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.

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.

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 Edition rules. Despite more complex rules, even more arbitrary limitations, and a byzantine character creation process, HackMaster is a playable game.

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.

External links

• Official HackMaster site

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.