Response to Woas about HARP

[Akrasia]

... A shameless plug for french speaking readers: here's my website with the Middle Earth - HARP conversion: http://www.harp-tdm.com/).

That's one sweet site, Mandos! (My french is a bit shakey, as an Anglo-Canadian living in 'the States', but I can read it well enough to appreciate its excellence.)

I've got lots of great old ICE Middle-earth stuff sitting around. Although the MERP system did not capture Middle-earth perfectly -- especially in its magic system -- those modules are pretty amazing. The ones by Graham Staplehurst and Terry Amthor are especially good IMO (though Amthor deviated far more from the spirit of Tolkien than Staplehurst). I still think that Staplehurst's Minas Tirith is the best city book around.

If I ever run a Middle-earth campaign again (fingers crossed), I will probably use HARP (ripping stuff off from your site with impunity). This will be ironic, given Rasyr's stated dislike for Tolkien. (Bloody philistine!)

I like HARP a lot, but for the time being I'll be going with Castles and Crusades, since it fits my style and campaign much better. (And there is the pragmatic consideration that, being based on D&D, is is more familiar to my current players, so the transition pains will be less severe.) But if I ever return to the realm of Endor, I'll give HARP a go.

(BTW Rasyr, given the fact that 95 percent of fantasy role-players are somewhat fond of Tolkien, it may not be in your interest to advertise so boldly your dislike for his stuff. It's kinda like trying to promote a science fiction RPG while criticizing both Star Wars and Star Trek. )

 

[Shard O'Glase]

did I mention I'm a gaiming addict, college of magics kicks booty haven't had a chance to go through martial law yet which I also picked up but college of magics was well worth by money.

 

[Rasyr]

Gah! I hate being sick! Had this stupid flu bug for three days now. This is the longest I have been sick in years (normally get sick in the afternoon and better by next morning, and usually happens on the weekend to - go figure..)

Games are flowing wonderfully since we switched, with nervous and nasty fights, some nice RP opportunities mixed with some rule aspects we had forgotten a bit: finding herbs or dealing them, approaching groups to get some specific Training Packages, etc.

Glad to hear it!

Thanks Rasyr, because after having written the rules, you support them by your (when do you sleep?) presence on the boards. That has been one of the facts that made me switch, and now my group is hooked and we're hoping for a great future for HARP.

Sleep? I seem to remember something called sleep, but the memory is very hazy...

And your welcome! Iffen I won't support my game, how can I expect others to do so (besides, I am still in shock over writing a whole game (see my comments in the introduction - 192 page version of HARP).

(PS: excuse my poor english, native french here . A shameless plug for french speaking readers: here's my website with the Middle Earth - HARP conversion: http://www.harp-tdm.com/).

Excellent looking website! I did notice something about the Hobbits though. Normally races have 60 points divided among Endurance and Power Points, and 30 divided among the RRs. You have only 30 in Endurance, and 45 divided among the RRs. For the Hobbits, you might want to increase their Stamina RR bonus to 25 and their Will RR bonus to 20. I think that would be more inline with how Hobbits are portrayed.

I've got lots of great old ICE Middle-earth stuff sitting around.

I have a lot of the MERP modules sitting on the shelves. They are great modules in and of themselves, and easily convertable to other settings.

If I ever run a Middle-earth campaign again (fingers crossed), I will probably use HARP (ripping stuff off from your site with impunity). This will be ironic, given Rasyr's stated dislike for Tolkien. (Bloody philistine!)

Ok, so I am an opinionated sot! Seriously though, if you want to use HARP for running a Middle Earth game, more power to you!!

I like HARP a lot, but for the time being I'll be going with Castles and Crusades, since it fits my style and campaign much better. (And there is the pragmatic consideration that, being based on D&D, is is more familiar to my current players, so the transition pains will be less severe.) But if I ever return to the realm of Endor, I'll give HARP a go.

woohoo!!

(BTW Rasyr, given the fact that 95 percent of fantasy role-players are somewhat fond of Tolkien, it may not be in your interest to advertise so boldly your dislike for his stuff. It's kinda like trying to promote a science fiction RPG while criticizing both Star Wars and Star Trek. )

Personally, I dislike (to some degree) any setting based on a book or movie as I feel that too many folks are interested in retelling the stories from the books/movies rather then telling their own stories (through gaming). This generalized dislike is heightened with settings where there were EPIC events (i.e. the LOTR trilogy) that change the face of the setting. This steals the limelight from the players, IMO.

As for Star Wars, you have basically the same problems as gaming in Middle Earth. All of the EPIC events are played out by a small band of characters. Star Trek on the other hand is a setting built for exploration and adventure, and the stories told about it just happen to be about a famous group(s) and need not be something that affects the whole galaxy (like the events of the first three Star Wars). In Star Trek, there is lots to do and lots of places to go. Nor do you have to actually play members of Star Fleet. You could be traders or explorers who have gone out beyond the boundries of known space.

And please notice, that I tend to not bring Tolkien up myself, though I will respond.

did I mention I'm a gaiming addict, college of magics kicks booty haven't had a chance to go through martial law yet which I also picked up but college of magics was well worth by money.

hehe glad you liked it.

 

[Rasyr]

College of Magics Sample

Okay, I promised some sort of sample from College of Magics, so here it is.

The first part is a PDF, in it I have 5 pages that I extracted from College of Magics for you to view. It includes the descriptions of the different types of mages, a couple of skills, some item creation examples. I hope that you enjoy it.

You can get the Sampler from the following link --> http://www.ironcrown.com/harp2/CoMSampler.pdf

The second sample is one of the Item Creation spells, which I am posting here.

[b]IMBUE SPELL[/b]
[b]PP COST:[/b] 12
[b]RANGE:[/b] Touch
[b]DURATION:[/b] 1 day
[b]SPELL TYPE:[/b] Utility
[b]RR:[/b] -
[b]SPHERES:[/b] Thaumaturge
[b]DESCRIPTION:[/b] The caster may imbue an item with a spell matrix 
capable of holding a spell of up to 5 PP, with the eventual aim of creating 
a Daily spell item. This spell must be cast multiple times with each "batch" 
for each time per day that the item is supposed to function (i.e. a Daily 
II item requires this spell to be cast twice for each batch of castings). 
This spell has three special scaling options:
[b]Increase Matrix Potency:[/b] This allows higher-powered spells to be 
added to items that are created and enchanted at the same time, on a 
1 for 1 PP basis.
[b]Constant Effect: [/b]Instead of creating a Daily Item, the use of this 
option will enable the caster to enchant an item with a constant effect. 
This option must be used on each day of the enchantment process.
[b]Trigger Effect:[/b] Instead of creating a Daily Item, the use of this 
option will enable the caster to enchant an item with a semi-constant 
effect. The effect will be active only as long a certain condition is 
met. The condition must be something that is built into the item that 
is easily doable, such as purposely touching a specific stud on a handle 
or using a feature of the item to cause specific bits of the item to touch, 
activating the effect.
[b]"At Will" Effect:[/b] Instead of creating a Daily Item, the use of this 
option will enable the caster to enchant an item with an effect which can 
be used “at will” by its wielder or wearer. This option must be used on 
each day of the enchantment process.
[b]SCALING OPTIONS:[/b]
Increase Duration (per +1 day) 		+1 PP
Increase Imprint (per sigil imprint) 	+2 PP
Enchant Existing Non-magical Item 	+10 PP
Enchant Existing Magical Item 		+20 PP
Increase Matrix Potency (per extra PP) 	+1 PP
Constant Effect 			+20 PP
Trigger Effect 				+10 PP
"At Will" Effect 			+20 PP

Any more comments or questions?

 

[Rasyr]

Ok, later this afternoon (after I make a few small corrections to the layout/pagemaking), we will be posting the very first issue of HARPer's Bazaar, a quaterly (I may be moving this to bi-monthly) pdf product that contains various odds and ends of things for HARP.

This first issue contains two new races, two new cultures, Blood Talents for a number of monsters from the HARP rulebook, a new take on Life Points, some new combat styles, and several new magic items. All for the low price of $2.

I will post a link to it once it is available for purchase.

 

[Rasyr]

HARPer's Bazaar is now available for those who are interested.

http://store.ironcrown.com/detail.jsp?itemId=93864&category=23190

 

[Rasyr]

Any more comments or questions?

Anyone?

Anyone?

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I may have a couple ?'s or coments tomorrow or the next day I'm reading up on changing classes, and am trying to work out the benefits or negatives for a mage specialist to change to another mage specialist over just picking up access to that sphere of magic.

 

[Rasyr]

Okay, cool! I will await your questions.

 

[Rasyr]

okay, so while waiting for Shard O'Glase to post his comments/questions, does anybody else have any questions or comments to make?