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I'm reading through the recently-released Player's Handbook of the new version of Hackmaster, and I plan to ask a few questions about it in the next few days. I was thinking about it, though, and I'm not sure how to properly tag these questions.

The first version of Hackmaster was simply titled "Hackmaster". The new version of Hackmaster is also titled "Hackmaster".

On the Kenzer & Co. message boards, the original version of Hackmaster is sometimes referred to as "Hackmaster 4E", due to the fact that before the game every released, the Knights of the Dinner Table comic featured the group playing "Hackmaster 3E", and an in-joke of the game was that this was a the new edition of what they play in the comic. In reality, though, this is the first version of the game that was released.

However, the new version isn't called "Hackmaster 5E". It's just referred to as Hackmaster. Further muddying the waters is the fact that while it was in development Hackmaster Basic was released, which was basically a toned down, preview ruleset of the final product.

The rules mechanics between Hackmaster Basic and the latest version of Hackmaster are similar enough that it might not be worth separating them, but the rules for the previous edition of Hackmaster are completely different. I'm not sure how to tag my questions about the latest version without there being confusion over which edition I'm asking about.

Note that even in this meta post, I have to refer to "previous edition" and "new edition" to avoid confusion. How should this be tagged?

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    \$\begingroup\$ For now, start with just "Hackmaster". Reference the version in the body of the post. Versioning won't really matter until we have enough questions to keep the tag reaper away. \$\endgroup\$
    – AceCalhoon
    May 2, 2012 at 14:07

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Typically fans of HackMaster(both versions) tend to separate them by saying "HackMaster 4th" or HM4 when referring to the original edition published in 2001 and just "HackMaster" or even "HackMaster 5th" or HM5 when referring to the new version. Officially Kenzer&Co uses HackMaster 4th Edition for the old one and just "HackMaster" for the new one.

I'm here and can answer any questions.

My HM experience:

I've played and/or GM'ed HM4 for about 6 or 7 years and have an active HM4 game(over 5 years old now) that I GM every other week, and play in another. I was a playtester for HackMaster Basic and still a Alpha Playtester for HackMaster products(PHB and the GMG). I'm a regular over at the K&Co forums as "Greylond" and would be happy to answer any and all questions here.

So, ask away and give me about a day or so to remember to check this site! :)

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for the input, and welcome! \$\endgroup\$
    – Pat Ludwig
    May 3, 2012 at 2:31
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Use . There currently aren't any questions tagged with it. There is no need to over-complicate things at this point.

If/when we get several questions on each version, there may be a need to get more specific, but I don't see that as a need right now.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ The downside to this is that I'll need to specify which version I actually mean in every question body. Though, possibly, I could just write a good tag wiki summary for it which makes the version clear. \$\endgroup\$
    – Sterno
    May 2, 2012 at 15:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Sterno At this point, specifying game/edition in the body is something you should be doing anyway. Tags that don't have many questions get destroyed periodically, resulting in questions being left "untagged." A good body description helps mitigate this (plus, you can be more verbose than a tag can). \$\endgroup\$
    – AceCalhoon
    May 3, 2012 at 3:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AceCalhoon Fair enough. Though unless this is different than other SE sites, I think you just need two questions with the tag for it to stick around. \$\endgroup\$
    – Sterno
    May 3, 2012 at 3:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ Another good reason to tag it with a less specialized tag. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    May 3, 2012 at 22:16

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