D&D General GM's Closet for the CONAN RPG

-- RECENT AND FUTURE KINGS OF ARGOS --



In my game, King Milo is the current ruler of Argos. Milo is featured in the novel, Conan The Liberator, by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter.

Before Milo was the ageing King Tahrend (and then, Queen Wrenna, for a few months). Milo is Tahrend's brother. Upon Tahrend's death, Queen Wrenna attempted to take control of the kingdom, but Milo returned to Messantia after hearing the news of his brother's death and deposed and exiled the Queen. Tahrend and Wrenna are featured in the Savage Sword of Conan story, Colossus of Argos.

In the future, Milo will be succeeded by his second son, Ariostro, featured in the story by L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter, Black Sphinx of Nebthu, which is published in the collection of stories under the title, Conan of Aquilonia.

-- HORSES AND CAMELS --



There's a nice section of rules in Shem - Gateway to the South that speaks to the use of horses and camels in a game. The section, starting on page 30, is written for use by Shemite Nomad characters, but it is general enough to be used by any Conan RPG character.

It provides rules for movement and the care and upkeep of mounts. Plus, you can compare the pros and cons of using a camel vs. a horse. There's discussion and rules for bare-hoof vs. horseshoes.

There is some interesting data presented. For example, a horse can produce 70 lbs. of manure. If you end up with 6 PC Nomads and 4 NPCs, all with their own horse, that's 700 lbs. of manure, each day. That's a lot of crap to deal with!

For the enterprising GM, that's some useful information. How would you use it in a game? Here's some ideas...



-- The Nomad PCs are trying to be accepted by a group of Zuagirs. Their first job? Taking care of all the crap that is generated by the band's horses! What are they going to do with it.



-- The PCs are tracking several horses. They find a campsite. The GM describes these mounds of horse manure. By the amount of manure, the tracking character can estimate the number of horses (and therefore men) being hunted.



-- Every time the PCs camp, a desert creature makes off with a horse. The players decide to have the horses moved close to camp. But now, with all the manure, the GM starts thinking about springing disease on the PCs...just another obstacle to overcome during the campaign.



That's just off the top of my head. Sure, the section discusses a lot more than just horse manure. It's just that, as many years as I've been roleplaying, I've never considered things like this. It can be a problem. It can add to the detail and immersion of the game. Heck, you could track a caravan across the desert just looking for the dung piles at the camp sites.

-- ARGOS DEMOGRAPHICS --


I found this on a forum. It's pretty interesting.



ARGOS





Total area: 160 150 sq. miles.

It is about three times the size of modern Greece and slightly smaller than modern Sweden. Barachan Isles are not included in that figure.


1. Messantia Region

This part covers the southwestern tip of Argos. Its a population center for Argos. When Conan arrives from Zingara to Argos in THotD, it is described having orchards and fields roadside.

Size: 23 000 sq. miles

Population Density: 100 people / sq. mile.





2. Hills of Argos

Coast has steep cliffs and the inland is made of forested hills.

Size: 78 450 sq. miles.

Population Density: 70 people / sq. miles despite having a lot of hills.





3. Northern Argos

The hills meet the meadowlands of Ophir.

Size: 58 700 sq. miles.

Population Density: 75 people / sq. mile.






Population
1. Messantia region: 2.3M Argosseans.
2. Hills of Argos: 5.5M Argosseans.
3. Northern Argos: 4.4M Argosseans.

TOTAL: 12.2M Argossean denizens with a density of 76 people / sq. mile.

Population of 10 - 14 million.

The urban population might make a larger portion of total population than in the landlocked kingdoms. Despite cities being cosmopolitan, the population is still something like 99% Argossean. The rural population is just that much bigger.

The Gazetteer in http://hyboria.xoth.net gives a population of 1.4M, and Mongoose's Conan RPG says 7M people. That would make population densities 8.75/sq.mile and 43.75/sq.mile. The former is too low and the latter is much better. However, the population is at least 10M (62.5/sq.mile).

-- CLOTHING IN ARGOS --



One way to dress up a game and add a sense of realism to it is for the GM to have a good understanding of what people wear in the region where the game is taking place. Remember, the clothes presented in the equipment guides (the chapter in the Core Rulebook or Tito's Trading Post...or any other Conan RPG source) are priced at the most basic level. Commoners and those of the lower social classes of a Hyborian Age region will use the price as listed. Characters not wanting to look like Commoners--who want to look more like the Merchant or Noble classes--must spend more on their clothes, as is noted in the rule books.

In general, there are three basic categories for clothing.

Commoner Class Clothing: use the cost listed in the book as a base price.

Merchant Class Clothing: 5x to 20x the base price listed in the books.

Noble Class Clothing: 50x to 100x the base price listed in the books.

Note how, in a Conan game, a bolt of silk can have real value is traded to the right merchant.

In general, Commoner Class Clothing is made of basic materials like linen or wool, and colors are usually limited to white, bone-white, and simple dyes for earth tones. Merchant Class Clothing will be made of higher quality materials, use more valuable accessories (like metal buttons or embroidery), and have more colors available. Noble Class Clothing is made of the best materials, exotic materials, and have very valuable accessories like silver buttons or gold-thread stitching.

QUALITY. Within each category, the more money spent on an item usually means that the coin is being spent on higher quality, longer lasting items. See page 3 of Tito's Trading Post for quality DCs when characters make their own clothing.





ARGOS.

Argosseans typically dress in cotton, linen, or light wool. White or muted colors are popular with all classes, although the wealthy will typically show their wealth with the color of their clothes. And, the wealthy tend to over dress in this climate. Jewelry is a status symbol, and Argos is known to manufacture the finest jewelry in the known world.

Men prefer short hair and can be either clean shaven or sport facial hair. Women prefer long hair and tend to shave hair from the rest of their bodies.

Head. Hats are not worn in the coastal cities by men, but women of that region will wear elaborate hats and veils or scarves. Inland men typically do wear hats, and a hat in that region can be a status symbol.



Feet. It is not uncommon for Commoners to go barefoot. Sandals are common among all classes, as are shoes or boots. Wood-soled shoes or boots are used among the Commoners as well as soles made from layering leather. The soles of wealthy people tend to be flexible. The style right now is for a shoe or a boot to have an upward pointed garment at the toe. Commoner footwear tends to be more practical than stylish. Undones (socks) may or may not be worn, depending on the person's preference. If used, cloth, or some other material, is wrapped around the person's foot inside the footware. This can even be done with sandals. In spite of the warm climate, boots are sometimes lined with fur--the fur doing the job than an undone would do.



Undergarments. These are optional, but the Argosseans are a very clean people as a race. Therefore, a loin cloth is typically worn, at the minimum, underneath a person's clothes (for both males and females). Flat-chested women will sometimes wrap cloth around their breasts, but many go bare-chested under their clothing. The wealthy will wear a chemise or a shirt & braes underneath their garments.



Accessories. All manner of belts are used in Argos, from a rough rope belt made of hemp to a fine, wide, leather belt or a silk sash or girdle. Men wear a cape called a tebanna. Cloaks are worn by both sexes. Gloves may be worn by workers, adventurers, or soldiers.



Clothing. Both men and women wear robes and togas. Breeks or breeches are seen, as well as cotes and doublets. Men will wear doublets underneath armor. Commoners will wear tunics or chemise (as outerwear). Women wear dresses and gowns as well. Chitons are traditional Argossean wear popular with both sexes and all social classes.



Game Note: Traditional clothing in Argos has an Ancient Greek flair to it, though it is not exactly the look from real history. It's more of a sword & sorcery fusion.

-- CONAN RPG CLOTHING NOTES --



Looking at the clothing items provided in Tito's Trading Post, you may think that some clothing items are missing (true). But, really, what's provided is enough to describe just about any type of clothing requirements that you may have in your game. GMs should feel free to add to the clothing list as needed.

Historically, in the real world, similar clothing items from different cultures and time periods have different names. Some of the clothing items in the equipment list are specific to a culture other than that of the Hyborians, and there are different flavors of Hyborian culture (just as Spanish culture is different from that of France). If a GM doesn't want to go to the trouble to research and add specific clothing items from history (and, remember, Howard took from various time periods in his Conan tales), consider these notes, just using the items presented in Tito's Trading Post.



Belt, Girdle. Only a few types of belt are listed. Get creative with description and price based on the items needed in your game.

Boots, Shoes, Sandals. See the entry above on the Belt or Girdle.

Socks? Socks, hose, or stockings are optional. Many people don't wear any type of sock. Some will wrap their feet in cloth or some other material, inside of a shoe or boot. The ancient Romans called this an undone, and undones were even worn with sandals. An alternative for characters in the game is to have a piece of footware upgraded (higher price) to be fur lined.

Undergarments? Like socks, undergarments are optional. Not all people wear them. Those that do will wear a simple linen loincloth. Loincloths are sometimes all a person wears. More sophisticated people wear Shirt and Braes (male) or a Shift (women) as an undergarment. The shirt and braes are like a large, billowy undershirt and shorts. The shift is a long, billowy night-dress.

Chemise. The wealthy use this billowy shirt as an undergarment. Commoners use this as a shirt--outerwear.

Doublet. Characters should purchase a doublet to wear under their armor. When a breastplate is purchased, a doublet is included. Doublets come in various styles, worn in most Hyborian cultures. It doesn't necessarily look like the doublet used in the real Middle Ages (as with most things of the Hyborian Age).

Gloves. See the entry above on the Belt or Girdle.

Kirtle. Can be used as the male version of a dress, often used in Hyborian Age cultures.

Breeks. Breeks are short pants, ending at the knee or calf. Also consider breeches, which are pants or trousers. Either can be made from various materials, from leather to linen. Heavy wool is popular.

Stygian Kilt. This is the Stygian version of the kilt. Various cultures of the Hyborian Age have a similar garment, including the Cimmerians, but also many Hyborian cultures. Feel free to add other versions of the kilt.

Tunic. The rules insist that the tunic is a garment worn only by the very poor. But, looking online, I see that the Roman tunica was worn by the masses--not only the poor. Make your own decision for your game. "Tunic" has come to be a word to describe various types of shirts. I suspect, in antiquity, the word described a more specific garment.

Cote. You can use this to represent various types of shirts. Instead of using the term "tunic", use the term "cote". The term "cote" can also be stretched to cover garments like the chiton. Therefore, as far as the Conan RPG goes, use "tunic" when referring to shirts for the lower classes and "cote" for shirts for the middle and upper classes. A typical Hyborian will wear a cote under a doublet when in public. And, he'll wear a cote, under a doublet, under his armor, when in battle.

-- CLOTHING AND CHARISMA BASED CHECKS --



Subject to GM approval, consider giving characters who spend extra coin on clothing to receive a bonus on CHA based interpersonal skill throws.



Character is wearing...

Commoner Class Clothing? +0

Merchant Class Clothing? +1

Noble Class Clothing? +2

This is the cover of the Thief's Companion, a supplement that was never released. But, many of the articles written for the supplement were completed before the cancellation of the project and can be found within the later pages of Signs & Portents.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MONGOOSE's S&P ARCHIVE.

You might be interested in the EMPIRES OF THE HYBORIAN AGE supplement, as well. This is another item that I'd grab before it disappears from the net. It was written as a Second Edition supplement, and it was completed. But, it was dropped at the last moment as Mongoose was dropping the entire Conan game license.

Click the link above to download the text. See below for the cover that would have been used.