The Marches Campaign

Scott · Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:47 pm Post subject:

There's an ongoing debate about whether there are root crops on Harn. It's Harn's version of "do female dwarves have beards?" At one point it was very contentious, to the point that mention of the "Harnic potato" is an inside joke, and the question is addressed in the *very first* of the "Questions About the Setting" in the HarnFAQ:

1. Why doesn't H�rn have root crops?
The short statement in H�rnWorld that H�rn does not have root crops has puzzled many fans. It appears to have been an error. Potatoes and several other root crops were unknown in the middle ages on Earth, and so were deliberately kept out of descriptions of H�rn. Somehow, this decision was accidentally expanded to become the statement that "root crops" were unknown on H�rn. So now some GM's go strictly by that statement (with the understanding that H�rn is not the same as Earth), and others simply interpret "root crops" to mean those roots (principally tubers) which were unknown in medieval Europe. Overall it is a pretty insignificant issue, though it has caused extensive discussion in the past.

By "extensive discussion," they mean "significant butt-hurt." The entire thing has become emblematic of why Harn fans are the most contentious lot of canon-dependent detail wonks this side of the Traveller Mailing List. And no, I can't be arsed to type the proper "a".
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The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you.

Scott · Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:49 pm Post subject:

Ask, and ye may receive:

_________________
The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you.

WyzardWhately · (Lars) Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 260

Well, at least they were bright enough to set its damage to nil.

Scott · Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:03 pm Post subject:

Scott · Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:57 pm Post subject:

Since no one is playing a magic-user yet, I believe I'm going to change the way magic-users and spellbooks work.

In OD&D by the book, *all* spellcasting characters, i.e., magic-users *and* clerics, use "books of spells." And all spellcasting characters have access to all the spells on the Spell Lists for the appropriate spell levels. So a 1st level magic-user has all the common 1st level spells in his book, and a cleric has to keep spellbooks (presumably holy texts). The differences between the way the two classes keep and memorize spells are eroded a bit.

In the campaign the way I've got it written up now, clerics don't need spellbooks. I'm planning to keep it this way, although in future campaigns, the fundamentalist faction may gain power and the way things work may change ...

Similarly, as things stand right now with my house rules, magic-users don't need spellbooks, but they also don't know all the common spells.

One interesting aspect of the "keep spellbooks, with a common spell list" approach is its intersection with by the book magical research. "Once a new spell is created the researcher may include it in the list appropriate to its level. He may inform others of it, thus enabling them to utilize it, or he may keep it to himself." This implies some sort of forum or mechanism whereby a magic-user can share his knowledge with the larger world of occult study, should he so desire. This would presumably bring great fame (or infamy) to intrepid PC magic-users who added to the canon of magical knowledge.

I actually like where this goes, so I'm changing the rule back to the default for magic-users only. Magic-users, like clerics, have access to the full common spell list for spells of any level they can cast. Unlike clerics, magic-users must maintain books of spells, and pay to have them replaced if lost.

Every so often I'll distribute an updated rules document.
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The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you.

Scott · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject:

Let me know if any of your characters have any pre-game connection with each other (family, etc.). Otherwise, you'll probably start play having been pressed into patrol duty for Tegel Village, or something similar.
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The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you.

Scott · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:57 pm Post subject:

Next pre-game house rule: "Elf" player characters are technically Half-Elves.

There are no Elf-lands and there is no known Elvish "culture." Elves are scary Fair Folk creatures who occasionally snatch an unlucky girl into a hollow hill. The abductee emerges years later, unaged but pregnant; their changeling offspring are Half-Elves, who use the Elf rules. Most commoners just call them "Elves," and distrust and fear them, but don't (usually) harm them for fear of reprisals.

As before, the appearance of a PC Half-Elf is entirely up to the player. There isn't a unified "style guide" for them.
_________________
The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you.

WyzardWhately · (Lars) Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 260

Nick · (Sinlocah) Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 121

Divad and Sinlocah would know each other for obvious reasons and I am betting the entire town knows of Lars and Bhartec. The joy of being saddled with those two will most certainly overwhelm the clerics with gratitude for their superiors and make them wonder what they could possibly have done to deserve the honor.

WyzardWhately · (Lars) Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 260

Well, no doubt tending to the blackest sheep in Tegel's flock will earn them merit in the eyes of church and deity. And by "tending," the high priest means "putting into potentially lethal situations."

Bhartec Redhands · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:15 pm Post subject:

WyzardWhately · (Lars) Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 260

Nick · (Sinlocah) Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 121

WyzardWhately · (Lars) Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 260