Anyone playing in the CONAN world?

[Akrasia]

Thanks for the comments. We've not had any difficulty getting a Hyborian feel using the D&D/SRD rules at all (including magic). ...

That's funny!

You might want to reread the stories by Howard again. I don't recall too many 'magic missiles' and 'cure light wounds' being tossed around.

Of course, impressions of what counts as 'Hyborian' vary. But if yours includes 'buffs', 'teleport', and 'wish', you're simpy reading different stories form me.

... The best part about playing D&D in Hyboria is that you won't lack for players. If you say you're going to use some bizarre set of new, unfamiliar rules you're not going to find many players and your campaign will not likely last. (No, not a fanboy statement..jsut the facts).

... Sounds lonely....

WTF? :\

Sorry, mate, but I'm not 'lonely'. Unlike yourself, I've actually been able to fine mature adults willing to try games other than D&D (gosh!).

Like I said in my original post (which, apparently, you didn't bother to read), you'll find plenty of folks playing Conan over at the Mongoose fora.

I don't run Conan OGL because I don't want to now, not because of some idiotic notion that 'nobody plays anything other than D&D'.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Yeah. I'm pretty sure I could count on anything from 6 to 12 players who would jump at the chance to try out the Conan OGL system. Or anything else I felt like running, actually. And that's not (nessarily ) because I'm just so mind-boggingly awesome as a GM. It's (as in Akrasia's case) because they're simply willing to do that thing. I'm the same in that way, only more so (than some of them): I'll literally try any game system, once. Why not? It probably won't kill me, I might make new friends or contacts, it's always a learning experience, and hopefully there's a goodly amount of fun to be had.

Not that I technically want anything over around 6 players in the same game at the same time. But still. The principle's there.

D&D ain't some kind of universal language. Neither is 'd20'.


I haven't got around to running Conan OGL yet (too many other things on and planned), but I'd love to, and I almost certainly will one day (year.) I'd also love to play in a campaign of it.

 

[GlassJaw]

The Conan rulebook is my second favorite d20 book. Lots of cool rules for a low-magic, Conan-style campaign. Combat is fast and bloody and the classes have a lot of options both in and out of combat. I also like the expanded weapon rules and the emphasis on using skills.

As far as the Conan canon goes, I think the book captures it reasonably well. To me though, Conan is more about style than adhering strictly to the world itself. In that respect, I think the rules capture the feel of the stories fairly well, which is the most important to me.

 

[GlassJaw]

I'm of the theory that the game system doesn't make the world

I couldn't disagree more.

When the rules for any game system are designed from a "fluff-first" perspective, you end up with a rules system that better emulates the feel you are trying to capture.

Also see Shadowrun, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars d6, Chaosium Cthulhu, etc.

just ask my Call of Cthulhu friends who seem to believe that Lovecraft wrote his books..in the 20's..based on the Chaosium game system

If anything, this statement completely contradicts your above opinion. To me, this is the ultimate compliment you can give a rules system, especially one based on an existing world. The fact that you feel the books could be based on the game system, instead of vice versa, shows how well the system captures the essence and feel of Lovecraft's stories.

 

[Emirikol]

At the moment: Zamboula (the major city that is the southermost conquest of Turan, held by Shemite Mercenaries in the employ of the Turanian Satrap, and with a conquered populace of Stygians)..

Yea, our campaign is currently in Zamboula too. I've had to hold our group to 8 players..makes it interesting. It's more like a mercenary group headed up by a Cimmerian

jh

 

[Emirikol]

I couldn't disagree more. When the rules for any game system are designed from a "fluff-first" perspective, you end up with a rules system that better emulates the feel you are trying to capture.

Isn't that how D&D was created?

jh

 

[Emirikol]

D&D ain't some kind of universal language. Neither is 'd20'. I haven't got around to running Conan OGL yet (too many other things on and planned), but I'd love to, and I almost certainly will one day (year.) I'd also love to play in a campaign of it.

Oh but it is. You can always find D&D players. It's finding players for other games that makes it difficult. My point is bait and switch for players is easier to accomplish than trying to sell a new game system..no matter how good. Just ask any game store owner.

jh

 

[Aus_Snow]

Oh but it is. You can always find D&D players. It's finding players for other games that makes it difficult. My point is bait and switch for players is easier to accomplish than trying to sell a new game system..no matter how good. Just ask any game store owner.

I completely disagree (based upon actual reality), but also respect your right to disagree. However, you happen to be wrong here. Just try asking "any game store owner" yourself before being so sure of such a sweeping statement. No, really. Please do.

There's no law against making such statements, but they require more than just one anonymous forum poster's word, in order to render them more credible than say, a string of randomly selected words.

And, considering that my experiences, conversations and observations run in direct contradiction to your claims, I'll have to assume that we either live and have lived in very different kinds of places/cultures or. . . well, that other (rather less appealing) alternative.

 

[MonsterMash]

I've played a couple of games as a player set on the pictish border of Aquilonia, as a GM I'm keener on playing a more episodic game with adventures set in different areas rather than the usual D&D style campaign arc.

 

[Akrasia]

... It's finding players for other games that makes it difficult. My point is bait and switch for players is easier to accomplish than trying to sell a new game system..no matter how good. Just ask any game store owner.

jh

I have to agree with Aus_Snow that this claim strikes me as complete rubbish (or at least in direct conflict with my own experience).

Also, given how similar Conan OGL is to d20 D&D, I can't imagine why a player who was interested in Conan and already knew the d20 rules would resist the prospect of playing a similar game designed to properly emulate the setting. (We're not talking about getting people to try HERO or GURPS here.)

I know that I wouldn't want to game with such close-minded players.