With the latest in their string of popular games based on licensed properties, Modiphius Entertainment has released their take on the character of Conan in their latest game for their 2d20 System of rules.
Conan in An Age Undreamed Of is based up Robert E. Howard's world of Hyborian and iconic anti-hero Conan the Barbarian. Players will be creating characters immersed in the unique lands of Hyborian, as Conan provides a fully gameable setting, derivative of Howard's fiction.
Character creation is an involving and crunchy ten step process. I made a character to get a better feel for this review. There's a lot of room to create pretty much any character theme. The game offers ten Archetypes (something like character classes), but each are very customizable as players determine the background, caste, skills and whole host of other features. How you create character is left to your group, be it by random roll (traditional D&D method) or player selection, and every choice has mechanical as well as roleplay significance.
The mechanics for Conan involves a number of different elements, but use only two die types: d20 & d6. The most common roll will be a skill check, which is a roll under, sometimes variable (1d20 - 3d20), but typically 2d20 dice system. The Target Number of a skill check is derived from the characters ability; and success is the result if the player rolls equal or under that target number. The GM can option to increase or decrease the overall Difficulty Rating of a skill test (based on conditions) by increasing or reducing the amount successes required on a specific roll.
The target audience of the game will likely be those who like some mechanical crunch. The basic mechanics are light, but combat tactics have slightly crunchier options than Savage Worlds. One of the interesting features is Doom and Momentum, which are essentially meta-mechanics, which accumulate point pools. Momentum points are acquired by player characters whenever they gain more than one success on a given check and can be later spent by any member of the group for a variety of advantageous purposes. Doom works with similar fashion for GMs and is used to ratchet up tension, by creating inconveniences and complications within the story.
The PDF digitizing in before my screen is a full color behemoth at 440 pages and includes a separate PDF of character sheets and a color map detailing part of the Hyborian world. A starter adventure and a heaping handful of NPC foes or potential allies are included. The Table of Contents is minutely detailed, including individual page and chapter hyperlinks and a three page Index. There is nothing left to want in visual representation and art. Text is in standard two column format. Did I mention the PDF is gorgeous? It is.
The setting elements are well done, the combat mechanics look intriguing. One place where the game succeeds is in presenting Howard's work in a thorough manner. That said, while grammar is respectable, I thought the writing could have been tighter in a few spots. I think that GMs will occasionally find themselves hunting for things. Especially as when referencing rules and such and especially if this is your first delve in Modiphius' system.
Conan Adventures in An Age Undreamed Of is well put together. If you're a fan of Howard's work, most certainly this is the RPG you've been waiting for, if in fact you are still waiting.
Disclosure: This review includes affiliate links. The PDF of Conan Adventures in An Age Undreamed was provided at no cost, for the purpose of this review.
contributed by Jeff Duncan
Conan in An Age Undreamed Of is based up Robert E. Howard's world of Hyborian and iconic anti-hero Conan the Barbarian. Players will be creating characters immersed in the unique lands of Hyborian, as Conan provides a fully gameable setting, derivative of Howard's fiction.
Character creation is an involving and crunchy ten step process. I made a character to get a better feel for this review. There's a lot of room to create pretty much any character theme. The game offers ten Archetypes (something like character classes), but each are very customizable as players determine the background, caste, skills and whole host of other features. How you create character is left to your group, be it by random roll (traditional D&D method) or player selection, and every choice has mechanical as well as roleplay significance.
The mechanics for Conan involves a number of different elements, but use only two die types: d20 & d6. The most common roll will be a skill check, which is a roll under, sometimes variable (1d20 - 3d20), but typically 2d20 dice system. The Target Number of a skill check is derived from the characters ability; and success is the result if the player rolls equal or under that target number. The GM can option to increase or decrease the overall Difficulty Rating of a skill test (based on conditions) by increasing or reducing the amount successes required on a specific roll.
The target audience of the game will likely be those who like some mechanical crunch. The basic mechanics are light, but combat tactics have slightly crunchier options than Savage Worlds. One of the interesting features is Doom and Momentum, which are essentially meta-mechanics, which accumulate point pools. Momentum points are acquired by player characters whenever they gain more than one success on a given check and can be later spent by any member of the group for a variety of advantageous purposes. Doom works with similar fashion for GMs and is used to ratchet up tension, by creating inconveniences and complications within the story.
The PDF digitizing in before my screen is a full color behemoth at 440 pages and includes a separate PDF of character sheets and a color map detailing part of the Hyborian world. A starter adventure and a heaping handful of NPC foes or potential allies are included. The Table of Contents is minutely detailed, including individual page and chapter hyperlinks and a three page Index. There is nothing left to want in visual representation and art. Text is in standard two column format. Did I mention the PDF is gorgeous? It is.
The setting elements are well done, the combat mechanics look intriguing. One place where the game succeeds is in presenting Howard's work in a thorough manner. That said, while grammar is respectable, I thought the writing could have been tighter in a few spots. I think that GMs will occasionally find themselves hunting for things. Especially as when referencing rules and such and especially if this is your first delve in Modiphius' system.
Conan Adventures in An Age Undreamed Of is well put together. If you're a fan of Howard's work, most certainly this is the RPG you've been waiting for, if in fact you are still waiting.
Disclosure: This review includes affiliate links. The PDF of Conan Adventures in An Age Undreamed was provided at no cost, for the purpose of this review.
contributed by Jeff Duncan
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