WarFlail's Archives - 2008

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Sunday, 28 December 2008

HMA Character Profile version 1.4

A further update to the HMA Character Profile, with the main focus on revisiting the stats for crossbows, particularly the really heavy ones.  I've left the formulas in this time, so if you feel so inclined you can take a look in the data sheets to see how I calculated the range breaks, impact values, weapon weights and WQ values.

Also updated for consistency is the missile weapon table in the HMA GM Screen.

By the way, I am in the process of switching from HMg to HM3 for melee weapon stats.  The main reason for this is to capitalise on the impact modifiers for strong and weak characters, something that is difficult to incorporate into the current tables.  Plus, it is a lot easier to visualise somebody wielding a "Heavy Broadsword", instead of a "Broadsword IV", which isn't particularly descriptive (you'd never hear anyone in Hârn refer to a sword like that).  As this is a fairly major change, it will feature in the next update.

Sunday, 23 November 2008

New Player

I'm delighted to have Nick 'KiwiNick_in_London' Pullar join my campaign - welcome, Nick! We went through a very interesting pregame session yesterday that took some unexpected turns. For any GMs who don't think pregames are worth running, I can attest that, for me at least, they are always excellent sources for plot ideas that can be parked and then brought back in to the campaign at a later stage.

Nick's character is a wily Thardic mercantyler with a most colourful past and a very uncertain future. More later...

HMA Character Profile - Updated

I've made a few improvements and fixes to the HMA Character Profile. This new version now comes in two flavours - the standard .XLS format and also a .XLSM version for those who are using Excel 2007. As always, you can download it (with change log) from the House Rules page.

Friday, 3 October 2008

WarFlail's Armoury - 10 years on!

This website has now been around for 10 years. That's a milestone achievement, surely. A decade ago there were fewer than a dozen fansites in existence, including the grandfather of Hârn fansites, Jamie Norrish's HârnPage - now there are over 80. And Peter Leitch's HârnForum (aka Lythia.com), which ultimately succeeded Steve McDonald's HârnList email discussion group, has grown over the past 7+ years to arguably become THE key forum for Hârniacs to gather and exchange ideas.

The past decade saw Hârn continue to develop, but not quite as anticipated. The most important was the schism that erupted between the late N. Robin Crossby, creator of Hârn, and Columbia Games Inc., the publisher. Fans were left confused as two versions of 2nd edition HârnMaster were published. Meanwhile, a promising game developer, Auran Games, had to scrap its computer RPG called Hârn: Bloodline, to cries of dismay from the fans. And some excellent fansites, such as Patrick Nilsson's Swords & Shields, sadly went to the electronic grave after just a few short years.

But it hasn't been all doom and gloom, of course. Hârn products continued to be developed at the extremely high standard of quality that we aficionados are accustomed to - and not just the island of Hârn, either, but Chelemby and beyond as well. And of course the fans continued to churn out superb works (e.g. Kerry Mould's Friends, Foes & Followers series) of their own and share them with the community at large.

So here's to another decade of Hârn development!

Saturday, 27 September 2008

Updated HMA GM Screen

Indeed, updates on this site have been slower than a M'nogai speed race, but fear not, the bellows in the Armoury are still working! Version 1.1 of the HMA GM Screen is now available.  The only changes are:

Other HMA Updates

I'm not exactly sure why some of my oldest HMA-related files never got posted, but I have now attended to them.  These should help explain what makes HMA different from the other HM systems.  I have added the following files:
All of these files are available from here.

Wednesday, 23 July 2008

The Creator of Hârn Passes to the Blessed Realm

Today, N. Robin Crossby, the creator of the world of Hârn, passed away after a prolonged battle with cancer. This is a very sad day. Rest well, Robin, your memory will live on, as will your gaming legacy.

His final blog, posted today:

The Harnmaster has returned home. He wanders now the roads of old Harn, reviewing his handiwork.

My name is Silmariel. I am a half Sindarin demigod who resided once in the mountain fortress of Taur Unque. I have not been to Harn in a long while, but in my youth I spend much time there,challenging the unchallengable and creating the impossible, all under the careful, and some sadistic, eye of the Master. In those days, it was a place of magic and mythicl beasts, elves and dwarves and all manner of non human beings, where the unachievable and some times the unthinkable, could be achieved with a roll of the dice.

So if, as you travel, you encounter an ageless bard, his red brown hair and beard moving gently in the breeze, an old lute strung across his back and clutching fondly a well loved oak staff with a celtic dragon engraved upon it, say a heart felt hello. If, however, you see a glint of humour in those hazel eyes, beware. You are in for an adventure.


Tuesday, 18 March 2008

Updated HMA Character Profile

I've posted version 1.2 of the HMA Character Profile, with updated manual.  The main improvement is the addition of a Friends & Enemies sheet, but there are a number of minor bug fixes as well.  Also, you can now see the approximate price of weapons and armour by default (previously you had to unhide columns and hunt around - messy).  Check it out: HMA_Character_Profile.zip

Sunday, 16 March 2008

Hârn-Fan.Net

Previously separate fansites The Alienage and The Castellan have now been combined into a new website called Hârn-Fan.net.  There is a wealth of economics (Alienage) and military (Castellan) resources here that help to provide a more realistic medieval 'feel' to how Hârnians trade and fight.  Check it out.

Deity Update

The GM tool Deity continues to be updated - now version 0.4 and growing.  The website: http://deity.sourceforge.net/

WarFlail's Campaign

I'm pleased to say that after a lengthy hiatus, I've started up a new face-to-face Hârn campaign!  Based in the Kandian manor of Giln in the Earldom of Kuseme in 711TR, this weekend I launched the campaign with two players - Timo and Alex.  I will be posting non-spoiler information soon, just in case anyone is interested.

Giln 711-712TR

Wednesday, 30 January 2008

Farewell, Ab Initio

Regrettably, I have had to take website Ab Initio off the HÂRN LINK at the request of its webmaster. Llywelyn Mawr's reason was that it has been years since he had worked on that particular project and has since moved on to other things.

Monday, 20 January 2008

Deity - Role-Playing Game Support Engine

A new addition to HÂRN LINK is Deity, a GameMaster tool written by veteran Hârniac Brian White (who is also the author of the recently revived Internet Hârnica). This tool is intended to assist the GM in all kinds of RPGs; the first supported game system is, of course, HârnMaster (HM3 to be exact). Head on over to the website to check it out: http://deity.sourceforge.net/

Deity is written in Python and uses wxWidgets for the user interface.  You'll need to install both of these packages before it will run.  Full details are included in the file "INSTALL-win.txt" within the distribution archive.

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