Conan The RPG: Impressions + Ideas & GM Support

[d4]

Actually, I think Spycraft did it first (Though obviously it's not a fantasy game, but it did beat T20, I think)

Star Wars Revised also has armor as damage reduction, but i don't remember if it came out before Spycraft or not. (i think it might have.)

obviously, no one person or game thought up the idea of armor as DR -- it's something that was independently used by a lot of different people because it's a rather obvious idea.

(and if we want to get really pedantic, GURPS has had armor as DR since the late 1980s, and other games used the system before GURPS...)

 

[Zoatebix]

Yay! Now, in addition to Amazon, FRP games, and my local store, I know to troll buy.com, half.com, and walmart.com for the best prices.

Kind of makes me wish that the froogle search engine worked as well as google's websearch, though...

On the issue of parry/dodge - it's been a really long time since I played a Palladium game - does anyone remember how that combat system worked? How does Conan compare? I remember reading someone's nostalgic yearnings for Palladium's dynamic combat system, but I couldn't remember how Palladium worked.

Thanks!

 

[Iron_Chef]

On the issue of parry/dodge - it's been a really long time since I played a Palladium game - does anyone remember how that combat system worked? How does Conan compare? I remember reading someone's nostalgic yearnings for Palladium's dynamic combat system, but I couldn't remember how Palladium worked.

Thanks!

Palladium, as I recall, did it this way:

Roll to hit.
If you hit, the defender chooses to parry or dodge. If you dodge, you lose your next attack. If your dodge or parry roll equals or exceeds the attacker's to hit roll, you are not hit. I think you got one free parry per round without losing an attack, but lost attacks for each parry after the first.

Conan breaks it down like this:

Roll to hit.
If you hit, the defender chooses to use their parry or dodge DV (defense value, basically AC). Only melee attacks can be parried, and only by melee weapons. Touch and ranged attacks are always dodged. If you dodge, you move 5 ft. into an adjacent unoccupied or friendly square. Parry is STR based; Dodge is DEX based. Both start at 10 + stat mod + class/level mod + misc. Flat-footed is DV always 10.

In the playtest version, you rolled to dodge or parry (adding in your modifier), and succeeded if you beat the attacker's roll. Using this version is easily implemented, if preferred.

 

[S'mon]

If you dodge, you move 5 ft. into an adjacent unoccupied or friendly square.

That's not part of the published ruleset, you're just -2 to dodge if there's no adjacent unoccupied or friendly square.

 

[Iron_Chef]

That's not part of the published ruleset, you're just -2 to dodge if there's no adjacent unoccupied or friendly square.

Oops. My bad. Didn't have my book in front of me.

 

[S'mon]

Oops. My bad. Didn't have my book in front of me.

Any ideas re a Conan pirate campaign? I'm thinking about if I can convert EX1: Isle of Dread...

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

The Pirate Isles sourcebook has just been written, and will be released in July!

 

[S'mon]

The Pirate Isles sourcebook has just been written, and will be released in July!

Handy, thanks!

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Just got this, looks pretty nice so far. I can see applications for its system outside of the Conan universe, too, which is always good. I'm definitely going to be incorporating some monsters and stuff from the Call of Cthulhu D20 book. I'm also going to have to dig out my old GURPS Conan book for the info on the places not covered, like Kambuja and Pathenia.

One rule I particularly like is the class feature of the Borderer, I forget the name, that allows for a Boromir-like last stand. Nice.

I'm rather surprised, though, that a mass combat system's not included, given the role of armies and mercenary companies in the Conan stories. Oh well, it doesn't matter that much.

Since Matt's hanging out here, any chance of seeing more info on Antillia and Mayapan? And is Lone Wolf going to be this pretty a book?

Also, a general question: the book's map has Lemuria and Mu on it. Are these referenced in the stories (other than "The Hyborian Age") or comics at all? Or are they just Mongoose additions?

Speaking of which, does anyone remember the Savage Sword of Conan issue where Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique was to the west of Mayapan? The storyline of the issue was based on "The Necromancers of Naat".

 

[King_Stannis]

A few things:

First, thanks for pointing me to Scarlet_Blades, Iron_Chef. Nice site.

The reason I'm not posting more in this thread is because I'm not ready to run Conan yet. I have it penciled in after my current campaign, which could still be some time down the road (6 months to a year!). In the meantime I plan on accumulating as much stuff as I can for the day I start a Conan campaign.

And anyone who is talking about paying $50 for the book is bit disingenuous. Any number of online places have it for around $30. If you choose not to go that route it is no one's fault but your own.


Finally, a question for all of you: What land would be the most likely to hold gladitorial games? This is one of the ideas that I'm considering as a "starting point" for my world. All of the PC's are slaves or gladiators, forced to fight until they can escape or win their freedom.