Conan the Confessor

[comrade raoul]

I have to confess, I use LOTR to put me to sleep that is how much I can not stand the books. SHannara? Same way... hell, most fantasy bores me to tears. What got me into DnD you ask??? Excalibur, King Arthur and RObin Hood. After I got over that period though, Moorcock and Lieber and Conan and the COnan comics kept me going...

Jason

Right -- I'm wondering whether it's even more unforgivable for me to admit that, categorically, I don't really like fantasy or science fiction at all! (There are exceptions -- I liked Ender's Game and respect/enjoy Phillip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson, Alan Moore, and so forth.) Can one still be a geek if one's fiction tastes run mainly to "literary" fiction?

 

[Swoop109]

I never heard of Karl Edward Wagner's Kane books, though I'm familiar with Wagner as the editor of the Year's Best Horror Stories for many years. I'll have to check the Kane books out!

I never read Howard's other hero pulps either, like Solomon Kane, Kull, Bran Mak Morn. Any good?

The Kane books are worth the time and effort. IMO, they are the closest to Howard that I have ever read. You may want to checkout Night Shade Books. They recently put out a two volume set of all the Kane short stories and novels. It is possible that they may still have some left.

Del Rey will be publishing tradepaperbacks of the Wandering Star editions of Howard. This june will be the release of Solomon Kane, the others will be coming out over the next couple of years. IMO, all of Howard's stories are worth reading.

 

[Mog Elffoe]

I am so stoked about this new Conan game!!!

I couldn't get halfway through reading The Two Towers without falling asleep, but that's never something I experienced while reading a Conan story (regardless of the author or quality). I didn't have that sleepy problem reading LotR rip-offs like Sword or Elfstones of Shannara... John Norman's GOR series (Books 1-5, anyway) were the same; action packed, sword-swinging pulp adventure in the style of ERB's John Carter, Warlord of Mars. Thieves' World was good for the first two books, then started making me sleepy in 3, only to become started unreadable by books 4-5. Elric started off good but got boring real fast for me after book one (or two).

I never heard of Karl Edward Wagner's Kane books, though I'm familiar with Wagner as the editor of the Year's Best Horror Stories for many years. I'll have to check the Kane books out!

I never read Howard's other hero pulps either, like Solomon Kane, Kull, Bran Mak Morn. Any good?

If you dig REH's Conan stories, chances are good that you'll like Karl Edward Wagner's Kane books. The character of Kane seems like a direct crossing of the character of Conan with his arh-nemesis Thoth-Amon. Kane is sword wielding barbarian who was cursed by a god to live forever. To combat the boredom of living forever Kane embarks on world conquering schemes. Good, fun, dark, pulp fantasy. The Science Fiction Book Club offers three of the Kane books (are there more?) in an omnibus edition titled Gods In Darkness.

You'll probably like REH's other stuff, even though they do have a different 'feel' than his Conan stories.

 

[Swoop109]

Anyone interested in a new take on the Conan stories may want to check this out;

http://www.conan.com/f_issue1.shtml

It looks FANTASTIC!!!

 

[Henry]

OK, to do my part to get this thread back on topic, about the game itself, Does anyone here plan to use it for anything BESIDES playing Conan? Perhaps as a resource for their own grim or low-magic high-action games, or for the homebrew that never quite fit D&D?

 

[JPL]

OK, to do my part to get this thread back on topic, about the game itself, Does anyone here plan to use it for anything BESIDES playing Conan? Perhaps as a resource for their own grim or low-magic high-action games, or for the homebrew that never quite fit D&D?

Actually, among the hundred or so ideas I have kicking around for my new campaign is to rub Testament and Conan together and do a Bronze Age swords-n-sorcery thing. So something along the lines of the Scorpion King, I suppose [perhaps not a great movie per se, but not bad as a gamer movie].

Seems like Conan meets Cthuhlu would work, too.

[And Solomon Kane is a lot of fun. Fascinating character.]

 

[Teflon Billy]

...I started my fantasy reading with Conan, moved on to the Elric series and finished my introduction with Karl Wagner's Kane stories. These three sets have influenced my running of fantasy settings in every way possible.
Magic needs to be a dark a dangerous force, no magic idems smaller then short sword, non human races are feared and mistrusted, and no happy little "wee folk".
I need my settings to be as realistic as possible, combat does kill players, monsters need to make sense, and magic always has a price...

Man, that's pretty much everything I was going to write

If there's one thing I dislike about D&D it's the "Shiny Happy" Magic as technology mechanics, that leave things about as mystical and dangerous as carpentry.

 

[Teflon Billy]

If you dig REH's Conan stories, chances are good that you'll like Karl Edward Wagner's Kane books. The character of Kane seems like a direct crossing of the character of Conan with his arh-nemesis Thoth-Amon. Kane is sword wielding barbarian who was cursed by a god to live forever. To combat the boredom of living forever Kane embarks on world conquering schemes. Good, fun, dark, pulp fantasy. The Science Fiction Book Club offers three of the Kane books (are there more?) in an omnibus edition titled Gods In Darkness.

You'll probably like REH's other stuff, even though they do have a different 'feel' than his Conan stories.

I personally think that Darkness Weaves is an unrecognized masterpiece of the genre.

 

[Swoop109]

OK, to do my part to get this thread back on topic, about the game itself, Does anyone here plan to use it for anything BESIDES playing Conan? Perhaps as a resource for their own grim or low-magic high-action games, or for the homebrew that never quite fit D&D?

I know of a couple of players that are awaiting the release so that they can start to work on their version of Kull.
Besides myself, there are a couple of people who are looking at mixing elements from Conan with Call of Cthulhu D20 to create a world setting where the remains of the human race are attempting to drive off the alien invaders before they can complete the rituals needed to awake the Elder Gods.

 

[Krieg]

If there's one thing I dislike about D&D it's the "Shiny Happy" Magic as technology mechanics, that leave things about as mystical and dangerous as carpentry.

I don't think that could have been said better.