MORALITY

The purpose of the Harn Religion Team (HRT) as I see it is to provide additional background material for use by GM's in their own worlds related to the Harnic Pantheon. In this regard, we are not really a "rules" team, but are more interested in background material. One of our goals was to remain compatible with the published HarnWorld material. I've decided that it is also important to remain true to the published HarnMaster (rules) material.

This, however, creates a problem in that the published material is incomplete, inconsistent and in some places even contradictory. Specifically the problems are:

The approach I've taken with these notes is to remain consitent with the HM rules while trying to provide guidance on the above three problems.

The Harnmaster Morality attribute is a rather strange addition to the system. In many ways, it doesn't really fit, particularly when dealing with PC's. For NPC's it can be useful in a quick & dirty sort of way. However it is never really used in the game (except in the optional Ritual SB's from HL 1, which I recommend you not use.) Morality, seems only to make sense in terms of the opposing viewpoints expressed by a few of the dominant churches (Larani/Peoni/Siem? - Agrik/Morgath).

In AD&D terms it can be described as a line from LG to CE and is thus actually less useful than the AD&D alignment system (which makes it a pretty sad attribute). The problem of ethical outlook is certainly not one or even two dimensional. In fact it is closer to infinite dimensions, as each individual sees the world in their own way.

The Morality attribute can safely be ignored for PC's, and used only as a quick & dirty reaction check for NPC's. This is the recommended approach. However this leaves the GM with the difficulty of determining the degree to which a character is following the teachings of his religion or of a particular life outlook.

Such problems are best handled by an ethical code used as a measure of behavior. Such codes are discussed in several of the individual articles in GoH and under development by the HRT. Examples: The Ljarl Sarajin's Warrior Code Chivalry The Lady of Paladins Code Most other dieties have similar if less formal codes. Ilvir for example has many parables, each containing "lessons" their sum total could be considered a code of behavior. Peoni has strict codes of behavior though whether a strict set of "commandments" exists or not is unknown. Save-K'nor's code is likely much like that of the Shek-Pvar. Morgath probably has 13 laws, Agrik 8, etc. GM's should use these behavior codes in lieu of the Morality statistic as a measure of a PC's behavior. In turn, behavior will impact the character's piety score.


J. Patrick McDonald