Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="GrumpyOldMan" data-source="post: 2426791" data-attributes="member: 16469">IMO Glorantha and Hârn represent opposite ends of game world design. You say you like ‘fully fleshed out worlds an ones that are “low magic” so I’ll assume that its only world information you’re after, not rules stuff.Glorantha is anything but low magic. It’s a little difficult to describe Glorantha without reference to the two, completely different, rules systems used for the game world RuneQuest and HeroQuest. The magic systems, cults, spirits, religions and all other belief systems are integral to the world. Farmers use spells like ‘bless crops,’ warriors use ‘swordsharp,’ etc. The world is in itself magical. The nine great giant mountains are just that, nine great giants! There are monsters and creatures everywhere and dozens of non-human sentient races.The whole world is based on the power of myths and mythical events and much of the background can be read in a number of ways. As an example:The Orlanthi are a proud (and often boastful) race of warrior/farmers. Their culture is vaguely Celtic and/or Saxon. They have been invaded by the evil Lunar Empire, who are intent on the destruction of their culture and who are trying to kill Orlanth, Storm God and king of the Orlanthi Pantheon. The Lunars are the bad guys.The Lunar Empire are a noble and enlightened (some may say illuminated) race who have discovered the truth in their Chief Goddess, The Red Moon. They struggle to bring enlightenment to impoverished (and in the main ungrateful) Orlanthi barbarians. The Orlanthi are the bad guys.Add to this some very odd creatures and world views, Elves (living plants) want to recreate the green age, Dwarves (cogs in the great world machine) want to repair the machine, Trolls want darkness, and you get a very rich world.As an admitted Hârn enthusiast, I’ve got to take exception to the statement “Hârn is okay: dry, over-detailed and a little brittle.” That’s a valid view, and I can see why some folks think that way, but IMO it’s selling the world short.Hârn itself is an island in (approximately) the location Britain is on earth. A world (Kethiria) map and a map and basic details of the large continent (Lythis) east of Hârn have been published with details of some mainland Kingdoms. But the Island of Hârn is the heart of the game world.It has more background details than most GM’s need every settlement on the island is mapped, and details of the number of households, and the name of the local Lord, exist. The basic HârnWorld pack contains only general details, but the kingdom modules bring a remarkable (some think ridiculous) level of detail. In my view, it depends on what sort of gamer you are. To take it to the extreme, if you’ve no problems placing a 5,000,000 pop. City in a desert with no other settlements within 50 miles, then Hârn isn’t for you. But if you say, where do they get water & food from? Why are they there? Then Hârn may be for you.Hârn is low magic, and low monster, most citizens believe if gods and witches, but haven’t seen ‘real’ magic and can’t identify it. But it’s not boring. The island is on a knife edge:In central Hârn, the king of Kaldor is old and will die soon, he is unmarried, has three illegitimate sons, a chancellor who would like the throne and dozens of nephews and nieces with a valid claim.In western Hârn the Kingdom of Kanday has a young and scholarly king perceived by his neighbours as weak. The neighbouring Thardic Republic has a general who wants expansion conquest, and an empire. Adjacent to both is the Kingdom of Rethem, haven of the dark churches and subject to much internal strife. Rethem lost a war with Kanday less than a generation ago, and has a disputed border with Tharda.In the north the native Jarin (celtic types) were invaded by the Ivinians (Vikings) and are suffering a brutal repression. There has already been one failed uprising and the time is ripe for a second.For more information check out <a href="http://www.Lythia.com" target="_blank">www.Lythia.com</a> for some of the finest fan-written downloads you’ll find anywhere. Also <a href="http://www.columbiagames.com" target="_blank">www.columbiagames.com</a> and <a href="http://www.kelestia.com" target="_blank">www.kelestia.com</a> both publish Hârn material. (The reason why there are currently two publishers is too complicated to go into here). You could also check out <a href="http://www.harnforum.com" target="_blank">www.harnforum.com</a> for information, help and advice. They’re a friendly bunch.GOM</blockquote>

Verification