Minimum Ruleset requirements - Harnmaster

[GunnarGreybeard]

What would be the minimum needed to get something like HarnMaster into FGII? I'm guessing that you could get by with a Character Sheet, NPC Sheet and Combat Tracker, while the rest can be referenced via hard copy during play I would think. My interest here would be something that is essentially bare bones enough to be able to get by.

Honestly I would have no clue where to start, I am just curious and thought I would put this out there for those who have a knowledge of ruleset design.

[peterb]

The first design decision I think should be which HarnMaster rules version the ruleset should support. If one want to support all versions (HM 1, HMG and HM 3) then that would add a layer of complexity to the project.

Another would be whether or not to start from an existing ruleset. One could make a (private) fork of the BRP ruleset but I think, given the differences between the games, that it would be wiser to start of from Foens Base ruleset. That way more people could join the project and, of course, more people could benefit from the effort.

I for one would gladly join such a project...

[peterb]

As a starter here's what I think is needed:

A) Character Sheet.
This would have nine tabs...
1. Main Tab
1.1 Background: Name, Clan Name, Gender, Age, Race, Parents Occupation, Occupation, Estrangement, # of Siblings, Birth date, Sunsign, Religion (s), piety points, Title.
1.2: Stats: A row with the stat name, stat value, stat "damage", one button each for 1 to 5 dices vs. the stat value (for stat rolls).
1.3: MiniSheet for stats.
So far we would have covered more than half of the main tab...
1.4: Summary of current IPs and FPs (links to other tabs) plus possibly other useful data.

2. Weapon Tab.
2.1 Weapon list. One for missiles and one for melee weapons.
2.2 Weapon list item with data relevant to HM.
2.3 Special Combat skills, these would be linked to the skill tab (everyone has them so they will exist).
2.4: MiniSheet for weapons.

3. Armour Tab
3.1: Armour piece list. One row per armour piece. Name, AQ, Enchanced (arcane improvement) Quality, one number field each for BEP, WT (possibly price as well).
3.2: Armour Coverage. One row per armour piece. Name and one checkbox per hitlocation.
3.3: MiniSheet for armour.

4. Skill Tab
4.1 Skill list divided in skill categories.
4.2 Skill list item would show four fields: Name, temporary adjustment, effective mastery level (total skill value) and a link to a skill item sheet (simmilar to the item sheet).
4.3 Skill item sheet: Name, Category, Stat1, Stat2, Stat3, Sunsign(s), Skill base, OML (base multiplier), temporary adjustment and effective mastery level (total skill value). Maybe also a tab on the sheet for a skill description.

5. Injuries Tab
5.1 A injury list.
5.2 Injury list item: Injury type (dropdown list), Injury severity (dropdown list), Injury IP (either Injury levels and then a dropdown list or Injury points which would be a numberfield). This last field could possibly be automaticaly computed based on injury severity.
5.3 A special penalties list.
5.4 Special penalty list item: name (description), value.
5.5 Load.
5.6 Total FP (based on load).
5.7 Fatigue rate (based on total fatigue).
5.8 Total Injury and fatigue penalty (that are automatically deducted from all EMLs and stat rolls).
5.9: One MiniSheet for injuies and one for FP, FP rate and total penalty.

6. Divine Tab
6.1 Ritual skill list.
6.2 Ritual skill listitem = skill listitem.
6.3 Invocation list.
6.4 Invocation skill listitem: Name, Level (a roman number), Piety Point cost, link to a description)

7. Arcane Tab
7.1 Mental talents (psionics) list.
7.2 Mental talents listitem = skill listitem.
7.3 Convocations list.
7.4 Depending on the HM rules that are used this would either be a list of the convocations skillbases or the skillbases plus convocation mastery level.
7.5 Spell list. Sorted per Convocation.
7.6 Spell listitem: Visible fields would be Name, Level (a roman number), FP cost and a link to a description.
7.7 Spell item sheet: Name, Level (a roman number), Casting time, Duration, Range and FP cost. The description (with effects) on its own tab.

8. Inventory Tab
Could be left as in the Base ruleset.

9. Notes Tab
One single text field.

B) NPC Sheet
Four tabs.
1. Main Tab
2. Combat Tab
3. Description Tab
4. Notes Tab

C) Combat Tracker
Needs to be able to calculate and roll Initiative skill and sort combatants in initiative order.

[peterb]

A much simpler solution would be to use text fields only. There are a number of good Spreadsheet character sheets for HM out there. By using one of those the players could send their sheets to the GM for reference and the FG sheet would just contain the barest minimum of data.

One could also create a set of chat commands that the players can store in HotKeys. The Sword & Sorcery ruleset has a lot of examples of chat commands. Chat commands that would be useful in a HM context could for example be a HitLocation roller and an impact matrix lookup utility.

[GunnarGreybeard]

Thats a whole lot of stuff. The character sheet alone would probably be a monumental piece of work. I think limiting it to a single version (either HM3 or HMG would be the best option).

[Brenn]

Kind of cool to see talk of HMx around here. I would love to see such a development, though I've got my plate full at the moment with the One Roll Engine ruleset I'm doing. I think one could do an excellent HM ruleset with FG, I don't see anything that would be a show stopper, however it will be a monumental amount of work. I know how much time I've spent on the ORE ruleset and it's a significantly simpler system than HM3 much less HMG.

I think it would be cool to have all of the rules in, even such things from Hârn Manor and such. It's such a great game that appeals to the simulationist in me. Unfortunately the same passion doesn't hold true for the group I've gamed with over the past 20 years.

[Meatball]

Ah...good to see HM being talked about. HM is still my favorite RPG of all time. Too bad there's no local gaming groups, no less anyone that would appreciate HM.

A while back I actually tried to put together a HM ruleset for FG1, though I don't know how useful it would be since it was the only ruleset I ever tried to put together and I didn't really have a clue what I was doing. Not to mention that it was for FG1 and it might be easier to start from scratch.

I tried to attach the zip of the ruleset here, but the boards wouldn't take it, PM your email addy if you want and I can forward you over a copy.

The biggest thing you need to figure out up front is which version of HM you want to build the rule set around since the char sheets and some of the skills/attributes vary between the versions.

After that, I'd find a charsheet you like and start building the rule set around that first.

[Mac77]

If Harnmaster came to fantasygrounds I would snap that game up in a heartbeat.

[LordEntrails]

"Rise! Rise I say!"
"By the power of the Grey I give you life again!"

[damned]

Harn skill rolls are supported in MoreCore

Harn: /harn 1d100x# (checks for success and criticals)

where # is your skill value