Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Retrospective: Gods of Hârn

As a general rule, I am very much opposed to the common practice among RPG hobbyists of buying products solely for reading purposes. I feel that game books should be bought with the intention that they be used in play, which explains why I buy so few new game books these days. I've only got so much free time in my life and, between refereeing two weekly campaigns and playing in a couple more, the odds of my making use of anything new I buy is limited. I realize this puts me at odds with a lot of my fellow gamers, who make a habit of picking up new gaming materials solely out of interest in their subject matter or because they're a collector to some degree. 

That said, I am a hypocrite on this matter when it comes to Hârn, a fantasy setting I've never used but whose support products I've nevertheless bought in surprising amounts. Everything I've purchased for Hârn is very well done, both in terms of content and presentation. There's an obvious love in these books that's almost infectious and I've often found myself picking them up over the years, despite my avowals not to do so. We all have our weak spots, I suppose, and the richly detailed fantasy world of Hârn is one of mine.

Of all the Hârn products I've bought (and never used) over the years, perhaps my favorite is Gods of Hárn. Originally published in 1985, the book is an overview of the ten gods of the setting's pantheon, along with information about the religions that worship them. For me, this is the most important part of what makes Gods of Hârn so special. There have been plenty of RPG books published about deities and divine beings, but few of them provide much in the way of useful information about the structure and activities of their mortal worshipers. Cults of Prax comes to mind, but, even there, the focus is more on the mythological role of the various gods of Glorantha than on the faiths of their followers.

Each god in Gods of Hârn receives a description of his or her personality and role in the pantheon, but more detail is heaped on their church. The theological and social missions of the churches is discussed, along with information about their holy days, symbols, history, and clerical organization. Each of these categories is fleshed out in sufficient detail that both the player and referee would find them useful in play. Though there's plenty of detail in Gods of Hârn, the book doesn't luxuriate in detail for its own sake; nearly everything here is presented with the goal of enhancing play, which is particularly useful for players of priests or zealous devotees of a particular god. As a fan of Tékumel, believe me when I say that I adore setting detail. At the same time, I also recognize that there can be such as a thing as too much detail. I believe that Gods of Hârn strikes a good balance between leaving everything up to the referee's imagination and overloading him with needless minutiae.

There are no game statistics for the gods of Hârn's pantheon to be found here. The emphasis is more on the mortal side of religion, which is how it should be in my opinion. Throughout history, religions have played an important role, for good and ill, in human events. Often those roles were a direct consequence of the beliefs and structures of the religions themselves, a fact that Gods of Hârn clearly recognizes. The historical sections of the book detail many instances when one or more of the churches influenced events on Hârn and elsewhere. Likewise, the sections detailing their hierarchies and present activities provide plenty of scope for the referee to make religion matter in a way it sometimes doesn't in fantasy settings.

If nothing else, Gods of Hârn is a good model to emulate for creators and referees looking to present gods and religion in their settings and that's why I'm glad I own it, even though I've never played a campaign set on Hârn – at least that's what I keep telling myself.

26 comments:

  1. Would you say Mitlanyál has too much detail?

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    1. That's a good question.

      I like a lot of the detail that it's in the Mitlanyál but I sometimes feel as if it veers closer to minutiae than information useful for gaming. I personally have gotten great use out of the books, even as I recognize that they're probably not the best presentation of Tsolyáni religion for RPG purposes.

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    2. At 72 pages, the length of Gods of Hârn is certainly a lot less. (Amazingly, Wikipedia actually has a page for this supplement.)

      Is there a better published presentation on Tsolyáni religion?

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    3. Sadly, no. I think Mitlanyál is the best we have, since everything else is very short and rather non-specific.

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    4. Well, thanks for the review. I’ve never paid attention to Hârn but between recent discussion of its combat rules and this, I may need to take a look.

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  2. I just want to say that if I did not buy things that I have to admit I am probably not going to play, I would have a lot less rpg stuff, and a lot less happiness. I don't have anyone to play with, but I still enjoy the hobby.

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    1. Have you considered playing by post or by chat? There are some good sites out there for both forms these days.

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    2. I even went and bought Fantasy grounds, plus the CoC addins, which is a pricey way to go. it doesn't scratch the itch the same way, altho it is, I guess, better than nothing. in person, preferably in a basement, with a large supply of cheetoes is the way.

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    3. LOL. Rick, I'm in the same boat, and I too prefer the "basement/cheetos" setting. I will become an empty nester in a few months and I may start looking into some of the Meetup Apps to find a local group to play with. It's been a few years.

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    4. good for you! right on.

      now that covid appears to be going away, I think I will post at the local hardware store about a games night. see if we can get something going

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  3. Two comments
    I have an in-depth review of Harnmaster starting here
    https://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-walk-through-harnmaster-introduction.html

    Second the latest iteration of Gods of Harns is Harnmaster Religion. The amount of rules material is minimal and background details has been expanded to cover more of the details of the mythos and life within each religion.

    http://columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/cfg/zoom.cfg?product_id=4401

    Also specific elements of various Harnic Religions have been expanded in specific articles. These not only talk about that element (like a religious order) but talk about specific NPCs as well.

    Currently there are articles about various orders associated with Agrik, evil god of fire, Larani, goddess of honor and justice, and Peoni, healing goddess.

    https://secure.columbiagames.com/ec/process-order.pl?ec_m=cg&ec_c=default&ec_cb=99bd620d37b3000e6afb

    Each have their own take on the core religion outlined in Gods of Harn and in Harnmaster Religion.

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  4. For folks who want a taste what Harn has to offer and a useful supplement for any fantasy campaign that has a vaguely medieval background. I recommend the free Harn Pottage series at Lythia.com.

    https://www.lythia.com/series/pottage/

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  5. I think one of the best parts of religion in Harn is that each church isn't some sort of monolithic structure reading from the same hymn sheet, and that's something that can be found n pretty much all the books. The Laranian crusade in Melderyn, for example, causes ructions between different factions within that church; the infighting between Agrikan orders might even be worse than the rivalry between Agrikan and Laranian devotees, and even at the really small detail, within a temple, there is often some sort of disagreement between the devout.

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  6. If you have read Gods of Harn, you should get your hands on Venarivé which expands on the pantheon described in Gods of Harn and introduces several new ones. After playing in Harn for decades it was a breath of fresh air to see new viewpoints of Harnic religion.

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  7. This matches my relation to Kingdoms of Kalamar. I have played a session or three in that setting, but mostly I've just bought it for reading. I have no qualms about only buying what I'm actively going to use in a game, as I know I'm a collector and reader as much as a player of games. But, KoK does have that same quality as Harn, in as much as the religion in that setting is described from the mortal viewpoint, and holy days, vestments and themes and beliefs are the focus as much as the "powers".

    But, for me Harn does not really inspire. I think there's something about that presentation that for so many is a positive quality, which for me just makes it feel bland. I would like to like Harn.

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  8. "who make a habit of picking up new gaming materials solely out of interest in their subject matter or because they're a collector to some degree. " I'm constantly looking for new ideas to supplement my own.

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  9. According to Wikipedia, Ken Rolston in his review in The Dragon stated, "Do the gods exist, or are they figments of man's imagination? Gods of Harn purports a tolerance for either view."

    That’s a contrast with, say, Tékumel, where it has been said that there are no atheists. In fantasy worlds with people wielding powerful magic, what beyond personal appearances by deities would ensure there are NO rational atheists? I’ve been wondering about this with respect to Tékumel because supposedly not many individuals there directly experience the divine - so what gives? But I think the question is more generally applicable.

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  10. Ive never been able to gel with the setting, but I'm with you on purchasing.

    For the past 5 years or so I almost never buy new products just to have or read (I did buy a 1st print MM that was a steal). It needs to be something I will get a good amount of use from at the table-i.e. adventures/adventure material. I have boxes of "inspirational" material I've barely used already, no desire to buy anymore.

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  11. Rest assured, I have the _intention_ to play almost all the rpg stuff I buy.

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  12. Hard disagree on the only-read-for-gaming-needs policy. Everything I read goes into my head, either as inspiration or something to avoid. You never know when in your gaming future you will reach for that idea or that book on the shelf.

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  13. "I am very much opposed to the common practice among RPG hobbyists of buying products solely for reading purposes."

    Fortunately, most gamers aren't, or my GURPS royalties would be far lower than they are, and I suspect many wonderful games from companies like FGU would never exist.

    But yeah, I have a big library of Harn books and I don't play Harn. Good resources and entertaining reads...


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  14. Wow, I haven't thought about Harn or Columbia Games in ages! Did they use to advertise in Dragon? Good for them keeping on! Another unexplored corner of this amazingly diverse hobby...

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  15. I rather liked Inner Sea Gods as a game book on fantasy religions/pantheons and so forth. (I know Pathfinder isn't well-respected around here, but I thought it was an interesting an useful book, very good for running a game in that world, but was also quite inspirational for a pantheon I was creating for NaNo)

    I'm a sucker for any setting book, because of the ideas they give me and the insight I get into world-building. I may not always game specifically in that setting (much as I might want to), but it inevitably influences writing I do in my home-brew campaigns and in the fiction writing I do.

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  16. As much as i enjoy it myself, as an expert on Tekumel I'm surprised you don't take them to task for some of the similarities between the gods of Tekumel and the Harn supplement, in imagery (much as I love Eric Hotz) if not in substance. I always felt there's a lot of overlap between some gods and/or worshippers' costumes, eg:
    Agrik/Vimuhla,
    Halea/Dlamelish
    Save-K'nor/Thumis
    Naveh/Sarku (maybe)
    Still, a beloved work and tbh very much representative of something I wish had been produced for EPT.

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