From: Keith Martin UGA Bookstore Computer Department Subject: Harnline BBS Hi y'all, I am new to this list, so let me apologize in advance if I am asking a bunch of out-of-date questions. First off, does anyone on this list know anything about the fate of the HarnLine BBS? By the time I was set up to contact the Duffle Board in Vancouver it had vanished. Secondly, does anyone know of any ftp sites containing Harn related materiels? On the subject of psionics, I usualy do not inform my PC's of any talents they might possess unless the character is a Shek-P'var, astrologer or other arcane lorist or a priest. I figure someone with that sort of pre- game experience would likely have discovered their abilities. I do roll for them in advance, though, in case the character ends up with something subject to passive triggering. One of the characters in my current campaign has prescience, which she is still unaware of. Occasionaly I will roll for her talent under appropriate circumstances and inform her that she "senses danger" or "has an uneasy feeling" about something. Keith Martin keith@moe.coe.uga.edu From: maillet@paques.cert.fr (Luc Maillet) Subject: Re: Psionics > From: Robert Schmunk > Subject: Re: Psionics > > Hmmm... Well, people don't seem particularly impressed by my house rule, > so I might as well mention that it hasn't been tested too thoroughly > yet. My group didn't play very regularly this past year (perhaps 10 > sessions total). Consequently, only one new character was rolled up, > and the player deliberately went for a low Aura so that he could > beef up his combat-related stats. And no character of high Aura has > yet experienced an event which awake a dormant talent. If I can get > my campaign back on a regular meeting basis, this is something I'd > plan to keep an eye on. Eric Anderson's idea of knacks sounds pretty > interesting and I've thought about just bumping up the required Aura, > but I've got a rules lawyer in my group who would prevent any such > radical change in the psionic rules (you wouldn't believe the grief > I got for instituting my current house rule). > Bad Karma, chum. Rules lawyers can be most annoying. But as you're the GM, if the other players agree with you, well, use your power to say : it works like I say until we find something better ! When I play here in Toulouse, all GMs do that. But then again, we discuss the rules beforehand, and come to an agreement. We also disposed of rules lawyers some time ago. After all, rules are just tools for you to use - or not to use... Redwing. From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Re: HarnLine BBS > First off, does anyone on this list know > anything about the fate of the HarnLine BBS? By the time I was set up to > contact the Duffle Board in Vancouver it had vanished. DuffleBoard still exists, but Rob Duff moved last August and the old phone number doesn't work anymore. I can't recall the new phone number as I usually access it through a Houston BBS which carries the V-Net Harnline echo. Also, Duff just posted a message to the echo a week or two ago to tell us that one consequence of his move is that it is now a long distance call for Robin Crossby to dial the board up. Consequently, Robin hasn't been calling in since the move. Thus, the Harnline echo these days is about 95% a pbem game being run by Michael Matson. Some real discussion crops up every now and then, as it did right after BattleLust was published. But seriously, there's almost as much real Harnic discussion on this mailing list as there is there. > Secondly, does anyone > know of any ftp sites containing Harn related materiels? Not that I'm aware of, but I have my hopes of there being one soon. Until then, maybe folks could post what they have available to share. I have ready or could quickly upload: Binhexed Macintosh documents of Character generator application Weather generator application Skill-base calculator Excel spreadsheet 60 new spells in an MS Word document Spell index (Columbia and new) in an Excel spreadsheet rbs -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [He] turned back to the window and the opaque Houston sky. "You know, there isn't anything wrong with this town that a couple of really good hurricanes couldn't fix." --Peter Gent, THE FRANCHISE From: marten@rieska.oulu.fi (Llwyd ap Cadwaladr) Subject: Anything new from CG Hullo to the mailing list. I'm one of those fortunate called autoship customers. And I must admit that it is a *great* thing. There's one drawback however. Given the current release rate vs. announced release rate you can never tell what's coming next and when..:-). Anyhow, I just got a bill which states that my VISA was charged for 25 Canadian Dollars. The date was 21. December -92. Since I've been an autoship customer for less than a year I am not sure how and when CG "fill in" the missing amount of the 50 dollars they take in. Thus, this 25 dollars can be either: 1: A product which has been recently published. 2: An "intake" to fill in the missing amount of that 50 dollar credit. The date (last day of previous year) would seem to support the choice 2, as would the fact that I've not received anything from CG (they send it via AirMail, which means it arrives pretty quickly). So the question is, does anyone know has CG published anything after the Battlelust? Or does someone know for sure that CG updates the credit amount at that time? Keep on playing! Llwyd From: Bryan J. Sager Subject: Re: Anything new from CG Yes, CG has published something new. I just can't remember the name. Last Saturday, one of the people in my gaming group brought the new item. I was quite supprised since I'm an autoship customer too. It seems our local game store was able to get it before I did. (first time that has happened) The new item has something to do with Kaldor, I think. It includes a regional map for that area. BJS [NOTE: Rather than have 9000 header lines and just 4 lines of text on two separate messages, I combined the following two mesages on the same subject. -ETP] From: satyr@netcom.com (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Re: Anything new from CG Harnians... I spoke with Tom Dagliesh on Monday and he said that they were in the middle of shipping out two new items: Castles of Orbaal, and Harnlore 11 He also said that Curse of Hlen was ready to go to the printers, but that they were waiting for sales of Castles of Orbaal and Harnlore 11 before they started printing it. Castles of Orbaal is supposed to have a Kingdom Map of Orbaal (finally). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Eric J. Anderson | "When in doubt, turn left." Software Engineer | -1985 Chris Galatti InterFax Inc. |a.k.a. : satyr@netcom.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ============================================================================= From: marten@rieska.oulu.fi (Llwyd ap Cadwaladr) Subject: Re: Anything new from CG Hum, has anyone received this new item (via autoship)? Really surprising, CG has been quite prompt in sending new items first to the autoship customers. I recall Tom Daglieshi said that a new item was coming up (something like castles of Orbaal or Castles of Shorkyne or such) but that item sounded more like a new adventure or regional module... marten From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Re: Anything new from CG > Anyhow, I just got a bill which states that my VISA was > charged for 25 Canadian Dollars. The date was 21. December -92. > Since I've been an autoship customer for less than a year > I am not sure how and when CG "fill in" the missing amount > of the 50 dollars they take in. Thus, this 25 dollars can > be either: > 1: A product which has been recently published. > 2: An "intake" to fill in the missing amount of that 50 dollar > credit. > So the question is, does anyone know has CG published anything > after the Battlelust? Or does someone know for sure that CG updates > the credit amount at that time? Well, as noted elsewhere, there apparently is a new product out. However, I can recall some discussion on the V-Net Harnline echo many months ago which suggests that Columbia often bills autoship customer's credit cards before they actually get around to shipping the item. This is one of the reasons that I have decided against becoming an autoship customer. Speaking of new Columbia stuff, has anybody seen HarnLore 11 yet? When I ordered BattleLust last August, the fellow on the phone (Tom?) told me that they already had 90% of the material for HL 11 assembled. Finally, a trivial question. In HarnLore 1, there is a list of the various scripts and languages that priests learn. For Morgathians, the temple tongue is "Ormauk". I can't find any mention of this language in the HarnWorld language section (Lythia 20) or in HarnMaster (Treasure 7). Has anyone seen any mention of this language elsewhere? -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [He] turned back to the window and the opaque Houston sky. "You know, there isn't anything wrong with this town that a couple of really good hurricanes couldn't fix." --Peter Gent, THE FRANCHISE From: Keith Martin UGA Bookstore Computer Department Subject: Spell research/improvement Okay, everybody, here is a question I need some input on- How do the DM's on this list deal with spell improvement rolls? Do you alow one improvement roll per casting attempt, with no "optional" monthly rolls alowed? Do you alow more than one roll per attempt or what? Let me explain where this is coming from: I occurs to me that some of the spells in the various spell books are useless unless known to very high ML's. Soul Stealer, for example, which transfers a natural or artificial aura from one object to another. Very handy for creating those powerful artifacts, but unless it is known to a rather high level, it is somewhat dangerous to use since the original body that housed the aura will die! Or take Anvil of Pytama as an example. A begining Jmorvi with an ML of, say, 45, would take 110 hours to cast this spell I do not alow my PC Shek-P'var to spend more than 10 hours a day in spell casting or research, so that would work out to 11 days of greuling work, at which point the caster is entitled to make a single skill improvement roll. In order to develope a reasonalbe ML the mage in question would have to create dozens if not hundreds of enchanted weapons. In the case of Soul Stealer, what is a budding Shek-P'var to do- go around sucking the souls from various strangers until he has mastered the spell (not in my campaign or anyone elses, I'll wager) or create a false soul and transfer it back and forth ad naseum? That seems somewhat silly to me. My solution: I have been alowing the players in my game to make improvement rolls for spells in the same fashion as other skills, with one exception: If a player uses a monthly development roll to improve a spell, he/she must first make a skill roll as if attempting to cast the spell. No actual casting attempt is made, but misfire can occur. Spells that take over 12 hours to cast are permitted an improvement roll for every twelve hours involved in the actual casting attempt. Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to GM a bunch of arch-magi who exist only to create god-awful magic items, but it seems to me that if such characters, player or non-player, exist, they would have one hell of a time reaching such power levels using the rules as they stand. Comments? Keith Martin keith@moe.coe.uga.edu ps- would whoever posted a response to my question about the Harnline BBS please send me your e-mail address? I seem to have lost it, and I am interested in exchanging the spells, etc. that you mentioned. Thanks From: e90mhg@efd.lth.se (Mikael Hegardt) Subject: HarnLore Does anyone know if CG sells back issues of Harnlore? I wouldn't mind laying my hands on some of the earlier issues... -----------------------------------M-----M-I--CCC-M-----M---A----CCC-------- Mikael Hegardt M M M M I C M M M M A A C Institute of Technology, Lund M M M I C M M M AAAAA C E-Mail: e90mhg@efd.lth.se M M I CCC M M A A CCC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: e90mhg@efd.lth.se (Mikael Hegardt) Subject: Re: Spell research/improvement I've adapted a system very much like RuneQuest when dealing with getting better in skills. Everytime a character uses a skill, he or she marks the skill off. As said in RQ, this must be done under "stressful" circumstancesm, which leaves room for the GM to decide. A skill can receive more than one mark, which is not the true in RQ (at least not tha last time I played it). Since spells are separate skills, I use it on them to. Every check entitles the player to a improvement roll as stated in the HM rules. My players haven't yet objected to this system, which is a good sign. And up to now they haven't tried to misuse it either... -----------------------------------M-----M-I--CCC-M-----M---A----CCC-------- Mikael Hegardt M M M M I C M M M M A A C Institute of Technology, Lund M M M I C M M M AAAAA C E-Mail: e90mhg@efd.lth.se M M I CCC M M A A CCC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Petri Heiramo Subject: Re: Spell research/improvement Hello. I do use a bit different spell system, but the skill development goes much the same way. I will use a 'one roll per one casting attempt' -method with all spells since I do not have the 'problem' with long casting times. However, it seems to me that in case of extended casting times (more than a day) more than one roll per spell is appropriate. I don't think twelve hours is long enough a time (to me, 20 hours (two days) is better), but you are the judge. Giving a caster nine rolls (110 hours) for casting one spell with one single roll is giving away free rolls since the gain vs risks is forgotten. Allowing monthly rolls to be spent on spells sounds okay since the roll is still required (but wouldn't it be simplier to cast the spell once and leave the roll for something 'harder' to learn). But the rule that spells could not be improved through continued reading etc soud a bit too strict to me. Could there be a moderated rule, like allowing the continued study but requiring rolls every now and then (every third dev roll, for example)? Yours Petri Heiramo From: Jaakko Kankaanp{{ Subject: Re: Harnlore >Does anyone know if CG sells back issues of Harnlore? >I wouldn't mind laying my hands on some of the earlier >issues... Yes they do, but some of the older issues have been out of print for quite a while now, I think. When I tried to order them by mail a year or two ago, they had only issues 7 and later available. But they do sell photocopies of all the articles they have published, so I guess you might get all the important stuff published in Harnlore. Jaakko _____ Jaakko Kankaanpaa ! Turku, Finland ! jac@kontu.utu.fi "I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition" From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Re: Spell research/improvement If people think that skill improvement goes a bit slow under HarnMaster, it doesn't surprise me. It is after all a "magic poor" world, relative to other systems anyway. One other person has mentioned using the Runequest check-off system, which is just fine. However,as noted in this newsgroup before, you as a GM have to watch out for the "Runequest weapon shuffle". One of my players is a rules lawyer and is always trying to try this approach. One other thing about Runequest, or Cthulhu, is that rather than bump the skill or spell up by one point for a successful improvement roll, they instead have you a roll D6 to determine the amount of increase. That's a good way to speed things up. If you think that's too fast, you could instead use the regular HM method, but allow some sort of bonus for critting on the improvement roll. rbs -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [He] turned back to the window and the opaque Houston sky. "You know, there isn't anything wrong with this town that a couple of really good hurricanes couldn't fix." --Peter Gent, THE FRANCHISE From: Petri Heiramo Subject: Re: Fatigue in BattleLust and Harnmaster [Ed. note: This is a slightly older topic which Petri had apparently responded to, and some mailer along the line ate the message. So in fairness to the subject and to Petri, here's the lost message... -ETP] Again, I feel I should comment. This is the second time I write this posting. The first got lost (tragic) on its way from here to Parson's (I shoulda given it a map, just had none with Parson's on it). The general rule sounds quite good. I could maybe give some extra to it (as my habit often is, to make every system as complicated as I feel it should be and I end up being dissatisfied with the slowness of the new rule). The fatigue cost should be relative to three factors: terrain, encumbrance and time. Each can have their own modifiers. I'll clear it out. The precalculated fatigue rate sounds quite good for this use. therefore, a heavily encumbered char would gain fatigue much faster than lightly encumbered one. Terrain affects quite a lot; walking constant uphill is more fatiguing than walking on level ground etc. No multiplication: Walking on level ground or light woods on a trail or a road (or anything that could be considered as a good walking surface, such as a salt flat, which definitely doesn't have anything to hinder the walker). 1.5 times fatigue rate: Walking off path (forest floor, field, etc.), medium woods (cause hindrance a bit = some undergrowth), rolling hills, etc. 2.0 times FR: more definite hills, heavy woods (heavy undergrowth), badlands, light swamp, hot weather etc. 2.5 times FR: sharp hills, low mountains, jungle (or other very heavy undergrowth), heavy swamp, etc. 3.0 times FR: Heavy mountains, bog, very hot and humid weather and anything else very tiring. These values are suggestions (as anything is) which I feel (after some thinking about the subject) quite suitable for this use. If more than one definition fits the terrain, take the highest multiplier and add .5 for every additional suitable definition (walking off-path in low mountains with light undergrowth would be 3.5 times the FR). Be reasonable in the adjustments and make them suit your plans. Time: divide the travelling time by four (= one watch) and use that as a multiplier to modify the fatigue cost. Since this sounds quite complicated and according to the original idea (to have SIMPLE rule to cover the expenditure), be generic. If the terrain is highly variable, just pick something to represent all the terrains. If the party doesn't use all the day to walk, but instead rests every now and then, cut the cost down by half or whatever you feel fitting. Note: I've not tried this out ever, I just made it all up in a flurry. if you test it, please let us (including me for sure) know how it works out. Yours, Petri Heiramo PS. Hope this try get through. I'd not want to write this everything third time From: Petri Heiramo Subject: Harnic Dragonscale Armor Hi Again. Quite some time ago I mentioned about a dragonscale armor rules I made up once, and finally I have remembered to take it with me so that I can write it to you. Here it comes. Dragonscale Armor Dragonscale is one of the rarest and most sought after armor materials. It's strong, light, flexible and expensive. It's much like fish scales, shiny and smooth, though sometimes it may have certain pointedness alike in unopened pine cones. The edges are quite sharp. Its color ranges usually from bright red to pitch black, dark red being the most common. Ahnurin scales are mostly light gray or gray. Sometimes the scales may be brownish, or have even greenish or blueish tint to them. The size of an individual scale varies depending on its location. Side and back scales are the largest and can be over five inches wide. The smallest scales are found near joints and are less than an inch wide. When compared to other armor materials, dragonscale has the best weight/protection value. It's not exactly as tough as plate, but it's better than the normal scale mail. yet it weights only slightly more than a ring mail. It doesn't catch fire either. Dragonscale armor doesn't necessarily need any padding underneath it being quite comfortable to wear, but usually some clothing is worn. Dragon scales are also easy to work with since the scaling is natural (the scales stay in the skin naturally), the scales are easier to shape than steel and the leather can be sewn together. The armor can be made to cover almost all bodyparts by using different scale sizes, but not places such as armpit (dragon skin without scales is used for them); largest ones are used for breast and back, smaller ones for hands and feet. The greatest drawback of dragonscale armor is its repair. Since the scales are organic, they are subject to chipping and cuts that cannot be easily repaired. Such damage can easily be seen on the scales and fixing the cuts completely usually requires replacing the whole scale. This in turn requires a supply of replacement scales and a skilled armorer. Scrathing the armor can be avoided by laquering the armor regularly. A skilled armorer can make 3-5 full dragon armors from one fully grown dragon, along with replacement parts, provided that he has cut the pieces himself. One full set of average quality dragon armor can easily cost over 15000d and closer to 20000d with replacement parts. The cost can be reduced greatly by going out and killing the dragon by oneself. The price can also be called a drawback. Protection : inferior B 5, E 7, P 4, F 6, S 3, T 7 average B 6, E 9, P 5, F 7, S 4, T 8 superior B 7, E 11, P 6, F 8, S 5, T 10 Production : weight .38, make 12d/7h, cost 150d Have nice time. Yours, Petri Heiramo From: klaus@diku.dk Subject: Re: Spell research/improvement In my campaign, we allowed one roll per casting, except that spells that took more than one day got one roll per day. There are some spells that are quite useless even under this rule. Klaus O K From: Petri Heiramo Subject: stun Hi again. the stun article I wrote some time ago wasn't complete in detail. It lacked some thought on subject 'what if he got another shock roll while stunned'. I made a rule for those cases and here it is: If a target receives a shock roll while stunned, add half (round down) of the remaining dice of the stun to the given shock roll and roll against that amount of dice. On a consecutive stun roll, keep the added dice. Example: Yolanda had three dice of stun left (she might have made the roll on her next turn) when she was struck again and the table said 'E3'. One half of 3 is 1.5 which is rounded down to 1, which in turn is added to the shock dice. Therefore the shock roll becomes 'E4' and she must roll against that value. Let's say she got lucky and made the roll. Now she must roll a stun roll against six dice. and so on. All actions can be considered possible while under stun, even spell- casting, but all ML's are diveded by 2 before any modifications. Some actions can be declared impossible at GM's wish, but no matter how stunned the character is he can usually run wobbly, swing (really swing, not attack effect- ively) a sword, etc. Yours, Petri Heiramo From: Sami Meril{ Subject: Few Questions Greetings, I have a couple of questions to ask... 1. Can somebody give me some information of a language called Nuvesarl ? I think it's described in the HarnWorld (2nd ed), but not in the 1st ed that I own ... 2. Herbs, herbs and herbs... Has anyone made out some kind of rules to be used with these *********** plants ? I don't have the older edition of Chybisa (either). I'm making up few rules with a friend of mine (known as Petri Heiramo), but we'd like to get some more information, what sort of herbs are in Kethira(sp?). And how they are categorized ? 3. Is there any additional information of the 'other' planes ? (I mean those other worlds that are in the 1st page of Gods of Harn, in a diagram). Thanks in advance, Sir Fahar of Maradyne (a.k.a Sami Meril{) From: sharons@juliet.ll.mit.edu ( Sharon Stanfill ) Subject: Re: A Few Questions Dear Sir Fahar of Maradyne! I don't know of any detailed information about the the other planes within the HARN publications, however, our Harn GM (I both GM a Harn game and run under a GM in a Harn game) has ported us to Midgaard and used the WarHammer modules. It seems to work reasonably well. Erana and Paladain Lynar Bastune (aka Sharon Stanfill) From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Re: A Few Questions > 1. Can somebody give me some information of a language called > Nuvesarl ? > I think it's described in the HarnWorld (2nd ed), but not in > the 1st ed that I own ... It's not in the second edition either, probably because it's not a language. Checking the language and script table in HarnMaster, you'll find that Nuvesarl is a *script* which was used in Azeryan in the past. According to HarnLore 1, the script is currently used by Morgathian clerics. > 2. Herbs, herbs and herbs... > Has anyone made out some kind of rules to be used with these > *********** plants ? I don't have the older edition of Chybisa (either). > I'm making up few rules with a friend of mine (known as Petri Heiramo), > but we'd like to get some more information, what sort of herbs are in > Kethira(sp?). And how they are categorized ? My players have used Berilik paste quite a bit, but otherwise herblore has not played much part in my campaign. There are 25 herbs described in the Herblore article with greatly differing uses. A few, such as Berilik, Kargele and Yulpris are healing drugs. There are also hallucinogens (Alanal), poisons (Gaethipa and Loertevald), aphrodisiacs (Elprequir and Perigwar), etc. > 3. Is there any additional information of the 'other' planes ? > (I mean those other worlds that are in the 1st page of Gods of Harn, > in a diagram). There's also a bit of info near the beginning of the Kethira article in the 2nd ed of HarnWorld. At a glance, though, it doesn't seem to say much more than Gods of Harn does. The basic idea is for you to create the other worlds yourself should the need arise. If you don't want to do the work, grab modules for other systems. rbs -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [He] turned back to the window and the opaque Houston sky. "You know, there isn't anything wrong with this town that a couple of really good hurricanes couldn't fix." --Peter Gent, THE FRANCHISE From: satyr@netcom.com (Eric J. Anderson) Subject: Re: A Few Questions Regarding these questions... > > 2. Herbs, herbs and herbs... > > Has anyone made out some kind of rules to be used with these > > ******* plants ? I don't have the older edition of Chybisa (either). N. Robin Crossby came up with a set of beta-test rules available on Harnline dealing with Alchemy. I have heard that there has been no real demand for a finished version of the Alchemy rules, So dont expect them to be published any time soon. The essence of the rules were based on alchemical recipes. A starting alchemist gets to pick a number of recipies based on how many ROP (Recipe Option Points) This was calculated from Int Int Aur or something like that... The alchemy skill was used to magically enhance the natural properties of herbs/ concotctions.. The recipes offered in the article closely paralelled the Herblore Articles, and there were not very many new herbs, except one called Devarium, which was the equivalent of Harnic Gunpowder... regarding other worlds... > (I mean those other worlds that are in the 1st page of Gods of Harn, > in a diagram). Staff of Fanon has a bit of detail on Yashain, in particular Nevara, a desert region which holds one of Panaga's hideouts... BTW. I just spoke with Tom Daliesh who said that In Search of Panaga III (Curse of Hlen) is 64 pages long, and has 6 local color maps and should be out as soon as sales of Castles of Orbaal and Harnlore 11 made enough money to pay for the printing. So go out and by both, so we can get ISOP III. What was everyone's reaction to Harnlore 11/Castles of Orbaal? I love the new local map format, which includes guild badges for every site on the map. Keep Harnin. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Eric J. Anderson | "When in doubt, turn left." Software Engineer | -1985 Chris Galatti InterFax Inc. |a.k.a. : satyr@netcom.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: e90mhg@efd.lth.se (Mikael Hegardt) Subject: New Harnproducts Some time ago the rumour said that two new products where out from CG, Harnlore/11 and Castles of Orbaal. But my supplier, who claims to have direct contact with CG, says "no way". Anyone who have seen these products, and even bought one? -----------------------------------------M-----M-I--CCC-M-----M---A----CCC- Mikael Hegardt M M M M I C M M M M A A C Institute of Technology, Lund, Sweden M M M I C M M M AAAAA C E-Mail: e90mhg@efd.lth.se M M I CCC M M A A CCC --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: New Harnproducts From: Paul Stratton (Sierra Geophysics, Inc.) ! Some time ago the rumour said that two new products where out ! from CG, Harnlore/11 and Castles of Orbaal. But my supplier, ! who claims to have direct contact with CG, says "no way". ! ! Anyone who have seen these products, and even bought one? I received them yesterday. They sent the autoship ones out after the storeshop distribution so they should be on the way to a local gaming store near you. They are very nice. Castles of Orbaal has lots of small keeps and towns from Orbaal and Harnlore 11 has an article on households that talks about standards of living and costs. Such the standard RPG character ploy of "We live like ascetics and savee most of our money." They can do that but, they become more succeptable to disease, clothes get old, and your reputation goes to pot... Paul Stratton From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Re: New HarnProducts Mikael Hegardt asks if anyone has actually seen Castles of Orbaal or HL 11, since his local source claims they're not available. Well, as I sit typing this message, my copies are sitting right in front of me. I called Columbia last week (Monday) and received them today. Someone else mentioned that heraldic badges have been inserted in the various Castle entries, and I agree that they look good. Additionally, they have returned to using cream color pages. One semi-negative is that some of the material in Castles of Orbaal is not new. The first 10 pages of the original Orbaal module have been been reformatted and apparently expanded so that Castles begins with a 16-page Orbaal article. Also in Castles are Arathel, Marby, Pled and Sherwyn. You still need the original Orbaal module to get the Gedan, Geldeheim, Leriel and Noron's Keep articles. As for HL 11, contents are Chyrefal, Household (which I think was promised back in HL 8 or 9 and which is reminiscent of the Manor article), legend of Bognor, legend of Kaseroas and Harbaalese Heraldry. There is also an expanded character geneartion chart for races not mentioned in the HarnMaster character creation scheme, an expanded Attack/Defend weapon class table, and the usual letters, etc. I notice in the letters column that there is mention of the alchemy module currently being in playtest. It's been mentioned elsewhere that Columbia is ready to publish Curse of Hlen as soon as they earn some money from Castles and HL 11. I'd also like to mention that when I talked to Tom Dalgliesh last week that he mentioned that Nasty, Brutish and Short was also [pretty] close to being done. As I understand it, NSB will contain additional background material about Gargun (sort of an extended bestiary entry) plus four adventure sites, one of which is Fana, the gargun complex south of Azadmere. I'm not sure whether these four entries will be programmed adventures or just site info such as appear in Castles of Whereever. rbs -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [He] turned back to the window and the opaque Houston sky. "You know, there isn't anything wrong with this town that a couple of really good hurricanes couldn't fix." --Peter Gent, THE FRANCHISE From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Re: New HarnProducts I commented earlier: > I notice in the letters column that there is > mention of the alchemy module currently being in playtest. Don't regard this comment with any hope. Reading further reveals that the alchemy modyle is a long time away. When Crossby posted the original alchemy module idea to HarnLine, it included about 30 'recipes' and a request that people submit more ideas, as he wanted to include 100 in the final module. Apparently there were few submissions and interest in general was minimal. rbs -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [He] turned back to the window and the opaque Houston sky. "You know, there isn't anything wrong with this town that a couple of really good hurricanes couldn't fix." --Peter Gent, THE FRANCHISE From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Ethereal house rules? The topic of psionics has been batted around here several times, but my question is a bit sideways of that. Basically, what kind of house rules do you GMs have for ethereals in your campaign? In particular, how much can ethereals sense in the mundane plane? I ask primarily because one of my players has Disembody skill, but also because I have in mind running an adventure involving a ghost. Any comments would be appreciated. rbs -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [He] turned back to the window and the opaque Houston sky. "You know, there isn't anything wrong with this town that a couple of really good hurricanes couldn't fix." --Peter Gent, THE FRANCHISE From: Sami Meril{ Subject: Ordering from CG HI there ! I finally passed thru the notes that Rob (the adminstrator) [Could Sami be referring to me? That's the first time I've been mistaken for a Rob. :-) -Eric] send me in autumn, and I spotted quite interesting things there (like all the spells and shaman magic and rune magic). But to the subject...in the notes I spotted several references to the Harn lore magazines. I bet that several of you who read this mail have seen HL-magazines, but I'm one of the unfortunates who hasn't. So I thought that I could order few from the CG, but I just don't know how. I'd like to know their address, do they accept Visa/Moneyorder/etc., what items are in the stock at the moment, and so on. P.S. I'd like to see a short Review (or a longer one) of HL-magazines. I'm mainly interested in the issues 5-8 (at least their topics). Fahar of Maradyne From: Robert Schmunk Subject: Re: Ordering from CG Sami Merila writes: > I bet that several of you who read this mail have > seen HL-magazines, but I'm one of the unfortunates who hasn't. > So I thought that I could order few from the CG, but I just don't know > how. I'd like to know their address, do they accept Visa/Moneyorder/etc., > what items are in the stock at the moment, and so on. The only vox phone number I have is the toll-free US/Canadian number, so I don't know if Europeans can access them. Alternatively, you could *fax* them an order, for which I have the number. Write me directly at if you'd want it. Otherwise, the addresses listed on their products are still current. I.e., 581-810 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5V 4C9 Canada The latest order form I have (Jan 93) states that pretty much all Harn products are currently available except Gods, Rethem, Kanday and Ivinia. That doesn't include HarnLores, of which I think only 9-11 are available. The rest they would probably sell you photocopies of. Or you could trade for photocopies from other GMs, and I'll bet some of the other Finnish and Swedish Harners have copies. > P.S. I'd like to see a short Review (or a longer one) of HL-magazines. > I'm mainly interested in the issues 5-8 (at least their topics). Well, there's useful info in all of them, though I sometimes wonder if they're worth the $3 or $4 that COlumbia charged for them. The resurrected HLs (10 & 11) are much, much better. All contain letters and responses plus one-page editorials by Tom and Robin. HL 5 - four-page gargun scenario Jmorvi grimoire, most of which has been rewritten and included in Tome of Jmorvi HL 6 - two-page scenario involving the Chybisan succession four-page innkeeper article two-page legend of Namal-Kandair HL 7 - two-page Oselbridge article four-page Guild article two-page legend of Chanakur's Rest HL 8 - four-pages more of the Guild article two-page Lycanthrope article two-page werewolf scenario rbs -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251-1892 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and would boss the grass in the meadow about which way to bend in the wind are the most depraved kind of prostitutes. [...] Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us. --P.J. O'Rourke, PARLIAMENT OF WHORES From: Sami Meril{ Subject: Dead? Hi there ! This list have been awfully quiet for a while...what has happened ? Somebody shot the operator ? Well, I'll try to post something... o I just bought Battlelust (and Pilot's Almanac) and I think it's great ! My only complaint is that it contains quite many typos, has everybody else this problem, or have I just received a bad copy ? o Somebody asked about your favourite gaming world in frp.misc. We could make sudden attack, and post a mail there that'd claim that Harn's the best, right ? o Uhhh...running out of subjects ! Oh yes, I think I read from the past messages that someone out there is using GURPS rules in Harn. Well, I'm doing the same and I'd like to hear what sorts of adjustments you have done to the rules. SAMI Received: by orsino; Thu, 11 Mar 93 09:50:47 EST Subject: Re: GURPS-Harn Yes - GURPS works well with Harn. My introduction to Harn was running under another GM using GURPS with Harn. I now also run a small Harn campaign using GURPS. We ignore the Harn rules entirely - I haven't even looked at them. Sharon From: Steve Williams Subject: Re: Dead? 8-) 8-)From: Sami Meril{ 8-)Subject: Dead? 8-) 8-)Hi there ! 8-) 8-) This list have been awfully quiet for a while...what has happened ? 8-)Somebody shot the operator ? Well, I'll try to post something... No, I think the list is active but everybody is going through a brain-dead period! 8-) 8-)o I just bought Battlelust (and Pilot's Almanac) and I think it's great ! 8-) My only complaint is that it contains quite many typos, has everybody 8-) else this problem, or have I just received a bad copy ? I think you must have a bad copy, mine doesn't have any noticeble typos. Maybe I haven't read enough of it yet. I think battle lust is pretty good, although as I have posted earlier it lacks any rules for fatigue despite promising them somewhere in the text as being a feature of the advanced rules. Having scanned the advanced rules like a vulture and found nothing I can only weep in frustration at the lack of fatigue rules. Ideas anybody? 8-) 8-)o Somebody asked about your favourite gaming world in frp.misc. 8-) We could make sudden attack, and post a mail there that'd claim 8-) that Harn's the best, right ? I don't think this would be good publicity for Harnites. Claiming that one gaming would is "the best" over another is, at best, futile. Don't bother. 8-) 8-)o Uhhh...running out of subjects ! Oh yes, I think I read from the past 8-) messages that someone out there is using GURPS rules in Harn. Well, I'm 8-) doing the same and I'd like to hear what sorts of adjustments you have 8-) done to the rules. 8-) 8-)SAMI I have run the harnmaster rules in Middle-(Tolkien's)-Earth and found it quite successful with little addenda, just a few professions and some modification of the magic. Steve. From: Axel Schudak Subject: Court of Ilvir Hi, a player of mine (a Shek P'var of the Lhyavi Convocation who is (or was) of Save K'nor faith, recently visited with a group of followers the Ilvirian pilgrims site of Araka Kalai. He decided to visit the tower itself. He passed all tests up to the 5. Stone. When he discovered the trap door, he declared that he now is of Ilvirian faith (because of all that he saw and feeled within this tower) and that it is his intend to visit the 6. stone. No warning of the one remaining group member (or from me) could convince him to refrain. Now comes my question : Has anybody of you good ideas for the court of Ilvir. I think I can work out something on my own, but I would greatly appreciate any comments from GMs or other Harnians for this site. If there is any demand, I would post any results to this list (or to private sites). Thanks in advance, Axel Axel.Schudak@uni-oldenburg.de BTW, has anybody noticed that the hex-grid on the Kaldor map is not compatible to the one on the Harn map. If my estimation is correct, the grid on the Kaldor map should have the size of the one on the Melderyn map. From: Keith Martin UGA Bookstore Computer Department Subject: Re: Court of Ilvir Let me make sure I understand fully- this character has just now converted to "Ilvirism" and want to visit the court of Ilvir _right now?_ Ilvir is a strange and immplacable diety, but I should think that even he (it?) would not look too kindly on a brand new convert striding boldly where only the most pious have dared to go before. This may be a bit autocratic of me, but I simply would not let the character into the court of Ilvir at all. (I probably would not have let a non-believer reach the 5th stone without a _lot_ of willpower rolls, or something to that effect.) This does bring up a point that I have wanted to ask about on a related topic- how many of you use the published adventures and ideas in your own campaigns? I am currently in the midst of a civil war in Kaldor and would like to know how others have dealt with the politics, etc. -- Keith Martin keith@moe.coe.uga.edu kbmartin@uga.cc.uga.edu ----------------------------------------- Everything you eat is waste But swallowing is easy when it has no taste From: sharons@juliet.ll.mit.edu ( Sharon Stanfill ) Subject: Re: Court of Ilvir I'll tend to agree with Keith Martin. I am not familiar with the Court of Ilvir, but it seems wrong to let in someone of this sort. However, the player is, I think, providing you with a nice opening... Let him stride manfully toward the 6th stone and then have an annoyed Ilvir toss him out and demand that he immediately perform some quest as proof of his new-found piety. Sharon From: Robert Schmunk Subject: 2nd Kaldoric Civil War (was Re: Court of Ilvir) Keith Martin writes: > > This does bring up a point that I have wanted to ask about on a > related topic- how many of you use the published adventures and ideas in your > own campaigns? I am currently in the midst of a civil war in Kaldor and would > like to know how others have dealt with the politics, etc. Actually, I'd be interested in hearing how *you're* handling the Kaldoric civil war (II). I have decided to give up on my game world and translate all the PCs straight to Harn. They'll start in Burzyn, but I expect that they'll either head for Kiraz (their choice; they have directions) or Cherafir (my choice; it's the Chybisan succession scenario from one of the HLs) next. Information on how you relate large-scale background events to your players would help me out quite a bit, especially if the PCs are actually ivolved in the war. Oh, here's something to throw a twist into my world. The PCs found the Sword of Calsten, the artifact which provoked the Treasure War between Kaldor and Chybisa. It's now in the possession of Verlid VII Geledoth and I'm trying to decide what Verlid will do with it. Perhaps dicker with one of The Kaldoric nobels seeking to succeed Miginath. Thanks, rbs -- Robert B. Schmunk SPAC, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251-1892 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But I am only free in small places. Government is big, we are small. We are only free when we slip through the cracks. --Maureen F. McHugh, CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG From: klaus@diku.dk Subject: Re: Court of Ilvir I have had a similar situation, though in my case, the PC had been an Ilvirian all his life. However, when I told the player he would need a new character to play during the years his character spend underground, he did not want to go there after all. I don't really know what I would have done if he had gone. What is it like to meet your god? Klaus O K