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.