D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

[Imaro]

Wolverine is Conan-like, in that his wildness, his berserker rage and feral instincts, are positioned as giving him advantages the other X-Men don't have. But he's a much weaker example then Conan himself, as is Jack Reacher. My point isn't that this fantasy is entirely gone, but that it holds much less appeal in the modern day then it once did.

I'd go so far as to say classic Wolverine is more often portrayed as battling his opposing civilized vs. uncivilized natures... with him often experiencing great tragedy and regret when he embraces his uncivilized nature and savagery. On the other hand Sabretooth iis a much better example of someone who embraces might makes right, his uncivilized nature and his savagery. And he's usually a straight up villain.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'd go so far as to say classic Wolverine is more often portrayed as battling his opposing civilized vs. uncivilized natures... with him often experiencing great tragedy and regret when he embraces his uncivilized nature and savagery. On the other hand Sabretooth iis a much better example of someone who embraces might makes right, his uncivilized nature and his savagery. And he's usually a straight up villain.

I see Wolverine as being more akin to Elric than Conan. Introspection, a dual nature, a lethal weapon that’s more curse than blessing, shadowed by tragedy.

 

[wizard71]

Its funny because WOTC is releasing a new Ravenloft book. The party will have an artificer, tiefling, cleric, drow barbarian, orc wizard and an arracockra. I have zero interest in reading it.

 

[wizard71]

I see Wolverine as being more akin to Elric than Conan. Introspection, a dual nature, a lethal weapon that’s more curse than blessing, shadowed by tragedy.

I completely disagree. Wolverine broods like Conan. He is not an outright good character but has his moments. He also has a chivalric code towards women very similar to Conan.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I completely disagree. Wolverine broods like Conan. He is not an outright good character but has his moments. He also has a chivalric code towards women very similar to Conan.

Conan doesn’t do any brooding in the original stories, nor is he chivalrous, unless chivalry allows rape now.

 

[SteveC]

I am not talking about that stuff at all. There is a lot of bad history to go around these days. I'm talking about the appeal a figure like Conan has in complicated times. It is the same thing John Wick taps into. He may wear a suit and care about his puppy, but he still embodies the same simplicity solving problems with violent brawn

I was just watching something very political (which I won't go into here) but the author took a big aside to talk about the book and movie Shane. This is one of the movies that gets referenced very often over time, it even made it into Logan.

The idea is that there is a need for a character like Shane, a dangerous man but also a good one, to deal with the evil men who are out on the frontier. In turn, that leads to civil society. But the important point is that the brutal outsider who is necessary can't stay in society once the violence is over. This is a part of so many literary tropes, right down to the Hero's Journey.

I suppose that's why you see so many antiheroes, who have to be dragged kicking and screaming to save the day, either die in the process or have to move on. They are necessary to create a better world that they themselves can't share in. I think of the Operative in Serenity as a great example, although he's a villain of course but he understands he's not going to live in the world he's building.

I think there's something primal in that type of story. It's existed as long as there has been a civil society and a frontier or a border. Honestly, that's why reports of Conan's death are greatly exaggerated. If we were to have this same conversation in ten years (and hey, I'd love to do it, not sure if I'll even be alive then) I suspect that people would still point to Conan being irrelevant, but the stories they'd say are relevant would be almost completely different. I'm confident that the books we're reading today and are the current big thing won't be ten years from now. And Conan will still be here. I know we've had this discussion before. So if I'm around in 10 years, and Enworld is still a thing, I'll start a new thread on it.

 

[Imaro]

I completely disagree. Wolverine broods like Conan. He is not an outright good character but has his moments. He also has a chivalric code towards women very similar to Conan.

Elric is the king of brooding...

 

[Imaro]

Its funny because WOTC is releasing a new Ravenloft book. The party will have an artificer, tiefling, cleric, drow barbarian, orc wizard and an arracockra. I have zero interest in reading it.

Why not?

 

[Scribe]

Why not?

Way too 'I must subvert tropes/expectations.'

 

[SteveC]

Why not?

I'm glad to answer that, being a fan of Ravenloft and Gothic literature. It's because Gothic literature is about the world of the ordered and ordinary being terrorized by the inhuman and bizarre. This story is full of alien characters who each one on their own could have a book talking about who and what they are. But they're likely just going to be thrown into things and we'll have to just run with it. And that's not Gothic lit to me.

In Army of Darkness, Ash works as a character because he's an outsider playing against the tropes of the world. A whole group of characters like Ash, but who have radically different backgrounds, would be utterly chaotic.

In the Sailor on the Seas of Fate, you have a lot of different characters coming together, and that's the whole point of the story, so this can work. But that's not Gothic literature.