A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Fishing

Fishing by Jonathan Davidson is a role playing game supplement published by Columbia Games Inc. for use with HârnMaster.

The supplement is available as a four-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $1.99 but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale.

It starts with some paragraphs explaining that fishing is of great importance to coastal communities and that fishermen are unguilded, generally poor but mostly freemen. A sidebar explains how tribes make use of fishing.

Fishing Communities covers different types; those on feudal manors and imperial estates, Ivinian and Orbaalese thrans and independent communities, the last mostly found in remote areas.

The Catch is what fishermen catch and covers deep sea and coastal fishing, marine mammals and rivers and lakes.

Catching Fish gives different ways in which this is done; boats, nets and lines, harpoons, traps and lone fishermen.

Preservation and Trade covers both of these; preserving fish for resale is the prerogative of the Salter’s Guild. Preserved fish is traded all over Hârn, but isn’t that profitable, though it’s a steady trade given that preserved fish, especially salted cod, are in demand by pretty much everyone.

Finally, The Economics of Fishing covers annual catch and income, boat expenses and trip durations. Unless fish can be preserved on a boat, it will not keep longer than about five days, limiting the amount of time a fishing ship can spend at sea.

Fishing in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and is short enough that these aren’t needed. Navigation is okay. The text is either one column with sidebar or two columns and appeared to be free of error. There is a single colour image and a couple of black and white ones. Presentation is okay.

Though in theory this is written for HârnMaster it is actually system neutral with no game stats and, though it is also written for the Hârn setting, some of it will be usable in other, similar, settings, resulting in a fairly neutral factual resource on fishing, useful for anyone who wants to go into reasonable depth. Fishing can be found by clicking here.