Dyrisa Castle by Edwin King and N. Robin Crossby is a role playing game supplement published by Columbia Games Inc. for use with Hârn and HârnMaster.
The supplement is available as a 24-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $19.98 but was purchased at a reduced price thanks to a special discount.
The opening paragraph explains that this is the second largest settlement in the Kingdom of Kanday and the seat of the king. It’s on the road between Aleath and Coranan, two of Hârn’s largest cities.
History covers the settlement from the time of Ariathe, through the conquest by the Corani Empire, the empire’s collapse, Dyrisa being taken over by Morgathian fanatics and its eventual liberation by the first king of Kanday. A sidebar has the coat of arms, location, holder, government, population, taxes and royal domain.
Government explains that Dyrisa is governed by the current king and his lieutenants, Economics looks at the trade and goods and Religion looks at the allowed and outlawed faiths. A sidebar covers the current constable who administers the city for the king.
The Royal Court looks at the chamberlain, chancellor and exchequer and a sidebar covers the military forces and the winter court.
Following this is a full-page GM’s map of the area, and after this details on various locations in it. Places that sell goods are services are rated for size, quality and prices.
Caer Dyrisa covers the castle in more detail, together with maps.
After this is an excerpt from Atlas Hârnica Map E8, showing the settlement’s location, a map of Hârn with the location marked and a list of related products.
Following this is an unlabelled player’s map of the settlement.
Xerle Chapterhouse covers another location, a chapterhouse of the Order of the Checkered Shield in more detail. It’s given a brief introduction and its history, and a sidebar covers the manor lands. The chapterhouse is then mapped and detailed.
The King’s Way, which is patrolled by the chapterhouse, is described and a sidebar has several adventure hooks.
Temple of Larani covers another location in the settlement, which is run by the Order of Hyvrik. Its history is given and a sidebar covers the current Serekela of Kanday. The chapterhouse is then mapped and described, with some adventure hooks and finally details on the most important NPCs.
Dyrisa Castle in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation could be better. The text is either single column with sidebar or two column and appeared to be free of errors. As well as the various maps, there are also a few colour and black and white illustrations. Presentation is decent.
The supplement lacks HârnMaster stats and can therefore be usable with other systems. This is a sizable settlement for Hârn, but on the small side for many other settings. It could therefore be dropped into other settings easily enough, though some tweaks would need to be made such as to the politics, religion and rulership. At full price, this is an expensive supplement. Dyrisa Castle covers a useful settlement in decent detail, especially for several locations, and it can be found by clicking here.
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