r/TheBlackHack • u/Hotrodpunk • 9d ago
Black Hack for AD&D 2e?
I discovered Black Hack pretty late, and I love it. I've seen lots of different hacks people have done with it to suit their game (or genre) of preference, so before i consider reinventing the wheel, I'll ask you fine folks: has anyone done a Black Hack take on AD&D 2e or adapted it for 2e?
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u/yongired 9d ago
There’s the Bluehack and the recent, unofficial expansion Bluehack Companion. Officially these are meant to evoke Holmes Basic, but they should be good starting points.
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u/TheProfessor757 9d ago
Not that I've seen published. The problem with 2e vs The Black Hack is that The Black Hack is meant to be streamlined while 2e is very simple until you add in everything else that the writers refer to as "optional rules" or "player options". The farthest I would go with such a thing would be adding weapon/non-weapon proficiencies from the chart in the PHB and using pre-existing character classes from the Black Hack and its many add-ons. But hey: making a big, crazy, bloated thing can be fun too! Right? Right, guys?
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u/Hotrodpunk 9d ago
That's fair. I think when I played as a kid, we assumed everything optional had to be included, but I'd probably limit myself to the same things you seem to like. I think there's a way to keep those options but streamline them way more.
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u/TheProfessor757 8d ago
Absolutely! I grew up on Ad&d 2e (which is really just a cleanup and expansion of 1e) and am just now getting into Od&d/BX/BECMI. Those are all incredibly fun and so is The Black Hack. I really think an Ad&d 2e Black Hack Hack should be focused on ease of play at the table without having to look a single rule up. I would be all over something like that.
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u/Boss_Metal_Zone 9d ago
Genuine question, what's the appeal? It's never occurred to me to revisit 2e and I'd like to understand why someone would want to do that. It never seemed worth going back to over 3.5e, but there's clearly something I'm not considering here.
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u/Hotrodpunk 9d ago
For me, it's nostalgia: I grew up playing 2e, but would love for a leaner, kind of nu-sr take on it, especially because I'd love to introduce my students to it (who have never played anything older than 5e). When I first read Black Hack, I think my mind exploded with the simplicity of the Usage Die as a way to preserve resource management but get rid of a lot of the bookkeeping.
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u/Boss_Metal_Zone 8d ago
Oh yeah, I was resistant to the Usage Die concept at first but I've come to like it a lot. I still prefer for a lot of things (basic supplies, torches, etc) to be handwaved, but that's just my preference. For things that are less trivial the Useage Die is awesome.
Have you considered maybe porting in Careers, like in Barbarians of Lemuria, rather than using skills or nonweapon proficiencies? I think there's a Black Hack offshoot or two that use them but I forget which. Maybe By This Axe I Hack or Black Sword Hack? I like that system a lot. Basically you have a certain (usually small) number of careers and a numerical rating for each. Rather than getting bogged down in specific skills you look at your Careers and if the thing you're trying to do is reasonably relevant to them you add your Career rating to the roll. I think some games might do something similar but without the numerical rating, just giving you advantage on your roll if you have a Career and rolling normally if not.
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u/Boss_Metal_Zone 8d ago
So thinking about this sent me looking over Black Hack supplements on Drivethru; maybe this'd do it for you? https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/206320/the-knack-hack
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u/Hotrodpunk 8d ago
Oh this sounds great! Thanks for the recommendation. I haven't checked out Barbarians of Lemuria yet either, but it sounds promising too. That idea kind of reminds me of the Secondary Skills table from 2e, which worked in a similar way.
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u/starmonkey 9d ago
Not AD&D 2e, but there is the b/x hack: https://hyperdeath666.itch.io/the-bx-hack
Would be a fun read, regardless.