WarFlail's Archives - August 2001

Go to WarFlail's Archives - September 2001

Heh! How's this for a coincidence: no sooner had I mentioned the Pilot's Almanac than a review for that fine publication was made available on RPGnet. Check it out here:

Review: Pilot's Almanac <http://trio.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_4858.html>

Kudos for the tip-off goes to our ever-alert sentinel, Ketherian. :-)

While I was archiving a few old books I have in the house, I came across a tome that belonged to my late father, who was a mariner. The book itself (A Handy Book for Shipowners & Masters) is too litigious to be all that interesting to me, but stuck on the inside cover was a note that Dad had written some decades ago, which I think might be worthy of inclusion in the Pilot's Almanac:

Pilotage: The following is a quote from the Ancient Sea Laws of Oleron (XIII), dating from the twelfth century:

"If a Pilot undertaking the Conduct of a Vessel... fail of his duty therein, so as the vessel miscarry by reason of his ignorance in what he undertook, and the Merchants sustain damage thereby, he is obliged to make full satisfaction for the same, if he hath the wherewithal: And if he be not able to make satisfaction, he ought to lose his head. And if in that case the Master or any of the Mariners or the Merchants, cut off his head, they are not bound to answer for it; but yet before they do this, they ought to know whether he hath wherewith to make satisfaction."

Unfortunately, Pilotage law is no longer as reasonable as this!

Heh heh heh :-)

Today I received my copy of Auran's Hârn adventure module, Tapestry Saga: Web of the Widow. This is the first ever Hârn supplement to come out in CD-ROM form (as opposed to printed).

I've had a quick scan through the module, and I think overall it is excellent. The story is interesting and quite appropriate for Hârn's low fantasy environment. The maps are of very good quality, and the enhancement of the maps with 3D imagery is a terrific idea, although the rigid camera locations is disappointingly limiting. I do wish the artwork in the documents was more consistent with the Hotz style used in all the other Hârn modules, but that is not a major concern for me.

Topic change. The Hârn community this week have been abuzz with more questions regarding the Royal Chelebin Tournament. Let's see if I can clear up a few matters for you:

Is there an example of a knight who would qualify for this tournament? That would eliminate many questions...
Yes, see the following text document: Tourney Knight

Who rolls for Sunsign?
We do: if you didn't "purchase" a Sunsign, then one will be randomly generated and assigned to your knight.

Will there also be foot combat?
Quite possibly. If you read the jousting article, you will see that if a knight breaks 3 lances without unseating his opponent, or if both knights are simultaneously unhorsed, the contest is then resolved on foot with chivalric weapons (usually maces). The winner in foot combat is the first man to knock the other to the ground.

What is the racial maximum for attributes?
18.

Do I have to be contactable during the tournament?
No.

What happens if my knight runs out of jousting lances?
If the opponent still has a lance, then your knight will be forced to joust against him using a blunted broadsword (provided free of charge). Because the lance is so much longer than the sword, the opponent will gain a +20 bonus to hit your knight.

If both contestants run out of jousting lances, the contest is settled in normal foot combat.

Can I have a Savoryan knight? ;-)
No!

House Rules update: Two new updates are available on my House Rules page: an armour calculator for HMG and another for HMC. Both are significant enhancements over my original Excel spreadsheets. Enjoy!

I must say that the level of interest in the forthcoming jousting tournament has been phenomenal so far! There are more questions being asked by inquisitive Hârniacs:

Is the free saddle considered a war saddle?
Yes.

Is a "blind caparison" considered to be part of the free gear that comes with the warhorse?
No. However, for the purpose of this competition, the horses will be blindfolded to prevent them from veering apart from each other at the critical moment.

Can I generate attributes for the warhorse?
No. All the warhorses in the contest will have the same attributes as those listed in Bestiary 2 & 3 of HMC.

Is the Specialisation optional rule used in this contest?
Yes. The knight is automatically considered to be specialised in Horse Riding, Lance and Knight Shield. He will also be specialised in whatever other weapon types he has purchased.

Do all my weapon skills need to be listed?
No. All knights are assumed to have 5 weapon skills - obviously, Spear (Lance) and Shield are two of them. If you purchase up to three different weapon types, your knight will be assumed to be skilled in their use. For the sake of simplicity, your knight cannot have more than 5 different weapon types in his possession (including the lance and shield).

Do I need to work out the MLs for each skill?
No. We will do that for you.

Does the knight receive any "veteran" bonus to ML?
No.

What should I spend my Option Points on?
This is entirely up to you, of course, but I imagine most players would put them into Initiative, Riding, Spear (Lance), Shield and one other weapon group.

What should I spend my 1500d on?
Again, this is totally your choice, the obvious suggestions are armour, spare jousting lances and perhaps superior/heavy weapons.

Do I need to spend all of my money before the entries close?
Yes. You will have no opportunity to buy anything once the tournament begins. Spend it or lose it.

Can I custom-design my knight's armour?
No. You can only pick the armour that is listed in Combat 4 of HMC.

I'll let you in on a tip for the upcoming Royal Chelebin Tournament: If your knight is victorious in a joust, he will win all of the opponent's jousting lances, which he can add to his pool. At the alarming rate these fragile weapons snap and break, that is definitely a Good Thing. ;-)

(But in case you're wondering, no, you don't gain anything else from the defeated opponent, such as armour or other weaponry.)

A question that was asked on the HârnList the other day was how the Character Points can be used to create a knight for the tournament. If you have already read the rules of the tournament, you may have noticed that the apportionment of CPs is a little different from the standard HârnMaster procedure for generating a character with CPs. Normally, you would get 30 CPs to spend on the seven Key Attributes of the character, and a further 20 CPs to spend on other attributes, including Sunsign. However, for the purposes of this competition, you either get:

30 CPs to spend on the Key Attributes and have the Sunsign generated randomly, or

25 CPs only to spend on the Key Attributes but you get to choose your favourite Sunsign (no cusps, though).

I hope that clarifies things... :-)

Jim Lassiter from Castlewalls has pointed out the following site, which is good for a laugh and is even a little Hârn-related... although its comments are somewhat irreverent: "This is psionic guidelines based and from the not so popular Hârn RPG realm." Not so popular indeed!!!

Psionics 101 <http://www.psionics101.com/>

Here's the latest from the new-look Project Hârn site:

To celebrate the launch of the new site, we are announcing Bill Gant's Royal Chelebin Tournament. We invite all knights from across Kaldor to travel to Olokand and participate in the Joust, to be conducted under the supervision of our Master of the Lists, Sir Bill Gant. For more information and to fill in your entry form, please visit the Jousting page (http://www.auran.com/harn/jousting.htm). Get your entries in now!

Woohoo, fame at last! :-) It'll be interesting to see how many entrants sign up for the tournament, and what kinds of knights are designed. I assure you that as Master of the Lists, the dice rolls will be fair and unbiased. It will be great fun!

Remember, entries close on 31st August, so you'd better hurry or you might miss out!

Now, this competition coincides with Auran's inclusion of my Royal Chelebin Tournament of Chivalry article on their website. This article is identical to the one that appears in my House Rules page, but I must admit it looks a lot sexier on the Project Hârn website, with colour illustrations and all! :-)

Last month, we saw a recent review of a really old Hârn-related publication, HârnWorld (how long has it been in print now? Over ten years? Something like that?). Well, talented writer and fellow HârnGamer Ketherian of Pax Tharda fame has pointed out the following review that she had written, on a significantly more recent publication (it came out last year), HârnMaster Barbarians. You will find the in-depth review at The Guild Companion:

Review: HârnMaster Barbarians <http://24.108.116.20/gc/scrolls/2000/nov/reviewharnmasterbarbarians.html>

Ketherian told me about another article at The Guild Companion, which, although not directly related to Hârn, would be quite useful for HârnMaster GMs. It even mentions Hârn as a good source of information. The review can be found here:

From Land to Subsistance <http://24.108.116.20/gc/scrolls/2000/may/landtosubsistance.html>

The article is well-written, but the editor should be taken out back and shot. That's "subsistence", not "subsistance". Sheesh...

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