April 4, 2012

The HackMaster PHB PDF is up! Hoody-Hoo!

Geeking out about RPGs (Role Playing Games)
After years of work the HackMaster Player's Handbook PDF is finished and is going to press!

This monster comes in at 43.4 MB and is worth every cent of the $40 it costs.  Of course if you act quickly you can get a printed copy of the book plus the PDF for $59.99 plus $12 S&H.

I know some have scoffed at paying $40 for a PDF, and after reviewing a lot of PDF product lately I can't say I blame them much.  The average RPG PDF is sorely lacking the extra value that the digital format can really bring to some products.  This particular PDF is well above average and justifies what some would erroneously think is a "premium" price.

1st of all, the price for the PDF is KenzerCo's value for the information contained inside.  The years of work they put into it with a lot of input from their fans and playtesters.  Of course they put out the book they wanted to......the input was just that...input, not design by mob-rule.  If they could get their books printed for free they's sell for $40.
The new HackMaster Players Handbook from Kenzer & Company
I just don't get why people think that RPG material should be free just because it is in digital format, but that may be a totally different blog post.

The PDF is a high-quality, full-color rendering of the actual file sent off to the printer, not some black and white un-optimized conversion, which is just one step up from a scanned copy.  I almost forgot to mention that the PDF is searchable, bookmarked, and NOT LOCKED DOWN!  If you want to print off a page or add some more bookmarks, go for it.

This book is pretty freakin sweet and I cannot wait to get my grubby little hands on my physical copy as well.  If you get a chance to look at their Hacklopedia of Beasts, you can see the quality they put into their printing efforts.

The new HackMaster Hacklopedia of Beasts from Kenzer & Company
While it's obvious I'm a bit biased, if you got to see these products I'm sure you'll admit that they are top-notch.  Take it from me, it isn't just pretty.  The game plays well, having a distinct "old-school" feel while using updated mechanics.  

Here are some reviews/overviews from other people:
Hacklopedia of Beasts on RPG.net
HackMaster on RPGGeek.com
HackMaster PHB on RPG.net
HackMaster PHB on Dragonsfoot.org
Read the HackMaster Player's Handbook forward here and the intro here.

I have to give the HackMaster PHB two thumbs up!
If you are in Boise sometime let me know and we'll try to get a game going.


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