Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="GrumpyOldMan" data-source="post: 3359002" data-attributes="member: 16469">I’ll let others with more knowledge answer the Ars Magica question. I’ve only ever played a mage, but the combat system works okay.Hârn comes in two prices: expensive, and free.There are probably three websites that you need to look at. I should have said this in my original reply, sorry. The reason that there are three sites is complicated.Since its creation (probably over 25 years ago) Hârn has been produced by Columbia Games Inc. (CGI) The world was created, and mapped, by N Robin Crossby, a man as important to Hârniacs as EGG is to DnD’ers. All of the material was edited by Tom Dalgleish, head of CGI. For 20 years the two worked together. NRC did NOT write all of the Hârnstuff, several other writers were used, and NRC and Tom Dalgleish agreed what was accepted. The two men fell out, rather messily, and as a consequence there are now two companies producing Hârn material. CGI continue to produce 3-4 releases per year, using many of the same ‘staff’ writers that they always did, except NRC is no longer one of them. Check out <a href="http://www.columbiagames.com" target="_blank">www.columbiagames.com</a> for their stuff. Yes, it’s expensive.NRC formed his own company Kelestia productions. He uses some of the original ‘staff’ writers too. Check out <a href="http://www.kelestia.com" target="_blank">www.kelestia.com</a> for his stuff, which is pdf only. Yes, it’s expensive too.Hârnfans have likened the current situation to ‘mom & dad getting divorced,’ most (like me) refuse to pick sides. I don’t know who is in the right! Both sides seem to have a case. However, while CGI are expanding on material on the island of Hârn, Kelestia are concentrating on the neighbouring continent, Lythia. So there has, so far, been no clash between official materials. It seems unlikey that there will be.The other link I posted, <a href="http://www.lythia.com" target="_blank">www.lythia.com</a> is the biggest fan site. All of the material available there is free! Non of that material is official, but I MOST of it is written by the SAME PEOPLE who write for CGI or Kelestia. These ‘staff’ writers are producing material faster than either company are releasing it.A few years ago one item (Naniom Bridge) which was produced by a couple of French guys, was almost immediately contradicted by an official release. There was an outcry by the fans. Since then there have been no official contradictions of any of the free unofficial material. In fact CGI have allowed the re-use of some official artwork in some of the free material.A good example of this is Selvos. Selvos castle is $10.99 for 20 pages of material. The author of this article has made two separate expansions, to the town and the surrounding countryside available free at Lythia.com, I can’t remember the page count but I’m pretty sure that the free stuff at least triples, and probably quadruples the background information. Looked at this way, $10.99 for 60+ pages is not so bad IMO</blockquote>

Verification