D&D General GM's Closet for the CONAN RPG

[Water Bob]

-- WHAT'S IN S&P? --



Signs & Portents is the gaming magazine published by Mongoose. It supports their house games. Originally, it was print only, but eventually it switched to a free digital download. You can find tons of articles devoted to the Conan RPG by downloading these mags (it's free on the Mongoose site). The original print stuff is not available for free, but fret not, as just about all of that material has found its way into official Conan supplements.

So...what kind of stuff can you get out of S&P?

I'll tell you...



CHARACTER RACES

-- Sample Aquilonian names.

-- New Race: Iranistani

-- New Race: Acheronians.

-- Hyrkanian race explored over several articles.

-- New Race: Saami

-- Pygmies of the Hyborian Age





CHARACTER CLASSES

-- New Thief Sneak Attack Styles

-- New Borderer Combat Styles

-- New Class: Healer

-- New Class: Gladiator

-- New Class: Martial Disciple

-- Discussion on Noble Followers





EQUIPMENT

-- Daggers from specific regions of the world

-- Thief Equipment





COMBAT

-- Chariot Combat Rules





SORCERY

-- Several articles bringing new Spells to the game





LOCATIONS

-- Barachan Isles (mentioned in Robert E. Howard's The Hour of the Dragon, and starting location for the Age of Conan online game)

-- Typical Stygian Temples

-- Aghrapur (Turanian capital mentioned in several Conan stories)

-- Mount Yimsha (from Robert E. Howard's The People of the Black Circle)

-- The Palace of Cetriss (from Conan And The Emerald Lotus by John C. Hocking)

-- Xuthal (from Robert E. Howard story The Slithering Shadow, also known as Xuthal of the Dusk)





BEASTIARY

-- Several articles on animals, creatures, monsters and demons. Some of these are quite in depth, "ecology" type articles.





ADVENTURE

-- Multiple adventures, for various character levels, set all over the world. Some of these are just adventure ideas. Many are fully fleshed out adventures. Included is Eric Rodriquez's expansive (runs about 30 pages) low-level adventure that was originally slated to be published as an official adventure before Mongoose stopped producing Conan RPG products, To Save A Kingdom. Some are set in locations from the Conan stories. The adventures are the largest portion of the S&P articles.





OTHER TOPICS

-- Gambling Rules

-- The Ark of Delight, a floating bordello.

 

[Water Bob]

-- Map of the Thurian Continent --



This is an exceptional map of the Hyborian Age, by Vagner Silva, based on the maps by Robert E. Howard and the research by Dale Rippke.

The Hyborian Age

 

[Water Bob]

-- Shooting at a Target in Melee --



When shooting into melee with a missile or thrown weapon, there is no chance that your comrade or another target is hit if you miss your intended target under the Conan rules. This little rule variant is for those who want to add that aspect of combat to their games.

It's a simple rule. When shooting into melee, the attacker takes a -4 penalty to hit. If the attacker misses his target because of that penalty (misses by 1-4 points), then there is a chance that another target in the melee was attacked ("attacked", not "hit"). In this instance, simply compare the attack total thrown to the alternate target's defense to determine if the other target was hit.





Example: Bartha the bowman is using his hunting bow to fire into a melee where his companion, Rodolfo, is engaged in melee with a town guardsman. Bartha's attack is at -4 since he is firing into melee, trying to avoid hitting Rodolfo. Bartha's attack roll is 12. The guardman is using his Dodge AC of 13 to defend himself, and thus, Bartha's attack misses. But, since Bartha's attack missed, he may have struck Rodolfo.

To figure is Rodolfo is struck, simply compare Bartha's attack of 12 to Rodolfo's defense. Rodolfo is also using his Dodge AC 16 defense, and since Bartha cannot hit an AC 16 with his attack of 12, Rodolfo was not struck either.

If you want, you can carry this run on if there are multiple opponents engaged in the melee (or, consider that up to 1 other target can be attacked and be done with it--your choice). Bartha missed Rodolfo by 4 points, so the next target is considered, and so on. Stop checking if the missile attack throw is 5+ points less than its target. And, the first target selected is the one closest to the line of sight between Bartha and his original target (roll randomly if there is more than one eligible target).

Do not use this rule when melee fighters are 10' or more distant, as with reach combat (the rule is not used anything the -4 penalty is not applied). Also, characters who have the Precise Shot Feat are also not subject to this rule (those characters with that feat are so good that they never hit unintended targets if they miss their primary target that is in melee).

 

[Water Bob]

-- Non-Lethal Weapon For Guards --



Here's an idea I had that I think would serve to play against the stereotypical town guard in Conan stories. I picture a place where the local lord actually cares about his people. The guardsmen where swords that fit into scabbards that have two leather hoops attached. These leather hoops slide over the short guard piece on the sword--a type of safety--locking it in place. The scabbard fits into a metal ring that hangs from the guardsman's weapon belt. So, what the guardsman has is a club. The soldier can swing the sword, with the scabbard attached, as a non-lethal weapon. The scabbards must be made of metal, or of hard, lacquered wood, to serve this purpose. If the soldier needs a blade, he has it, but for most occasions, he swings his club-sword when he needs to bang heads.

I'm thinking of some temple guard in Ophir, but, hey, this idea can really be used anywhere you think it fits.

 

[Water Bob]

 

[Water Bob]

-- SUNLESS CITADEL CONVERSION --

Area 6. Old Approach



Above, I removed Area 5 from the adventure. That area does have a trap, though, and I'm going to use it here.

First, the map shows that the door leading to Area 6 is wood. Change that. We're making it a stone secret door. What the PCs will see when entering Area 4 is a wood door to the right, and about where a door would be is a giant, bas relief sculpture of a writhing dragon. This is done on a large piece of marble (now cracked and pitted).

DC 15 Knowledge Nobility
DC 17 Knowledge Local (if local is applicable to the area), or Knowledge Geography, or Knowledge Warfare
DC 19 Knowledge Religion

...to know that the dragon design is a standard seen on the shields of an ancient Bori warlord who ruled in this area of Argos, long, long ago.




DC 16 Search
DC 21 Search

...make one roll. On a 16 or better, the PC will realize that marble sculpture is really a secret door, and the key hole for this door is inside the dragon's mouth. If the roll is 21 or better, also tell the PC that he notices a peculiar hole in the upper ridges of the mouth. This is hard to see as the dragon's head curls to a point at which a door handle would normally be. In order to see the hole, one has to crouch down and look up into the roof of the dragon's mouth. In order to pick the lock, one has to put his hand inside the dragon's mouth. The lock is atop the forked tongue.

Play this up. The idea here is to make the players trepidatious about the lock. The hole is, indeed, a trap, but it's now harmless. When sprung, a needle will shoot out of the hole, piercing the skin. But, the poison has long since evaporated. The trap only does 1 point of damage. And, even when sprung, give the PC a DC 16 Reflex check to jerk his hand out and away from the trap before the needle strikes.

The way to disable this trap, since most of it is hidden, is to find something to plug up the whole. No matter what the players come up with, give the character a DC 20 Disable Device check. Do this in secret so that the player does not know if the trap is deactivated or not (if what he stuck up the tiny hole will resist the pressure from the needle being shoved out.

If the players decide to break down the door, here are its stats: Bas-Relief Stone Door - Hardness 8, HP 30, AC 5, DC 26 to Break.





Inside.

Once inside, the PCs will see a 20' wide hall. The far end is collapsed, and the floor is cracked and slanted at a fairly steep angle near the collapsed end. The entire room has a slight tilt in the floor that gradually gets steeper until it is cracked at a larger angle. Lots of rubble collects the last 10' feet before the collapsed area.

The only other feature of note is...another bas relief door. It's the exact same type of door that leads into this room. Except this one is harder to open. I'll describe this door in more detail in my write up o Area 7.





Threat.

There is a threat in this room, but it's not automatic. It's for those PCs who spend time examining the rubble at the end of the room. The desert rats that infest the place have tunnels and nests throughout the rubble. One of the tunnels enters this room from the collapsed part of the corridor with the opening in the rubble up above the PCs' heads. Rubble extends 10' from the collapsed area. PC's can venture 5' into the rubble with no repercussions. But, if a character moves within 5' of the collapsed area, there is a Desert Rat that is in his hole, up above the character. The Rat will then feel threatened and attack. After its first attack, though, the rat will try to run back to its hole and disappear. It will also do this if damaged and survives the attack.

No encounter happens, though, if the PCs do not get within 5' of the collapsed area to threaten the thing.

Except....when a PC is in the corridor alone. These Desert Rats are aggressive. They're as big as medium sized dogs (think about 70-80 lbs). They're about 3' long, not counting the tail. These are big, mean sonofaguns. So, if a PC remains in the area alone, the rat will try to come get him.

 

[Water Bob]

-- ARMOR OFF THE DEAD --


Sometimes, your players will want to strip the dead in order to upgrade or replace armor. Most mail and leather armors will automatically fit. Read the armor descriptions to make a determination.

What the GM needs to consider, though, is the condition of the armor. A killing blow will often damage armor. I suggest using a slightly tweaked version of the rule on page 179 of the 2E Core Rulebook. Roll 1d5 -1 (for a result of 0-4) and reduce the DR value for the armor by this amount to account for the killing blow. If you don't like fiddling with 1d5, you can use 1d6 -2. That gives a chance (20% on the d5 and 33% on the d6) the armor is not damaged at all.

But...another thing a GM should consider is that armor from the dead is rarely clean. People crap themselves when they die (sometimes). They may throw up or spit up blood. Certainly, if the soldier died from a cut, the armor is most likely soaked (caked) in old blood. If we're talking leather armor, this is a nightmare. If we're talking mail, then it's easier to clean, but you still have to clean it. And, even armor like a breastplate has leather straps and ties.

If a character wears dirtied armor, then consider the smell. And, maybe even consider the disease rules should the character be damaged in combat (an open wound exposed to 3-Day old dried blood!).

 

[Water Bob]

-- QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST --



One of Robert E. Howard's more popular Conan stories is Queen of the Black Coast, in which Conan meets what most Conan fans believe to be the love of his life, Belit the Shemite pirate.

Howard's story starts with the meeting between the two, skips an indeterminate amount of time, and ends at Belit's death (that shouldn't be a shocker spoiler to anyone). Most Conan scholars believe that Conan spent a few years with Belit, harrowing the coastal region of the Great Western Ocean.

If you'd care to read Howard's tale of love and death on the Western Ocean, you can read entire short story here: QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST by Robert E. Howard

You can find AUDIO BOOKS and AUDIO DRAMAS of the story.

We role players would be interested to know that there was published a solo adventure for GURPS Conan....

Recently, Brian Wood was contracted to write 24 issues about Conan's and Belit's adventures together in the current Conan comic published by Dark Horse. For two real years, Conan fans lived with Conan and the Queen of the Black Coast, issue after issue. If you are interested in these tales, look for the four collected editions, each containing six issues:

CONAN VOL. 13: QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST

CONAN VOL. 14: THE DEATH

CONAN VOL. 15: THE NIGHTMARE OF THE SHALLOWS

CONAN VOL 16: THE SONG OF BELIT







Back in the day, during Marvel's original run of Conan The Barbarian, told the tale over three real years--over 40 issues! And, you can still read that incredible yarn through the original Marvel collections.

The Marvel version of Queen of the Black Coast begins at the end of Chronicles of Conan Vol. 8: Brothers of the Blade and Other Stories

Continues through Chronicles of Conan Vol. 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories

Continues through Chronicles of Conan Vol 10: When Giants Walk The Earth and Other Stories

Continues through Chronicles of Conan Vol 11: The Dance of the Skull and Other Stories

And finally comes to a conclusion in Chronicles of Conan Vol 12: The Beast King of Abombi and Other Stories



This is really neat. If you want to plot out Conan's movements as he adventures with Belit during this 3-year Marvel run, then check out this map....

(Click Here to enlarge map to see detail)

 

[Water Bob]

-- SUNLESS CITADEL CONVERSION --

Area 13. Empty



I'm going to skip Areas 7-12 for now. I'll come back to them later. Those areas are closed off from the rest of the dungeon, and I want them to hold the key to the answer of this place--what it was. Something that will make sense to the players.

And as for the Area 13s, as there are several of them, I'm going to go with what the module says. They are featureless rooms, with nothing but rocks and debris--good places to hold up and rest.

 

[Water Bob]

-- The Hyborian Age and the Real World --



This map shows an overlay of the Hyborian Age and modern day Europe, Africa, and Asia. It will give you some real world sense of how big the Hyborian Age is.