Iron_Chef
First Post
I'm having a tough time picking a spot for my first Conan RPG Hyborian Age campaign, and am wondering where my fellow DM's will be setting their initial adventures and why. I've read eleven Conan books in the past two weeks in preparation. Many of the books take place in different countries, so I'm getting a wonderful feel for the different nations and major cities.
I'm prone to picking Zamora (Shadizar or Arenjun) as the start point, with adventures sticking fairly closeby: Khauran, Turan, Zamboula, the Vilayet Sea, Kenzankian Mountains... So many of the stories (Howard or no) are set there that it makes it easy to get started. What bums me out a bit is that Mongoose has a Zamora sourcebook coming later this year, so I'm tempted to wait to use Zamora until it is released (to save myself the work).
For some reason, I'm interested in Koth. It is mentioned a lot but is rarely the setting for any of the Conan books (the Conan RPG itself seems to have very little info on it, perhaps this will be expanded in the Road of Kings Hyborian Gazetteer). Koth is very well defended by natural barriers, has political designs on its tiny neighbor, Khauran (of the Unhappy Queens), and apparently a lot of kidnappers are based within, as getting anyone out of Koth is a tough job. Most Kothians (referred to by Howard or other authors) found outside their homeland are dismissed as "kidnappers". Anybody know of any novels or shorts set predominantly INSIDE Koth?
CONAN CAMPAIGN IDEAS BY COUNTRY
OPHIR has a lot of potential, particularly if you read Jordan's CONAN THE TRIUMPHANT, which details the rise and fall of the many mercenary "Free Lance" companies hired in that nation before and during a royal succession crisis (old, dying king and idiot, Caligula-like heir). SPOILERS: The nobles and their hired armies lose the war, and the Ophirian Army (under the direction of General Iskandrian "The Eagle") moves to IMPALE every mercenary left in Ophir, banning mercenary companies from Ophir indefinitely to preserve the rule of the new king. This of course sets up the possibility of foreign aggression towards the weakened nation by its neighbors. Conan flees to Argos (Greece) where he runs afoul of feuding merchant princes and draconian laws, detailed in Roland Green's not nearly as good sequel, CONAN THE GUARDIAN.
ZINGARA's capital city of Kordava is intimiately described by Karl Edward Wagner in his flawed but still excellent novel THE ROAD OF KINGS. Kordava borders the Pictish Wilderness, has an impressive underground thieves' quarter, and a seething rebellion brewing under the despot. THE ROAD OF KINGS could be adapted into providing many fantastic adventures within, without and underneath Kordava!
The unnamed, unmapped low-tech barbarian "mini-kingdoms" to the northwest of the northernmost tip of the Vilayet Sea are detailed in John Maddox Roberts' CONAN THE CHAMPION. This novel starts off and ends great, but bogs down in the middle with a way too high fantasy for Conan sidetrek into the "Spirit World" for about 100 pages. It does describe a white magic "druid" who helps Conan and the differences between him and his black magic/demon pact rival, which is helpful for Conan GMs/players. The book describes a war between three rival kingdoms (more properly "tribes"), and the ways they make war, defend, live, etc., so it is a bit of a goldmine for ideas, especially for those wanting to explore new areas or add their own touch to Hyboria.
So, there's some location and campaign ideas from me. I'd like to get some from you!
I'm prone to picking Zamora (Shadizar or Arenjun) as the start point, with adventures sticking fairly closeby: Khauran, Turan, Zamboula, the Vilayet Sea, Kenzankian Mountains... So many of the stories (Howard or no) are set there that it makes it easy to get started. What bums me out a bit is that Mongoose has a Zamora sourcebook coming later this year, so I'm tempted to wait to use Zamora until it is released (to save myself the work).
For some reason, I'm interested in Koth. It is mentioned a lot but is rarely the setting for any of the Conan books (the Conan RPG itself seems to have very little info on it, perhaps this will be expanded in the Road of Kings Hyborian Gazetteer). Koth is very well defended by natural barriers, has political designs on its tiny neighbor, Khauran (of the Unhappy Queens), and apparently a lot of kidnappers are based within, as getting anyone out of Koth is a tough job. Most Kothians (referred to by Howard or other authors) found outside their homeland are dismissed as "kidnappers". Anybody know of any novels or shorts set predominantly INSIDE Koth?
CONAN CAMPAIGN IDEAS BY COUNTRY
OPHIR has a lot of potential, particularly if you read Jordan's CONAN THE TRIUMPHANT, which details the rise and fall of the many mercenary "Free Lance" companies hired in that nation before and during a royal succession crisis (old, dying king and idiot, Caligula-like heir). SPOILERS: The nobles and their hired armies lose the war, and the Ophirian Army (under the direction of General Iskandrian "The Eagle") moves to IMPALE every mercenary left in Ophir, banning mercenary companies from Ophir indefinitely to preserve the rule of the new king. This of course sets up the possibility of foreign aggression towards the weakened nation by its neighbors. Conan flees to Argos (Greece) where he runs afoul of feuding merchant princes and draconian laws, detailed in Roland Green's not nearly as good sequel, CONAN THE GUARDIAN.
ZINGARA's capital city of Kordava is intimiately described by Karl Edward Wagner in his flawed but still excellent novel THE ROAD OF KINGS. Kordava borders the Pictish Wilderness, has an impressive underground thieves' quarter, and a seething rebellion brewing under the despot. THE ROAD OF KINGS could be adapted into providing many fantastic adventures within, without and underneath Kordava!
The unnamed, unmapped low-tech barbarian "mini-kingdoms" to the northwest of the northernmost tip of the Vilayet Sea are detailed in John Maddox Roberts' CONAN THE CHAMPION. This novel starts off and ends great, but bogs down in the middle with a way too high fantasy for Conan sidetrek into the "Spirit World" for about 100 pages. It does describe a white magic "druid" who helps Conan and the differences between him and his black magic/demon pact rival, which is helpful for Conan GMs/players. The book describes a war between three rival kingdoms (more properly "tribes"), and the ways they make war, defend, live, etc., so it is a bit of a goldmine for ideas, especially for those wanting to explore new areas or add their own touch to Hyboria.
So, there's some location and campaign ideas from me. I'd like to get some from you!
Last edited:
So far everything that I've seen I've liked. Even if you are not a d20/OGL fan, it's worth picking up just for the setting and background.
