Harn is part of a larger world known as Kethira. The island of Harn lies off of the western shore of the continent of Lythia which is home to many cultures (mostly human dominated). Ivinia was the first of these to be develop back in the 80s. It is Harn's equivalent of Scandinavia and home to several viking kingdoms.
Columbia Games re-edited, and re-formatted the original Ivina module and it has been released. Like most Harn product it is pricey but the quality is top notch. One big change is that each Ivinian realm now has a page devoted to it compared to the original.
You can get it in Print (http://columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/harn/cfg/single.cfg?product_id=5101)or PDF (http://columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/harn/cfg/single.cfg?product_id=5101-PDF). And no I don't get anything for a shout out. I am just a big fan.
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I actually played in a campaign set in Ivinia for a while. That was many years ago in the 80s. Was very good.
How does it compare with RuneQuest Vikings?
Quote from: Dumarest;989742How does it compare with RuneQuest Vikings?
I don't own Runequest Vikings. But it primary focus is on generating a system neutral character background and providing a viking setting. More detailed than Greyhawk not as low level as Wilderlands of High Fantasy.
It goes
Geography (1 page)
History (2 pages)
Clans (2 pages)
Military (1 page)
Religion (2 pages)
Law (2 pages)
Settlements (2 pages)
Kingdoms and Politics (24 pages) (Capsule overviews 1 or 2 page per region)
Ivinian Colonies (2 pages)
Economics (2 Pages)
Prices and Incom (2 pages)
Birth and Social Generation ( 2 pages)
Maps, Travel, and Weather (4 pages) * Harn weather generation is one of then better ones. One chart per climite (there are two Subartic and Cool Temperate) four columns for each season with 20 entries. You roll a d6 to see how far you move up and down on the chart and read the result. The chart has a specific pattern that make it feel more natural then 100% random generation.
The rest is a encyclopedic entries with stuff likes
QuoteFELDEN, Thran [M2]
The stronghold of Clan Aldenser, who pay tribute to the Ulfesen of Rosby, Pendragon of Govyna.
LAHR-DARIN
Tales of the mythical "lost city" of the Earthmasters
say it lies beneath some mountain, fully functional and
containing all manner of wonders.
I actually liked the continental parts of Harn a bit better than the Harn parts.
About 9 or 10 years ago, I bought the HARN two book package that had the really nice map included in a black binder or folder.
Always thought of running a GURPS Fantasy campaign with Harn as the setting world - never got around to it or could talk players into it.
- Ed C.
You'd have to be a fan to buy a product unseen.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;990374You'd have to be a fan to buy a product unseen.
Or smart enough to hop on Lythia, ask the writers what in it, or the Harnquest subscribers, like me, how good is the book.
http://www.lythia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=220603#p220603
Welcome to the 21st century.
I never actually found Harn to be quite playable enough. Though it had some interesting material, setting-wise.
Quote from: RPGPundit;991141I never actually found Harn to be quite playable enough. Though it had some interesting material, setting-wise.
In the past decade the Harn format has been updated and the article expanded enough that they niw include adventure hooks.
I picked up Hârn in 2001 or 2002 when I was on a business trip to Toronto. Had some time to shop and hit up all the used bookstores on Yonge Street. I stayed at the Omni King Edward and had a couple days to go shopping in Toronto, and there were all these old secondhand book shops tucked either on Yonge street, or in the alleyways just off of Yonge street. In one store I found a huge used RPG section, and of course Harnmaster, and a full binder that included two fullsize maps of Hârn, the Thardic Republic supplement including, Elkall-Anuz, Anisha, Telumar, Ghestai, Tesian, Tisian, Telen, Coranon, Shiran, Molern & Taztos.There was also a Hârn folio that included Hârnview and the Hârndex. All for $9.99 Canadian, That alone made my business trip a worthwhile expedition.
It's super good quality, and I ran a few games for it as well as designing an exploration adventure in 2004 which, for a time was available from the Columbia Games websites. I liked it a lot because of the extreme detail, but my players wanted a more loose setting (hint: 3rd D&D) so they could exploit loopholes in the mechanics. So we ended up shelving Hârn (which has nice tight mechanics and brutally lethal combat system) in favor of games where the players could get to be stoopid and live to tell the tale. I'd play it or run it anytime using the Hârn setting. It is very Feudal European much like Chivalry & Sorcery was, only not quite so complicated.
I had Runequest Vikings at one time, and it was really good as well.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-09-08/dna-confirms-viking-remains-found-in-sweden-are-female
Might be of interest to anyone who wants to play a woman and still be a warrior.
Quote from: estar;991189In the past decade the Harn format has been updated and the article expanded enough that they niw include adventure hooks.
But have they changed the basic set from the old boxed set?