Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="slygeek" data-source="post: 7012179" data-attributes="member: 100241">By Crom! Its about time! - Terrific RPG made by professionals and fans alike, but falls just shy of perfection due to its choice of system (5 star rating)Having been part of the Kickstarter, I've been reading, reviewing and play-testing this product for quite some time. I've also been waiting three years for it since it was first announced. So this is a very exciting day for me. And for anyone who is a fan of Conan and Howard's writings. I enjoyed the d20 (D&D 3.5 clone) version of Conan, in fact its my favorite adaptation of the d20 rules. It was the first time players really had to rely on their wits and their mundane (often damaged) gear. Even a loin cloth saved one of our PC's life one time as he was suffocating from smoke inhalation. That's because the game was so brutal and those maneuvers like "To the Hilt" really drove it home. Enter the 2d20 version by Modiphius. Which in many ways is a much higher quality product, a better and funner adaptation but in the end still falls slightly short of perfection because it remains yet another clone.From the beautiful art (just look at that front cover!), to the colors, fonts and graphics. Modiphius' Conan aims to please. Personally I would of gone a more fluid and "artistic" approach and less "boxy" approach at times but analytical players will appreciate the style I am sure.The authors make no less effort either at honoring Robert E Howard, and you can tell it was fans of the original books that poured their love into this game. First I'd like to point out that I am absolutely in love with the 2d20 system, you can see Jay Little's influence in this system by the versatility and story-telling focus "Momentum" "Doom" and "Fortune" bring to the table. It very much reminds me of the Star Wars RPG line by Fantasy Flight Games which pushes this collaborative story-telling genre. Which is a huge relief from d20, which makes zero effort to enforce this.  Its a smooth system that runs well. You can easily improvise combat maneuvers due to momentum, the 2d20 allows for more of a bell curve then standard d20 and the numbers don't scale out of control at higher "experience". Its a roll-under AND pool-based system in one. Very clever and I love it. I also like the attributes and how they effect various aspects of the game. You can't make a character that relies solely on one attribute in this game! Whatever you choose to sacrifice, you will feel it when way or another.That being said, its the 2d20 system that also prevents Conan Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of, to achieve a true five star rating (I would give it a 4.5). Simply because in the end, it still feels like a clone. Had the game been designed with its own unique system aimed specifically at Sword & Sorcery (systems like The Riddle of Steel and Blade of the Iron Throne come to mind), I think it could have been even better. You can sense shoe-horning into the genre at times. Although this is even more painfully obvious if you've played Mutant Chronicles which in fact the game the 2d20 system was really made for. Its a great clone, and I think Modiphius did all they could to adapt it, and beautifully they did. But its still an adaptation and thus falls ever so slightly short of games like The One Ring RPG and Star Wars Edge of the Empire, whom were designed ground-up for those settings.Ironically, its this choice of mainstream tried-and-tested system that may also spring this game forward. Because no huge risks are taken (the unique combat style of The One Ring RPG comes to mind), you can be sure the game will be enjoyed by the masses. Whereas games like Riddle of Steel and Blade of the Iron Throne remain a niche thing. My only gripe with the game is the Character Creation process which can be a tad tricky the first time through. You can easily mess up if you miss-read something and at times have to go back and forth between steps. But Modiphius has made an app to facilitate this process. But I still like that it tries to make Character Creation more organic, you can more of a sense of evolving your character rather then just choosing a race and class.But this is nit-picking folks. Great game for any RPG or Conan fan.</blockquote>

Verification