So we're not talking about D&D then? I was not aware of that, so anything I mentioned might not work for your game.
There's a Conan Tag I put on this thread.
But, still, your comments are viable. Conan is based on d20 3.5.
"Many"[citation needed]
"Best version"[citation needed]
Just do a quick Google for "Conan roleplaying best version d20". You'll see lots of hits, reviews, and comments that back up what I said.
Just a suggestion: you might want to tone down the touting of the supremacy of your personal favorite d20 variant a tiny bit.
I'm not saying D&D isn't "good" or "fun", but I happen to think the Conan rules are superior in many ways.
Armor absorbs damage, it doesn't make your harder to hit.
The game is gritty and leathal, with a Massive Damage threshold of just 20 points of damage. Weapons do more damage than their D&D counterparts.
You don't have to wear armor to be a viable fighter in the Conan game. You can wear a loincloth and still excell in combat because of the implementation of the Parry and Dodge defenses.
Magic is dark, unnatural, rare, and "adult". In this game, you can actually sacrifice virgins to make your Sorcerer more powerful.
There is no spellcaster class. The Scholar class lends itself best to being a Sorcerer, since those types spend a lot of time digging around old, dusty tomes. But, another class can become a sorcerer if he takes the right feats.
"Thieves" don't have to be thief classed. Conan became a Master Thief, and he as never higher than 1st level as a Thief. Basically, anybody who steals is a thief. If you walk into a theives guild, there might be a Scholar who is a pick pocket. A Soldier who is a "heavy". A barbarian who is a "second story" man. And, of course, thieves who are, well, theives.
Weapons have an "Armor Piercing" value. Thus, a cultlass is a good weapon to use if you're a pirate fighting unarmored foes, but a war hammer would probably only be scene on the battlefield in the hands of a mercenary because, although its damage is low, the damn thing can bust up just about any armor.
It's easy to mulit-class in Conan, creating just about any type of character you can dream of. For example, an Assassin could be created by going with a Soldier/Thief. A ship's navigator could be created by goign with Scholar/Pirate. A druid might be a Scholar/Borderer. A scout might be a Barbarian/Borderer. A shaman might be a Barbarian/Scholar. An emissary could be created by going with Borderer/Noble. An explorer might be a Borderer/Pirate. A guide could be a Borderer/Scholar. An outlaw might be a Borderer/Thief. A crime lord might be a Thief/Noble. A bounty hungter might be a Thief/Borderer. A gypsy might be a Temptress/Nomad. A smuggler might be a Pirate/Thief. A privateer might be a Pirate/Soldier. A ship's captain might be a Pirate/Noble. A corsair might be a Pirate/Barbarian.
You get the idea.
There is no "cleric" class. A Pirate who is worshipped by island natives; a Scholar who leads his church; A Barbarian who is worshipped by his tribe can all be "priests". It depends on the situation.
All shields come with damage ratings, just like weapons--they're basically second weapons in your off-hand. You can chose to Parry with it, or use it as a second weapon.
Conan is the first d20 rpg where I've seen a good reason to have bucklers in the game. As a second weapon, the buckler does better damage than the larger shields because it is smaller, more maneuverable, less encumbering.
You can use your shield to improve your Parry, but not your Dodge.
I could go on, but those are just some of the areas where I think the Conan d20 game is superior to standard D&D.
Now, I'm not trying to disparage D&D. It's a freakin' awesome game. I just think Conan does a better job at being a d20 game than does D&D.
I'd play a D&D 3.5 game in a heart beat, though. I do like the game.
It does, and I played in one which had something like that. Except magic was implemented after "it was released" or something, and we could start taking classes.
I'm running a very low magic Conan game. Click
HERE to look at some notes I've posted about my sandbox, if interested.
Concentration seems like a purely caster specific skill, though for some reason, Monks are given it as a class skill (in 3rd, and I have no idea if they even exist in Conan).
I suppose you could make a monk with a Scholar class. And, if you wanted to make a combat monk, you could try a Soldier/Scholar or a Scholar/Soldier and focus on non-weapon fighting.
There is a monk-type class presented in a supplement book, too, called the Martial Disciple. He's an eastern-influenced hand-to-hand bad-ass.
