Upfront
I purchased the HARP pdf on my own. I did not receive it as a complimentary review copy. This is not a playtest review. It is not a d20 game. In some areas I draw parallels to mechanics in d20 or other game systems, but these are as a point of reference. Please do not interpret them to mean one is exactly the same as the other.
The Basics
High Adventure Role Playing (HARP) is a 192 pdf. It contains character creation, skills, equipment, magic, monsters, and just about everything you need to run a basic fantasy game in one place. At its core, HARP is a d100 based system and is a nice balance between a level-based and a point-based system.
Professions
After a couple of pages containing the introduction and a brief overview of character creation, the book starts off with professions. Professions are similar to classes in D&D, but leave a great deal of room for flexibility. The professions are set up in such a way that they cover all the basics of fantasy play (fighter, monk, cleric, wizard, rogue, and so on) but it’s unlikely two characters of the same profession will be identical. They essentially give you one special ability, such as an increasing bonus to a favored weapon or skill, and then give you a cost break on the skills most closely related to that class.
I like the way the profession system is handled. One of the main complaints about the D&D class system is that any two characters of the same class will be very similar, apart from their feats and a handful of skill points. My only real complaint about this section is that some very helpful information is placed in italicized examples, instead of the actual rules text. For example, I was confused about the difference between initial profession skill ranks and development points at first. I know, shame on me for not reading the examples the first time anyway. I just think this section could have been a bit clearer.
Character Statistics
A quick three pages on statistics, such as Strength and Quickness. How to buy them. How to improve them with experience. What they represent. Pretty straight forward.
The section itself is clearly written. The mechanic that bothers me is that having high stats gives you more development points, which you can use at subsequent levels to buy higher stats. There are already plenty of benefits to having good stats, since they provide bonuses to resistance rolls and skill rolls. I think a fixed number of points per level would be more balanced. Although, this isn’t a playtest review.
Races & Cultures
This section was one of the ones I liked the most in the book. First, the system is elegant. Pick a race then pick your cultural background. There’s no reason a forest elf and a city elf should have the same basic skill set, so they don’t.
The races themselves aren’t remarkable. Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Human, and a new one called Gryx. The author notes the Gryx are an alternative to Half-orcs. This is a nice way to provide a race with the same niche, but without contemplating the parentage of a Half-orc.
What I really like is it’s super easy to make up new races. The details aren’t really spelled out, but it’s pretty obvious how the different bonuses relate to each other and come up with a new race that fits the same criteria. There is also a section on racial hybrids and it does have clear rules on mixing and matching them if you did want to have a character with another bloodline crossing the family tree.
Skills
The skills section is really the core of the system itself. Aside from your resistance rolls (saving throws), just about anything you’d probably need to roll for is a skill. Fighting, climbing, hit points, spellcasting -- all covered by buying appropriate skills. The system will seem familiar to d20 players as well. Buy ranks, add stat bonus(es), roll a d100 and try for a high result. The skills provide a good variety without being detailed too far and are easy to understand.
Talents and Other Options
Chapter seven covers two primary topics. Talents are somewhat similar to feats in d20. They vary in cost and cover things as mundane as Artistic (a bonus to artistic skills) to Dark Vision or Regeneration. All are clearly laid out and are the basic building blocks of the racial abilities in the Races chapter. Again, making it easy to create new races or compare the power of abilities.
The other main part of this chapter covers Training Packages. These are a loose analogy to the Prestige Classes of d20. GMs and players can create a package of skills, which can be purchased all together, but at a discount. These are also somewhat similar to the Package Deals of HERO/Champions, prior to the 5th edition. Several samples are provided, which could fit in just about any typical fantasy campaign.
Buying skills at a discount may at first seem potentially overpowered for an entirely skill based system. However, there are some limiting factors. Only one package of any sort may be taken per level. Also, if the total purchase puts you over the max skill ranks for your level, you don’t gain them. The main thing is, these are a simple way to put some structure and flavor into a game world. They’re also easier to make from scratch than a solid prestige class. As a GM that likes to make new stuff, making it easy for me to do that is something I like to see.
Equipment
There’s nothing too special about equipment. What you’d expect to find is there. The tables have a nice, clean format that’s easy to follow. It is nice to see a piecemeal armor chart.
Adventuring
This section covers how to use the rules to do the basic things adventurers do. There is one basic chart that covers just about everything you’ll need to do, except fighting. Damage, healing, spellcasting, environmental hazards, and breaking stuff are some of the topics covered.
Your overall skill or stat roll is usually modified by a situational modifier, ranging from Routine to Absurd. This can be a little subjective, which is both a good and a bad thing. It’s good in that you don’t have to stop everything to look up one specific modifier for a certain skill. On the other hand, you’ll invariably get situations where people don’t agree on how difficult something should be to accomplish. With the good examples provided, I think the good outweighs the bad here.
Combat
Where would we be without rules on killing people and taking there stuff? While there are modifiers that come up along the way, combat is essentially rolling your weapon skill, modified by your opponents defenses, and then looking up how well you did with your attack on a chart. There are charts for different kinds of weapons (e.g. slashing or piercing), different poisons (internal and external), and types of energy (hot and cold running damage).
It should also be noted that combat in HARP seems deadlier than D&D combat. The way the charts work, there is a small, but real, possibility that goblin could deliver a wound that will eventually have you bleeding to death, even at higher levels. This isn’t a system where an experienced warrior will just wade through lower level opponents.
This is one section that I’m a little torn on. The main thing that put me off of HARP’s cousin, Rolemaster, is that there was a chart for everything. On the other hand, I like the idea of a better attack roll meaning more damage. D&D has always bothered me in that a 10 and a 19 to hit have essentially the same damage potential, as long as they both hit. HARP doesn’t have nearly the number of charts I was afraid of and they’re fairly simplified. If you use primarily slashing weapons, you could just copy that one and keep it handy. Overall, I don’t think combat would run all that slower compared to d20 after you’d tried it a few times. One last thing that bugs me -- I must have read this a dozen times and I still can’t find a clear explanation of which charts to use for non-martial arts unarmed attacks.
Magic and Spells
The magic system is another thing I really like about HARP. First, the spells are very clearly written. I don’t find any of the legalese that’s crept into D&D magic through successive generations. Second, professions that share the same spell cast the same spell. How you spend your development points determines how well and what you can cast. If you don’t think a ranger needs magic, don’t spend any points here. Third, in most cases, you don’t have Minor, Greater, and Lesser versions of each spell (Healing being the exception). All the spells can be made more powerful by using “Scaling Options” right in the description. Having a bunch of levels in mage doesn’t automatically mean your fireball will melt cities. You have to dedicate points to spells you want to be good at.
Finally, while it’s not clearly laid out, it’s not hard to reverse engineer the spell costs from the spells here. If you wanted to make your own new spells, you could without much trouble. I believe more guidelines are given in the separate magic supplement, but I don’t think it would be absolutely necessary have that book to get good results.
Herbs & Poisons
Chapter twelve sure gives you a reason to put ranks in those outdoor skills. There are a number of herbs valuable for healing and similar uses. There is a decent selection of poisons. My only real question is why isn’t this just in with the equipment section?
Encounters & Monsters
Unfortunately, I think this is probably the weakest section in the book. There are random encounter charts and tips for setting up encounters. The selection of monsters, though, is thin. There are just over 40, including several types of undead, demons, and goblinoid races.
The good news is, like so many things in HARP, making new stuff is pretty easy. The racial modifiers are broken out on a separate chart, so you can use the character professions to make new versions of the creatures. Even with that, I’d still probably want to have a monster supplement before I tried to run a regular game.
Treasure
At first glance, the treasure section also looks a little light. It’s more appropriate to say it’s streamlined, which is good. While there are certain, specific magic items, many of the typical items like magic swords, boots that make it easy to sneak around, and so on are just classified as Bonus Items. The higher rank of the Bonus Item, the higher bonus it gives to the skill to use it. In this system, a skill is a skill is a skill, and that cuts out a lot of redundancy in creating magic items.
Gamemaster Guidelines
The last chapter is advice on running HARP games. Some of it is very basic GMing advice. This is meant to be a product suitable for first time gamers, too, so that’s not all bad. There are also some nice bits on customizing the fairly generic system to fit your specific campaign world. There are also some basic professions included, which are set up with NPCs in mind.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is there’s a lot to like in HARP, but it depends on what you’re looking for. It’s a very nice balance between class-based and totally point-based systems. It’s well done, but not the sort of thing that will win a lot of converts from die-hard d20 or HERO fans. There are a lot of places where the system makes it easy to look under the hood and get creative. At the same time, the somewhat generic and basic nature of the book, which is not meant to be derogatory, means it’s just not as complete as I’d like to see it in some places.
