"the 'Black Hack for Everything' era is well passed now"

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
The game's author is David Black, though I suspect that it is also a backhanded reference to the game Whitehack. (Oops--Ninja'd).

Usage dice are a way to track consumables, like arrows for example. Something that can run out will have a Usage Die assigned to it. They run in a sequence, from D20 to D4. Every time a p.c. employs the thing, the player rolls the appropriate Usage Die. If the result is a 1 or 2, then the Usage Die is downgraded a step (say from D20 to D12). When you get down to D4 and roll 1-2, whatever it is is expended.

The system works for any consumable, but IMO makes the most sense for things like number of times one can cast a spell which might be hard to predict.
 
Akrasia said:
Thanks! For some reason I thought it meant something more (RPG or fantasy) specific.

Anyone know why "Black" is in the title?
Click to expand...
I think it's just to contrast with the White Hack.

leyline.press

A comparative exploration of OSR RPG Systems - The Black Hack

In this series of blogs we're exploring the various OSR RPG systems in the community and how they compare to one another and the original D&D rules. This week we're taking a look at The Black Hack 2nd Edition by David Black The Black Hack, similarly to Whitehack and Swords & Wizardry, uses...
leyline.press leyline.press
 
Akrasia said:
Thanks! For some reason I thought it meant something more (RPG or fantasy) specific.

Anyone know why "Black" is in the title?
Click to expand...
1. Black is his last name.
2. Contrast to White Hack
3. Allowed him to put a hand throwing the horns on the cover of his zine, which is the primary reason so many people bought it and it got shoved into the cool category before anyone even had a chance to read the thing. :devil:
 
Voros said:
That, THACO and debating medieval armour seem to be what gets some worked up here at the Pub.
Click to expand...
THAC0 is historical fact! If you do as Deus God intended and munch a bunch of holy shrooms and stare at the Bayeux Tapestry long enough, you see the heads of the Knights of the William and the Thanes of Harold making the THAC0 face as they try to work out each other's THAC0 scores. It is sublime, divine and ovaltine!

And the truth is no one wore armour in the medieval century. If you were a rich knight you used silver body paint, foot-persons used grey primer on their bare skin, and if you were a peasant soldier you rubbed in catoblepas dung. Wizards used glitter, of course, which is why they were so rare.
 
Lofgeornost said:
I'm no Black Hack maven, but a couple of other things that seem to distinguish it from more 'straight' OSR games or retro-clones:
  • Enemies/n.p.c.s don't roll to hit p.c.s; instead the p.c. rolls to defend, based on his/her attributes.
  • No 'armor classes' or equivalent. Instead, you can choose to 'break' your armor and negate all damage from a hit. The more substantial an armor, the more times you can do so, but more protective armors are then harder to repair in the field (it's actually an elegant little system). Likewise no armor for monsters/n.p.c.s (with a few exceptions).
Click to expand...
Lofgeornost said:
Usage dice are a way to track consumables, like arrows for example. Something that can run out will have a Usage Die assigned to it. They run in a sequence, from D20 to D4. Every time a p.c. employs the thing, the player rolls the appropriate Usage Die. If the result is a 1 or 2, then the Usage Die is downgraded a step (say from D20 to D12). When you get down to D4 and roll 1-2, whatever it is is expended.

The system works for any consumable, but IMO makes the most sense for things like number of times one can cast a spell which might be hard to predict.
Click to expand...
One thing that is good about the hobby, the list of a game’s bullet points can be one person’s Must Buys and another person’s Dealbreakers. The proliferation of games is a good thing, generally.
 
JAMUMU said:
And the truth is no one wore armour in the medieval century. If you were a rich knight you used silver body paint, foot-persons used grey primer on their bare skin, and if you were a peasant soldier you rubbed in catoblepas dung. Wizards used glitter, of course, which is why they were so rare.
Click to expand...

Glitter Boys
1685737546536.png
 
Skarg said:
It's nice when most of the players of a game you like, are there because they have similar tastes, and the smarts/will to have found the game, and the will to be a fan of it.

As opposed to, because it's the main thing on the shelves, and in memes, etc. Then you get the other people . . . :shock:
Click to expand...
 
JAMUMU said:
And the truth is no one wore armour in the medieval century. If you were a rich knight you used silver body paint, foot-persons used grey primer on their bare skin, and if you were a peasant soldier you rubbed in catoblepas dung. Wizards used glitter, of course, which is why they were so rare.
Click to expand...

Sounds like this guy from The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein.

review_rites-of-frankenstein.png
 
CRKrueger said:
1. Black is his last name.
2. Contrast to White Hack
3. Allowed him to put a hand throwing the horns on the cover of his zine, which is the primary reason so many people bought it and it got shoved into the cool category before anyone even had a chance to read the thing. :devil:
Click to expand...
Mess-with-the-bull-you-get-the-horns.gif

Don't mess with the Black Hack, or you'll get the horns...
 
sharps54 said:
it used advantages / disadvantage, and roll under attributes
Click to expand...
I really like these two features of it. I'm a big fan of roll-under mechanics, and advantage/disadvantage keeps me from having to keep track of multiple situational modifiers.

I can see some use for usage dies. I don't dislike them.
 
3rik said:
I really like these two features of it. I'm a big fan of roll-under mechanics, and advantage/disadvantage keeps me from having to keep track of multiple situational modifiers.

I can see some use for usage dies. I don't dislike them.
Click to expand...
One version of it does have the stat modified +/- based on the difference between the HD/Levels of the PC and their opposition, something I like very much ( and somewhat like the old CoC resistance table, kinda sorta, or the old WS vs WS from early versions of WHFB and WH40K)

Also, player facing rolls.
 
chuckdee said:
I think it's just to contrast with the White Hack.

leyline.press

A comparative exploration of OSR RPG Systems - The Black Hack

In this series of blogs we're exploring the various OSR RPG systems in the community and how they compare to one another and the original D&D rules. This week we're taking a look at The Black Hack 2nd Edition by David Black The Black Hack, similarly to Whitehack and Swords & Wizardry, uses...
leyline.press leyline.press
Click to expand...

That post was quite informative and helpful. Thanks!
 
Skarg said:
It's nice when most of the players of a game you like, are there because they have similar tastes, and the smarts/will to have found the game, and the will to be a fan of it.

As opposed to, because it's the main thing on the shelves, and in memes, etc. Then you get the other people . . . :shock:
Click to expand...
Well, in my case, it seems to be "because Asen is running it, and it seems fun". Which is actually how I like it... :grin:

chuckdee said:
As the emoji-master... do you use wow emoji when you don't understand what was just said? Because if so... Wow.
Click to expand...
TL;DR: Sometimes. So sometimes-wow, I guess:tongue:? Yes, sometimes it means other stuff.

Longer version: Not quite. Of course, sometimes I do, but my emojis only look simple. However, inside the form, ten thousands variations of meaning are hidden! So I can threaten an emoji on the right and actually post one on the left, or use an emoji and when it produces shock, reply with another...
You should post lotsa emojis as well in order to understand the deeper meaning of that instruction:thumbsup:!
 
Last edited:
AsenRG said:
Well, in my case, it seems to be "because Asen is running it, and it seems fun". Which is actually how I like it... :grin:


TL;DR: Sometimes. So sometimes-wow, I guess:tongue:? Yes, sometimes it means other stuff.

Longer version: Not quite. Of course, sometimes I do, but my emojis only look simple. However, inside the form, ten thousands variations of meaning are hidden! So I can threaten an emoji on the right and actually post one on the left, or use an emoji and when it produces shock, reply with another...
You should post lotsa emojis as well in order to understand the deeper meaning of that:thumbsup:!
Click to expand...
face-screaming-in-fear.png
 
sharps54 said:
D101 games is @
Newt Newport
Newt Newport ’s company so questions about why a game should be discontinued would best be directed to him.
Click to expand...

Hullo Folks, it seems I've been summoned to answer many questions about Sword Against the Shroud's discontinuation.

So here we go.
NinjaWeasel said:
As for anything "disappearing", it's Swords Against the Shroud that the Reddit poster is referring to and that game was announced as being "retired" here on the D101 Games website and on the Gaming Tavern site. Why it's being retired isn't clear. Given it's based on Crypts & Things, which is a D101 game, and The Black Hack, which is an open system, it doesn't seem there's an immediately obvious reason. The only thing I can think of is, as this was announced in January, maybe it came off the back of WotC's OGL shennanigans.
Click to expand...

A bit of background here. Sword Against the Shroud was written as a Kickstarter stretch goal for From the Shroud #2 zine. It was a bit of an experiment, a quick conversion of Crypts and Things, which is based on Swords and Wizardry, into Black Hack 2nd Edition, which I was very taken with at the time. It took more effort than I anticipated, but I was very happy with the results, so I thought, hey ho let's make it more widely available via DriveThruRPG and see how it goes.

It never really sold well, if at all, and by the time I decided to discontinue it, sales were nil. Also, it had become a competing product for Crypts and Things. I had at least one enquiry on my discord server asking whether to get C&T or Swords, and I had to point out that C&T is the complete game. At the same time, while not requiring C&T to play, Swords references it for fuller descriptions of the monsters and the setting, as well as having more magic items, character classes, etc. Also, by this stage (a good two years after Swords was published), I was happy with C&T as it is and decided to discontinue Swords. While you won't see it again, it has been brought back into my development garage to use as a base for something else I have in mind (more I will not say at this point, except it will be Grim and Dangerous ;) ).

I think the whole "Black Hack for everything era" as in many quickly generated hacks was over during the Black Hack's 1st edition. But what's happening now is a much slower trickle of well-designed and illustrated games that use it as a base. Take the Cthulhu Hack 2nd Edition, which as a backer I had the pleasure of reading the pre-release pdf this morning :smile:


Nick J said:
Newt has done this in the past with a fair bit of his catalog — sunsetting games that are digital only or POD.

I’m not 100% sure I get the rationale aside from possibly cutting down on a cluttered website or wanting to focus in on what he’s currently most engaged with
Click to expand...

I hope this makes it clear why I do this. I've been publishing RPGs for over a decade now. Some releases are simply old and need refurbishing (or a new edition). Some were collaborations where the co-author disappeared. Some simply were experiments that never really panned out. People mistakenly think that in the digital age, a small publisher like myself makes money on the out-of-date back catalogue, and there's no cost in keeping it around.
sharps54 said:
It would seem a page for old games that he no longer supports would be an easy way to continue to make money from them.
Click to expand...
I tried this for about a year - a category called "The Vault" on my webstore, and in that time, I made exactly one sale, on a game that eventually became Reboot the Future. So no
 
AsenRG said:
Like all other hobbies, basically.
Click to expand...
I guess so. But I find there to be more division within "nerd" hobbies than in others. At least compared with the other non-nerd hobbies I am interested in.
 
Neon said:
I guess so. But I find there to be more division within "nerd" hobbies than in others. At least compared with the other non-nerd hobbies I am interested in.
Click to expand...
All hobbies are nerd hobbies, I've found, except drinking, sex, and drunk sex. Those are universal.
Seriously, you should totally see crafters...:shade:
 
Acmegamer said:
Speak for yourself my good man. My drunk sex and drinking sex are nerd hobbies! Or so my wife says.
Click to expand...
I have it on good authority that muggles do those two as well:thumbsup:!

Ben Adams said:
Since my right hand helps with all those things, and rolls dice, I will agree with you.
Click to expand...
I'm so not sharing dice with you:shade:!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top