So you want to add the harrow deck to your game. You’ve
read the Harrow Handbook and the Harrow Deck Rulebook. You have some ideas but you
haven’t quite sussed out what you want to do with it. Maybe you’re a player who
wants to include harrow deck use into their character or maybe you’re a GM who
wants to use it as part of their campaign, either way here are some ideas for
you to use.
If you’re GMing a game and you want to make the harrow a
central theme to your game one of the easiest ways to do this is by adding it
as a mechanic. Some of you may remember a game called Deadlands, a wild west horror
game. Although the mechanics were clunky, they were thematic, using poker chips
and playing cards as parts of both character creation and game play. You can do
the same with the harrow deck.
The easiest place to include the harrow is in character
creation. The Harrow Handbook outlines one method for use in character creation
in which you use the cross spread to come up with some basic ideas about where
your character came from and where he is going. While this method is decent,
leaving a lot of room for the player to make their character, it isn’t the
method I might use. Opening up traits and giving specifics dulls the joy of the
vagueness of a proper harrow reading.
In this week’s randomrolled character I used the same harrow spread, the
cross, to add to our rolls and allow some mystery for the character. Instead of
outright adding traits and saying you’re good at this or cursed by that I just
left the interaction of the cards open to the player, or in this case the
writer of the background. If I were doing this in an actual game sessions I
wouldn’t just lay out the cards and say this is what you get I would set the
mood, dim the lights, use a deck of cards (normal or Paizo’s Deluxe Harrow deck), lay
out a tablecloth like a real harrow reader. I would tell players that this is
the reading their parents got after they were conceived, what kind of character
would they make?
Another way to use the harrow is within the game itself.
Carrion Crown’s Player’s Guide has a system that combines the harrow deck with
hero points. If you are using the harrow as a centerpiece for your game,
whether you are running the AP or not, this is an amazing way to keep the cards
relevant. Of course if you are looking to have fun you could also add a harrow
deck of many things to your campaign and watch the sparks fly.
Some traits like the Harrow Born and Harrow Chosen human race traits can add quite a bit of flavor to a harrow character. What you
really want to look at is the Harrowed feat. If you are going to be running a
harrow-heavy game I would consider giving everyone the Harrowed feat. Every day
the characters draw a card and that card gives them a +2 on any check made
using that ability score. What’s more, and this works especially well for
homebrewed adventures, is that as a GM you can now look at the meaning of each
of those cards and use them as a guide for how the day’s adventure should go.
So your GM has said she wants to make harrow a
significant part of the game and you’ve decided to make a character that takes
that to heart. Being a Varisian or a worshiper of Desna are both easy, although
obvious, ways to go. The Harrow Handbook has six archetypes that use the harrow
deck as a cornerstone. As pointed out, humans have a few traits that help and
there is one feat that really gives the harrow some oomph. There is also the
Harrower PrC which completely revolves around the use of the harrow deck.
What makes the Harrower PrC is fun is that there are many
ways to get into it. Of its requirements, anyone can take the Harrowed feat.
You can take ranks in Knowledge (Religion) or Knowledge (Arcana), and Perform
is easy enough to buy into even if it’s not a class skill. Unlike many casting
PrCs, you can get into it as either an arcane or divine class. All you need is
to cast third level spells, at least three of which must be divination. This is
easily accomplished by all the full casting classes but even inquisitors,
paladins, and rangers can meet the requirement by level seven.
Although only six classes get PrC’s directly linking them
to the harrow that is no reason to limit yourself to those choices. I played an
Oracle of Lore with the Seeker Archetype in one of the many
failed Rise of the Runelords attempts I made. Sorcerers of the
Harrow Bloodline would do well in a game based on harrow, as would straight up
diviner Wizard. Clerics of Desna are
an obvious choice but other divine beings of fate or chance are also
appropriate.
Now you’ve made your harrowing character and you want to
really get into playing her. We had a Cartomancer Witch in the latest (and most successful)
Runelords game. The player linked each of the spells his character knew to a
card in her harrow deck. When she wanted to cast a healing spell the player
would describe the character as pulling out the midwife card which glowed with
a soft white radiance. When she cast a light spell it would come when she drew
the big sky card. Little things like this can help bring your harrowing
character to life.
The harrow can be an awesome resource as both a player
and GM. Next time you’re thinking about adding a little something extra to your
campaign consider using the harrow. Whether you draw naturally and add a little
randomness to your life, or you pick the cards you want to show to your players
is up to you.
Have you used the harrow in your game? How did it go?
Would you now consider using the harrow in a future game? Have you used any
sort of fortune-telling mechanism in your games? What kind of character would
you make in a game based around the harrow?
The harrow brings its readers a mystical connection to
the universe. Hopefully you feel that connection to gaming and it gets stronger
with reading the CRB. If so, please consider supporting your favorite (or one
of your favorite) content providers by contributing to my Patreon. As year one
came to a close, those who have been following have received PDFs of the year
one content. If you’d like to join the other CRB communities you can find me on
Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. Also if you’d like the CRB pushed
directly to your Kindle check out Amazon’s Kindle Subscriptions.
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