Joshua Dyal said:
After having fought for a while, though, right? (been a while since I read any Leiber.) I still think hit points works fine, especially if you have a massive damage thresh hold reduced al a d20 Modern.
I don't know if the Conan rules for magic would work; magic, if anything, seems even more mysterious in Newhon. I have no idea how it works, and the only practitioners seem to be really weird, unearthly creatures (Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, Whatshisname of the Eyeless Face, etc.)
I think that lackeys (i.e., NPC class characters who would only have Wound Points & wouldn't benefit from any Vitality Points) were slain easily & quickly. IIRC, drawn out combats were with major opponents (like the rat-bravo Svivomilo for Mouser) or monsters (like the Devourer from
Bazaar of the Bizarre).
IIRC, there were 2 big branches of magic--element-based magic & white/black magic.
Element-based mages included the fire sorcerers of the east, and snow witches of the Northerners from Cold Corner. The ice witches seemed to master cold weather, & thus were potent in Cold Corner, but may not be very potent in warmer climates (they'd weigh down tents & branches with ice & snow to crush victims, increase the chill, etc., rather than casting
ice storm or
cone of cold).
Fire sorcerers weren't elaborated on, but they'd focus on fire spells & fire-based knowledge (Nehwon does have fireworks, so I wouldn't be surprised if these eastern fire sorcerers know how to create & use such devices).
Other elements are viable as well: water or sea magic for the Simorgyans, earth-based magic for the Klesh "priests" of the Nehwon Earth God, air-based magic for the Invisibles of Stardock, etc.
White & black magic is the most prevalent sort in Nehwon, with far many more practictioners of black magic than white magic. In previous editions of the game, white wizards used all cleric & druid spells, while black wizards used all magic-user & illusionist spells (or in 2nd ed. terms, white wizards used priest spells, & black wizards used mage spells). White wizards had to be Good-aligned (since it was a benevolent form of magic), while black wizards had to start off as non-Good, then become Evil-aligned after they gained some levels (& as the back magic started to corrupt them).
Before
Unearthed Arcana was due to be released, I was working on using the existing D&D stuff for a Lankhmar game. For example, both white wizards & black wizards were D&D wizards. White wizards were just like regular D&D wizards, except they used Wisdom instead of Intelligence for spells, & they essentially used the Druid spell list (with a few cleric & wizard spells thrown in), minus any Evil spells (Prot. from Good, etc.). Black wizards were just like regular D&D wizards, except that they had to be non-Good aligned to start, & Evil-aligned by 5th level (if they didn't turn Evil, they could no longer progress in the class).
I intended to use the sorcerer class for element-based mages; essentially, half of a sorcerer's known spells (fractions rounded up) had to be devoted to their chosen element (fire, ice, etc.).
I later considered using the adept NPC class for dabblers in magic, like Gray Mouser; Int instead of Wis would be used for spells, & a spellbook was required.
Ironically, out of all of the Lankhmar stories, the one
not written by Leiber has the most D&D-like mages. The main villain in
Swords Against the Shadowland used a lot of illusion spells.
However, I think that the Incantation system from d20 Modern would work gfreat for Lankhmar--the spell Hristomilo used to slay the Twain's beloveds seemed more like an Incantation that a mere spell. Also, the followers of Hate used an Incantation to summon & create the Cloud of Hate.
I think that Ningauble & Sheelba were exceptions to the rule in Lankhmar--they had magical rivals who were great in power, yet still somewhat human. Also, these 2 weren't evil (but necessarily good, either), so they didn't really fit the mold of a typical Black Wizard--I do think that they are great examples of the Alienist prestige class from
Tome & Blood.
While the civilized mages seemed like scholarly dabblers in the arcane, the priests from Klesh, ice witches, & some others seem to draw more on a primitive, traditional source or basis for magic (thus one of the big reasons why I kept wizards & sorcerers in mind--the Int- & Wis-based wizards were studious practitioners of magic, using spellbooks, components, potions, concoctions, & whatnot for their power; the Cha-based sorcerers were the more primal, elemental magic-users whose knowledge of magic was limited in focus, yet none the less dangerous).
