CONAN! The 4th Most Anticipated RPG Of 2016 Funds In Two Hours! Preview Here!

The fourth most anticipated tabletop roleplaying game of 2016, Robert E. Howard's Conan Roleplaying Game from Modiphius Entertainment, has hit Kickstarter and funded almost immediately (that's no surprise - Modiphius, like Monte Cook Games, has mastered the art of the Kickstarter and runs regular blockbuster crowdfunding campaigns). There have been multiple Conan games over the years, of course; this particular one is, in the publisher's words, "Conan roleplaying as Robert E. Howard wrote it – savage pulp adventure battling ancient horrors in the Hyborian Age". The company has also lined up a stellar collection of artists, so it promises to be a beautiful book when it arrives. I have a couple of pages preview of the upcoming QuickStart.

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As I mentioned, it has funded already, so it's already ploughing into the stretch goals - a standalone art book, a campaign book called Conan the Thief, a double-sided Hyborian map, and so on. There's apparently a free QuickStart sample, but it won't be available until Thursday.

So what do you get for your money? For £15 you get the full core book PDF, and for £30 you get the hardcover. It's a 368-page book, full-colour. Alternatively you can get the art book in print for £40; and a whole bunch of combinations of books, PDFs and stuff at different pledge level.

The game uses Modiphius' own 2d20 system (that's the system in Mutant Chronicles 3E, John Carter Warlord of Mars, etc. - roll two d20s, roll as low as possible on each – the more dice that roll low, the more success); it's based on Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories.

Modiphius has kindly sent along a preview of a few pages of the upcoming QuickStart!

 

[Consona]

I should point out there won't be a Savage Worlds version of Conan, we're only doing SW conversion of Mutant Chronicles. For Conan we're just focussing on 2d20.

Yea, I've noticed there is no SW conversion stretch goal. But to me, it's ok. I cannot wait for the 2d20 version.


And I'm really curious how much things you will add to the SW system to keep the feeling of MCh3e rules. Maybe, in the end, I'll find out it's worth to learn all the crunch from the original rules to enjoy the setting to the highest degree. For now I just read all the fluff and I love it.
Maybe it's something like DnD 3.5, to me it's so easy because I play it all those years but from a perspective of a new player the crunch level is insane. But after a while one, step by step, you get into the system and you start to enjoy its crunchiness. And to be honest, while I'm not a fan of meta-mechanics like fate point or bennies, I love the Dark symetry points and things like Momentum are great too!

Thank you for bringing a new edition of Mutant Chronicles to us and best of luck with the upcoming Conan RPG! Cannot wait. View attachment 74682

 

[CoreyHaim8myDog]

The first paragraph in the Hyborian Age chapter reads, "but the great black vale of eternity remains.."
The great black valley of eternity? Ugh.
I'll be backing this, for sure, but that bugs me.

It's also a nod to Lovecraft: http://thecimmerian.com/2009/02/19/the-call-of-kathulos-secret-oceans-and-black-seas-of-infinity/

So, that is why it uses the word "vale" and sounds the way it does, says the writer of that part.

 

[CoreyHaim8myDog]

Good for you!

Note: Searching reveals it spelled both ways all over the place, so I understand the confusion.

It's only spelled as Hyboria in Howard. We just had typos. Also, it's really Hyborian Age or Hyborian Kingdoms. There is no "Hyboria" on a map. The continent is the Thurian Continent. The latter is a commonly confused issue, though.

I believe my autocorrect changes it to Hyborea sometimes, too.

 

[trystero]

It's only spelled as Hyboria in Howard. We just had typos. Also, it's really Hyborian Age or Hyborian Kingdoms. There is no "Hyboria" on a map. The continent is the Thurian Continent. The latter is a commonly confused issue, though.

I believe my autocorrect changes it to Hyborea sometimes, too.

It doesn't help that Howard has a kingdom named Hyperborea among the Hyborian Kingdoms.

 

[Consona]

Quickstart rules: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/174829/Robert-E-Howards-CONAN-Roleplaying-Game-Quickstart

 

[CoreyHaim8myDog]

It doesn't help that Howard has a kingdom named Hyperborea among the Hyborian Kingdoms.

No it does not. Nor the fact that so many of those pulp people traded names. Also, Howard named everyone Amalric, Amulric, and the like!

 

[DeathMutant]

Will Sorcery *feel* mysterious, unreliable and dangerous? And, if so, how will that be represented through game mechanics? Something I felt was missing from the "Primeval Thule" setting was that casting spells was, for the most part, just like in the Forgotten Realms: mundane, predictable and safe. Boring.

 

[Consona]

Will Sorcery *feel* mysterious, unreliable and dangerous? And, if so, how will that be represented through game mechanics? Something I felt was missing from the "Primeval Thule" setting was that casting spells was, for the most part, just like in the Forgotten Realms: mundane, predictable and safe. Boring.

Agreed, dangerous, mysterious magic is something that really needs to be reflected in the rules. And since the majority of the rules from Quickstart are refluffed rules from Mutant Chronicles, I think they can use the Doom a.k.a. Dark Symetry points or Repercussion or Dread mechanics to make magic scary.

 

[JeffB]

Looks beautiful. Unfortunately, like the playtest versions, it (quickstart)is way too fiddly for me. Some great ideas, Too much stuff to track and/or (decide to) use (or not) each turn/round..successes momentum, doom, fortune, soak...my eyes glazed over once I hit the combat chapter.


For me, Dungeon World handles all of the creative story/narrative conflict 2d20 is trying to, in a much simpler faster playing way.

 

[trystero]

Looks beautiful. Unfortunately, like the playtest versions, it (quickstart)is way too fiddly for me. Some great ideas, Too much stuff to track and/or (decide to) use (or not) each turn/round..successes momentum, doom, fortune, soak...my eyes glazed over once I hit the combat chapter.

For me, Dungeon World handles all of the creative story/narrative conflict 2d20 is trying to, in a much simpler faster playing way.

To each their own. I felt the same way as you on first reading of the Quickstart, but having run a test session, my group found that gameplay was actually pretty fast and flexible; the various mechanics integrated and became second nature quite quickly. (And Dungeon World bored me rigid.)