Pamesani Games by Margaret Foy and Edwin King is a role playing game supplement published by Columbia Games Inc. for use with the Hârn setting.
The supplement is available as a four-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $1.99 but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale.
The opening paragraph explains that the games are held bimonthly by the Agrikan orders of the Octagonal Pit and Demon Pameshlu the Insatiable.
History explains that the games evolved from an early Agrikan Church practice where wandering bands would challenge encountered warriors to fight their champion for a prize. Eventually, the idea was had to hold them in an arena. The first games were introduced by a Corani emperor, but were not successful. The modern games trace back to the bloody public spectacles of the Theocracy of Tekhos prior to its fall, and the Agrikan Church started holding its own games afterwards, then opening major arenas. A sidebar gives the theological justification for the games.
Administration and Finance covers how the games are organised and run.
Events covers the types of events held in the games, with bloody combats interspersed with farces. The combats are usually one on one, group on group or man against beast, and unusual weapons are popular.
Admission explains how long a ticket can be bought for and the range of seat prices.
Gambling covers how the Lia-Kavair control most of the gambling on the games, paying a percentage to the church for the privilege.
Procurement is how participants are found; the vast majority are not willing.
Opposition to the Games are those who find them disgusting.
Training and Gladiators explains that some participants, both freemen and slaves, are professionals.
Hârnic Arenas briefly describes the arenas in Coranan, Golotha, Shiran and Shostim.
Pamesani Games in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is short enough that these are not needed. Navigation is okay. The text is a single column with sidebar for the first page and two columns for the rest and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of colour images. Presentation is okay.
Though this is for the Hârn setting, there are no HârnMaster stats, meaning it can be used with any system. The Pamesani Games bear more than a few similarities to events held in Roman times, with the types of events, participants and weapons used. The supplement provides background information on a type of contents that can be found in a few places on Hârn. Pamesani Games is a useful supplement for adding detail to the setting, and it can be found by clicking here.
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