CONAN LIVES! Info on the new Conan RPG

[Water Bob]

FYI, there's a new Conan RPG in the works. Vincent D. (who wrote a major part of the Mongoose version) is one of the writers. Here's an update I received via e-mail:

Major Writers & Artists Announced!

Hi there, Modiphius has been continuing the quest to assemble one of the greatest ever teams to work on CONAN - Adventures In An Age Undreamed Of!

We can now announce that we've added legendary Conan artist Ken Kelly (Robert E. Howard covers for Berkley and Tor, Eerie, Creepy and Vampirella for Warren magazines) and Dark Horse regular Tomas Giorello (Conan The Cimmerian, King Conan, 2013 Robert E. Howard Foundation Award for Artistic Achievement) to the team who'll be creating the stunning covers for the Conan books.

They join other greats including Sanjulian, Carl Critchlow, Mark Schultz, Tim Truman, Phroilan Gardner, Alex Horley with more still to be announced!

The writing team is also growing with long time TSR stalwart Thomas M Reid (Dragon Mountain, Tales of the Comet, Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Ravenloft, Temple of Elemental Evil novel), Monical Valentinelli (Firefly RPG Lead developer & writer, Tomorrow's Precious Lambs), Kevin Ross (Masks of Nyarlathotep, Cthulhu by Gaslight, Colonial Lovecraft Country, Down Darker Trails), Lou Agresta (Snows Of An Early Winter, Slave Pits of Absalom, Freebooters Guide to the Razor Coast) and Scott Oden (Best-selling author of the historical fiction novels Men of Bronze, Memnon, and The Lion of Cairo)

You may also have missed our update that Vincent Darlage (Conan d20, Member of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association) has joined the games design team alongside Mark Finn (Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, The Barbaric Triumph, The Dark Man: The Journal of REH Studies).

Finally, two other major names join the team:

Patrice Louinet, well known for his expertise and seal of approval for the Conan board game by Monolith, will be working alongside Jeffrey Shanks to ensure the Conan roleplaying game is of the highest standard. Patrice was Editor of the definitive, three-volume Conan series (from Del Rey Books (US), Wandering Star (UK) and Bragelonne (France). Awarded Lifetime Achievement award from the Howard Foundation (USA, 2014) and the Special Award from the Imaginales (France, 2012)).

Sally Christensen (Cortex Hackers Guide, Firefly RPG, Leverage Companions, Marvel Heroic) steps up as Line Editor with support from Thomas M Reid, to keep the rabble writing proper.

These all join the existing team of Timothy Brown, Jason Durall and Chris Lites led by Jeff Shanks

Remember to tell friends to sign up at http://www.modiphius.com/conan.html to get the first news of the Conan roleplaying game launch and be invited to the playtesting.


Thanks!
Chris, Modiphius
www.modiphius.com

 

[dm4hire]

Thanks, unfortunately it's old news. Check the thread on the most anticipated RPGs of 2015, it was listed there over a month ago.

 

[pming]

Hiya.

Meh. I like Conan (and "Swords and Sorcery style fantasy") quite a bit...not my fave, but definitly scratches an itch every couple of months. That said, the best "conan" style RPG's I've seen are Powers & Perils, and Astonishing Swrodsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.

The first, P&P (http://www.powersandperils.org) is an old Avalon Hill foray into fantasy RPGs. They didn't put much effort into the marketing part...I don't think they knew what to do or how to do it, being an almost entirely "tactical combat board game" type company. That said, some people find it's rules...er... "confusing, complex and obtuse". To that I say... yeah, kinda. It's what I call a "lightbulb" RPG... at some point, probably during the second or third game session, a little lightbulb will go off over the players head and he will suddenly "get it". The whole system. Everything. It's like the stars align and the heavens open up. It's really fun to watch when it happens...it's like the player can't believe it all follows the same, logical task structure. Anyway...I digress. At it's heart, it's very S&S, with magic being rare but potentially VERY powerful if one doesn't die first. Hedge wizards, lowly shamens, old midwife-magery, not super rare, but not very effective or at the least very restricted in scope. But a full on Wizard? Yeah, they can bring down entire kingdoms almost by themselves.

As for AS&SoH (no, don't sound it out...too late! ), it's basically a retro-clone of 1e AD&D, with all the "high fantasy" stripped out. Mostly, anyway. Classes are slightly to greatly re-worked, some world-specific classes are introduced, and only humans (but various 'types' of them). And yeah, it is set in Hyperborea with all the trimmings...but you can use your own world if you want. The world isn't hard-coded into the rules/classes/etc. All in all, if you want to run a "D&D" version of Conan...you really can't go wrong with AS&SoH (http://www.hyperborea.tv/ ). Love it!

All that said...maybe this 2d20 system they hype up for it will be really fun to run/play. I'll give it a look, but I'm not holding my breath. I have two games that give me my Conan fix when I want it...but I'm a sucker for new RPGs!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Water Bob]

I've been looking at the 2d20 System. All of you know how much of a Conan fan I am. Just look at my Conan thread that I've been maintaining for over three years now.

I'm trying to like what I read, but I just don't. I don't like the 2d20 system, and I feel like its gimmicky.

It really disappoints me, because I was primed to fall in love with a new Conan RPG, especially one that has all the talent that the new one has behind it.

Do any of you like the 2d20 system? I'm still willing to be persuaded.

What's your experience with it (with Mutant Chronicles...the only other game, I think, to use it)?

Do you think 2d20 is a good system?

 

[JeffB]

It a bit better after the revision . 1.0 was a mess. 1.1 clarified some things.

I love the idea of threat points...players spend them to increase tbeir dice pool and then they go to the gm and he can use the points against the characters in other ways. Complications, etc.

Otherwise. Way too fiddly. I am not going to bother playtesing it in its current version.

 

[fjw70]

Yes, I just glanced through the playtest document but it seemed real fiddly to me.

 

[modiphius]

There's a v1.3 of the Playtest now which has made some significant changes which I think some people will like. We're now working on v1.5 - so it's coming along quite a bit. 2d20 is also being used for the Infinity RPG, plus there are 3 or 4 other major RPG's planning to use the system in 2016 / 2017 - it's going to be evolving all the time but it's definitely here to stay and will be one of the best supported RPG's out there.

 

[Water Bob]

.....(2d20) it's going to be evolving all the time but it's definitely here to stay and will be one of the best supported RPG's out there.

I'd love to hear from gamers who are using the system. I'm pretty turned-off by it, but I'll keep an open mind.

 

[JeffB]

There's a v1.3 of the Playtest now which has made some significant changes which I think some people will like. We're now working on v1.5 - so it's coming along quite a bit. 2d20 is also being used for the Infinity RPG, plus there are 3 or 4 other major RPG's planning to use the system in 2016 / 2017 - it's going to be evolving all the time but it's definitely here to stay and will be one of the best supported RPG's out there.

Im not familiar with Infinity. What are the other major RPGs that are going to be using this system?

I wish you luck , I am always up for a new system to check out. but so far I have been unimpressd with the system, Even with the revisions we have seen so far. I do like the threat point idea, but the game seems fiddly for no good reason...That said, I felt the Mongoose d20 version was a poor fit for Conan as well. If I am modelling Conan stories the last thing I want in the fury of combat is needless complexity and/or a system that slows it down.

 

[Water Bob]

For those interested, here's the link to the v1.3 test materials: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of.


I really dislike the approach that is being taken with this Conan game. I love Conan so much, and, too, was ready to embrace a new system. But, like the poster above just said, the 2d20 system is too fiddly and gimmicky for my tastes--it seems too fiddly for no good reason.

Reading through the playtest, it doesn't seem near as well thought out as the d20 system. I'm no d20 lover. But, I can appreciate a well crafted game system, and d20 is certainly that. I'd be very happy to see Conan played with a different, less crunchy system.

But, 2d20 is not cutting it for me.