The Lords of Hack is an association of tabletop role playing gamers located in South Central Pennsylvania.

What's New

Find out what is coming up and what's on our minds by checking for bulletins here or drilling down through our blog.

Lords of Hack Blog

Current Campaign

Our Manifesto

Mission Statement

The purpose of The Lords of Hack is to have fun.

General Tennants

  • No jerks. If you are acting like jerk on game day, don't come. How do you know who is a jerk and who isn't? Those who violate the mission statement are jerks. Everyone should do their best to both have fun and support the fun for all other players. Those not having fun or and/or spoiling fun for others will be asked to leave the campaign.
  • Communicate! If you have a problem with something, tell somebody. The participants are all adults (even if we don't always act like it in-game). Together we can figure anything out.
  • GMs and players should always be consistant within the storytelling. We can believe that in the world the sun rises in the west and sets in the east -- but it should always do so. And everything that depends on that fact should reflect this. Don't contradict the consistancies set forth by other GMs in the campaign.
  • It is only common courtesy to let the GM and hosts know that you are not coming, so they know when to start and what to plan for. As soon as you know you aren't coming, let 'em know right away.
  • Players are encouraged to add "flavor" wherever they can. A good description of your PC, painting miniatures, a detailed PC background, some in-character fiction, or even helping to flesh out the campaign world are all welcome to all players -- not just GMs.
  • If you would like to see a story or subplot -- suggest it! GMs don't like doing all the work anyway. Alternately, offer to GM it yourself.
  • We refrain from discussing real life matters of religion or politics. Just because we don't see eye to eye, it doesn't mean we can't stand shoulder to shoulder.
  • Be courteous to one another. Help the host prepare before the game and help clean up after. Listen to your host. Ply the host with snacks and gifts if you think it is appropriate. Happy hosts make for a good game.

    • GM's Guidelines

  • Anyone can be the GM if they want to.
  • Less is more. If you can have a multitude of items, choose a few that are really interesting and develop them as much as possible. Favor depth over breadth of content in all things.
  • Let the players make choices. That's what the game is all about. No railroading. At the very least give the players the illusion of free will. Instead of saying "no", always consider saying "yes, but...".
  • Try to keep adventure sessions reasonable in scope. Oftentimes even the best games can get too convoluted and out of hand if the GM tries to do too much. Try not to tackle "save the world" plotlines. "Save the nation" or "save the town" is about our speed. When in doubt, make the plot scope simply "save yourselves."
  • Always try to add "flavor" to the game. Roleplaying away from a game session by email or IM is a legitimate way of getting a subplot out into the open between sessions. Also, it makes a good log entry in itself.
  • Try to build on previous adventures to create "campaigns" or extended stories made up of several game sessions. This continuity makes for a more immersive experience.
  • GMs must write a session log after each game they GM. Alternately they may convince someone else at the game session (a player/bystander/pet/etc) to write it for them. Example templates of logs can be forwarded to you at your request. A GM post-mortem and campaign polls are good to in order to gauge the feelings of the players, but are not necessary.


    • Gaming History

    The Lords of Hack have been gaming since 1999. We have had a whole lot of fun in the years we have been gaming. As one might imagine there are plenty of in-jokes that have accumulated. Here's a list of all of our previous campaigns.


    CampaignSystemBeganEnded
    Redspan CampaignAD&D 2eJuly 1999March 2000
    Melvek WildsRC D&DApril 2000July 2000
    Northern MarchesD&D 3eAugust 2000March 2002
    VikingsD&D 3eApril 2002May 2003
    Draw OutlawD20 HomebrewJune 2003August 2003
    Space BastardsD20 HomebrewSeptember 2003February 2004
    Dr. Skull's Conan CultD20 ConanMarch 2004November 2004
    Traytor’s RaidersD20 TravellerDecember 2004January 2005
    Six DalesHomebrew D&DJanuary 2005August 2005
    Knights of OrionSavage WorldsOctober 2005July 2006
    UthaxSavage WorldsAugust 2006October 2006
    Brown Trousers (Aquilla)Castles and CrusadesNovember 2006January 2008
    Fulton HorizonsSavage WorldsApril 2008June 2008
    IrongateD&D 4eJuly 2008May 2009
    GataviaReturn of the TrollsJune 2009April 2010
    SlipstreamSavage WorldsApril 2010November 2010
    BadlandsAD&DNovember 2010December 2011
    Kings of OrionSavage WorldsJanuary 2012May 2012
    The Rhylanor ExpressTraveller Classic/HomebrewMay 2012January 2013
    Mutants & MusketsSavage WorldsFebruary 2013August 2013
    Gatavia IIIAdventurer, Conqueror, KingSeptember 2013September 2015
    Fulton GalacticTraveller Classic/HomebrewOctober 2015December 2015
    WilderlandsAD&DJanuary 2016August 2016
    Blades in the DarkBITD v.0.7August 2016October 2016
    Wild West ShootoutFistful of LeadOctober 2016December 2016
    To A Bloody PulpSavage WorldsJanuary 2017November 2017
    The Krondor CampaignD&D 5eDecember 2017December 2018
    The Thranconia CampaignD&D Blueholme JourneymanneJanuary 2019August 2019
    The Greyhawk CampaignD&D 5eAugust 2019December 2019
    Grampa's Assignment InfinitySavage WorldsJanuary 2020March 2020 (COVID-19 Quarantine)
    Eldritch Earth : Five Hacks DeepFive Torches DeepJuly 2020August 2021
    PolychronopolisRampage Amid the Ruins by David Langdon NelsonAugust 2021August 2022
    Savage Space BastardsSavage WorldsSeptember 2022January 2023
    ShieldlandsRampage Amid the Ruins by David Langdon NelsonFebruary 2023Present

    The Hacklords

    The Lords of Hack are legion and honorable. The following is a list of all those who regularly contribute or have once passed through our hallowed ranks in roughly the order in which they joined.

  • David Nelson
  • Bob LaForge
  • Chuck Fleurie
  • David Hanley
  • Peter Zollers
  • Joe Fryer
  • Andrew Smith
  • Shaun Sipple
  • Mike Miller
  • Toby Miller
  • James Gallagher
  • Marlon Kirton
  • Jason Leibert
  • Joe Cress
  • David Coombs
  • Chris Crimmins
  • Kevin Viands
  • Robert Swan
  • Zach Kleiser
  • Gabriel Miller
  • Tim Moyer
  • Miles Trout
  • Quinton Laughman
  • Craig Judy

    • Contact Us

    Comment at our blog or send an email to Andrew at this domain name.