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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 7244265" data-attributes="member: 92305"><p><strong>SOCERERS AND RARITY</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>I've mentioned before that Sorcerers should be rare in a Hyborian Age campaign. It's easy to make the mistake that Sorcerers in this game are just another version of the mages in D&D and Pathfinder. That would be a complete mistake. More often than not, Sorcerers should be bad-guy NPCs that the GM uses as opposed to player characters.</p><p></p><p>To support this, just look at the various Conan stories from comics, short stories, novels, and movies. The Sorcerer is almost always a foe. The choices of spells in the core rulebook support this as well. There are several spells that probably would not be that helpful to a PC Sorcerer, but the GM can use the spell as a guideline governing how the NPC bad guy Sorcerers operate.</p><p></p><p>Take for instance the spell Blessing of Fate from the Divination School. This spell takes 10 minutes to cast with the successful result being the transfer of one Fate Point from the Sorcerer to another character. I'm sure there are some instances where a PC Sorcerer would do this, but Fate Points are precious. So, I don't see PCs giving them away to other characters to help them be heroes that often. I can more easily see an NPC gypsy-type, reading cards for a PC, and transferring the Fate Point to him--to the hero.</p><p></p><p>The very next spell on the list is Dream of Wisdom, and on the whole, it's an interesting spell. It takes an hour to cast and requires the Sorcerer to sleep (and dream) for an entire night. But, that's only if the Sorcerer knows a lot about what he's divining about. If he doesn't, the spell could require 2-12 nights, with the spell cast every day...or, it could even require 20-120 nights, with the spell cast every day. And, this spell costs 6 Power Points (which will most likely be reduced due to the Rule of Success). If/when successful, the spell will reveal legendary information about a person or a place or an object--information that has been lost to the ages.</p><p></p><p>It's a cool spell, but I doubt it would be used that often by a PC Sorcerer. Instead, I see it being used in a game more like this: The PCs hear of a local legendary mage, Namtu-Ra, who lived a thousand years ago. In order to find out more about the mage, the PCs must first seek out a Sorcerer who knows this specific spell. That, in and of itself, is an adventure. And, once they find a Sorcerer that can help them, the Sorcerer must go through the ritual to cast the Dream of Wisdom spell for a number of days, while the PCs wait for him to help them.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Now, am I saying that the Conan RPG shouldn't have Sorcerers in the PC party? Absolutely not. I'm only saying that Sorcerers don't grow on trees during the Hyborian Age. Their population is certainly not like Magic Users in the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Mystara, or Dragonlance's Krynn. Instead, PC Sorcerers tend to be characters like priests, who don't look at the miracles that they can bring forth as Sorcerery in the first place. Or, maybe the entire PC group is focused on Sorcerers. The other players may play the Sorcerers' body guards and henchmen. The game could focus on a single PC sorcerer, hungry to find power. Or, the game could focus on a cabal of Socerers, with several players playing them. Your imagination is the limit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 7244265, member: 92305"] [b]SOCERERS AND RARITY[/b] I've mentioned before that Sorcerers should be rare in a Hyborian Age campaign. It's easy to make the mistake that Sorcerers in this game are just another version of the mages in D&D and Pathfinder. That would be a complete mistake. More often than not, Sorcerers should be bad-guy NPCs that the GM uses as opposed to player characters. To support this, just look at the various Conan stories from comics, short stories, novels, and movies. The Sorcerer is almost always a foe. The choices of spells in the core rulebook support this as well. There are several spells that probably would not be that helpful to a PC Sorcerer, but the GM can use the spell as a guideline governing how the NPC bad guy Sorcerers operate. Take for instance the spell Blessing of Fate from the Divination School. This spell takes 10 minutes to cast with the successful result being the transfer of one Fate Point from the Sorcerer to another character. I'm sure there are some instances where a PC Sorcerer would do this, but Fate Points are precious. So, I don't see PCs giving them away to other characters to help them be heroes that often. I can more easily see an NPC gypsy-type, reading cards for a PC, and transferring the Fate Point to him--to the hero. The very next spell on the list is Dream of Wisdom, and on the whole, it's an interesting spell. It takes an hour to cast and requires the Sorcerer to sleep (and dream) for an entire night. But, that's only if the Sorcerer knows a lot about what he's divining about. If he doesn't, the spell could require 2-12 nights, with the spell cast every day...or, it could even require 20-120 nights, with the spell cast every day. And, this spell costs 6 Power Points (which will most likely be reduced due to the Rule of Success). If/when successful, the spell will reveal legendary information about a person or a place or an object--information that has been lost to the ages. It's a cool spell, but I doubt it would be used that often by a PC Sorcerer. Instead, I see it being used in a game more like this: The PCs hear of a local legendary mage, Namtu-Ra, who lived a thousand years ago. In order to find out more about the mage, the PCs must first seek out a Sorcerer who knows this specific spell. That, in and of itself, is an adventure. And, once they find a Sorcerer that can help them, the Sorcerer must go through the ritual to cast the Dream of Wisdom spell for a number of days, while the PCs wait for him to help them. Now, am I saying that the Conan RPG shouldn't have Sorcerers in the PC party? Absolutely not. I'm only saying that Sorcerers don't grow on trees during the Hyborian Age. Their population is certainly not like Magic Users in the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Mystara, or Dragonlance's Krynn. Instead, PC Sorcerers tend to be characters like priests, who don't look at the miracles that they can bring forth as Sorcerery in the first place. Or, maybe the entire PC group is focused on Sorcerers. The other players may play the Sorcerers' body guards and henchmen. The game could focus on a single PC sorcerer, hungry to find power. Or, the game could focus on a cabal of Socerers, with several players playing them. Your imagination is the limit. [/QUOTE]
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