 |
|
The CC2/Hârn
Mapping Project, of which I am a contributing member, has created
the Mappa Hârnica Toolkit, an add-on for Profantasy's
Campaign
Cartographer 2 that allows the latter to be used to draw maps in the
Hârnic style. I have found this style to be ideal for the creation
of realistic medieval maps, and thus the Mappa Hârnica Toolkit has
been an invaluable aid for my cartographic efforts. The toolkit is offered
on CHMP's website as a free download. |
 |
|
Columbia Games
produces, among other things, the HârnWorld medieval fantasy
roleplaying setting. Hârn is, to my mind, the most internally consistent
and "realistic" (if anything involving hulking monsters and the supernatural
can be termed realistic) commercially available medieval campaign environment.
Columbia Games also produces the HârnMaster set of rules,
a variant of which I plan to use for my English campaign. Finally, they
offer Lionheart, the sourcebook that gave me the push I needed
to try a medieval English roleplaying setting. |
 |
|
Griffin
Grove Gaming is a small company dedicated to producing
material ideal for roleplaying in historical milieux. The folks
at Griffin focus their efforts primarily upon fourteenth century
France. They are in the process of creating The Lyon Campaign
Module, a sourcebook detailing the area in and around
the city of Lyon, and Par La Main d'une Soeur,
a scenario set in the city. Future plans include the production
of a campaign module and scenarios set in second century Lugdunum
(Roman Lyon). If the high quality of
the material already available on Griffin's website is
any indication, gamers fond of historical campaigns are in for
a treat. |
 |
|
HârnLink
, a collaborative effort put together by Bill Gant, Thorvald Neumann, and
Richard Luschek, features a comprehensive list of links to the many websites
out there that offer Hârnic content of one sort or another. Think
of it as a gateway to Hârn on the Web. And it's not only comprehensive,
it's also well maintained, with new sites being added and dead links stripped
away periodically. The regular housecleanings ensure that HârnLink,
unlike many pages featuring external hyperlinks, does not become an exercise
in frustration for its users. |
 |
|
Andy Staples' Penultimate
HârnPage offers not just material of interest to Hârniacs,
but also to those intrigued by medieval England. His "Down on the Farm"
section alone is worth a visit; it includes, among other things, Andy's
translations of famous thirteenth century Latin treatises on husbandry
and estate management, and an article that lays out the course of the medieval
English farming year. Other sections feature a topographical map of Britain;
beautifully executed HârnMaster character record sheets; Hârnic
folksongs; details concerning Andy's upcoming Hârn campaign, Tales
from Lynnfana Hundred, and much more. |
 |
|
Ken Snellings' Perils
of Perinore website is devoted to the Hârn PBeM game of the
same name. Ken has been GMing the game for over a year, and was kind enough
to allow me to join after the adventure had already begun. My character,
a young physician named Elycia, has only just encountered the rest of the
group after a thoroughly enjoyable pregame that spanned a few months of
real time. Ken's website includes a log of what's happened thus far during
the game, various relevant maps drawn using Mappa Hârnica (not surprising, given
that Ken is a spectacular mapper, and the driving
force behind CHMP to boot), and character
descriptions. |
 |
|
Profantasy Software
is the creator of Campaign Cartographer 2, a software application
built around a CAD engine designed to be used by gamers for the drawing
of maps. In addition to CC2, Profantasy offers an array of add-on products
tailored for specific mapping tasks. When paired with CHMP's
free Mappa Hârnica Toolkit, CC2 is ideal for drawing realistic
settlement maps and groundplans in the Hârnic style. |
 |
|
Sophia's
Chybisa Page is aimed at fleshing out Chybisa, the "Other Kingdom"
of Hârn that in Sophia's opinion is too often neglected by GMs. Her
website offers maps, descriptions of villages and temples, and other material
detailing various aspects of the kingdom. Sophia is a GM with years of
experience, and regularly runs PBeM games. As of this writing, she has begun
play in her Peoni's Tear campaign, and I am fortunate enough to
be one of her players this time around. My character is Tanmara, a Peonian priestess whose
cheerful demeanor cloaks a painful past. |
 |
|
Patrick Nilsson's Swords
& Shields, featuring Richard Luschek's beautiful artwork, is one of the most popular websites with Hârniacs,
and justifiably so. Even if it didn't feature well-designed
record sheets, mapping aids, and other material, Swords & Shields would
still be a valuable resource for GMs. This is because it's the repository
of a number of first-rate maps and articles, each of which examines a specific
Hârnic manor, keep, or other settlement not detailed in the official
source material. These documents, which are available as free downloads,
are of significantly higher quality than many commercially available roleplaying
products. |
 |
|
Bill Gant's WarFlail's
Armoury began, in his words, as "just a semi-private repository
of house rules" that would be easy for his players to access prior to gaming
sessions. That was then, this is now. Today, the website is a "must-visit"
for Hârn fans. The modest collection of house rules has grown into
several comprehensive documents, each formatted in an attractive and professional
manner and offered as a free PDF download. The rules themselves are tailored
to the various flavors of HârnMaster, and cover everything from extensive
equipment lists to fighting in low visibility conditions. Warflail's Armoury
also features spreadsheets that automate tedious GMing tasks, tournament
and jousting articles, and much more. |
