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I want to quote something VileBill wrote a while back in a response to Aberrant: The New Flesh.
“So unless I liked it I can't say anything? If someone wants to write something and put it out there, regardless of the amount of work that went into it, they're opening themselves open to feedback. Both negative and positive.”
I read through a lot of material and watch a lot of movies, all (most) lovingly crafted works that some effort went in to. And some of them are total dreck. There are the elite few that are so bad I can find nothing good to say about them, material I am not even sure the producer(s) likes or supports. They fail not only on technical level but seem void of ideas or so misdirected as to be insulting to the audience, without artistic merit. So I write purely negative material about them.
Some things are amazing, with few or no flaws, that advance an art or understanding to new levels or do the commonplace so well one sees it in a whole new light. I write glowing reviews of them. Sometimes though, you have something that is well done, but you may not understand the point or it just doesn't do anything for you. Like balancing a spoon on one's nose. Or competitive eating.
Which brings me to HarnMaster.
[end_news_blurb]
HarnMaster Fantasy Roleplaying
HarnMaster 3rd edition Fantasy Roleplaying system is not a new system. It is copyright is 2003. It is new to me though as I picked it up as part of a bundle from DriveThruRPG. HarnMaster is an attempt to introduce realism into fantasy role-playing, and it does so in part by having a highly detailed character generation system, with a lot of optional details. These details take class structure, clan structure and the reality of a medieval existence strongly into consideration.
It also has a detailed combat system with called strike zones, strike location within zones and no hit points, but rather a loss of abilities until one is unconscious or dead. It has armor and weapon damage, friendly fire and mounted combat rules that take into account the breed of horse you ride. All of these seem reasonably realistic. But who wants to be taken out accidentally by their drunken archer friend before swinging the first blow?
I am all for detailed characters, but I am not sure of how much reality I want in my fantasy. And that is the rub with HarnMaster. It is fantasy but it is not epic fantasy or high fantasy. It is concerned so much with being realistic that its fantasy elements seem sorely neglected. Which is fine if that's the kind of game one wants to play. But is not for me.
Where Did All The Paladins Go?
There are no classes as such in HarnMaster, rather there are occupations, everything from tentmaker to minor royalty, and skill sets based upon the occupations, as well as other skills to choose from. Family and relationship to the clanhead are important as well as contacts, both friendly and not. Training times for one's profession play into multiple aging effects experienced later on in the game.
The character generation system is extensive, detailed, flexible and yet it felt confining. Where in another system I can say I am the daughter of a ratcatcher then spin a personal history of how it led to being a powerful sorcerer, in HarnMaster the character felt stuck in the daughter of a ratcatcher phase. As to the reality of the characters, ultimately rising above one's station was not a common occurrence. Sure a cook shot Richard the Lionhearted, but history does not suggest he went on to become a general. Probably back to making gruel. Stressing the reality of the characters is a double-edged blade, which could break off in one's chainmail. If there be dragons, reality has bowed its head.
HarnMaster as a Game
HarnMaster is a system where I do not understand the point. There is little magic, a low frequency of mystical beasts, combat can be decided by a weapon breaking (based upon a die roll, not as part of the story) and dice seem to rule. This is not a criticism of the structure of the rules, the writing, the technical merits of the system or the ideas expressed. This is a purely subjective reaction based upon what I want out of a game.
There are a series of reviews on RPG.net which delve into the game in a lot more detail and they arrive at a very positive conclusion: “Realistic without sacrificing playability, HarnMaster is a mature, superbly crafted, role-playing game offering a great deal of versatility for the discriminating gamer. Highly recommended.”
The game mechanics allow for a range of settings, from Viking to feudal Japan, possible even steam punk or modern day realms, with extensive modification of skills. I do not in any way want to disparage the work that went into creating this game, but having only read through the game, it just does not see like something I would enjoy. It might be, in the hands of an experienced game master, that I would see it in a whole new light.
Self-Lovecraft
I am not familiar with enough games to know which other ones have seduction and sex as a skill but any game that gives this description, “The ability to charm, seduce, and give erotic pleasure. Lovecraft is opened when a character first attempts to use it. It cannot normally be improved by solitary practice, although there may be books or teachers available. The skill is used to assess the success of a seduction or sexual encounter,” with a nod to ...er, self-lovecraft, certainly has something going for it.
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