The Black Hack

Necrozius · February 16, 2016, 08:58:31 AM

So there's Kickstarter for yet another minimalist retroclone.

It caught my attention because I've liked the other products by Peter Regan's Square Hex company, especially their choice of typography and layout. But I only backed this one once I saw the low price and the rules preview.

From what I've read of Whitehack (still waiting for it to arrive in the mail) and what I've read in the Black Hack's quick rules highlights (on the Kickstarter page), I think that I might end up with a nice "black and white" hack of minimalist D&D; merging the elements that I like best from both.

What do you folks think? Have you played rules-light games like this before (ie, Whitehack)? Any potential pitfalls or shortcomings that I should be aware of?

Tod13 · February 16, 2016, 09:50:41 AM

I'd need to know a lot more about the game rules before backing it, especially since stuff like Microlite20, Swords and Wizardry, and Basic Fantasy are all available for free and all give fun variations on rule-lite gaming.

I won't consider WhiteHack because they won't offer, on purpose, a PDF version and there's pretty much no preview. Also, their FAQ on what is Open Content says pretty much "buy the rules and read the license page to find out".

AsenRG · February 16, 2016, 12:33:58 PM

IMO, the main shortcoming to be aware of is that some players will demand more crunch even if said crunch isn't doing anything.

deleted user · February 16, 2016, 03:25:14 PM

I've written about my experiences with Whitehack here and my other favourite rules-lite game is Into the Odd - that's the free primer.

Looking at TBH (I have the Beta, and the final version seems improved) it would be a good match with them for hacking your favourite bits. My group plays mostly OD&D or rules-lite games, and as a DM I find them easier to prep for - TBH has a neat little micro-setting Sorrowset as one of the stretch goals that looked fun on the youtube actual play here

AsenRG has voiced the one pitfall I can think of, but I guess I've been lucky with my players

Tod13 · February 17, 2016, 08:00:33 AM

Quote from: Sean !;879396I've written about my experiences with Whitehack here and my other favourite rules-lite game is Into the Odd - that's the free primer.

AsenRG has voiced the one pitfall I can think of, but I guess I've been lucky with my players

Thanks for the first link to ProBoards--it has some of the better details of WhiteHack I've been able to find. Enough that I now know I don't want it.

But enough to let other people know they might.

With my players, they could care less about the system, as long as the system doesn't get in the way of role playing or them having fun.

Necrozius · February 17, 2016, 11:41:11 AM

Thanks for the feedback, folks.

Yeah I'm glad that I made the purchase of Whitehack. It sounds right for me.

Black Hack might add a few neat features here and there (the new inventory system looks neat, but that's only based on the image of the character sheet).

I also like the idea of inventory tracking: you start with a larger die (eg. d10) and every time you use that resource, or the GM asks you to tax it, you roll that die. On a 1 or 2, reduce the inventory die by one "step" (eg. down to a d8 and so on). At least, I think that's how it works.

Nihilistic Mind · February 17, 2016, 02:02:54 PM

At the cost of the PDF, I went ahead and backed it. I'd been looking for something simple to run the occasional OSR session for my Sunday group (a few of them are new to roleplaying so I think it might be a neat experience for them).

deleted user · February 28, 2016, 02:48:43 PM

Less than 10 minutes to go, this KS has proved that a rules-lite KS with limited stretch goals and no add-ons can fund successfully

The Black Hack

RPGPundit · March 01, 2016, 04:08:15 PM

Quote from: Sean !;882022Less than 10 minutes to go, this KS has proved that a rules-lite KS with limited stretch goals and no add-ons can fund successfully

The Black Hack

Ok. Though he did still seem to have a lot of stretch goals. Though I do agree it's pretty minimalist compared to others.

Also, for some reason this whole project gives off the aura of a dude who really doesn't know what he's doing. I don't know why; like someone else thought his houserules were cool and convinced him to do a KS for it, and now its all kind of spiraled a bit and he can't stop it.

TristramEvans · March 01, 2016, 04:15:07 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;882611Also, for some reason this whole project gives off the aura of a dude who really doesn't know what he's doing. I don't know why; like someone else thought his houserules were cool and convinced him to do a KS for it, and now its all kind of spiraled a bit and he can't stop it.

Except for stating that this is his 16th of 15 successful Kickstarters

RPGPundit · March 03, 2016, 07:06:27 PM

Quote from: TristramEvans;882617Except for stating that this is his 16th of 15 successful Kickstarters

Well, it might be a cultivated style.

crkrueger · March 03, 2016, 11:18:55 PM

Quote from: TristramEvans;882617Except for stating that this is his 16th of 15 successful Kickstarters

I thought Holy Shit, but then saw they were mostly some form of graph or hex paper or character sheet. The geomorph beer coasters look kinda cool though.

RPGPundit · March 06, 2016, 12:19:38 AM

I'm sure he'll be able to deliver; my earlier statement wasn't a comment on that. It was just about the style of the product and his way of communicating about it.

AsenRG · March 06, 2016, 11:36:59 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;883531I'm sure he'll be able to deliver; my earlier statement wasn't a comment on that. It was just about the style of the product and his way of communicating about it.

Well, many people in the hobby could use better PR skills;).

crkrueger · March 06, 2016, 01:35:02 PM

Quote from: AsenRG;883590Well, many people in the hobby could use better PR skills;).

If, of course you assume the effect different from the intent.