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


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Water Bob

Adventurer
-- A quick look at Armor Class in the Conan RPG --



ARMOR CLASS AND ARMOR: Unlike D&D, your AC in the Conan RPG represents how hard it is to hit your character (in D&D, AC represents how hard it is to hit and damage your character). Armor, in the Conan RPG, can absorb damage inflicted on the character (where as, in D&D, armor makes the character harder to hit). Thus, in the Conan RPG, a character can be hit (attack higher than defender's AC) but not damaged (because Armor prevents character from being hurt). In D&D, if the attack roll is higher than AC, then the character's armor is defeated, and damage is applied to the character.



ARMOR CLASS AND DEXTERITY: Your character's DEX score will effect the chance that your character can be hit in combat. Thus, DEX modifier is applied to AC. If a character has a score of DEX 9 or less, then the attribute penalty lowers the charcter's Base Defense. AC 10 is the Base Defense for most characters, but if, for example, a character has DEX 7 (which means a -2 DEX modifier), then that character's Base Defense is AC 8 as he is not as adept at defending himself as the average person.



BASE DEFENSE: For most characters, their Base Defense is AC 10. Base Defense is lowered for characters with scores in Dexterity of DEX 9 or less. Base Defense is the standard passive defense any conscious, non-hindered character will have. If just standing around, not expecting an attack, when a character is attacked, his Base Defense is used. If a character has DEX 10 or higher, his Base Defense is AC 10. If a character has DEX 9 or lower, then his Base Defense is lowered by an amount equal to his DEX modifier.

Flat-footed - Being "flat-footed" is another use of the character's Base Defense. A character can be alert and expecting an attack but still use only his Base Defense. This happens when a character is slow to act--or caught flat-footed. At the start of combat, on the first round only, every combatant is considered flatfooted until their initiative number is played. After the character's turn in initiative comes up, the character is no longer flat-footed for the rest of the combat (but there are specific circumstances that can arise that can make the character flat-footed later in the combat).



PARRY DEFENSE: When a character is actively defending himself and not otherwise considered flat-footed or hindered, he may choose to focus on parrying blows made against him. If using this defense, the character's Parry AC is his Base Defense plus his STR modifier. A shield will increase the character's Parry Defense. Ranged attacks cannot be parried. A shield cannot be used in the Parry Defense and use in a Shield Bash in the same combat round (so, if the shield is used as a weapon, then it cannot be used to incrase the character's Parry AC that round).

DODGE DEFENSE: When a character is actively defending himself and not otherwise considered flat-footed or hindered, he may choose to focus on dodging blows made against him. If using this defense, the character's Dodge AC is his Base Defense plus his DEX modifier. Ranged attacks can be dodged. A shield will only increase a character's Dodge Defense when the character is attempting to dodge a ranged attack. A shield that is used to Shield Bash can still be used to dodge ranged attacks in the same round.

Switching Between Dodge and Parry: A character can switch between Dodge and Parry defenses at will, using his best defense for every single attack, as long as the player states which defense is being used before the attack is made. It is a Free Action to use either defense type and thus a character defending himself does not count against the character's total actions for the round.



HELPLESS DEFENDERS: Characters who are unconscious or tied up are helpless to attacks against them. Helpless characters cannot Dodge or Parry, and they have an effective DEX 0 score--which means a -5 modifier is applied to their Base Defense. Thus, this means that most helpless characters are considered AC 5. In addition, helpless characters suffer a -4 penalty to AC against melee attacks. This means that melee attacks against helpless characters are made at AC 1 (automatic hits) and ranged attacks against helpless characters are made against AC 5. The Coup de Grace rule (page 198) can also be used against helpless characters.



SUMMARY: There are four basic defense modes in this game. Most of the time, characters will be actively defending themselves using either the Parry or Dodge defense types. When not actively defending themselves (or caught flat-footed at the start of combat), a character wil use his Base Defense (his flat-footed defense posture). If a character is unconscious or constrained so that he cannot defend himself, then he is considered Helpless.
 

Water Bob

Adventurer
Conan_email.jpg
 

Water Bob

Adventurer
-- DEMON MONKEY TEMPLE --


I spotted THIS adventure, written for 13th Age, and it seemed to be fairly suitable to convert to a Conan RPG game. Just strip out the magic items and populate with your own creatures (and maybe decrease the different types of creatures, eliminating the more magical ones).

I think it would work well, with some adjustment, as a template on which to build a bigger Conan adventure.
 

LostSoul

Adventurer
I have been playing in the "Hyborean" Age in my game. One of the PCs told a story about how her (immortal) PC, about 3500 years in the past, met Red Sonja. I whipped up a Hyrkanian map and went with it.

These resources should help, though my game system is pretty radically different (I think it does a good job of capturing adventuring in this age).
 

Water Bob

Adventurer
One of the PCs told a story about how her (immortal) PC, about 3500 years in the past, met Red Sonja.

I guess that you know that Red Sonja is supposed to be a contemporary of Conan, living when he lived, in the Hyborian Age. 3500 years in the past would be about 500 years north of the Thurian Age, which is Kull's time.

But, for your background, you might be interested in the graphic novel from the early 1990's called CONAN: THE RAVAGERS OUT OF TIME. That story, written by fan favorite Roy Thomas, not only references one of Conan's earlier adventures from the original Marvel run but also involves a time-travel spell that pairs Conan, Red Sonja, and Kull together.

You might be able to mine it for ideas with your player in mind.



1358664-conan___the_ravagers_out_of_time.jpg






Conan%20-%20The%20Ravagers%20Out%20of%20Time017.jpg
 

LostSoul

Adventurer
I guess that you know that Red Sonja is supposed to be a contemporary of Conan, living when he lived, in the Hyborian Age. 3500 years in the past would be about 500 years north of the Thurian Age, which is Kull's time.

I just dropped the "Hyborean" Age (I don't know why I like to spell it like that) into my game's setting, so I set it between 4000 and 3000 years ago. My magic item tables - when they're finished - are heavily themed by the age in which they were created. I needed to make a list of the ages of the world, and I knew I had to fit the Hyborean Age in there. Because of that, Red Sonja and Conan and all the others are part of the setting. (Slightly changed to fit the rest of the setting, of course.)

But, for your background, you might be interested in the graphic novel from the early 1990's called CONAN: THE RAVAGERS OUT OF TIME. That story, written by fan favorite Roy Thomas, not only references one of Conan's earlier adventures from the original Marvel run but also involves a time-travel spell that pairs Conan, Red Sonja, and Kull together.

Sounds cool, I'll keep an eye out for it!
 

Water Bob

Adventurer
I needed to make a list of the ages of the world, and I knew I had to fit the Hyborean Age in there.

Just FYI, Conan's Hyborian Age is officially part of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. If you grab one of those RPG core books, you'll see a timeline (I've been told--I don't own any Cthulhu stuff) showing the ages of Earth past to the modern day (to about the 1920's or so). Someone more familiar with Cthulhu will know more.

And, I'm not sure how much you know about Conan's Hyborian Age, but maybe this will be helpful if you don't know it:

-- The Hyborian Age is a period of about 400 years in a time about 10,000 years or so ago, back when the world looked different. It's called the "Hyborian Age" because the ethnic group called the "Hyborians" populate the most advanced kingdoms of the time. Calling them "Hyborians" is akin to calling those in Europe "Europeans". They consist of many different populations of different countries, speaking different languages, and they will, in fact, one day grow into modern day Eurpoeans.

They are called Hyborians because the original racial stock came from the north, in the form of barbarians, that laid waste to the land and built anew the foundations for the modern day (in Conan's time) Kingdoms--this is not unlike Rome falling to the barbarians in the future. Those barbarains worshiped a god named "Bori", and thus they were called Hyborians. The Hyperboreans are one of the many Hyborian races. During Conan's time, the god Bori is all but forgotten among his people. Most Hyborians now worship Mitra, but there are several other gods worshiped throughout the many Hyborian kingdoms.

Conan is not a Hyborian. Most Hyborians are cultured and enjoy a higher technology level than most other races (though not those from Khitai....which will become Asia/China).



Sounds cool, I'll keep an eye out for it!

If interested, the link I provided above goes to an Amazon page where it is for sell.
 

Water Bob

Adventurer
I know little about it, but it seems a new Conan RPG is on the horizon.

Clicky, Clicky.

It's got big shoes, um, sandals, to fill. We can only hope that it captures the Hyborian Age as well as the Mongoose version.

We'll see.
 


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