Written Works
There are six types of written works available: Scholiums, Tracts, Treaties, Disquisitions and Books. A book is a combination of one or more of the above.
Each written work has the following qualities:
- Type
- Length
- Experience Level
- Rating
- Medium
- Condition
- Regional Origin
- Script and Language
- Topic/Content
Note that no skill can be improved through reading books beyond ML 70 for combat-related skills or 80 for any other type of skill. The following assumes the reader will apply what they have read in an attempt to master it. If the reader only reads, the ML maximum is OML.
For convenience, this document refers to all written works as having "pages". A page is about 800 words. This article only details the first four qualities, listed above.
Notes on The System
This article builds on the HârnMaster 3 rules relating to skill improvement, and treasure (written works). The types of books (Scholiums, Tracts, Treaties, and Disquisitions) are defined in HârnMaster Magic (Shek-Pvar 13).
Refer to HârnMaster 3, Treasure 8 to determine the writing medium, condition, regional origin, script and language. The table relating to the content of a book is available thought the HârnMaster 3 errata.
Converting this article to HMC (HârnMaster 2), HârnMaster Gold or even HârnMaster (1) should be fairly straightforward as only the methodology relating to skill specialties is different.
How To Read & Learn
A character can read a number of pages equal to their INT score in an hour, assuming the character knows the language in which the work was written.
Note that, in more literate settings the specialty Speed Read [(INT, WIL, WIL), HIR+2, OMLx3, TTL: 1] should be available and be applied to the script. This would allow characters to read faster ( MS INTx1.5, CS INTx2).
Books are a combination of all other types of written works. If a book is randomly rolled on the Types of Written Works table, roll 2d6 times again on the same table. You may optionally ignore the result of book, or not depending on how large you wish the written work to be. (Max size: 12*8=96 if book is rolled once, 192 if book is rolled twice, etc.). If Scholium is rolled after a book result, it automatically becomes either a damaged work (with only one page remaining of a much longer work), or a tract at GM's discretion. If the former, reduce its rating by half.
| d100 | Type | Length | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01-60 | Scholium | 1 page or less | Any |
| 61-75 | Tract | 1d4 pages | Any |
| 76-82 | Treaties | 1d6 pages | Ink or paint |
| 83-98 | Disquisition | 1d8 pages | Ink |
| 99-00 | Book | 2d6 more | Ink |
Experience Levels of Written Works
There are four levels of expertise available in books: N/A, Apprentice, Journeyman and Master. Any type of written work can be any of the following experience levels.
N/A : Not all written works are helpful. Scholium especially tend to be cryptic notes or references that, while readable, may still not be comprehensible to the reader. Any work marked with an N/A should have a ML listed beside it. If the ML is 0, the work will never make sense to anyone but the author. Any other value is the minimum ML the work will require to puzzle out. Only on a CS while reading it will the note provide a sufficient clue to allow the reader to get a chance to improve their skill.
Apprentice : This is only helpful when learning the skill for the first time or if the skill is not yet at its OML(1).
Journeyman : The skill required must be opened above its OML before these works can be read and understood.
Master : The skill required must be opened above ML65 before these works can be read and understood.
Rating
Each written work has a rating which quickly defines the quality of its content, and the ease with which it can be read. The rating is affected by the type of written work.
Note that not all books are well written or even interesting. A rating can always be 0.
| d100 | Type | Random Rating | Max Rating |
Medium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01-60 | Scholium | 1d2-1 | 1 | Any |
| 61-75 | Tract | 1d2-1 | 1 | Any |
| 76-82 | Treaties | 1d6/2-2 | 2 | Ink/Paint |
| 83-98 | Disquisition | 1d4-2 | 3 | Ink |
| 99-00 | Book | 1d6-1 | 5 | Ink |
The rating of a work is used to determine by how much a reader's ML may improve.
| Rating | Number of Skill Improvement Chances |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2+1=3 |
| 3 | 3+2+1=6 |
| 4 | 4+2+1=7 |
| 5 | 5+3+2+1=11 |
Written works can be read over a period of days, months or even years. Once the written work is read, the character may take a number of skill improvement rolls equal to the written work's rating. That same book can be read again, and if the same amount of time is taken when reading it (INT pages an hour), the books rating is halved (round up) and the character may take that halved rating in skill improvement rolls.
For every 10 hours of reading, the player-character will loose one hobby Skill Improvement Roll (SIR). Characters get three such SIRs a calendar month. If the character tries to squeeze both reading and hobbies into their otherwise busy schedule, roll d100 against Willx5.
- CF: Fails. The character cannot read a book without dropping something from their busy schedule.
- MF: Fails. The character is very close, but never quite manages to finish the required reading. Reduce pages read by 2/3.
- MS: Success. The character manages to read the book, but slowly. Reduce pages read by 1/2.
- CS: Success. The character can both read the book and practice their hobby.
GMs: Add 1 level of fatigue per hour of reading. The character must sleep a full 8 hours to be rid of this fatigue.
Example
Caius finds a book on the ancient Kotan martial art. (Type: Book, Length: 160 pages, Experience Level: Journeyman, Rating: 5, Medium: paper & ink, Condition: Fair, Regional Origin: Local, Script/Language: Lakise/Hârn, Content: Kotan Martial Arts).
- Length : It will take him (160/16=) 10 hours to read it. He tries to read it in a single day, but the GM says it will take at least a 10day and he'll have to forgo his hobby skill improvement roll (because Caius is a busy guy). He agrees.
- Experience Level : Caius has the skill (Martial Art - Specialty: Kotan) above its OML and so he can read and understand this book.
- Medium : Caius requires no special care or materials to read this book.
- Condition : The book is in fair condition and thus can be read without difficulty.
- Regional Origin/Language : Caius can read and understand Lakise and he speaks Hârnic.
At the end of the 10day he has a number of skill improvement rolls equal to the book's rating (5).
He decides to read it a second time, again, taking a 10day and forgoing his hobby skill improvement roll. At the end of the 10day he has a number of skill improvement rolls equal to 1/2 the book's rating (2.5 round up to 3). The third week he stops. For him, the book's rating is now at 2. He decides he wants to use his remaining hobby skill this month for something else. Maybe next month he'll come back and read it again.
1. This can occur when a skill is opened without training or practice or in play. The minimum ML is always 1.
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