Realism and Getting your Ass to Azadmere

Realism in any gaming system requires a context that does not violate any player’s knowledge of how things work in the “real” world in which we all live unless the designer is willing to explain specifically why things are different in his/her world. Game designers should also be careful to avoid saying that something is impossible in their world just because they do not know how to do it, or out of ignorance of the possibility that it might have been done. Perhaps all game designers would be wise to remember a motto attributed to the U.S. Army Engineer Corps: “The difficult we do at once, the impossible takes a few days.”

I will avoid detailing all the horrible examples one could cull from AD&D in its various forms but our favorite game of Harn has a few examples assuming that certain things are locked in stone, so to speak, when they are not. Two examples, both from Campaign 8 of HMC:

Mule:

“A crossbred horse/donkey, the mule is an efficient pack animal, but almost impossible to train as a draft animal.” Fact: Mules were commonly used as draft animals in the 19^th and 20^th centuries and were no harder to train then horses. Now if you wanted to say Zebras were hard to train as draft animals I would agree although it was done. I think the problem with mules as draft animals in 11^th century England was: 1) There were very few mules relatively speaking, they are, after all, very hard to breed requiring the individual attention of a skilled Ostler for each breeding. By contrast horses can breed without any human help at all. 2) The type of harness necessary for hitching an equine (horses, mules, donkeys, and zebras) is very different then that needed for a bovine, like an ox. The necessary harness was available in the 17^th century but perhaps not in the 11^th. Without proper harness hitching any equine to a wagon is all but impossible.

Ox:

“…, but because of their sensitive, unshoeable hooves, they must be driven slowly and with great care.” Fact: Oxen were commonly shod in the 19^th century if they were going to be used for long haul freight such as moving lead from Galena Wisconsin to Milwaukee Wisconsin, freight from Independence to Santa Fe, or immigrants to Oregon. They were usually not shod for work down on the Farm/Manor. I doubt if any oxen were shod in 11^th Century England because there was no need for long distance freight hauling in a county where no point is more then 80 or so miles from the sea. As for driving with great care: Oxen have no sweat glands and over heat very easily so they must be driven with care lest they cook in their own hides so to speak.

Getting your Ass to Azadmere:

I know that HMC implies the use of Mules on the silver way and the Azadmere module implies that food has to be imported but the module also states that the Jarin largely met the agricultural needs of the Khuzdul. Someone worked out the agricultural production of the listed Jarin manors and come up with a figure of about ¾ of the agricultural needs but I’m not sure this figure included hamlets with less then 10 families which are not listed in Azadmere 10. These unlisted hamlets could well make up the difference in the agricultural production. I question the amount of food that has to be imported. Wheat is mentioned but if imports are significant pack trains are a very inefficient and wasteful method.

Ships are the cheapest form of bulk transport. Water transport would allow much larger amounts of bulk goods like wheat to be moved much cheaper. The Nephen is said to be too swift but the river system of which the Nephen is a part drops only 39 feet in each mile between Lake Arain and the sea and the only falls is located far down stream on the Kald River. The Missouri has a similar rate of drop between the South Dakota Bad Lands and the Mississippi. Louis and Clark ascended the Missouri using a flat boat propelled by poling in 1803 and they were going against the wind. It would be possible to take barges up the Nephen if there was any economic reason for doing so.

“Most human mercantylers cringe at the thought of a trading session with the Khuzdul.[1]” The implication of this and other entries in the module is that Khuzdul mercantylers handle most of the trade and it is possible that they handle the trade caravans on the silver way. If this is the case donkeys rather then Mules are used as pack animals. A donkey can carry a heavier load in relation to its size then either a horse or mule, it can get by on less food of poorer quality, and it would be easier for a Khuzdul to handle. Also donkeys are as easy to breed as horses while mules are hard to breed and thus could not be sold for hides after just one season. Actually if you want a pack animal which can be sold for meat and hides after one use, use a cow!

Food and the Silver Way:

Some wheat is probably carried on the Silver Way, perhaps enough for the King’s birthday cake, but the most common “foods” carried on the caravans would be spices, fine wines, and other exotic foods from far off places. These are the kind of low bulk high value items that would make a pack train feasible. Other items might include pearls, silks, etc. which could not be produced in Azadmere. If the Khuzdul really depended on food imports for survival there would be: 1) A wagon road; or 2) barges would be used.