First, I would like to say that what I posted was not meant to be insulting in any way. It was a cut&paste job from the HARP sell sheet. It did not occur to me that so many people would be offended by what I saw as innocuous (as it does not refer to ANY system). I took it to mean " if you aren't happy with what you are playing now, then try this". If you ARE happy with your current system, whatever that may be, then more power to you!Piratecat said:
Nightfall - "in his usual manner"? I am sorry? This is the first time I have posted to this forum in a year or two now. I most certainly don't think that you can really make that sort of snap judgement about me unless you really know me.
HARP OVERVIEW
HARP is a 160 page book that contains everything you need to run it. HARP is also percentile based.
Races: HARP has six races (Humans, Gnomes, Halflings, Elves, Dwarves, and a new race, the Gryx). HARP does not have half-races (no half-elves or half-orcs). Instead it has Blood Talents. There are both Greater and Lesser Blood Talents. By taking a Greater Blood Talent, you become a half-{insert race here}, and by taking a Lesser Blood Talent, you are saying that you have an ancestor of that other race, and that his blood has come to the fore in your character.
Cultures: HARP contains six basic cultures. Each race has a default culture, but is not tied to that. At the time of character creation, the player may freely choose to have his character come from a culture that is different from the defaul for the race. Yes, cultures are completely separate from race.
Stats: HARP has eight stats (Strength, Constitution, Agility, Quickness, Self Discipline, Insight, Reasoning, and Presence). Players have 3 options for determinging initial stats, from straight rolls (rerolling anything below a 40), to buying your stats from a static pool of points, to a mixture (base pool, and then roll and add in 10d10 to use in purchasing stats). You may increase your stats any time you go up a level. The same cost structure for initially buy stats is also used for raising your stats. Each character gains a number of development points (DP) each level. These DP are based on your stats, all of your stats. They are used to purchase such things as stat increases, talents, skills, training packages, Fate Points, etc....
Professions: HARP contains 9 professions (Cleric, Fighter, Harper, Mage, Monk, Ranger, Rogue, Thief, and Warrior Mage). Each profession has some minor special abilities. You can have multiple professions in HARP, but it costs DP the first time you take a new profession (note: the first time a new profession is gained (even during character creation), you get 20 free skill ranks to spend in certain skill categories, and the DP cost for adding a new profession is equal to what these skill ranks would cost for that new profession). Once a character has more than one profession, when he goes up in level, he may freely select which to advance. The only restrictions about multiple professions is that a character cannot have a second profession until 2nd level, and that only one new profession may be added per level.
Skills: HARP contains about 60 base skills. The majority of those skills are All-or-Nothing skills (no tables required). The rest use a single, very flexible, small table for resolution. Skills are divided into Categories. Each profession has a number of categories marked as "Favored". Any skill in a Favored Category cost 2 DP per rank, and all skills in Non-Favored Categories costs 4 points.
Spells: Spells are learned as skills. Spells are sorted by Spheres (each profession has its own sphere). Spells use PP for casting. Spells are scalable. What this means is that each spell has a base cost (in PP), and you cast it using that base cost. But, at the time of casting, the character may decide to up the power of the spell using one or more of the scaling options available to that spell. There is also a Universal Sphere. ANY profession may learn spells from the Universal Sphere if they want to put the effort into it. There are no realms or different types of magic in HARP. HARP treats all spells the same, as a codified method of manipulating magical energy to produce a desired effect. Such things as material components, and such are discussed as a way of customizing the flavor of the magic system, and are kept separate from the actual spell mechanics.
Combat: Combat is extremely streamlined (especially compared to RM). HARP combat uses a single roll resolution to determine IF a character hits his target AND how much damage is done. No tables are used in this UNLESS you hit your target. Even then, the tables are small and simple to use. HARP also contains several options that can be used. The first is Hit Locations (does NOT add any extra rolls) and Called Shots. The second, for folks who may not like criticals, is a Life Points option. Note that this option also does not increase combat above a single roll, but it does require some very minor calculations (ie. round off, then divide by 5 or 10).
Mosnters: HARP contains about 40-42 basic monsters that can provide you with many hours of fun.
Treasure: HARP contains some cool and unique treasures in that section.
XP Rules: All professions in HARP use the same xp progression. Now as to how XPs are gained, that is where things really get interesting. XPs are gained by the PCs accomplishing goals. Goals of differing difficulties are worth more or less depending upon how hard they are. Goals can be almost anything, including combat, but do not HAVE to be. Goals can be as simple as talking an ambassador into signing a peace treaty. There are both Party Goals, and Personal Goals (and Major and Minor varieties of both). Also, once a goal has been accomplished, then the GM decides how hard it was for the party to accomplish and sets the difficulty.
HARP also contains a number of options and tips scattered throughout the book for new players and veterans alike. ICE had some really fantastic artists, as you can see if you went and checked out the sneak preview pages from the link in the first post.
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*kidding* But I can certainly see why it would be well recieved. While I'm not sure about some elements of this system, there is some similiarity between Harp and AU which I like. Now my question regarding the spellcasters, do they have better HD than D&D spellcasters (ie wizards and sorcerers?)
