I'm interested in trying out RPGs I haven't played before, and I heard about this "Harn" thing during one of their promotions.  I read the introductory pdf, and it tells me that it's a fantasy RPG, but not much about the game's character, and I'm interested in learning a bit more before I leap.  What's the system like in play and pre-play?  What's the tone of the setting?  What are the game's strengths, quirks, and rough spots?

Anyone feel like expounding on this, or happen to have a review lying around?

I can say something about it, maybe tomorrow.

Okay, briefly, there are the rules and there's the setting. A lot of Harniacs apparently play the setting without using Harnmaster, and HM itself is a rules set that I'd consider using (or at least borrowing heavily from) for any gritty medieval or possibly ancients-inspired game.

The rules are very similar to Runequest III, with percentile-based skills drawing their initial values from simple formulas coming from the 3d6-based attributes. There are no classes, but initial skills are determined based on prior culture/profession. Experience is handled like RQ, with "skill checks" awarded for use of skills in the course of adventures, and then improvement occurring if you roll > skill on your "check". The main difference here, and it's rather elegant, is that your "skill base", which is the average of several attributes, is added to checks, so more "talented" people will tend to improve faster.

Combat is a pretty detailed elaboration on the roll-to-hit, roll-to-defend, damage dice, armor absorbs, hit locations paradigm. I go into some detail here. The big thing to notice is that wounds have specific effects (such as causing incapacitation or stumbling checks, amputation, etc.) and they also cumulatively worsen a character's performance and ability to stay conscious during battle. However, there are no hit points which count down to zero.

Unlike RQ, magic in HM is done via spells-as-skills, but there is an emphasis on spell research. Which frankly never excites me; it just seems like too much trouble for both player and GM. I'd rather pick from a list. That said, depending on edition and supplements in play, you have somewhat of a list to get you started. Magic is also organized by college, forcing a degree of specialization on mages. It's worth noting that magic is pretty low-key.

I'm forgetting if there's any sort of psionics in the game; I think there are as an option but I've never cared for them in fantasy. I'm also forgetting how the divine effects work--you'll have to look elsewhere.

As for the world, which is partly implied by the rules, it's a very "real fantasy" setting, with a strongly Northern European feel--specifically Anglo-Norman. However there are Elves and Dwarves in a few pockets, and religion is the anachronistic "competing gods within a pantheon, each with their own church" idea that's common in FRPGs. Where the world really stands out is the amazing amount of detail to be found in the location materials--and also, the community of fans on the net. This is the paper & pencil SCA game in many ways. I will say though that certain of the fantasy elements are delightfully original, especially the idea of the god Ilvir, who seems drawn from a Leiber-esque view of divinity. Ilvir lives in the far north of the island-continent of Harn, where he experiments on a variety of artificial life forms known collectively as the Ivashu. These head out, wander around the continent, get killed by adventurers, and then Ilvir recycles their souls, of which he has a limited number to work with. (The Ivashu are incapable of reproduction on their own.)

Aside from that, though, I think the setting's main attraction is in recreating a very social-history-oriented miniature of "feudal" society, with a little bit of variation around the Thardic republic--less a Rome analog than a Venice or mini-Switzerland. Another nice thing about it is that although the setting has a few potential conflicts built into it, all the setting materials constitute a "snapshot" of the world during a specific year, leaving groups free to develop their campaign forward without worrying about bumping into metaplot.

My only experience with Harn is from reading the Harnmaster rules and some setting material. I loved lifepath chargen and the blow-by-blow combat. I remeber thinking that setting-wise one might as well go all the way and get rid of monsters, demi-humans, and maybe even magic--just have it be a fantasy medieval game.

If one was interested in the setting alone, what product(s) should one check out to get a good overview?

Thanks!

"Harnworld" from Columbia Games is the core setting book, and contains details on the world as a whole and on the island of Harn (very much the focus of the campaign setting) in particular. As nice as many of the Harn supplements are, Harnworld is all you truly need, setting-wise.

For some examples of what the Harn setting is like, check out Lythia.com and look at some of the places written up there. They are very similar in format and detail to what the "official" Harn stuff is like.

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Hârn Manor

I have the Player's Guide that was put out a few years back, the one with the cartoony adventurer on the cover, and I love it.  You could run a pretty awesome little campaign using just that book and whatever fantasy system floats your boat.  I'd probably use MERP or the RC to do so.

Quote from: hgjsAnyone feel like expounding on this, or happen to have a review lying around?

There is the setting,

Harn is a mist shrouded wooded large island lying of off the main continent of Lythia. It is a place where several small kingdoms (and one republic) attempt to thrive amid a wilderness of barabarians and garguns (orcs). It a medieval society equivalent in many ways to England of the 12th to 13th century. A the realms of Harn, save one republic, are feudal in organization.

The kingdoms have distinct characterizations. Melderyn is a ancient feudal kingdom (the human kingdom on harn) that is influenced by it magical heritage. Kaldor is an old Kingdom. Fused from four petty kingdoms it is now the largest and most powerful of all the harnic kingdoms. Chybisa is the only survivor of the old kingdoms of eastern Harn, the rest were forced to unite with other kingdoms in the face of barbarian invasion. Chybisa remain in its shrunken state. Despite a turbulent history it retains its independence.

In the west are the successor realms of the Corani Empire. Shattered in the wake of the Balsha Jihad the Empire gave rise to three realms. The Thardic Republic is consider by many the heir to the Corani Heirtage. Kanday is the bright shining kingdom of Harn. It has a short history but its kings and queens had overcome many odds to forge their realm. Rethem is a troubled dark realm. A realm many consider a unholy fusion of the darkest elements of the Jihad and the northern barbarians.

Finally in the north is Orbaal. Once known as Jara. it was the last refuge of the original human inhabitants of Harn the Jarin. However a century and a half ago Vikings out of Ivinia swept across Jara and forged a new kingdom. the Viking Realm of Orbaal. Today the Ivinians make up only a small proportion of the population. They hold an uneasy rule over the restless Jarin population.

Harn has an ancient history where Ancients known as the Earthmaster left enigmatic ruins. Where thousands of years later the Elves and Dwarves forged the condominium with their human allies. This lasted until last great migration when it was all swept away and the elder races retreating back to their strongholds. Today there is one Elven Realm and one Dwarven Kingdom (it has a sizable human population as well)

Harn has a pan-island magic organization known as the Guild of Arcane Lore, within the guild there are the Shek-Pvar whose philosophy of Pvarism allows them to practice magic.

Harn has a pantheon of 10 deities with different types of deities. The religions  are a cross between a monotheistic style and a many god style. Basically an adherent is expected to be a devotee of that god and that god alone. Several of the gods oppose each other.

The setting is detailed in a series of large and small articles collectively known as the Encyclopedia Harnica. The main setting box consist of two books. An overview including a system free lifepath generation for Harn. Along with a mini encyclopedia of all things Harn.

The maps are are in several size are consider among the best ever done for an RPG. The grand overview is 12.5 miles per hex or 5 harnic leagues or five hours of walking over level terrain. The grand overview represents terrain by hatching and vegetation by color allowing a more realistic presentation of harn. The Kingdom scale maps depict kingdom regions of Harn and show EVERY village. They are done in the same manner as the grand scale maps.

There is a new regional scale map that ditches terrain hatching in favor of elevation contour lines. They eventually will cover all of harn and are a small enough scale to show every village. Finally there are full page small scale area maps showing villages, sites, and towns and detailed interior maps. Typically the small scale area maps have a color plate, b/w plate for photocopying, and a GM key map.

90% of this is presented rules free. Even the adventures are very light on the rules.

In actual play Harn allows for the free form play that I used for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. If the play decide to go the opposite way you have the support there to see what over the other hill. Unlike the Wilderlands there is a high level overview to the whole campaign. The more you use the campaign the more you learn how to adapt its medieval nature to make a good fantasy game. It is different than the average "Village of Hommlet" feel that the implied setting of D&D has.

Plus within many Harn articles are hooks that GMs can used for plots. One person joked on the Harn Forum that there are so many that if they were all to go off Harn would have a apocalypse. They are all different types. Also many of the new article released in the last couple of years support adventuring better. Articles on tournments, and caravans are among them.






Harnmaster is a percentile based system. Character Generation supports the lifepath system in the Harn book and strongly skewed toward a medieval society. There are many attributes and they all factor into figuring out an initial skill level. Once you get a skill going it works like any other percentage system. Note that when criticals are used any roll ending in a 0 or 5 is a critical. Success or failure is dependent on rolling under the target.

Combat is based on a maneuver system where an attack and a defense is picked. The rolls made and the result of critcal success, marginal success, marginal failure, and critical failure are indexed and "damage" is rolled. Hit Location is rolled Armor is subtracted and the result is locked up on a table to see if any special injury result occurs. Special injury results include shock, stumbling, fumbles, bleeding, amuptation, and death. They are tested against an attribute to see if they take effect. The actual damage you take is recorded and tallied. Its effect is that the more damage you take the lower your effective skill. Individual wounds are written down for healing and recovery purposes.

In actual play this system is the most complicated system I played that works well. They have a one page chart that is included in the rules that makes doing all this a snap. The only problem are two

1) The players don't write down their injuries legibly. My group fixed this by using post-it notes instead of the character sheet.

2) The player get pissed off, in a good way, at what happens to their character. When you look at your sheet after a combat you see every scratch, cut, or gash that you took.

Armor is realistically portrayed with layering supporting and recommended.

Jousting is supported in 3rd Edition.

Religion and Magic have their own system that is skill based and both have extensive rules.

The Pilot Almanac is the best RPG on seafaring in the middle ages. In many ways is works like traveller. It has rules on trading, building your own ship, piloting a ship, and hiring a crew.

Barbarians details all the barbarians for both Harn and Harnmaster. Probably the most rules heavy of any of the Encyclopedia Harnica articles.

HarnManor detail the running of a manor with generation of all its inhabitants. It has a budget form that allows you to make decisions on what you are going to do for the upcoming year. And rules to resolved what happens. In actual play it is very easy on the player as most events happen once a game year. It includes events that lead to the lord of the manor interacting with his villagers. One wag in my group put it "Oh boy, here is this year's line of whiners."

The Harn bestiary is functional with a few very detailed monster like garguns (harnic orcs).

Harn has the most comprehensive price list of any system. It monetary system has effectively one coin the silver penny. There is a gold crown worth 320 silver pennies.

Finally Harn has been plagued with a very slow release cycle. (It called Columbia Time) However since the core material has been released already you don't have to suffer through that.

In the last few years has seen a small renaissance of matters harnic. Older article are being re-released in greatly expanded format. New maps are coming out that are far more interesting to use. The schedule has picked up somewhat since they started doing things through HarnQuest. Plus it has a fanbase that produce works that far superior any I have seen done for other system.

Link

http://www.harnlink.com
http://www.lythia.com
http://www.columbiagames.com
http://www.harnforum.com

Enjoy
Rob Conley

And finally yes there are spaceships in a half-ass sort of way. (It is implied in the references to the ancient earthmasters and their enemies.)