The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This is the second part of the HarnMaster 2nd Edition Core Rules, and will be eagerly awaited by those wishing to play Shek-Pvar (that's wizards to the uninitiated) in Harn. It comes in the form of a bunch of loose-leaf pages on thick paper, ready to be added to the HarnMaster ring-binder.

The Ancient and Esoteric Orders of the Shek-Pvar are a group of organisations within the Guild of Arcane Lore who all share a set of philosophies and beliefs on the subject of magic. The first part of HarnMaster Magic deals with the history, philosophy and organisation of these orders. There are six orders, based on the six elements or "Convocations" of Pvaric philosophy - Air, Fire, Metal, Earth, Water and Spirit. These six elements can be arranged in a wheel. A character with aptitude in one element will be slightly less proficient in the elements on either side, and positively poor at the element opposite. The organisation and laws of the Shek-Pvar are covered in some detail, and give excellent scope for adventures - a code of honour which requires any Shek-Pvar to hunt down renegade wizards means a character can never be sure when his normal life will be interrupted by danger.

Once the background has been explained, character generation rules follow. Players generate characters with the usual HarnMaster rules up to a point, then use these rules to generate magical proficiencies and the like. A character's aptitude in any particular Convocation depends on his star sign. In an ideal world, a Shek-Pvar would study at the best college available for that star sign; in practice, things aren't as easy as that. Shek-Pvar chantries are few and far between, and of uneven quality. A character's skills in magic will depend on where he was taught, which will be largely influenced by where he was born. Players who really want to play a top-notch Shek-Pvar of a particular convocation may prevail upon the GM, but it's probably more fun to go with the flow - knowing you're from a second-rate magic school which couldn't teach you quite what you wanted to learn could be a great bit of character background.

The rules have been much simplified from the previous edition (though there are many optional rules available, as in the main HarnMaster set). Instead of a skill for each spell, Shek-Pvar now have a skill for each convocation instead, which makes life less complicated. While the spells are graded in levels, a character does not have to be of a particular level to cast a spell. Any spell the character cares to learn can be cast, though higher level spells are much harder, and the penalties for failure can be catastrophic.

The actual spell-lists are fairly short, with only ten spells for each convocation. This is because characters (and their players) are expected to invent new spells are part of their "job" as a Shek-Pvar; extensive rules and examples are given to help players and GMs decide on the effects and level of invented spells. There are also extensive rules on spell research, and learning spells created by others.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

HarnMaster Magic
Author: N. Robin Crossby et al Category: game Company/Publisher: Columbia Games Page count: 80 ISBN: 0-920711-49-9 Playtest Review by Ken Walton on 11/08/97. Genre tags: none	This is the second part of the HarnMaster 2nd Edition Core Rules, and will be eagerly awaited by those wishing to play Shek-Pvar (that's wizards to the uninitiated) in Harn. It comes in the form of a bunch of loose-leaf pages on thick paper, ready to be added to the HarnMaster ring-binder. The Ancient and Esoteric Orders of the Shek-Pvar are a group of organisations within the Guild of Arcane Lore who all share a set of philosophies and beliefs on the subject of magic. The first part of HarnMaster Magic deals with the history, philosophy and organisation of these orders. There are six orders, based on the six elements or "Convocations" of Pvaric philosophy - Air, Fire, Metal, Earth, Water and Spirit. These six elements can be arranged in a wheel. A character with aptitude in one element will be slightly less proficient in the elements on either side, and positively poor at the element opposite. The organisation and laws of the Shek-Pvar are covered in some detail, and give excellent scope for adventures - a code of honour which requires any Shek-Pvar to hunt down renegade wizards means a character can never be sure when his normal life will be interrupted by danger. Once the background has been explained, character generation rules follow. Players generate characters with the usual HarnMaster rules up to a point, then use these rules to generate magical proficiencies and the like. A character's aptitude in any particular Convocation depends on his star sign. In an ideal world, a Shek-Pvar would study at the best college available for that star sign; in practice, things aren't as easy as that. Shek-Pvar chantries are few and far between, and of uneven quality. A character's skills in magic will depend on where he was taught, which will be largely influenced by where he was born. Players who really want to play a top-notch Shek-Pvar of a particular convocation may prevail upon the GM, but it's probably more fun to go with the flow - knowing you're from a second-rate magic school which couldn't teach you quite what you wanted to learn could be a great bit of character background. The rules have been much simplified from the previous edition (though there are many optional rules available, as in the main HarnMaster set). Instead of a skill for each spell, Shek-Pvar now have a skill for each convocation instead, which makes life less complicated. While the spells are graded in levels, a character does not have to be of a particular level to cast a spell. Any spell the character cares to learn can be cast, though higher level spells are much harder, and the penalties for failure can be catastrophic. The actual spell-lists are fairly short, with only ten spells for each convocation. This is because characters (and their players) are expected to invent new spells are part of their "job" as a Shek-Pvar; extensive rules and examples are given to help players and GMs decide on the effects and level of invented spells. There are also extensive rules on spell research, and learning spells created by others. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)