The Sage's Library: Harnmaster
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Become a VIP supporter of the Broken Empires RPG Kickstarter! play.thebroken...
I'm now on Buy Me A Coffee!: www.buymeacoffe...
NEW! Subscribe to the MM&D Newsletter: www.memyselfan...
The Sage's Library: Harnmaster
Buy Harnmaster through our affiliate link on Drivethru RPG:
www.drivethrur...
And Ars Magica (for the magic conversion I talked about) here:
www.drivethrur...
My house rules and conversion notes can be found here:
www.memyselfan...
All shows and supplemental material available on the website: www.memyselfan...
Please Like and Subscribe to the channel! Visit us at www.memyselfan...
If you want to support the channel become a Patron! / memyselfanddie
Official merchandise available here! www.memyselfan...
Purchasing items from DrivethruRPG using the links below is a great way to help out:
Dominion Rules: dominionrules.org/
Maze Rats: www.drivethrur...
Mythic GM Emulator 2E: www.drivethrur...
Mythic Location Crafter: www.drivethrur...
Mythic Magazine Vol 3: www.drivethrur...
Mythic Variations: www.drivethrur...
UNE the Universal NPC Emulator: www.drivethrur...
The Perilous Wilds: www.drivethrur...
Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer’s Edition: www.drivethrur...
Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion: www.drivethrur...
Ironsworn: www.drivethrur...
Ironsworn Delve: www.drivethrur...
Vikings of Legend: www.drivethrur...
The Book of Random Tables: www.drivethrur...
The Book of Random Tables 2: www.drivethrur...
The Book of Random Tables 3: www.drivethrur...
The Book of Random Tables 4: www.drivethrur...
The Book of Random Tables 5: www.drivethrur...
GM’s Miscellany Urban Dressing: www.drivethrur...
GM’s Miscellany Urban Dressing II: www.drivethrur...
GM’s Miscellany Wilderness Dressing: www.drivethrur...
GM’s Miscellany Dungeon Dressing: www.drivethrur...
The Tome of Adventure Design: www.drivethrur...
Wonderdraft mapping software: www.wonderdraf... Random city generator: watabou.itch.i...
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything: dnd.wizards.co...
Link to Rolescape: rolescape.io/p...
Special thanks to James Arnold Taylor and Gabor Vida - บันเทิง
Would love to see a season of Me, Myself, & I .. using Harnmaster!
Hits about effects - not damage - is great for immersion.
We play with the Gunmaster rules as well, so we can play with muskets or with AK-74's as well as being in a medieval setting. Harnmaster can scale to spaceships and stuff. One incident in a campaign took the party, via a spaceship, to a world with a 1970's tech and we ended up having a shootout with automatic weapons in a Chinese restaurant.
That is simultaneously hilarious and very interesting. xD
Worked on this system, or rather the supplements, back in the day. Dazzling world. I did not dazzle, but was glad to sweep out the stable.
I would VERY much like to see your Ars Magica conversion for HarnMaster.
I also would be interested in this.
I've added it to the Resources section of the website: www.memyselfanddie.com/resources
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG AWESOME-SAUCE!!! Thank you, sir.
Oh man, complex but not complicated is exactly how i describe Hârnmaster. I adore this system, and some of your other videos and resources make me really want to just run myself through solo. Love this.
I can't actually clearly tell which came first, the Shek Pavar or the Order of Hermes. They certainly seem to have come out of similar design philosophies though Harnic wizards tend to be less powerful than Hermetic Magi at first. Harn is designed to be 'grim and gritty' and Mythic Europe can go all the way up to flying castles and archangels.
You story about the two enemies healing wonderfully illustrates one of my biggest issues with the 5E quick heal sort of think. There is this belief that having to take down time stops the story, but that pretty much patently false.
Harnmaster, the most complete role playing game ever designed. Well done sir.
*Another AMAZING episode of Sage's Library!!!* It was extremely interesting to hear all about Harnmaster and I can't wait to hear you talk about the Harn setting in that future episode!
Love that Rolemaster, Merp, VsD shelf their left to your head:)
Truth is we really want a season of MMaD with harnmaster as the system
Agreed 100%! :D
I share your enthusiasm for Harnmaster as a simulation or "time machine" in which to explore a setting such as Harn. Immersion and player engagement are elements of the RPG experience that I particularly enjoy and this system really delivers like few others. I have to add that the cover illustration has remained a personal favorite image for about 3.5 decades now and viewing it still transports my thoughts to the Norman Conquest where I hear the crackling flames, barking hounds and wailing loss, smell the acrid smoke and look away as the dying peasant turns slowly at the end of a rope.
Wow! Its like HarnMaster is the father game to D100 Dungeon from the Great Britain known as
Martin Knight.
Harnmaster sounds really
good to me.
Subscribed and ready for more Harnmaster / Harnworld game information. Old fan of Harn and like to hear people's stories about it.
Same here! I absolutely fell in love with the mechanics and setting. It's like a more advanced version of AD&D. I remember the DM gave us some random characters to practice the fighting mechanics in pvp duels (we were Harn newbies). I was a guy with a spear getting his ass kicked by a guy with a sword. Cuts and bruises accumulating, it was getting harder and harder for me to hit him. So in a desperate last attempt, I aimed for his head on a counterstrike. My spear went right through his right eye and he died. Was hooked from then on.
And I also loved how there were no real character classes, you were just adventurers that picked up different skills depending on your role-playing.
A third waiting for more Hârn
I hope you make more Harn videos. Btw guys, there's a documentary called Eye of the beholder on amazon prime all about D&D art. Highly recommend for the nostalgic thrills.
Have you played RuneQuest? Any ediiton ....
Had a great time in "normal" Harnworld, but once played in a campaign set in Middle Earth using the Harnmaster system and it was fantastic, really brought the feel of being in that setting.
I love Harnmaster! Soloed it more than a couple of times and what was absolutely great, was how I did not need to describe the combat. The rolls did it by themselves! It was like a movie combat choreography unfolding in front of me. Absolutely brilliant. Thanks for this entry in your great series!
Solo very interesting I literally just got harnmaster havnt even opened the box yet. Wil be doing later today
I roll my eyes when people tell me that Harnmaster is a rules-heavy system. Compared to something like 5e you have literally one mechanic and one two-sided table. No looking at a 500-page rulebook looking for very specific class rules...of course, if you have a Shek-Pvar :D
I would love to see a Sage's Library on Ars Magica! Especially with the Definitive Edition coming out this year
Not sure if we played it right back then, but I remember that during a "playful" fist fight between PCs one got kicked between the legs and spend several days painfully dying of an infection.
Hah! Yeah, it seems there were many who misinterpreted the rules. A guy I used to know thought you got a bonus to strike if you were *lying down*. This led to the hilarious image of combatants charging each other and immediately dropping prone to flail uselessly at each other 🤪
Practically a Harry Houdini death!
HârnMaster is the bomb. Been playing it since '98, and moderated on the Hârn Forum too. The setting is beyond amazing too. Great video!
I picked up the 3e plus a bundle with HarnWorld and the Kingdom of Kaldor for $30 on DTRPG. I blame you.
I share your love for Harn, but not for Harnmaster. I played Harnmaster for a year or so before reverting back to house ruled RuneQuest 2. Harnmaster was just too complicated and I was moving away from simulationist at the time.
Oh, and having Sunsigns as a stat was silly when mixed with all the more serious/logical things in the game.
I am amazed that you know enough players willing to play so many different games.
I’ve trained them well ;)
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG Well, you do seem to be able to wrangle these complex rules, which is a feat in of itself.
Half the reason I got into solo RPG's is because I want to try other systems, and no one else does.
nice job.
It’s a problem I hear a lot from people: no one ever wants to try something other than D&D. Luckily it’s not a problem my original group ever had; we loved the huge variety of other game systems out there. And that was in the eighties! Nowadays it could be argued that we’re in a new RPG Golden Age, with an endless supply of systems, genres and rule sets available. The idea of only ever playing one game seems absurd to me, and yet it seems it’s an endemic problem out there. That’s part of the reason I do the Sage’s Library - to open people’s eyes to the vast universe of other excellent games they may never have even heard of.
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG 5e is a corpo-virus.
So.. Ars Magica will be showing up in the future, too?
Sweet delicious magic.
This sounds like a great game! Great presentation, thank you!
As a fan of more complex games, I was always curious about Harnmaster. Thanks for the fantastic video! Also: hit locations are the best thing ever created for an RPG.
I’m really looking forward to the episode on Harn World.
I really dig when your enthusiasm and love for gaming comes through. You're always enjoyable, often great, but Harn really brought out the best! Thank you for the channel
I'm definitely looking forward to your episode on Fate.
Always good to see harn getting more love. I really need to get it to the table more
You've convinced me to give it a look after seeing it for decades on the shelves of the gaming stores. I always wanted to but the Character Sheet looked too busy. I think I might be ready for a higher level of simulation. I actually don't want wizards and clerics in my RPG games anymore so the starting box is ok.
The company, originally titled Gamma Two Games, started in Vancouver, Canada, but after ten years changed its name to Columbia Games, and eventually moved to Blaine, Washington. It is currently run by founder Tom Dalgliesh and his son Grant.
Rolemaster/Merp was so ahead of its time with the unified action resolution.
If I may, we have played during years with this system, and I am not sure what you are refering to...
Would you be kind to remind me of it... ?
@@Cinetiste Every action is resolved by d100, analogous to d20 in 3E and later DnD. Monte Cook clearly took some ideas with him when he went from Rolemaster to DnD.
Trevor's videos have made me more open to crunch heavy simulationist systems. Harn Master is something I've tried reading due to him, but I'm having such a hard time reading through it's pages. Having a video in his "learns to play" series would be wonderfully useful. The only videos I can find that do that are multiple hours long.
That’s the plan!
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG Ah shit, I can't wait!
Thanks for the video. I was always intrested in Harn I bought their wargaming supplement Battlelust, but could never get around the fact that no one played it. Can it be played solo?I like your channel regards, Paras
Love Harnworld, but I don't use Harnmaster, instead I run my Mythras game on Harn. However, I adapted the Mythras magic system to be more in line with Harnmaster's. Both systems are very similar, but I like to roll damage dice. 😁
I hear you. That’s a good combination too - I used Mythras for an Ivinian game at one point. (But you do roll damage dice in HM - d6s 😊)
Would love to see a season of Me, Myself, & Die .. using Harnmaster!
Hoping for RuneQuest now you're talking about the simulation systems from the old days
I'll get to it, but probably through a "Mythras" lens (as that's what I'm currently playing and it's fresh in my mind!)
Not a bad idea - although, it might steer you clear of Glorantha (which is sad)
Never got into Glorantha, actually. Even in the RQ3 days we used the Viking setting they released. I know virtually nothing about it.
I downloaded harnmaster after you mentioned the world in another video. The world and setting is AMAZING so I was drawn to get the 3rd edition rules. Lol the char sheet looking like an irs form is spot on. I was so confused by the wording of the rules and character creation I had to print out that part of Harnmaster just to “understand” it, reading it on the pdf just was not working with my brain. lol so yeah, hopefully I can look through it again and finish creating my character because the world is just so neat and super detailed.
There are forums on discord with GM’s, players, games and discussions.
The smell thing got me haha
Brilliant and enjoyable review of perhaps the most brilliant RPG rule set. A hurrah and a huzzah from old England!
This video was remarkable. Thank you.
We LOVED Harnmaster! We ran a campaign from college for years intermittently. Then children started playing and we went to D&D 3.5.
I've been looking into solo role playing and came across your channel. Thank you so much for all your videos. I've been bingeing them like crazy.
I double dare you to solo this for Season 4
Ok, you have my attention. But where is the stream about harnworld?
On the list. I’m a busy man 😎
Could you suggest to me links for some hooks to incorporate harnmaster to REAL english history?
Just purchased on Columbia games site. Would this be a tough one to solo?
Again, brilliant video, Trevor!
Wish you purchased through my affiliate link! ;) www.drivethrurpg.com/product/59395/HarnMaster-Third-Edition?affiliate_id=538789
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG yeah I’m a dummy…damnit!
Do you know where I could find Field of Honor i player created mass combat rules for Harnmaster?
Always love me a Sage's Library segment. Always was interested in Harnmaster but never tried it.
Should check out and do one of these reviews for Hackmaster 5e. I actually homebrewed Hârnmaster with the Hackmaster 5e "count up" initiative system. My homebrew system started with Hârnmaster Gold as a base, and I've altered it with stuff from all my favorite systems.
How about a FATE CORE review. I read the book and tried to like it but the meta aspects really make it not a game in my opinion. then I saw a video here on Y.T. "Fate A GM's Perspective" and that guy said that he and his group stripped all the meta elements off the top, which made sense to me... I have yet to see an engaging actual play of FATE. The thing is I keep chewing on FATE CORE thinking, this could be fun without the meta elements. Thoughts? How about A one shot to show how good the system really is...
I have a very high opinion of Harn. Unfortunately, Columbia Games does as well and they price it accordingly. The recent Kickstarters have been a good way to pick up physical products at a decent price though, and I've been adding to my collection.
I think most indie publishers price their stuff too low. In the case of Columbia they put out a beautiful product of top notch quality. We all should gladly pay what they are asking!
I recently watched your Harn world video and thought your description sounded a bit like the German game world of The Dark Eye (Das Schwarze Auge) and now listenting to your take on Harnmaster it sounds like the systems have similarities as well. DSA is not as realistic and brutal, it is definitely more fantasy. But the detailed skills and combined rolls for skill checks sound similar. Seriously, if you dig this, check out the Dark Eye, you might enjoy it XD
Trevor, I ❤️ these!
Would love "Story Time with Trevor" where you reminisce about some of your favorite in-game moments, worlds , or lore.
can't say i'm a huge fan of super simulationist type games, but I am a simple man. I see a mounted knight on the cover and I click like. Cool video!
Great overview of HarnMaser 3. HarnMaster 3 is a fantastic skills based simulationist TTRPG system, and associated HarnWorld background milieu is bar none the best, and possibly the best ever written. HarnMaster has lots of things I love. I love the stats, especially Aura. I love Sun Signs, and that social status matters. I love the concept of fatigue impacting a character's skills. HarnMaster Religion and HarnMaster Magic are fantastic with really innovative rules. The community support is some of the best for any system.
However, the caveat is, b/c it is a skills based simulationist system, it can be tedious and I found combat can be glacially slow and is very crunchy and requires lots recalculating of skill levels on the fly. Two well armoured fighters can bonk on each other forever until they tucker out or get lucky, one achieves a Critical Success and the other a Critical Failure on the Combat table, other wise it is death by a thousand cuts. Given how long it takes to roll up a new character and the danger of combat it can be very tedious, I mean who wants to die of an infection after a winning a combat. In my dottage, I have found I just want to get on with it; so I am happier with less realistic, more cinematic systems, so I don't play HarnMaster any more.
Highly recommended for the simulationist, not so much for the casual or cinephile gamer.
One of the things I liked about HM is how *fast* it ran, comparatively speaking. True, there’s a learning curve, but once you get in the groove it moves very quickly - and with no trade off in detail. Although I certainly agree it is NOT a system for the casual gamer 😁
One of the things I liked about HM is how *fast* it ran, comparatively speaking. True, there’s a learning curve, but once you get in the groove it moves very quickly - and with no trade off in detail. Although I certainly agree it is NOT a system for the casual gamer 😁
I don't think it's doubles under or over, it's a roll ending in a 0 or 5 under or over is a critical success or failure, which is about twice the odd fir a critical. 😮
Toon is simulationist. It should not be confused with realism. Simulationist games are mostly realistic because they mostly try to reinforce plausibility through a sense of realism and internal consistency aiding immersion. But you could equally emulate Bugs Bunny and other cartoons in their own logic, like Toon.
Comunication skill GOD level...
Well Trevor you have sent me down a rabbit hole and into a huge Warren with this one 😅 I'm not sure if I want to thank you or curse you just yet, I'll let you know when I come back out 😂
It would look interesting to make a Witcher campaign.
Great Episode, I love that you bring attention to these classic games.
Harnmaster is a bullet I've dodged on a couple of occasions, thankfully. I hope I continue to do so! 🙃 Great video as always though, Trevor!
Bite your tongue! My favorite game, remember?!? ;)
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG
Very interesting sounding system. Thanks for showing it off.😁👍
~ Adam
How would you say this compares to something like WFRP or Zwiehander? I've been looking into both of those, but you've made a good case for considering Harnmaster too
First time hearing about Harn, but this sounds so up my alley. I love a gritty RPG system. Sounds like Broken Empires may take a page from it too! (I hope so, anyway lol)
The Broken Empires is heavily inspired by Harnmaster :)
After seeing you put away the Fall volume of Mouse Guard I had difficulty looking away from the Black Axe poking out in the corner. I appreciate that you have the comics so prominently displayed. I would love to hear anything you have to say about the series or RPG (aside from the quick mention in the Burning Wheel video)!
What I really like is that jacket. Have an affiliate link for that :)
Great to hear the shout out to my friend Bill Gant (Warflail)!
I was a bit confused about your critical description. I understand that crits are rules that end in a 0 it a 5. The beauty of this is that every time your should go up by five percent, you have one more chance of doing great, and simultaneously one less chance of messing up. This is great in combat where, as you accumulate the little Nick's, you are less and less able to land that vital killing blow!
Super review. Thanks very much!
Yeah, rolls that end in 5 or 0 are critical results. Didn’t I say that…?
Gant’s rules really improved an already great system. Glad to have found them!
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG I believe you said crits were doubles, but a great summary none the less
Always interesting!
This video perfectly captures the essence of HarnMaster. Thank you Trevor.
Played it at a Milwaukee GenCon. The GM had a real passion for the game which made the game outstanding. I've got a lot of the products but couldn't get my players into it. Time to dust it off.
*Oh yes, HarnMaster sounds like everything I need!*
Thanks for finally sharing your favorite game, Trevor! I've been curious ever since you started bringing it up in random videos here and there. Super cool
Very intrigued by this. Could this game been run well as a solo experience?
Any game can be, but this one is especially good if you like heavy detail in combats.
another great episode. Harn has always been great inspiration for my Pendragon game. Will you review Pendragon eventually btw?
To my great shame, I never actually played Pendragon.
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG 6th edition is coming out this year, perfect timing for you to dive in. If you love Harn you will love KAP (king Arthur Pendragon) as we call it :)
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG - It has some great content, with event tables and such, for running a knight of Arthurian legend. Quite helpful for solo play. It's Traits & Passions system is unique and good for pushing you to play to your character's personality traits too. I still have my old 4th edition Pendragon, which is still pretty much the same as the latest version, but picked up the Charlemagne version (Paladin) based on 5e Pendragon not long ago. Good stuff.
@@NefariousKoel indeed Pendragon works splendidly as a solo game. The matter of Britain is full of lonely errant knights after all
I love your enthusiasm for these other games. I love to see how you draw on all sorts of various supplements when you play. QUESTION how did you enjoy Ironsworn? Will Ironsworn be placed in your library near harnmaster and others? Do you ever think that in another game you will find yourself reaching for Ironsworn or Delve for anything like oracles or assets or moves?
Or maybe the author sent you to book and it was mutually beneficial for you to run Season 2 on Ironsworn and your done with it?
I’d love to know your genuine opinion. Thanks
Funny you should ask me about Ironsworn oracles... keep your eyes on the new episode tomorrow!
Thanks for this. I've been wanting to do a solo campaign based around the idea of a tournament knight. Definitely wanted something with a detailed combat system since that's going to be the focus of so much of it and whittling down hit points clearly wasn't going to cut it. It sounds like this is going to be exactly what I've been looking for. Appreciate your putting it in front of me.
While the combat rules aren't as detailed with specific hit locations and such, Pendragon is excellent for all the other things regarding solo'ing a knight. It's Arthurian legend, but the same system is also used in a Charlemagne setting in the Paladin RPG if you want a different choice.
@@NefariousKoel I own Pendragon and think it's a great source for a knight style setting, but I've had trouble figuring out what you actually *do* when you sit down to play a game using that system. And now that I've picked up Harnmaster I like the rules but I'm not in love with the setting stuff... so I agree, there might be a match made in heaven here.
@@KeterMalkuth Personally I just want to use more of an Arthurian feeling with historical place names, no dwarves and elves, real religions instead of a bunch of made up gods, etc. Purely personal taste. I think using Pendragon as a base setting and Harnmaster as a ruleset is going to work pretty well for me. Not to say I might not check out the Harn setting at some point, it's just not what I have in mind right now.
This sounds a lot like BRP on crack... for those who think it's a little too detailed, do you think BRP is a better compromise?
Probably!
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG haha I look forward to your review of BRP and Runequest one day. I recently discovered it and love BRP as a generic roleplay aid. Your "bell curve" point about GURPS really made me reconsider generic roleplay systems, and BRP really seems to be filling my needs lately.
It is essentially a very detailed BRP, more or less like RuneQuest. As much as I like RQ, there's nothing RQ does mechanically that HM doesn't do at least as well or better. The combat system is simpler than RQ in play IMO, but they are very close cousins. If you like one you'll generally like the other.
It is just so amazing to follow these episodes. Especially because my taste for game systems is exactly along the lines of yours, yet I just keep discovering and being amazed, and now I wanna read all of these!
When you talk about your past campaigns, your books and GMing, I always think it would be awesome to get some new FAQ where we get to know you better. Y'know, the MMD show is so intimistic, and the Sage's Library even more, but as you grow as my favorite youtuber I would be delighted to know your background, the way your most iconic campaigns went and ended, some anecdotes... Much akin to Matt Colville's stories when he talks on and on in his Campaign Diaries or even like in some Running the Game episodes!
I am planning a series of talkbacks with my Patrons for just such an endeavour :)
@@MeMyselfandDieRPG Fantastic. Keep up the genuine passionate work Trevor. You are very appreciated!
300xp
I would like to see you talk about runequest
It’s on the list :)
I really wish I was smart enough or had the mental bandwidth to play this because it sounds SO intriguing 😂 I love the DETAIL
Off to buy Harthblaster!
I always enjoy your Sage’s Library. I owned Harn Master back in the day. I really only hacked the crit charts, which were excellent. It’s a hard pass on the Harn system though. That game is WAY too crunchy for my taste.
You give the best skill toward presentations compared to others. Great job with all of your vids.
Good analogy and one I use also to describe HarnMaster. 'It appears Complex, but it's not Complicated'.
Have you covered Everway or Prince Valiant (precursors to storytelling games), Rolemaster (the behemoth of crunch) or Traveller (the system with the longest legs of all time)?
Rolemaster and Traveller are on my shelves, so they'll get an episode each. I have Everway, but never played it; I keep it mostly as an RPG artifact.
Sounds like I would like this game very much, as GURPS is my favourite system. The one thing I dislike in any game, though, is micro managing encumbrance and inventory, even in videogames. But other than that, this sounds amazing.
Well, you might be disappointed with HM then... encumbrance is a vital aspect of the combat system. The good news is, everything is largely front-loaded: once you figure all the gear numbers out, you pretty much never have to do the calculations in play.
Thank you. I had heard of this but never encountered it. Any chance you could do Mythras at some stage? Not sure if you have ever played it
It's definitely getting an episode!
Heh, I'm currently running an Ironsworn game set in Ravenloft's Har'Akir (Egyptian mummy land) so I'm totally distracted eyeballing that statue on the shelf
We should do an online game. It's Yurij BTW. We could even include Michael, so he could piss me off again, as he consistently screwed the party over. LOL!
Hey Yurij!
How many volumes in the Sage's overly impressive library?
As many as there are stars in the sky... or grains of sand on all the beaches of the world ;)
Possibly a silly idea but one that may challenge The Great Sage.
If you could take any setting and make an rpg out of said setting what system or systems would you use from your vast library.
Any Setting and any system or supplements from other systems.
This may seem strange given that you have pointed out that Harnmaster and I believe another featured system are super hackable but i wanted to see if you had any Ideal Combos.
I am personally attempting to build a Hellboy style campain using Cypher Core System supplemented with rules and monsters from the Stay Alive and Claim The Sky supplements for Cypher System.
I'll have to think on that....