From: ccmsean@castor.ucdavis.edu (Sean A. Matheis) Subject: Aspect Damages In a previous letter, < marten@rieska.oulu.fi (Master of Twilight) > talks about the varying aspects of weapons; blunt and edge from a sword for example. In this case we come to the point that many other games fail to reach - too much reality. The way we play is when you declare your attack, you also declare the type of damage you wish to do. For example, Biffo, the ultra- armoured wonder knight comes at you and attacks. He enters your engagement zone and you get first attack. Now, with this 'ultra' armor, an edge of a sword isn't going to get very far, but a nice blunt shot will be felt. Thus, by declaring you are going to attempt 'blunt damage', you are also saying how you are going to attack - an all out bash instead of a side-step and cut, for a crude example. This is the closest of all systems that comes to reality, and I find no problem with this. Sean ccmsean@castor.ucdavis.edu From: "SLAUGHTER" Subject: Adventuring in Harn using SJG's GURPS The subject line should say most of it. I am using SJG's GURPS rule system to adventure in Harn, and need to know if any of you all have anyideas about how to adapt it over neatly. Things I need to know: - average starting cash in pennies, to buy stuff (GURPS starts at 1000 (!), which in their economy works out ok, but I need to know what figure fits the Harnic economy the best, and what the ranges are. - the GURPS magic system rates worlds on a five step scale of magical potential: none - low - normal - high - very high. Most fantasy gaming worlds are "normal", Current Earth is either "none" or "low". Is Harn "normal", just with low number of trained users, or is it "low" (I'd prefer "normal"). BTW, the rabid plethora of magic-users and items common in Those Sorry Rules [check the initials for clues] would be more "high" than "normal". Any ideas? Any other hints from other GM's familiar with the GURPS stuff? I _might_ eventually get HarnMaster, but I'd rather use the rules I already know. I did just order _Melderyn_, for info on the other kingdom in Eastern Harn (I have Kaldor and Chybisa), and info on the Shek-Pvar (I hope!). Enough for now, please reply. ************************************************************************** * Bob Slaughter * Model Railroading * * InterNet: Haldane@Pine.Circa.Ufl.Edu * * * Bitnet: Haldane@UFPine * is Fun!! * ************************************************************************** From: port@camcom.sta.sub.org (Stefan Schultze) Subject: Healing in Harnmaster Some GM stated, that his player's will use the psionic HEALING talent to treat wounds up to EE and therefore will always automatically heal their wounds. I must deny this. Your players have folled you around and you should better read your rules again. On Combat 27 in Harnmaster the rules say: ...a treatment can only made ONCE per wound; I would let them roll on the treatment table for the specific wound, after getting the result I would let the player roll for his healing talent ONCE and that's it. After this we're at step 3] which is: healing of injuries. No healing talent would improve the healing rate (HR), again. If you think that the player will have the possibility to enhance the healing rate again, you should tell him that he must use his healing talent continously and get's a chance ONCE a day. Of course, additional fatigue points for using this talent should be accumulated at fatigue rate for each minute using this talent (as stated on Combat 1). After enough physical penalty ( due to fatigue ) the talent user can't move, dodge, will get a somewhat lesser EML ( as noted on Skills 6 GM NOTE) and with a lesser EML is more likely to get CF for his talent and must make a shock roll, which will make him unconscious as the EI ( Enduranc Index = (Injury and Fatigue points) / 10 ) is getting bigger and bigger. Phew! Complicated, eh ? But that's what will happen. So long, port +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ H (') (') Stefan Schultze USENET: port@camcom.sta.sub.org H H | |___| | 8000 Muenchen H H | _ | - WEST GERMANY - Dragons are not to be toyed with. H H |__| |__| World Wildlife Found B-) H +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ From: JMUELLER%PPL.ESNET@ESNMRG.NERSC.GOV Subject: Enhanced healing rates I am still assimilating the HarnMaster rules (having JUST obtained them at DisClave over Memorial Day) but would like to toss in my 2CP. In our HomeBrew rules, accelerated healing of all sorts is fine and usable, whether it be magic, psi, tech or religious. HOWEVER, application of more than one AH (accelerated healing) to a single location in X minutes (X=Constitution) triggers a surruptitious (or not so, depending on how rattled the players are) roll to determine if the AH has induced...CANCER. There is a very small chance of this, especially for religious AH, but simply KNOWING the possibility exists has kept rampant healing in check. Something similar may be useful to temper an Harnic psi-healers exuberance. Jim...the Engineer & Artist & Tay...the Biologist & Writer From: advent@ukc.ac.uk Subject: gurps in Harn recently "SLAUGHTER" asks some questions about using GURPS to run Harn. A few answers, and more questions... Firstly I've never actually played GURPS, though I've looked through the rules, designed a couple of characters, and almost started in a GURPS fantasy game. I consider myself an experienced HarnMaster GM (and ADnD DM) Starting Money. If the character comes from a strong fighting background, then I give them 1,000d to purchase whatever they want. (at Harn Prices). This will pruchase a couple of good weapons, together with some metal armour. Others get something like what would be relevant for their class, plus d100 pennies. The richest start characters are those that have a war trained horse (600d+), or harpers (instruments are expensive) Magic Level. Harn rates quite definately below ADnD and RuneQuest. Not sure wether I'd put it at low or normal though. The main limits on magic in harn are that there are very few mages (shek-pvar), and those that exist have a very strong 'honour code'. Those that break the code are declared renegade, and hunted. The convocational nature of Harnic nature makes it less powerful as well. If you do not have Pelaehn (fire) magics then a 'fireball' is almost impossible, and you can only be a member of one convocation. I'm beginning to favour the 'shek-pvar are not of the adventurous spirit, they'd rather study' attitude. Thus they are not player character types. There are a few spells / spell combinations that are particularily powerful (almost up to certain ADnD level 3 spells!) which I don't like. This would probably push the magic level to 'low'. as far as the players are concerned. I'd recommed purchasing HarnMaster if only as information. It's got a reasonable amount of detail in it. I prefer percentile based games, and of those I've played this is my preferred one. It is also fairly detailed, which you may regard as a good/bad point. For example I aim to (one day) employ the full set of combat rules. I've come close a couple of times, but usually one gets away! On to the question - what do others use for starting equipment, and what quality do you let them have? (I use a roll against 70% or so, CriticalSuccess=superior, MarginalSuccess=average, others=inferior). Steve From: advent@ukc.ac.uk Subject: Shek-Pvar Spell Improvement A question for those of you using the HarnMaster rules... The shek-pvar in my group has got to the point where she wishes to settle down to practice her spells. (from HarnMaster) each time you cast a spell, you get an improvement roll. This can thus lead to a whole heap of dice rolling. What I do is abstract this to guesstimate the chance of a 'misfire', have the player roll this once per day, and apply the misfire. I then give a few improvement rolls. A personal rule I use for all skills, is that you cannot improve by more than your skill base in any one week, and this limits the possible improvement. How do other people handle this? I've considered the 'you have to use the spell in a stress situation to improve' idea, but it has the problem that much of the magic wouldn't get used in this type of situation! Is there already some way of handling this? (for example hidden in some depths of the Shek=Pvar rules) Steve Date: Thu, 6 Jun 91 09:35:18 +0200 To: parson@pop.stat.purdue.edu Kethira (the world that Harn is a part of) is certainly low magic. Harn is a "high magic" area in this world. If that other game (TM) is high magic, normal might be the right value for Harn. Nowhere does the rules actually say that the power of a mage who left Harn would diminish, but there are some hints that harn is especially suited for magic. There are many Barasi points ("soft gates" to other worlds) on Harn, and both the Earthmasters and the elves chose Harn as their main base on Kethira. The elves DON'T like earthmaster sites, yet chose the area of Kethira with the highest concentration of these for a place to live. Klaus Kristiansen From: lwelch@UCSD.EDU (leslie welch) Subject: Limiting skill increases from practice First, a warning: I don't really GM Harnmaster per se, but something lost in between Harnmaster and Runequest. I started off in the latter and, being a rules tinkerer, I've modified quite a bit. Harnmaster has been a strong influence on the modifications. At any rate, in RQ the amount of time necessary to increase a skill from either practice or training is a number of hours equal to the current skill percentage. In other words, if you're 37% you must practice 37 hours to get that development roll. Likewise for training. I rather like this as it becomes prohibitive for the adventurer sort to practice a skill above 75% or so as he just doesn't have the time. But the stay-at-home sort can just keep practicing forever giving good excuses for the castle lord to be a good swordsman, even if he isn't off gallavanting (that MUST be spelled wrong) around the countryside. On a different note, any of you guys in the San Diego area and looking for new gamers? Or are any of you players in the S.D. area and would be willing to play in my cross between Harnmaster and RQ? We haven't been living here very long and are still trying to find a group to game with. Mark Abbott lwelch@ucsd.edu (a borrowed acount) From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Starting equipment Steve asks: what do others use for starting equipment, and what quality do you let them have? In my campaign, I start players with 1-3 months of their current salary, as per harnmaster rules. I give them a will check*5 with the following results: CF: 2d6 drams MF: 1 month wages MS: 2 months CS: 3 months As for quality, I will give them inferior to average armor depending on their status. If someone moans and whines, I give them a Rhetoric roll to convince their superiors they need better equipment.. (begging, bribing the quartermaster) I find that if characters arent handed superior quality equipment, they have more to work for. -eric From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Spell devos You could use the system I used for skill training and employment, I had a talk though with my pcs about grubbie spell/skill improvements during "down-time" (time when the PC's are not 'adventuring') Basically I dont allow shek-pvar the time to develop spell emls on a one to one basis, but I would allow the shek-pvar to expend the requisite time as per our Skill Development table, which (in case anyone missed it...) was basically: Current skill SI * 20 hours/development roll, for employment, Current skill SI * 5 hours/development roll, for training. (remember training for a shek-pvar is an expensive proposition.) -eric From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) Subject: GURPS / starting money Another $0.02 for the thread: Magic level: I can't remember exactly where I saw it, but I seem to recall that Crossby once described Harn as a low magic world. That seemed like a head scratcher to me until I noted that qualification that this applied to artifacts. As for ability to cast magic, it's actually closer to "average". In other words, mages are reasonably able to learn and cast spells, but your adventurers should consider it something special when they come across an enchanted ring or sword (as opposed to that other game system where players complain unless each PC gets one new magic item each adventure). Starting money: I think there was an apology for this in one of the Harn- Lores, but one of things that irked me about the HarnMaster rulebook was that it stated that PCs started the game with a cash equivalent of about d3 months pay, then it forgot to mention what the various occupations paid per month. Fortunately, before I got too het up about this, I bought a copy of HarnWorld (2nd ed) and found all the appropriate pay scales listed there. Anyway, what I've done with starting PCs is let them have an average set of clothing, a few appropriate weapons, and a backpack full of handy stuff that's not too expensive. Add to this whatever starting money was rolled. Now, if they started whining that they wanted a better sword or better armor, I typically let them trade in whatever they did get, plus some of the starting money, to get what they wanted. Due to the price structure, this has sometimes meant that the "better" item was of inferior quality. Because of this trade-in policy, I've had a couple PCs start with 10 pennies or less, but they seemed happy because they *felt* well equipped. And being cash-poor, they were well disposed towards whatever adventures or jobs were offered at gamestart. rbs From: JMUELLER%PPL.ESNET@ESNMRG.NERSC.GOV Subject: Re:Limiting skill increases from practice Mark Abbott wrote of a RQ/Harn cross he runs. Would anyone but me be intrested in hearing how the two integrate? Jim Mueller JMUELLER%PPL.ESNET@esnmrg.nersc.gov From: lrg@crud.cray.com (Lee Gordon) Subject: Re: your mail > From: advent@ukc.ac.uk > Subject: Shek-Pvar Spell Improvement > > The shek-pvar in my group has got to the point where she wishes to > settle down to practice her spells. (from HarnMaster) each time you cast > a spell, you get an improvement roll. This can thus lead to a whole heap > of dice rolling. What I do is abstract this to guesstimate the chance of > a 'misfire', have the player roll this once per day, and apply the > misfire. I then give a few improvement rolls. A personal rule I use for > all skills, is that you cannot improve by more than your skill base in > any one week, and this limits the possible improvement. Our group allows characters to work on spells via practice, and give 1 learning roll per attempt, with no limit on the amount of improvement. We have found that this does not unbalance the game, nor does it cause PCs to have outrageous MLs. In fact, many spells SHOULD be practiced significantly before their use in a dangerous situation. Take the following example: A Lyhavi mage with will and aura of 14 learns Beam of Knolar. Her SB is: (AUR AUR WIL / 3 ) 14 Convocational 2 Level -4 -- 12 which makes the ML 24. Now, the mage gets into a fight and wants to cast the spell. Consider the following reasonable deficits. Encumberance: 4 Injuries: 5 Fatigue: 5 -- 14 The mage now has a 24 - 14 = 10% chance for success and 100 - 10 = 90 / 5 = 18% chance for critical failure. The mage has a better chance of causing great harm to herself or her party than she does to affect the enemy. As a result, the spell doesn't get cast. This is why we (as PCs) advocate mages practicing spells. The reason why PCs don't have outrageous MLs is that we make them roll each time a spell is practiced, and also roll the effect of each critical failure. Making PCs roll for each attempt makes them get bored with it fairly quickly, and rolling for each miscue eventually results in physical or aural shock (or worse!), which can stop practice for several days. Lee Gordon From: ccmsean@castor.ucdavis.edu (Sean A. Matheis) Subject: Re: Spell improvement Steve mentioned some things about spell eml improvement in terms of a Shek-pvar sitting at home and just practicing. In this situation, I would work with either the normal Harnmaster skill improvement rules, or the ones Eric Anderson (ccelric) posted. The only time automatic devo rolls should be allowed is the stress situations, where the mage is in a situation where the spell will aid him/her right away. This is somewhat of a judgement call on the part of the GM. Sean ccmsean@castor.ucdavis.edu Subject: Re: your mail From: Axel Schudak Status: R > From: advent@ukc.ac.uk > Subject: Shek-Pvar Spell Improvement > > A question for those of you using the HarnMaster rules... > > The shek-pvar in my group has got to the point where she wishes to > settle down to practice her spells. (from HarnMaster) each time you cast > a spell, you get an improvement roll. This can thus lead to a whole heap > of dice rolling. What I do is abstract this to guesstimate the chance of > a 'misfire', have the player roll this once per day, and apply the > misfire. I then give a few improvement rolls. A personal rule I use for > all skills, is that you cannot improve by more than your skill base in > any one week, and this limits the possible improvement. > > How do other people handle this? I onlly give them the improvement roll if, in my opinion, the spell is used in a "real life" situation, i.e. the spell is REALLY useful at the time it is cast (or the caster thinks that it would be useful). If the caster only practices his spells, he gets an improvment roll according to the practicing rules ;-) This prevents an abnormal overuse of spells. Axel From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Spell Improvement I give my shek-pvars a devo every time they cast the spell, but I dont let them cast the spell during down-time. During down-time, when nothing dangerous or exciting is going on, I think they should use the practicing rules which we (the davis group) came up with. On that note, has anyone taken a look at those, or playtested them at all? -eric From: rsm@delfax.Amiga.OCunix.On.Ca (Rick Morrow) Subject: Magic in Harn [Re: gurps in Harn] :From: advent@ukc.ac.uk :Subject: gurps in Harn : :Magic Level. Harn rates quite definately below ADnD and RuneQuest. Not :sure wether I'd put it at low or normal though. The main limits on magic :in harn are that there are very few mages (shek-pvar), and those that :exist have a very strong 'honour code'. Those that break the code are :declared renegade, and hunted. The convocational nature of Harnic nature :makes it less powerful as well. If you do not have Pelaehn (fire) magics :then a 'fireball' is almost impossible, and you can only be a member of :one convocation. : :I'm beginning to favour the 'shek-pvar are not of the adventurous :spirit, they'd rather study' attitude. Thus they are not player :character types. There are a few spells / spell combinations that are :particularily powerful (almost up to certain ADnD level 3 spells!) which :I don't like. This would probably push the magic level to 'low'. as far :as the players are concerned. : :Steve : I'm not sure I totally agree with statements to the effect that Harnmaster and Harn have low levels of magic. The magic is not so much low level as low key. The average resident of Harn goes through his whole life without ever seeing magic in person (more or less a quote :-). But this doesn't mean that there is no magic, it just means that the mages don't go around lighting people's cigars with flamethrower spells :-). Part of the reason is the Shek-Pvar code of honour, but mainly the reasons are that casting spells in HarnMaster is difficult (fatigueing) and dangerous (possibility of misfires). There are some very powerful spells in Harnmaster, Gate of Kemdal being one that comes immediately to mind. One thing that I like most about Harnmaster is that you (as player or gm) are not limited to just using spells supplied for you in the rules. It is understood that you (as a player character Shek-Pvar) will create your own personal spells. This is not very difficult, and can go a long way towards personalizong a character. -Rick ------------------- Rick Morrow, Ottawa Ontario Canada Internet....rsm@delfax.Amiga.OCunix.On.Ca, Fido Net....1:163/109.31 Quote: "I yamm what I yamm!"......Popeye.. =-) ------------------- From: rsm@delfax.Amiga.OCunix.On.Ca (Rick Morrow) Subject: Re: New Harn stuff :From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) :Subject: New Harn stuff : :BTW, there is a HarnLine section called Sanctum, for people who are :willing to pay a fee to enter the select group of playtesters. :Unfortunately, I haven't joined this elite (!?) group, but I would :imagine that they'd have a much better idea about what's in the pipeline. :Are there any Sanctum members out there? : I am one of those Sanctumites (Santumers?) and maybe I can answer some of your questions. : :TOME OF JMORVI - was in playtest earlier this spring; hopefully it : will go to the printers soon (if not already) :TOME OF FYVRIA - needed two more spells as of a month or two back; : probably in playtest now : Both of these have completed playtest and should be at the printers by now. I expect that they should be ready by the end of June or into July, but thats just my opinion. I'm not in the 'know' as far as the printer is concerned, so take those estimates with a grain of salt. : :TRIERZON - lots of work to be done; don't expect it 'til 1992 : It will probably be a while before Trierzon sees the light of day. From reading between the lines of some things that Robin has said it appears that this will wait until he gets some expansion modules done for Shorkyne. These modules will consist of developing a small area, and will have a articles on some of the towns, castles, forts and sites in these areas. Don't look for any of these too soon though. : :"Curse of Ethlen" (I may have that one wrong) - Crossby was chortling : over some diabolical things he'd included; I somehow got the : impression that this was the final chapter of the Panaga trilogy; : no idea if it's in playtest or when it will be published. : I remember seeing references to part three of the Panaga series, but I can't remember what it was called. This looks familiar though. There has been no word in the Sanctum specifically about Panaga 3. My feeling is that it should be out sometime this year though. : :As for BATTLELUST, while the rumors have been flying and the Sept 90 :Columbia order form listed it as 1991 product, I didn't notice a word :about it on HarnLine. To warp a computer term, this looks a lot :like a VaporModule. : I have been playtesting this, and it seems like it will be while before it is ready for release. There is still a lot of work to be done on it yet. This is Tom Dalgliesh's baby though, not Robin's, so if you want to inquire about it Tom would be the one to ask. : :rbs : -Rick ------------------- Rick Morrow, Ottawa Ontario Canada Internet....rsm@delfax.Amiga.OCunix.On.Ca, Fido Net....1:163/109.31 Quote: "I yamm what I yamm!"......Popeye.. =-) ------------------- From: rsm@delfax.Amiga.OCunix.On.Ca (Rick Morrow) Subject: Re: Shek-Pvar Spell Improvement :From: advent@ukc.ac.uk :Subject: Shek-Pvar Spell Improvement : : :A question for those of you using the HarnMaster rules... : :The shek-pvar in my group has got to the point where she wishes to :settle down to practice her spells. (from HarnMaster) each time you cast :a spell, you get an improvement roll. This can thus lead to a whole heap :of dice rolling. What I do is abstract this to guesstimate the chance of :a 'misfire', have the player roll this once per day, and apply the :misfire. I then give a few improvement rolls. A personal rule I use for :all skills, is that you cannot improve by more than your skill base in :any one week, and this limits the possible improvement. : :How do other people handle this? : This sounds like a good system, but I'm more stingy than you are and instead of allowing up to SB _points of improvment_ per _week_, I would only allow up to SB _development rolls_ per _month_. Considering that the character only recieves 3 development rolls per month for non-esoteric skills this is pretty good. What do you use as an estimated chance for misfires? I think that it would be better to let the mage make all the rolls. If they roll good, great; no misfires. If not...... : :I've considered the 'you have to use the spell in a stress situation to :improve' idea, but it has the problem that much of the magic wouldn't :get used in this type of situation! : :Is there already some way of handling this? (for example hidden in some :depths of the Shek=Pvar rules) : :Steve : If there is then I haven't found it. I tend to be a little leniant in exercising this rule. I will let the mage practice, but all rolls are made so that _any_ chances of misfire are dealt with. Another thing that must be dealt with is the spell effects. If the character is practising throwing fireballs there had better be some peasants there with their marshmallows to roast :-). -Rick ------------------- Rick Morrow, Ottawa Ontario Canada Internet....rsm@delfax.Amiga.OCunix.On.Ca, Fido Net....1:163/109.31 Quote: "I yamm what I yamm!"......Popeye.. =-) ------------------- From: "SLAUGHTER" Subject: is _Melderyn_ available I tried to order a copy of the _Melderyn_ module a week ago, and so far no luck on getting it. Is there another/better place to get info on the Shek-Pvar? I need this info so I can adapt GURPS Magic over to Harn, and is the only big piece I need to get the campaign running. ************************************************************************** * Bob Slaughter * Model Railroading * * InterNet: Haldane@Pine.Circa.Ufl.Edu * * * Bitnet: Haldane@UFPine * is Fun!! * ************************************************************************** From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) Subject: Melderyn I ordered the Melderyn module directly from Columbia back in February or so. It took a while, but I finally received it after about two weeks, maybe a bit more. It was sent by US mail, but I don't remember which class. There is a six-page article on the guilds of Arcane Lore, which include the Shek Pvar chantries. Short of buying the Harnmaster rulebook or the Tome of the Shek Pvar, I think is probably the best source of info about mages. However, while it does describe how chantries may be organized and the progression from apprentice to master, it does not explain anything about the six convocations. rbs From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Curse of Ethlen(sp) Hey all you harnophiles... About the curse of hlen, Read the shorkyne module, in the index on HLEN, and it says something about a keep with an extensive graveyard... it also says that the current lord's wife died in 718, and a strange figure named Panaga had offered to bring her back to life, he refused once but the second ti e gave in, and had Panaga raise her from the dead. I hope that Panaga will f lly get a real writeup with spells this time. (probably fill a 96+pg book) Also I talked to Robin about the panaga III module when he released Kiraz, and he said that the third one would be on a mountain near shorkyne, where the was an earthmaster city, (with plans etc) Oh well maybe plans have changed. I think that Hlen is the same as Ethlen or something like that... Anyway happy Harning. -eric From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Spell Developments In our campaigns, we allow all of the PC's to roll as many times as they wany to practice spells, and we find that the Critical Fails more than balance out the spell development. Also the point was made by Jeff Barrett, that while A craftsman might have two or maybe three relevant skills to improve over the course of his/her training, A Shek-Pvar has ALL of his/her spells to develop, and will probably spend much of their time developing new spells. So we say, let the Shekkies roll all their castings, devo rolls as well, but the GM should keep in mind the potential danger with many Critical Misfires.. Permanent stat loss, injuries, elemental infusion into a part of the body, Death, implosion of the abdominal cavity... just to name a few. -eric From: ccmsean@castor.ucdavis.edu (Sean A. Matheis) Subject: SHek-Pvar info Slaughter (haldane@pine.circa.ufl.edu) wrote about Shek-pvar info being available from the Melderyn module. You might want to also check the publication "Shekpvar" Sean From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) Subject: New Savorya spell The following is a spell developed by one of the players in my campaign. In writing it up, I've based it on Ordeal of Frida but have lowered the fatigue a bit. I may yet lower the complexity to II and am also considering a saving roll for the victim. Any commentary from would be appreciated. rbs ------------------------------------------------------------------- Affects of Lizaveta Shek Pvar: Savorya/III -- Melchusian Magic: Sorcery/III A spell to stimulate an existing emotion in a victim. The selected target must be touched at the culmination of casting. If the spell is successful, whatever emotion is currently felt by the victim will be enhanced or reduced (caster's choice). The amount of change depends on success level and GM discretion. For example, with CS, a victim who is afraid might become terrified. PCs are not immune to the effect. The caster does not have to know the nature of the emotion. Bonus Effects ML51+ Touch not required. Range is SI yards. ML81+ The caster may choose to induce a new, specified emotion in the victim. ML96+ The spell may be cast over an area extending SI yards from the caster's head. Everyone but the caster is affected. The new emotion option may not be exercised as a zone. Fatigue: (15-SI)x2 Time: (15-SI)x2 seconds Range: Basic, touch ML51+, SI yards Duration: MS, 20 seconds CS, 1 minute From: swansonc@stolaf.edu Greetings, Does anybody know of a source for a used Harnmaster Rulebook? If not, could somone send me the address to order it from, and how much it will cost? I am going to try and bring Harn to Omaha, NE. Regards, -=Chris Chris Swanson, C.U. CS/Pre-med Student, 1502 N. 59 st., Omaha, NE 68104-4830 DDN: [CDS6] INTERNET: swansonc@acc.stolaf.edu UUCP: uunet!stolaf!swansonc AT&T: Work: (402)-449-4894 Home: (402)-551-7393 or (402)-551-0766 I would deny this reality, but that wouldn't pay the bills... [Ed. note: I'm combining a couple of short messages to save on some band-width. It's all basically on the same subject...] From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) Subject: Columbia Games I've no idea on where to get a used a Harnmaster rulebook (except mine :-), but if you're willing to pay full price and your local gamestore doesn't have it, call Columbia directly. The toll free US number is 1-800-663-8453. The pirce is $20, +$2 s&h. rbs _____________________________________________________________________________ From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Used Harnmaster?!?!?!? Chris Swanson writes : > Does anybody know of a source for a used Harnmaster Rulebook? Used Harnmaster???? who in their right mind would sell such a wonderful tome... :) From: advent@ukc.ac.uk Subject: Spell Improvement >From the various comments posted here, I have decided to try the following approach for spell develpment. 1. If the spell was cast in a 'stress situation' then the mage automatically gets the improvement roll. (though if used 'n' times in a combat, he probably wont get 'n' rolls, - similar to combat skills) 2. If he normally casts the spell. short casting - if cast daily give dev. roll at end of month, if cast less often then scale appropriately. Dont increase! long casting - use normal skill developement, with the casting time used as the self taught bit. (otherwise how does anyone ever get sane totals for sanctum etc?) 3. If 'practicing' This is probably more akin to the initial developement roll than it is to continuous casting. As such it should be treated as 'self taught'. There is of course a chance of misfire during the practice, roll for the current ML. CF is as per table, and nothing is learnt. Someone asked how I previously calculated the failure chance for practive by multiple casting. In a dubious manner is the answer! Calculate how often the mage may cast the spell per day (add casting time and fatigue recovery times), or default to about once every 5 minutes, hence 12 per hour. Multiply the chance of failure by this number. For each multiple of 100% there is one misfire. Roll against any remaining percentage for another failure. Apply results evenly through day. (note this may remove all but a little advantage in the practice) Steve From: advent@ukc.ac.uk Subject: Magic Level Um, a few people seem to disagree with my assessment of Harn's magic level. Perhaps I should try to justify my claim. With Harn/Harnmaster there seems to be the same dual standard as in Call of Cthulhu, there is magic about, but only in the hands of very few. (unless you're Sindarin). A few tests are... can you summon a God?, can you cast no save death magics? can you cast potentially leathal spells? do all players have magic? do all players have magic items? do peasants have spells/items? Is a pesant likely to have seem magic? RuneQuest will answer yes to all but the first, ADnD to all but magic using peasants (equality?) Cthulhu only to Gods and Lethal magics! Harn (without the potential of Ragnarok style escaltion to the end of the world) does not allow the Gods to take direct action. Shek-Pvar exist, but will not be seen by most of the population. An obvious spell may often have the caster declared a 'heretic'. Spells cannot directly cause death, though peleahn come closest. Magic items are rare, and often charged (via store spell). Magic can always fail, and often does. Due to this I'd say that Harn itself (and remember Harn is the most magical bit of Kelestia, the world on which it is located), is maybe 'Average' magical level, but unless you are being particularily kind to the players, the restrictions will make it a low magic world. Consider the Harnic history. Other than in Melderyn's neutrality (and it's recent protection of Thay), the Shek-Pvar, and magic in general, have played very little part in history since the time of Lothrim Foulspawner. This isn't really compatable with more than very suppressed, or subtlely controlled magic! Steve From: JMUELLER%PPL.ESNET@ESNMRG.NERSC.GOV Subject: HarnMaster book About getting HarnMaster... I got mine over Memorial Day (May 24-26) at Disclave. One of the dealers had gaming supplies and... HarnMaster. He wanted $16.65 (I think) and does mail order. It's: The Dragon's Hoard 15 East Johnson Street Staunton Virginia 24401 (703) 885-5530 He seemed very helpful. Jim From: advent@ukc.ac.uk Subject: Re: New Savoryan spell About Robert Schmunk's spell 'Affects of Lizaveta' I generally like the idea of the spell. I'd definately give it a saving roll though, something like 2xWill, 4xWill, with results cs: no effect ms: slight effect, though only in dealing with caster mf: effect as intended cf: enhanced effect, must follow emotion. I don't like spells that act directly on the victim, without giving some kind of defence. Level? well, 2 seems fine, though you may want to reduce it if giving the above save. For personal taste I'd either leave it at level 2 or increase it to 3, and go for a longer duration. A fun spinoff that appeals to me, is to use it to sway a crowd so that you could get a more extreme reaction out of them, which may need the longer duration. Best used in combination with someone with a high Rhetoric skill! One question - does the effect wear off once the recipient is out of range of the caster? (in a way you are controlling the mind of the recipient to keep the enhanced emotions going). Possibly this could argue for a 'concentration' type duration. Steve Date: Wed, 12 Jun 91 11:40:07 +0200 To: parson@pop.stat.purdue.edu Status: R This is a reply to the message from advent. When you cast spells, you are in danger. You might die from CF even if you are only trying to light a candle. In return, a mage gets a development roll for every use of a spell. If you want to make the mages use the regular skill development system, you should at least remove the chance of CF during training. CF would of course still apply in stress situations. Alternatively you could make a player who wanted to use one of the monthly rolls for improving metalcrafting roll dayly to see if his character trips and falls into the forge. Klaus O K Subject: Re: your mail From: Axel Schudak Another thought about Spell learning I (now) think that each spell casting should earn a development-roll, but if this would be the only way to improve spells, all Shek Pvar would sit around and cast and cast and cast etc... This would not fit in my picture of the Shek Pvar. I think that they use their time to study, rather than casting spells like a spell machine. To solve this problem, I will introduce the possibility to earn development-rolls for a specific spell by concentrating on it. (This is actually only the Practice-rule) If a Shek Pvar is in an enviroment where he can sit down and meditate (or write or do something like that), he may earn a development roll for a specific spell which he studies for the appropiate time. (I will use the original "learn by practice" rules in this case) The advantage of this is, that a) no CF can occur and b) Long-time spells can be developed to a good chance of success. Axel Schudak From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) Subject: Spell development Another $0.02 for the thread: While my players haven't been playing long enough that I've yet had to worry about altering the development roles for Shekkies, I've so far had not intention to alter what's in the rules. One thing I would like to point out is that in the new Shek Pvar rulebook there is an optional rule to see if mages remember their spells. Once per month, you add up all the study time spent on a spell during the past month, correlate that with the mage's intelligence, and you come up with the chance that they have not forgotten anything. As I recall, with CF they lose 2%, with MF they lose 1%, and with CS they *gain* 1% (having gained new insight into the spell). I may have these numbers wrong, but you get the idea. This seems like a rule which might take away from the mage's abilitities, but it turns out that the amount of study time needed to get a 95% chance of not forgetting is relatively small, generally on the order of one hour per month. Consequently, with limited study, the mage has a 20% chance of going up (or at least getting a devo role) each month, for each spell. rbs From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) Subject: "Affects of Lizaveta" Thanks to Steve for his comments on the new spell. I've been concerned about the complexity level of the spell, but with the reaction roll he suggests, I can justify lowering it to II. In line with his comments about mages trying to sway a crowd, I should mention there is spell called BEGUILE, or VOICE OF LOTHRIM, which is something like Savorya/VII and has no reaction roll that I can recall. Members of the target audience merrily run off to do the mage's bidding. Unfortunately, this spell has only appeared on the Harnline BBS, in the MELCHUSN file on an alternate convocation system. rbs From: ccm007@pollux.ucdavis.edu (Samurai Penguin) Subject: Savorya Spoiler... Hi Guys, I saw something like a mass beguile spell in the Staff of Fanon module. ***** Spoiler Follows ***** Apparently Panaga had cast a spell on the town that made everyone stay in town. It was a very subtle curse. Ya see, after the staff was stolen, the crops withered, etc... and the poeplefor some reason felt that they didnUt have to leave (thus people starved). The module didnUt give any stats on the spells, but I think they mentioned it was around the area of Savorya/VII. ***** End Spoiler ***** My GM(eric anderson) and I are working with my Savoryan to make some more adjustments for spells I`ve been creating, and I`ll post them asap (now that we`re outta school-yeah!). John Banagan From: Dan Corrin Subject: Large Creatures Hi, Has anyone given thought to fighing large creatures? I had an occurance to match my party against a giant (12' humanoid). Some of the combat rules (I felt) needed adjustment for creatures such as this, (also for Elephants, etc). First: Automatic use of the called hit location, the giant in this case would get a head attack, the PC's a leg attack. The negative modifier for the location would be "added" to the other locations, thus the body would go from 0 to -10, and the legs from -10 to -20 modifier (vice versa for the characters). It could be argued that as long as the giant wasn't going for body hits on the PCs then its head may be impossible to hit with anything shorter than a pole arm. Second: Heavier weapon classes. Instad of just light, normal and heavy weapons, higher strenths could use super-heavy (+50% aspect), massive (+100%) and tremendous (+150%). The weight and size of the weapon increasing proportionally. (I also have a chart for what happens if a person with unsuitable strength decides to use one of these weapons). Third: Injury points. Consider your average fighter who swings his/her sword at a creature, assuming a hit, a human, a faerie, and a giant are going to look at the damage differently. a 15hp injury to disable a human limb would be life threating to a faerie, and just a wound on a giant. This brings a major problem, and one I didn't find a suitable solution for. What sort of mucking about with the combat system is necessary to solve this problem. Should IPs be on a 1:1 ratio to the physical penalty for exceptionally large/small creatures? I'd like to get some opinions on this topic from people on the list. -Dan Dan Corrin, Network Manager, Mechanical Engineering, UWO, London, Ontario TML/CZ FTP site coordinator: dan@engrg.uwo.ca. (519) 661-3834 From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) Subject: New spell books I was just scanning HarnLine earlier this evening and noticed a message in the forum acknowledging receipt of the two new spell books. I take this to mean that Harnophiles who have Autoship are now beginning to receive the Jmorvi and Fyvria spellbooks. Hopefully the rest of will see them soon! Also, when asked if the other spellbooks might came out this year, Crossby was somewhat positive. He indicated that he finds it easy to come up with Savorya spells, but not so with Odivshe. Who knows, maybe we actually see the two books before January. rbs From: swansonc@stolaf.edu >>>>> On Tue, 11 Jun 91 12:44:57 -0500, >>>>> in message <9106111744.AA19452@pop.stat.purdue.edu>, >>>>> parson@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Eric Parson) wrote: parson> [Ed. note: I'm combining a couple of short messages to save on parson> some band-width. It's all basically on the same subject...] parson> From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: parson> Used Harnmaster?!?!?!? parson> Chris Swanson writes : parson> > Does anybody know of a source for a used Harnmaster parson> Rulebook? Used Harnmaster???? who in their right mind would parson> sell such a wonderful tome... :) Greetings, Just a quick note to the list to thank all of you who gave me pointers to the Harnmaster RB. Regarding this little quote, I know that it seems odd to ask the question about anybody wanting to sell it, but Eric (the moderator) and I know of someone in Northfield (where we went to school together - St. Olaf College) who not only wanted to get rid of their HM RB, they wanted to burn it! And sadly, did so, even with the numerous offers he got it - seems as if the born-again bug bit him :( Regards, -=Chris Chris Swanson, C.U. CS/Pre-med Student, 1502 N. 59 st., Omaha, NE 68104-4830 DDN: [CDS6] INTERNET: swansonc@acc.stolaf.edu UUCP: uunet!stolaf!swansonc AT&T: Work: (402)-449-4894 Home: (402)-551-7393 or (402)-551-0766 I would deny this reality, but that wouldn't pay the bills... From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) Subject: 2 quick questions A couple of short quesions about some topics which have come up in my campaign world: The Sword of Calsten: This sword was supposedly stolen by Merren of the Valley and is mentioned on Burzyn 10 (Chybisa module). I'm getting an adventure ready based on Merren's cache(s) and am trying to decide whether to include a special sword. Before I can do so, however, I need to know if the Sword of Calsten is described elsewhere, or if it's just something left for the GM's exercise. BTW, the word Calsten does not appear in the Harndex, nor can I find it mentioned in the Chybisa history. The price of books: In order to get PCs to explore the town they live in, I had a thief sneak into their rooms while they were out carousing and steal whatever was handy. This included a spellbook, which the party spent the next five game days trying to track down. A fair was simultaneously occurring and the players asked if there was a bookseller there. I decided that there would be on a percentile roll of 5%; I rolled an 03. Well, in the discussion between desperate PCs and the hastily created NPC bookseller, the question of book prices constantly came up. I guesstimated that the price of a book would be around 20 pence per page, marked up or down due to topic (a mage's book would be vastly inflated). Thus, a 100-page book was estimated at 2000 pence. Does anybody have any comments on the validity of this guess? A better way of estimating value? (Oh, and before anybody complains about the rarity of books in a medieval setting, my NPC bookseller had few books, but he made a killing at the fair because he sold three religious tracts to the local duke, a man noted for his learning and his library, which consists of two-score volumes.) rbs From: Dan Corrin Subject: Healing rules There seems to be a bit of ambiguity to the healing rules (in my opinion at least). On the healing chart for CF on the daily healing rule the rules reads somthing like: CF: If wound is open (burn of 16+ IP, cut/tear/stab 6+ IP) then infected. (note period) Reduce Healing rate by 1. How do people out there interpret this rule? 1a) On any CF the healing rate is reduced by one. Open wounds become infected. 1b) Open wounds are infected and their healing rate is reduced. Non-open wounds recieve no healing. 2a) The infection is at the same level as the healing rate for the wound, and then the wound is reduced one healing rate. (eg. A H4 wound becomes infected at H4, and the Wound is H3 when/if the infection is defeated) 2b) The wound is infected and healing rate is reduced. Now the infection is looked after. (eg. A H4 wound becomes infected, and reduced to H3, thus the infection is H3 and so will the wound when/if the infection is defeated). BTW. I find it easier to refer to infections as I# thus a wound could be H5I4 Indicating an H5 wound with an H4 infection. -Dan Dan Corrin, Network Manager, Mechanical Engineering, UWO, London, Ontario TML/CZ FTP site coordinator: dan@engrg.uwo.ca. (519) 661-3834 From: lrg@crud.cray.com (Lee Gordon) Subject: Re: Healing rolls > From: Dan Corrin > Subject: Healing rules > > > There seems to be a bit of ambiguity to the healing rules > (in my opinion at least). On the healing chart for CF on the > daily healing rule the rules reads somthing like: > > CF: If wound is open (burn of 16+ IP, cut/tear/stab 6+ IP) then > infected. (note period) Reduce Healing rate by 1. > > How do people out there interpret this rule? > > 1a) On any CF the healing rate is reduced by one. Open wounds > become infected. We do this, with a minimun H rate of 1, if not infected (i.e. you can't die from a nagging sunburn). We also have no healing on MF or CF. > 2a) The infection is at the same level as the healing rate for the > wound, and then the wound is reduced one healing rate. (eg. A H4 > wound becomes infected at H4, and the Wound is H3 when/if the infection > is defeated) We have a variation of this. If a wound is at H4 and a CF results, then it becomes an infected H3 wound. After healing rolls are made and the wound/infection reaches H6, the infection is beaten, and the wound remains at H6! We do this because our nurse-in-training claims that after a wound is infected and the infection is defeated, it is much more likely to heal. Also a previously infected wound is less likely to become re-infected. Hence, we have an H6 after defeating an infection. Lee Gordon From: lee@sq.com (Liam Quin) Subject: book prices I cannot recall much mention of books, and none at all of printing, in any Harn literature. I'll asume that it's much like 14th C. Europe in Kaldor, and 11th or 12th C. Europe elsewhere, for this article. I recall translating something in an Old English class where someone is described as being the Wisest Person in the area, since he owns a book. Not books (or be_k /beek/ -- on book, two beek -- in Old English!). Book. A monastary might well have a dozen or more books. Consider that you can copy maybe one very careful or half a dozen lesser pages in a day, and more if they are Octavo or smaller. And the vellum has to be grown (on animals), and prepared, and the ink has to be made. If the book is coloured, a separate Red-Inker -- a rubricator -- would colour the pages in by hand (of course), making special words such as the name of GOD in red. This is why the annotations in modern church service books, which contain instructions such as `stand' or `in choirs and places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem' are still called the rubrics, even though they aren't usually in red any more. You can't expect to get much book copied for less than a man-month, and you don't get many pages per calf. So books were expensive, and generally you'll need to keep sheep or goats (parchment) or calves (vellum) in order to produce books. This also helps with the leather bindings! There will also be geese nearby, or possibly swans, for the quill pens. Ink was made from a number of natural substances including oakapples and blackberry juice, although the earlier manuscripts often seem to have used a green-brown or dark grey ink. All this is a lot of work, which is one reason why almost all books were religious. You needed to be _very_ rich in order to afford a book, and only rich children would be taught to read, with private tuition. Which is why the Public schools in England, which were open to outsiders (but you still had to pay), were a step forward, as I understand it. To this day in England the Public schools are private, fee-paying schools, unlike the state schools! But I digress... I should say that you should guess something like a month's salary for a scribe for a book. This means that 20 pence isn't too far off, as I recall, but not per page. There will certainly be no such thing as a bookshop, I am sure. The first collectors of books came from England, but much later than the 14th Century, as I recall (I can check if anyone wants). The only 14th C. manuscript that I own is a single page from a book. I can see that I could write it (with a _lot_ of practice) in maybe an hour or two (for one side!). Then I'd pass it to someone else who would copy the red bits, and possibly a third person to do the blue. I don't think there was ever any gold. So at one leaf in two hours we could get, in a sixteen hour day with six hours (say) for services, devotions and meals, five pages. Well, remembering that some poor sheep or goat or calf had to die for two large sheets, which will each fold down to give 4 (quarto) or 8 (8vo/8mo) pages, a 2000 page book (which would be very, very large, at *least* six inches thick, assuming you mean 2000 sides and not 2000 leaves) would use a small herd. So maybe you're not so far off. I suggest that 20 pence per page is the wrong way to work it out, though. Say, 240d (a round number, a pound) plus 5 pence per large sheet, so that a smaller book is cheaper per page because there's less text and it uses fewer animals. If you made it 200d + 8/sheet, that's 1d per leaf in a tiny book, 2d in a medium-sized book, and 4d per leaf in a full-sized book, as there always has to be at least one fold in the large sheet so it can be bound in. But those figures are based on putative animal costs, assumptions about labour and that the meat will pay for at least half of the animal, and guesses about writing speeds based on my knowledge as a fledgeling calligrapher. There's some interesting information about this in Edward Johnston's classic book `Writing & Illuminating & Lettering', still in paperback very cheaply after some 90 years! (I bought mine for about 6 UK quid I think, years ago in Bedford). Sorry if this is too much of a ramble. Mail me if I can help more. Liam From: Dan Corrin Subject: Re: healing rolls > From: lrg@crud.cray.com (Lee Gordon) > Subject: Re: Healing rolls > > > From: Dan Corrin > > Subject: Healing rules > > > > 2a) The infection is at the same level as the healing rate for the > > wound, and then the wound is reduced one healing rate. (eg. A H4 > > wound becomes infected at H4, and the Wound is H3 when/if the infection > > is defeated) > > We have a variation of this. If a wound is at H4 and a CF results, then > it becomes an infected H3 wound. After healing rolls are made and the > wound/infection reaches H6, the infection is beaten, and the wound remains > at H6! We do this because our nurse-in-training claims that after a wound > is infected and the infection is defeated, it is much more likely to heal. > Also a previously infected wound is less likely to become re-infected. > Hence, we have an H6 after defeating an infection. > This could lead to interesting circumstances. There is a way to raise the healing level of a wound. (by psionic healing and perhaps a fyvarian spell). The way I've always interpreted it, an H6 wound that is raised this way goes to EE (as on the diagnosis chart). Thus using your method of healing infections, a wound that is not treated with magic, and gets infected, then defeated, and later treated with magic could be instatly cured, rather than waiting up to a month. Something the players could look forward to if they got infected. -Dan P.S. I am working on an FTP archive for the list. I'll let everyone know when I get it organized. Is there any preference? I was going to order it by date, and have an index of the subject lines. From: MGYOUNG@parkview.nstn.ns.ca Subject: Harn I was just wondering if anyone has any idea when or if there will be any information on (forgive me if I spelled this wrong) Sojo My adress is mgyoung@parkview.nstn.ns.ca. From: lrg@crud.cray.com (Lee Gordon) Subject: Re: healing rolls > > We have a variation of this. If a wound is at H4 and a CF results, then > > it becomes an infected H3 wound. After healing rolls are made and the > > wound/infection reaches H6, the infection is beaten, and the wound remains > > at H6! We do this because our nurse-in-training claims that after a wound > > is infected and the infection is defeated, it is much more likely to heal. > > Also a previously infected wound is less likely to become re-infected. > > Hence, we have an H6 after defeating an infection. > > > This could lead to interesting circumstances. There is a way to raise > the healing level of a wound. (by psionic healing and perhaps a fyvarian > spell). The way I've always interpreted it, an H6 wound that is raised > this way goes to EE (as on the diagnosis chart). Thus using your method of > healing infections, a wound that is not treated with magic, and gets > infected, then defeated, and later treated with magic could be > instatly cured, rather than waiting up to a month. > Something the players could look forward to if they got infected. We limit the maximum H rate of a wound to H6 via psionics and/or magic. Our variation keeps the deadly aspect of infections, but after the initial danger is passed, the wounds heal fairly rapidly. This is a way to keep our world as mundane as possible, since the need for healing magic is decreased. Lee Gordon From: rsm@delfax.Amiga.OCunix.On.Ca (Rick Morrow) Subject: Re: 2 quick questions :From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, 1-713-527-4939) : :A couple of short quesions about some topics which have come up :in my campaign world: : :The Sword of Calsten: This sword was supposedly stolen by Merren of :the Valley and is mentioned on Burzyn 10 (Chybisa module). I'm :getting an adventure ready based on Merren's cache(s) and am trying :to decide whether to include a special sword. Before I can do so, :however, I need to know if the Sword of Calsten is described :elsewhere, or if it's just something left for the GM's exercise. :BTW, the word Calsten does not appear in the Harndex, nor can I find :it mentioned in the Chybisa history. : :rbs : The only other place I have seen this sword mentioned is in the Kaldor article, on page Kaldor 4, left column, last paragraph. There's not much more there, however, than there is in the Chybisa module. -Rick ------------------- Rick Morrow, Ottawa Ontario Canada Internet....rsm@delfax.Amiga.OCunix.On.Ca, Fido Net....1:163/109.31 Quote: "I yamm what I yamm!"......Popeye.. =-) ------------------- From: MGYOUNG@parkview.nstn.ns.ca Here is a little adjustment for the damage system for harn. When a chacater has a strength exceding 18 you simply use the rule for damage for heavy weopons. If a person is already using a extra heavy wepon, it would be 150% to the damage factor,instead of 125%. Remember that this incress doesn't effect the weight of the object only the damage.If there are any questions fell free to respond. My adress is mgyoung@parkview.nstn.ns.ca From: ccmsean@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu (Wile E. Coyote-Super Genius) Subject: Re: Strength Adjustment and Weapons vs. armor writes about adjusting the heavy weapon damage upward for strength values over 18. I have a small problem with this. What I believe is the extra %damage is due to the combination of the 15+ strength and heavier weapon, but this is all it can do. If you add more and more strength, the weapon is still only going to do 125% damage. Why? The weapon has a "breakpoint" - it can only take so much force before it will break. The rules don't give any provisions for weapons breaking against armor. For example, what happens if Jupsley Farmer comes in w/ a staff vs. Bruno, the plate cuirassed orbaalese invader, and smacks him in the chest for 6 blunt impact. The armor absorbs it, but what happens to the staff? If this were a shield, you roll off vs. the qualities, but not for armor. Any suggestions/home rules for handling this? Sean Matheis ccmsean@castor.ucdavis.edu From MGYOUNG@parkview.nstn.ns.ca Wed Jun 19 13:16:59 1991 Received: from owl.nstn.ns.ca by pop.stat.purdue.edu (5.61/Purdue_CC) id AA05655; Wed, 19 Jun 91 13:16:50 -0500 Received: from pvec-charon.nstn.ns.ca ([192.75.105.2]) by owl (4.1/SMI-4.1.1) id AA26653; Wed, 19 Jun 91 15:16:06 ADT Received: From PARKVIEW2/WORKQUEUE by pvec-charon.nstn.ns.ca via Charon 3.1 with IPX id 100.910619151214.608; 19 Jun 91 15:12:58 +0500 Message-Id: To: parson@pop.stat.purdue.edu From: MGYOUNG@parkview.nstn.ns.ca Date: 19 Jun 91 15:11:55 ADT Subject: To who it my concern X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail v2.1b. Status: R To anyone who is intrested, there is going to be a gaming convention in bridgewater Nova Scotia. There is,including the regular games, going to be Harn. So write me if any one is intrested. From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Re: Strength adjustments Weapon weight type, light/average/heavy (extra heavy) DO affect weapon weight and weapon damage as well. The weight of the weapon is where the damage comes from. Also, I think that this rule woudl only be available for characters possessing requisite bulk to move around.. another possibility for (Extra-heavy ) weapons is that the weapon becomes another type of weapon. for example: a Extra-heavy broadsword would be a heavy bastard sword and an extra heavy bastard sword would be a heavy battlesword. When you get above heavy battlesword, you are talking about VERY unwieldly weapons. not something your average :) 18 STR PC can wield. I think that strength >14 should add in some way to unarmed squeeze damage. perhaps +1/2pts > 14. so 16 +1 18 +2 20 +3 22 +4 squeeze impact on the unarmed sqeeze section. I have been toying with the idea of giving strong pc's this option, what do people think? -eric From: Steve Williams Subject: Healing I would have said that you would take any other open wounds to be infected at their current healing rate, and the wound in question be reduced by one healing rate. (As per 1a). Basically the healing stuff is a bit skimpy, I also have some quibbles about the immobilization of limbs. Somewhere in the combat rules there is a ruling that a limb which takes IP damage in excess of 16 or so points in a single wound is rendered inoperative. This means, theoretically that you might get a limb with 30 points of damage which is still operative because the individual wounds are all less than 16, whereas someone with a straight 17 point wound can't use the arm! Also, what about locations which aren't strictly "limbs" i.e. the head - surely there should be something to cover that? Any ideas, or am I way off bat!? (Probably). Steve Williams From: Dan Corrin Subject: Re: Strength adjustments > From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) > Subject: Re: Strength adjustments > > Weapon weight type, light/average/heavy (extra heavy) DO affect weapon weight > and weapon damage as well. The weight of the weapon is where the damage > comes from. Also, I think that this rule woudl only be available for > characters possessing requisite bulk to move around.. another possibility > for (Extra-heavy ) weapons is that the weapon becomes another type of weapon. > for example: a Extra-heavy broadsword would be a heavy bastard sword and > an extra heavy bastard sword would be a heavy battlesword. When you get above > heavy battlesword, you are talking about VERY unwieldly weapons. not > something your average :) 18 STR PC can wield. I agree. I brought up the xheavy/massive/etc. because some creatures in my campaing (in this case giants) were bulky enough to use the heavier weapons with their greater strength. I think that rather than changing the weapon, increaing the aspects would be more appropriate, but you wouldn't want an xheavy short swaord to do more damage than a normal battlesword or would you? > I think that strength >14 should add in some way to unarmed squeeze damage. > perhaps +1/2pts > 14. so > 16 +1 > 18 +2 > 20 +3 > 22 +4 squeeze impact on the unarmed sqeeze section. > I have been toying with the idea of giving strong pc's this option, > what do people think? > -eric > I think that people who make up tables like this overlook the other end of the scale, thus strength 8 should be -1, 6 -2, etc. Otherwise I think it is a great idea. Speaking of weakness, what wbout negative aspects? Do you think that they should be allowed, after all, you ususally roll one or more dice, so even a negative aspect would be capable of doing damage. re: Sean's weapon damage rule > From: ccmsean@bullwinkle.ucdavis.edu (Wile E. Coyote-Super Genius) > > The rules don't give any provisions for weapons breaking against armor. For > example, what happens if Jupsley Farmer comes in w/ a staff vs. Bruno, > the plate cuirassed orbaalese invader, and smacks him in the chest for > 6 blunt impact. The armor absorbs it, but what happens to the staff? If this > were a shield, you roll off vs. the qualities, but not for armor. > > Any suggestions/home rules for handling this? I think this is a great idea, after all if the staff was to penetrate somehow, the armour would be damaged! I would rule that if the Blow is fully absorbed by the armour then you should make a check for the weapon. I think I'll implement this in my next session. BTW: I use the modified weapon breakage as describes in one issue of Harnlore, each failed check reduces the quality by one, the weapon breaks when it gets to 1/2 of its original quality. -Dan Dan Corrin, Network Manager, Mechanical Engineering, UWO, London, Ontario TML/CZ FTP site coordinator: dan@engrg.uwo.ca. (519) 661-3834 P.S. What is the most recent Harnlore that people have received? It's been a while since iv'e seen a new one. [There are two messages here, I glued the other short one to the end to save bandwidth, so keep reading. :-) ] From: Dan Corrin > From: Steve Williams > Subject: Healing > > > Basically the healing stuff is a bit skimpy, I also have some quibbles > about the immobilization of limbs. Somewhere in the combat rules there > is a ruling that a limb which takes IP damage in excess of 16 or so > points in a single wound is rendered inoperative. This means, theoretically > that you might get a limb with 30 points of damage which is still operative > because the individual wounds are all less than 16, whereas someone with a > straight 17 point wound can't use the arm! Also, what about locations which > aren't strictly "limbs" i.e. the head - surely there should be something to > cover that? > > Any ideas, or am I way off bat!? (Probably). > > Steve Williams > I think there was a letter in Harnlore that went over this topic. The Idea is that a person can take a lot of small (1-3") cuts in their arm or leg (5 IP), But if you take a deep gash (15IP) then there will be muscle and/or bone damage, thus rendering the limb useless. I think that there is a rule limiting total damage to a limb, or there should be, after all, once the arm is destroyed (or nearly so) the character (if still concious) won't be bothered by a couple of more small cuts there. As for head and/or torso damage, the larger shock rolls that have to be made reflect the idea of that area becoming useless, after all if your head is that injured, you aren't going to be doing anything with the rest of your body. You could always rule that a 15+ injury to the head automatically causes a failed shock roll, but it really is covered, the limbs need it, as a limb that is not aputated would always work (as long as you were concious) otherwise. -Dan Dan Corrin, Network Manager, Mechanical Engineering, UWO, London, Ontario TML/CZ FTP site coordinator: dan@engrg.uwo.ca. (519) 661-3834 ============================================================================= From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Th erule about 16+ IP means the SUM of all injuries on one limb, not each individual wound. -eric From: marten@rieska.oulu.fi (Master of Twilight) Subject: Weapon Damage Rolls >Jupsley Farmer comes in w/ a staff vs. Bruno, ... what happens to the staff? I have always understood that weapon damage must (or should) be rolled whenever a weapon hits a 'Solid object' (or other similar). The GM's duty is to judge which hits require weapon damage rolls. The roll is the usual 3d6 vs. WQ and the struck object (it is not a weapon) doesn't need a roll. (of course if the target is substantially weaker or of similar 'strenght' as the striking weapon (say, a stick vs. a chair), you quessestimate its quality and roll for it as well) BTW, the staff is quite sturdy object and you need to hit VERY hard to break it. I wouldn't use weapon damage roll in the example mentioned above, unless the staff is of very poor quality. (e.g. very thin) ======================================================================== # At office: Atte Kinnula # In the Current Middle Ages: # # Rakentajantie 5 F/303 # Llwyd ap Cadwaladr # # 90570 OULU, FINLAND # (now try pronouncing that >;)# [Mr. Young had to 'drop out' of the list, so if you have something really important to respond to in either of these articles, you should also cc: him at the address below...] From: MGYOUNG@parkview.nstn.ns.ca Subject: Strength and armor I forgot to mention the wepon breakage. For every point of strength over 18 you would reduce the armor qualty by 1. A weaker breaking point deos not reflect a poor quality wepon. There is a simple way to use wepon breakage against armor. If the armor is metal based, the role would be 3D6. If it is kurbul, the role would be 2D6 and if it is leather, 1D6. Cloth would not count MIke Young From: MGYOUNG@parkview.nstn.ns.ca Subject: Armour I was just looking through my harnmaster last night and I camme across a very intresting artical. Armor damage. But when I tured to look for the brakage number there wes none. Does anyone have any iformation on this topic. If so write me derectly because I had to "drop out" of Harnlist for the summer. My adress is mgyoung@parkview.nstn.ns.ca Thanks From: ccmsean@castor.ucdavis.edu (Sean Matheis) Subject: Campaigns/Adventures off of Harn/Shorkyne. Greetings. I'm curious if anyone has written any adventures or is running any campaigns that are NOT: * On Harn, the island and mainland (Kanday, Kaldor, Rethem, etc...) * In the immediate area to the East of this, including Shorkyne, Orbaal, Harbaaal I'm looking for something near or in either Hepekeria or Azeryon. I'm curious as how people have developed these areas. If you or anyone you know has anything, please let me know. Thanks Sean ccmsean@castor.ucdavis.edu From: SCHMUNK@spacvax.rice.edu (Robert B. Schmunk, SPAC, Rice Univ.) Subject: Forthcoming Harn publ. I just received a couple Harn items in the mail from Columbia Games, along with a copy of the latest mail order price list (eff. Mar 91). According to this form, new Harn stuff scheduled to be published includes: BattleLust = Aug 91 Tome of Odivshe = Aug 91 Tome of Savorya = Sep 91 Castles of Orbaal = Aug 91 Curse of Hlen (Panaga 3) = Jul 91 Trierzon = 92 Additionally, Dalgliesh has indicated on the V-Net Harnline echo that HarnLore 10 is in the works, and will be double the length of previous HLs. There may also be some format changes in this issue. rbs From: lee@sq.com (Liam Quin) Subject: saving space I ran the enclosed awk program (use nawk or gawk if you don't have mawk!) on the file that contains my harn-list archive... and it almost halved in size, just by deleting bits of header! -rw-r--r-- 1 lee 762039 Jun 26 15:36 harn91.before -rw-r--r-- 1 lee 363653 Jul 1 21:24 harn91.after The deleted lines are the To field with the long list of members, and the Received: lines, and the "From " line, which is replaced by the "From:" line -- in effect, you don't lose anything important. So in case this will help anyone else... Lee #! /usr/local/bin/mawk -f # save this in a file (I called it hawk) and run it as # ./hawk < old-archive > new-archive # be very careful to use two different file names. # On system V, save the program in a file and use # nawk -f hawk < old-archive > new-archive # instead (you might have to use mawk or gawk, or plain awk might work) BEGIN { Delete("Path:") Delete("To:") Delete("Received:") Delete("Message-Id:") Delete("From") # no colon Delete("Status:") # Mail inserts this... Delete("Return-Path:") InHeader = 1 } /^$/ { if (InHeader) EndHeader() InHeader = 0; print; next } ($1 == "From") && (InHeader == 0) { InHeader = 1 } (InHeader == 0) { print next } # so we are in the header: { if (($0 ~ /^[ ]/) && HeaderLines > 0) { Header[HeaderLines] = Header[HeaderLines] "\n" $0 } else { ++HeaderLines Header[HeaderLines] = $0 Field[HeaderLines] = $1 } } function EndHeader( i) { # find the From: and put it out first: # at the same time, delete unwanted ones From_Line = "" for (i = 1; i <= HeaderLines; i++) { if (Field[i] in DeleteThese) { delete Field[i] } else { if (Field[i] == "From:") { From_Line = Header[i] delete Field[i] } } } if (From_Line != "") { sub(/:/, "", From_Line) print From_Line } else { print "From someone@somewhere" } for (i = 1; i <= HeaderLines; i++) { if (i in Field) { print Header[i] delete Field[i] delete Header[i] } } HeaderLines = 0 InHeader = 0 } function Delete(Name) { DeleteThese[Name] = "yes" } # end of awk program... # # Liam Quin, lee@sq.com, SoftQuad, Toronto # the barefoot programmer From: Jaakko Kankaanp{{ Subject: Re: book prices It sure has been quiet for a while (nearly a month at least without a Harn mailing list posting). Has discussion died out, has the group died out or what? [Ed. note: No, the list hasn't died, there just haven't been any postings in over a month. Let's see if we can solve this problem. Hint, hint.] Anyway, here's a question: I just received a letter from Columbia, and with it came their latest mail order list. There were some spectacular changes in product availability - the list indicated that KANDAY and CITIES were out of stock, while goodies like PILOT'S ALMANAC and CASTLES were available again. Since their distribution policy has been a bit erratic in the past, I ask if anyone has verification on this; has anyone recently bought CASTLES, for example, or seen it available somewhere? My local game store does not know anything about such books being in print again, of course. Thanks in advance, Jaakko _____ Jaakko Kankaanpaa ! Turku, Finland ! jac@kontu.utu.fi "I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition" From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Runemastery Hello all! Here is a subject which will hopefully wake all of us from our summer slumber: In the ivinia module, and elsewhere, Robin mentions Runemasters. It is another form of magic, than Shek-Pvar. Has anyone done any development on this magic? A player was generated from that area and their 'master' was a runemaster I did not want to make the person a Savoryan, because runemasters rarely have contact with organized chantries. Any ideas? -eric From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Divine Interventions Hello again. To players & GMs alike, I pose this question: What is the general nature of divine intervention in your game, and how often do players seek aid. Also, do you set a piety maximum or do players continue to gain piety ad infinitum? In my game it seems to be getting a bit out of hand, and I was hoping some of you Harnpeople could tell me how often your Gods of Harn intervene for/against the PC's. -eric From: lrg@crud.cray.com (Lee Gordon) Subject: Re: Divine Intervention > From: ccelric@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric J. Anderson) > Subject: Divine Interventions > > Hello again. > To players & GMs alike, I pose this question: > What is the general nature of divine intervention in your game, and > how often do players seek aid. Also, do you set a piety maximum or > do players continue to gain piety ad infinitum? In my game it seems > to be getting a bit out of hand, and I was hoping some of you Harnpeople > could tell me how often your Gods of Harn intervene for/against the PC's. > -eric I don't know if this is standard Harn rules, but we have two basic types of divine intervention. The first type anyone can try, which is basically pleading with a deity to perform a task. The second type is the priestly abilities of prophets (blessing, cure, truth sense, etc), and there are only 2 prophets per deity. If you are talking about divine intervention for non-prophets, we rarely, if ever call upon divine aid. If we ever do, it would be more like "my knight blows all of his piety to pray for Larani to remove his fatigue". Then the rolls are made for intervention and retribution. If you're talking about prophets, these characters call for divine intervention regularly for the standard rituals and infrequently for impromptu rituals. We have a piety cap of 1000, which has only been attained when we blow several years of game time doing non-adventure stuff. IMHO, I've never liked campaigns where the deities are constantly intervening. If the PC's do it alot, then the bad guys can probably do it alot, and the arms race has started... As a GM (I'm not one, but if I were), I'd adjust the intervention and retribution rolls based on the request being made, the deity being asked, and the need of the players. The bottom line is that it can be a tool the GM can use to help out smart players who get screwed over by unusually bad luck. It shouldn't be used to aid players who bring the problems upon themselves though. -Lee From: MGYOUNG@pvec.bridgewater.ns.ca Hello, I've got a question. Has any on out there tryed the game Loinheart? If anyone has could you tell me what it's like? Mike Young "No body expects the spanish inquisition" Date: Thu, 3 Oct 91 14:07:13 +0100 To: parson@pop.stat.purdue.edu Hi Harners I am going to start a new campaign in a world of my own devising. I really enjoy playing in Harn, but my players prefer epic quests to "here is the world, what do you do now", and epic quests are easier to make if you build the world around them. I want to use Harnmaster, but I find the Harnic convocations to be too Harn specific. I have heard of a new set of convocations. Do any of you know about them? Is it possible to get hold of a describtion? Klaus O K From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Alternate Convocations Klaus K writes: > > I want to use Harnmaster, but > I find the Harnic convocations to be too Harn > specific. I have heard of a new set of convocations. > Do any of you know about them? Is it possible to > get hold of a describtion? I'm not really sure about a "new" set of convocations, unless you're referring to the Melchsuian school of magic. The description of this system is available on Harnline, and has been around a few years. It's just never been published in Harnlore. Anyway, I tossed the schools of the Shek Pvar in favor of Melchusian Magic so that the players in my campaign would feel better acquainted with the system without having to read the rulebook closely, and also because I just like the schools better myself. The schools of Melchusian Magic are given fairly common names, magically-speaking. These schools, and descriptions, are: White magic (aka Wizardry): spells of healing, knowledge and ability. Black magic (aka Necromancy): spells of fear, the unknown and death. Sorcery: spells of influencing minds. Thaumaturgy: spells of civilization, metal and fire. Witchery: spells of nature. Illusion: spells of deception and light. The posting on Harnline included longer desciptions of these schools (a long paragraph each), applicable spells (pretty much all of the original HM spells, reclassified) and astrological modifiers. I wasn't totally happy with the spell classifications (too many thaumaturgy, not enough necromancy) or the astro modifiers and re-did them. I've also classified all spells out of the Gray, Peleahn and Lyahvi tomes. (Hopefully, I'll have the Fyvria and Jmorvi books soon and can do them too). More info available upon request. rbs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 -- (713) 527-4939 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Khuzdul cities I've recently had an adventure idea involving a lost dwarven city in the Ivinia/Harbaal area, and so I hauled out the Khuzdul article to see what it had to say about non-Harnic dwarven cities. It mentions that there were two, Harhakeim and Kondasgel, in Ivinia and that they have been lost to man's memory since the dwarves closed the gates several hundred years back. I would think that there might be more info about these two cities in the Ivinia module, but unfortunately I don't have a copy of it. Addi- tionally, I haven't run across any references to them in Menglana. Do any of you have a copy of Ivinia, and if so, does it say anything about Harhakeim or Kondasgel? rbs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 -- (713) 527-4939 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: Klaus Ole Kristiansen Subject: Re: Khuzdul Cities Yes, the Ivinia module does describe the dwarven cities of Ivinia. Unfortunately, it is obviously wrong. According to the Khuzdul article, each of the two cities were founded by one of the seven tribes of dwarfs. According to Ivinia, one is a colony of the other. You are better off inventing something on your own. Klaus O K From: JMUELLER%PPL.ESNET@ESNMRG.NERSC.GOV Subject: Harn repackaging I have just this year found Harn to not actually be dead, as we were told, but flourishing quite well. I would just like to pick up a few guidelines on what NOT to buy. We have the original run of Encyclopedia Harnica from issue 1 to 19 - when we were told it was discontinued. We also have the Ivinia module, Gods of Harn, the Harn folder with maps & HarnDex and earlier this year picked up HarnMaster - the system Columbia had years ago said they would not publish. We were at our mother's funeral on Long Island (NY) and on a whim stopped in a new gaming/comics shop in my old neighbourhood. There we found all sorts of Harnish publlications we had never seen (talk about mood swings) and purchased some of the more appealing: 1000 Bushels of Wheat (a fine adventure) and Cities of Harn. Imagine our disappointment when upon returning home (NJ) we found we already HAD all of the cities in the module, previously published in EH. Now, the meat of this post is: Does there exist anywhere a list of what comes from which previous publication? Is it worth buying ANY of the recent modules, or is it all repackaged EH? Thanks much, and reach for the stars. Jim Mueller JMUELLER@usc.pppl.gov Princeton Plasma Physics Lab - Where FUSION ENERGY research WAS a way of life! Until Congress took a pay hike. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "The large print giveth, + and the small print + taketh away." + Tom Waits- "Step Right Up" + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Harn repackaging Jim Mueller writes: > We have the original run of Encyclopedia Harnica from issue 1 to 19 - EH went all the way to 19? I never saw anything higher than 16. > Now, the meat of this post is: > Does there exist anywhere a list of what comes from which previous publication? > Is it worth buying ANY of the recent modules, or is it all repackaged EH? Off the top of my head, the following are modules I understand to be re-packaging of EH articles: Azadmere, Chybisa, Kaldor and Evael. And as many of you recall from Harnlist earlier this year, there's more than one version of Chybisa floating about. Caution, these modules do not contain all the info that was in EH 1 to 16, missing about a half dozen articles. Notably, Law, Manor and Herblore. On the other hand, the various regional maps of Kaldor have been sacrificed for a large map suitable for wall-hanging. Otherwise, I understand Tharda, Kanday, Rethem, Orbaal, Melderyn, Ivinia, Menglana, Shorkyne, Gods and the Pilots' Almanac to be all new (at the time of publication) material. And don't forget the 2nd ed. magic rules (Tome of the Shek Pvar) and the five (so far) magic books. And...I almost did forget the four adventures: Araka-Kalai, Staff of Fanon, 100 Bushels and Kiraz. (Give Fanon a try; my players enjoyed it.) I was under the impression that Cities and Son of Cities were also original, but Jim comments otherwise. Perhaps Cities is the material published in EH 17 to 19? Additionally, there is fitfully erratic HarnLore, the quarterly magazine which comes out once a year. *Rumorwatch*, HL 10 is in final proofing stages. We might actually see it during calendar 1991! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 -- (713) 527-4939 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...he gave the appearance of being at peace not just with the world, but also with Satan, all other known forces of darkness, and even new car salesmen. --David Carkeet, DOUBLE NEGATIVE From: Robert Schmunk Subject: New Harn stuff (?) I was at the game store this morning, giving the dealer a hard time about Tome of Fyvria and Jmorvi, when she hauled out the catalog from a game distributor named Chessex. It listed presumably all the available Harnmaster products, plus several expected in the foreseeable future. Despite the fact that they were published 2-3 months ago, Fyvria and Jmorvi were listed as not-out-yet-but-expected-at-any-time. On the other hand, Castles of Orbaal was listed as already out, though I haven't seen it at either of the two local stores which carry Columbia stuff and none of the autoship people I know has mentioned it. Also listed as expected imminently was an adventure module entitled Nasty, Brutish & Short. A few other items were listed with 1991 publication dates, but I won't bother to mention them here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 -- (713) 527-4939 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: ez007612@pollux.ucdavis.edu (Tim Prestero) Subject: Questions I've been playing Harn for about half a year now, and I have some questions regarding rules, and product availability. 1. Does "heavy" armor increase the actual armor aspect, or does it simply give the armorcrafter a higher chance of creating superior armor? 2. Does anybody have, or know where I can get Evael, the Elven Kingdom book? Is it any good? 3. Has anybody developed rules for combatants wielding two weapons? Or having multiple missile fire in one turn? Ten seconds seems to be an awful long time to knock and fire an arrow... 4. Is there an anthology of harn spells developed on the net? I'd like to get some ideas for spells, especially in the areas of Odivshe and Savorya. 5. I've heard rumor of an "expanded combat system" available for download from the Harnline BBS. Has anybody seen this? What the heck is it? And more generally, what sort of things are available on the BBS? 6. We've made the Store spell a multi-complexity spell. First off, the assignment of fourth complexity seemed arbitrary, and I've put a third complexity limit on starting spells for Shek Pvar. Comments? 7. Is there any defence for the grappling exploitation move "squeeze"? This is the only example of an attack with no defence, if I read the rules correctly. Has anyone developed some house rules for Unarmed combat? I'd greatly appreciate answers for any of these questions. There are only a few Harn players in my area, and they're getting sick of my dumb questions. :) Tim Prestero ez007612@pollux.ucdavis.edu From schmunk@vega.rice.edu Sun Nov 24 17:01:19 1991 Received: from vega.rice.edu by pop.stat.purdue.edu (5.61/Purdue_CC) id AA03343; Sun, 24 Nov 91 17:01:17 -0500 Received: by vega.rice.edu (AA01801); Sun, 24 Nov 91 16:04:21 CST From: Robert Schmunk Message-Id: <9111242204.AA01801@vega.rice.edu> Subject: Re: ... To: parson@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Eric Parson) Date: Sun, 24 Nov 91 16:04:20 CST X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL9] Status: R Tim Prestero write: > 2. Does anybody have, or know where I can get Evael, the > Elven Kingdom book? Is it any good? The Columbia order form that I have (dated 3/91) lists it as out of stock, but I may have seen it a store recently. Check your local game shops, or call Columbia at 1-800-663-8453 and let them know that it's time to re-issue it. I personally didn't care much for Evael, except for the Pesino article. However, I've never cared much for elves myself, so it may just be personal bias. > 4. Is there an anthology of harn spells developed on the net? > I'd like to get some ideas for spells, especially in the areas > of Odivshe and Savorya. I just bought Jmorvi and Fyvria and am in the process of amending my master spell index. I'll post it to the net when I get it done, perhaps tomorrow. This list contains all the spells from the five (so far) tomes, the main rulebook, various Harnline articles, a bunch that were posted to the net last spring, and a dozen that were given to me by another Harner last month. Altogether, around 200 spells I'm always interested in adding to this list, so I too am wondering if somebody out there is maintaining an anthology. Speaking of spells, I was shocked by the proofreading in Jmorvi and Fyvria. While the spells are generally good, the books *look* like they were rushed through the production process. rbs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 -- (713) 527-4939 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We pay for a single fighter plane with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than eight thousand people. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. --Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953 From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Re: ... Tim Prestero write: > 2. Does anybody have, or know where I can get Evael, the > Elven Kingdom book? Is it any good? The Columbia order form that I have (dated 3/91) lists it as out of stock, but I may have seen it a store recently. Check your local game shops, or call Columbia at 1-800-663-8453 and let them know that it's time to re-issue it. I personally didn't care much for Evael, except for the Pesino article. However, I've never cared much for elves myself, so it may just be personal bias. > 4. Is there an anthology of harn spells developed on the net? > I'd like to get some ideas for spells, especially in the areas > of Odivshe and Savorya. I just bought Jmorvi and Fyvria and am in the process of amending my master spell index. I'll post it to the net when I get it done, perhaps tomorrow. This list contains all the spells from the five (so far) tomes, the main rulebook, various Harnline articles, a bunch that were posted to the net last spring, and a dozen that were given to me by another Harner last month. Altogether, around 200 spells I'm always interested in adding to this list, so I too am wondering if somebody out there is maintaining an anthology. Speaking of spells, I was shocked by the proofreading in Jmorvi and Fyvria. While the spells are generally good, the books *look* like they were rushed through the production process. rbs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 -- (713) 527-4939 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We pay for a single fighter plane with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than eight thousand people. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. --Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953