Kickstarter: Harnworld

It is the last 36 hours of the Kickstarter for the Republic of Tharda Kickstarter for Harnworld, and you can get all five previous hardcover books (including the world overview), plus this one in a package deal (26 of them left).

Don't let the beautiful classic art dissuade you; this is a setting that is very much as great-looking and "real" as any other - this is just the art style of the period and can be played with anything from 5E to GURPS. Even FATE or Pathfinder 2.

The best way I can describe this is a setting written like the history of a Crusader Kings game. You get histories, articles, descriptions, battles, accounts, and all sorts of other information about an area, the current status of what is happening today - and you start from there. The borders and rulers are always in flux, with kings and their followers being forced into exile, cities being conquered, fighting orders in eternal war, strange magical things happening, and you get a complete picture of a land and you pick a plot hook (of which there are almost infinite in the articles), and you go.

Is your character one of the lost children of a deposed ruler? Is your character an exile from their land? Does your character practice the forbidden magic of a strange sect? You read the history, find a place to insert yourself that is compelling and would make a great story, and you tell it.

It isn't dry; here is a map, here is a population, here is the name of a ruler, and here is a few landmarks sort of setting, like most fantasy settings today. The setting doesn't start with a novel or videogame, and sort of goes 'la de da' with the details. The setting starts as a history first. People. Factions. Events. Places exist because of things that happened before. Sometimes the unthinkable happens, and the world adjusts.

Also of note, the Harnworld Starter Set is on sale now for 9.99 on DriveThru:

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/234400/harnworld-starter-kit-bundle

The setting defaults to humans, but there are others present (elves, dwarves, and others), and honestly, you can make this setting as diverse as you desire with dragonborn and tieflings.

The ability to 'drill down' into an area of the map and see what's going on there makes this unlike many of the other settings I own. A lot will just start with a feeling, or even just art, and expect you to take it from there.

I backed this and look forward to a small library of books I can lose myself in, and possibly tell stories in with the games I love.