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With the upcoming release of the Deluxe Harrow Deck I am contemplating running an AP with an interesting beginning.
I plan on dividing the harrow deck among 6 players (giving them 9 cards each with no left overs, exactly enough for a harrowing from those 9 cards), I will allow them to select one card before dealing out cards, and that one card will represent their character or otherwise be a card that means something to the character. The other 8 cards can be exchanged before I shuffle the 9 cards and preform a harrowing for each character - this is important because the cards will help determine the character's stat points (they will be 10 point buy builds, plus a boost from their cards which will hopefully bring them to at least 20 point buy builds). I plan to incorporate each harrowing into the storyline of the AP, and additionally include a "flashback" type event at the beginning where everyone has the young template and NPC classes before the harrowing (they will also be the 10 point buy builds at this point.) this will help tie the characters to each other.
However, I wanted to get some feedback from the community as to which of these APs would likely work better for such an idea, Rise of the Runelords, or Reign of Winter (possibly with Heldren transplanted in Varisia). Benefits of a harrowing in either AP would be appreciated.
Oooooh, I like this. Harrowing in general is a super fun part of the setting, and it gives a great way to tie characters together with one another and the story. It might be tough to pull off for a full campaign, since there's just so much time for something to go wrong or pass unnoticed in initial planning, but I hope you post some updates on the campaign if/when it starts. Do you have details on how the stat generation would work, or is that still being developed?
Of those two APs, I would suggest RotRL for Harrowing since it is culturally Varisian; while RoW is an excellent campaign, the planet-hopping and focus on Irrisen might detract from the impact of the Harrow when you clearly want to make it a central theme. Plus, I think Nualia makes a great early villain to use as a counter to the concept of fate as foretold by the cards, as she rejects the position that others expected her to fill and becomes something horrifyingly different. Add to that all the fun stuff you could do with vague omens of an ancient empire on the verge of reemerging, and there's a lot of room to play with the Harrow stuff. Heck, you could even use it to foreshadow stuff from Jade Regent or Shattered Star when they meet characters that appear in those APs.
That said, have you considered Carrion Crown? It uses Harrow Cards as a unique reward/power system that the players can earn and use throughout the game by completing quests and making important decisions. You could even have the characters tied together by having Professor Lorrimer (a mutual acquaintance whose funeral brings the characters together in the first volume) be the one who gave the characters their readings in the past. Even if you don't play CC, the Harrow rewards in that AP could offer a good bit of guidance for something similar in your own campaign.
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As far as the stat progression goes, I am thinking of something similar to the generation method in wayfinder#5.
For example lets say that my 10pt buy was STR: 14 DEX: 12 CON: 12 INT: 8 WIS: 12 CHA: 11 before racial adjustment.
For the harrow card to represent my character I pick the Paladin. I am dealt 8 other cards, what they are is inimportant, as I trade with the other players until the majority of my cards are on the lawful and good axises. Once everyone has 9 cards that result in the same average alignment as the card that they originally choose, each player has their nine cards shuffled and a harrowing performed with those cards.
For simplicity's sake, I have all 6 lawful good cards, my remaining three cards are The Fiend, The Tangled Briar, and The Tyrant. Since each position of the harrowing has an alignment of the alignment of the card is an exact match for the spot it is in then I get +2 to that stat. If it matches on one axis, as long as the other axis is not the opposite, I get +1 to that stat. If a card is the exact opposite then I take a -2 top the stat, and if it is opposite on one axis but not a match on the other then it is -1 to that stat.
So lets say that my harrowing is the following:
LG The Tyrant NG The Paladin CG The Hidden Truth
LN The Tangled Briar TN The Trumpet CN The Winged Serpent
LE The Fiend NE The Empty Throne CE The Dance
I would get +1 Str from The Paladin, +1 Con from The Tangled Briar -1 Wisdom from The Winged Serpent, +2 Cha from The Fiend, -1 Cha from The Empty Throne, and -2 Dex from The Dance, resulring in Str: 15 Dex: 10 Con: 13 Int: 8 Wis: 11 Cha: 12. I got really unlucky with my harrowing and ended up getting only 1 additional point from it, but I also didn't choose my cards wisely.
Depending on everyone's stats after the harrowing I may give them +1 to each stat for each card that represents that stat. Which above would result in another 2 Str, Con, and Cha an +1 Dex, Wis and Int, for Str: 17 Dex: 11 Con: 15 Int: 9 Wis: 12 Cha: 14, a 27 pt buy.