A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Larani: Order of Hyvrik

Larani: Order of Hyvrik by Shawn Bond and Brent Bailey is a role playing game supplement published by Columbia Games Inc. for use with Hârn and HârnMaster.

The supplement is available as a six-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $4.99 but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale.

The first page explains this is a clerical order that is mostly based in the Kingdom of Kanday and it used to be more wealthy and powerful than it currently is, almost synonymous with the Church of Larani in the west., but the central church hierarchy has sidelined the order to a degree. It is the spiritual sponsor of the Order of the Checkered Shield. A sidebar has the orders bade, some quiets and some details on the Order of the Checkered Shield.

Origins and History covers the rise of the church, then its virtual collapse following the Theocracy of Tekhos, then the creation of the order following the creation of the Kingdom of Kanday and its rapid spread. A sidebar covers the order’s founder.

Current Situation looks at the order’s presence in Kanday, Tharda, Rethem and the barbarian lands, and a sidebar looks at the current head of the order.

Doctrines and Practices looks at what the order’s goals are, with one of its primary reasons being missionary work. A sidebar looks at its saints and relics.

Organization of the Order looks at how the order is set up. It lies outside the central bureaucracy of the Larani church and it covers the leader and his staff, as well as the missionaries. A sidebar looks at clerical skills, chaplains and shrines.

Notable Personalities looks at some other important NPCs within the order.

Larani: Order of Hyvrik in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, though short, has enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation could be better. The text is either single column with sidebar or two columns and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of colour and black and white illustrations, at least some of which appear to be custom. Presentation is decent.

HârnMaster skills are mentioned in one place, but other than that this is a system neutral supplement that is easily used with other systems. It is by its nature rather tied to the Hârn setting, and using it in another setting would require quite a lot of changes. It’s a useful supplement for providing more details on Hârn, though expensive at full price. Larani: Order of Hyvrik can be found by clicking here.