Conan d20

[Fyrestryke]

thank you for the replies

From Monster Mash's listing, there are quite a few differing cultures all on one continent so close to each other. To me this doesn't seem to logical. How were the interactions of these differing peoples? (Like I said, i've only finished a couple of the stories....).

I'm not sure if it will explain how the cultures are so "close" yet different, but you might want to check out Conan: The Road of Kings also by Mongoose Publishing. It has a wealth of information on all of the different races/regions and is not only an excellent game companion, but also just a plain good read. Just stop by your FLGS/FGS/LGS and flip through it.

Just an FYI. If you do end up picking up a copy of the Conan RPG, make sure and get the 2nd printing. It should say "Atlantean Edition" in gold letters on the front of the book.

 

[SWBaxter]

I was just saying what I have read twice on these boards. Then, as you are one of the author of the game, I guess you must find the rules easy to use!

One of the things to keep in mind is that the initial release of the game sufferred from some editing problems, and it got a bit of bad press as a result. The errata is pretty good, and the Atlantean Edition (the current release) includes the errata and is a lot easier to follow.

 

[thormagni]

Why?

This is going to sound like a roundabout answer, but one of the things I am really enjoying about Conan is the importance of skills, feats and character abilities over the magic items and equipment of a normal D&D game. For me, that makes the game more tactical, in that I am more likely to use various combat maneuvers and "stunts," than just relying on my +4 Sword of Clobbering to get through a fight. To get that edge in Conan, it is worth trying things like disarms, sunders and such. And it is the same for the villains.

Hope that made some sense.

 

[VirgilCaine]

While this is generally true (90+ percent of the time), there are a few 'nonevil' spellcasters.

For example: Pelias the sorcerer (who helps out Conan in the Scarlet Citadel), and the ancient Epemitreus (opponent of Set).

I would say that Conan is also 'rare magic'. You won't find many magic items in Hyboria, and the total number of sorcerers in the world probably does not extend into triple digits. But the magic that does exist is deadly.

You know why that is? Because spell components in Conan stories are GROSS. REALLY NASTY.
Digging the liver out of a dead man who has been buried in a certain type of mud is just a taste (I just made that up because the actual components I remember aren't Grandma friendly).

 

[InzeladunMaster]

You know why that is? Because spell components in Conan stories are GROSS. REALLY NASTY.
Digging the liver out of a dead man who has been buried in a certain type of mud is just a taste (I just made that up because the actual components I remember aren't Grandma friendly).

What pastiches have you been reading? Anyway, I think the reason why is because in the Hyborian age magic is considered unnatural for man - hence it is corruptive.

On a side note, Pelias may have helped Conan in The Scarlet Citadel, but that doesn't mean he wasn't corrupt or evil - just that his goals and Conan's goals matched for spell.

 

[InzeladunMaster]

This is going to sound like a roundabout answer, but one of the things I am really enjoying about Conan is the importance of skills, feats and character abilities over the magic items and equipment of a normal D&D game. For me, that makes the game more tactical, in that I am more likely to use various combat maneuvers and "stunts," than just relying on my +4 Sword of Clobbering to get through a fight. To get that edge in Conan, it is worth trying things like disarms, sunders and such. And it is the same for the villains.

Good answer!

 

[Odovacar's Ghost]

When was the last time anyone has faced a major villian, an individual who within one round utterly destroyed a fellow party member, and challenge him anyway in Dnd without magic.

Well, it was quite interesting, to say the least. Especially, when I got my war sword taken from me and gotten beaten with it. Do I pull out another no, why? I'm not a walking Christmast tree. What did I do to stay alive? I raged, I yanked my weapon back, and with a mighty blow crushed his skull, splattering brains and skull fragments everywhere. No one takes my war sword and lives to tell the tale.

That is Conan RPG.

 

[Fyrestryke]

That was awesome! Thanks for the save OG.

That's just one of the many reasons why I like Conan RPG. Most of which are already stated in this thread.

Have you made any progress in your decision, redwing?

 

[ragboy]

With sufficient suspension of disbelief, sure. Howard wasn't a cultural anthropologist but rather a pulp writer, he chose the cultures and locations to tell rip-roaring adventure stories. But given that framework, and the other themes of his stories (i.e. that civilization = degeneration), he handles the mix logically.

It's not all that illogical, anyway. The fact that Conan travels to all of them makes it seem like they're close together, when in reality, he's not the norm. Howard's world, as stated earlier, has a kind of 'roll-up' history, that frankly, he probably put little thought to until people started clamoring for it. He wrote the stories he wanted to write, they just had Conan in them. Then he had to retrofit all the locations to some logical map. Again, not too different from the 'campaigns' that have come out of WotC.

Conan starts many of the stories broke, with only a sword and the clothes on his back to his name. Treasure is used to drive the story along, not to make characters more powerful as in D&D.

I'd also add that even the money itself isn't the driving force...the drinking and the wenching and the carousing were the ends. The money was just the means. The adventure was the way to get the means...and technically the only profession he knew. For some reason, my players were always the most concerned with the lack of money portion of a 'Grim Tales' type of setting. They could give up most of their items and magic, they could settle for the 'ancients' having more mystical power than they would ever scrape together, but start the adventure with a lean purse and they were whining and begging to go back to Forgotten Realms, or 1st Ed. Greyhawk, where the gold flowed freely and everyone had a bag of holding.

A third major difference is that Conan's objective is often "get out of here with my skin mostly intact and the girl on my arm". Despite being the greatest warrior of the age, he often runs into foes he can't kill, and ends up on the run. Many D&D players aren't quite used to exercising that sort of tactical discretion.

I'd argue that Conan's objective was typically only the girl on the arm. The skin intact was a necessity, but he didn't really think about that until he had to. He also had a bit of power-mongering in his 'desert chieftain' days and later when he was King of Aquilonia, though his pirate days were all about Belit...mmmm...Belit.

And like many here, I highly recommend you read at least a handful of Howard's originals before you dive into a campaign. His version of fantasy is wildly different from the regular Tolkien-ripped stuff that most people play. I think the overarching theme in the Hyborian World is "Look after yourself, or you'll be throat-slit in an Arenjun alley before you know it."

 

[Akrasia]

...
On a side note, Pelias may have helped Conan in The Scarlet Citadel, but that doesn't mean he wasn't corrupt or evil - just that his goals and Conan's goals matched for spell.

I didn't mean to suggest that Pelias is a 'good guy'. But he does not come across as especially 'vile' in the story (and he could have screwed Conan at the end by simply taking off and not summoning that magical flying mount). In D&D terms I would peg him as a straightforward 'neutral'.

In any case, Epemitreus is definitely NOT 'evil', so at least there is ONE extremely powerful sorcerer in Hyboria who is not a vile cretin!