Fantasy Realms Harn File #2

Skill Tables:

Skill tables are specific to the world base that you are using. Generally skills will be broken down into eight basic tables in world bases, for simple reference and to use the optional professions system. The tables are usually:

I Combat Oriented Skills
II Crafts & Trades
III Entertainment & Pastimes
IV Knowledge & Sciences
V Social & Artistic Skills
VI Unusual Skills
VII Athletic and Sporting Skills
VIII Occult & Psionic Skills

Unusual skills is the catch-all for that which does not fit into one of the other tables, including 'thief like' skills.

Remember that no skill can be raised higher than a rank of 8.

Professions

Professions are a way to define the sort of character that the player wants to play. It is NOT a mandatory concept under all world bases, but is instead designed as an optional guideline system for character creation.

Professions define one or two skill tables that the character gets an advantage on when choosing their skills. They may also give automatic skills associated with them that the character has beyond those chosen by the player.

It gives a free +1 or +2 (again dependent on the number of tables) to all skills purchased from those tables after having invested at least one skill construction point.

Skill Selection

The skills of the character are the heart of its nature for in many ways they reflect the experience of the character in the most visible form to the players.

Skills are usually scaled from 0 (non-existent) to a high of 8 (maximum) in the Fantasy Realms System.

The player is given a number of skill Points to assign to whatever skills they choose from the available lists. Each point invested buys one rank of the chosen skill. The number of points available varies based on the previous table, derived from the chosen Aspects.

A GM may choose, at the start of a campaign, to declare a 'no experts' limitation on character generation. In this case no player characters can have more than a rank 7 in any of the skills they invest in.

Note that the player DOES get to add the skill table adds to the rolls if they are using the profession system, or the chosen tables system.

The GM has final say in regards to editorial content of a character, to balance design.

In Hârn, all player characters get their Native Language as a free skill, at Rank 4. They do NOT get Read/Write as a free skill!

Psyche Method Affects Upon Skill Selection:

The aspects of the psyche affect both character skill selection at start and character skill advancement during the game. It does NOT replace the Profession system - it can be used with it to enhance that existing system.

Until now all skills were listed on one of eight category tables for use with the profession system. Now we add a letter category for each skill upon the tables. Instead of assigning a standard single pool of skill ranks that can be used to buy skills, a character is assigned points in a letter category based upon their aspects. Overall this results in more skill ranks overall, but with a larger number in skills that are not 'center stage' skills in the character's concept. Thus a character may have more skill ranks available in skills associated with knowledge skills dealing with their culture then they would having to do with combat or occult skills. This produces a more realistic and well rounded character, instead of a combat monster or magic maniac.

Six categories exist of skill points, which may range in value from 2 to 31 ranks within them (and with an average of 12 ranks in each category, or about 72 skill ranks, instead of the original 50 general skill points of the standard construction system). This is to reflect the differences in training advancement and in using points gained from Negative Traits to buy extra skill ranks.

Ranks can only be spent on skills within the letter category, but can be spent as the player chooses. The character still received their native language at Rank 4 for free, and can apply Profession Table Bonus's and free skills in their character construction.

Each letter category is unique, and additional skills added should be given to a category that best fits the GM's concept of the skill. Generally choosing the letter category that best fits the GM's perceived related psyche aspects for the skill should be used, but obviously not all skills require all the aspects in a letter category. The current letter choices for specific skills are obviously the author's perception of said skills, and not perfect representations of the real world.

Categories:

A} (Discipline + Logic + Sanity + Curiosity) - Passion
B} (Discipline + Logic + Esteem + Empathy) - Adaptability
C} (Adaptability + Curiosity + Communication + Empathy)
D} (Passion + Insight + Synchronicity + Esteem) - Sanity
E} (Creativity + Passion + Communication + Insight) - Sanity
F} (Adaptability + Logic + Creativity + Insight) - Discipline

SPECIAL NOTE: If a character ends up with a negative value in a skill category, which can happen on rare occasions, they should be considered instead to have 0 ranks to put into skills of that category.

Table I (Combat Skills)

Arena Combat Etiquette [C]
Armor Usage [B] {Reduces Coord. Losses for wearing armor}
Blind fighting [B]
Blowgun [A]
Bludgeon Weapons [B]
Bows [A]
Charioteering [C]
Chopping Weapons [B] {Axes, Sickles, Warhammers in Hârn}
Chivalric Warfare Tactics [C] {Prerequisite : Chess}
Crossbows [A]
Daggers & Knives [C]
Engineer, combat [C] {Includes Siege Warfare Tactics}
First Aid [B]
Guerrilla Warfare Tactics [C]
Initiative [B] {Adds to combat initiative speed in Hârn}
Lasso [B]
Net [B]
Pressure Points [B][F]
Staffs & Polearms [B]
Swords, heavyweight [B]
Swords, lightweight [F][B]
Throw Maneuvers [B]
Throwing Weapons [B]
Unarmed Combat [B] {Hand To Hand Combat; HTH in FR}
Whips & Flails [B]

Table II (Craft & Trade Skills)

Accounting (Requires Basic Mathematics 4+)[B]
Administration [B]
Agriculture [B]
Animal Handling [C]
Animal training [C]
Architecture [F]
Armorer [A]
Banking/Financier [F]
Barbering [A]
Blacksmithing [A]
BookBinding [A]
Bowyer/Fletcher [A]
Brewing [A]
Business Management [F]
Butchering [A]
Candlemaking [A]
Civil Engineering & Construction [F]
Civil Law [F]
Cobbling [A]
Distilling [A]
Falconry / Hawking [C]
Fire-building [A]
Gem Craft [B]
Glassblowing [A]
Hunting [C]
Jewelry Making [D]
Knitting [A]
Leather working [B]
Lumbering/Timbercraft [F]
Masonry [A]
Metallurgy [F]
Metal smithing [F]
Mining [B]
Navigation [A]
Plastering [B]
Pottery/Ceramics [A]
Seamstress/ Tailor [A]
Shipwright [F]
Silk Making [B]
Soapmaking [B]
Weaponsmithing [A] {Weaponcrafting}
Weaving [B]
WheelWright [B]
Woodworking [C] {Includes Carpentry & Woodcarving}

Table III (Entertainment Skills)

Acting [C]
Board Games [C]
Bowling [A]
Chess [A]
Darts [A]
Dancing [C]
Familiarity : Literature [E]
Fire-eating [C]
Gambling [C]
Juggling/balancing [F]
Kite Design [F]
Musical Composition [C]
Musical Instruments [C]
Playwriting (Requires Read/Write) [C]
Singing [C]
Slight Of Hand [C]
Stilt walking [A]
Sword Swallowing [A]
Theater Arts [C]
Ventriloquism [C]

Table IIIb (Music Instruments)

All Musical Instruments are [C] Skills.

Accordion
Bagpipes
Constantina
Drums (& Misc. small Percussion)
Dulcimer
Fiddle
Flute
Harp/Lyre
Lute
Mandolin
Recorder
Sitar
Slide Trumpet
Trumpet

Table IV (Knowledge Skills)

Anatomy, Human [A]
Animal Lore [C]
Archaeology [F]
Bar Tending [C]
Cartography {Requires Drawing} [F]
Engineer, Mechanical [F]
Familiarity : Area (By Town/City/Territory) [A][C]
Familiarity : Fine Art [C]
Familiarity : Fine Wines [C]
Familiarity : Gourmet Foods [C]
Familiarity : Sea (For Navigation) [A][F]
Folklore (Hârnic) [C]
Genealogy [B]
Geography [B]
Heraldry [B]
History, World {Hârn & Lythia} [B]
Languages (See Table IV B) [C]
Mathematics, Basic [B]
Midwifery (needs First Aid) [C]
Navigation [A] {Piloting in Hârn}
Physician (Needs Anatomy, First Aid) [A]
Physics (Needs Mathematics) [F]
Reading/Writing (For Languages Known) [C]
Sindarin Lore [C][D]
Surgeon (Needs Physician) [A]
Teaching/Educating [C]
Veterinarian Medicine [C]

Table IVb (Languages)

* Languages are all considered Category 'C' Skills

Altish
Byrian
Emela
Harbaalese
Hârnic
High Azeryani
Ivinian
Jarinese
Karejian
Karrandier
Khuzdul (Khuzdul characters only}
Low Azeryani
Palithanian
Quarph
Shorka
Sindarin {Sindarin Only}
Trierzi
Urmech
Yarili

Ancient Languages (No Longer Spoken, must have read/write to know)

Azeri
Azeryani
Elbythian
Jarind
Karuia
Old Atlish
Old Hârnic
Old Jarinese
Old Trierzi
Phari
Quar

Table V (Social & Artistic Skills)

Appraising [C]
Calligraphy (Needs Read/write) [F]
Child Care [C]
Choreography (Needs Dancing) [D]
Cooking & Baking [A]
Cosmetics [B]
Diplomacy [C]
Drawing & Painting [E]
Etiquette (By culture) [B]
Familiarity : Cultural Groups, examples:

Hârnic [C]
Ivinian [C]
Jarin [C]
Karrandier [C]
Khuzdul [C]
Sindarin [C]

Gambling [C]
Intimidation [C]
Intrigue [C][F]
Lovecraft [E] {Tantrics}
Massage [E]
Oratory [C]
Rhetoric [C]
Sculpting [E]
Streetwise [C]
Tattooing [E]

Table VI (Unusual Skills)

Animal Noise [C]
Concealment [F]
Disguise [C]
Embalming [A]
Escape Artistry [E]
Find/Remove/Set Traps [A]
Foraging [A]
Forgery [F]
Hiding in Shadows [F]
Lip Reading [C]
Locksmithing/Picking [F]
Pocket Picking [C]
Rope Use [F]
Set Snares [A]
Shadowing (trailing) [F]
Stealth [F]
Torture [C][E]
Tracking (wilderness) [F]
Voice Mimicry [C]

Table VII (Athletic Skills)

Acrobatics [F]
Bullfighting [B]
Climbing [F]
Contortionist [F]
Diving (Requires Swimming) [A]
Fishing [A]
Mountaineering [F]
Pole Vault [B]
Riding [A]
Rowing/Punting [A]
Sailing [B]
Skating, ice [B]
Skiing [B]
Spelunking [F]
Survival, Arctic [F]
Survival, Forest [F]
Survival, Desert [F]
Survival, Jungle [F]
Survival, Swamplands [F]
Survival, Urban [F]
Swimming [A]
Tightrope Walking [B]
Trapeze [D]
Tumbling [E]

Table VIII (Occult Skills)

Alchemy : Animal Realm [F]
Alchemy : Human Realm [F]
Alchemy : Khuzdul Realm [F]
Alchemy : Mineral Realm [F] {Requires Metallurgy}
Alchemy : Sindarin Realm [F]
Astromancy [E] {Astrology in Hârn}
Convocation : Fyvria {Green/Earth} [D]
Convocation : Jmorvi {Yellow/Metal} [D]
Convocation : Lyahvi {Red/Air} [D]
Convocation : Neutral (Gray) [D] {Not at Start!}
Convocation : Odivshe {Blue/water} [D]
Convocation : Peleahn {Orange/Fire} [D]
Convocation : Savorya {Violet/Spirit} [D]
Meditation [F][B]
Multidimensional Cosmology [E]
Pvaric Philosophy [C][D]
Religion: Agrik [D][C]
Religion: Basara {Minor} [D]
Religion: Halea [D][C]
Religion: Ilvir [D][C]
Religion: Larani [D][C]
Religion: Morgath [D][C]
Religion: Naveh [D][C]
Religion: Peoni [D][C]
Religion: Sarajin [D][C]
Religion: Save-K'Nor [D][C]
Religion: Siem [D][C] {Primarily Sindarin}
Ritual (by religion) [D][E]
Runemagic [F] {Only Khuzdul & Sarajin Followers}
Tarotry [C]

SPECIAL NOTE: If a character ends up with a negative value in a skill category, which can happen on rare occasions, they should be considered instead to have 0 ranks to put into skills of that category.

Professions:

The following are the basic occupations used in HârnMaster, with a few additional ones that are mentioned in the other books. For fuller descriptions, please check the books, this is just the basic info for character creation.

Common Freeman (Unguilded)

Tables II, VI

Cooking
Daggers & Knives
Swimming (or if not born on coast, Either Agriculture or Survival, Urban)
Unarmed Combat

This represents all common laborers and ordinary freemen.

Gladiator (Unguilded)

Tables I

Arena Etiquette
Swords, Lightweight
First Aid
Unarmed Combat

A player character Gladiator should be a veteran of the area that has managed to buy their freedom thru their victories. They are often sought to serve as personal body guards by nobles and wealthy merchants. Gladiators MUST have a BODY, COORDINATION and HEALTH of at least 5. They usually have the right to bear arms automatically. Sindarin cannot be gladiators. Gladiators will not generally know any magic, since magic is forbidden in most arena combats.

Harper (Guilded)

Tables III, VI