This review covers two Harn articles written by Kerry Mould. The first, "Charmic Manor" is a location article dealing with a manor located near the Kaldoric capital of Tashal. The second, "The Bastard Bailiff" is an adventure module for use with "Charmic Manor"

For those not familiar with the setting, Harn is a Madagascar sized island, loosely based on 11th/12th century Britain. It is a place of mystery and strange happenings, on the island are nine states, seven human (Chybisa, Kaldor, Kanday, Melderyn, Orbaal, Rethem & Tharda) and two non-human (Azadmere & Evael).

"Charmic Manor" and "The Bastard Bailiff" are both available from www.lythia.com. Charmic Manor is a 6.80MB ZIP file containing an 18 page PDF file, while "The Bastard Bailiff" is a 147KB ZIP file containing a 6 page PDF file.

HARNWORLD: CHARMIC MANOR, OVERVIEW.

"Charmic Manor", describes a village recovering from a regin of terror. The former bailiff (repesentative of the manors overlord), was a spiteful man who wished to embarrass his half-brother (The overlord). He did so not only by looting the manor and its inhabitents but, worse, stealing timber from a forest controled by the King. His crimes were bought to light when the village priest, risking his life in the process, managed to flee and bring his tale to the ears of the overlord.

The article follows the standard Harn location article format, beginning with a history of the settlement, followed by a listing of the village inhabitents, a description of the interior of the manor and the village woodyard (its main industry). The final pages consist of a manorial budget sheet, plus the GM and player maps of the settlement.

The adventure module (The Bastard Bailiff) allows the GM to directly involve the players in the hunt for the former bailff and the monies that he stole from the village treasury.

In its six pages the GM will find information on the Bailiff and his plans to escape, a scenario hook to draw the PCs into the chase, HarnMaster stats for the Bailiff and his cronies and most importantly, a discussion of how to reward the players if they do catch him, which includes the possibility of putting a PC in charge of the rebuilding of Charmic Manor, either as the new bailiff or as Lord of Charmic Manor in his own right, which opens the door to a long term roleplaying campaign based around the village.

HARNWORLD: CHARMIC MANOR, COMMENTS.

As with all HarnFan articles to date, the presentation is excellent, the text, maps and artwork are all clearly readable and attractive to the eye.

However, what makes this pair of articles stand out is the setting created. To most individuals the difference between serfdom and slavery is the name, "Charmic Manor" makes the difference readily apparent. The historic background and individual villager descriptions give a clear picture of the villagers plight under the former bailiff as they were worked to the limit of their endurance, forced to pay in coin, goods, or worse for everything including the firewood they collected with their own labour and brutally assaulted if they failed to obey. The result of all of this for the GM is a setting perfect for long term roleplaying, especially if they decide to involve the players in the rebuilding of the village.

The restoration of the village and the bringing to justice of those responsible for its despoilation will probably form the main thrust of any plotline based from this material, thankfully many adventures can be drawn from this, there are wolves and bandits to drive away, corrupt officials to bring to justice and shattered lives to rebuild. In addition to this, one villager has a truly astounding secret, one which could provide the starting point for a major campaign.

The adventure module is well written and most importantly easily adaptable to a GMs personal campaign. The information gives a clear outline of the villains plans and the clues the PCs will need to solve if they are to catch up with him. It concludes with suggestions on how to expland the adventures followed by HarnMaster character sheets of the bailiff and his henchmen.

HARNWORLD: CHARMIC MANOR, VERDICT.

Many roleplaying scenarios and settings have dealt with saving villages from disaster, but I suspect that none could have a more dramatic impact upon both the players and the PCs than this one, download it and see for yourself.