N. Robin Crossby, creator of Harn, passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer.

I first got exposed to Harn in a serious way when I met Blackhawke, who was then using it as a campaign setting. Although the gritty-dark realism didn't suit my personal tastes I could see immediately what attracted him to the product -- the maps. Vivid, detailed maps. Artistically rendered maps, not only of the island of Harn but the entire world of Kelestia, all the way down to the castle at Chybisa. I'm a sucker for good maps; if the world they represented had been a tad less grim, I'd likely be gaming there still.

N. Robin Crossby set a very high bar for the creation of campaign settings, as everyone who's ever looked at Harn knows. It wasn't just the maps, it was the loving detail that went into everything about the world: The NPCs, the politics, the economics, the medieval atmosphere, the Gods and religions, the magic. It all made internal sense, it all locked together with exacting precision. You could drop a fantasy campaign into this place and have it up and running with a minimum of fuss. That was the beauty of it.

Blackhawke may have further remarks later. On behalf of LostCoastGaming.com, our condolences to the family for their loss.