Fur Road by Joe Adams and Brent Bailey is a role playing game supplement published by Columbia Games Inc. for use with Hârn.
The supplement is available as an eight-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $7.98 but was purchased at a reduced price thanks to a special offer.
The opening paragraphs explain that the Fur Road is a mostly rough trail serving as a trade route, joining the Genin Trail and Salt Road to the south and the Silver Way and Noron’s Way to the east.
History gives the history of the trade route, which has been in use for centuries. A sidebar gives the distance and travel time and the fee for using the route.
Current Situation covers the Fur Road in the present. It is still the main connection between Orbaal and Kaldor, with most of the traffic commercial or religious, and it is still not a safe route; the Ivinian invasion of Jara and the formation of the Kingdom of Orbaal has also caused problems. A sidebar covers the religious pilgrimage to Araka-Kalai and another what the route is like through the year. A colour map shows the route of the Fur Road.
Geldehim to Pethwys covers this section of the Fur Road, the people who use it and the goods that travel on it, whilst a sidebar has the hazards of the Jahl Mountains.
Pethwys to Leriel covers the next part of the route in a similar way, and a sidebar covers a tale of a lost fortune buried on the route.
Leriel to Ovien Ford covers the next section, with sidebars covering the Anoth Road to Lorkin, a homestead on the route and the ford itself; the ford can be dangerous, not because of the river but because of what hangs around near it.
Ovien Ford to Olokand details the last part of the route, and sidebars cover the trails from Olokand to Tashal and Olokand to Gardiren.
Notable Personalities gives an overview of six NPCs who could be found on the route.
Fur Road in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and, though short, has enough different sections that they would have been appreciated. Most of the supplement follows a single column with sidebar format with the last page being two column and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of predominately colour illustrations, including the map, and several black and white ones for the NPCs. Presentation is decent.
This is a system neutral Hârn supplement, as not even the NPCs have stats, making it broadly useful. It doesn’t cover locations, but it does cover one of the major trade routes across Hârn in a decent amount of detail, and caravan guarding is a staple of fantasy settings. Especially on one that is definitely not safe for individual travel. At full price, this is quite expensive, which isn’t unusual for Hârn supplements. Fur Route is an interesting supplement detailing a trade route and it can be found by clicking here.
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