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 | Base chance: (Int + Wil)/5% |
| Character is an elf: +10% |
| Parent was guilded/master of their trade: +05% |
| Parent was a priest or noble: +05% |
| Parent was urban (cumulative with above): +03% |
This percentage is rolled against. As usual with percentile rolls, judge the roll as a CS, MS, MF or CF. Check against the table below:
| CF: Character not accepted, and their reputation among those in academic circles is damaged. |
| MF: Character not accepted. |
| MS: Character has chance to attend a college. Results as below. |
| CS: Character has chance to attend a university. Results as below. |
If the character had a chance to attend college or university, they will accrue extra skills above and beyond the others they have gotten (though, as usual, SB levels gotten now cannot be surpassed in pre-game without expenditure of option points). The skills available in college and university are the same, but the amount gained varies. In college, the character may pick three skills at OML+SB. In university, they may pick five at OML+SB. The skills available are:
| Astrology |
| History |
| Law |
| Mathematics |
| Oratory |
| Poetry |
| Rhetoric, or |
| any one script. |
PC's may (at GM's discretion) obtain any occupation in the Harnmaster rules. There are the following additions:
| Acrobat: Acrobatics/5, Legerdemain/1. |
| Arsenn (Assassin): Stealth/5, Climbing/5, Acrobatics/3, Legerdemain/2, Lockcraft/2, 4 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Bandit: Stealth/4, Survival/3, Tracking/2, Physician/1, Strategy/1, 4 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Bounty-hunter: Foraging/3, Stealth/3, Survival/3, Tracking/3, Law/1, 5 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Con artist: Rhetoric/4, Legerdemain/3, Oratory/2, Acting/2, Banking/1. |
| Foodmerchant: Agriculture/3, Cookery/3, Herblore/2. |
| Forester: Tracking/4, 3 weapons to OML+SB, Stealth/4, Survival/3, Foraging/3, Fletching/1, Heraldry/1, Hideworking/1, Law/1. |
| Jester: Intrigue/4, Acrobatics/3. Acting/3, Legerdemain/3, Oratory/3 |
| Marine: Seamanship/3, Fishing/2, Weatherlore/2, Heraldry/1, Strategy/1, 4 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Messenger: Riding/4, Survival/3, Weatherlore/2, 3 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Moneylender: Rhetoric/5, Banking/4, Mathematics/2, One script. |
| Noble: Oratory/5, Rhetoric/5, Law/4, Heraldry/2, Riding/2, History/2, Musician or Poetry/2, one script. |
| Painter: Drawing/5, Hideworking/2. |
| Scholar/Tutor/Professor: One language, one script, History/4, plus any 4 of the following to OML+SB: Astrology, Banking, Cartography, Drawing, Heraldry, Herblore, Law, Mathematics, Poetry, Ritual, Rhetoric, Weatherlore, another language, or another script. |
| Sculptor: Drawing/3, plus two of the following to OML+SB: Masonry, Carpentry, Ceramics. |
| Spicemerchant: Herblore/4, Physician/2, Cookery/2. |
| Troubadour: Singing/4, 2x Musician/3, Survival/3, Poetry/3, Acting/2, History/1, 1 weapon to OML+SB. |
The following pre-extant occupations have been modified, largely because of the addition of the new skills below:
| Country yeoman: Foraging/3, Survival/3, Agriculture/2, Physician/1, Strategy/1, 5 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Harper/Skald: Singing/4, 3x Musician/3, Poetry/3, Woodcarving/3, History/1, One script. |
| Herald: Heraldry/4, Oratory/4, Drawing/3, History/3, Law/2, one language, one script. |
| Knight/Squire: Riding/4, Heraldry/3, Strategy/3, Law/2, Musician/2, Physician/1, History/1, 6 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Legionnaire/Recruit/Enlisted Soldier: Foraging/3, Survival/3, Heraldry/2, Strategy/2, Physician/1, 4 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Litigant: Rhetoric/5, Law/4, Oratory/4, One script, 2nd language. |
| Man-at-arms/City yeoman: Foraging/3, Survival/3, Heraldry/2, Law/1, Physician/1, Strategy/1, 5 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Mercantyler: Rhetoric/5, Banking/3, Mathematics/2, One weapon to OML+SB, 2nd language, One script. |
| Pirate/Viking: Seamanship/3, Survival/3, Physician/1, Strategy/1, 4 weapons to OML+SB. |
| Thespian: Acting/4, Oratory/4, Musician/3, Singing/3, Poetry/3, Drawing/2. |
| Thief: Stealth/4, Legerdemain/3, Lockcraft/2, Acrobatics/2, 3 weapons to OML+SB. |
When a character first tries to use a skill, they must first determine if they may actually open the skill or not. The steps to determine this are as follows. First, write down the skill on the character sheet and determine the character's SB in it. Second, determine the OML multiple for the skill, as follows:
| Base OML multiple: Skill's OML+3. | ||||||||||
| Inadequate facilities/equipment: -1 to -5, at GM's discretion. | ||||||||||
| Self-taught: No modification. | ||||||||||
| Taught by teacher with ML of:
|
Amount of time spent learning the skill before rolling to open it:
| Instant: -1. |
| One day: no modification. |
| One week: +1. |
| One month: +2. |
| One year: +3. |
Once the total OML multiple is calculated, the SB is multiplied by this, and the final number is rolled against. The character's success at rolling against this number determines their success at opening the skill:
| CF: Skill not opened, and may not be tried again for 1d10 weeks. |
| MF: Skill not opened. |
| MS: Skill opened to normal OML (not the OML multiplier). |
| CS: Skill opened to normal OML + 1d6. |
Note that with many skills, opening them is unnecessary to have minimal familiarity. Skinning a wolf does not require (nor does it necessarily give access to) Hideworking, and lying about one's identity does not require (or necessarily give access to) Acting.
Skill Formula Sunsign Mods OML Type
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Poetry Hrg Int Wil 1 Communication
Banking Int Int Wil 1 Lore/Craft
History Int Int Wil 1 Lore/Craft
Law Int Int Wil 1 Lore/Craft
Poetry: Used for composing standard verse, as well as musical lyrics. Success will determine the quality of the verse/lyrics produced, but Oratory or Singing should be used to determine the quality of delivery if the poem is being spoken or sung. For written poetry, the poetry skill itself should be used.
Banking: Indicates familiarity with various economic techniques, including usury/moneylending, letters of credit, taxation, etc. It also includes knowledge of the reputations of userers, bankers and others, for purposes of judging the value of dealings with them. For PC's, this skill will be used more for gaining information about these methods than for actually practicing them. Like Rhetoric, use of this skill should not substitute for role-playing. Specialization allows the character to pick one type of economic endeavour.
History: This skill is purely informational. It is a measure of familiarity with happenings in the past. In situations demanding a roll, the level of success indicates the quality of knowledge gained. Since a CF will generate false information, rolls for this skill should be made by the GM. There is generally a penalty of -10 to the EML for each time period (on the 1-8 scale) of removal between the character and the phenomena to be understood. Of course, particularly obscure things will incur a higher penalty. Specialization may be used to gain specific familiarity with a particular time period, country, ruler, city, etc.
Law: This skill is used to indicate familiarity with legal systems, as well as skill in manipulating them. This skill is usually used in conjunction with Rhetoric when actual legal conflicts arise and are worked out in a court of some form. With specialization, the character may specify the law system of a country, a barony, a general type (feudal, imperial, etc.). This skill presumes a systematic and self-consistent form of law; it is impossible to have skill in manipulating rule-by-decree or vendetta law. Specialization generally indicates particular ability with a specific law code, although it may be had with a country in general (though the resultant benefits would thus be less with each law code within the given country).
The Harnmaster system, as it stands, is generally excellent. There is one large thing which is basically missing, however; that is, a system for resolving competitions in skills between two characters, when that competition is non-combative. I have devised the following system for resolving such competitions. It is obviously closely modelled upon the Harnmaster combat rules.
When two characters come into a competition which involves their skills, use this system to determine the results.
For purposes of this system, there are four types of conflict:
| Detection: One character is trying to detect something which the other character is trying to keep hidden. Examples include use of codes or cyphers to keep a message hidden, or trying to sneak past a guard. |
| Endurance/Sport: Both characters are trying to out-lat the other at some physically demanding task. Examples include a sprint to reach a goal first, or a tug-of-war. Most of these skills would obviously be physical. |
| Speech: One character is trying to make a point which the other character is trying to refute. Examples include haggling over the price of something, or a theological or legal debate. The majority of skills which are applicable here would be in the communication section. |
| Artifice: One character is trying to create or maintain something which the other character is trying to defeat or destroy. Examples include an attempt to defeat a lock which someone else has made, or trying to destroy a castle's defenses through tunneling. |
The different types of conflict primarily define what the possible results of the resolution will be, especially negative results: a competition in speech will usually not result in breakage of equipment, for example, while a competition of artifice may.
Resolution basically resembles the combat resolution sequence. Both sides roll against their skill, and the results (CF, MF, MS or CS) are compared. Note that on the tables one side is called "passive" and the other "active." In many cases, this distinction does not really apply; it is merely supplied in case the distinction would be useful.
Consult the tables below for actual resolution.
Detection
Active result
CF MF MS CS
CF BLF PLF AS*1 AS*2
Passive MF ALF × ASA AS*1
result MS PS*1 PSA × ASA
CS PS*2 PS*1 PSA ×
Endurance/Sports
Active result
CF MF MS CS
CF BI*2 PI*1 AS*1 AS*2
Passive MF AI*1 BI*1 ASA AS*1
result MS PS*1 PSA × ASA
CS PS*2 PS*1 PSA BS*1
Speech
Active result
CF MF MS CS
CF BLF PLF AS*1 AS*2
Passive MF ALF × ASA AS*1
result MS PS*1 PSA BS*1 BS*1
CS PS*2 PS*1 BS*1 BS*2
Artifice
Active result
CF MF MS CS
CF BAR PAR AS*1 AS*2
Passive MF AAR × ASA AS*1
result MS PS*1 PSA × ASA
CS PS*2 PS*1 PSA ×
× -- Indicates a complete draw. Neither party has achieved any relative degree of success.
AS*X -- Active party achieves a success. Roll Xd6 to determine value of the final result, on a rough 1 to 15 scale. Interpretation of the results are up to the GM.
PS*X -- Passive party achieves a success. See AS*X.
BS*X -- Both parties achieve a success. See AS*X. Interpretation is of course difficult here, but as an example, a result of simultaneous success with sports indicates that both parties did well, but the final result was more-or-less a tie. A result of simultaneous success for a speech indicates that both sides make excellent points, but neither advances beyond the other. A comparison of value rolls may settle the dispute; otherwise, continue the contest.
AAR -- Active artifact ruined. Whatever the active party was using as a tool (lockpicks, smithing hammer, stained glass, etc.) is now broken.
PAR -- Passive artifact ruined. As per AAR.
BAR -- Both artifacts ruined. As per AAR.
AI*X -- Active injured. Roll Xd10 for injury points, and assess them either as special penalties or as per GM's discretion, and depending upon the precise level of danger involved in the activity.
PI*X -- Passive injured. As per AI*X.
BI*X -- Both injured. As per AI*X.
ASA -- Active skill advantage. Success has not yet been achieved, but the next attempt by the active party will be at +20 to EML. This means that, although the active party has not achieved success, the "pump is primed," and the next attempt will be in the active party's favor.
PSA -- Passive skill advantage. See ASA.
ALF -- Active Loss of Face. The active side loses face among whoever was present at the contest. People consider them to be foolish, stupid or something similar, due to an obvious lack of capability. If there is no one around to notice, the effect may be negligible, at GM's discretion.
PLF -- Passive Loss of Face. As per ALF.
BLF -- Both Lose Face. As per ALF.
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