopedia of Beasts (necessary for GM's to run games with) would be released in 8 separate volumes, costing $19.99 each. Critics of the system often cite that the system no way resembles the wacky, rules-lawyering system that is presented in the comics and that the game is full of sophomoric humor instead of being a brilliant parody. Template:Fact
Since its release in 2001, HackMaster has evolved into a fully-fledged role-playing game, spawning a plethora of over forty add-ons, supplements and game aids. Most notable products include a 32-panel gamemaster's shield, a 16-page character sheet and a 10-volume monster encyclopedia.
In 2002, HackMaster won the Origins Award for Game of the Year 2001.
Other uses
HackMaster is also a noted piece of software for the Palm OS that allows extra software (usually that manages the low-level hardware), such as software to enable desk accessories to be run on the operating system, which is normally not possible.
The Hackmaster +12 is also a powerful magical sword used by one of the characters in Knights of the Dinner Table.