Conan The RPG?

[swordsmasher]

Can someone please tell me what the basics of this system are and how the system differs from core D&D? I'm a howardian conan fan, and I am curious if the game is any good. thanks.

 

[Yuan-Ti]

The game is GREAT. One of the best adaptations of d20, in my opinion. A lot of the dislike for it you find was based on the fact that the first edition was ruined by poor editing... maybe no editing. Of course, you don't have to worry about that. Just buy the Atlantean Edition which corrects the typos, adds better descriptions, explanations and diagrams. (It actually says "Atlantean Edition" on the cover.) The PDF is available on DriveThruRPG.com and the pocket edition of the rules is due out this month.

Now, to the system -- the classes are all new and are designed to fit the Conan stories. Barbarians are like Conan. Soldiers are like the soldiers he fought. Thieves are like the thieves in the stories. Nomads are like the nomads, etc. Multiclassing is encouraged.

Races are numerous and fit the various races Howard came up with for his mythic past. Cimmerians, Hyborians, Himelians, Stygian, Kushite, etc. Each race has special abilities and skill bonuses as well as favored classes.

Combat is mainly changed by including a couple new mechanics. First, armor provides Damage Reduction. Second, every class progresses in two different styles of defense -- parry and dodge. Dodge is based on DEX, Parry on STR. When attacked, a character chooses which to use. Penalties for two-handed fighting are minor, to account for how common it was in Howard stories. Plus, there are some combat maneuvers -- like feats, except anyone who qualifies for the pre-reqs can use them. There are a number of new Howardian feats, as well.

The magic system is detailed in the thread here on alternate d20 Magic systems. Trust me, it fits Howard's vision to a tee.

Ask questions, and you shall receive further answers.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I can't give enough props to Conan the RPG. Great system, extremely faithful to RE Howard, wonderful detail in the setting books.

I'm using about 50% of the Conan mechanics in my current d20 homebrew campaign. They're not totally portable, but they can be converted to and from fairly easily if you ever want to.

 

[MonsterMash]

I like it and think that the changes to the rules from D&D do give a hyborian flavour. I've posted a review so check that for my detailed opinions.

 

[GlassJaw]

I haven't played it but I have the book. They've done some very nice things. I really like the balance between armor DR and class defense bonuses. I think it's the best armor as DR system I've seen.

It is heavier on the mechanics though, at least in combat. There are a lot more rules for defending (dodge and parry) and for damage to weapons and armor. Overall though it's very good.

 

[MonsterMash]

ENWorld reviews are here

 

[Yuan-Ti]

It is heavier on the mechanics though, at least in combat. There are a lot more rules for defending (dodge and parry) and for damage to weapons and armor. Overall though it's very good.

My players were somewhat put off by the additional mechanics but warmed up to them quickly enough. It does take some quick calculating on the DMs part sometimes, though, as you have to ask the player an NPC is attacking, "parry or dodge?" (although most players stick with one 95% of the time) Then you have to calculate the armor piercing of the weapon in use vs. the DR of the armor to determine how much of the DR matters. It becomes second nature, however.

 

[Ibram]

Conan d20 is my favoret product to come out so far... it has even started to replace the PHB as the core book for my campaigns.

 

[GlassJaw]

My players were somewhat put off by the additional mechanics but warmed up to them quickly enough.

I think it really depends on the group. I would love to run/play a Conan campaign but it's definitely for a more "experienced" group. Like I said, I checked out many armor as DR systems (including some of my own) and Conan's is the best I've seen. But I ran some sample Grim Tales stuff for one of my groups and I used the Fewer Dead Heroes variant (armor converts some damage into non-lethal) and they even thought that was too much to keep track.

The cool thing about Conan is that while there are more mechanics, they really capture the spirit and feel of the stories, which is an incredibly difficult feat to accomplish with any game system.

 

[scourger]

As a playtester, I found it a difficult system to run. So did the other players in my group. As you can see from the prior posts, it adds more complexity to an already complex game. I don't care for the extra rules mechanics, but some people love them. One gamer's trash is another gamer's treasure.

My recommendation would be to pick the excellent adventure module Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia from Necromancer Games and run it with a "Conan feel." That is what I intend to do. If I need a weapon to break, it will break on a threat or crit. If armor needs to be rent, it will happen when subjected to a critical hit. I can't keep up with how many damage points the equipment has taken. The core D&D classes work just fine for a Conan D&D game based on my reading of Howard. The PCs might not be able to even play spellcasters--those classes could certainly be reserved for the bad guys. Or, maybe the PCs can only have spellcasting classes every other level. I just think there are ways to run a game that captures all these elements without rewriting the core d20 rules.