CONAN Is Finally Here!

After appearing three years running in the 10 Most Anticipated RPGs of the Year list, it seems that Conan's streak has come to and end - because Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of has been released! You can get it right now from Modiphius' web store, and will be able to get it elsewhere from tomorrow. PDF only, for the moment. You can also grab a book of six adventures, Jewelled Thrones of the Earth. Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed of is based on Modiphius' own 2d20 system (which also powers their upcoming Star Trek Adventures game). The book is now available for review in the reviews area.

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[pemerton]

I believe you can spend momentum AFTER you roll Damage. You can also use it to reroll some of your damage dice Once. You can ALSO use it to give yourself piercing to get through a creature's Thick armour

In the QS Momentum in Combat table (p 26), it says that "The damage inflicted by the current attack ignores an amount of Soak equal to twice the Momentum spent." Unless I'm missing something, this is strictly better than spending Momentum for damage, until I've hacked my way through all the armour/cover.

 

[Caliburn101]

Don't forget that Brawn adds damage dice to melee weapons and Coordination to ranged, and some abilities allow damage dice re-rolls.

In practice, having run Conan combat frequently, those dedicated to fighting (in terms of stats and skills) don't usually have too much problem wounding minions or toughened.

 

[CapnZapp]

No - Waterbob claims to hate metagaming, and yet the systems he touts are rife with metagaining in actual play, and his claimed hatred of it makes no sense given that reality.

You must have missed the mod red text, since you insist on trying to prove a man's taste is wrong.

Stop talking about it here - that's my free advice to you.

The Doom mechanic is similar - it's there to emulate a certain kind of ebb and flow in play. It also lends adventures more replayability, as the flow of doom/threat and momentum may vary quite a bit.

It creates story tension in play. It does so with less effort than doing so with creative narration and keeping players in the dark (Gygax's prime method per AD&D1). And, when done with tokens of some kind (eg poker chips or gaming stones), it's not terribly intrusive into the story

Can you stop trying to sell metamagic to somebody that doesn't like it already?

There is nothing universally good about the doom mechanic. Or rather, if you don't like it... you don't like it, and you can't say anything to change that fact.

Stop presuming to know what others feel about the mechanic. It might not be "terribly intrusive" to you, but it certainly could be to people that hate metagame mechanics. Moreover, by claiming you know how much or little intrusion there is, you come across as terribly irritating.

Why don't you actually listen to me: I'm not the one with huge feelings for or against metagame mechanics either way. I do however know that you can't convince the other side with rational arguments since IT IS A MATTER OF TASTE.

So, for the love of the gods, just accept that the inclusion of metagame mechanics into a game like Conan is contentious and will always be a source of complaints by those who have other feelings than you on the subject: in their view, the game would have been infinitely better without it, and its inclusion could even be a dealbreaker for them.

Phew.

 

[Caliburn101]

Every game system has its detractors. The key to success is to have legions of dedicated fans. That is why Pathfinder, basically DnD3.5 re-skinned continues thriving and even expanding into Starfinder this year.

Anyway, "Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of" is flying the "2d20" flag to success at RPGNow so far (best selling title and 3rd best on DriveThruRPG). Hopefully, this trend continues for all the many sourcebooks including Kull of Atlantis.
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Well said - let's have no more "I don't like metagame mechanics and thus feel justified to critique Doom even though I've never tried it out" and just celebrate Conan's success.

I don't like metagame mechanics and yet I like how Doom actually plays.

There, I said it, I'm a heretic and should get a 90 day travel ban if attempting to enter the forums...

 

[Igwilly]

Well, I understand the polemic involving meta-game mechanics, but what I’m interested is: is the game good, as in good at emulating the good-old Sword & Sorcery genre? Or did it step somewhat away from that?

 

[Caliburn101]

Well, I understand the polemic involving meta-game mechanics, but what I’m interested is: is the game good, as in good at emulating the good-old Sword & Sorcery genre? Or did it step somewhat away from that?

It stepped into it with a reverence for the source material that really shows.

The combat is visceral and the sorcery is costly, nasty and soul tainting - just like the books.

 

[Drugged Dwarf]

I'll tell you a complaint I DO have that worries me about the mechanics - it's a little too easy to make what is essentially an unkillable fighter. High melee, High Acrobatics, High Parry, high Brawn, and a few of those melee talents, and you will cakewalk your way through most fights.

I know sorcery and fear will come back to bite you in the butt, but at the same time, a good defense is a murderous offense.

That aside, I don't like to play like that - I prefer synergetic style focused characters, and the talent spreads really help with that.

 

[Caliburn101]

I'll tell you a complaint I DO have that worries me about the mechanics - it's a little too easy to make what is essentially an unkillable fighter. High melee, High Acrobatics, High Parry, high Brawn, and a few of those melee talents, and you will cakewalk your way through most fights.

I know sorcery and fear will come back to bite you in the butt, but at the same time, a good defense is a murderous offense.

That aside, I don't like to play like that - I prefer synergetic style focused characters, and the talent spreads really help with that.

That would be an expensive set of abilities to maximise. Even after that the character would be a pile of quivering jelly off an encounter with a courtier with intimidation skills as great as his/her combat skills, and would likewise also be very vulnerable to stealth attacks where none of those snacky defensive skills will help - having invested little or nothing in the way of Discipline and Awareness.

I do take your point - but remember - there are different modes of character creation - and they are GM decided - you can limit the choices made if you like, and even cap starting stats at 12 and skills at 3 if that is the campaign start point you want.

I would say it is no more an issue that a 5th Edition D&D Bear Totem Barbarian with Great Weapon Fighting to be honest.

 

[Drugged Dwarf]

I especially agree with you on that part with the Bear totem Barbarian, although less on the vunerability part. Unless the GM specifically decides to job you with an npc custom built to exploit all your weaknesses (which, although hilarious, will get old eventually), the best way to deal with your issues... is to hit it in the face.

Then again, This is conan. So it can't be all that bad.

 

[Caliburn101]

Indeed - was there EVER a system that a munchkin couldn't abuse?