Message #355 "Hârn Lore" (RECEIVED)
Date: 02-Mar-89 18:44
From: John Mcdonald
To: Robin Crossby
Subj: Twenty Questions
Robin,
You said you liked to answer questions about Hârn/Hârnmaster. Well
you asked for it. By the way, thanks for the map EH 12. It worked out
well. I've found more uses for it than I ever imagined.
Q1. Missile range modifiers reflect the extent to which the missile can be dodged. What if the target must ignore the attack?
A1. Well, the range modifiers reflect more than just the extent to which the projectile can be dodged they also consider windage and flight time: the longer a missile is in the air, the more likely it is to be shifted off course and the more likely that the target has moved (whether or not it is aware of the missile). In nearly all cases, selecting an IGNORE defence will take care of the problem.
Q2. COMBAT 19 says missile rates of 20 per minute have been demonstrated in tournaments. When during the round would each missile fire, and at what ML?
A2. I'm not sure whether you want to know how to handle tournaments, or whether you are asking about melee combat. As a general rule, in a controlled (tournament) situation, the missile fire would be evenly spaced throughout the turn (this is at a stationary and peacable target). In a melee situation firing would occur as target(s) presented themselves and as the bowman found himself able to fire (after considering threats to his health, etc.)
Q3. Why the change in armour prices? I thought the differences between Hârn and Ivinia reflected regional differences, but Hârnmaster gives higher prices.
A3. The armour prices in Hârnmaster are not ALL higher than those in Hârn and Ivinia they are, however, more accurate. The object in Hârn/Ivinia was to give approximate figures to get the GM into the right ballpark (there simply wasn't room to do a full system like the one in Hârnmaster). The weaponcraft system we presented in Hârnmaster was not fully worked out in 1983 when we published the Hârn Regional module...
Q4. Does a missile attack that causes the target to fail a E/F/S roll gain a TA for the bowman? TAs should be limited to engaged opponents.
A4. Mmm, interesting question. Generally, simply striking a target would not give a bowman a Tactical Advantage, although you could argue otherwise if the target was about to melee with the bowman. In general, no TA should accrue in this situation; although you might Beta-Test the following optional rule:
At the conclusion of each combat ROUND, all bowmen who have not been engaged during the round may select and execute a second missile option.
This would give unengaged bowmen a second attack. If you try this rule, let me know how it turns out.
Q5. Should IPs for the current wound be included in EI before E/F/S rolls? This seems to be infered.
A5. Yes, they should.
Q6. In HL4 Tyler Wunder asked how to handle Sindarin healing rates. This was never answerd.
A6. I should apologize to Tyler. This was indeed an oversight, we should have answered. The applicable paragraph of his letter was:
In the module Evael, it was stated that when an elf suffers physical harm, the injury heals quickly due to a high cell-replacement rate. How is this incorporated into the Hârnmaster combat rules? Would an increase of two to the healing rate be too generou? Would the results on the Healing Table also be affected? TYLER WUNDER, Kitchener, Ontario.
First, the Sindarin are immune to infection (this will speed up recovery in some cases). Second, It would be a good idea to make recovery rolls twice (instead of once) daily for Sindarin.
Q7. I still don't see how the gate of Kemdal spell works. Is the number of stops generated on each casting, or just on the first? It seems like the caster would never reach his destination. (I don't mean he will make a large number of stops, I mean he will NEVER get there).
A7. The number of stops is generated on the first casting (MS 1d4+2 / CS 1d3), but may be increased by CF on successive castings (+1d3).
In theory, the trip could take forever, but it's not likely. As an optional rule, the number of stops could be decreased by one with CS. This is one of my favourite spells (heh, heh, heh).
Q8. COMBAT 3 and COMBAT 21 disagree on a number of stats. Which is correct?
A8. You are correct I just checked the tables and found that in four cases (Dagger, Taburi, Keltan, and Pike) one factor on Combat-3 is lower than those on Combat 21. Nobody has ever pointed this out before. Are there any more errors?. The following are corrections:
Weapon WQ B E P Dagger (11) 1 2 4 Taburi 11 0 - (4) Keltan (12) 2 0 3 Pike 12 (5) - 8
Q9. Characters on Hârn seem slow. They should be able to sprint at least 3x SPD whan unencumbered (probably at double fatigue). This gives a speed 20 character a 10 second time in the 100 meter.
A9. I'm inclined to agree, except that I think triple Fatigue is more reasonable. Hârnmaster was not aimed at olympic type competition, and we're talking 20th century Terran olympic records, but with proper training this seems quite about right. (To a Canadian the Olympic 100 metres is a sensitive subject.) You have to consider at this point whether you want to create Running as a skill to account for the training. The issue doesn't come up very often. If it really bothers you, I could write an article on it.
Q10. How did Kaliban Elendsa die? Do you plan to develop this? I'd like to introduce a classical Vampire onto Hârn, and this seems like a perfect place unless I'm missing something.
A10. Offhand, I'd say assassination, but I wrote Kaldor several years ago and would have to do some research before giving a definitive answer. To your main point: there's nothing wrong with introducing vampires, but I suspect one that affected the Kaldoric Royal family would have received quite a bit of press...
Q12. Will Auto-Ref automate combat? Will source code be included?
A12. Autoref 1.00 will not automate combat (this is a huge chunk of programing and I'm having trouble keeping Autoref down to reasonable size as it is). Autoref should, however, generate a tactical display on a hexgrid. This should help with combat. Source code will probably not be provided in the basic package, but probably will be available separately (If I ever get the damn thing finished to my satisfaction).
Q13. How do you determine Sunsign for characters who travel to Hârn? When Hârnians leave their world, do they lose their sunsign bonus?
A13. Technically, each world should have its own Sunsigns and modifiers, but as an alternative, if the precice Kethiran date of birth is known a Kethiran Sunsign can be generated (Autoref sets up a precice concordance of dates between several worlds, and allows you to find this out quickly).
Q14. Do the languages on Lythia derive from ancient terran tongues. The Earthmasters article indicates that they have similar backgrounds. If so which ones with which?
A14. Frankly I haven't given this much thought, but I'd say no, the worlds are parallel, but not derivitive.
Q15. I made the mistake of purchasing Castles of Hârn at my game store. In so doing, I missed out on Heroth Keep is it still available?
A15. I believe Heroth is available direct from Columbia Games.
Q16. Do you plan on doing a set of miniatures? Most Knights are in plate, and there are several unique creatures to Hârn. Besides, I've never seen an orc that looks like it should.
A16. We have no plans at present to do miniatures. I think Ral-Partha did some fairly decent orcs?
Q17. On GODSTONES 3 [make that Godstones 4] it says under [2] add one die per 500 leagues (25 hexes). Which is it 500 leagues or 25 hexes (125 leagues)?
A17. The article is quite old: All things considered, I think I would change the whole concept somewhat. I no longer think that ordinary spacetime distance is an important consideration for the Godstones. I will consider doing a revised version of Godstones...
Q18. OK, so I'm a few short.
A18. Thank Goodness