Hârnic Races

This is a writeup of the various intelligent races of Hârn, those that might conceivably make PCs, at any rate.

Humans

In most campaigns, all PCs will probably be human. There are maybe eight hundred thousand humans on Hârn. Most of these live in agrarian societies with a more or less feudal structure, but the various "barbarian" cultures make up a significant minority -- although they only represent about one-sixth of the human population, their total territory is probably larger than the combined area of all "civilized" nations.

Ethnically, most Hârnians resemble Terrans of European extraction. They are generally descended from a combination of Jarin or Atani-Pharic stock, although some populations are either "pure" Jarin (such as the present Jarin of Orbaal, and many of the barbarian nations -- namely, the Adaenum, Kubora, Urdu, Equani, Ymodi, Anoa and Taelda) or "pure" Atani. Those of predominantly Jarin descent tend to be about an inch shorter than the Hârnic average, and somewhat darker in hair and eyes -- red hair, in particular, is more common among Jarin than non-Jarin. There is also a significant population of Ivinians, who are of Pharic descent but of a different branch than the Atani; these are predominantly fair-haired, and about an inch taller than the Hârnic average. There are also some elements of Azeryani and even Karejian ancestry in parts of the Hârnic population (most commonly in Tharda); people with predominantly Azeryani or Karejian ancestry tend to have a somewhat darker complexion ("pure" Azeryani have olive skin) and often have black hair (which is rare among other Hârnians, who tend more to varying shades of brown hair).

No special rules apply to humans as a race; being the most numerous, they are the norm against which all others are mentioned. Most humans live at an early- to mid- TL 3 stage of technological and cultural development, although many of the barbarian nations effectively live at a lower tech level -- there are no "bronze age" cultures, but there are several tribal nations who have no ability at ironworking and no reliable outside source for weapons and tools of iron. However, a lack of "advanced" technology should not be mistaken for a lack of sophistication; none of Hârn's current cultures would have survived to the present day without developing a lot of sophisticated skills appropriate to their situation.

Khuzdul

Hârn's dwarves number perhaps eight thousand, and they are probably going to be the most common non-human PC race. In most respects, they're quite similar to the "standard" fantasy dwarves; take a peek at Tolkien for the obvious source of inspiration.

Under my House Rules, the average Khuzdul has the following attributes: IQ 10, IN 8, DX 11, BD 12.
Racial advantages: Damage Resistance 1 (+3 pts), Extra Fatigue 2 (+4 pts), Extra Encumbrance (+5 pts), Extended Lifespan 2 (+10 pts), Craft Skills Bonus 3 (+18 pts), Single-Minded (+5 pts), Cool (+1 pt), Strong Will 3 (+12 pts), Alertness 1 (+5 pts), Acute Hearing 1 (+2 pts), Acute Smell/Taste 1 (+2 pts), Magic Resistance +2 (+4 pts).
Racial disadvantages: Reduced Move -1 (-3 pts), Stubbornness (-5 pts), Miserliness (-10 pts), Chauvinistic (-1 pt), Incurious (-5 pts), Proud (-1 pt), Oblivious (-3 pts), Chummy (-5 pts), Hidebound (-5 pts).

The cost of these racial things is 33 points, not including the average attributes (which would be another 15 points; I use the "they cost what they cost" rule). Khuzdul have no racial skills, but nearly all are expert at one craft (they favor architecture, mining, blacksmithing and weaponcrafting) and quite good in combat (their favored weapon is the sword, although axes and warhammers are also common; mechanical devices include catapults, ballistae, and crossbows). See the Khuzdul article in the Azadmere module for more details.

Most of those Khuzdul who associate with humans have bought off the Chauvinistic quirk; while most Khuzdul live within Azadmere, there are some individuals who live in human countries (mostly Kaldor, which is the only human country immediately accessible from Azadmere). These individuals will have a Social Stigma: Outsider, although some who spend many years living in one human community and doing useful work can buy off this Social Stigma ("don't trust them dwarfs, but old Blag here is all right").

Sindarin

These are the elves of Hârn, and like the Khuzdul it's fairly obvious that they're a wee bit inspired by Tolkien. A fuller description of them can be found in the Evael module, although you can't go far wrong by referring to _Lord of the Rings_. Compared to Tolkien's elves, though, one might see the Hârnic Sindarin as slightly more degenerated. They never die from "natural causes" since they do not grow old and are immune to all physical diseases, but they are vulnerable to violence and accidents, and though they don't die easily, they do sometimes get killed. Their numbers are around five thousand, and are declining, since they rarely reproduce, and small groups seem to leave for some other world every once in a while, never to return.

Under my House Rules, Sindarin have these average attributes: IQ 8, IN 10, DX 12, BD 10.
Racial advantages: Unaging (+15 pts), Immunity to Disease (+10 pts), Voice (+10 pts), Slow Regeneration (+10 pts), Doesn't Sleep (+10 pts), Metabolism Control level 4 (+20 pts), Autotrance (+5 pts), Magery level 1 (+15 pts), Craft Skills Bonus +2 (+12 pts).
Racial disadvantages: Sense of Duty: Nature (-15 pts), Charitable (-15 pts), Distractible (-1 pt), Humble (-1 pt), Dreamer (-1 pt).

Many Sindarin have Magery levels 2 or 3 rather than level 1; all Sindarin should be treated as Grey Mages, and most probably know a wide selection of spells -- but they're much more often dabblers than specialists. While they're probably not going to be PCs in a 100-point campaign (since the racial "package" comes to 74 points all on its own), they can work quite well in some campaigns. Sindarin can pass for humans although they tend to be just a bit shorter and more slender than humans on average; their strength is more sinewy than bulky, and even though they tend to be Attractive or better, many aren't (though very few are of below-average appearance). They're almost always fair of hair and complexion.

Sindarin live practically forever, but their regenerating brain cells do not hold memories arbitrarily well. This has little game-mechanical effect, although skills they've learned centuries ago should suffer degradation -- in practical terms, this just means that they're worth fewer points than one might expect someone with centuries of experience to have. Sindarin rarely have physical disadvantages, since they will probably have access to healing magics (they do not, however, naturally regrow lost limbs), but suffer more from mental afflictions (depressions etc).

Gargun

These are what Hârn has instead of orcs and goblins and that sort of thing; even though they're sometimes called orcs (or goblins, or various other names that are usually not decent; the nicest of the alternative terms is Foulspawn) they differ from "regular" orcs in several ways.

Their society is organized almost like a beehive; each tribe has at most one "queen", a bloated form who lays eggs from which new Gargun hatch. Gargun are furry, and only take about a year to mature after hatching; most of the skills they need to survive and function as a member of Gargun society are genetically coded into them.

There are five different subspecies of Gargun. Under my House Rules, their average attributes look like this:
Gargu-Arak: IQ 10, IN 7, DX 10, BD 9
Gargu-Hyeka: IQ 10, IN 7, DX 10, BD 10
Gargu-Khanu: IQ 10, IN 7, DX 10, BD 12
Gargu-Kyani: IQ 10, IN 9, DX 10, BD 10
Gargu-Viasal: IQ 10, IN 7, DX 10, BD 11

All Gargun have the following racial advantages and disadvantages:
Fur (+4 pts), Night Vision (+10 pts), Racial Memory (+15 pts), Sharp Teeth (+5 pts), Small Claws (+15 pts), Early Maturation 2 levels (+10 pts), Acute Hearing +2 (+4 pts). Bad Sight in daylight only (-10 pts), Short Lifespan level 3 (-30 pts), Bad Temper (-10 pts), Bloodlust (-10 pts), Magic Susceptibility level 4 (-12 pts).

All Gargun are born with the following racial skills: 4 points in each of Brawling, Axe/Mace, Spear, Shortsword, and Broadsword. 2 points in each of Survival (forest for Gargu-Arak, mountains for all others), Shield, Stealth, and Tracking. 1 point in Armory and Architecture.

Gargu-Arak also have 3 extra levels of Acute Hearing (+6 pts), 2 levels of Acute Smell/Taste (+4 pts), Weak Will level 1 (-8 pts), and 4 points in Bow.

Gargu-Khanu also have Strong Will level 1 (+4 pts).

Princesses (neuter females) of all subspecies have a BD attribute one level higher than the average, on average.

Gargun life is violent and dangerous; about 10% of all Gargun die violently each year, and the closest they usually come to dying of old age is when they weaken enough with age that they can't defend themselves against younger Gargun.

Last modified: Tue Mar 18 16:03:01 MET 1997