Modiphius' Conan TTRPG Is Ending

At the end of this year, Modiphius' license to publish the 2d20-powered Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of is coming to an end. Taking over with a new roleplaying game will be French publisher Monolith Edition, which already produces the official boardgame.

While the license ends on December 31st, you will still be able to buy existing stock until the end of June 2023.

Other Conan games include Mongoose Publishing's Conan: The Roleplaying Game, which used the d20 System back in 2004, TSR's Conan Roleplaying Game in 1985, and even 1984 D&D adventure modules called Conan Unchained! and Conan Against Darkness!

MONOLITH HANDED THE CONAN ROLEPLAYING GAME LINE FROM MODIPHIUS FOR NEW EXCITING ROLEPLAYING STORIES IN THE HYBORIAN AGE!

“When we first started exploring Robert E. Howard’s world of Conan, little did we imagine the full expanse of what was to come. It’s been an incredible journey working with top Conan scholars, talented writers and artists who gave their all to dig deep into the Conan stories and bring them to life in a truly authentic way.” Said Chris Birch, Chief Creative Officer of Modiphius Entertainment. “Now with twenty beautiful hardback books to our name and numerous beautiful accessories, we are ready to call time on our journeys across Hyboria. We’ve reached the point where we feel like we have done justice to REH’s words, delivered some incredible Conan swords & sorcery gaming, and reached the ends of the Hyborian world in every direction we could imagine. It’s time to pass on the mantle to new hands who can tell a new story in the Hyborian age!”

The roleplaying game line, under licence from Heroic Signatures (Formally Cabinet Entertainment), will end on Dec 31st, no more re-stocks are being ordered, and all stock will be sold by June 30th 2023.

If you’ve been waiting to pick up one of the books, now is your chance, either from retail or from the US or UK-based webstores. Get them while you can!

Matthew John, Conan Board Game Developer for Monolith added “For 8 years now, Conan, Heroic Signatures and Monolith have been treading the lands of Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age, finding grand inspiration for our products. Our board game, which rallied tens of thousands of players, was soon joined by a great role-playing game, thanks to Modiphius, who did a fantastic job diving deep into this exciting setting. As fans, we’ll be forever grateful to Modiphius for their work and our collaborations on Conan.

We’ve said it before, Howard's stories are part of Monolith’s DNA, and so we happily accepted Heroic Signatures’ offer to develop our own Conan roleplaying game–one we can infuse with our passion and unique creative vision. While we prepare our next Conan board game project, which will offer new, long-awaited features next year, we wanted to let fans know it is not the only Conan game we’re bringing to the table–or rather, your tables.

So…Monolith will bring back the Conan board game, then an all-new role-playing game! And who knows–it’s certainly possible that our admiration for Robert E.Howard's work will lead us beyond the borders of the Hyborian Age.

Stay tuned, Conan fans; we’re just getting started”.

 

[Jaeger]

I like Conan, but I am mildly amazed that there is this much competition for the RPG license in the 21st century.

I'm a little surprised there's competition for the license as well. I purchased this game just prior to COVID because my local game store was liquidating its stock, but I have yet to play it and am unsure whether I will. The rules could have been better written.

I think that a large part of the reason for this comes from the IP holder.

R.E. Howard's Conan goes full tilt public domain in 2028. (It's already public domain in some European countries, I know that Chuck Dixon is doing new Conan stories for a Italian based webcomics publisher.)

They have a less than a 6 year window to maximize profits for the Conan IP.

I rant the quick start game, and played it a bit - 2d20 Conan is not for me. And while still selling relatively well, I suspect the 2d20 system has hit many people the same.

Unless I sorely miss my guess; Monolith's Conan will be a d20 based 5e "compatible" game. The upcoming 50th anniversary release of the totally not new edition of D&D should boost sales for all things 5e related.

Unfortunately, I think that a new Conan 5e compatible game will not take any chances in modding the system like the Dark Souls RPG. Instead we will just get a standard setting re-skin like all the other uninspired 5e "conversions"...

 

[Staffan]

I like Conan, but I am mildly amazed that there is this much competition for the RPG license in the 21st century. Is anyone under 40 excited about the character?

It's probably more a case of the license having run its course and Modiphius already having done 20 books for the game. That's not just picking the low-hanging fruit, that's clearing the whole tree of both fruit, leaves, and branches. And at that point, there's likely not much to gain by renewing the license.

 

[bulletmeat]

It's probably more a case of the license having run its course and Modiphius already having done 20 books for the game.

Right. The last book that came out adapted the older Age of Conan game. I don't want a Conan: Marvel Avenger Sourcebook!

 

[sevenbastard]

I rant the quick start game, and played it a bit - 2d20 Conan is not for me. And while still selling relatively well, I suspect the 2d20 system has hit many people the same.

I have this bumper sticker on my truck

"Roll High or Die"

I can't get excited about rolling a 1.

 

[MGibster]

Right. The last book that came out adapted the older Age of Conan game. I don't want a Conan: Marvel Avenger Sourcebook!

I'd love a sourcebook for the Marvel comics form the 70s and 80s. Those were good comics.

 

[Ghost2020]

GURPS Conan and four solo adventures are still available in PDF from Warehouse 23.

They're also available on the SJ Games storefront on Amazon. All four solo books, and the GURPS Conan book, print on demand.

 

[Skywalker]

Unless I sorely miss my guess; Monolith's Conan will be a d20 based 5e "compatible" game. The upcoming 50th anniversary release of the totally not new edition of D&D should boost sales for all things 5e related.

Unfortunately, I think that a new Conan 5e compatible game will not take any chances in modding the system like the Dark Souls RPG. Instead we will just get a standard setting re-skin like all the other uninspired 5e "conversions"...

Monolith's RPG will likely be based on a 3e derived system that has been popular in France for many years now. They are using the same system for their Batman GCC RPG. I find the system reminds me a lot of Green Ronin's Mutants & Masterminds and True 20, as it significantly streamlines and simplifies the 3e base.

This will make it something recognisable to 5e players, as 5e is also based on 3e. So there will be some compatibility, but it won't be a standard setting reskin of 5e.

 

[Maggan]

Well … it’s not like gamers stop spending money after they turn 40 … so I think Conan as a license has some legs to it still.

 

[Skywalker]

It's probably more a case of the license having run its course and Modiphius already having done 20 books for the game. That's not just picking the low-hanging fruit, that's clearing the whole tree of both fruit, leaves, and branches. And at that point, there's likely not much to gain by renewing the license.

And as we have seen, Modiphius and Monolith has a good relationship with Modiphius developing tie-ins for Monolith's Conan board game. So I would expect that Modiphius are actually pretty happy to hand the baton on to them.

 

[Iamoutofhere]

I hope Monolith do a better job with a rulebook than they did with the rules for their Conan board game. It was super confusing.