As part of my In the Shadow of the Spire campaign, I’ve developed a number of chaos lorebooks, some of which have featured in various Ptolus Remixes and others have appeared in the In the Shadow of the Spire campaign journal. They’re based around a network of chaos cults — an extensive node-based campaign campaign which incorporated adventures from Monte Cook’s Night of Dissolution along with almost two dozen original scenarios. These lorebooks delve deep into:

• chaos cults
• chaositech
• the demon court
• servitors of the Galchutt
• the elder brood
• the cults’ plans for the Night of Dissolution

The time has come to present the full collection, so that they can be used in your own campaigns and/or used as examples of how you can create your own lorebooks. I’m presenting them here exactly as they were written for my personal Ptolus campaign. This is important because I placed the city of Ptolus into my own campaign world and adapted its mythology. Notably, the Galchutt of Ptolus were integrated into the wider mythos of my Demon Court. If you use these chaos lorebooks in a standard Ptolus campaign, then you will find these lorebooks filled with many strange and apocryphal references… but perhaps that’s appropriate for chaos gods.

DISTRIBUTING CHAOS LOREBOOKS

For a detailed description of how and why I create lorebook handouts, check out Using Lorebooks. Lorebooks are one of my “secret weapons” as a GM, and I use them pretty extensively in my games.  They can be prep intensive — although the technique is designed to minimize that as much as possible — but have a huge payoff at the table. As a result, in most of my games they tend to be relatively rare drops

But not always. In my Eternal Lies Remix I designed three huge lorebook dumps, each presented as a list of titles that the players could read by investing significant in-game time. This evoked the experience of actually researching in a library, with the players exploring the lorebooks via topic and cross-reference based on the needs of their current investigation. For the chaos lorebooks, on the other hand, I decided to scatter them throughout the chaos cults so that the players could discover them slowly over time, piecing together their understanding of the cults and the dark gods they worshiped.

The nice thing about lorebooks like this is that multiple copies exist: If the PCs miss the book in one location, they can still find a different copy in another location. Following something akin to the Three Clue Rule, therefore, I created a spreadsheet with a list of chaos lorebooks cross-referenced to the various scenarios I had planned for this section of the campaign. Then I simply charted where each lorebook could be found. My design philosophy here was:

• The chaos lorebooks should be spread around, without any scenario (except the big finale) including more than four or five at most.
• No two locations should have an identical set of lorebooks. This meant that, while the PCs would almost certainly find duplicate lorebooks over time, in any given scenario they were likely to find new lorebooks they hadn’t encountered yet (no matter what path they charted through the node-linked cults).

The Book of Faceless Hate serves as a kind of introductory text, although it’s not strictly necessary for it to be the first to fall in to the PCs’ hands. The other thing they received in the introductory cult scenario was the Cult Diagram, as seen above: Sketched as a mural on the wall, this diagram showed the icons of various cults while, importantly, not giving their names. This diagram served as a kind of checklist, cross-referenced to holy symbols and lorebooks as the PCs work to identify and locate each of the cults.

The original Night of Dissolution adventure included The Book of Faceless Hater, but presented it as a far more encyclopedic resource — a one-stop shop of all chaos cult lore. Because I had expanded the scope of the chaos cults — from four adventures to a couple dozen — I wanted to pace these revelations instead of presenting them as a single exposition dump: What were the chaos cults really doing? How many cults were working together? What was the true nature and secret history of the “gods” they worshiped?

I’ve organized the various chaos lorebooks into four categories:

• Chaos Cults, which describe various chaos cults (including some cults who were not actually part of the campaign; creating both the sense of a wider world and a sense of doubt about the exact scope of the cults’ activities in Ptolus).
• The Demon Court, detailing the various chaos gods.
• Servitors of the Demon Court, powerful servitors of the Demon Court.
• Book of the Elder Brood, describing the lesser demonic servants of the Demon Cult. Many become tools of the cults

I expanded the ranks of all these — cults, gods, servitors, and brood — so if you’re familiar with Ptolus, don’t be surprised to see a few unfamiliar names below.

CHAOS CULTS

The Book of Faceless Hate
Book of Venom’s Truth
Truth of the Hidden God
The Masks of Death
Touch of the Ebon Hand
Eschatonic Visions (Tolling Bell)
Whispers of the Beast
Song of Chaos
Words of the Plague
The Scarlet Oath
The Worm of the Void
Oath of the Divided Eye

THE DEMON COURT

Lore of the Demon Court
The Source of All Filth (Abhoth)
Eyes of Legion (Bhor Kei)
Mouth of the Void (Dhar Rhyth)
The Shapeless Codex (Jubilex)
The Writhing Obelisk (Kihomenethoth)
The Shepherd of Malignancy (Merihim)
The Beast Without Shadow (Ravvan)
The Shadow That Never Passes (Shallamoth Kindred)
The Hand of Gellasatrac

SERVITORS OF THE DEMON COURT

The Assassins of Chaos (Carach)
The Earthbound Demons (Rhodintor)
The Magi of Chaos (Shaddom)
The Grey Veiled (Vreeth)
The Bloated Lords (Zaug)

BOOK OF THE ELDER BROOD

Book of the Elder Brood – Akop
Book of the Elder Brood – Bulugon
Book of the Elder Brood – Essyat
Book of the Elder Brood – Gadacro
Book of the Elder Brood – Marbassik Spawn
Book of the Elder Brood – Nintha
Book of the Elder Brood – Nyogoth
Book of the Elder Brood – Obaan
Book of the Elder Brood – Solesik
Book of the Elder Brood – Sscreeth
Book of the Elder Brood – Tesk
Book of the Elder Brood – Tilaxic

A classic fantasy world, Hârn continues to distinguish itself as a setting of unique detail, depth, and excellence.

Review Originally Published October 9th, 2001

Hârn is a fantasy world created by N.R. Crossby and first published in 1983 by Columbia Games. In 1990, a second edition of HârnWorld (which is being reviewed here) was released, including:

HârnWorld: A 64-page booklet – including the articles Hârn, Kethira, and Lythia — serving as a general introduction to the campaign setting.

Harndex: The “Master Index for Hârn”, an 80-page booklet serving as the specific source material for the campaign setting. (Although referred to as an “index”, it is probably easier to describe it as an “abridged” encyclopedia. Entries are arranged alphabetically, with short articles discussing each entry.)

Map: A full-color poster map of the campaign setting.

Since then, Hârn has been supported with a variety of supplements (all of which are kept in print by Columbia) and its own rule system (HarnMaster, also currently in its second edition). In general, however, the source material is kept separate from the rules.

The Hârn product line, as a whole, is organized into a series of modular articles. For example, as mentioned above, the HârnWorld booklet which comes as part of the second addition HârnWorld product is actually comprised of three articles: Hârn (describing the island of Hârn), Kethira (the world on which Hârn is located), and Lythia (the continent which Hârn is part of).

Each of these articles has its pages numbered individually, and are specifically designed so that you can cut the book apart and separate the articles from one another and place them in a binder. As you purchase other Hârn products (which contain their own articles) you can organize the articles in any order you want (or pull specific articles to take with you to a particular game session). The concept/conceit is that each of these articles is part of an ever-expanding Encyclopedia Hârnica, with each GM assembling their own Encyclopedia as they assemble official material and create their own material over time. I don’t know that I’ll ever take advantage of this design myself, but it’s a nice option to have available.

SETTING DETAILS

Hârn approaches fantasy with a light touch. For example: Humans, elves, dwarves, and orcs are the only significant races to be found here. Other intelligent races do exist, including the Ivashu (a sterile race of diverse magical creatures who are perpetually created anew by the god Ilvir from the limited number of souls available to him) and the mere-dragons (a distant cousin of the true dragons) – but their rarity gives them a special significance. Hârn succeeds at making the magical elements of its fantasy effective and special because those elements are rare, not despite it.

Hârn itself is a large island, just northwest of the continent Lythia on the world of Kethira. As the name on the front cover would suggest, Hârn itself is the primary center of focus for HârnWorld — although Lythia also receives enough attention that you can easily use it as part of your campaign without too many problems (although I, for one, would really like to see additional support material released for the non-Hârn areas of the world). The other two continents on Kethira are briefly described in a couple of paragraphs each.

One of the first things I do when looking at a new campaign setting is to look at the map. Not only does a good map give you insight into what type of world you’re looking at, it can also serve as a sort of alternative “Table of Contents” for the setting – providing a structure by which you can understand the campaign material in context. Although this is generally a good piece of advice, I found it to be literally true in the case of HârnWorld — the various maps found in the product, essentially, serve as the Table of Contents for the various indexes via which the bulk of information is conveyed. In other words, you look at a map, see something you want to know more about, and then look it up in the appropriate index and cross-reference from there.

What immediately caught my attention about the poster map of Hârn is that, unlike the usual fantasy campaign map, this one did not feature continuous strings of nations from one end of the map to another. What I discovered was that there were only nine civilized states on the island of Hârn, with vast swaths of territory between them being settled only be eighteen barbarian “nations” (read: largely nomadic, decentralized tribes).

This does two things: First, it helps carry Hârn away from the pseudo-Renaissance period which haunts so many fantasy worlds (historically Hârn is similar to Britain somewhere between the 9th and 14th centuries – although several unique cultures also exist). Secondly, it establishes a large frontier in which adventuring can take place.

In this same vein, Harn’s history is an alternation between sumptuous detail (dating back to roughly the first appearance of humans on the island) and ancient mystery (everything before that). This not only gives you a plethora of solid roots in which to plant your stories; it also gives you a plethora of mysteries with which to spice your campaign. Best of both worlds.

The major highlights:

The Feudal Kingdoms. Most of the human kingdoms on Hârn are feudal in the most classical sense of the term. This includes Kanday and Rethem in the east; as well as Chybisa and Kaldor in the west. As noted above, these kingdoms are strongly reminiscent of 9th- to 14th-century Britain. One of Harn’s primary strengths is the realism with which these feudal societies are imbued – both in terms of their present day composition, and the history which believably leads to their composition. There is a truly organic feeling to the world, insofar as its current state of existence seems to flow naturally and believably from past events. Hârn’s history may not be the most dramatic fantasy history you will ever read; but, in my opinion, it is possessed of incredible power because it rings with such incredible truth.

Azadmere. The last dwarven kingdom. There’s really not much more which can be said here.

Evael. The last remnant of the elven kingdom which once covered all of Hârn. Finally unable to withstand the human migrations from Lythia approximately fourteen centuries ago, the elves renounced claim to Harnic sovereignty and retired to the Shavan Forest – where they have remained ever since. (Both the elves and the dwarves are, essentially, dying cultures. There is definitely a sense of influence from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, insofar as both of these races seem poised on the edge of being wiped from the face of history by the growing strength of humanity.)

Orbaal. Orbaal was founded by the Ivinians, more recent human invaders from Lythia. The Ivinians are essentially a Norse culture, and I see strong parallels between Orbaal and the Norse invasion of Britain.

Melderyn. Another human realm, but one with strong mystical overtones. It exists primarily in a smaller island just southeast of Hârn itself – but its influence and domain extends onto the main island as well. It is rumored that Melderyn’s civilization is a descendant of the ancient civilizations which populated the world in long-forgotten days.

STRENGTHS

Hârn’s primary claim to fame it’s meticulous detail – particularly in the area of culture, society, and history. It has a truly medieval feel which is absent from every other fantasy RPG setting I’ve seen on the market.

Indeed, Hârn’s attention to detail is scrupulous enough that HârnWorld actually ends up distinguishing itself as an excellent reference for medieval societies – regardless of whether you use Hârn as your campaign setting or not. If you’re not familiar with true feudalism, Hârn will open your eyes to a wealth of information.

WEAKNESSES

The first thing you’ll notice about Hârn is the bland production values which run through the product line. Essentially, the “look and feel” of HârnWorld and its supplements was set back in 1983 – and nothing has changed much since then. It’s clear that an emphasis is being placed on information over the presentation of that information. (The exception to this is the full-color poster map. That’s gorgeous. Easily one of the most beautiful fantasy maps ever produced.)

Note, however, that “bland production values” does not mean “poor production values”. The paper is stiff and durable. The editing is faultless. The layout is clean and easily comprehensible. This is a product designed to be used.

Another problem I had with HârnWorld was that, despite the generally exemplary organization of information, the wealth of detail combined with the disjointed nature of the articles means that – eventually – some information just plain ends up getting lost. For example, it took me quite a while to figure out where to look for the calendar/timekeeping information.

HârnWorld’s largest pitfall, however, is this: Sometimes the real world parallels become just a little too… parallel. In general, the historical parallels Hârn chooses to draw do exactly what Crossby says they should be doing: Giving the audience a point of reference so that they can draw on historical resources in expanding and detailing the campaign setting.

But occasionally the line gets crossed and Hârn ends up looking like 7th Sea: A pseudo-clone of the real world, lacking both the significance of reality and the joy of creativity. The worst of both worlds.

Fortunately, this problem seems to be contained mostly to the distant lands of Lythia (I noticed it particularly in the Ivinian culture) – while Hârn itself manages to maintain the best of both worlds (offering the familiarity of real-world analogues; while still sustaining a creative freshness).

CONCLUSION

The world of Hârn is a classic campaign setting, which has built its reputation through nearly two decades of consistency and a scrupulous commitment to quality and detail. It succeeds at giving you a depth and reality which is rarely matched.

At the same time, Hârn delivers because it succeeds at offering something different and unique from the rest of the market – while still being almost definitionally “traditional fantasy”. Here you will find your fantasy favorites (dwarven kingdoms, elven forests, ancient ruins, strange magic, kings, princesses, knights, and adventure) – but you’ll find them in a distinctly different flavor of world. Ironically, Hârn finds this “distinctly different flavor of world” by adhering closely to the real world – simply choosing to embrace the medieval roots so many fantasy settings claim (while, in actuality, treading around in a pseudo-Renaissance).

In short: Hârn is excellent.

Style: 3
Substance: 5

Author: N.R. Crossby, Tom Dalgliesh, and Edwin King
Additional Contributions: Brad Carter, Brian Clemens, Rob Duff, Mike Dwyer, John Frazer, Doug Gillanders, John Greer, Stephen Hinchcliffe, David Kowan, Sharon MacLeod, Simon Matthews, Brad Murray, Gene Siegal, and Garry Steinhilber
Publisher: Columbia Games, Inc.
Line: Hârn
Price: $29.98
Product Code: 5001
Pages: 134

ADDITIONAL HARN REVIEWS

HârnWorld: Azadmere
HârnWorld: Kiraz

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

And in the darkness of his prison, the Nameless One spun the first strands of the Web of Demons. And the web was laid between and beside the world, building upon the corruption that he had laid. And so he became the Weaver.

And in the world which he had lost, there were those who felt the touch of his web. And they were like unto gods. And chief among them were the Four Princes of the Demon Court: The Nightwalker, the Blood Goddess, the Scarlet Lord, and the Bane of Fire.

THE ORDERS OF THE DEMON COURT

And in the first rank of the Demon Court there were the Princes of Chaos.

And in the second rank of the Demon Court there were the Dukes of Chaos. And their chief was Shallamoth Kindred. And among them were Bhor Kei and Dhar Rhyth and Jubilex and Kihomenethoth and Ravvan the Beast.

And in the third rank of the Demon Court, there were the servitors of the Dukes – rhodintor and zaug, carach and shaddom, vreeth and the teeming hordes of the Elder Brood.

And in the passing of the Demon Court, there were left the Vested and the Cults – the seeds of chaos.

Back to Chaos Lorebooks

No title marks the tattered, dark brown cover of this book. Its contents are written in a nearly illegible scrawl that could only have been born of hopeless madness. The first several pages of the book are covered in repetitions and variations of a single phrase: FACELESS HATE. (They wait in faceless hate. We shall burn in their faceless hate. The faceless hate has consumed me. And so forth…)

CHAOS: True chaos, or “deep chaos”, is a religion based on the fundamental aspects of hate, destruction, death, and dissolution. The philosophy of chaos is one of constant and endless change. It teaches that the current world is a creation of order and structure, but that it was flawed from the dawn of time due to the lack of foresight into what living sentience truly wants and need. The gods of creation – the gods of order – are untouchable and unknowable. They are aloof and uncaring, says the teaching of true chaos.

THE LORDS OF CHAOS: According to the book, the Lords of Chaos – or “Galchutt” – are gods of unimaginable power. But they are “mere servants of the true gods of change, the Demon Princes”. It is written that the Galchutt came to serve the Princes during the “War of Demons”, but while the Princes have “left this world behind”, the Galchutt still “whisper the words of chaos”.

VESTED OF THE GALCHUTT: Although they sleep, the Galchutt can still exert some influence upon the world. This influence can be felt by the faithful through the “touch of chaos” and the “mark of madness”, but it can also be made manifest in one of the “Vested of the Galchutt” – powerful avatars of their dark demi-gods’ strength.

CHAOS CULTS: The book goes on to describe (but only in the vaguest of terms) many historical and/or fanciful “cults of chaos” which have risen up in veneration of either the Galchutt, the Vested of the Galchutt, or both. These cults seem to share nothing in common except, perhaps, the search for the “true path for the awakening of chaos”. The book would leave one with the impression that the history of the world has been spotted with the continual and never-ending presence of these cults – always operating in the shadows, save when bloody massacres and destruction bring them into the open.

Back to Chaos Lorebooks

TM and © 2022 Monte Cook Games, LLC

I’ve been running adventures in Monte Cook’s Ptolus for over twenty years, including my long-running D&D 3E campaign In the Shadow of the Spire.

The Ptolus sourcebook — originally published D&D 3E, but since released in edition for D&D 5E and Cypher — is one of the best RPG setting sourcebooks ever published. It describes a rich and marvelous city perched upon the coast and filled with the wonder: The impossible, terrifying heights of the Spire tower above it; beneath it endless, overlapping warrens, dungeons, and caverns worm their way through the earth. The book itself is nearly 700 pages long, and every single one is packed to the gills with practical, gameable material. And while I typically find such huge tomes to be overwhelming and difficult to use, Ptolus is incredibly well-organized, with bountiful cross-references and a sidebar reference system that makes it easy to navigate the book and find the information you need, whether during prep or at the table.

Over the years I’ve remixed a variety of published Ptolus adventures and created new ones. Some are entirely idiosyncratic to my group. Others I’ve shared below, with plans for more.

REMIXES

Ptolus Remix: Banewarrens
Ptolus Remix: The Mrathrach Agenda
Ptolus Remix: The Quaan
Ptolus Remix: The Vladaam Affair

ADVENTURES

The False Tomb
Complex of Zombies (3E)
Laboratory of the Beast (3E)
Lost Laboratories of the Arn (3E)

CAMPAIGN JOURNAL

In the Shadow of the Spire

RESOURCES

Chaos Lorebooks
Dreaming Arts (3E)
Kaostech (3E)

REVIEWS

Review: Ptolus – City of Adventure

COLLECTED EDITIONS

Patrons of the Alexandrian can download collected PDF editions for most of the material above, and I’ll be adding PDF collections for the older material soon!