The Black Hack

The Black Hack is an fantasy role-playing game released by the indie publisher Gold Piece Publications in 2016 that streamlines the rules of the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

When the original edition of D&D was published in 1974, the rules were, in the words of RPG historian Stu Horvath, "a mess: Rambling, poorly organized, and incomprehensible in some places.

Rules taken from the original edition include the four classic character classes (Fighter, Thief, Cleric and Wizard), but a combat system has been added to replace the need for a copy of Chainmail.

Two years later, a much expanded second edition boxed set was published by Gold Piece Publications, with artwork by David Black, Jeff Call, Sean Poppe, and Karl Sternjberg.

"[3] In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath called the second edition "one of the purest refinements of a D&D hack ever to see print."

Horvath concluded, "Easy to pick up, fast to run, without an ounce of nonsense while remaining open and flexible enough for players to fill with whatever wild ideas they imagine.