Bestiary: Comaptable?

[Scorpion13]

Im almost afraid to ask this, but is the new Hyborian Bestiary compatable with first edition Conan?

I really would like this book, but I just dont want to have to start buying new books for everything.

[MadDog]

The differences between 1st and 2nd edition are pretty small. I wouldnt sweat it.

Mad Dog

[Hervé]

Actually, the 2nd Edition isn't a real 2nd Ed as such. It's more a revised reprint like the Atlantean was for the 1st Ed. Everything Mongoose has released is totally compatible with either edition, be it first Ed, Atlantean or 2nd Ed (or even Pocket Ed!).
The only worries I have about the upcoming Bestiary are about the amount of reprinted material from the old books. I'm rather disapointed by the 2nd Ed products (The new rulebook wasn't really needed, RttRoK is two third reprint material, the PGH is not so good...). The upcoming products are not too thrilling too (Bestiary, New Skelos= Lots of reprints). Cimmeria is quite a strange choice for a gaming supplement as there's nothing to do in Cimmeria. But I guess the name sells... Same for Kithai, that looks a bit out of flavour in the Hyborian world (REH himself never wrote much about it).
And still, there's no news of a Turan sourcebook, eventhough Turan is supposed to be the mightest nation of the world along with Aquilonia. Mongoose really has a strange editing policy...
At least there's Trial of Blood scheduled for April, and that's good news.

[tarkhan bey]

I have not commited myself to any of the 2ed stuff as yet. I got completely blown away by the Elric and Hawkmoon stuff and cannot afford to. I must say that I agree with Herve in that the choice to do Cimmeria and Khitai before even committing to a Turan book seems a strange one.
One thing that I will buy will be the Zamboula supplement, when it finally appears. Gotta love those Darfaris.

[Kyorou]

I agree with tarkhan bey and Hervé, there is much more campaign potential in Turan than in Khitai or Cimmeria (I know it is where Conan is from, but the place is simply boring).

[The King]

...
Cimmeria is quite a strange choice for a gaming supplement as there's nothing to do in Cimmeria. But I guess the name sells... Same for Kithai, that looks a bit out of flavour in the Hyborian world (REH himself never wrote much about it).
And still, there's no news of a Turan sourcebook, eventhough Turan is supposed to be the mightest nation of the world along with Aquilonia. Mongoose really has a strange editing policy...
At least there's Trial of Blood scheduled for April, and that's good news.

Cimmeria can be instereting because it's near Aquilonia and Khitai can be great to make some exotic travels in the Far East or to act as a diplomatic ambassy.
I agree however that Turan/Hyrkania is a must, if only because of the potential for adventures in the different cultures represented there.

[FailedSpotCheck]

I got completely blown away by the Elric and Hawkmoon stuff

Does that mean that you like the material, or otherwise?

[tarkhan bey]

I mean it in a good way. The Eternal Champion stuff now rates alongside 1st ED Conan and D20 Ravenloft for me. You keep it coming and I will keep buying.

[jrmorgan56]

Yeah, the amount of reprinted material is getting ridiculous. Even before the 2nd ed stuff came out, lots of tidbits were getting repeated here and there, and when you are buying 100 page hardcovers, it gets old quick. I've been working on an index for my own use for all the skills/feats/classes/weapons/religion/beasts/etc and have been quite amazed at the repeated entries.

I'm sure I will buy the new Beastiary though...I just can't help myself. It's like a guilty pleasure that I berate myself for later after I indulge!

By all means, WHERE IS THE TURAN BOOK???

[MadDog]

I have been reading Faith&Fervor, Argos&Zingara, Shem, and the Players Guide to Hyboria. There is a lot of exact duplication. If I see the phrase

"Many xxxxxx women wear no more than an abbreviated top and a thin belt about the hips holding up a strip of cloth in front and a strip of cloth in back"

any more, Im going to gag. The virtually same phrase was repeated 10 times or so.

Mad Dog

[The King]

I mean it in a good way. The Eternal Champion stuff now rates alongside 1st ED Conan and D20 Ravenloft for me. You keep it coming and I will keep buying.

Are you a fan of D20 Ravenloft? I also thought the Ad&D setting was the best.

[Hervé]

I'm not a huge Ravenloft fan. Looks a lot like the Scooby-Doo of horror gaming to me, but that's only a personal point of view...

[The King]

Ravenloft was interesting at the beginning for its mystery aura but I think it became crap when it was "institutionalized".

[Hervé]

Anyways, I don't think the D&D "politically correct/powergaming" approach doesn't fit very well in an horror setting, or maybe I just had a bad experience with the setting...

[tarkhan bey]

I'm not a huge Ravenloft fan. Looks a lot like the Scooby-Doo of horror gaming to me, but that's only a personal point of view...

Herve,
I thought Scooby Doo was great when I was a kid. I do take your point,though I prefer to think of it as the Hammer House of Horror.
I don't know what age you guys are and whether that maybe affects your opinions on Ravenloft. To me it invokes memories of Saturday night Horror movie double features on BBC2 and peering over your blankets into the darkness after watching "Brides of Dracula" or "Curse of the Werewolf".
King, I definately prefer D20 rule system to original AD&D.Although the adventures were all written for the earlier incarnation they are fairly easily translated using the later rules. I remember running an excellent adventure out of Dungeon magazine called"The Sea Wolf". Vicious murders aboard a fogbound paddle steamer, Hercules Poirot meets the Wolfman.