Any HARN fans here? PSA

[jeffb]

HARNWORLD on sale at DriveThru

[doublejig2]

I'm afraid that if I bought the introduction, I'd go hog wild on their entire product line!

[jeffb]

I bought some stuff in the past for HARN when I was collecting (it came as part of a lot). I turned it over quick.

For me it's best feature was it's production quality/maps. Pretty products for the time. I found it hard to get through/boring because it tried too hard to be "realistic" and very much like our own Medieval time period. Sort of like Chivalry & Sorcery, which I also never could gel with (mechanically or fictionally).

Oddly enough, I prefer Fantasy to actually be fantastical.

[makofan]

I bought a bunch of Harn back in the day, but had the same reaction as jeffb - it was hard to fit the fantastic in there. Loved my Ivinia box set just for the maps

[hamurai]

It's certainly a different kind of fantasy when compared to "default" D&D.

My group regularly (= some weeks each year) plays a Hârnmaster campaign that started about 7 years ago. The others play a band of "vikings", I - having moved there about 5 years ago - then joined the group as a dwarf, sent by the king to accompany the viking mercenaries, keep watch and send word of our campaign against the "orcs".

Once you've accustomed yourself to the system, you can easily play the game in a high fantasy setting, though, I'd say. The system is crunchier and deadlier than D&D, but that's actually what we like about it. I wouldn't make it my #1 system, but it certainly has its charms.

[jeffb]

Jun 15, 2022 10:53:48 GMT -6 hamurai said:

It's certainly a different kind of fantasy when compared to "default" D&D....

and Runequest
and Tunnels & Trolls
and Rolemaster
and Man, Myth & Magic
and Dragonquest
and Thieves Guild
and Stormbringer
and Arduin
and Ysgarth
and KABAL
and Adventures in Fantasy
and Palladium
and.....I'm sure I've missed/forgotten some more of it's contemporaries..

[doublejig2]

and Chivalry & Sorcery
and Thieves World
and Thieves Guild
and Warhammer
and Bushido
and... I too have missed some. I'm sure of it!

[hamurai]

You're right!

One thing to note is, that the game system Hârnmaster is only remotely connected with the setting of Kethira/Lythia/Hârn. Or at least it used to, maybe newer revisions of the HârnPlayer book might differ, but as far as I know the newer rules, they only changed a few stats and skills and not much else. (I still play with my German 1st edition book and hardly notice a difference, apart from the missing Smell and Taste stats.)
It does base a lot on medieval history and armoury, but that's what most fantasy games do.

So when players refer to Hârnmaster as a medieval simulation in a tediously "over-realistic" setting, they mostly actually talk about the setting of HârnWorld, which is system-agnostic (but ties in perfectly with Hârnmaster).

My first games of Hârnmaster were in a homebrew fantasy setting much like Tolkien's, and we never missed a thing. I think the DM made it easier to play a mage, back then, I don't really recall the details. Only my "recent"/still-going campaign employs all the info from HârnWorld and the other publications because our DM is a huge fan of medieval history and economy.

[jeffb]

hamurai

Absolutely, I'm speaking of the setting itself. I never delved into the system. I wish I could remember what the old products I received were way back when, but it was setting material from 80s with a new (for the time) book they released for D20/3.0 which was a book about the Orcs or Hobgoblins or something of Harn, IIRC.

[hamurai]

Ah, well, the old material has aged, but in many cases has aged rather well. If you're a fan of maps for every inch of your game world, or if you like "drop-in pieces" like settlements for your game, then Columbia games have some great variety there.