FR: Do Harpers suck?

[SemperJase]

From some posts I've seen in the past, there seems to be a major dislike of FR and a disdain for Harpers campaigns.

I have used the Harpers in my campaigns to begin adventuring. To be believable, a diverse group of character races, classes, and alignments has to have a common goal. Tha Harpers seem to fit that requirement nicely.

So, if you view Harper campaigns as munchkin fodder, how do you come up with a valid reason for a NG elven wizard, a CN human fighter, and a LN halfling cleric to adventure together?

 

[Carnifex]

It may be due to players experiences with nont being Harpers themselves, and DM's using the Harpers in a way that portrays them as irritating, meddling gits

 

[Crothian]

As long as they all want to be Harpers and agree to listen to what the Harpers tell them to do, it should be weasy. However, I'm not sure a CN character fits into the Harpers.

I make the PCs come up with a reason they are together and adventuring together. They know this going into character creation, so they all make the characters together and tie them together. It's a really cool process.

 

[Fade]

The first step to making the get along is to execute the fighter.

 

[Sulimo]

Yep. Why do you think Khelben left?

 

[Zelda Themelin]

DM's using the Harpers in a way that portrays them as irritating, meddling gits

Yes, that's it. *shiver*

I think that any disike for harpies also known as harpers, is based on how dm misuses them. I have played with two dm:s that really taught me to hate all fr-organizations and iconic npc:s with way they were played. Another one also had renegade-character obsession, aka evil race-uber character gone supposingly good. Most of his npc:s were like this. Like that dark-elf thing, but way before there was ever popular D-character.

Funny thing, they were both good dm:s unless it was FR world. I think that just might have something to do with that combo of Azure bonds and Avatar wars trilogy-adventures (Avatar wars started in that game middle of Azure bonds adventure) first dm mentioned run for our group.

Additionally dislike for Harpers has formed for couple of people I know through reading too many badly-written fr-novels.

 

[Sulimo]

Additionally dislike for Harpers has formed for couple of people I know through reading too many badly-written fr-novels.

For me, reading the Cunningham novels has gotten me to like them. Hell, the first couple has gotten me to the stage where I'll buy Elaine's novels sight unseen.

Hopefully Wizards will get Elaine to write some more of Danilo. Or even a Khelben novel.

 

[Henry@home]

The Harpers are fascinating if portrayed properly - used sparingly and the whole group isn't crawling with 'em.

While a Harpers-only campaign would work, it really overuses what I belive should be something akin to the French Resistance in World War II: Everyday people, who identified one another through special codes and who only know limited cells of people.

Only in Open places like Berdusk would Harpers be seen as good to all. Even some lawful governments might find their desire for freedom of learning at all costs a little... annoying.

Especially when bringing out the whole Harper/Moonstar thing, it shows that some who are Harpers aren't playing by the same rules under which the organization was founded. Times change, and as we all know, the people who join an organization after the founding can radically change the direction of the organization and its goals.

 

[Zelda Themelin]

For me, reading the Cunningham novels has gotten me to like them.

At those times I am speaking of there was no Cunningham books yet.

And when her books showed up they were first printed as part of real long-windy Harpers-series.

Just for record, I like some fr-books, those among them, but I've also read too many books set on FR, Ravenloft and Krynn. It gets tedious. Maybe few years break helps.

However, I've yet to see a Dm who gives tolerable picture of Harpers.

 

[Someguy]

I had my players do some work for the harpers a couple times, only once did they find out it was them, and then only through some real good investigative work.