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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GrumpyOldMan" data-source="post: 1350944" data-attributes="member: 16469">Things I Like About HÂrnmasterTo try to keep this thread on topic, here are:THINGS I LIKE ABOUT HÂRNMASTERCharacter Generation:Generating a HârnMaster Character can take quite some time, certainly compared to the old AD&D roll 6 Character Stats, choose a character class, roll hit points.In HârnMaster there are 12 stats to roll and every skill has a base chance calculated from three of these stats. The maths can be a little tricky, but it is not that difficult once you understand the mechanic. As with most games there are several (free) character generation programmes out there to make the GM’s life easier. HârnMaster character generation includes family size and background and the relationship between the character and their family and can even generate the characters home area.Personally, I love this level of detail. Player characters have parents & siblings; they have a home town, or village: they are grounded in the world. They have a place where they are known (for good or ill). I realise that some people don’t like this level of detail, but as GM I love the opportunities it gives. Perhaps that ‘missing’ sister will turn up with a tale to tell, what happens when the ne’er do well brother breaks a leg out poaching, to the players cover for him, or hand him over to face the sheriff’s justice? If these opportunities are not for you, you can simply create a character without a background.Game MechanicsMake one percentage dice roll. There are only four results:Critical FailureMarginal FailureMarginal SuccessCritical SuccessAs has been discussed HârnMaster is a percentage based skill system. Less than your skill percentage succeeds, more fails. Critical rolls are those successes or failures ending in a 5 or a 0. How simple is that?Combat is slightly more complicated. The two protagonists make opposed rolls and cross reference the result on a 4x4 matrix. Any hit is then resolved by rolling hit location. The magic & religious rules follow the same system. That, in less than 100 words, is pretty much the entire system. So, exactly how is this complicated?Skill Index (SI)If other games systems use this I haven’t found them yet. A skill index (SI) is the ‘tens’ part of a characters skill. A character with a 33% Weaponcraft skill has a SI of 3, A character with a 73% Weaponcraft skill has an SI of 7. This in one simple rule addresses the complaint that whether a character is a novice Weaponcrafter or an experienced one a critical success makes a weapon made by a novice as good as one created by a master. The SI system provides a simple matrix giving the value added based on the characters SI. In practical terms, a masters failure results in a weapon of the same quality as a novices success. This can apply to anything, that tavern singer with Sing 40% is, at her best, not as good as the trained bard giving an average performance, a good fisherman catches more fish than a poor one! Simple, neat, easy, I like it!HârnWorld is SystemlessI came to HârnWorld before HârnMaster. Even if Hârn was a dreadful rules system, I’d still love HârnWorld. The background is completely systemless. The Kingdoms & Regions of the island of Hârn and Lythia (the adjacent continent) are described without any rules based information. No character classes, or levels, or HârnMaster skills, craftsmen & residents are described simply as people doing their job with a guide as to how good they are at their job (1-5 stars) and what they charge for their goods/services (low to very high prices). Odds & EndsHârn & HârnMaster are perceived as ‘low magic.’ It isn’t there are some powerful spells, but magic is rare. There are few mages on Hârn and they try not to draw too much attention to themselves. However, it is a lot easier to add magic, if you want more, than to remove it. I play pretty loose with some of the magic rules in my campaign.Hârn is ‘the game where you play turnip farmers.’ No-one here has said that, but it has been said many times. Why do people think this? Is it because the rules are flexible enough so that, if you want to play poor peasants battling the weather & cruel overlords to survive, you can? Why should this be a problem? Players may be noble, guildsmen, common, serf, slave, skilled warriors, streetwise thieves, hunters at home in the wild forests, pretty much anything. There is no ‘you must be a peasant’ rule.Grumpy Old ManBecause my kids tell me I am!</blockquote>

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