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

CONAN COMBAT ANALYSIS



Here, I am taking some text from one of Howard's Conan stories and translating the scene with combat game mechanics. The story? Beyond the Black River. The situation? Conan and his companion, Balthus, are in the Pictish Wilderness, attempting to make it to the river. The two are being tracked by Pict savages, and as the scene starts, are, indeed, ambushed.

Howard's text is written in bold.

Balthus, I'm guessing, is a 2nd level Aquilonian Borderer. The Pict warriors are 1st level barbarians, per the core rulebook. Conan is an advanced character, multiclassed as a 1 Thief/ 2 Pirate/ 2 Soldier and at least a 10th level Barbarian (at least a 15th level character), in this story as the tale takes place late in Conan's career, not too long before Conan siezes the throne of Aquilonia.



In Beyond The Black River, Howard writes:

He wheeled an ducked as a bowstring twanged. Something like a white flash of light streaked through the bushes. Balthus knew it was an arrow. Then with a tigerish bound Conan was through the bushes. Balthus caught the gleam of steel as he whirled his sword, and heard a death scream. The next instant he had broken through the bushes after the Cimmerian.

A Pict with a shattered skull lay face-down on the ground, his fingers spasmodically clawing at the grass. Half a dozen others were swarming about Conan, swords and axes lifted. They had cast away thier bows, useless at such deadly close quarters. Their lower jaws were painted white contrasting vividly with their dark faces, and the designs on their muscular breasts differed from any Balthus had ever seen.





The combat starts with a Pict ambush. The Picts have successfully tracked Balthus and Conan, and both the heroes have failed their Spot and/or Listen checks. The Picts act during the Surprise round. They get only one action. There are seven Picts. One uses the surprise to fire his bow. He was probably at the front of the Pict's tracking line. The others use their Surprise action to spread out and get into position to take the two interlopers.

The bow is fired at Conan, and at this point, both Conan and Balthus are caught flatfooted. But, Conan has a special ability as a Barbarian classed character: Uncanny Dodge. This allows 4th level and higher Barbarians to use their Dodge defence, even when the character is caught flatfooted. The first sentence from the story quote, "He wheeled an ducked as a bowstring twanged," is Conan using his Uncanny Dodge ability.

The other Picts, behind the lead bowman, do not have a clear shot at either Conan or Balthus from their positions behind the bowman. In the least, Conan and Balthus have cover from the bush, so any othe bow shots that hit will still have a 20% chance of missing, per the concealment rule. This is the most likely reason the other 1st level Picts chose to move to a better combat position rather than waste an arrow trying to hit their concealed enemies.

When the surprise round is over (The Pict bowman fires and misses; the other Picts use movement to get into combat position), initiative is thrown for the surprised characters. Conan rolls highest and acts first, even before any of the Picts. "Then with a tigerish bound Conan was through the bushes. Balthus caught the gleam of steel as he whirled his sword, and heard a death scream." Conan moves at the closest Pict, the bowman, and attacks with his sword, killing the bowman Pict with that first blow. Conan either rolled a critical hit, doing more than 20 points of damage, at which the Pict failed the Massive Damage save, or, more likely, Conan's damage was more than the Picts 1st level hit points. Note that the Pict isn't killed outright. "A Pict with a shattered skull lay face-down on the ground, his fingers spasmodically clawing at the grass." This Pict has been knocked into the negative hit point region. He'll be dead soon, but he's not quite dead yet.

The other six Pict initiative scores must all be after Conan's total but before Balthus' as when Balthus moves through the bushes to the fight on round one, he sees all six Picts surrounding Conan. "Half a dozen others were swarming about Conan, swords and axes lifted."

Conan must have been between Balthus and the Picts when the combat started. This is probably why the Pict bowman fired at Conan instead of the Aquilonian. And, Balthus is probably a short distance away from Conan because the two were conversing just before this scene started--and Balthus does not attack on round one. Balthus is probably more than 30 feet from Conan's fight because he enters the clearing, sees the dead bowman Pict, but doesn't attack. In game terms, Balthus moved 31-60 feet, as a double move action. The distances could be much shorter, too, as this is thick wilderness. Movement is halved in disagreeable terrain. Balthus probably moved 16-30 feet as his double move.

Conan may or may not have had his sword readied at the start of the scenario. If he had it in his hand, then nothing is changed. If he did not have it in his hand, he could easily pull the weapon as part of his Move action toward the Picts.

Note the part about the Picts discarding their bows: "They had cast away thier bows, useless at such deadly close quarters." In these close quarters, the Picts would open themselves up to Attacks of Opportunity from their foes, so rather than give Conan and Balthus free attacks, they've chosen to drop their bows and pull their melee weapons.

The Picts, surrounding Conan, gain two benefits. First, the flankers gain a +2 attack bonus against the Cimmerian. That will be at least two of the six Picts, but could be as many as all of them with each Pict partnering with another to form a flank. Second, the Picts also gain an attack bonus from their numerical advantage, using the Multiple Opponent's rule. The Pict directly in front of Conan gains no bonus, but the other five gain a +1 to +5 modifier to hit. This means that the flanking Pict directly behind Conan is attacking with a +7 bonus modifier.

Conan probably Parries the blows of these Picts, using his Parry AC, because his Dodge AC is penalized -2 due to being surrounded (it's harder to dodge in that circumstance).

Conan, though, is wearing armor, as indicated earlier in the story. He's wearing a mail shirt and a helmet that have been sound dampened. By the book, this gives Conan damage reduction of DR 6. Eventhough the Picts may hit, Conan is not taking much damage, if any. His armor is protecting him. In addition, Picts use primitive quality weapons, and, thus, there is a chance per successful hit that the weapon will break.



...Summary of the Combat Thus Far...

Surprise Round: Pict bowman fires at Conan as the other six move into position. Conan and Balthus are flatfooted, but Conan uses Uncanny Dodge to avoid the bowshot.

Initiative: Conan wins nish, followed by all seven of the Picts, with Balthus acting last.

Round One: Conan moves, attacks, and kills the Pict bowman. The remaining six Pict surround, flank, and attack Conan with flanking and multiple opponent bonuses. Conan either Parries or Dodges blows. Even if/when hit, Conan's armor keeps him from taking much damage. Balthus moves last, doing a double move to enter the combat clearing, seeing the downed bowman and Conan fighting the rest.



Now...we move on to Round Two.

The story is told from Balthus' point of view. Round two starts with Conan attacking one of his foes. Since the Cimmerian is not moving more than 5 feet this round, Conan can use his multiple attacks. If he's no higher than a 10th level Barbarian in this scene, he gets two attacks per round by taking a Full Round action. In addition, if he has the Cleave Feat, he may be able to take a third attack this round. Conan has a broadsword that does 1d10 damage (a Critical hit is checked on a 19 or 20, that's a 10% chance per swing). Given Conan's game stats, we can surmise that his STR score is somewhere around 22-25 in this story. That's a +6 or +7 STR bonus. Let's call it a +6 bonus, and if Conan uses the broadsword two-handed, he's doing damage of 1d10 + 9. That's a minimum of 10 points of damage. These 1st level Picts average 6 HP each. This means that, on every hit, Conan will kill his target. I tell you this to put into mechancial context the description of Conan's actions below.

It's a good assumption that Conan kills at least 2, possibly 3, Picts at the top of Round Two.

Then, most of the remaining Picts continue their fight with Conan, most either missing due to Conan's Dodge or Parry, or not damaging him as their primitive weapons strike his armor.

But, one of the Picts--probably one from Conan's rear flank--changes target and throws his axe at the new entry into the combat, Balthus.



One of them hurled his axe at Balthus and rushed afer it with lifted knife. Balthus ducked and then caught the wrist that drove the knife licking at his throat. They went to the ground together, rolling over and over. The Pict was like a wild beast, his muscles hard as steel strings.

Only the Dodge AC can be used against thrown weapons, and here we see Balthus "ducking" the hurled axe. Balthus' movement last round must have ended with just five feet between himself and one of Conan's enemies because this foe swirls away from Conan, throws his axe (which has an effective range of 10 feet before penalty), moves the five feet up to Balthus and strikes with his knife.

The Picts get two Feats at 1st level: One that all 1st level characters get and a bonus Feat for being in his race's favored class of Barbarian. This Pict must have at least a DEX 13, Point Blank Shot, and Rapid Shot. The Pict uses the Rapid Shot to throw the Axe normally, and continuing a Full Attack Action, he moves the 5 feet and makes the melee attack with the knife. The knife attack is at -2 due to Rapid Shot Feat, but the Barbarian class provides the Two Weapon Combat Feat--so there are no other penalties.

The Pict rolled a natural one on the knife attack, calling up the GUSTUD rule. This means that Balthus gets to have a special free attack against his enemy on his turn.

As Balthus' turn comes around, the GUSTUD result shows a Grapple. "Balthus ducked and then caught the wrist that drove the knife licking at his throat." Balthus is successful with the grapple and decides to perform a trip maneuver as his standard action in order to get the Pict on the ground. "They went to the ground together, rolling over and over. The Pict was like a wild beast, his muscles hard as steel strings."

We're now ready for Round Three.





...What happened in Round Two...

Conan acted first, using a Full Attack, taking two or three swings, probably killing two or three Picts.

All but one of the remaining Picts, two or three, continue to attack Conan using full actions and, possibly, Two Weapon Combat.

One Pict turns from Conan to engage Balthus, using his Rapid Shot Feat to throw his axe, then, continuing a full action, stepping 5 feet to engage the Aquilonian in melee combat with his knife. The Pict rolls a natural one on the knife attack, giving Balthus a special GUSTUD attack, which turns out to be a grapple.

Balthus, acting last, takes his Grapple against the Pict, then, after its success, uses his normal action to trip his foe. The two fall to the ground.





I'll leave you here, in the middle of this fight. I could go on, but I've only described about half of the fight. Later, the story reads, "The knife broke on Conan's mail," which demonstrates rule that primitive weapons which hit but are completely ineffective against metal armored foes will break with the strike--when the armor's DR reduces the primitive weapon's damage to zero.

The story also describes Conan's fight, as Balthus looks at him. "Conan bestroke two of his attackers, shorn half asunder by that terrible broadsword." This shows Conan using a Full Combat Action, making two attacks with that broadsword, and killing one foe with each blow--nearly tearing the Picts in half! That quite accounts for the mis-match of Conan's level, strength, power, and abilities against these first level Picts.

BEYOND THE BLACK RIVER




If you are interested in reading the full story that I used in the example above, all of Howard's Conan stories are now in the Public Domain. You can read that story, and many other original Conan stories, HERE

RAPID SHOT



Check out the Rapid Shot Feat on pg. 136 of the 2E rulebook. You'll see that it requires the Point Blank Shot Feat and DEX 13 or higher. The Feat is meant to be used with bows, allowing an archer to fire a second arrow before the first has landed. Most, if not all, of the ranged weapon feats are meant to be used with thrown weapons as well as bows (and usually crossbows, too).

I suggest that you, as GM, take a broad understanding of the Rapid Shot Feat, allowing the use of other weapons besides bows. Follow the Feat rules to the letter, just allow weapons like axes and throwing knives to be used as well as bows--as long as that weapon is "at hand". A weapon that is at hand is either specifically in the character's hand or is easily drawn. If a character can combine a move action with the draw, per the normal rule, then the weapon is at hand.

If you take this stance on this Feat, then actions are possible as I described in the combat scene above. See how the Pict uses the Feat to hurl his axe at Balthus, then moves five feet (allowable with a Full Action) to engage Balthus with his knife? That's possible due to the wider interpretation of this Feat. All standard rules for handedness and such apply, and, per the Feat, the knife attack is made at a -2 penalty. Plus, the Feat requires a Full Action, so movement will never be more than five feet.

In my game, I stretch the definition of the feat even farther. I have a character that carries a javelin quiver on his back. Many times, he'll walk around with a javelin and a spear, one in each hand. He'll throw the javelin, then fight melee with the spear. When he knows he's going to do a ranged attack, he'll carry a javelin in each hand, using the Feat to make two javelin attacks instead of one*. The javelins have to be at hand, and I do consider one, easy to get, in his javelin quiver as at hand--but this is usually a non-issue as the player will prep the Feat use by making sure a weapon is in each hand before he attacks.

I would not allow this Feat to apply to a crossbow because there's no way to easily and quickly re-cock a crossbow. But, I would allow the Feat to be used if a character was fighting with a sword, either one handed or two handed, and the character wanted to quickly toss a throwing knife from his belt. If the character were using a shield, I'd rule that the throwing knife was not at hand as the character could not easily throw the knife. And, if the knife were sticking out the top of his boot, I would not consider it at hand unless the character started the round crouching, hands close to the knife hilt.

This is just one of those tweaks--is it really a tweak, or an interpretation--that makes the game better, imo.





*He can do this normally, with the Two Weapon Feat. Using the Rapid Shot Feat, he throws three javelins in rapid succession: the first two under the Two Weapon Feat and the third under the Rapid Shot Feat. Think of it as a kind of Cleave action for thrown weapons.

DEFENSIVE FIGHTING



First level characters and characters with a low hit point total should ignore this fighting style at their own peril. The Fighting Defensively rule is listed on pgs. 184 and 187 of the 2E core rulebook. Basically, this style allows you to take a penalty on the attack throw to gain a bonus to defence. You take a -4 on your attack and gain a +2 to your AC. And, you can use this fighting style with either Dodge or Parry defense.

You can combine the Defensive Fighting Style with the Combat Expertise Feat, if you can overcome the additional attack penalties you set for yourself using that Feat.

You might not, at first, think that a +2 bonus to Defense is a lot to be hooping and hollering about, but consider this: The +2 modifier gives you double the benefit of the Dodge or Parry Feats, and it's like getting both of those together, double the benefit, at one time--and you don't have to have a 13+ DEX and STR to use it.

The +2 defence modifier is akin to getting the benefit of a DEX score that is two FOUR points higher than what you have AND a STR score that is FOUR points higher than what you have, with regards to your defence.

Fighting Defensively is almost as good as getting the Combat Expertise Feat for free, at first level.

It's a 10% improvement to your defence, for EVERY incoming blow, every time you use the fighting style.

Consider a 1st level Barbarian character. He has to be a 3rd level character in order to gain a +2 Dodge benefit, and he has to be a 6th level Barbarian in order to get a +2 Parry benefit.

So, do you think taking a -4 on your attack is worth gaining the +2 to your AC? I think it's a bargain, especially when a single blow can kill your character without scoreing a Critical Hit or Massive Damage.

You'll have to decide on this for yourself.







Let's look a little more at defence.

If you character gets into trouble, don't forget the Total Defence rule, pg. 185 of Conan 2E, and look at the Withdraw rule on pg. 187. Remember that Aid Another (pg. 204) can be used to give a character +2 Defense. You might be able to use the Intimidate skill to strike fear into your foe and keep him from attacking you (though it is unlikely unless the character is truly fearsome). And, a good old trusty shield can do wonders for your Parry AC: Consider fighting defensively with a targe gives the character +5 to Parry AC, and this can be raised higher if the Combat Expertise Feat is used.

Consider the partial armor rules in the Barbaric Warrior supplement for characters who have high Dodge ACs. A few pieces of armor will not count against the character as if he is wearing armor, but he can still get a small benefit. And, the light armors do not impede DEX modifiers. You might be able to wear armor that is quite heavy and restrictive without penalty to your Dodge AC if your DEX bonus is not higher than the armor's Max DEX rating. Remember that helms provide a minimum +1 to DR.

It's usually a good thing to wear some sort of armor. A simple quilted jerking will provide DR 3. That's better than nothing. Your max DEX bonus is +7. And, the jerkin has no Armor Check penalty for Swimming or other skill uses.

Using the NPC I posted earlier in the thread, Cian McDowd, notice how I interpolated some armors that do not exist in the rules. Here, I'll post that section of Cian's stats:

ARMOR
Bracers = DR 1
Bracers + Helm = DR 2 (As pictured above)

Mantle = DR 2
Mantle + Helm = DR 3

Winter Clothing = DR 3 (+7 Max DEX)
Winter Clothing + Helm = DR 4 (+7 Max DEX)

Mail Hauberk = DR 6 (+3 Max DEX, -4 Armor Check Penalty)
Mail Hauberk + Helm = DR 7 (+3 Max DEX, -4 Armor Check Penalty)

Click to expand...

And, in the character's equipment section, I write this:

Bound up in this winter kit, Cian wears the equivalent armor of a Quilted Jerkin, but Cian will store various articles in Stormhoof's saddlebags (and thus, removing the armor protection) as his comfort level allows. The mantle, alone, though will serve as some protection. Protection derived from clothing does not stack with actual armor pieces. See the Armor section in the stat block above.

Click to expand...

I used the partial armor rules from Barbaric Warrior, the standard armor types in the core rulebook, and good old common sense to come up with some protection for the character when wearing this mantle (big, thick, Cimmerian cloak) or when he is wrapped up in winter clothing.

Don't be too generous with this. Notice I made winter clothing equivalent to a Quilted Jerkin from the core rulebook, and the Mantle alone is only DR 2. But, it's something. That -1 damage point per hit, and very occasional zero damage, does add up.





Even More Thoughts on Defense.

The Barbaric Warrior supplement also includes some good, new Feats. Look at the various armor focus and specialization Feats. These can provide extra protection. You can also use the rules in the core rulebook, Tito's Trading Post, The Warrior's Companion, and the Barbaric Warrior supplement to improve armor in many ways.

One Feat in particular, from this book, to point out, is the Defensive Warrior Feat. It requires a Base Attack Bonus of +2 (and DEX 13+), so you can't get it at 1st level. But, it may be a desireable choice once you level up and earn a new Feat, usually at 3rd level. Or, if your GM allows, you can save a Feat slot at 1st level then get this Feat at level 2 as your BAB becomes +2 (as allowed by character class--Note that the less combat oriented classes reach BAB +2 at level 3).

What this Feat will do for you is allow you to Fight Defensively with the attack penalty halved. You fight at -2 instead of -4, but you still benefit from a +2 Defence.

This Feat is a great choice for someone who is going to attempt to gain benefit of the Defensive Fighting combat style for a long period of time. Lightly armored characters should look hard at this Feat. Look for ways, like the Weapon Focus Feat, to offset the attack penalty.

For Example, take a 3rd level Zamorian Thief, wearing a quilted jerkin (DR 3) and billowy silk shirt and pantaloons atop soft leather shoes, with a decent DEX, can be quite a hard target to damage. Give him a 16 DEX. Pick Combat Expertise for his first level feat, Dodge as his first level bonus feat, and Defensive Warrior as his third level feat, and you've got a character that has....

Dodge AC 15 as his base Dodge.

Dodge AC 17 if the Defensive Warrior Feat is used (with -2 attacks)

Dodge AC 18 to AC 22 using the Combat Expertise Feat (wth -3 to -7 attacks).

And all of this with DR 3 armor when a blow does land. Trade out the Dodge Feat for the Weapon Focus Feat, and you will decrease the attack penalties by one above--Dodge AC 16 with a -1 attack and an option via the Combat Expertise Feat to up defence by 1-5 points, ain't a bad thing at all.





EDIT: I almost forgot! If you really get into trouble, you can blow a Fate Point and get a +5 to Parry or Dodge AC (your option) for the round. This is a luck bonus, and you can take this IN ADDITION to any of the various defence strategies I discuss above.

Blow the Fate Point for this use and combine it with Total Defense, and those two options alone gain your character a +9 to his normal defense. With Fighting Defensively, it's a +6 to AC proposition. This is a save-your-character's-arse maneuver--when one combat round stands between you and life or death.

@Azgulor

I've had another thought on this...

Azgulor said:

I've switched over to Pathfinder as I started running games for my kids (& this expanded to a larger group including their friends) and needed a more PG than PG-13/R game. If there were ever an opportunity (in my dreams, I know) for someone to get the Conan license & merge the Mongoose Conan RPG onto a Pathfinder framework to gain the PF improvements (skill points, favored class benefits, Advanced Race Guide, character class archetypes) I'd have my swords-n-sorcery heartbreaker.

Click to expand...

Continuing what I said above about GMing the Conan RPG in a "PG" style, you might consider using the Chronicles of Conan comic as your source material. These were originally published by Marvel back in the 70's, and they manage to capture the Hyborian Age, in a "PG" fashion, quite well.

I enjoy reading them, even at my old age (shsssh! Don't tell anyone!). Book 2 is better than Book 1, and starting with Book 3, the quality is really there (I found parts of Book 1 an effort to get through, but I read it to learn the beginning).

These books are a gold mine for your game. They'll give you characters, situations, and stories--maybe even act as visuals for your game. All you have to do, as GM, is apply stats to them. They're ready-made adventures! Just add water--I mean, stats!


And...they're all suitable for your kids as you allow them to live out Conan's adventures. Remember Marvel's target audience.

This could be a wonderful way to go. Your kids get to experience Conan, and you get the pleasure of adapting the comics to the game (I enjoy that kind of stuff).

Just a thought, for you.






The other option is to just keep your Pathfinder rules but play during the Hyborian Age. Still get the Chronicles of Conan trade paperback, but apply your Pathfinder rules to the adventures you create instead of using the Mongoose Conan rules.

You might want to look at some of the links I posted earlier in the thread that show other d20 game versions adapted to the Hyborian Age.

HEAVY, SWEATY ARMOR ...a tweak!




Armor can be hot and restrictive, and the game illustrates this mechanically in a couple of ways. The Max DEX Bonus column on the armor chart can penalize the Dodge AC of a character. Tito's Trading Post, pg. 41, provides an optional fatigue rule for some armors when worn a long time. The tweak I am discussing in this post is designed for GMs who want to give the decision to wear armor--especially heavy armor--a little more weight.

In real life, people did not always wear the heaviest armor because (a) they could not afford it, but also because (b) the armor is restrictive, uncomfortable, heavy, and not something you'd want to wear every day like a suit of clothes.

This tweak is meant to increase the trade off between mobility and armor protection.

But, before I discuss the tweak, let me say that I think the Conan RPG does a fine job already of making that distinction. If you look at the Armor Table and the Max DEX Bonus column, the table is pretty forgiving for light, flexible armor and pretty restrictive for the heavier armors. The rule is pretty good, as it is, especially if you add in the optional fatigue rule from Tito'd Trading Post--since we're playing a heroic sword & sorcery game.

But, let's consider the average human, with a DEX 10 or DEX 11. There is no real difference to whatever type of armor he wears. Using the tweak that I discuss in this post, EVERY character will be effected by the choice to wear armor or not, and a preference may be given to the lighter, more flexible armors.

Here's how the tweak works: Simply consider the Max DEX Bonus column on the armor chart to referr to the character's DEX bonus AND his character level Dodge bonus. This is just another way to customize the game to your taste, and using this tweak, players will definitely have more of a decision about wearing armor when it is available to their characters.



For example, take the 3rd level NPC that I posted earlier in the thread:

Morghun Clanson
3rd level Barbarian

Sex: Male
Age: 22
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 183 lbs.
Handedness: Right

STR: 16 (+3)
DEX: 14 (+2)
CON: 8 (-1)
INT: 11
WIS: 11
CHA: 7 (-2)

HP: 17
Fate: 3 (if used as a player character)
XP: 3,000

Parry: AC 14
Dodge: AC 14

Click to expand...

If we use the rules by the book, wearing armor is a no brainer because this character is not affected. Let's put him in some very restrictive heavy armor: plate mail. This character can Dodge just as well as he can in plate armor as he can when just wearing a loin cloth. In fact, all characters with a DEX as high as DEX 15 are not restricted at all when wearing Plate Armor.

This obvious break in logic is what this tweak will fix in your game.

Using the tweak, Morghun cannot add more than +2 to his Dodge AC when wearing the Plate Armor, which means, he'll never be higher than Dodge AC 12 and will have to rely on his ability to Parry blows rather than Dodge them.

Doesn't that sound more realistic? The armor is heavy, and thus, he's not as able to skirt arrows that fly at him as he is when he's just wearing a loin cloth. Heavy armor makes the character more of a sitting duck--a tank, basically.

I mean, Plate Armor weights 55 lbs.! It makes sense, doesn't it, that if you wear it, you cannot Dodge as effectively?

I think so.

A Question Asked of Me About the Armor Tweak above...


Question: Can this armor penalty be mitigated by superior strength of the wearer?

Yes and no...in a round about way.

In this game, there are two defense styles: Dodge and Parry. Dodge is Dexterity based and Parry is Strength based. A character's level (his experience) gives him bonuses to either, but the bonus is not necessarily the same.

In a melee combat, a player can choose to defend himself against blows by either dodging or parrying his foe's swings. But, there are certain types of attacks that can only be dodged--those would be missile/arrow/bolt attacks, thrown weapon attacks, and sorcerous touch attacks.

Thus, using the tweak above, a character wearing heavy armor would not be as able to dodge out of the way of an incoming arrow or a hurled axe. But, if a character is hit, the armor still has its full protection ability--this is not changed with the tweak. In some cases, a character wearing heavy plate armor will be easier to hit, but the arrows will most likely bounce off the armor, do no damage to the character--this depends on the bow and the strength of the archer (and the total damage done after the hit).

Here's the basic answer to the question: With the Dodge AC impaired as suggested with the tweak, characters will rely more on their Parry defense. Thus, stronger characters will choose heavier armor, while weaker, but more agile characters, will choose lighter armor or no armor at all.





EDIT: I should note that I do not use this tweak in my game. I write it here simply as an optional rule for GMs who like the idea.

HOW TO FIGHT EFFECTIVELY WITH A REACH WEAPON



You'll never look at City Guardsmen armed with Pikes the same way again....

There are a few reach weapons listed in the core rulebook: War Spear, Staff, and Pike. Whips and Lances are also considered reach weapons. There may be others available in your game from supplemental sources or weapons that you've added yourself. Lances usually have a penalty associated with them if used on foot in melee. The Whip has a 15' reach instead of the usual 10' distance. Pikes have a reach of 20' only. And, the Staff is unique among reach weapons in that it can be used effectively at both standard melee range of 5' and reach range of 10'.

Look at the Fighting On The Run rule on page 184 of the 2E Core rulebook. This rule allows you to move, attack, and then move again, as long as you're making a melee attack, and as long as you don't move more than your Speed rating. Although the rule is there, it is not used much in combat because a character using the rule still provokes an attack of opportunity when leaving a threatened square.

If you use a reach weapon and make use of your move correctly, you can move close to a target, make a melee attack from 10 feet away, then retreat some distance. If you do this correctly, you can achieve two advantages on the battlefield.

1. After your attack and movement, it is easy to set yourself up so that your enemy has to come through your threatened square in order to attack you in normal melee. This means that he will provoke an attack of opportunity, and you will gain a second, free attack on your foe before he attacks you.

2. Furthermore, if, after your attack, you move more than five feet away from your opponent, your attacker will have to use his movement to engage you in melee. This means you will have robbed your opponent of any Full Actions--which means, your enemy will only get one attack on you even if he is capable of more than one attack (by level or by holding a second weapon).





This Reach fighting style is particularly effective against foes who use a weapon in each hand or high level foes who gain additional attacks due to character level. Combat Reflexes is a good feat to consider if you are going to use the reach fighting style often as you can often position yourself in combat to attack many foes some distance from you (of course, a high DEX is desireable as well).

One problem that comes up with Reach fighting is that you draw attacks of opportunity when you move away from a foe after he has attacked you. There are a few ways to combat this problem, though. For example, you can use the Fighting Defensively rule when pulling away from your foe (taking a -4 penalty on your attack). That will give you a +2 to defense when your foe takes his attack of opportunity on you.

Another thing you can do is try to attack every other round. In between, when your foe is just 5 feet from you, use your turn to Withdraw. If your foes keeps up the pressure by pressing you, he'll rob you of your second attack (you won't get your standard attack because your foe will move into base-to-base contact before it is your next turn, but you will get your attack of opportunity on him when he moves out of your threatened space). But, if he doesn't immediately press the fight, then you've got him and can peform as I describe above. You'll get two attacks on him--your standard attack plus an attack of opportunity when he decides to attack you again.

Depending on the weapon you use, having a high Tumble skill will allow you to tumble out of any attacks of opportunity that you provoke from your enemy.

Of course, any Feats that improve your defense, like Dodge, Parry, and Light-Footed, are also helpful for a Reach fighter.

A Gunderman Pike Fighter, with the Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting Feat can be quite a deadly animal using this fighting style.

It's easy to see, too, that the Reach fighting style is vulnerable to missile or thrown weapon attacks.

Sometimes, the 5 foot step is all you need to set up the double attack that I mention above. See the example below.





Let's look at an example.

Ragnar the Aesir wields a war spear against a Vanir raider. We start the round with the two fighters in base-to-base contact. Ragnar cannot attack at this range, so he moves back 5 feet, putting his foe now at 10' distant. Ragnar attacks with the war spear, then, using the Fighting On The Run rule, Ragnar moves the rest of his movement, which is 10 more feet (because he's can only move half Speed when he Tumbles). This would normally provoke an attack of opportunity, moving away from the foe like this, but Ragnar makes his Tumble check.

Now, Ragnar has attacked and has ended the round 20 feet from his foe. This robs Ragnar's foe from making Full Attacks because the foe has to move 15 feet in order to engage Ragnar. So, at most, Ragnar's foe will get one attack on Ragnar next round. And, the foe will be subject to Ragnar's attack of opportunity when the foe moves past Ragnar's threatened space into close quarters in order to attack Ragnar. Thus, Ragnar gets two attacks on his foe this round while his foe can only take one attack.



Reach Fighting--

1. A reach weapon is mandatory.

2. A high DEX is desireable.

3. High Tumble skill or some other method of defeating Attacks of Opportunity (bonuses to defense) is desireable.

4. Combat Reflexes is desireable in order to perform more attacks of opportunity on your foes.





Gunderman Pike Fighter

Consider a 2nd level Gunderman Soldier. This character is allotted 4 Feats (1st level Feat, 1st level bonus Soldier Feat, 1st level Favored Class Feat, and 2nd level Soldier bonus Feat). Pick Combat Reflexes, if his DEX bonus is higher than +0, Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting, Parry, and either Weapon Focus (+1 Pike attack), or Skill Focus (+3 Tumble), or Acrobatic (+2 Tumble, +2 Jump).

Use Hyborian Adaptability to make Tumble a class skill for this Soldier. This adds another +2 Tumble. Make sure to max out Tumble ranks with skill points.

GM's consider customizing Hyborian Weapon Familiarity for this character to be he Gunderman Pike instead of the greatsword.

Equip this character with a large shield, the Gunderman Pike shown on pg. 5 of Hyboria's Fiercest, and light armor* plus steel cap.

*It's imperative that light armor is used that does not impede the character's Speed rating. When tumbling to avoid attacks of opportunity, Speed is cut in half, and at least 15 feet of movement is needed each round in order to position the pike 20 feet away from the foe--Pikes are effective at a reach of 20 feet only. Also, the armor check penalty applies to the Tumble check, so you'll want to minimize the penalty by using light armor. Add a helmet to increase armor DR by +1.

When creating such a character, you'll want a high STR rating for attack, damage, penetration, and the Parry defense. You'll also want a high DEX to support Tumble and Combat Reflexes. A high INT is useful for the skill points as Soldiers do not get many, and we want to max out the Tumble skill.

This character combats his foe's attacks of opportunity through the use of the Tumble skill and a high Parry AC. He uses a large shield, which is +3 Parry in this case, and the Parry Feat gives him a +4 Parry, plus another +1 Parry for his 2nd Level Soldier bonus. This gives him a total +5 Parry in addition to his STR modifier. And, he benefits from DR 4-6, if he is hit, depending on which light armor he uses. His Tumble skill is improved by skill points, DEX bonus, and possibly either the Skill Focus (+3 Tumble) or Acrobatic (+2 Tumble) feat. In addition, his Hyborian Adaptability gives him another +2 Tumble, for a possible +5 Tumble above skill points and DEX bonus.

Weapon Focus gives the character +1 attack with the Pike, on top of his STR modifier, and the Gunderman Pike from Hyboria's Fiercest features higher damage and higher Armor Pierceing capability than the standard pike listed in the core rule book.





EDIT:

In the not-so-great Conan The Destroyer film, the scene where the party meets Zula shows her using her staff as both a Reach and Melee weapon. In the film Centurion, the character Etain uses a war spear, which has a 10 foot reach.

If you have a weapon with a reach of 15+ feet, you won't have to take advantage of the Fighting On The Run rule. Just keep your enemy in the target zone, and backup after he engages you in melee, avoiding the attack of opportunity that you create when you do so. This will always set up the attack of opportunity. Thus, with a Pike, keep the target 20 foot distant. You attack at 20 foot, then on your foe's action, he will have to leave the Pike's threatened space to approach you in melee, thus you get a second attack--the attack of opportunity when he leaves your threatened square. After he attacks, do what you an to avoid his attack of opportunity and move back so that your foe is again 20 foot from you, then attack normally....and repeat. Doing this will consistently give you an extra attack against your foe (unless he, too, is able to avoid attacks of opportunity) and rob your foe from gaining extra attacks due to a second weapon or from high level.

Imagine, if you will, a phalanx of soldiers, three abreast, guarding the drawbridge in front of the players. Consider them all 3rd level Soldiers. Gundermen, not unlike the 2nd level pikeman I mention above. They each have the Skirmisher Formation ability, which gives all three of them +1 defence on top of the other bonuses I describe above. THIS will make your players respect pike phalanxes. Think of the number of attacks of opportunity that will happen!

To beef up the phalanx line, add another row. The soldiers behind the first row can either attack normally through the first line, doubling the attacks and creating another row of threatened squares from which to make attacks of opportunity. Or, you can have the second row of Soldiers use the Aid Another rule to give the first rank either an additional +2 to defense or a +2 on their attacks!

Also remember, in addition to everything I've said, the Multiple Opponent's rule may also be utilized if your phalanx out numbers their target. This will give them an additional to-hit bonus.

Looking at it this way, Pikemen and their phalanxes are certainly a battle technique to be feared!





2nd EDIT:

Also, don't forget the Weapon Length rule on pg. 174 of the core 2E rulebook. This can mean an additional +2 Parry AC for the wielder of the two-handed weapon and a -2 Parry AC for anyone fighting him using a light weapon (or a -1 Parry AC for a foe using a one-handed weapon).

The Gunderland Pike is still a two-handed weapon even though the Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting Feat allows the weapon to be used one-handed, thus it counts as a two-handed weapon when using the Weapon Length rule.

CRIMSON SHOALS

This is a fan-made adventure set during the Hyborian Age, but it does not use the Mongoose Conan RPG rules. Instead, the adventure is written using the Barbarians of Lemuria rule set, and there is a BRP conversion at the end of the document. GMs wanting to use this scenario with the Conan RPG rules need only add their own stats. Click on the title above to see the adventure.

Here are a couple other Conan scenarios from the same source, using the BoL rule set.

The Homecoming of Count Inchiostro

Ghosts of Archeron



THIS PAGE is the source of the three adventure above and features some other BoL downloads.

CONAN RPG ACHERONIAN EDITION

This is a set of House Rules and tweaks that I found on the net. I have nothing to do with that site, but it's worth a browse. You might find something you like. Click on the title above to be taken to the page.