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KINGDOM OF RETHEM, OVERVIEW

"Kingdom of Rethem" (Henceforth "Rethem"), is a kingdom book designed for use with Columbia Games, 'Harn' generic fantasy setting.

Rethem is an unstable kingdom that has known little peace in its short history as the various factions within struggled for power. The current uneasy peace resulting from a disastrous war with its southern neighbor, Kanday is about to end as the current King, the ruthless Chafin III prepares to face the challenge of a would be kingmaker, the equally ruthless Earl Lynnaeus of Tormau.

As with all of the 'Harn' material the book is divided into independently numbered articles, which were supposed to be removed and placed in a 3-ring binder to form the "Encyclopedia Harnica". In this book, the articles are:

Rethem (14 pages): Covering the history and government of the kingdom, this article also includes a 'poetic' map of Rethem and family trees for both of the countries Royal families, that established by the kingdom's founder, the Kuboran Warlord Arlun and that founded by Puril, former commander of the royal bodyguard, who founded his dynasty by killing the last member of the previous one.

Shostim (8 pages): History and map of Shostim, capital of Rethem and its second largest settlement.

Tormau (8 pages): History and map of Tormau, seat of Earl Lynnaeus and the heart of his plans to make himself the effective king of Rethem.

Kustan (6 pages): Map and history of the Kuboran peoples most holy site, once location of a Corani fortress, until it was destroyed by an army formed from all the tribes of north-west Harn.

Kubora (4 pages): The Kubora are the tribal people who under the Warlord Arlun conquered the lands now known as Rethem. In alliance with Earl Lynnaeus they may repeat that achievement.

Urdu (2 pages): Comparativly peaceful compared with either of their neighbors, the Urdu cooperated in the destruction of Kustan, suffered grievous losses and returned to find their lands devasted by the Equani. Now the feud between the Urdu and Equani looks set to become a major tribal war.

Equani (2 pages): Most warlike of the northen tribes of Harn, the Equani see war as a test to weed out the weak. Their actions have made them many enemies, as the year 720 moves on, those enemies look set to combine and put the Equani to their greatest test yet.

Lia-Kavair (2 pages): The Harnic version of the Mafia, this 'thieves guild' has had one great, but vitally important achievement, it has created the impression it is much more powerful than it actually is.

KINGDOM OF RETHEM, COMMENTS

A good adventuring setting requires both internal intrigue and external danger, and the situation created in "Rethem" certainly has large measures of both. The two family trees on page 5 of the kingdom history should be inspected closely, as not all of Arlun's descendants are confirmed dead. This offers the GM the possibility of creating a three-way civil war.

Similarly the GM should view the lightly settled reaches of northern Rethem as an opportunity to run a 'nation building' campaign as one or the other sides in the approaching Civil War seeks to strengthen their position.

Outside of the Harn setting, "Rethem" provides the GM with a pre-generated 'bad guy' kingdom or, with some alterations to its history and the personality of some of its characters, a 'frontier' kingdom, standing as buffer between a settled south and a barbarian north. One interesting feature of "Rethem" is its cover which shows an army passing a burning farm and a tree from which someone (the farmer?) has been hung. A perfect reflection of the 'sprit' of the kingdom it is by Michael Cobb, not Eric Hotz, Columbia Games regular artist. This picture (Minus the hanged man. Why?) is now the cover of the HarnPlayer (3rd Ed) box set.

My only real objections to this volume lie in the some of the articles included, while Kustan is very important to the Kubora and to some of the factions within Rethem, I would have preferred it if the space had been used for one of Rethem's other castles. Similarly the short article on the Lia-Kavair is more the sort of thing that should have been placed in the Harn regional volume.

As with most Harn products, at present, "Rethem" is only available second-hand or as a digital photocopy from Columbia Games.

KINGDOM OF RETHEM, VERDICT.

In their 'Harn' line of products, Columbia Games, has shown a nack for producing quality generic setting overviews for GM use. "Rethem" is a worthy component in that line of products.

Kindgom of Rethem
Kindgom of Rethem Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 03/12/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A vicious stew of intrigue, makes for a delicious adventure setting. Product: Kindgom of Rethem Author: Tom Dagliesh, Edwin King & Richard Porter Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Columbia Games Inc Line: Harn Cost: Page count: 46 Year published: 1985 ISBN: 0-920711-08-1 SKU: 5010 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 03/12/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Generic	KINGDOM OF RETHEM, OVERVIEW "Kingdom of Rethem" (Henceforth "Rethem"), is a kingdom book designed for use with Columbia Games, 'Harn' generic fantasy setting. Rethem is an unstable kingdom that has known little peace in its short history as the various factions within struggled for power. The current uneasy peace resulting from a disastrous war with its southern neighbor, Kanday is about to end as the current King, the ruthless Chafin III prepares to face the challenge of a would be kingmaker, the equally ruthless Earl Lynnaeus of Tormau. As with all of the 'Harn' material the book is divided into independently numbered articles, which were supposed to be removed and placed in a 3-ring binder to form the "Encyclopedia Harnica". In this book, the articles are: Rethem (14 pages): Covering the history and government of the kingdom, this article also includes a 'poetic' map of Rethem and family trees for both of the countries Royal families, that established by the kingdom's founder, the Kuboran Warlord Arlun and that founded by Puril, former commander of the royal bodyguard, who founded his dynasty by killing the last member of the previous one. Shostim (8 pages): History and map of Shostim, capital of Rethem and its second largest settlement. Tormau (8 pages): History and map of Tormau, seat of Earl Lynnaeus and the heart of his plans to make himself the effective king of Rethem. Kustan (6 pages): Map and history of the Kuboran peoples most holy site, once location of a Corani fortress, until it was destroyed by an army formed from all the tribes of north-west Harn. Kubora (4 pages): The Kubora are the tribal people who under the Warlord Arlun conquered the lands now known as Rethem. In alliance with Earl Lynnaeus they may repeat that achievement. Urdu (2 pages): Comparativly peaceful compared with either of their neighbors, the Urdu cooperated in the destruction of Kustan, suffered grievous losses and returned to find their lands devasted by the Equani. Now the feud between the Urdu and Equani looks set to become a major tribal war. Equani (2 pages): Most warlike of the northen tribes of Harn, the Equani see war as a test to weed out the weak. Their actions have made them many enemies, as the year 720 moves on, those enemies look set to combine and put the Equani to their greatest test yet. Lia-Kavair (2 pages): The Harnic version of the Mafia, this 'thieves guild' has had one great, but vitally important achievement, it has created the impression it is much more powerful than it actually is. KINGDOM OF RETHEM, COMMENTS A good adventuring setting requires both internal intrigue and external danger, and the situation created in "Rethem" certainly has large measures of both. The two family trees on page 5 of the kingdom history should be inspected closely, as not all of Arlun's descendants are confirmed dead. This offers the GM the possibility of creating a three-way civil war. Similarly the GM should view the lightly settled reaches of northern Rethem as an opportunity to run a 'nation building' campaign as one or the other sides in the approaching Civil War seeks to strengthen their position. Outside of the Harn setting, "Rethem" provides the GM with a pre-generated 'bad guy' kingdom or, with some alterations to its history and the personality of some of its characters, a 'frontier' kingdom, standing as buffer between a settled south and a barbarian north. One interesting feature of "Rethem" is its cover which shows an army passing a burning farm and a tree from which someone (the farmer?) has been hung. A perfect reflection of the 'sprit' of the kingdom it is by Michael Cobb, not Eric Hotz, Columbia Games regular artist. This picture (Minus the hanged man. Why?) is now the cover of the HarnPlayer (3rd Ed) box set. My only real objections to this volume lie in the some of the articles included, while Kustan is very important to the Kubora and to some of the factions within Rethem, I would have preferred it if the space had been used for one of Rethem's other castles. Similarly the short article on the Lia-Kavair is more the sort of thing that should have been placed in the Harn regional volume. As with most Harn products, at present, "Rethem" is only available second-hand or as a digital photocopy from Columbia Games. KINGDOM OF RETHEM, VERDICT. In their 'Harn' line of products, Columbia Games, has shown a nack for producing quality generic setting overviews for GM use. "Rethem" is a worthy component in that line of products.

Kindgom of Rethem