Can You Run Hârn Using 5e?

Biting the bullet, I’ve decided to run a one-off scenario in Hârn next week.

That said, I’m not sure my players will fully embrace a move to Hârn and HârnMaster (the rules written for Hârn) all at once. The question that arises, given our recent investment in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition is, “Can you run Hârn using 5e?”

The short answer to that question is, “Of course you can.”

The much longer answer involves taking the very high-magic and high-powered baseline of Dungeons & Dragons and somehow marrying it to the low-magic and lower-powered baseline of Hârn.

Thankfully, I’m not the first person to do this… and Hârn is probably played using D&D more than its native system anyhow – after all, the rules came out a full three years after the setting first got published back in 1983.

Before we dive in though, I’d suggest checking out the reasons why I suddenly want to take my gaming to Hârn by reading my last post.

Keep It Basic

The best thing about Dungeons & Dragons (5e) is that the game is essentially free to play. You can grab the D&D Basic rules as free .PDF downloads online.

My first tip for using D&D with Hârn is to build things around the Basic D&D classes and races.

There are three players races in Hârn – Humans, Dwarves, Elves – and you don’t need to involve any other options, just ignore the Halfling.

In terms of classes, the Fighter and the Rogue fit in well; the Cleric and the Wizard can be adapted with relative ease. Not using the full Player’s Handbook options allows you to nicely side-step the question of the other classes – you’re simply not including them (at least, not yet).

It’s my sense that, given the idea that Hârn is deliberately low-fantasy so that you can choose which high-fantasy elements (if any) you want to add to the world, the trick is to start small and add in small doses. You can develop your own vision of Hârn over time and in concert with the wishes of the players – do they want to add a Paladin to the party? Fine… but perhaps that character comes exclusively as one of The Red Lions, the Knights of Mendez – Larani’s “special weapon” in the fight against the “evil” gods Agrik, Morgath, and Naveh.

For getting started, Basic D&D would work just fine for rules. You should spend time fitting the character’s backgrounds to Hârn, and that’s quite straight-forward on the fly.

Making Things Distinct

Some things in the game need to change to fit Hârn:

• Change the whole Equipment rules and make them fit Hârn standards, such as importing Hârnic prices.
• Downplay Alignment, expecting players to choose a deity to mould their moral decisions around.
• Ground the characters in their starting location, just as you would with HârnMaster.

On money, I’d make all reference to Gold Pieces in D&D become silver in Hârn. Instead of giving the characters all the default gear, let them roll the starting wealth… but as silver pieces. Yes, they’ll be poor and under-equipped. Yes, you can supplement their gear with some extra stuff – for me, the best idea would be a list of gear they can choose some items from. Start early with the idea of barter and exchange for goods.

There are a number of Dungeons & Dragons game options that I’d apply, assuming you have the Player’s Handbook (PHB) and the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG):

• Variant Human Traits on page 31 of the PHB will help to make Humans fit their Kingdoms.
• Use the Renown and Piety rules on pages 22-23 of DMG to give greater consequence to social interactions, as well as living up to your deity’s expectations.
• Use Non-Combat Challenges and Milestones as Experience options, from DMG pages 260-261, or consider Level Advancement without XP.
• Use Healing Kit Dependency from DMG page 266.
• Either use Slow Natural Healing or, to make it truly low-fantasy, the Gritty Realism rest variant; both are on DMG page 267.
• For a quicker and more HârnMaster feel in combat, use Initiative Scores from DMG page 270.
• The Injuries rule on DMG pages 272-273 are also worth considering, as are the Massive Damage and Morale rules on page 273.

When setting up the first game, make sure the adventure is grounded in the setting. It needs to feel Hârnic from the outset – start the heroes with a problem rooted in Hârn’s society so that it immediately feels different to regular D&D.

Go Easy On Yourself

As Dungeon Master, you need to go slow and steady. Get the game started rather than wait to perfect every nuance of Hârnic culture and society.

As an example, take time to model Hârnic priestly invocations in Dungeons & Dragons. Certainly, try to get that new priest character’s player to choose “spells” that are suited to their deity. From there, work on what comes at the next level; as you don’t need to worry about Divine Domain features, for example, until you get to each relevant level… well, take your time working on what you need for that character. You don’t need all of the deity’s stuff, just the things that player needs for next level. The same applies to Shek-Pvar (Wizards): only worry about it if you have a Wizard player; even then, work at it with them step-by-step.

Remember: what you’re making is a blend between the low-fantasy, low-magic setting of Hârn and the high-fantasy, high-magic assumptions of Dungeons & Dragons. This won’t be, strictly speaking, Hârn-as-written. It’ll not be D&D-as-written either. Your new blend will be something in-between: grounded in one of the most detailed fantasy worlds ever created, but driven by the cool action-orientated rules of the oldest roleplaying game of all.

Game on!