A Sourcebook of cities

The King

Cosmic Mongoose
I just had the idea of a soucebook on all the most important of the Conan world. One pages for the map and 2-4 pages for the general description with personalities, special features, etc. It would make an great companion book to the Road of Kings sourcebook.
 
Not a bad idea. I'm assuming they'd rather keep the option open to release future products like "Shadizar-City of Wickedness" & "Messantia", but they may consider it.

By the way, I noticed recently that Mongoose actually made a forum (a thread had been started by Raphael a while back and it really generated a lot of interest) called What Should Mongoose Publish Next? Why not post it there, they seem to read posts in this forum?
 
I considered this Conan forum better as the one you suggest is the theater of all kinds of propositions that concerns gamer that Mongoose doesn't currently publish.
 
True, however I tend to wonder if the Mongoose folks actually read the threads in this forum. Past experience has made me think not, although they do reply when you contact them directly about stores trying to sell products or people breaking etiquette rules, but I think that publishing forum was created after it was suggested that Raphael contact them directly and submit it.

Anyway, if bad comes to worse and you get frustrated, go to an atlas site and look up some of their old city maps (from other games or medieval maps, for instance, I used Constantinople ca. 1450 from one site for a game a couple years back).
 
Yes, the Mongoose team read all the forum. When I decide to go on satire modus they come surely within the day to erase or shut the topic. :)
However I would like to see if this interest much people before going to ask them on the specific forum.
For Conan cities, I easily suggest earthdawn (without the flying ship of course). The Sky Point and Vivane boxed set is an excellent city write-up because it has a touch of "antiquity" that not only doesn't exist any more but that is forgotten to all.
Parlainth is great too but it is already a ruin. However the cover is fantastic because the city is of cyclopean proportion and we just see a ghoul lurking in the shadows of the big buildings - http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showbook&bookid=377
 
Has anyone tried adapting the new Thieves World sourcebooks to Conan yet? I'm an old Thieves World fan but haven't got to reading to this yet. While not based on Howard's work there are a lot of similairites in the fiction written for that series and the his work. I'd imagine if the sourcebook was done well, a little work and the rotten metropolis of Sanctuary could inspire a lot of Hyborian cityscapes.
 
Raven Blackwell said:
Has anyone tried adapting the new Thieves World sourcebooks to Conan yet? I'm an old Thieves World fan but haven't got to reading to this yet. While not based on Howard's work there are a lot of similairites in the fiction written for that series and the his work. I'd imagine if the sourcebook was done well, a little work and the rotten metropolis of Sanctuary could inspire a lot of Hyborian cityscapes.
I just heard about it but never discovered it but I remember that I liked the Lankhmar setting (for AD&D 2nd) which described the city pretty well. As it was a port city on a coast near marshland it is quite difficult to set up in the Conan World.
 
Thanks for the suggestion of the Thieves' World book. I just had an impromptu game cancelled for Cthulhu instead this weekend, I was scrambling trying to find a map of a port town to use as a Turanian port city, and Jaffa & Constantinople or Beirut just weren't quite right (although by the way if you download a medieval map it's generally nice).

Well, even though I'm off the hook for this weekend, I'll see if my local game store has it & give it a look.
 
The King said:
I just heard about it but never discovered it but I remember that I liked the Lankhmar setting (for AD&D 2nd) which described the city pretty well. As it was a port city on a coast near marshland it is quite difficult to set up in the Conan World.

Not really. Marsh and coastal harbor go together naturally- and most marshes aren't going to show up on the scale of most Conan maps published so far so you can sneak it in anywhere. A little tweaking and Lankhmar or Sanctuary could fit any coastal region of Hyboria- you just have to change ethicity to match the country it is in. Or even better dump it on an island and make it a pirate haven.
 
Raven Blackwell said:
Bregales said:
Well, even though I'm off the hook for this weekend, I'll see if my local game store has it & give it a look.

Lemme know you opinion? Still debating getting it myself.
Sorry, didn't get a chance today - worked late. I'll check tomorrow. When I do get it, I'll compare it to the TSR adventure (in the Conan rpg from '85) as well.
 
Raven Blackwell said:
The King said:
I just heard about it but never discovered it but I remember that I liked the Lankhmar setting (for AD&D 2nd) which described the city pretty well. As it was a port city on a coast near marshland it is quite difficult to set up in the Conan World.

Not really. Marsh and coastal harbor go together naturally- and most marshes aren't going to show up on the scale of most Conan maps published so far so you can sneak it in anywhere. A little tweaking and Lankhmar or Sanctuary could fit any coastal region of Hyboria- you just have to change ethicity to match the country it is in. Or even better dump it on an island and make it a pirate haven.
I sold all my Lankhmar sourcebooks anyway. Moreover there is now 2 cities (Shadizar and Messantia) which can be used.
 
Raven Blackwell said:
Bregales said:
Well, even though I'm off the hook for this weekend, I'll see if my local game store has it & give it a look.
Lemme know you opinion? Still debating getting it myself.
Well, I just got back from the store in NYC and they said they're not expecting it for another 2 weeks, it could be another month, so we'll have to wait. Oh crap, I forgot to even look for the Lankhmar book! :oops: At least I finally picked up Tales of the Black Kingdoms 8)
 
You do know that Sancturary of Thieves World and Lankhmar are two seperate cities from two seperate sets of sword and sorcery tales right?

And I have both published Conan city books so far- it's just that I wanted to see if anyone had read the Thieves World's sourcebook and let me know how it was in comparison. I've just skimmed a few pages myself.

As for future city suppliments- I'd vote for the capital of Turan as a switch from the recent focus on the Western Hyborian kingdoms. What was it's name again- I don't have the books in front of me. Ag- something?
 
Raven Blackwell said:
You do know that Sancturary of Thieves World and Lankhmar are two seperate cities from two seperate sets of sword and sorcery tales right??

Yes I know that lankhmar originates from Fritz Leiber and Sanctuary from Lynn Abey (http://www.lynnabbey.com/TW/thieves__world_.htm) though I never read the latter. However both are related to the same thing: thieves.

And I have both published Conan city books so far- it's just that I wanted to see if anyone had read the Thieves World's sourcebook and let me know how it was in comparison. I've just skimmed a few pages myself.

Would you be so kind as to give me a short review of Messantia? I would like to buy it but the price is a bit high so I hope the content is worth the price.

As for future city suppliments- I'd vote for the capital of Turan as a switch from the recent focus on the Western Hyborian kingdoms. What was it's name again- I don't have the books in front of me. Ag- something?
do you mean agrapurr?
Yes it would make an excellent sourcebook, though the slavery trade is institutionalized in Turan.
 
Hey, I was just emailing my gaming group about products listed for pre-order on the FRP website, and I saw this software product and thought you might be interested:

Source Maps: Temples, Tombs and Catacombs!.

Here's a product description on the url hyperlinked above:
A repository of sacred sites
Whether your priest needs a home, your vampire needs a crypt, or you just find sacred sites fascinating, Source Maps: Temples, Tombs and Catacombs is what you need to fire your imagination.

From the majestic Great Pyramid to the prehistoric megaliths of Stonehenge, SM:TTC gives you twenty five of the finest sacred sites you’ll find anywhere.

With detailed floor plans, 3D views and surroundings, plus incredible historical and adventure material, this is an unparalleled resource for game masters and historians.

Finally, if you have our CC2 Pro map making software, SM:TTC adds new tools to help you create more sacred sites, or change the ones included here. The tools include a selection of symbols, templates and powerful new drawing tools to create stylish sites of your own.

Bring the past to life with Temples, Tombs and Catacombs!

Summary
Source Maps: Temples, Tombs and Catacombs! includes floorplans, surroundings and 3D views based on each of these archetypal castles:

25 sites, 149 plans:
Angkor Wat
Borgund Stave Church
Christchurch Cathedral
Dwarven Treasury
Gizeh - Pyramid of Khufu
Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum
Temple of Hapshetsut
Hochdorf Burial Site
Ise Shrine
Kairouan Mosque
Lich’s Mansion
Machu Picchu
Natural Cave System
Pantheon
Parthenon
Tomb of Quin Huangdi
Tomb of Ramesses II
Reims Cathedral
First Temple of Solomon
Speyer Cathedral
Stonehenge
Teotihuacan
St Martin’s Church
Mad Wizard’s Dungeon


SM:TTC! comes with its own powerful stand-alone viewer, so it is not necessary to have CC2-Pro. However, if you do own CC2-Pro, TTC! adds more than 108 temple-designing tools, templates, 70 symbols, 32 hatch styles (the same tools we needed to create the 2D layouts):


If you have Perspectives Pro, you also get 250 temple perspective symbols you need to create 3D castle views like the one in Source Maps: Temples, Tombs and Catacombs!


Adventure Material
Each site has web pages detailing its real-world history with photos of the site.
The adventure material comprises twenty adventures in 3.5 Edition format, a linked horror campaign across five site using d20 Modern rules, three adventures converted to Action! System rules and two for the Dying Earth roleplaying game. The adventures are written by experienced RPG writers and take full advantage of the range of maps available.



Extra Goodies
For your convenience, we've also included the complete set of the sites in png format and provided a book of the sites as a 150-page PDF.

System requirements:

A PC running Microsoft® Windows® (95 to XP inclusive)
30MB hard disk space
A CD-ROM drive (for boxed version)

Package contents:

CD-ROM and Essentials guide(boxed version only)
90 days web-based technical support

'Action! System' and the Action! System logo are trademarks of Gold Rush Games and are used with permission."


The web page also has sample maps and floorplans.
 
Thanks for the link but don't you think ruins and catacomb are a bit out of topic for a sourcebook on cities?
However there is such a thread entitled "Conan: A book about lost cities and ruins" in the forum What Should Mongoose Publish Next?

Moreover where is the need for such a software where you have to create your own dungeons. Printed sourcebooks is very useful for those who don't have the time to draw it themself. Moreover I think this software isn't particularly user-friendly (at least the campaign cartographer).
 
Anyway I bump my topic because I would like to see 1-3 cities per kingdom (there are approximately 30 kingdoms there) so I could see and describe the difference between a city in Turan and one in Koth or Shem.
No need to describe them in details because all cities have inns and market place and palasts and barracks, etc. but I believe it is important to catch the feeling players may have when they enter a city in a new kingdom they don't know yet.
 
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