So tell me about the Harpers [3.5]

[Godskook]

So one of my players is a *HUGE* Harper fan, and being the spontaneous 'play to my players' kind of DM, I through them into my homebrew setting. Question is, what's distinct about the Harper guild that can't be changed without ruining their flavor. I've so far been able to keep the PCs away from areas the Harpers frequent, but they're starting to get into the more mobile levels(they're level 6 now), and I better have this guild figured all the way out before he gets too deeply involved with them. So I guess my questions are:

1.What's 'required' for a guild to be the HARPER guild?

2.What books are good to read to learn about the guild, either mechanically or fluff(please specify)

3.How would the guild react to a non-member knowing oaths only known to higher level members?

[holywhippet]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20031214a&page=6
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frx/20030604a

1) Basically they fight evil and preserve knowledge.

2) Forgotten Realms Camapaign setting is a must, magic of Faerun might help.

3) I don't think it's that kind of secret society (and technically they are a semisecret society). Knowing who harper agents are would be one thing but I don't think there are any specific oaths the order take that would be considered top secret.

[Gamer Girl]

1.What's 'required' for a guild to be the HARPER guild?

2.What books are good to read to learn about the guild, either mechanically or fluff(please specify)

3.How would the guild react to a non-member knowing oaths only known to higher level members?


1.Nothing. Kinda the whole point behind the Harpers is that they are just 'normal folk helping out'. Well, at least normal folkartists.(as they are a group of Brad Pitts and Hayden Pattemay). Lots of Harper places have a 'cover' of being a play house, theater or such.

2.Old 2E is your best source. The book: The Code of the Harpers has the best fluff. Plus you want the 2E book Cloak and Dagger for even more fluff. there is a line of Harper novels, 14 I think, that also give plenty of fluff.

3.For the most part they would not react much and attempt to brush it off and play it down. If a person became a nuisance they would get a stern warning with a light threat. And should they become a problem, they will be taken care off(maybe not killed, but say polymorphed into an animal and stuck somewhere or just feebelminded.).

[Alleran]

The Harpers have been characterised by Elminster as being like adventurers, except they actually think about what they're doing before drawing a sword, shanking somebody from behind, blowing things up with magic, and so on and so forth.

The 2E Code of the Harpers book is a good one, as mentioned, and there are a few entries and sidebars in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. Magic of Faerun contains some Harper prestige classes (Harper Mage and Harper Priest), Player's Guide to Faerun has the Harper Agent and Harper Paragon, and a web enhancement has the Master Harper prestige class.

This (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Harpers) is also okay as a basic overview. The FR Wiki tends to be a bit... erroneous... at times, but is reasonably correct with what's written there. The two most notable quotes are:

"Right, then, good Lady Shandril, I shall try to tell thee something of what it is to be a Harper."

···
"A Harper holds peaceful sharing of the lands above all other goals."
···
"By sharing, we mean all the races living in and under the land, where each prefers to live, trading together where desire and need stir them to, and respecting each other's holds and ways—without the daily bloodletting that all too often holds sway in the Realms today."
···
"True, we must fight, it seems often enough to keep our swords and our tempers both sharp enough. Yet, know ye; all of us fight when we must, or die. Moreover, ye only hear of blades drawn and death and spells hurled, and never know of the many, many times that a quiet word or a skillful deal has turned enemies aside from each other, forced a way clear where none was before, or distracted foes from the eager task of tearing each other's throats out. That is the true Harper way: subtle and quiet, behind the shouting. Trust and wisdom, and outfoxing others is what we deal in."
Harpers work against villainy and wickedness wherever they find it, but they work ever mindful of the consequences of what they do.
All beings should walk free of fear, with the right to live their lives as they wish.
The rule of law aids peace and fosters freedom, so long as the laws are just and those who enforce them lenient and understanding.
No extreme is good. For freedom to flourish, all must be in balance: the powers of realms, the reaches of the cities and the wilderlands into each other, and the influence of one being over another.
Whatever it takes, a Harper will do. Pride never rules the deeds of a true Harper.
Freedom is a multiversal right, though Harpers can spare themselves less freedom than those they work to protect when the need presents itself.
Harpers police their own. A Harper who hears the call of personal power can no longer hear the sweet song of the harp. A Harper who seizes power, and holds it above all else, is a traitor to the harp. Traitors must die for freedom to live.
Without a past, no being can appreciate what they have, and where they may be going.
They're an organisation of do-gooders. I'd say that they're primarily NG in outlook with a tinge of CG, but LG types would still be welcome. Most LN, TN or even some CN would be permitted to join as well. It's just evil that they can't stand.

[Godskook]

I should probably explain question 3 is extreme detail. See, the PC in question is from our world, and entered that world with his memories intact, including extensive knowledge of the Harper's guild as statted in D&D(admittedly, there's going to be some differences). The PC is currently being hunted by the biggest city-state on the planet, Kintarra(we're talking citizens up to ECL 14 in a world where most states are ruled by someone <= ECL 8). The PC managed to get a note to his pursuers that had a lot of 'political posturing', and at the bottom, a Harper symbol with the phrase "Do you know what this means?". Thus, after a discussion between Kintarra and the Harpers, the Harpers sent agents to catch the PCs. In an ensuing discussion between the Harper agent and the PC, the PC starts quoting a Harper oath(I forget which, but it wasn't a 'basic entry' one).