D&D 5E Let us stat up Conan the *insert sub-title here*

[hastur_nz]

I agree that the Conan I read in REH's books, was a Fighter not a Barbarian. The "thief" piece, as well as any "nature" affinity, is probably just from a Background, as far as 5e goes.

If you go all the way back to AD&D, the Fighter there fits perfectly fine, especially the good saves Fighters got at higher levels.

Just because he's known as "Conan the Barbarian", doesn't mean he fits any of the D&D Barbarian classes - whoever invented the D&D stuff didn't really have REH's Conan in mind, or if they did they probably didn't read the original (unmodified/finished by Cap et. al.) stories very closely and had someone else's version of Conan in mind...

 

[Guest 6801328]

In previous iterations of D&D he would need some Rogue levels, but really with proficiency in Athletics and Stealth any thievery he did (in canon) is covered.

Now, in terms of Fighter or Barbarian, he spent a lot of time fighting without armor, so there's an argument to be made for Unarmored Movement. Also, there are a few situations where I think you could say that he entered a kind of rage in order to win. Also Danger Sense and Feral Instinct...pure Conan. (He's been known to react with leaps "that would shame a starving panther", if I remember my quotes correctly.) Finally, by getting to level 20 we get those 8 points in Str and Con, and one of the trickiest bits is getting his attributes high enough. I think we have to assume he rolled stats and got crazy lucky...point buy is not gonna cut it. That would also free up some ASIs to get proficiency in Dex and Wis saves.

So overall I'd go with 'Zerker Barbarian instead of Fighter.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I suggested Totem of the Bear more for it's powers during rage. I was reading one of the graphic novels based off of Robert E. Howard's works. In one of his earlier adventures Conan found himself surrounded I think by about a dozen or so soldiers, they all attacked at once. It was written that each of their attacks would of fell a man, instead they just pissed Conan off and he killed them all.

That's true of any high-level character, though. Welcome to Hit Points.

You could make an argument for him as a low-level multi-class with barbarian, but he doesn't fit closely enough to the class identity for him to go very far with it. That's true of most characters in most stories, though; D&D rules don't really work to describe anything that isn't specifically a D&D character.

 

[Lancelot]

I like giving Conan a few levels of rogue (no more than 3!) simply for the class abilities.

His athletic ability is beyond extraordinary, particularly in the area of climbing. His scaling of the Elephant Tower is matched only by Taurus of Nemedia, who is called a Prince of Thieves. He scales sheer cliffs and walls like it ain't no thang, suggesting he has climbing ability far beyond simply being trained and strong. Gaining double-proficiency bonus on Athletics from rogue expertise seems valid; if you go as far as 3rd level rogue, you also get Second Story Work from the Thief sub-class (full movement when climbing) which seems appropriate for several of the canon stories. As a 1st level rogue gets expertise in two skills, I'd probably go Survival for the other one. Conan exhibits the ability to survive far longer than normal men in hostile terrain (or when nailed to crosses). You could argue this is just a factor of his high Con saves, but he consistently shows terrific ability as a tracker, hunter and woodsman (Beyond the Black River, Black Stranger, Jewel of Gwahlur, and other tales). So, expertise in Athletics and Survival.

Sneak Attack is questionable, but he does take out a number of people quickly and quietly when attacking from surprise (the doorman and the innkeeper in Shadows in Zamboula, for example). So, it's not beyond reason. Cunning Action is more justifiable; he is sometimes described as having the speed of a great cat, and a surprising number of Conan stories involve him evading and fleeing from opponents (usually hordes of picts, or creatures-from-beyond like the iron statues or the black ones). Being able to disengage or dash as a bonus action would seem to be justified from many of the canon stories.

So, really, it's just about that 3rd level of Rogue, for me. Picking up Second-Story Work is nice, as it models Conan's outstanding climbing and jumping abilities quite well. Barbarian and Fighter class abilities aren't helping so much in those areas. Fast Hands is less important (he's not a lock-picker!), although Use Item as a bonus action could be appropriate to model events in some of the stories. Conan does make fairly extensive use of terrain features and objects in a lot of his adventures. But I could concede the 3rd level of Rogue, in a debate. Assuming he's a Barbarian 6 / Fighter 11 for the other levels, I'd give him a 12th level of Fighter for the ability score improvement or feat. Given his ability array, he needs as many of those as possible - although he's not going to be a stat buy PC anyway. R E Howard clearly rolled "best 3-of-9d6" a whole bunch of times until he got the array he wanted...

 

[Yardiff]

What I remember reading of Conan he more often then not wore armor. I remember mention of heavily oiled chain armor. Usually in art he was depicted as wearing only a fur loin cloth type thing.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

What I remember reading of Conan he more often then not wore armor. I remember mention of heavily oiled chain armor. Usually in art he was depicted as wearing only a fur loin cloth type thing.

Harry Dresden doesn't have that hat, either. Cover art usually lies.

From the stories I'm familiar with, he only wears armor if he knows that he's going into combat.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Robert E. Howards "Conan" doesn't fit into the D&D Barbarian class, I'd say Ranger fits better.

Robert E. Howard's Conan very seldom casts spells.

Also, the D&D barbarian class was transparently built for Conan clones.

So let's not be talking any more crazy talk.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

From the stories I'm familiar with, he only wears armor if he knows that he's going into combat.

Just like anyone else, really. D&D has really created an unrealistic image of characters going about their day-to-day business clad cap-a-pie.

 

[Staccat0]

I agree with those saying he doesn't need any rogue levels.

 

[cbwjm]

If he has access to it, then Conan wore armour. In many of his adventures he has little more than a loin cloth, simply due to his current circumstances. I read one story were he had nothing but his sword after his hillmen we taken apart by the Turanians (I think) where as another, he was a captain in a mercenary army where he wore armour. It all really depends on how his luck is running at the time.