WarFlail's Archives - November 2002

Go to WarFlail's Archives - December 2002

Addition to Bill Gant's HârnMaster House Rules

I am absolutely delighted to announce that Bill Gant's Awesome HMC Armour Profiles (657Kb) is now ready for download! This is my crowning achievement as far as armour calculators are concerned, drawing together the previously titled HMC Armour Calculator, HMC Armour Profiles, Generic Armour Profiles and HMC Armour Profiles for Knights into a single Excel workbook. I am proud to present this file as a must-have utility for any HMC GameMaster, to take the load off having to manually work out armour profiles (one of the most time-consuming tasks in HârnMaster).

This project could not have been completed without the expert assistance of Arthur Reyes, who laid the foundations for the 75+ preset armour profiles contained within the file. Kudos also goes to Jim 'Castlewalls' Lassiter, who ingeniously designed the Combat Sheet, which is a mini-character sheet intended for keeping track of multiple NPCs in combat. Thank you, guys! :-)

New Link

The latest addition to HÂRN LINK is the following campaign site:

Nolomar Rising by David R. Baldwin

Previously, this site was nested within Shane9's The Shadow of Bukrai site, but aside from sharing the same hard disk, David's site is completely independent and deserving of its own place in the HÂRN LINK hall of fame. It's a well-written campaign site, and as you can see it is well underway.

Revived Link

Making a welcome return to HÂRN LINK is the following site:

Castlewalls - Medieval Fantasy Campaign Floorplans by Jim Lassiter

Those of you who have downloaded my HMA Pack #1 may notice some similarity between the Combat Sheets and some of Jim's work. We did indeed collaborate, although Jim was certainly the instigator.

Removed Link

It's been dead for weeks, so I thought I had better clear HÂRN LINK of this corpse site:

The Enclave of the Golden Orb by Kingsley Gardner & Matthias Janssen

What a shame about this one. One of the authors took offence at what Columbia Games were planning to do and ripped the site down immediately. I left the link up for a while, in the hope that tempers would cool and the site would be restored, but alas they haven't. You can find some commentary on this site's demise here: http://www.shadowharn.net/viewtopic.php?t=1134

New Link

Another addition to HÂRN LINK is the following campaign site:

The Gentle Companions by Jens Weber

This site chronicles the adventures of a group of characters, from the viewpoint of one of the players (a refreshing change from the usual Hârn fansite, which is hosted by a GM). Some very interesting tales and illustrations can be found here.

Updated House Rule

Further to my previous post about Shock Rolls in my hybrid HârnMaster Advanced (HMA) system, I've put a little more thought into it and have come up with the following refinement:

Shock Rolls from Injury

When a character is wounded, make a Shock Roll against Condition EML, after subtracting Physical Penalty (include current injury). The effect of success or failure depends on the severity of the wound:

No Effect means that the character is wounded but is not Stunned or rendered unconscious from the injury. Other injury effects (e.g. Fumble) may still apply.

Opponent's Tactical Advantage (OTA) means that the character is not stunned or knocked out, but is momentarily stunned from the pain. The opponent gains a Tactical Advantage, against which the character may defend normally.

Stunned means that the character is temporarily stunned from the pain and is unable to do anything else (aside from perhaps stagger aimlessly about). The opponent gains a Tactical Advantage, but the character's next action (only) must be Ignore or Pass.

Unconscious means that the character is rendered unconscious and falls prone; the opponent gains a Tactical Advantage. Additional injury could be suffered depending on how the character falls and the type of surface (at GM discretion). The character remains unconscious until a successful Shock Roll is made (one roll per Round, starting in the following Round). If the character regains consciousness, a second roll is required to avoid going into Shock.

Fumble / Stumble Rolls from Injury

If a character is wounded in the arm, make a Fumble Roll against Weapon EML (or DEX x 5 if the item held is not a weapon), after subtracting Physical Penalty (include current injury). If wounded in the leg, make a Stumble Roll against Dodge EML. The effect of success or failure depends on the severity of the wound:

No Effect means that the character is wounded but does not fumble or stumble.

Opponent's Tactical Advantage (OTA) means that the character does not fumble or stumble, but is momentarily thrown off-balance. The opponent gains a Tactical Advantage, against which the character may defend normally.

Fumble / Stumble (F / S) means that the character drops the item (fumbles) or falls prone (stumbles). The opponent gains a Tactical Advantage, against which the character may defend normally.

Exhaustion

If the character's Physical Penalty exceeds his or her Condition SI x 2, the character is Exhausted. Shift the effects of the Shock, Fumble and Stumble Roll by one column to the right.

Combat Example

Sir Marick is engaged in foot combat against Sir Jorath. His Condition ML is 83 (SI 8). During the battle, Sir Marick is struck by Sir Jorath's mace, and suffers an M1 wound to his sword arm.

Sir Marick must make a Shock Roll. His Condition EML is 63 (including the -5 penalty from the M1 injury) but he rolls 74: MF. Because the wound is minor, Sir Marick does not fall unconscious but he involuntarily staggers in pain, leaving himself open to another attack.

Because the strike was to Sir Marick's arm, he must also make a Fumble Roll or drop his sword. Sir Marick's Sword EML is 68 but he rolls 91: MF again! Sir Marick does not drop his sword because the wound is only minor, but he is thrown off-balance for a moment.

Sir Jorath has gained two Tactical Advantages from his strike, but is only permitted to exploit one during a Turn. He presses his advantage and strikes again, this time smiting Sir Marick in the knee. Sir Marick suffers an S3 injury. His Condition EML is now reduced to 48 yet he rolls 36: MS. Sir Marick does not fall unconscious.

Because this strike was to Sir Marick's leg, he must also make a Stumble Roll or fall to the ground. His Dodge EML is currently 30 but he rolls 50: CF. Sir Marick falls prone.

Much later in the fight, Sir Marick has accumulated a total Physical Penalty of 17, 3 from his Encumbrance Penalty and 14 from eight minor wounds and two serious wounds. Sir Marick is miraculously still conscious but he is Exhausted (17PP exceeds his Condition SI x 2 of 16).

Sir Marick is struck again, this time on the skull, suffering an M1 wound through his helm and padding. His Condition EML is now reduced to 05 (the minimum), and he rolls 11: MF. Were he not Exhausted, this would have only resulted in a TA, but instead Sir Marick is Stunned. He is blinded by the pain and cannot defend against Sir Jorath's next strike, which is to his chest.

Sir Marick suffers an S2 injury and must make another Shock Roll. Unsurprisingly, he achieves MF. Again, were he not Exhausted, this would have only resulted in a Stun, but due to his poor condition he is finally rendered Unconscious.

Note that this house rule is still in test mode, so please send me your feedback. :-)

Columbia Games Announcement

The latest ground-breaking news from Columbia Games:

HÂRNMASTER
AND HÂRNPLAYER THIRD EDITION

Hârnmaster Third Edition is coming later this month, but will NOT be shipped on our Autoship plan. A special pre-order price is available now for a limited time.

#4001
HârnMaster Third Edition $39.98 (pre-order $29.98).
HârnMaster is now a boxed set with 160+ looseleaf pages, pad of character profiles, and a GM Screen.

#4011 HârnPlayer Third Edition
$29.98 (preorder $24.98)
HârnPlayer is also a boxed set. It contains the Character, Skills and Combat sections of HârnMaster, a pad of character sheets, and the HârnPlayer reference to HârnWorld.

CHANGES
TO 3rd EDITION

CHARACTER
The HârnMaster character generation system has been expanded to give players a richer Hârnic experience. Characters may start the game with a wider variety of occupations, and at various levels of experience. Equipment tables generate Hârnic possessions by occupation and experience - not everyone is born a penniless serf...

Introductions to religious, Shek-Pvar, and maritime occupations are included along with a section on Tribal Characters. Average incomes for all occupations and information about the guild system is included. Character contacts with (potentially) influential people are generated allowing players to explore relationships and advance their social standing. Players will enjoy the character generation system's integration with the Hârnworld setting.

SKILLS
The attributes required for some skills have been changed. The specialties optional rule now allows a character to choose one speciality, gaining one bonus skill development roll each month in that speciality, but all other sub-skills in the group have a ten (10) point penalty.

Several new skills have been added, most of them knowledge skills. These assist the players and GM to resolve situations which often become stale and repetitive if solely roleplayed

COMBAT
The HârnMaster combat system is largely unchanged. Mounted combat is added as an integral part of the combat system. SIZE rules are included to make combat with larger/smaller creatures more reasonable.

PHYSICIAN
The HârnMaster Physician rules are improved and easier to use. All characters may attempt treatment rolls to aid a wounded friend. A treated wound usually heals. Bloodloss and infection remain optional.

PSIONICS
Psionics is no longer an exclusive GM Routine. Psionic talents (if any) remain hidden from players until activated (if ever), but from then on they operate like any other player skill. There is a more generous allowance for talent generation rolls, and two new talents (Transference and Transmutation) have been added.

BESTIARY
An extensive Hârnic Bestiary is now included in HârnMaster.

CAMPAIGN
Campaign includes more GM resources to run epic Hârnic campaigns.

TREASURE
Treasure has been edited but remains largely unchanged.

HQ 3
There are more new articles for Hârn are coming this December. The major site in HQ 3 is Olokand greatly expanded with a large section on the Chelebin Tourney. A Hârnmaster Bestiary article on horses is also planned. Look for sneak previews soon.

Autoship is only way to get the new HârnQuest releases. Autoshippers also get a free PDF copy of each article. Join now via our website by placing an order in the Columbia Games Store.

BATTLELUST ROSTER CARD SPREADSHEET
By: Bruce Langdon of Armoury Games in Columbus, Ohio.

This Excel spreadsheet easily calculates statistics for Battlelust warriors. It prints out well allowing roster cards to be cut out to size.

http://www.columbiagames.com/HarnPage/battlelust/index.html

New Link

The latest addition to HÂRN LINK is the following PBEM site:

Misty-Isles: A Campaign in Hârn by Joe Slone

This campaign looks to be in full swing already, some 5 chapters into the game and featuring a cast of at least 10 Player Characters. Interestingly, Joe has chosen to run the campaign using the original HârnMaster rules (HM1) instead of the 'official' second edition (HMC) rules.

I must say it's flattering to see that he is using a number of my house rules to enhance his system! :-)

Updated Fansite

Hrafn informs me that he has relaunched his Hrafnsbjarg site. With a new layout and increased functionality, making extensive use of XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.0 to give it a really professional feel.

New House Rule

I am currently trialling a house rule for my HârnMaster Advanced (HMA) system that modifies the effect of the Shock Roll depending on the severity of injury. Like the out-of-print HMG, HMA uses 1d100 instead of #d6 to make Shock Rolls, and the test is made against Condition EML instead of Endurance. The house rule goes like this:

When a character is wounded, make a Shock Roll against Condition EML, after subtracting Physical Penalty (including current injury). The effect of success or failure depends on the severity of the wound:

No Effect means that the character is hurt but is not Stunned or rendered unconscious from the injury. He or she may still suffer the effects of Fumble Rolls, Stumble Rolls, etc.

Partially Stunned means that the character is temporarily stunned from the pain, but is still able to fight. The character must perform his or her next action (only) at half ML.

Stunned means that the character is temporarily stunned from the pain and is unable to do anything else (aside from perhaps stagger aimlessly about). The character must Ignore or Pass his next action (only).

Unconscious means that the character is rendered unconscious and falls prone. Additional injury could be suffered depending on how the character falls and the type of surface (at GM discretion). The character remains unconscious until a successful Shock Roll is made (one roll per Round). If the character regains consciousness, a second roll is required to avoid going into Shock.

Advanced Rule - Exhaustion: If the character's Physical Penalty exceeds his or her Condition SI x 2, the character is Exhausted. Shift the effects of the Shock Roll by one column to the right.

Anyway, this house rule is purely in test mode, so if you have any feedback for me, please let me know.

Go to WarFlail's Archives - October 2002

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