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It rarely came into play in 4th edition, other than as a modifier on the reaction chart, but it was treated like a 7th stat. One that you couldn't modify with build points, in fact. Quirks and flaws could impose a negative penalty to comeliness, though. Like excessive drooling.

 Manchu wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
but there is a 7th stat that doesn't exist in dnd

If he means comeliness, it did come out of Dragon Magazine (and ended up in Unearthed Arcana). But I wouldn't call it a seventh stat "of D&D."

he also never said it was a 7th stat, he said you roll for 7 stats just like DnD. While I get the confusion, I read it to mean the 4d6 drop the lowest, but I could be wrong.

I would think you're wrong, Alf. Anything other than 3d6 across the board wouldn't be Hackmaster IMHO; however, I do like the bonus points if you keep them that way with the option to swap a few stats for fewer or no points.

Alf, that 4d6 and drop thing is generally associated with the superhero-like characters of 3.X and derided by the various flavors of Old Schoolers.

'Looks' is the seventh stat; might as well call it comeliness.

It just confused me to read "7 stats just like D&D." D&D has six stats. Comlieness, all house ruling aside, isn't one of 'em.

 Manchu wrote:
It just confused me to read "7 stats just like D&D." D&D has six stats. Comlieness, all house ruling aside, isn't one of 'em.

I get in a hurry and conflate two sentences in my head. It is why editing is so important. What I was meaning was that you roll 3d6 like D&D. There are seven stats, six of which are straight from D&D.

Do you roll 3d6 straight down (Basic) or do you get to pick what goes where?

It sounded like if you rolled straight down, you got bonus build points. If you swapped 2 stats, you got fewer bonus build points. If you put the stats where you wanted them (or swapped more than 2), you got no bonus build points.

 Manchu wrote:
Alf, that 4d6 and drop thing is generally associated with the superhero-like characters of 3.X and derided by the various flavors of Old Schoolers.

See I wouldn't know as I've only been playing since the release of 3rd edition old timer

 kronk wrote:
It sounded like if you rolled straight down, you got bonus build points. If you swapped 2 stats, you got fewer bonus build points. If you put the stats where you wanted them (or swapped more than 2), you got no bonus build points.

This right here.

I'm an old-schooler from the 80s and got out of gaming for about 30 years. I recently reunited with an old high school buddy and we joined a group playing the new Hackmaster. We've been playing for a little over a year now and the system is FANTASTIC! Character generation is pretty involved an somewhat time consuming but by the time I get done creating a character, I feel like I know him intimately. . Writing a back story, then, comes very easily. There is actually a very good Excel spreadsheet that helps with character creation on the Kenzer & Co. website that will speed things up quite a bit. Sometimes, when I'm bored, I'll just create characters for fun!

The combat system is what won me over, though. The second-by-second count keeps all of the players truly engaged and with the opposed defense rolls and the penetrating ("exploding" in a sense) dice, absolutely anything can happen in combat. Kenzer & Co. has made the basic game available for free and has enough player and GM info to get your character to level 5. If you are even somewhat interested, I would encourage you to check it out. Have fun!