D&D 5E Let us stat up Conan the *insert sub-title here*

[cbwjm]

I've read the Howard Conan stories, course its at least 20 yrs since I last reread them. I only vaguely remember Conan going into a rage at all, so it doesnt seem to be something he did all that often (at least to me). While I agree the first barbarian classes in D&D were in part based on Conan, the berserker feature was not (of course this is just my opinion).

I bought a kindle recently and they were some of the first ebooks I downloaded making them fairly fresh in my memory. I don't think we really need to see him going into a rage in every combat scene to make a judgement that he has the ability, even a couple of instances are sufficient in my opinion.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

In the phoenix on the sword story, after doing paperwork he is being assaulted by assasins. He is only wearing chain shirt and fights furiously with no fear, going for offense instead of defense and certainly resisting blows that would have killed other people. Seems like rage and reckless attack to me.

I would lower his stats to sane levels though. He is more comfortly in armor and as graceful and strong as a tiger.

So as a starting point we have tiger stats:
Str 17
Dex 15
Con 14
Int 3
Wis 12
Cha 8
Which is not too far from PC starting ability scores. We could raise int and even scores to save points.

Str 16
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 8

Which are perfectly fine for variant human and you can even have a free feat.
Its save to assume higher charisma though so lets go for standard human and save some points which in return may go into charisma.

Str 15+1
Dex 13+1
Con 13+1
Int 9+1
Wis 11+1
Cha 12+1

So there it is. Conan level 1.

Make him barbarian 9 and you have 20 Str.

Makes sense not to make named figures way better than the average PC. Instead go for sane stats and look at the statblocks of other people and animals to get a sense what is high and what is not.

 

[Yardiff]

Once I finish the first book of the Malazan series I'm reading I'm going to read a Conan book I download, it was compiled by Project Gutenberg and has 18 of Howards Conan stories supposedly in order.

A couple instances of raging in 18 stories isn't sufficient in my opinion to make it a major feature of Conan, and raging is THE major feature of the current Barbarian class and has been since 3e.

 

[Yardiff]

Makes sense not to make named figures way better than the average PC. Instead go for sane stats and look at the statblocks of other people and animals to get a sense what is high and what is not.

I disagree, if your not going to make named figure what they should be then don't add them to your game.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I disagree, if your not going to make named figure what they should be then don't add them to your game.

If he is described as agile and strong as a tiger, make him that way and don't overdo it.
Of course you can make him slightly stronger, but the better method is giving him more levels if you feel he is too weak, but also not too many.
The PCs are the heroes and should at some point compare to or even surpass the old heroes.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I bought a kindle recently and they were some of the first ebooks I downloaded making them fairly fresh in my memory. I don't think we really need to see him going into a rage in every combat scene to make a judgement that he has the ability, even a couple of instances are sufficient in my opinion.

I'm sure many will disagree with me (and that's fine) but Barbarian Rage does not have to equal "anger" it can be primal will to survive. Conan often, perhaps even always, fights with ferocity that a warrior raised in a civilized society just can't equal.

Take for example, Beyond the Black River where it states the difference between Conan and Bathus is that Conan was raised in a society as savage as the Pict's and that is not something that a Civilized man like Balthus could ever "learn" no matter how many battles he wins. It's innate.

I quote from that story: “Barbarism is the natural state of mankind… Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.”

 

[BookBarbarian]

In the phoenix on the sword story, after doing paperwork he is being assaulted by assasins. He is only wearing chain shirt and fights furiously with no fear, going for offense instead of defense and certainly resisting blows that would have killed other people. Seems like rage and reckless attack to me.

Bingo, and this is pretty much exactly how Conan's fighting style is always described.

I would lower his stats to sane levels though. He is more comfortly in armor and as graceful and strong as a tiger.

So as a starting point we have tiger stats:
Str 17
Dex 15
Con 14
Int 3
Wis 12
Cha 8
Which is not too far from PC starting ability scores. We could raise int and even scores to save points.

Str 16
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 8

Which are perfectly fine for variant human and you can even have a free feat.
Its save to assume higher charisma though so lets go for standard human and save some points which in return may go into charisma.

Str 15+1
Dex 13+1
Con 13+1
Int 9+1
Wis 11+1
Cha 12+1

So there it is. Conan level 1.

Make him barbarian 9 and you have 20 Str.

Makes sense not to make named figures way better than the average PC. Instead go for sane stats and look at the statblocks of other people and animals to get a sense what is high and what is not.

i like this a lot. With an unarmed defense of 14 this Conan has respectable AC at all times, but still has a reason to wear a most medium armors. Stronger by far than the average man, not stupid, but certainly not a bookworm, above average ability to perceive the world, and above average force of personality. This could easily be teenage Conan from The Frost Giant's Daughter.

 

[Zardnaar]

They statted him in ad&d. He was a fighter thief or champion thief in 5E. With great ability scores.

Something like 20 strength 18 con 18 dex. I think they actually had conan adventures IIRC.

 

[Zardnaar]

Pretty sure that the rage mechanic all the way back when the barbarian class was introduced to D&D was largely based on Conan, plus some of the Northern European mythology. If you look at the source material those guys read, there were more than a few barbarians in the fantasy novels & short stories...but none besides Conan were described in those ways.

Original barbarian was not a rager but was more of a survivalist horde leader.

The rager was just 1 option in the 2E barbarian book at 1st the barbarian was a fighter kit. 3E made the Barbarian a rager. Ifhe is a barbarian in 5E rules its a splash level. Fighter with outsider background mc into thief.

 

[cbwjm]

I'm sure many will disagree with me (and that's fine) but Barbarian Rage does not have to equal "anger" it can be primal will to survive. Conan often, perhaps even always, fights with ferocity that a warrior raised in a civilized society just can't equal.

Take for example, Beyond the Black River where it states the difference between Conan and Bathus is that Conan was raised in a society as savage as the Pict's and that is not something that a Civilized man like Balthus could ever "learn" no matter how many battles he wins. It's innate.

I quote from that story: “Barbarism is the natural state of mankind… Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.”

I agree, in some of the stories he seems to dig deep drawing on reserves that allow him to overpower a superior foe that a civilised man would not have have been able to overcome. It's actually modelled quite well with barbarian rage in 5e with the advantage given for strength checks while raging.