I'm new to Harn and running a game set in Kaldor (2 sessions so far). My player (it's a solo campaign) just finished 100 Bushels of Rye, and is quite proud of the glowing coin he took from the caves. However, from my various readings, it's not clear what sort of legal, religious, and social reaction to expect from openly brandishing said coin (emanates a gentle but unnatural light).

Some thoughts on the matter... virtually all canon and fanon describes a medieval society that is virtually magic free (relative to a typical fantasy world, say). People burn candles and lanterns for light, heal from wounds very slowly if at all, battles and wars happen without a fireball in sight, and so on. So magic is essentially not present in society, either due to rarity or outright fear and prejudice in the populace. Why is that? Is magic so subtle that you couldn't detect it without training to know what to look for? Are mages so rare that the odds of finding true magic negligible for most people? Is magic truly so feared that mages (and their creations) have been pushed out or destroyed? This latter seems closest to real world medieval times, with a strong Church persecuting all magic as witchcraft and deviltry. But Harn with its 10 gods and genuine sorcery and monsters seems more nuanced than Catholic medieval Europe.

I also can't find any mention of Kaldor's laws regarding magic - all mention of magic seems conspicuously absent from the Kaldor Kingdom module. I have my own ideas on how to legally handle magic, but I'm curious to see what other more experienced Harn GMs and players think and have done in their campaigns.

The actual situation in my game - the PC is a young knight, and while telling his tale about the Nolah of Demon Rock to the Sheriff and others in Olokand, proudly brandished the coin to all. I was caught a bit off guard by this - described some fainting ladies in the distance, had a Larani priest get upset about possible dangerous and demonic magic, and eventually the Sheriff gave the items over to a sage to study and determine their threat.

The answer is: It is up to you and your players to decide how rare majic is in your p-harn.
I realize that doesnt help much, but that is the beauty and challenge of Harn. You have established a precedent that majic in the Kaldor is uncommon and feared. I you want to keep down that track, then my suggestion is that your next few sessions dont involve monsters and majic items. On the other hand, maybe this is the first step towards having your PCs go on high adventures in a high powered majic environment that is unfathomable to the common folk.

The law article only has a couple of references to magic in it. Essentially, witchcraft is illegal and punished severely, where witchcraft is defined as "consorting or conjuring demons or disposal of souls". Thus, there is no unambiguous blanket law against "magic" per se anywhere in canon. How the authorities interpret any particular instance of magic with respect to the law noted above is up to you.

Cheers,
De Coucy

King Miginiath has a royal sorcerer. So magic per se seems not to be forbidden in Kaldor.

Well, Queen Elizabeth had an official magician in John Dee....but I doubt anyone else practising magic was so free to do so.

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Plots and schemes are the same thing..

The Kingdom of Kaldor module lists an Astrologer, Alchemist, and "Master of Esoterica" among the royal household. Is one of these who you mean? That would suggest that the sorcery is at least ostensibly a secret.

Yes, the Master of Esoterica is a magician in my game.

That is interesting. I've always wondered how to play the sorceror in the employ of a King. What can they do without violating the principles of the Shek-Pvar?

Interesting questions, no real correct answer.

I'd think the King would know he is not a sorceror at the beck and call of the King - Though the King may press him it times to "perform magic".

Personally, I look at a mage in this role as someone who might to minor magic at feasts and other things and would be an advisor to the King - but would not react well if the King were to give an ultimatum.

Perhaps a similar realtionship as there was between Uther Pendragon and Merlin as portrayed in the movie Excalibur.

At times he may use magic to help - and it times he may do nothing even in dire circumstances for the King.

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Hmm Gurthang. What a nice name for a sword....

Instead, the court magician might be ( or claim to be ) a "counter-magic" specialist.
"Nope, no one is using magic against you today, your majesty. I checked among the 7 Spheres of Insight and the 5 Trapezoids of Power and nothing was happening. I'll check again tomorrow, yes indeed."

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Laboro diem, carpe noctem.

...or the court magician is something like the Arch-Druid of a celtic king: the power behind the throne, literally (like Merlin and Uther/Artus Pendragon).

There it is again: the melderynian conspiracy theory...!

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"The purpose of the game is to entertain the players and the GM. The rest is just semantics."
-by Munin from the forum-

...or court mages are basically covert agents of the White Hand.
Most may not even know that they are doing so.

Melderyn is simply a nation that co-operates with what is effectively the "Interpol" of wizards.
[Emelrene would be another]

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Leave the gun, take the cannolli.

A few comments on magic use, laws on magic use, and common percept.

These comments are broad, and apply to ALL REAL WORLD SOCIETIES that 'believe(d)' in human use of magic. This would include ancient celts, but is not limited to them.

#1: If a human can use magic, they can abuse magic.
#2: Abuse of magic is ALWAYS grounds for nasty painful death. Not just death. Nasty painful death. Always. (So if the 'wicca' ever existed, they 'burned witches', or killed them in other horrible ways). For societies with legal code, this was in the codes.

Having said the above, NOT all societies that believed in magic assumed it was always used for evil ends. However, the records we have suggest that even in the most liberal societies that 'believed in magic', being accused of 'witchcraft' was a real possibility for those believed to have magic. So, ALL SUCH SOCIETIES 'burned witches' (or other nasty death). They might not burn all witches, but one convicted of 'evil magic use' died horribly.

Interestingly, NOT all ancient societies took 'witchcraft' seriously. Early Christain offical doctrine was that witchcraft was pure superstition. Charlemagne ruled that anyone harming a 'witch' was committing a crime (murder if they killed the 'witch'). This attitude held for centuries before and after, but never did displace the pre-Christain superstitions, and eventually was displaced by those superstitions for a few centuries.

John Dee would have had few problems in his time, although he was near the end of the period where it was 'relatively' safe to be a 'witch'.

For the vast bulk of human history, most places/times have believed in witches to one degree or another. Even when european Christian canon did not recognize witches, the common people DID believe (which is why it eventually contaminated the church). Similar and different variations are found all over the world, at all times, even now.

The one thing NEVER believed (outside of modern western societies), was a new age touchy feelly modern political correct love nature 'witchcraft'.
The ancient celts and latins killed 'witches' in nasty ways.

Back to Harn.

Harn takes the 'believes in magic' view, that largely follows such views we know of in ancient cultures. If a person is believed to be magic capable, that, in and of itself is not in any way a crime. Evil/illegal 'use' of magic is where the crime occurs.

KEY POINT:
(on Harn, and in the real world) Paranoid people with wild imaginations are LIKELY to make such accusations, and even BELIEVE what they say, even if what they say is not true.

On a positive note, such people are 'often' (but not always) known in their communities, so not taken too seriously. Even a KNOWN mage accused by one, might be told "Don't mind him sir, he has always been a bit touched...." So peasants with pitchforks should not be assumed. The peasants might just laugh at the accuser for being a fool, even if the peasants KNOW the mage is real.

Furthermore:
Dishonest schemers would veiw such accusations as just another tool. And not just blackmail. Think MUCH more widely. A social schemer might accuse not for any blackmail reason, but just to get to 'play the victim'.

Comments on Harn Canon for Mages

The rules of the Shek-Pvar are one thing, and one thing only: A tool for GMs to keep player mages from getting out of hand.

Because Harn is one of the best games ever made, said rules were meshed into the game in a clever and plot device useful fashion.

My spin:

Canon material old and new suggest the ancient existance of "Wizard Kings" in several places around the world. It also suggests that Wizards as a group decided that "Wizard kings" are a bad idea.

Gaining noble titles and Kingships by chucking fireballs at your enemies, or by mind control, etc, is a no-no.

But nothing says a mage can't get 'elevated' in other ways.

If a mage is in doubt, he could ask the title awarding King/Noble to check with the GoAL. Only the most ignorant King/Noble would not understand why this was important.

On Harn, even Joe Schmuck Peasant knows that mages have rules they gotta follow. He won't know a lot of details, but in a society with magic, such would be basic knowledge.

As for the GoAL, nothing wrong with nobles with magic. LOTS wrong with magic being a core tool for a power mad climber.

Magic in Harn is so rare - and so hard to identify as magic even when it is present - that even a minor magical object is practically priceless. The most likely respose is someone will try to buy it off him for a few pence - or steal it. If someone with money or power finds out about it they may offer a substantial sum. After some time a mage may eventually find it and attempt to acquire.


Yes.

Harn was designed so that magic and/or the gods may not even be present. You could play a whole campaign and never find out the GM decided in the beginning that magic didn't exist and the gods aren't real.

Even if magic is present mages are rare. About 1 person in 1000 in the Shek-P'var. 640 on the entire island of Harn and roughly 200 Master mages. The odds of the average Harnian running into one is low - and lower still that they would realise it - and almost no chance they would see any real magic.

Campaigns vary widely on those details though.

Whether it actually exists or not in the world almost all believe in the gods - and many believe in magic.


TEMPLE CRIMES
The following crimes are tried under temple law in religious courts. Only crimes against legally recognized churches are dealt with under temple law and only after the accused has been bound over by the secular authorities (likely after the appeal options have been exhausted). Temple courts must obtain secular consent to any death penalties. Temple courts often use trial by ordeal. The penalties handed out by temple courts will vary from one temple to another; the church of Peoni, for example, never causes any permanent harm to offenders. None of these are considered felonies; accusations must be made by the injured party.
WITCHCRAFT
A very dubious crime. Conjuring or consorting with demons, disposing of souls, casting inimical spells etc., for the purpose of unlawful personal gain. This too is something of a catch-all crime; witchcraft laws are not generally enforced in Rethem, and only intermittently in the Thardic Republic. Penalties: impalement, burning, drowning, hanging.

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Member of the CoE (Council of Elitists)