Conan... What is best in Life?

[Emirikol]

BTW, you can find out more on the official Conan website:

http://conan.com/

Em

 

[Hypersmurf]

I know from experience that this works, but players rarely take advantage of these things (knowing full-well that prestige classes are generally weaker, stricter, and a pain in the arse).

PrCs are generally weaker?!

...?!

The main problem I see is that there are a lot of Prestige Classes out there - especially caster classes - where Sorcerers especially give up nothing except familiar advancement, and in return get Nifty Powerups.

These classes are often balanced by prerequisites.

Example - Mage of the Arcane Order. For a sorcerer, requires the Arcane Preparation Feat (almost useless) and the Cooperative Spell Feat (almost completely useless). And sorcerers don't get that many feats to begin with - two that suck is a big hit.

But if all I need is to be the level at which I could have met the prerequisites, the class costs me nothing, and the powerups are fantastic.

-Hyp.

 

[Ulrick]

Microsoft ...

No. I said, "gaming company." Although such gaming company would learn a lot from Microsoft...

I bet Bill Gates is a closet gamer...

 

[Emirikol]

PrCs are generally weaker?!

These classes are often balanced by prerequisites.

Example - Mage of the Arcane Order.
But if all I need is to be the level at which I could have met the prerequisites, the class costs me nothing, and the powerups are fantastic.

-Hyp.

Yes, you make an excellent point. Mage of the Arcane order is THE powerup for the Sorcerer (our group ranks it three out of three stars for power, but for the sorcerer only). It's also relevant in Hyboria because of all of the actual magical orders out there (by Erlik's leprous touch, I can think of none right now).


There are individual PrC's where I suppose that as a DM, I'll just have to "Rule 0" them and note that it's got to be done 'in-character' or in other words, 'earned.' That's been very easy to do in our group, simply because we all give each other crap if our characters are shallow, number-crunched twinks In a group where less emphasis is placed on 'why,' instead of 'how,' this would be a lot harder.

Here are the real resons I do this though:
1) The sacrifices for 5 levels and the predictions involved take the fun out of playing the character at lower levels in a chaotic and random setting such as Hyboria
2) The over-specialization of characters to 'fit the requirements' encourages munchkinism by it's very nature (or it makes your character less fun because it's a punishment)
3) Choice of prestige classes based on where you want to go with your character after 5th level encourages players to explore other options, which makes the game more fun for all of us with new surprises
4) It forces the players to read up on Hyboria to reason how a prestige class can be adapted into the setting

Thanks for the feedback!

Jay

 

[doctorjeff98]

If anyone's doing the previously mentioned pole...I vote for 'Crush the enemies.'

 

[jester47]

Aaaarggghhh!!!

2004 is TOO FAR AWAY!

Must have Conan game NOW!

-The Gneech

PS: Must have DM who could properly run Conan game NOW!

Take as much time as you want with it.

 

[Angcuru]

[Turn on Manly Schwarzenegger voice]

Conan like crushing enemies and hearing their pitiful cries for mercy! Little sissy wussy girly man try to get in Conan way, CONAN SMASH! YOU GO DOWN! YOU GO DOWN NOW! LALGH!

[Turn of Manly Schwarzenegger voice]


*Puts on FIGHT UNTIL WE DIE*

We'll fight till win or we'll fight until we die!

 

[Ulrick]

To be nobody's slave
To be accountable for your own actions
To have Free Will.

 

[The Fool]

...

Thanks guys for the link and info

Now, i hear that the best books to read for Conan are the REH stuff...

But what about the rest, i havent read too many positive things about them, are they worth getting?


'Two fools, that laugh at death!'

'I am Subotai! Thief, Archer, I am Hyrkanian'

'Crom laughs at the Four Winds!'




The Fool

 

[Dark Jezter]

Re: ...

Thanks guys for the link and info

Now, i hear that the best books to read for Conan are the REH stuff...

But what about the rest, i havent read too many positive things about them, are they worth getting?

Robert E Howard's Conan stories are some of the best Sword & Sorcery tales ever written. In fact, along with JRR Tolkien and Fritz Lieber, REH's Conan stories were a big influence on the creators of D&D back in the 1970s. I've read all of REH's short stories about Conan repeatedly, and I still find them gripping and impossible to put down.

There were a number of Conan stories written by other authors after Howard's death, such as L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter, and some of these stories can be quite entertaining. However, unless it's written by Robert E Howard, I consider it nothing more than professionally-made fan fiction.

Here is a list of all the Conan stories written by REH:

The Tower of the Elephant
The God in the Bowl
Rogues in the House
The Frost Giant's Daughter
Queen of the Black Coast
The Vale of Lost Women
Black Colossus
Shadows in the Moonlight
A Witch Shall Be Born (A great story. If you've ever wondered what inspired the crucifiction scene in the movie, check out this tale)
Shadows in Zamboula
The Devil in Iron
The People of the Black Circle (This one is a classic! Quite possibly the best Conan tale ever written)
The Slithering Shadow
The Pool of the Black One
Red Nails
Jewels of Gwahlur
Beyond the Black River
The Black Stranger
The Phoenix on the Sword
The Scarlet Citadel
The Hour of the Dragon (Another classic, and the only novel-length Conan tale ever written by Howard)

Unfortunately, the Conan tales aren't currently in print in the United States, although they are in print in the UK. You can import them from Amazon.co.uk, which sells two volumes containing REH's Conan tales completely unaltered, and even includes the drafts of unfinished tales. Check them out here and here. I recommend them both wholeheartedly.