Ok, I thought I would post my Shenadun campaign. In doing this, I hope to get feedback, ask questions to more experiened GM's, and get adventure ideas.

Group background
I have four players in my group and we try to meet once a week. We use GURPS as our system. At first, we didn't plan on playing in Harn. The plan was to just do some old school dungeon delving. We made high level/high fantasy (150pts) characters. These are: A 1/2 ogre fighter; A 1/2 orc thief/scout, A wizard, and a cleric. After a discussion, and using Robin Laws book of good game mastering, it seems I have one storyteller, one power gamer, one casual gamer, and an undecided. I decided to use Harn World and modify some of the old TSR modules.

Campaign
I'm using the Shenedun module in the Chybisa kingdom. The 1/2 ogre became an escaped gladiatorial slave from Tharda who joined the 1/2 orc thief/scout and ended somehow in Shenadun. The Pagaelin are an orc tribe rather than human. They are more like the classic D&D orcs, with Gargun being Gargun. The wizard is some how involved with the lord, and the cleric becomes the lords priest of Larani.

I started out with a couple of combats with Gargun vs. the 1/2 ogre and 1/2 orc, which the players seemed to enjoy. In fact, they kept a couple of the Gargun prisoner, hoping to keep them as slaves. They are really quite deadly starting out at such high pts. This might be somewhat of a challenge in the future. I then used the Gargun cave in Pottage II. They are motivated by the $ so they can get some better equipment. They wiped out about 10 and quickly left the cave due to the spellcasters low on fatigue. This is were we left off at the moment.

My Plans
Use a couple of the Shenedun module ideas involving the Pagaelin(orcs) since I have an 1/2 orc in the party.
Use the warrior's grave adventure.
Use Sophia's Peoni's Tear adventure that I have notes on.
Modify the TSR module Axe of the Dwarfish Lords. I thought this would fit in nicely since it involves a bunch of goblins(Gargun) and would be easier to justify monsters underground.

I really liked the Warrior's Grave module; really nice setup. How do you plan to run it? How will the Naveh thing work with standard Orcs?

Reading the description of the Pagaelin and they sound as vicious as orcs. I never really understood why they wanted to control the Pagaelin anyway.

My issue at the moment is getting them to the hillgrave. The adventure says that information written on a stone tablet stated that the Atani Chronicles are buried with his brother east of Chybisa. That's a lot of area to cover.

I just realized that two of my characters have mail armor. Is that illegal?

Are they of nobel blood? If so, not a problem. If not, it could be a problem in civilized areas.

Anborn

They are not of noble blood. They could say they're mercenaries. Can mercs wear chain mail?

I do not think there is a law against the wearing of chainmail by non-nobles per se.

However; any non noble doing so would come under the scrutiny of local law enforcement for sure. They no doubt would accept some reasons for such behaviour more easily than others. Backing up with evidence might help:

Good Excuses:
I am employed/in service of the state/local lord/town aldermen/temple etc to perform a task that might require the wearing of armour. (Yeoman on service/training/escorting nobles etc etc.)

I am in the employ of guildsmen to guard their interest. I have guild credentials and papers.

I have been mustered into the militia and as such am working for the local lord. Yes I know chainmail is not the usual for militiamen. No, please go ahead and get confirmation from said Lord. No, I will be happy to wait here in this small almost dry windowless and uncomortable room until such confirmation arrives.

Neutral excuses:
I am a mercenary in a company that has all the right permissions to bear arms etc. No, I will be happy to wait in this almost dry, sparse, and uncomfortable room until my permissions can be verified.

I am employed by guildsman to guard their interests. I have no credentials or papers but can name my employer accurately. Uncomfortable but cheap lodging for the night? Don't mind if I do..

Bad excuses:
I am employed by guildsmen but have no credentials and cannot name them accurately....why, this hall of the mangai is uncommonly small and poorly lit...

It isn't mine.

I am expecting trouble. Pardon? I what...oh..I found it..I underst.

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Plots and schemes are the same thing..

Well, they don't have good excuses. But on the other hand, Sir Lardis does want a war with the Pagaelin and 2 more skilled fighters would be a big bonus. The thing is getting the lords trust.

If they try to hold him(he does not have permission) he's going to run and there will most likely be a fight, which won't be good for anybody.

What do you think a lord would do? Keep his armor? Ban him?

Michael

If the PCs are being recruited as mercenaries, their employer will likely welcome the fact that they come with their own armour (and/or weapons) – in fact, it may even be cause for a small sign-on bonus.

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«Fair is what we see, Fairer what we have perceived, Fairest what is still in veil.»
—Nicolaus Stenonius

Mac is right. If they are needed then the local lord will overlook any faux pas's and employ well equipped individuals. The cliche of the dirty dozen if you will.

The trick is in the first meeting with lower down officials (town guards etc). If they balls it out then employment may well be round the corner from the gaol..but how are they to know that

If they bottle it and run/fight then the penalties will be higher..and maybe more obligatory: "You showed skill and cunning in evading and then fighting my men. However it was a grievious crime against my vassals and therefore myself and the Crown. As such you must be punished. However; I will consider commuting this punishment if you perform a task for me...

Cheap Labour for the Lord

One thing I would consider is what the character, not the player would know. Although there exists a character type of 'mercenary'; as historical career path this is a bit misleading. One does not just usually grow up to be a mercenary; it is an unusual career path that freemen military types drift into; and IMHO a miniscule proportion of society could be described as mercenaries. So, unless they have a history of previously joining one of the few mercenary groups in existence; it is unlikely that they would even describe themselves as mercenaries. (It 'aint a positive term). They might consider themselves to be muscle for hire and even own chain-mail (unlikely); but IMHO would know it is better to carry the mail or at least try to cover it up.

If they are one of the..ahem..select...few that are genuine mercenaries...then I think they would have previously taken great pains to acquire credentials to back this up. Seals; letters of intoduction, insignia etc. In fact the very chain mail in question could itself be used by the wily to back up their story: "What! do you think I would dance into town in armed head to foot if I was not a genuine mercenary!! Send for your Lords representative immediately! I wish to offer him my services!" etc. The point being is; that unless the character is a complete greenhorn, he should have some concept of how to present himself as passable in society.

Whether he chooses to follow it is then down to individual levels of personality disorder

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Plots and schemes are the same thing..

If they are in the employ of either a guildsmen or a noble then have them wear a cloth tabbard bearing either the guild badge or the coat of arms of the noble they work for.

This should at least give anyone asking them question a quick and immediate answer on who they work for.

I was thinking when/if I ever get round to that adventure that I was going to play around with having them 'squire' around the sage. Use it as an excuse to use the small scale adventures that might work in the area.

I hate to say that this campaign turned into a Harn dungeon crawl with high fantasy world characters.

The End.