Geshtei Castle by Edwin King and Tom Dalgliesh is a role playing game supplement published by Columbia Games Inc. for use with Hârn and HârnMaster.
The supplement is available as a 12-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $9.98 but was purchased at a reduced price thanks to a special offer.
The first page starts with an opening paragraph describing the settlement’s location in the Thardic Republic and potential problems. A sidebar has the emblem of the legion based out of the place and some demographics and taxes for the provincial capital.
History briefly covers the past and previous settlements and problems.
Current Situation covers problems between the marshal and magistrate and the likelihood of war with Rethem.
Government explains the city’s place as a provincial capital and the two faces of the government, the marshal and the magistrate.
Economics explains this is an important market town in the region.
Religion explains that there is a fair amount of religious toleration, though relationships between Agrikan and Laranian temples show hostility.
Military Forces explains that though this is the base for the Gerium Legion, most of the forces are stationed elsewhere. Sidebars on this page detail the annual harvest fair and the legend of a hoard.
A full-page colour map of the settlement is followed by various locations and businesses briefly being covered, with details on their size, quality and price. The castle itself is then mapped out and detailed.
Following this are a local map showing Geshtei and surrounds, a map of Hârn showing the location, details on the settlement and a list of related products. The next page has a full-page map of the settlement again, this time player-friendly.
The final two pages cover another location in the settlement in more detail, the mill complex, with descriptions of the owning family, the locations and a side view of a mill, together with adventure hooks.
Geshtei Castle in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and has enough different sections that these would have been useful, despite the comparatively short length. Navigation could be better. The text is either two columns or one column with sidebar and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of colour and black and white illustrations, as well as the maps, many definitely custom. Presentation is decent.
Like many of these supplements, it’s system neutral rather than HârnMaster and can easily be used with other appropriate systems. Also like many of them, though there are connections to Hârn, these are easy enough to remove and the location can therefore be dropped into other appropriate settings without too much trouble. As a result, it’s a generically useful settlement; it may be called a castle, but it’s got a settlement around it of 900 people. Depending on a setting, that can range from village to city. Geshtei Castle is a useful, but at full price rather pricy, supplement and can be found by clicking here.
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