Ranger REG
Explorer
Not to hijack the thread, but RPGNow and DriveThruRPG are offering free download of Conan RPG Pocket Edition (1e?) ... today (Thursday 11/15) only.
Conan 2nd Edition
- Thread starter ivocaliban
- Start date
ivocaliban
Explorer
I'm discovering so many "new" campaign settings now that 4e is ending and everyone from Kenzer & Co. to Green Ronin are selling their books at huge discounts...I've hardly had time to read my new Conan 2nd edition book, yet. What I have read, I've really enjoyed, but it's like revisiting an old friend as I'm so familiar with the Conan material. It's a strange thing that I'm more excited about Kalamar and Thieves' World and Conan than I am about the new edition. I fully intend to pick up the future relases for Conan 2nd edition in the next few months, but for right now I'm just delighted at all the great setting material I'm picking up from so many different publishers.
I feel like I came late to the party, but there's still a ton of cake!
I feel like I came late to the party, but there's still a ton of cake!
ivocaliban
Explorer
Ranger REG said:
I picked this up today, myself. I believe the pocket edition uses the Atlantean Edition (essentially, a revised 1st edition). I second the recommendation. Act soon!
Within 24 hours of receiving my Conan 2e, the binding was pulling away. The good news is Mongoose will replace any defective books. Although there are some changes in 2e, it isn't enough to invalidate the previous books in the series. We gave our 5-year old D&D campaign a rest recently and are filling time with Conan, which my players are enjoying greatly. It's a much more deadly environment than D&D.
Regarding some classes being 'boring' - well, it all depends on boring. If you are only looking to build characters through feats and not through roleplaying, I can understand how that could feel. Whereas in D&D, multiclassing got crazy out of hand ("Let me tell you about my 27th level fighter/wizard/cleric/thief/druid/paladin/blackguard/ninja/dread pirate/dragon disciple!"), in Conan it makes sense -- spend months fighting with Zuagirs and you pick up a level of nomad, plunder the high seas with the barachan pirates, a level in pirate. There were some good changes to Soldier which makes the class more attractive at high levels (formations was a useless class skill for many if you didn't have three soldiers in your party).
Overall - I was disappointed in the quality of the 2e book, and not just for the spine. A good deal of the art was reused from 1e and it didn't translate well to a B&W format - my players commented that it looked like a very good photocopy chucked into 2nd class binding. Also, the marginalization of Vincent Darlage was simply foolish on their part. I think if I hadn't gotten it on Amazon for $26, I wouldn't have bothered to buy it at all. Mongoose has made a few big mistakes with this line, including the butcher job they did on a few of the regional sourcebooks. The next sourcebook will be Cimmeria, which doesn't seem to have as much playability as a sourcebook on Turan, Hyrkania, or even Koth/Ophir/Corinithia.
I'll wait to see what the Return to the Road of Kings, and the Player's Guide looks like before passing full judgement on the 2e line.
Regarding some classes being 'boring' - well, it all depends on boring. If you are only looking to build characters through feats and not through roleplaying, I can understand how that could feel. Whereas in D&D, multiclassing got crazy out of hand ("Let me tell you about my 27th level fighter/wizard/cleric/thief/druid/paladin/blackguard/ninja/dread pirate/dragon disciple!"), in Conan it makes sense -- spend months fighting with Zuagirs and you pick up a level of nomad, plunder the high seas with the barachan pirates, a level in pirate. There were some good changes to Soldier which makes the class more attractive at high levels (formations was a useless class skill for many if you didn't have three soldiers in your party).
Overall - I was disappointed in the quality of the 2e book, and not just for the spine. A good deal of the art was reused from 1e and it didn't translate well to a B&W format - my players commented that it looked like a very good photocopy chucked into 2nd class binding. Also, the marginalization of Vincent Darlage was simply foolish on their part. I think if I hadn't gotten it on Amazon for $26, I wouldn't have bothered to buy it at all. Mongoose has made a few big mistakes with this line, including the butcher job they did on a few of the regional sourcebooks. The next sourcebook will be Cimmeria, which doesn't seem to have as much playability as a sourcebook on Turan, Hyrkania, or even Koth/Ophir/Corinithia.
I'll wait to see what the Return to the Road of Kings, and the Player's Guide looks like before passing full judgement on the 2e line.
Emirikol
Adventurer
I've gotten a ton of use out of the background materials from the books, but my group flat out rebelled during the playtest and refused to play ever again if I ran the Conan RPG..so I whipped up about 10 house rules and we play SRD instead. You can't pay people to play it around here otherwise.
The Road of Kings was fantastic as was a lot of the background material from the RPG, however the quality of work is, IMHO, not worth paying for..at all. See, those of us who "survived" 1E saw product after product of absolute crap and are a LOT GUN-SHY about purchasing Mongoose products. Hurried and slipshod I think is the term that I can best describe my opinion of the products. If the 2E is just more miniscule changes with a TSR-like-approach to updating things, thanks, I'll pass. Return to the road of kings might be worth picking up..but not until after I read/hear about 6 more reviews and that there 'actually' is a worthy amount of new stuff..
The things that I liked about 1E rules were: deadliness, dark and grittiness feel, and the "almost familiarity as a d20-sort-ofRPG." ironically, that's also what I completely detested about it. The changes from the d20SRD are not warranted, except perhaps for magic. They are just different enough to make your life a frustrating hell if miniscule changes..jsut to make changes..all in the name of "I think these stupid little changes must make it feel more like Hyboria..
Another thing I liked about 1E was that Vincent did help out. Although I want my money back on his Stygia product, he really knows his classical REH and that's a credit to the products.
The maps...holy crap...how did Conan Properties not yank their license with the fiasco's that have occurred with these products? Have they even bothered to correct them for the 2E? http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/forum.php
BTW, they have vowed that they do not plan to update to match anything made for 4th edition D&D or the d20 SRD..might want to think about that.
jh
The Road of Kings was fantastic as was a lot of the background material from the RPG, however the quality of work is, IMHO, not worth paying for..at all. See, those of us who "survived" 1E saw product after product of absolute crap and are a LOT GUN-SHY about purchasing Mongoose products. Hurried and slipshod I think is the term that I can best describe my opinion of the products. If the 2E is just more miniscule changes with a TSR-like-approach to updating things, thanks, I'll pass. Return to the road of kings might be worth picking up..but not until after I read/hear about 6 more reviews and that there 'actually' is a worthy amount of new stuff..
The things that I liked about 1E rules were: deadliness, dark and grittiness feel, and the "almost familiarity as a d20-sort-ofRPG." ironically, that's also what I completely detested about it. The changes from the d20SRD are not warranted, except perhaps for magic. They are just different enough to make your life a frustrating hell if miniscule changes..jsut to make changes..all in the name of "I think these stupid little changes must make it feel more like Hyboria..
Another thing I liked about 1E was that Vincent did help out. Although I want my money back on his Stygia product, he really knows his classical REH and that's a credit to the products.
The maps...holy crap...how did Conan Properties not yank their license with the fiasco's that have occurred with these products? Have they even bothered to correct them for the 2E? http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/forum.php
BTW, they have vowed that they do not plan to update to match anything made for 4th edition D&D or the d20 SRD..might want to think about that.
jh
Knightfall
World of Kulan DM
I got this through the free ThanksGiveAway too. I'm glad to hear its the Atlantean Edition, as that was the one I wanted. I didn't even know there was a 2nd Edition.ivocaliban said:I picked this up today, myself. I believe the pocket edition uses the Atlantean Edition (essentially, a revised 1st edition). I second the recommendation. Act soon!
Maester Luwin
First Post
Hey everyone! I enjoyed the first edition. Yet I am wondering, from what I have read, if it is worth picking up the 2nd Edition. I do not have the Temptresses & I would like to see the new magic skills/ spells. Still sitting on the fence really. Thanks Maester Luwin
Malcadon
Explorer
Well you don't need 2nd ed to still play Conan. They have made lots of little changes, but no real big change. If you want to know what changes they have made then click here.Maester Luwin said:
If you need the stats on the 1st ed Temptress class then click here (then press "Search Inside!" to find the full rules.), and don't forget to save the info by using the Print Screen button. You must note, that the Temptress class has gone through some major changes for 2nd ed (namely at 3rd level, having to chose between Sneak Attack, Sorcery or Politics).
Well I enjoyed it. I like a lot of the changes they have made to the game. If you want it, its all up to you!
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