Sacrosanct
Legend
They want to stat them not for their own PC, but to kill them and say "I killed Conan!". If it has stats, we can kill it!
D&D 5E Is Conan in 5e?
- Thread starter AverageCitizen
- Start date
They want to stat them not for their own PC, but to kill them and say "I killed Conan!". If it has stats, we can kill it!
AverageCitizen
Explorer
I never said I want to play him. I specifically asked if he was "in the game", which is to say, if he could be represented. The underlying concern is that if the game can't even reproduce classic tropes, it might be missing something.
But that's just it. Conan isn't even a trope. Individuals never are. Tropes are archetypes that are the combination of dozens of examples that make their way into popular culture that share common traits. They evolve with time and each new story that invokes or subverts the tropes. Seriously, Heracules and Beowolf are as much of an inspiration of the class as Conan. And lets not forget the barbarian tribes that sacked Rome, which included Goths, who stereotypically did have germanic style berzerkers as part of their forces.
Also, I want to point out that there are several versions of Conan out there. The books, the movies, the video game, the old cartoon. They all share commonalities, but they're all unique versions of Conan. The Conan from the cartoon and video game, for instance, fit the idea of Barbarian for D&D. You're not going to faithfully reproduce novel-Conan, because Conan is a specific creation of the local ideas and stories provoked by the setting. D&D's setting is completely and utterly inappropriate for that kind of story. As well there is the fact that no player is going to get Conan's plot armor, nor the special attention in a party of four heroes instead of being the sole hero of the story.
Here's a better question - what exactly about Conan do you want to reproduce in a character you can't play in a D&D game? Lets assume Forgotten Realms and/or Dark Suns, since the former is a fantasy kitchen skin, and the latter is the close to the traditional Conan story setting. Is there something about Conan you can't play in either of those? Want to be king? Nothing stops you. Fight evil sorcerer-kings? Check. Fear of snakes? Yuan-ti were made specifically for Conan. Epic warrior fighting dinosaurs? Yep. What exactly about Conan is missing from playing the character? Specific plot points?
Reading the Conan short stories by Howard at the Gutenberg project, he definately has 25 in all scores and Mary sue as his class
Beleriphon
Totally Awesome Pirate Brain
Conan the Bostonian is a bard, not a barbarian. Duh.
aramis erak
Legend
Conan isn't one author's work. Sure, he's R.E. Howard's creation, but he's not entirely REH's work anymore.
And Conan is the archetype for REH's Kull the Conquerer.
And for Thrud.
And for Hercules of the TV Show.
And for some other, lesser known, adventure story heroes.
And for his own clones - supposedly also called Conan the Cimmerian - by other authors.
Conan is, himself, the Archetype for a trope "Conan type hero"...
Salamandyr
Adventurer
Other than them nerfing unarmed combat for everyone but the monk in order to ensure some kind of niche protection, I think 5e does a better job of letting a player play Conan than any other edition so far.
EDIT: probably the thing that hurts Conan the most in 5e is the de-emphasis on Strength.
EDIT: probably the thing that hurts Conan the most in 5e is the de-emphasis on Strength.
GameOgre
Adventurer
No.
See Conan was a character created for a DM who ran low a low magic game. No clerics at all and Wizards were pretty dang limited on spells. Only humans for pc race though he did go a little nuts with the different types of humans.
I'll fill you in on a little secret, just between you and me.
The DM was a women and her husband played the barbarian. Conan never was in much danger of dying, he had hubby protection! Every once in a while some (NPC) named Red Sonja would come around and best him but he didn't mind. She wouldn't stay long and he never had to split exp's with her.
He played the barbarian for years and became a King and all that jazz till they discovered Magic the Gathering and stopped playing rpg's all together for a few years.
When they finally did get back into it they were playing with there kids (all Halflings) and he played this ranger character who was destined to be the King. His youngest son kept steeling the show though and ended up the big hero of the entire game . The dad was deeply disappointed by the entire thing though because his son chucked the best artifact of the entire game into a live volcano.
I hear they are playing science fiction rpg's now. Something about laser swords and wizards and brining balance back....shrug who knows.
See Conan was a character created for a DM who ran low a low magic game. No clerics at all and Wizards were pretty dang limited on spells. Only humans for pc race though he did go a little nuts with the different types of humans.
I'll fill you in on a little secret, just between you and me.
The DM was a women and her husband played the barbarian. Conan never was in much danger of dying, he had hubby protection! Every once in a while some (NPC) named Red Sonja would come around and best him but he didn't mind. She wouldn't stay long and he never had to split exp's with her.
He played the barbarian for years and became a King and all that jazz till they discovered Magic the Gathering and stopped playing rpg's all together for a few years.
When they finally did get back into it they were playing with there kids (all Halflings) and he played this ranger character who was destined to be the King. His youngest son kept steeling the show though and ended up the big hero of the entire game . The dad was deeply disappointed by the entire thing though because his son chucked the best artifact of the entire game into a live volcano.
I hear they are playing science fiction rpg's now. Something about laser swords and wizards and brining balance back....shrug who knows.
TheCosmicKid
Hero
Other way around.
