Mortepierre
Mongoose
With the lack of Conan adventures on the market, I recently found myself turning to my collection of old ‘classical’ AD&D modules (1E mainly, but also bD&D) and wondering which one could be ‘adapted’ without ruining either the adventure or the setting.
Unfortunately, the answer is: not many.
Let’s face it, the number of modules corresponding to the following criteria aren’t legion:
- most (if not all) opponents are humans
- few magical items (if any at all)
- few (if any at all) ‘monsters’
- treasure is allowed as long as the players have little chance of running away with (most of) it
Keeping that in mind, I think I found a match: B4 The Lost City.
It’s an isolated location, filled with (degenerate) drug-using humans living in the ruins of a once-mighty city and worshipping a demonic-monster that is slowly eating them to extinction.
Heck! This is almost like Akhlat and Xuchotl all rolled into one! Perfect!
You can place it in any desert, although Shem looks tempting because the inhabitants could easily be ex-Acheronians (or ex-Stygians).
Of course, one would have to eliminate hobgoblins and such, as well as the magical items, but doing it doesn’t ruin the feel of the adventure and is easily done.
I am aware that the city was ‘upgraded’ to 3.5E in Dragon Magazine #315 but I don’t much care for the (nearly) epic version of Zargon found in that article. The original adventure was for lvl 1-3 PC and that suits me fine. Having a ton of hit points isn’t mandatory for Zargon as long as he is (nearly) invulnerable to ‘normal’ weapons. I’ll have to provide a (difficult) way for the players to defeat it, probably through a one-shot magical item hidden on the Isle of Death and guarded by ghouls (something capable of casting Incantation of Amalric’s Witchman comes to mind). I especially appreciate the fact that killing Zargon ‘for good’ involves doing something special with his remains.
It would almost be worth it to have the players succeed only to stumble on the city again years later and discover it was all for nothing!
I have started working on the conversion but I was wondering if anyone had already attempted it. For that matter, I am curious to know what other modules are considered a ‘good fit’ for the setting.
Unfortunately, the answer is: not many.
Let’s face it, the number of modules corresponding to the following criteria aren’t legion:
- most (if not all) opponents are humans
- few magical items (if any at all)
- few (if any at all) ‘monsters’
- treasure is allowed as long as the players have little chance of running away with (most of) it
Keeping that in mind, I think I found a match: B4 The Lost City.
It’s an isolated location, filled with (degenerate) drug-using humans living in the ruins of a once-mighty city and worshipping a demonic-monster that is slowly eating them to extinction.
Heck! This is almost like Akhlat and Xuchotl all rolled into one! Perfect!
You can place it in any desert, although Shem looks tempting because the inhabitants could easily be ex-Acheronians (or ex-Stygians).
Of course, one would have to eliminate hobgoblins and such, as well as the magical items, but doing it doesn’t ruin the feel of the adventure and is easily done.
I am aware that the city was ‘upgraded’ to 3.5E in Dragon Magazine #315 but I don’t much care for the (nearly) epic version of Zargon found in that article. The original adventure was for lvl 1-3 PC and that suits me fine. Having a ton of hit points isn’t mandatory for Zargon as long as he is (nearly) invulnerable to ‘normal’ weapons. I’ll have to provide a (difficult) way for the players to defeat it, probably through a one-shot magical item hidden on the Isle of Death and guarded by ghouls (something capable of casting Incantation of Amalric’s Witchman comes to mind). I especially appreciate the fact that killing Zargon ‘for good’ involves doing something special with his remains.
It would almost be worth it to have the players succeed only to stumble on the city again years later and discover it was all for nothing!
I have started working on the conversion but I was wondering if anyone had already attempted it. For that matter, I am curious to know what other modules are considered a ‘good fit’ for the setting.
