A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Agrik: Red Shadows of Herpa

Agrik: Red Shadows of Herpa by Alun Rees is a role playing game supplement published by Columbia Games Inc. The supplement is set in Hârn and intended for use with HârnMaster but most of it is generic enough to use with other systems.

This is a four page PDF that is available from RPGNow for $1.99 but was purchased at the reduced price of $0.99 thanks to a special offer. All four pages are content.

The supplement is about the Order of the Red Shadows of Herpa, a knightly order sponsored by the clerics of the Order of Herpa the Mace. It stars with the origins and history of the order, when astrologers fell out of favour prior to the collapse of the Corani Empire and gives their current situation. A sidebar gives details of the order’s heraldry and the crusade against the barbarians in Peran; both the order and the barbarians delight in single combat. Agrik is the god of war and violence who controls a demon horde.

Information on joining the Red Shadows, and different ranks in the order, are accompanied by the knights’ skills, equipment and tactics.

Next are Demon Brands, and the boons granted by being branded with the sigils of the various Princes of Balgashang.

Finally, the various chapters of the order and the settlements they are located in are given, with Menekai being the home base and the location of the mine that generates much of the order’s income, and important NPCs in the organisation.

Agrik: Red Shadows of Herpa in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks but, at four pages, doesn’t really need them. Navigation is okay. The text follows either a single column with sidebar or two column format and appeared almost free of errors. There are some black and white images, plus a colour image of the Order’s shield.

The information given on the order is decent, and is largely generic enough to use with other systems. However, this supplement doesn’t really work that well by itself, but it isn’t really supposed to. There are references to places and organisations that mean nothing by themselves, and would need further details to properly use this. Instead, the supplement is meant to help build the overall picture of Hârn by fleshing out a group and tying it to various places and organisations. This it does well. The NPCs are only briefly covered, and lack any game stats or anything but a brief overview of the individual at most, even the order’s grandmaster. Agrik: Red Shadows of Herpa helps add detail to Hârn and it can be found by clicking here.