From: schmunk@spacsun.rice.edu (Robert Schmunk)
Subject: Harnic fluff (was Re: HARN)
Reply-To: schmunk@spacsun.rice.edu (Robert Schmunk)
Organization: Dept. of Space Physics, Rice University, Houston TX
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 21:56:43 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.225247.1@wharton.upenn.edu>, millerl@wharton.upenn.edu writes:
|> In article <BxH20I.LDD@rice.edu>, schmunk@spacsun.rice.edu (Robert Schmunk) writes:
|> > In article <1992Nov8.025806.1@wharton.upenn.edu>, millerl@wharton.upenn.edu writes:
|> > |> What kind of campaigns does the Harn setting encourage? Can you and
|> > |> other Harnophiles post some fluff about your campaigns
|> > 
|> > Oh boy, an excuse to wax prolific.
|> 
|> And then Robert gives a long rave review of Harn. I have a lot of Harn
|> material, including most of the stuff you mention, Robert, but I wanted
|> to hear fluff, war stories, anecdotes about campaigns that you have
|> played in Lythia. Have you played Harn, or just read it (like me)?

Sorrrrrrrryy.

Actually, I've GMed it for about two years now. I'd play in it, but I'm
the only HarnMaster GM I know of in Houston.

Technically, I'm not running a HarnWorld campaign. I started designing my own
world before I encountered the Harn materials at the gamestore. Not wanting
to throw my own efforts away, I just started incorporating materials. Thus,
there are at least three kingdoms in my world which are analogs of Harnic
kingdoms, differing only in geography.

But if you want fluff...

As for my own campaign, it's currently set in a border duchy of a large
empire, which recently ended a religious civil war which resulted in the NE
provinces gaining independence. With the war over, there are now a lot of
unemployed soldiers roaming around and one can expect banditry to soon be
on the rise. The empire itself has shown a stability which would be fairly
remarkable in our world, but has occurred because of the internal Gargun
(orc) threat, which requires a bit of cohesion.

Plans for my own campaign are for a succession crisis to break out in the
duchy. The duke has three sons, the eldest of whom is amoral, the youngest
has married a usurer's daughter and the middle is out of the scene for
reasons too complex to describe here. The usurer, wanting to increase his
influence in regional politics by elevating his daughter to duchess, will
try to hire the PCs to acquire documentary proof of the eldest son's
unfitness to rule,

After that? Too many strange events keep happening in the duchy, primarily
since the PCs have not shown much inclination to go elsewhere. Consequently,
in order for them to save their own lives, I'm going to force them into a
quest to locate two magical items. They'll be told where the items are,
sort of; ie., the items are located in faraway places now legendary and whose
actually locations are unknown.

As for fluff on real HarnWorld campaigns, I have heard some interesting
commentary on the V-Net HarnLine echo. Once GM there has been running a
pbem Kaldoric succession crisis entitled Thy Kingdom Divided. Someone else
recently described a very interesting campaign in which tension between
Kaldor and Orbaal has flared up.

-- 
Robert B. Schmunk <schmunk@spacsun.rice.edu>
SPAC, Rice Univ, Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 USA
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Loyalty was a great thing, but no lieutenants should be forced to choose
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