WarFlail's Archives - July 2001

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A long time has passed since any new Hârn fan sites have appeared. So, it is refreshing to see a new addition to the HÂRN LINK, submitted by Llewellyn:

Ab Initio <http://members.home.net/llywellyn/>

From what Llewellyn tells me, his gaming group has been developing a Hârn-related graphic MUD, using the Ultima Online engine. The site appears to be a work-in-progress, but the concept sounds very promising! Check it out.

It looks like quite a few Hârn fans have been busy lately, updating their sites with all kinds of goodies. Here are some examples:

• From Lythia.com: The first in a series of speculative pieces about Kaldor beyond 720TR (the official material doesn't cover anything later than this year). Kick-starting the series is an interesting article that suggests an alteration to two major trade routes, so that they home in on Jedes keep. This looks like an intriguing topic for a Great Hârnic Debate! :-)
• From Perils of Perinore: A neat little (only 100Kb) dice rolling program for GMs and players who are either dice-impaired or just too bloody lazy to pick up the dice and roll them. Need to roll 6d50? Look no further.
• From Swords & Shields: Some excellent illustrations by the brilliant artist Richard Luschek. He'll go far, that Richard.

By the way, there is a review of HârnWorld at RPG.net, which, although eloquently written, is a bit perplexing to me since the product has been available for several years! A bit late, aren't you?! Why don't you review the newer publications - you know, the ones that haven't been reviewed already? Oh well, a little extra publicity won't do any harm...

For the past week, I've been encountering some very frustrating problems with my computer. These problems have been preventing me from accessing my email, going on the Web and updating this site. :-(

The symptom was a Winsock error (10047 to be precise - I could connect to the Net but couldn't communicate with it) following a mysterious system crash. I still don't know what caused it. Maybe it was because the Operating System was Microsoft Windows Me, which was sitting on top of Windows 98, which in turn was sitting on top of Windows 95 - perhaps a problem of too much legacy software confusing the OS? Who knows...

Anyway, I decided to bite the bullet by completely formatting the C: drive (after backing up all my important files, of course), and performing a clean install of Windows 2000 Professional. That was quite a purge! About 10 gigs of old junk wiped off. Everything works perfectly now, dare I say even faster and more smoothly. Win2K isn't cheap but it runs rings around WinMe - definitely worth the upgrade.

Since the clean install, it's been a busy morning re-installing all the necessary applications and upgrades/patches. There seems to be just so many of them...!

So, sorry for the lack of updates (again)! I'm full of excuses, aren't I? :-)

Fellow official Hârn contributor Rebecca Downey (aka Ketherian), the author of the definitive site for all things related to the Thardic Republic, Pax Tharda, has shifted her web site. It is now located at http://www.ketherian.org/

If you are a Hârn GM, and especially if you're intending on running a campaign set in Tharda, then you must visit this excellent site. A wealth of useful information awaits you!

There is something really interesting for Hârn devotees (like myself) to look forward to: Auran has announced the launch of the first of its "Digitally Enhanced" adventure module for Hârn. Here's what Auran's DE Project Director John Banks had to say:

We are pleased to announce that "Web of the Widow", the first in the Hârn DE adventure module series, has gone gold (final version mastered to CD) and sent to Columbia Games for publishing and distribution. "Web of the Widow" is available for order from both Columbia and ourselves. Congratulations to the team and thanks to everyone who had input into this product, particularly Tom Dalgliesh and the Columbia staff for editorial assistance. We all hope that you enjoy playing "Web of the Widow" as much as we have creating it.

More background information on this module can be found at Auran's Project Hârn site.

It is indeed available for order right now from Columbia Games, although the official release date is not until 10th August. This is Auran's first commercial Hârn product, and as any veteran HârnGamer can tell you, the standard has been kept extremely high by N. Robin Crossby and Columbia Games for the past two decades. For Auran's sake, "Web of the Widow" simply must meet the high standard of excellence we have come to expect. This is really Auran's one-chance-only acid test - if "Web of the Widow" fails to impress the fans, their entire Hârn project could be jeopardised. Time will tell - fingers crossed! :-)

So sorry about the lack of updates over the past couple of weeks, folks - I've been away on business. For the past few days, I was in Los Angeles, that fine city of angels and stretch hummers... :-)

Prior to that, I was in Tokyo, where I picked up a new digital still camera: a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S85. It's got heaps of features and takes some excellent shots. Certainly a lot more versatile than a regular film camera, and probably cheaper to run in the long term.

Go to WarFlail's Archives - June 2001

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