Does anyone use the Harn setting?

[Red Orc]

Just wondering who else out there uses stuff from Harn in their fantasy gaming. I came across a few of their publications in my local gamng store in the early '90s, but never saw anything else. But there seems to be a lot of stuff available on the web. Just wondering who was using it and whether anyone had recommendations.

[Sir Dryden]

I've been using the Harn setting (and the Harnmaster system) for about 20 years so don't be surprised if I sound a little biased. The setting is just wonderful. It's complex, detailed and most of all, realistic. The articles are fun to read because of that complexity. However, this almost insane level of detail can be intimidating when you decide to go for it and use Harn. If you want to give it a look, check out Columbia Games website for a start (http://www.columbiagames.com/). There's samples of articles that you can look at. Also, for fan-made stuff, check out http://www.lythia.com/. Very high quality stuff in general.

As far as mini gaming is concerned, we used to have a gladiator league that used the Harn setting and the Harnmaster combat system (a thing of beauty for small scale combat). It worked perfectly because we followed some simple rules: 1 player per fighter, max of 8 fighters in the arena. Since you tend to die or at least be taken out rapidly using this combat system, the games were quite fast. It was tons of fun.

I hope it helps. Anybody interested in fantasy should check out the links above. It's a darn shame the setting is not widely known, though I feel it's for a more adult or historically-minded people. Tons o' that around here, huh?
(historically-minded people, not adults... )

Yours truly,

Sir Dryden

[Red Orc]

It's definitely the setting that appeals, to be honest I've not looked at the rules as such, just some of the material relating to background (which is indeed intensely and realistically detailed). Lythia.com (link for those who don't want to go to link in the post above) is where I've been finding new stuff, and some of it is jolly good.

I am worried however that it seems like it's 'all or nothing' - dropping a bit of Rethem (for instance) into my ongoing and rather sprawling fantasy campaign (set in a world built over years of cobbling together scavenged bits of D&D with random bits of fantasy novels), might not work too well. I have a feeling that because of the complexity and cohesion of the background, it probably works best 'as' Harn, rather than just another source of plundering.

It seems you'd agree that the setting and rules together are best way to use it;  but honestly there's no way I'm going to invest in the whole thing from the ground up now for my campaign world, I've got 30 years invested in D&D and its offshoots. But finding a way to use parts of the setting is definitely intriguing.

[Sir Dryden]

Hey Red Orc,

Yeah, using bits and pieces of Harn is a tough thing to achieve. However, I can think of a few things that might work. The Bestiary articles have some interesting creatures that can easily be imported into an existing setting. The Earthmasters' ruins and artifacts can be imported too, especially if you want to add a Cthuluesque, extinct(?) ancient culture in your world. Evael, the elven kingdom, has some good stuff that might fit in with a bit of tinkering. The Guild system can also be a good ressource to plunder.

However, by far the best ressource Harn has to offer is small settings (villages, keeps, castles, cities, etc.). You've seen the maps and interior plans, they're gorgeous. I imagine a lot of them are easily usable. I wouldn't buy the whole thing for bits and pieces either, but there's a lot of free stuff online. Also, Columbia Games sells solo articles instead of complete books thus dropping the price. That might be worth checking out.

Yours truly,

Sir Dryden 

[Red Orc]

Cheers, I'll keep working away at it then, because you're right, the material is gorgeous and for a series of adventure locations that are free to download, the stuff from Lythia.com is unsurpassed I think. I'll check out what's on offer at the Columbia Games site too, I suppose it can't hurt to go to the 'official' source!

[Sir Dryden]

I'm always happy to plug Harn whenever I can. As for the "official house of Harn", check out http://www.kelestia.com/. There's some nasty legal war surrounding the ownership of the setting or something, so now there's two different versions of Harn.

Yours truly,

Sir Dryden

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

We used it in the guise of "Darkest Harn." Set in the middle of the Indian Ocean, it was a great place to field our Colonial armies! :-)

[Red Orc]

I'm kinda hoping that no-one notices that it bears a passing resemblence to Atlantis, tum-tum, nothing to see here...