Where I Read HârnWorld, Part IX: Closing Thoughts

It took me a while to get to this post. This was partly due to a busy time at work, but mostly because I wasn't sure just what I was going to say. I mean, I'm fond of the setting, but beyond that, what profundities and witty observations might I make?

Pretty much this.

This whole exercise started with a simple question on RPG.Net: "Why aren't you gaming in Hârn?" It rekindled my interest in the setting and, as I hadn't known there was a new edition of HârnWorld and HârnDex, inspired me to pick up the new versions. (As I've mentioned before, they don't cover much new material, and indeed HârnWorld 3rd actually covers less, but I didn't have the old HârnDex in PDF so that's something, I guess.) Full disclosure: I got HârnWorld and HârnDex together for around $25 USD - I didn't bother with the map - prior to the price hike, and I certainly wouldn't have purchased them for the going price (which I harped on in my "Interlude" post).

It has been an interesting experience reading the new HârnWorld. I did this review mostly for my own entertainment; I wasn't particularly interested in selling anyone on playing in Hârn. But it was a bit like visiting an old friend who, y'know, you don't really keep in touch with anymore but had some good times with back in the day?

Reading the new HârnWorld was, admittedly, not that much different from reading the old HârnWorld, but I'd never really taken the time to read the older version. (Actually, the parts of HârnWorld 2ndEd that  I had specifically read were the parts taken out of the new version - "Kethira" and "Lythia".) It did cause me to review a number of the other articles and Hârn materials that I own, too, so I'm going to go beyond HârnWorld itself in this post.

It's been illuminating because, on the one hand, it's made me more keenly aware of the shortfalls of the setting and products - especially for new players. On the other hand, I'm more aware of what is actually going on in Hârn. The setting as written is rife with conflict and potential for campaigns and adventures. There are ample evil cults, a kingdom that follows an evil fire-god, orcs and other monsters to fight, civil war in Kaldor, a likely war in the West, dimensional travel and other shenanigans through the Godstones and Earthmaster sites, a possible new Ivinian invasion, religious strife... (I do wish Melderyn was a bit less peaceful and settled.)

But you're not necessarily going to get that from what should be the introduction to the setting. HârnWorld and the HârnDex, together, along with the map of the island, are an okay starting point but, as I've mentioned in past posts, I think what's really needed is a comprehensive and entirely revamped introduction to the setting. However, I don't think that's ever going to happen. Both Columbia Games and Kelestia are marketing to their existing fanbase. They're not going for new players.

(The ongoing release schedule for Columbia Games, at least, tends to be revamped versions of older supplements and the "HârnQuest" subscriptions. Given that, one assumes, most existing players will already have much of the existing material, you would think they might drop the price of the base setting modules to draw in new players and, hopefully, increase the market for HârnQuest...But again, I don't pretend to know their sales numbers, or how well the existing business model is working for them.)

Because, in the end, HârnWorld and HârnDex just aren't enough to run a meaningful game in Hârn. I know that's probably on purpose. Players are intended to buy the kingdom modules, after all. And the new kingdom modules are pretty nice, with a lot of information within them.

This is from the sample of the "Kaldor" Kingdom Module on CG's website.

Now, if you know what you're looking for, the HârnDex can be very useful but - as I've mentioned before - if you don't know that wizards are called shek-pvar or that the thieves' guild is called the lia-kavair, you'll pretty much have to flip randomly through the HârnDex until you find them, or buy the Arcane Lore or Lia-Kavair "Thieves Guild" article (which you'd also have to scroll through the list of Hârn articles on the CG website to find). I pick on these two in particular because, let's face it, RPGs, especially from the 70's and 80's, have a long and honourable tradition of wizards and thieves. Not having anything on those two archetypes is a glaring omission. From HârnWorld, you'd figure everyone's a knight, viking, cleric, guildsman, or peasant.

And no Ninjas. Though if you squint at the Church of Naveh...

Which, come to think of it, actually kind of meshes with how some have portrayed the social order in the 11th and 12th centuries. But, c'mon. Everyone loves wizards, right?

In other words, the first modules that a new player is likely to buy just don't answer the kinds of questions you'll want to know about the setting you've just bought.

I have to admit, upon reflection my preferred way to use  Hârn is a lot like how I use Rokugan in L5R - a kind of high-level inspiration for my own take on the setting. Much of the history and detail is wasted on me; I'm just not a details guy any more. I don't think I've ever really used the nitty-gritty setting details from the books in either setting.

Basically, I am the English language and Hârn is, like, Latin or something.

That's personal taste, though. I used to love to obsess over setting details, and there are those, I'm sure, who still do.

Why Not Just Play in England?

 One recurring complaint is that, if one is to play in a setting that looks very much like medieval England, why not play in England? (I guess Orbaal is actually more like Norse Scotland than the Danelaw as I'd earlier suggested. So maybe "Britain" would be more accurate.)

Of course, the same argument could be levelled at a number of settings - Westeros is a re-skinned England, too, for instance. Rokugan is heavily influenced by samurai Japan. Dogs in the Vineyard is set in a not-Deseret. Théah in 7th Sea is more-or-less Europe.

The nice thing about a fictional setting is that it frees you from the dissonance of the fictional world contradicting real history. For some players, that's a thing. (A player in my group, for instance, would buckle his swashes in Théah but not in Europe, even a fictionalized one.)

The other benefit of a published setting is that the details are there in a more-or-less coherent whole; you don't need to do a lot of research to organize the setting. (That said, these days a map and the kind of broad strokes you can get off Wikipedia would be sufficient - but for some it wouldn't be.)

And Hârn, by design, has a lot more landmass and wilderness than England, allowing for more barbarians, gargun, and other threats to thrive than could realistically (...for certain definitions of "realistic" that include orcs and ivashu) do so in England.

You can, of course, explore the same kinds of stories in a fictionalized England as you could in Hârn. If you like many kingdoms, use the Heptarchy period rather than the more traditional more-or-less unified England.

(From WNCcoins.com)

 And you could pick-and-choose what level of supernatural you want, and add that to your England if you liked. Replace Morgath, Naveh, and Agrik with various heresies, Satanic cults, demon-worshippers, witches, or just plain human cruelty; plop the Pit of Ilvir somewhere in a remote part of the British Isles, if you like; have the Dwarves lurking in the Welsh and Scottish mountains, and the Elves in the woodlands; whatever. And if you want more wilderness, you can do what George R.R. Martin did in Westeros and just make the island bigger.

But it all comes down to taste. Despite the D&D tropes and the aging take on religion, Hârn's a decent candidate for a not-England medieval fantasy world, if you're into that.

So, Would You Recommend Hârn?

...That has to be a definite "maybe". I would love for more people to game in Hârn. At some point I hope to run a Hârnic campaign with my gaming group.  Yet ironically, this review has reinforced that (a) I'm still very fond of the setting but (b) it's still, even with the revamped HârnWorld and HârnDex, too damn expensive to get the information you'd need as a new GM to run a game in the setting.

I mean, if a player:

• was looking for a systemless medieval fantasy setting;
• liked a lot of setting detail; 
• didn't mind piecing together the setting from disparate sources; and
• had enough money that price wasn't an object, or was able to get some used Hârn stuff for cheap;

then I might suggest Hârn. But as it stands, absent those caveats, I can't recommend a new player start playing in Hârn, not when there is such an embarassment of choice these days in gaming. (I mean, there's a new Song of Ice and Fire RPG available which provides a much better-known not-England setting, for instance.) Were Columbia Games or Kelestia Productions release a revamped and more affordable setting, I would be more likely to suggest the setting. Given my druthers, I'd like to see a Player's Guide to Hârn, to replace the somewhat-less-than-useful HârnPlayer, giving more (systemless) information about potential types of characters available, character backgrounds, and so on; and a GM's Guide to Hârn, incorporating information from HârnWorld, the HârnDex, and various kingdom modules and articles in a more comprehensive and focussed way, to give a better summary of the setting and the types of threats and adventures PCs might face. You could still have the more-detailed kingdom modules and other articles (though I'd prefer, as I mentioned in an earlier post, a "Kingdoms of the West"-style approach). But ideally, there should be one or two, maybe three (add a bestiary, maybe) books that a prospective GM could purchase and run a game.

I mean, hell, a Hârn sourcebook could be quite popular among the OSR crowd, I'd think. The setting was tailor-made for D&D; why not capitalize on that?

It's not just price. As it stands, you may pay the hundreds of dollars to get the complete setting, but it's still not presented in an organized way. Articles are scattered hither and yon amongst the various modules. While the "Encyclopedia Hârnica" conceit - with the looseleaf article format - allows one to arrange the articles as one may wish, it's still a lot of supplements to buy, and a lot of work, to organize things in a gameable way.

And that's really the nub of the issue. I like the setting and would happily use it, but I have all the materials, know the setting, and have a basic sense of how to approach it. As it stands, Hârn remains one of the most detailed and down-to-earth settings out there. But there are more gameable settings out there. They encyclopedic approach to the setting makes for interesting reading (..at least, I think so) but I think it gets in the way of doing what the setting is supposed to facilitate - to wit, actually playing a game.

Though having said that, I'll repeat that Lythia.com really is a great resource and very helpful to those new to and experienced with the setting.

So: If you are looking for a change of pace in a medieval fantasy setting, want something systemless, can get the materials used for cheap (or don't mind paying a bit more for gaming materials), like a setting with a lot of detail, and don't mind a DIY approach to assembling a setting, Hârn would be a good choice. That may sound facetious, but I don't mean it to be; all of those things were what attracted me to the setting in the first place (...well, other than price).

On the other hand: if you get a chance to play in Hârn - maybe you know an aging gamer who still has a bunch of Hârn stuff from his younger days *cough* - without having to buy the setting, I say you give it a try!

And with that - I'm done! Thanks for reading. And Merry Christmas!

Oh, and be sure to get the Snowmen article, new from Columbia Games!...Kidding, kidding.

Where I Read HârnWorld, Part VIII: Lothrim the Foulspawner

Melderyn

 We're now well and truly into Hârnic history. The Elves are ensconced in Evael, the Khuzdul are in their mountains, and all's right with the world. Well, sort of.

The island of Melderyn off the southeast coast of Hârn is unified under Erebir Pendragon in year 0 of the Hârnic calendar (in fact the unification is when the Hârnic calendar begins). "Pendragon", by the way, is (according to the HârnDex):

  Generally, a name given to any king elected to office by his chief subjects.

And we're told that the Kings of Melderyn and, occasionally, Kings of Orbaal, are titled "Pendragon". The Arthurian tone, of course, is inescapable and if you look at the Melderyn Kingdom Module, that's probably on purpose; Melderyn is relatively peaceful, has a council of wizards, mysterious stonehenges, and various other things that make it the nearest thing to Camelot on Hârn. HârnWorld tells us that Melderyn doesn't overtly interfere much on the main island, but suggests that people with "strange powers" from Melderyn sometimes travel Hârn, giving Melderyn the name "Wizard's Isle".

Meanwhile, in the West...

Lothrim the Foulspawner

Around 120 TR - 600 years BP - Lothrim, who ruled a "semi-civilized tribe" in western Hârn, delved into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. (It's possible Lothrim was a renegade wizard from Melderyn.) He forged an empire that stretched from modern-day Tharda to modern-day Kaldor, but decided that just wasn't good enough. So, he created or imported the Gargun. Because what's the worst that could happen?

"You know, I really object to the "foul" epithet. I mean, have you smelled the Khuzdul?"

Lothrim conquered and sacked the Dwarven city of Kiraz, slaughtering the inhabitants. (Kiraz, by the way, is a decent, if somewhat short, module and not a bad template for an abandoned dwarfhold.) The Khuzdul retaliated, defeated Lothrim's army as it marched home, and sealed Lothrim into an underground chamber with twelve starving Gargun. Om nom nom.

The Khuzdul have never revealed where Lothrim's Tomb is. The suriving Khuzdul relocated to Azadmere. We're also told that the Khuzdul hold a grudge against the Sindarin for not helping against Lothrim. So, that's...another grudge, I guess?

Lothrim's empire fell, his capital was abandoned. All's well that ends well!...Or is it?

Migration Wars and the East

The Eastern portion of Lothrim's empire was "culturally advanced". But following Lothrim's fall, the barbarian nations in the East became extremely aggressive. This was called the "Migration Wars" which, after about 60 years of warfare and chaos, led to the founding of Kaldor.

(We get a picture of a cross-shaped sculpture, looking very much like a Celtic cross, but are told this is a stone sword carved to honour Larani, goddess of chivalry and honourable war.)

The Corani Empires and the West

Pages 43 to 49 give us extensive history of the West and events that lead up to the foundings of Rethem, Tharda, and Kanday, and why Morgath is totally cool in the City of Golotha. I won't go through this in huge detail.

Basically, the "Corani Empire" arises out of the remnants of Lothrim's empire. It's the forerunner of the Thardic Republic, though we're not really given any indication of why the unique non-monarchist governance of Tharda arose. But we are told that an early emperor organized a civil service, which suggests a different structure than the other feudal systems.

The Empire falls into decline, and the "Morgathian heresy" arises. Balsha the Prophet - kind of like Jesus, if Jesus had preached undeath, misery, and violence - promotes Morgathianism but is executed by the Corani government. This, it turns out, was a bad move. Morgathian fanatics rebel against the Empire and take the city of Merethos - which they rename "Golotha" which apparently means "dark victory" in the secret language of the Morgathian Church. I'm sure the resemblance to "Golgotha" is entirely coincidental...The Balshans/Morgathians proceed to take over the Empire.

(Crossby clearly drew influence from a whole bunch of places and jammed 'em all into Hârn. The gods have a variety of influences; the Corani Empire/Balsha scenario seems pretty clearly inspired by the Crucifixion; Melderyn is Camelot; Midgaad is Middle-Earth; and so on. I think it's kind of a shame that so much of Hârn - Crossby's writing included - dwells on the "medieval realism" aspects of Hârn rather than the rather bizarre combination of inspirations that went into the setting.)

Right, so. What do you do when you're an apocalyptic death-cult and have overthow an empire? You become an even worse empire, of course. (Like I said last time - if you look at ISIS/ISIL, the Morgathian Theocracy might not be as far-fetched as it might first seem.)

The City of Aleath is sacked; prior to that, a few hundred Aleatheans sail east along the coast. They end up on the east coast of Hârn, and found the City of Thay. Back in the West, the Theocracy falls apart. Kanday is founded by the House of Kand, who had been exiled by the Theocracy.

(As an aside, I remember a review of Hârn in DRAGON magazine suggested that Kanday was perhaps a tongue-in-cheek reference to "Canada". Given Crossby's various in-jokes, references, and wordplay, I wouldn't be surprised...)

Arlun, a barbarian chieftan, conquers what is to become Rethem. Two Republics form in the 620's, each with a Senate ruled by wealthy families, and join together in the Thardic League. This becomes the Thardic Republic. Rethem, meanwhile, soldiers on to become the crapsack kingdom it is today, and Rethem, Tharda, and Kanday to become the least popular set of neighbours on Hârn.

Like this, except not popular, they all want to kill each other, and Melderyn stands in for Mr. Furley.

Back to the East

We learn about the founding of tiny Chybisa, that Kaldor has a history of civil war and rebellion with powerful barons at odds with the crown, and that Kaldor's been at war with both Tharda and Chybisa within the last 50 years.

The North

Not that one.

Many of the Gargun fled to the North, much to the displeasure of the Jarin people living there. To their further displeasure, Ivinian raiders (i.e. Norsemen) started to raid and then seize territory. The Ivinian conquest was complete less than fifty years ago. The Jarin rebelled in 701 TR (19 years BP), unsuccessfully. The rebellion unified the Ivinians who decided, what the hell, let's go bother Melderyn, which they did, sacking Thay (remember Thay?) in 704. They tried again in 707 but the fleet was destroyed by Gandalf Merlin a mysterious storm.

(Monasteries in Hârn aren't as vulnerable as in England - Laranian monastaries, at least, will have some military prowess. So, best raid a Peonian one, if you can!)

Epilogue

We get a chronology of Hârn listing many of the events we've read about (from 20,000 years ago to present) and a very brief Epilogue.

In the West, we are told that an uneasy peace exists among Rethem, Tharda, and Kanday. Rethem is rebellious and is likely to attack Kanday. A Laranian fighting order skirmishes with an Agrikian fighting order on the Rethem/Kanday border. Tharda is consumed with infighting and won't be a threat until a strong leader arises. Within and around all three, barbarians lurk.

In the East, the old and sickly King of Kaldor has never married, meaning there's no legitimate heir and the kingdom is ready for a succession crisis and civil war. Melderyn and Kaldor both claim dominion over Chybisa, who is quite happy to remain independent, thank you very much.

In the North, the Ivinian clans fight amongst themselves. The Jarin are on the brink of another rebellion. Kings from back in Ivinia (i.e. Scandinavia) might invade. And there's plenty of Gargun to go around.

Frankly, this stuff should not have been left to the end. The present, after all, is, by default, where the PC's adventures will take place. So give us these hooks quickly. The full history can wait.


Birthplaces, Weather, Terrain

Page 55 provides a system-neutral character background generator, which allow you to, if you wish, randomize species, gender, birthdate, and birthplace.

The last few pages provide a description of the types of terrain and topography that show up on the main Hârn map. There's also a page on movement and "watch routines" on the main map (basically, some basic rules for if you're hexcrawling across Hârn) and a page with random weather generation.

And that's it!

(Well, not quite. I'll give some closing thoughts in my next post.)

Where I Read HârnWorld, Part VII: Hârnic History

Religion, Redux

Now that we've been introduced to the Big Ten, we're given some general information on various topics like the nature of the gods and their churches. Needless to say, each deity has very different visions of what he or she wants the cosmos to be like, but the Concordat keeps their hostilities in check. The gods' conflicts are now mostly limited to Yashain and Kethira (Kethira, again, being Hârn's world). It's not as simple as "teams", though. Larani fights against Morgath and Agrik (who are also just as likely to fight each other), while Save-K'nor is neutral and Peoni is a pacifist. Sarajin, Ilvir, Halea, and Naveh sometimes participate (on either side) but are unreliable. Most of the open warfare between the gods takes place on Yashain.

The deities (according to the Libram of the Pantheon, which is more-or-less the Hârnic "Bible") established churches to promote their various agendas. Priests are "vessels" for the gods. Different churches dominate in different parts of Hârn.

Agrikans get stylin' duds.

 Clerics often enjoy privileged status, even though the polytheism on Hârn limits their influence. We are introduced to seven "circles" of church ranks, from 1st Circle (laity) to 7th (Pontiff). Pontiffs are supreme leaders of their respective churches, and none reside on Hârn (Hârn has numerous "Primates" (6th Circle)). Advancing through the ranks is not always a function of faith; politics plays a role. There's no explicit mention here of whether clergy gain mystical powers or spells. (Spoiler: They do, at least in HârnMaster Religion.)

Most churches have two or more "clerical orders" and their clergy will belong to one of them - this is apparently due to the "frontier" nature of Hârn, though I'm not sure why that follows. There are also "fighting orders", knights and men-at-arms who serve a church. Each fighting order will be sponsored by a clerical order.

Churches have access to "canon law" and can hold their own court for religious crimes (like blasphemy or witchcraft - that latter crime an odd choice in a world like Hârn's). Punishments will vary from church to church.

She's a witch! May we give her a stern talking-to, in our Peonian tradition?

There's a certain sameness to all this - the churches, despite their radically different deities, virtues, and sins, all seem to act much the same way. This, again, isn't entirely unreasonable. The adherents of these religions (other than Sarajin and Ilvir) are all culturally Hârnic; the similarities could be justified by the cultural norms of those peoples. Still, a bit more diversity (other than the annoyingly-different names for the same rank in similarly-structured churches) would not go amiss. As usual, there is more detail given in HârnMaster Religion, but not enough, in my view, to relieve the uniformity.

And that's it for religion.

The Earthmasters

Now we get to the history of Hârn. We start early - 15,000 to 20,000 years before present - with beings called the "Earthmasters" or "Ancients". We don't get much detail on them here except that they probably ruled all of Kethira, may have been shape-shifters, and left many ruins and artifacts behind. We're referred to two other articles: Godstones and Earthmasters - for more detail.

The Earthmasters left suddenly around 15,000 years before present. Several thousand years - the "Lost Years" - followed. The Sindarin (Elves) arrived around 10,000 years BP. The Sindarin arrived "from the east" with their god Siem and lived on Hârn for several thousand years; when Siem continued his travels, some Elves stayed on Hârn. (It sounds like the Sindarin, like the Gargun, are unique to Hârn - that they don't exist in any significant numbers elsewhere on the planet.)

The Dwarves show up around 7,000 years BP, summoned or created by Siem.The Sindarin and Khuzdul co-existed on Hârn for several thousand years (the "Codominium") until humans showed up and ruined everything.

Humans

Humans show up on Hârn around 3,500 years BP. A "henge culture" existed on the island of Melderyn around that time. These were the Jarin, mentioned earlier, who didn't bother the Elves or Dwarves much. They lived on the coast and became vassals of the elven king. However they soon (...well, in Elven terms) started to expand inward, clearing forests as they went. This would probably have caused problems except that other Lythian invaders showed up around 1,600 years BP. They start with raids and gradually move on to colonization.

(Basically, the Jarin are stand-ins for the Celts, and the Lythian invaders are stand-ins for the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. More or less. The Ivinians up in Orbaal who show up later are, of course, the Norsemen.)

A thousand years later, there's a great battle between the Elves and their Jarin vassals and the Dwarves, on the one hand, and the Lythian invaders on the other. The invaders lose, but the Elven king is mortally wounded. The Elves withdraw into Evael, leaving the war - which the Dwarves viewed as betrayal, hence, the standard "Elves and Dwarves don't get along due to an ancient insult" that we see in Warhammer FRP and perhaps, to a certain extent, in Tolkien's work. By around 1,200 years BP, the new waves of invaders had taken control.

Next - Melderyn is founded, and foulness is spawned!

Where I Read HârnWorld, Part VI: By The Gods!

Religion

We start with a brief summary of Hârnic cosmology. We're advised that the gamemaster can decide whether or not the gods are real or are "only the figments of the imaginations of men", but either way, the gods should be presented as real, because most Hârnians and Lythians believe they're real.

We're given a diagram of the "Kethrian Family of Worlds", including Kethira (where Hârn is located), Terra/Earth, and Midgaad/Middle-Earth. Kethira is a "nexus" world (connected to six other worlds) and as such is kind of a dimensional crossroads. Technology, gods, and magic differ widely amongst the worlds. One of the worlds, Yashain, is believed to be where the gods of Hârn reside, and where Hârnic residents spend their afterlives.

We get a bit more blending of fantasy and sci-fi in a couple of paragraphs on Kelestia, which is "everything that exists, the sum total of all realities". Each universe/reality within Kelestia has its own laws, but there are overarching laws that govern Kelestia itself. It is possible to travel through the "Nth Dimension" or "higher dimensional paths" to travel to new realities and worlds (even some planets that can't be reached within their own reality can be reached from other realities - perhaps allowing for Hârnians to reach Tekumel?). Travel between a "nexus" world (like Kethira") to
others in its family of worlds is easiest - travel between the family members except through the nexus can be difficult or impossible.

(The diagram shows three types of links between the various worlds - "moderate", "intermediate", and "hard" links - but doesn't fully explain what those mean, though I assume "moderate" are the easiest links to travel and "hard" are the, erm, hardest.)

"Incoming Gargun, sir."

We now move on to religion. About 600 years ago, the Libram of the Pantheon was compiled. Most churches within the Hârnic pantheon accept the Libram as truth. And, basically, it says this:

We start with Primal Chaos. Then we have the First Gods, who war amongst themselves and create the Lesser Gods as servants (and who are the gods worshipped today) as well as the sapient mortal races. The First Gods make peace so as not to destroy the cosmos. Each First God kept its own realm and (apparently) the First Gods seem to retain a governing role over Kelestia. The Lesser Gods then started wars amongst themselves (...because why wouldn't they?) and finally, after many Lesser gods had been slain, they agreed to the "Concordat of the Illimitable Tome" which defined the laws governing the gods, including how the gods could intervene in the mortal world. (And, conveniently enough,why churches and priesthoods become necessary, as well as a reason for Why Bad Things Happen to Good People.)

Hârnians (and Lythians) tend to believe in ten major gods (and, apparently, hundreds of minor ones). The major gods are:

• Agrik, God of Fire and War;
• Halea, Goddess of Wealth and Pleasure;
• Ilvir, creator of the Ivashu;
• Larani, Goddess of chivalry and battle;
• Morgath, God of chaos and the undead;
• Naveh, God of darkness and nightmares, thieves and assassins;
• Peoni, Goddess of agriculture and healing;
• Sarajin, God of battle, the sea, storms, and honour;
• Save-K'nor, God of knowledge and riddles;
• Siem, God of dreams and mysteries.

The pantheon feels very reaction-to-D&D-ish. It's a decent range of portfolios for a game world, for a start. I've often thought that the ten gods are more-or-less tailor-made for the AD&D alignments, as follows:

• Larani - Lawful Good
• Peoni - Neutral Good
• Siem - Chaotic Good
• Agrik - Lawful Evil
• Naveh - Neutral Evil
• Morgath - Chaotic Evil
• Save-K'nor - Lawful Neutral
• Ilvir - Neutral
• Halea - Neutral
• Sarajin - Chaotic Neutral

Now, yes, the gods are given more personality and detail than that. You could characterize Peoni as Lawful Good, or Agrik as Chaotic Evil. Gods are kind of like Batman.

...Or is it that Batman is kind of like a god?

But they still fit very easily into the D&D alignment structure. That's not necessarily a criticism, by the way; but a reflection rather of when the setting was created. They were clearly made for gaming, which is, in my view, a good thing. They certainly feel dated, though.

 The Gods

Agrik is a god for evil warriors. His church practices human sacrifice. He's depicted as a giant demonic figure, missing two claws (cut from his hand by Larani). He's mostly worshipped in Rethem and Tharda, with a few worshippers in Orbaal. His Church is forbidden in the other feudal kingdoms. His "fighting orders" (which we'll learn about later) and those of Larani hate each other. In Rethem, though we're not told this here, he's the god of the aristocracy, just as Larani is in the other feudal kingdoms. His emphasis on fire, human sacrifice, and appeasement is reminiscent of portrayals of Moloch, I think.

Halea, meanwhile, is a goddess of wealth and pleasure. Her church is strongest in Tharda. She's beautiful, amoral, and seductive. She has only priestesses (no priests) and her afterlife is filled with sensual pleasures.She's a goddess of hedonism, which, frankly, doesn't exactly fit with Hârnic society, though it works reasonably well if you can accept the quasi-Roman Tharda. She's predominantly an urban goddess, it seems, probably popular with merchants, and with rituals and a cult reminiscent of aspects of Cybele, or perhaps Aphrodite or Inanna.

Ilvir is the only god to actually live on Hârn. He dwells in the great pit Araka-Kalai. He's mostly worshipped by the Jarin people (...about which, more later). Other than that, we're told his religion is mystical and difficult to understand.

Larani is an Athena-figure, patron of chivalry. She's the goddess of honourable warriors, and is worshipped by knights and the nobility. We get a bit more about her, but not much. Her description's quite dull, actually. She's basically the chivalric ideal given form.

Morgath (resemblance to Tolkien's Morgoth is, I'm sure, coincidental...) is, well, evil. He's the master of the undead, and his church preaches that the afterlife is full of torment. But, that just means it's important to acquire power and worldly excess while you're alive. Morgath is worshipped mostly in Rethem and Tharda.

(Real world events inspired a reconsideration of Morgath, by the way. I thought such an apocalyptic death-cult was ridiculous, and then I thought about ISIS/ISIL, and, well...maybe it's not so  far-fetched.)

Naveh is your typical thief/assassin deity. His churches and priesthood are secretive. Crossby seemed to draw inspiration from the myths about the Assassins, with reference to absolute discipline within Naveh's priesthood, raising kidnapped children to become priests and servants, and drug-induced trances.

Peoni is a pacifist fertility goddess. She's worshipped by the peasantry across Hârn. Her priesthood has a male and a female order, and emphasizes poverty, healing, and good works. It's very much the medieval monk ideal, except that Peonian monasteries are broke.

Sarajin is a Viking god. Needless to say, he's mostly worshipped in Orbaal. Courage and strength are his virtues. All told, that makes three war-gods on Hârn, each dominant in different areas.

Save-K'nor is the god of knowledge. He has few followers and he demands high intelligence of his adherents.

Siem is a benevolent god of dreams and mystery. He was/is the god of the Sindarin and the Khuzdul. He tends to speak in dreams. He has very few priests.

Pontiffs & Polytheism

The description for some of the gods (like Morgath, Peoni, Agrik, and Halea) mention the pontiffs of their churches. One thing I always found annoying was that Crossby insisted on having different terms for the priests and pontiffs in each church, so Agrik's Pontiff is an "Amanasurif" while Halea's is the "Hilena" and Morgath's, the "Vinkhadur". I suppose it's not entirely unrealistic to have different terms (since all of these churches have their origins in different regions on the continent), but it's still a bit off-putting. As I mentioned, I prefer gameability over realism.

It does seem a bit odd to have these connections with the mainland. Sure, Britain had an Archbishop answerable to the Pope in Rome, but much of Europe followed the same faith at that point. Here, we have ten different faiths on this isolated, sparsely populated island, many of them answerable to a foreign pontiff. Much like Tharda's Senate and the cult of Halea, it feels a bit too organized for the Misty Isle.

It's clear that not all gods are worshipped widely in all places by all people. But for all that the deities get a bit more flavour in HârnMaster Religion, they're still pretty one-note. Larani is the chivalric ideal. Sarajin is the fury of the Northmen. Peoni is the pacifistic humility thread within Christianity. Halea is a a sex-goddess with money. Agrik is a dick.

Furthermore, they're all kind of operating in splendid isolation rather than as a true pantheon. The polytheism itself feels a bit strained. I don't mind it too much, and I can even accept that the Larani/Peoni combination (or for that matter the Agrik/Peoni combination, in Rethem) can produce a society that greatly resembles monotheistic Europe. But at the end of the day a polytheistic approach was what was "in" in gaming in 1983, so that's what we got, and it hasn't changed much since then.

But with the exception of Larani and Sarajin - who I think are perhaps the dullest of the deities we're given - all of them have some unrealized potential that could be realized with some imagination. (And of course there are other articles that expand upon them, though frankly I haven't found either HârnMaster Religion or most of the religious articles to really explore anything beyond the existing, basic conceptions of the deities.)

Next: We'll finish up religion and start in on history. Woo!

Where I Read HârnWorld - Interlude: HârnWorld 2ndEd vs. HârnWorld 3rdEd

We're getting into Hârnic religion now, which is a change of pace so I figured I would take a moment to gather my thoughts about the new HârnWorld, especially in comparison with the earlier edition (which I also own).

I'm not sure if I ever read my 2nd Edition HârnWorld module in this level of detail. I've tried to take an objective view of the strengths and weaknesses of this module on its own, and perhaps I've tended more to the critical. I don't want to give the impression that I dislike the setting, though. Reading HârnWorld has reaffirmed that I like the setting a great deal. However, it's also reaffirmed that my love of the setting is owing to the level of fan support out there (especially at lythia.com) and to the fact that I, well, already own a lot of the Hârn material. I'm not sure I'd be so enamoured if I was coming to the setting new.


Most of what is in HârnWorld 3rd Edition (I'll call this version HW3 and the 2nd Edition HW2 for convenience) was in HW2 as well. The Hârn article itself is longer in HW3 - 54 vs. 38 pages -but this is mostly due to the addition of the single-page summaries of each kingdom, the tribal nations, and the gargun, as well as general layout changes. HW3 is unquestionably cleaner, easier to read, and has better art than its predecessor. But if you already own HW2, I wouldn't recommend getting HW3. It's the same stuff, just made a bit more accessible.

HW3, like HW2, still lacks some information that I think would be quite important for new GMs. There's no mention in either edition of the Shek-Pvar (wizards), for instance - though I suppose they're close enough to standard fantasy wizards that details might not be needed. Still, at least a brief mention of Hârnic magic, or at least how wizards fit into Hârnic society, would be welcome. There's also no mention of the Lia-Kavair (Thieves' Guild). The "non-standard" nations - Orbaal, Evael, Azadmere and Tharda - don't get much mention as far as government or political structure go. Priests and clerics, at least, will get some detail once we start on "Religion". The HârnDex includes entries for all these things, of course, but without any mention that you should reference either "Magic" or "Shek-Pvar" or "Pvarism" in HârnWorld, how are you going to know where to look for information on magic?

Overall, even for an overview we get a pretty limited insight into Hârn. Meanwhile, the HârnDex launches right into its individual, alphabetical listings of features of Hârn. We do get a bit more information once we get into the History section of HârnWorld, but even that lacks a certain "hook". It would be a welcome step, I think, to have a more rookie-friendly introduction to, not the setting itself, but playing in the setting. HârnWorld is meant to be systemless - I'm not suggesting full-on integration of a ruleset. But questions like "what level of magic is the default in Hârn" or "what kind of magical healing is there" (or indeed any healing) in the introductory material would really help Hârn rookies.

(For instance, the HârnDex includes reference to individual herbs but does not have an entry for "healing" or "medicine". There are entries for the Society of Physicians, the wizardly school of Fyvria (which has healing magic, but the entry only mentions that Fyvria includes magic of life and death and "green growing things"), and the Church of Peoni (which includes many healers) - but precious little mention of the state of the healing arts themselves, mundane or magical, in Hârn. There's no mention that, in HârnMaster at least, several priestly orders have access to healing magic. While it's assumed, no doubt, that one will simply use the healing system from the game rules of choice, some guidance on points like this would be useful. Should resurrection magic be allowed? Have Hârnic physicians and scholars developed germ theory or are we still dealing with vapours and demons? Not that vapours and demons are out of the question - it's a fantasy realm after all - but a bit of information on either how it really is in Harn, or the beliefs of Harn's inhabitants - would add some flavour and make the modules more useful.)

Now - in fairness to Columbia Games, they seem to be working on an Introduction to Harn but it's not up on their website. A formal, free, intro to Harn might answer some of my concerns.


Anyway.

HW3 lacks two articles that were in HW2. The first, Lythia, was 24 pages long and detailed the continent which Hârn sits next to. The second, Kethira, was 8 pages long and detailed the world upon which Lythia rests. Lythia doesn't seem to be available from Columbia Games, but there's a Kethira article from both Columbia Games (10 pages) and Kelestia Productions (58 pages) - the Kelestia one seems to include details on Lythia as well. I think it's a shame that we don't still get the broader picture of the world of Hârn in the HârnWorld module, but perhaps it's a result of the dispute between the two companies.

(Kelestia, by the way, seems to be working on their own HarnWorld module; it will be interesting to see how it differs from Columbia's version, though I tend to find Kelestia's greater emphasis on detail and accents a bit much, frankly. I prefer gameability to detail.)

And really, that's about it. HW3 is definitely better laid-out than HW2. It could have used a more comprehensive revamp, in my view, but the addition of greater detail on the kingdoms and cultures on Hârn was a good move. But if you have HW2, there's little point in buying HW3.

The HârnDex, meanwhile, does seem to have a bit more detail than its 2nd Edition counterpart. I'm not sure it's enough to warrant buying the 3rd Edition HârnDex (especially at $39.98 for the PDF) if you already have the 2nd Edition.

Speaking of price...

(I know, I know, I said I wouldn't deal with Columbia Games' or Kelestia Productions' business model. I recognize and freely admit I'm not an RPG insider and have zero experience in the industry. I'm speaking merely as a consumer and as a fan of the setting. Yet, here we go.)

All of that said, price remains an issue.The HarnWorld module is now $22.38, but it now comes with the Hârn map in PDF - the map PDF on its own sells for $12.98. I think it's a good move to tie the map to HârnWorld. Those of us who own Hârn material (and the map) don't need the new HârnWorld because it has so little new information, and those new to the setting will need the map.

But of course, HârnWorld itself isn't sufficient. Even in PDF format (and I'm not one who thinks PDFs should be dirt-cheap, though I do wish Columbia and Kelestia would do what some other companies do and offer hard copy + PDF bundles) you're going to need the HarnDex, which means you'll spend over sixty bucks (US) for about two hundred loose pages (plus a map). Hard copies will run you over seventy-five ($27.98 for HarnWorld and $49.98 for HarnDex).

By way of contrast, Cubicle 7 offers Keltia for $49.99 USD, and that's a 240 page hardcover + PDF.  Keltia doesn't have a map like Hârn's, of course, and certainly has less setting information (since Keltia has both game rules and setting within its pages), so perhaps it's not an entirely fair comparison. But then again, you need a rulesystem to play in Hârn, too - so that's a potential additional cost  (though you could certainly adapt a free system like FUDGE or a D&D retroclone to gaming in Harn).


In the past, I've told people that they can play Hârn with just the Hârn module (i.e. HârnWorld and HârnDex). I still think that's technically true, but my review thus far suggests to me that it would take more work than I had thought - piecing together the disparate entries in the HârnDex and cross-referencing with HârnWorld and the Hârn map - plus, of course, adapting things like religion and magic to your ruleset of choice. Even dropping Lythia and Kethira from the main module is a mis-step, I think. Lythia, at least, would be useful for the broader context in which finds itself.

The standard response back in the day was to check out Lythia.com for suggestions and advice from the Hârn fan community. That's still a great suggestion, by the way, as there's tons of great stuff on that site (even if you're just looking for ideas or resources for another medieval fantasy setting). But I'm not convinced you should have to run to the Internet to ask how to use this game setting you just bought.

And in the HârnWorld module itself, the suggestion is read the overview, then pick a kindgom module or two and run with it. Still a bit of a price issue - let's say you want to play out the conflict in the West, among Rethem, Tharda, and Kanday. If you wanted all three modules, that's another $110.00 (40 each for Rethem and Kanday, 30 for Tharda) in hard copy, about $88.00 in PDF. And that's for around 150 pages total.

How about a "Kingdoms of the West" book (or, sigh, hole-punched article, if we must) which consolidates, cleans up, and clarifies the situation amongst those three rival kingdoms?

I still think Hârn is a fine setting. I don't regret buying the Hârn materials I have, and I'm glad I never got rid of them in one of my periodic RPG shelf purges. I think for the right group, Hârn would be a great choice. (I actually hope to run an Orbaal campaign in the fairly near future.) But I'm not sure that I would still recommend - at least not unreservedly - it to someone looking for a new setting. The buy-in both in terms of money and time would be substantial, especially these days where we're spoiled for choice.

Well, that ended on a bit of a downer. Time for some opiate of the masses, I think. Next, Religion!

Where I Read HârnWorld, Part V: A Mail Hauberk Costs WHAT?!

You've Got Mail

I would've titled this post "Chainmail Costs WHAT?!", but as the HârnDex sternly tells us:

Chainmail
 An incorrect name for mail armour.

So. Mail it is.

Money, Money, Money

Having discussed rural and urban life, we move on to prices and incomes. Coinage is in much more common use on Hârn than in medieval Britain. Prices are based on British prices in the 13th Century, with some changes (weapons are more expensive to restrict player access, basically; wood is cheaper because Hârn is larger and more forested than Britain was at the time).

We get a picture with some good examples of silver pennies from various cities, as well a Khuzan (Dwarven) gold crown. We're told that the first coins on Hârn were minted by the Sindarin, but they were intended as keepsakes and tokens for the Elves' human servants, rather than as currency. The humans started trading and forging them, though, so regulation became necessary (just what that entailed isn't explained). Once the Elves withrew into Evael in the face of waves of human invaders, the Khuzdul were left as the sole minters of coins until the Corani Empire (again, not really explained at this point, but it's coming) started minting coins around 420 TR.

Most coinage is silver pieces. They're called "pennies", abbreviated "d" - which in the real world was derived from "denarius", a type of Roman coin, but Hârn uses the same abbreviation. There are no copper or bronze coins (or, one assumes, platinum or electrum) minted on Hârn. Only Azadmere mints gold coins. Coins outside their own territory tend to be taken at discounted rates (except Khuzan gold crowns). Monetary units are the same as pre-decimal Britain's: 4 farthings to a penny, 12 pennies to a shilling, 20 shillings (240 d) to a pound. Shillings and pounds aren't coins in themselves, though - merely convenient shorthand for quantities of pennies.

Pages 24 and 25 of HârnWorld are taken up by a comprehensive price list. We're cautioned these are retail prices, including markup by the seller, and should serve as only a rough guide, with haggling potentially altering the sale price by 25% up or down.

"Now, are you telling me that's not worth twenty pennies?"

The list is thorough, with four types of horse (cart, plough, riding, war), five types of hat (cloth, leather, linen, silk, wool), horseshoes, animals, jewelry, services (including both Courtesan (12d) and Prostitute (1d) as well as legal wills and contracts), and even slaves (again no indication this would be in Rethem or Tharda only).

Aside: courtesans are guilded, though HârnDex tells us that the guild is loosely organized. (Make your own "loose" jokes, please; this is a sober and serious blog.) There's no indication that their training goes beyond the, ahem, erotic arts, so they're not really akin to Firefly's Companion's Guild, but it would seem open to allow some Courtesans to have the broader Companion-style training if you liked. They're part of the influential Mangai, after all.

"Vote Inara Serra for Courtesan Guild Syndic!"

The price list also has an extensive range of weapons and armour. They are, as advertised, expensive; a mail hauberk is 975 d (over 4 pounds!) and a broad sword, 150 d. By way of contrast, page 26 gives us a list of incomes for guilded and unguilded professions, and a master weaponcrafter - the highest listed - would earn around 18 farthings per day, or 1,296d per year. Not that most non-aristocrats want to be caught wearing mail or carrying chivalric weapons in any event.

The income list shows wages for bonded masters, which were briefly described under Guilds.It's noted that highly skilled craftsmen (e.g. a mason building a castle) could earn fees up to six times the bonded master's wages, but this is rare. Freemasters' incomes are more variable. For unguilded workers, the wages are for experienced workers - others get paid less. An income for a "man-at-arms" is also given, but this is only for Thardic legionnaires and mercenaries, since most feudal soldiers will serve as owed service rather than for pay.

Taxes, Tolls, and Trade

Now we get a description of "hawking taxes" and "bonding fees" (remember them?) and a few other things. Again, the order things are presented is a bit problematic. Property taxe rates are given (one for businesses and one for residences), as well as rates for hawking taxes (payable on all goods brought into a city to be sold), bonding fees (for goods brought into the city for export rather than sale), maritime taxes and wharfage fees, tolls for bridges, fords, etc., and guild dues.

Page 28 is a plain, but useful, economic map of Hârn, showing where particular goods originate. (I assume it shows areas known for or reliant on that good - I'm pretty sure there are more than two regions where iron is mined on Hârn, for instance.)

...I take that back. The next page tells us that the areas on the economic map are only those that produce enough of the named goods for export. It also tells us that most regions are self-sufficient except for salt and mineral ores. Azadmere and Tharda seem to produce the most iron. The ol' salt mines seem to be on the Rethem-Tharda border.

The Elves export only glassware and musical instruments. Typical.

Land trade is by caravan - which of course means opportunities for first-level characters enterprising mercenaries. Passengers pay a fee to travel with a caravan. Caravan masters are a subset of the Mercantyler's' Guild (teamsters are an unguilded occupation).

Rather unsatisfyingly, we're told that land roads are bad, and wheeled transport is slow, so most trade takes place by water - though less so on Hârn than in other places - but maritime trade gets nary a mention. We're directed instead to the Pilot's Almanac module - which doesn't seem to be currently available on the Columbia Games website.

Lost at sea, I guess. Should've hired a pilot.

We're through about half the module by this point. Religion and History make up most of the rest. I'll start on Religion next.

Where I Read HârnWorld, Part IV: Guilds! Guilds! Guilds!

Towns and Cities

 We're told that Hârn is pretty rural compared to the rest of western Lythia. There are only eight "cities" in Hârn - a city generally being any walled town. Urban population ranges from 12,500 (Coranan, in the Thardic Republic) to 3,900 (Shiran - also a Thardic city). Two of the eight are Thardic, two from Melderyn, and one each from Kaldor, Rethem, Azadmere, and Kanday. A lot of settlements on the Hârn map have unwalled towns where markets are held.

We get a brief summary of town government. There are two basic types of towns - freetowns and feudal towns. The main difference is that freetowns have town charters that provide certain rights to the town and its citizens. Feudal towns don't have a charter. However, both kinds of town tend to have similar government structures and for most citizens the differences are minimal. (Though runaway serfs will gain their freedom if they reside in a freetown, but not a feudal town, for a year and a day.) Of the eight cities listed, only Aleath, Golotha, and Thay are freetowns.

We're not really given much more detail about town government, though we're given descriptions of prominent offices within towns. Most Hârnic towns have twelve aldermen, each of which is a "custodian and expounder of the law and member of the town court" (Hârn 19) and who tend to be guildsmen, especially members of the Litigants Guilds (i.e. lawyers).

Good thing, too. Can you imagine a world without lawyers?

Only a freetown will have a mayor, but feudal towns will have someone of similar status who heads the town bureaucracy. Port towns will have a harbourmaster who supervises the port. Wardens are charged with the town garrison. A bondmaster looks after the town "bonding house" and collects "hawking taxes" and import duties.

Notably, we don't get a description of what a bonding house or a hawking tax are. Similarly, we aren't told if the aldermen form a town council, or if Hârnic cities even have city councils. I assume such details would show up in the various sub-articles about the various towns and cities, but it continues the trend in the HârnWorld module of not really explaining Hârn in anything but the briefest terms.

We're told that town law is complicated enough to require lawyers - the aforementioned Litigants Guild. Freetowns maintain their own courts and appeals from those courts go to the Crown. Appeals from feudal town courts go to the shire moot.

(We know what shires are, thanks to the reference to Sheriffs earlier, but we're not really told what a "shire moot" is, as far as I can tell. The HârnDex entry on "Shire" references shire moots, but again, doesn't clearly identify what they are. There's no separate entry for "Moot" in the HârnDex.)

We get a bit of detail on urban geography (cities tend to be circular, crime-ridden, filled with two- and three-story wooden buildings with the occasional government stone building or stone temple). I'm not sure if this would be universal - Azadmere, at least, being a Dwarven city, would (I would think) be different - and the cities seem quite small to be so, well, urban. But London in 1100, apparently, only had 14,000 to 18,000 people - a bit larger than the two largest cities in Hârn - so maybe it's reasonable.

Towns can't live without the surrounding countryside, and markets are a huge part of Hârnic towns. It's illegal to sell anything in town except within its marketplace. The marketplace is managed by the Mangai - which hasn't been defined yet, but will be shortly - and members of local guildsare given preferential treatment.

Speaking of the Mangai...

Guilds!

Trade, occupations, and professions in Hârn are controlled by "powerful international guilds" (Hârn 20), and Hârnic towns are dominated by the guilds. Most townsmen aren't members of guilds, though - they usually follow unguilded occupations and many are common labourers. We get an attractive page of the badges of the various Hârnic guilds, including Apothecaries, Embalmers, Miners, and Weaponcrafters.

There's no Teamsters Guild on Hârn, alas.

Most guilds hold strong monopolies, though some are looser; we're told each guild is detailed in the HârnDex. (One interesting side-note from the HârnDex: in Hârn, the Mercantylers Guild - and only the Mercantylers Guild - can practice usury (i.e. charge interest on loans). But unlike on Earth, this seems to be owing ot the influence of the Mangai, rather than to any religious motivation.)

The guilds collectively form the Mangai. The Mangai exists in every Hârnic country and regulates the guilds within that country. Every "civilized" country in Hârn and in western Lythia has enacted the Charter of the Mangai, which protects the Guild monopolies. (As is to be expected, the Charter of the Mangai has an entry in the HârnDex. Also, the Mangai are described in the HârnDex as the association of all Hârnic guilds - no mention of the continental connections.) The Mangai is very powerful, but apparently keeps its nose out of politics. (We're not told if the Mangai has less sway in pre-feudal Orbaal or in the Elven or Dwarven kingdoms.)

There are three ranks in most guilds - Apprentices, Journeymen, and Masters. We're given a brief summary of each rank, as well as a glimpse at overall guild structure (the Masters of each guild elect "syndics" who in turn select a guildmaster, who represents the guild within the Mangai).

The Mangai are a weird element to Hârn. They seem overly powerful, given how sparsely populated and dispersed the various Hârnic countries are. I also don't see how they manage to keep aloof from, say, the ongoing strife among Kanday, Rethem, and Tharda. I'm also entirely unconvinced that such powerful organizations would not get involved in politics at some level, in general.

But the Mangai seems very gameable, regardless of how "realistic" it may be. An over-arching guild structure like the Mangai would be a good source of sponsors, mentors, information, and missions for non-aristocratic characters. The guilds' cross-Hârnic influence provides bonds that the feudal system doesn't - there's no High King in Hârn. So I'm willing to cut the Mangai some slack in the interests of gameability.

Next, economy, prices, taxes. Y'know, the fun stuff.

Where I Read HârnWorld, Part III: Wordplay and Governments (but not Guilds)

Dimensional Shenanigans and Wordplay

Just as a quick aside, Skiorht on RPG.Net suggests, regarding the Gargun:

...I think it's quite likely that they are originally from Middle Earth, just like Hârn's elven population. The name is a dead giveaway, and I think their origins fit into the Hârnic premise of interplanar travel.

It's stated in several places that travel through Godstones (interplanar black monoliths) changes the traveler into a form viable on the target world. Even the elves of Hârn are thus transformed, since their immortality is dependent on the regeneration of nerves and brain cells, making them forget their own distant past unless they codify it in songs and poems. I think it's the same with Gargun, who were transformed from Tolkien's orcs into a biological form that allowed them to fulfill their metaphysical role in a less magical environment.

So, it's certainly possible that the Gargun, like the Sindarin, are another Midgaad/Middle-Earth connection. Crossby's fondness for inter-dimensional connections in a few places in the setting, and not just around the Godstones.The Chymak, for instance, a barbarian nation described in the HârnDex and more fully in HârnMaster Barbarians, worship the "all-powerful sea goddess Kualthurlu", an obvious nod to the Cthulhu Mythos.

A rose by any other name, amirite? (From cthulhu.org)

I don't mind these nods to other works and worlds, to be honest. It fits with the setting (though it wouldn't fit particularly well with Middle-Earth's canon).  The long-vanished Earthmasters (about which more later) bring an odd mix of magic and science fiction to the setting. It's, again, a function of when Hârn was first created, I think; the lines between "fantasy" and "science fiction" in gaming were often blurred in a way that I'm not sure we would see today, along the lines of Tekumel or the crashed spaceship in the AD&D module Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

As an aside, there are an enormous number of jokes found throughout Hârn stuff, particularly with NPC names. Examples include: a pair of bodyguards called "Stenel of Lorel and Olver of Herde" in Araka-Kalai (i.e. "Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy"); a foul-mouthed woodcrafter named "Jak of Menro" (a reference to (now-deceased) foul-mouthed International Woodworkers union leader Jack Munro) in "Nurisel" in Melderyn; an inn named "Brace of Coneys", proprietor one Semwis of Gaemgy, in "Geda" in Castles of Hârn; and even a hideworker named "Darae of Kygax" in "Coranan" in Cities of Hârn, who inherited his business from an associate who "lacked business drive" - a dig at the dispute between Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, perhaps? The list goes on.

Exhibit "A". (from Araka-Kalai)

Obviously, some of the references are very obscure, particularly if you're not Canadian or from British Columbia (and possibly even then). For a setting that takes such pride in the details, the lack of consistency in names (there's no coherent "Hârnic"-sounding name, as far as I can figure out) is a bit odd, and the in-jokes can make the situation worse. On t'other hand, it's not like I (or anyone) is going to get all or even most of the jokes. And I can't fault Robin Crossby for having some fun with his creation.

I do think, though, that simply having lists of, say, typical Thardic first and last names, rather than naming every shop-keeper in a city, would have been a better choice; it would allow for GMs to grab names as needed.

But, once again, this has nothing to do with HârnWorld. Onwards!

Government

We're now on page 14 of  HârnWorld. We're told that feudalism is the most common form of government in "civilized" Hârn. The monarch owns all the land, and grants fiefs to his vassals, who in turn grant portions of their fief to vassals of their own ("subinfeudation").

Class distinctions run deep in Hârn. The distinction between the nobility and commoners is significant. The nobles can

bear heraldic arms and chivalric weapons, ride warhorses, organize military forces, hold fortifications, and dispense justice at feudal courts. Any commoner who trespasses on these rights can expect swift and harsh punishment.

QFT.

There are three basic feudal titles in Hârn (below the King) - Earls, Barons (a generic term for any major noble who isn't an Earl), and a Manorial Lord (most of whom are knights).

Knighthood in Hârn is not tied to any particular feudal tile - every King, Earl, and Baron is a knight. While knighthood is non-hereditary, and anyone can in theory be knighted (take heart, player characters of common birth!), most knights are born to knightly families. Most knights in Hârn are Knights-Bachelor, who do not own land - these knights will serve lords, join a religious fighting order, or go adventuring ("gods forbid", notes the text cheekily).

A couple of paragraphs sum up feudal obligations, and we're on to royal government. It's maybe a bit too brief (the offhanded remark that "all feudal lords are responsible for the administration of justice within their own fiefs" could maybe use some explanation, for instance), particularly for those who haven't read other works on medieval Europe.

We're given some detail on Royal Government - the bureaucracies and civil servants that help the King govern, since the feudal nobility can't always be trusted to do the King's bidding. Again, we get some basic details, but it could use a bit more explanation, I think. We're told most royal governments have four departments:

• The Chamber, run by the Royal Chamberlain and responsible for the day-to-day operation of the royal household;
• The Chancery, run by the Lord Chancellor and responsible for government and judiciary in the realm;
• the Exchequer, run by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and responsible for coinage, taxation, and budgetary matters; and
• the Constabulary, run by the Lord Constable and responsible for constables and sheriffs throughout the realm.

"Have you thought this through, Lord Chancellor?" (Sir Humphrey Appleby, wikipedia.org)

We have a brief mention of Royal Shires - all feudal kingdoms except Chybisa are divided into Shires, each administered by a Sheriff, who presides a the royal courts and is responsible for collecting taxes. We're also given a paragraph on Royal Forests, which are reserved for the King's hunting needs.

There's a lot of stuff touched on, but we aren't given a coherent idea of how this actually plays out.  We know, for instance, that a feudal lord is responsible for administration of justice within his fief, but what does that mean for royal courts? How does the justice system fit together - where does the lord's justice end and royal justice being? (The royal courts are "open only to freemen" but it doesn't explain if that means the lord has no jurisdiction over a freeman that lives on his fief, or what.) How does the Royal Chamberlain operate?

HârnDex does help a bit; we're told there, for instance, that a "Constable" is

[a]n officer appointed by a holder of a keep or castle to govern it for him. A constable is not a true fiefholder since the office is not hereditary. His function is merely to administer the estate in exchange for a fixed annual stipend or a percentage of the fief ’s revenues. (HarnDex, p. 26)

But we're still having to piece things together ourselves. There's also no mention of how Tharda's republican government, or Orbaals "pre-feudalism", operate - again, you need HârnDex, and/or the kindgom modules, for more detail.

The "Overview" nature of Hârn is again very obvious here, but that can only go so far in justifying the lack of explanation of some of these details. HarnPlayer, admittedly, gives a more coherent approach to Hârn, but even that's a bit scant and, in addition, the HârnPlayer book duplicates a lot of what's in the HârnDex and HârnWorld. I don't think a prospective gamemaster should need to buy HârnPlayer, necessarily. Perhaps rather than the traditional HârnWorld/HârnDex module, a "GM's Guide to Hârn" to complement the "Player's Guide to Harn" is called for.

We get a couple of pages on Manorialism, describing typical tenants on a manorial fief (which is the basic economic unit in rural Hârn). A manor may be held by a knightly vassal, or by an administrator or retainer who governs it for a baron or earl. Most rural manor tenants are unfree serfs, who don't have many legal rights "but should not be thought of as slaves" owing to the lord's feudal obligations to his serfs. There's no mention here that slavery does exist in parts of Hârn (though the earlier page on the Thardic Republic notes "slaves" as an export), nor whether Hârnic lords are of better character than their Terran counterparts - lords in Rethem, I'm sure, are generally pretty awful.

Important features of manorial villages (the manorhouse, peasant cottages, and the mill) are briefly detailed, and we get a page on manorial land use (usually a mix of arable land, pasture, and woodland). It's a decent, albeit brief, discussion. We are told Hârn generally uses a two-field rotation system (though apparently not the three field system yet) and that usual crops are "rye, wheat, barley, oats, beans, and peas". There's no mention here of a Hârnic idiosyncracy  - that (to quote "Food" from the HârnDex):

(potatoes, onions, carrots, turnips, and other root crops do not exist on Hârn)

 I mention this because it is a weird little fact of Hârn which is kind of thrown out there in the HârnDex and never really explored. It's never bothered me overmuch, but it's certainly something that  that received an undue amount of attention from Hârn fans back in the day, and seems to inspire skepticism and even sneers from those who don't care for the setting when it's brought up.

Here we see the "root" of the problem. Ha! Ha! (from carrotmuseum.co.uk)

Next - Towns, Cities, and (finally) Guilds!

Where I Read HârnWorld, Part II: Thoughts on Tharda, Tribal Nations, and Gargun

Tharda

Of the cultures presented in HârnWorld, the one that I have the most difficulty accepting is the Thardic Republic. The others, in the context of a fantasy realm, I don't really have any problems with. Even Rethem, where the aristocracy worships Agrik, the evil god of fire, makes a certain amount of sense - a warrior elite following a god of violence, cruelty and appeasement? Sure. (If anything it's probably closer to the character of knights in the real world than is the idealized feudalism of Larani, who's worshipped in the other feudal kingdoms. But more on that later.)

But the Thardic Republic has a population of a little over 100,000 people. Its capital, Coranan, has only around 12,500. It seems a little small to maintain a Senate or the "Pamesani Games" (gladitorial-style games, including bouts against Ivashu, the monsters that spawn from the Pit of Ilvir). Now, there is some suggestion that there were gladitorial combats in Roman Britain, as well as in smaller Roman towns (some of which would have been around Coranan's size) - but those would still have been reliant upon the overall structure of the Roman Empire.

The Pamesani Games (columbiagames.com)

There's also reference to "provincial governors" within Tharda being able to acquire vast sums of money through their governorship. Again, that seems something more in keeping with a grander empire than 100,000 people.

For game purposes, though, I think Tharda's a nice variation within the general Hârnic feudalism, and it does make a bit more sense in the context of Hârn's history, which is pages 38-51 of HârnWorld. But it'd be a bit grubbier than the terms "Senate" or the "Games" would suggest.

Speaking of which, I actually think that, in terms of readability, it might have been a better option to have some of the overall history of Hârn at the start, rather than jumping right in to individual kingdom entries. The empire of Lothrim the Foulspawner, for instance, shapes a lot of Hârn's history (including explaining Tharda and the Gargun), and having a taste of that history at the start of the module might give HârnWorld a bit more flavour for someone unfamiliar with the setting. More of an overview would help, I think, rather than bits and pieces mentioned in each individual entry (Lothrim is mentioned in the page on Gargun, but only in passing). But it might mean departing from the traditional "article" format of Hârn material.


Tribal Nations

Page 12 of "Cultures" briefly details eighteen "barbarian nations" whose total population is around 100,000. (By contrast, Tharda, Kaldor, Kanday, and Rethem each have around 100,000 people, and Melderyn has around 160,000.) All of the tribal nations are divided into tribes ranging from 30 to 1,200 people. Each nation gets a sentence or two, like so:

Anoa
These nomadic hunters live in the Anoth River valley in southern Orbaal. Conflict with Gargun and the Orbaalese is common.

Unlike the earlier kingdoms' entries, the tribal nations don't get a sidebar, probably because it would be tough to fit eighteen different nations onto one page, and various kingdoms already list HârnMaster Barbarians as a recommended resource, which includes all the tribal articles but also has HârnMaster rules for barbarian characters.

It's still kind of a shame that the tribal nations don't get a bit more of a shout-out in HarnWorld; a tribal character (or campaign) would absolutely be viable in Harn. HârnDex, at least, has entries for each tribal nation. But you can tell the emphasis of the setting is on the "civilized" nations and the various tribes are relegated to "...and miscellaneous."

"Taelda. There are forty tribes of us you know." ("Tluk" by Richard Luschek)

Gargun

Page 13 has a full page on the Gargun. Its sidebar includes a list of Gargun colonies and nomadic tribes, as well as brief notes on the Ilme ("intelligent mere-dragons") and Ivashu (creations of the god Ilvir).

There are five types of Gargun, we're told, ranging from the smallest (Gargu-araki, "Streaked Orc") to the largest (Gargu-khanu, "Black Orc") and with varying levels of aggression (the "White Orcs" are the second smallest, and least aggressive). They instinctively submit to authority and inevitably rebel against any sign of weakness. They're not native to Hârn or its world and were possibly brought to Hârn by Lothrim, but I think this is the first reference we've seen to Lothrim in HârnWorld so that's not helpful. They're natural antagonists; as HârnWorld says:

It is rare for a culture to have no redeeming features, but that of the gargun comes close. They are violent and malevolent, with an almost insane hatred for the Khuzdul [Dwarves]. They are carnivorous, even cannibalistic.

The Gargun have a hive structure, with only one fertile female (the "queen") and one fertile male (the "king"). Gargun are born from clutches of eggs laid by the queen, and have a "racial memory" that allows them to achieve adulthood quickly. This makes them fast-growing and fast-breeding. The King holds power (and access to the queen) until he's assassinated or overthrown.

Gargun lead a Malthusian existence, expanding their population until either brief but bloody civil war erupts within the colony, reducing the (ahem) excess population, or a large group of males sieze an infertile female (a "princess") and "swarm", boiling out to found a new colony.

What's Missing

Nasty, Brutish, & Short: The Orcs of Hârn and HârnDex give a lot more detail about the gargun. That's as it should be, of course; HârnWorld is a general overview. But I think the gargun, as a feature unique to Hârn (both the setting and, within the setting, to the island of Hârn), could use a bit more detail - a second page, at least - to grab people. Of course too much detail (on Gargun or otherwise) means that people might not buy HârnDex, but then again, if people don't find your version of Orcs that interesting, then they're not going to bother with any other supplements.

The following sums up a few additional gargun facts from Nasty, Brutish & Short.

• Gargun begin life with a common set of memories. While they can learn, the collective memory "pool" doesn't change, so Gargun society is quite static.
• They grow quickly, achieving adulthood within a year.
• They're irreligious. Their racial memory tells them they're "Forsaken by the Gods", plus, they require ongoing demonstration of authority - an absent god doesn't provide that.
• It's not clear how Lothrim introduced Gargun to Hârn - maybe they're from another world, possibly Midgaad (though I don't think Gargun make sense as Tolkien's Orcs), or maybe Lothrim created them through magic.

 Sidebar: Orc-on-Orc Action (Gargun biology)

HârnDex gives a bit more detail about the Gargun.  So, too, does Nasty, Brutish, & Short. The information conflicts in one important way. I'm glad I double-checked HârnDex, by the way, as the version in NB&S is pretty problematic, and all because of a single word.

HârnDex (both 2nd and 3rd Editions) says:

Both sexes become fertile only through continued social exposure to the opposite sex. All such contact leads to fertility, but most male gargun have no sexual contact with females.

 Meanwhile NB&S says:

Only one percent of the eggs hatch as females. If sexually exposed to males for about six consecutive hours, these "princesses" will become fertile queens. [Gargun 2]

Whether NB&S' phrasing is a typo, or sloppy wording for "exposed to the opposite sex", I'm not sure. But the NB&S version isn't particularly pleasant. See, Nasty, Brutish & Short sets out that princesses are killed in some colonies, but more often the infertile females form a "Queen's Guard" to protect the Queen, which is an interesting concept. Princesses often don't want to become queens, as they become "bloated and somewhat immobile" when they become fertile. Also prime game fodder - a Gargun princess who's decided to leave her colony rather than become a queen could be an interesting NPC or even PC.


This is all good. But couple "Princesses often don't want to become queens" with "abducting a princess and swarming" and "extended sexual exposure to males for six hours" and you have a recipe for extended rape, more or less.  Not that gargun mating habits will arise in-game, and the Gargun are intended to be pretty unpleasant, after all, but still...All told, I'll stick with the HârnDex language. It gives a basis for sequestering the princesses - they just can't be around males for an extended period of time without becoming fertile and instinctively wanting to take a mate. That still might lead to questions of forcible confinement by a swarm (to ensure fertility), but it makes it less overtly rape-y than the NB&S phrasing would suggest.


Of course both HârnDex and NB&S make it clear that while Gargun males may not be fertile, they're not impotent, and as far as other species are concerned, Gargun males will rape either gender indiscriminately. NB&S states that "sexual tension" and access to breeding rights are defining characteristics of Gargun culture. Despite raising these points, there's no mention of male homosexual behaviour - consensual or otherwise - amongst male Gargun. So, I mean, sexual violence among the Gargun of both genders seems likely, given how they've been written. But at least the HârnDex version doesn't make it an almost-inevitable precursor to reproduction.


But that's all from HârnDex and Nasty, Brutish & Short. HârnWorld just mentions the hive structure of the colony, the Gargun sub-species, and the swarming.

"And the killing and the swarming and the GLAVIN!"

So, moving on.

Ilme and Ivashu

The sidebar on page 13 talks about the Ilme, who are intelligent wingless dragons around 12' high. Male Ilme are apparently cowardly, prefer to scavenge, attack from ambush, and are often bullied by Gargun tribes. Females are much fiercer, especially when defending their young.

The Ivashu are creatures spawned from Araka-Kalai, the pit where the god Ilvir dwells. The Ivashu are sexless and sterile and vary widely, with some intelligent and others not, some unique and others relatively common. (This, by the way, provides GMs with an excuse to bring pretty much any monster into Hârn - "It's an Ivashu".) 

Next, Governments and Guilds. For real, this time.