Alternate Hyborian Age

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

What about an alternate Hyborian Age in which humans are not the only intelligent species on Earth.
Dwarves would be no problem. Their homes are hidden fortresses in the mountains of fire (or similiar places). Soldiers would be their favoured class.
Halflings could have thier homes in Khauran, Aquilonia or other civilized nations. Thief (and Commoner) should be their favoured classes.
Elves would perfectly fit into the Pictish Wilderness, Cimmeria and other regions with large, deep forests. Borderers and Temptresses would be their favoured classes.
Gnomes are also very civilized and would fit into Argos. Scholar would be their favoured class.
I would place Orcs into steppes regions like Hyrkania or southern Hyperborea. Nomad or Barbariian should be their favoured class.
Yuan-ti would perfectly fit into the setting. And Noble, Scholar and Temptress are perfect for them as favoured classes.

 

[Hervé]

The game you're talking about already exists. It's called Dungeons & Dragons.

 

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

:roll:
D&D is not Conan + Dwarves, Elves & Co. It lacks all the elements the Hyborian Age has.
But that I suggest is an alternate Hyborian Age with additional 'races'. Everything else stays the same. Just the world we know and love with an additional level of complexity.

 

[Ichabod]

D&D could be Conan with other intelligent races. I can't imagine keeping any sense of Conan with such things, whereas it would have a lot of the feel of D&D to where I'd expect pretty much anyone looking at the world would call it a D&D world.

I can't put enough importance on this question: What's the benefit of adding these races? I just can't fathom any benefit whatsoever.

If it's just the mechanics of Conan for a D&D world, then use the mechanics of Conan instead of D&D.

 

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

It's not just the game mechanics, but the rest of the setting.
IMHO those fantasy races do fit into the setting.
Dwarves, a people of black-smiths who teached men the secret of smithing, are part of many legends and fairy tales and thus are no simple fantasy race. Thus they fit perfectly into the setting. But you should not use them the way traditional fantasy RPG use them.
Elves (or Sidhe (the celtic version) are also part of many legends of old. A secretive magical people which are revered and feared by many people.
Orcs, although the name was created by Tolkien as the elven name for goblins, are primitive 'cave-men', some kind of 'neanderthals'. Thus they could easily used as such.
Yuan-ti are snake-men and if my memory serves me right, snake-men were one of the nemies of King Kull. And there is no reason that they could still be a danger in Conan's time.
The only problem is that both gnome and halfling are modern inventions. Gnomes were created by Paracelsus as some kind of earth elementals. And Halflings are Tolkien's Hobbits. I've added both because they are core races in D&D (up to and including 3rd edition).

 

[Der Rote Baron]

There really isn't any: Orc are Picts, or Hyrkanians or Black Kingdom Tribesmen - at least that would be there role. Elves would be without any real use. Halflings and gnomes would just be small humans with some extra - and if that extra is gnomish magic it would turn the Hyborian Age into something very different.

I myself run almost all my campaigns with almost none of the demi-, sub- or half-humans except for enemies (orcs, goblins etc.). But even then just for an excuse to half something live in dark dungeons.

From my point of view I think that most of these races (mybe except halflings) are really not very good player-characters and throw the world generally off balance:
Elves live for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years. Now take an averyge 50, 60, 70 years old person - heck, even with my 37-years I'm turning more conservative every year. Imagin someone who had contact with Alexander the Greatand Aristotle,Julius Ceasar, Mohammed, Charlemagne, Richard the Lionhearted, Martin Luther, Napoleon, Churchill and Magaret Thatcher on a person-to-person-basis having a meeting with George W. or angela Merkel telling HIM what to do. That is not even speaking with a toddler! "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Talk to you later ... in 50 years." - Its not even worth remebering the names of humans - they change their leaders every 30, 50, 100 years or so ...

Dwarves - living exspectation about 250 to 300 years. Same thing, just slightly less pronounced. But why do I need a grumpy hairy blacksmith or fighter for when a human can fit the role much better - same grumpiness, same hair, more height, less longevity.

Halflings - small cooks and thieves. Great ...

Orcs - call them nomad brigands or bandits in the forest and you save yourself the tusks.

Gnomes. Who needs illusionist with beards living in hills with a strange sense of humor?

The Conan Age with demi-humans is not Conan any more. Regular fantasy. And Skelos is a drow-lich ... :roll:

 

[Clovenhoof]

Verdammt, Baron ist schneller gewesen. ^^

(Damn it, Baron beat me to it.)

 

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

Your problem is, that you still want to use them in the traditional way. Take a look at old legends. There you find how to play them. Sometimes secretive, sometimes helpfull but always uninterested in human politics. (And longlivety never means that some one has met all the great persons of their time during his long life).
Orcs can be used when even a Pict is too civilized. A theme of this genre is that the hero has to fight against inhuman primitives in service of an evil sorcerer.

 

[p1fx]

one best bits about conan is thae lack of elves etc, as its fard enough to justify the existance or creation of one race say humans let alone a whole host of various humanoids (as player races).
why not just make up human variants to suit, woads for elves, like celts n proper picts from britain, living amongst the trees and with abilities such as sight by sound in woods etc, pigmys for halflings or gnomes, neanderthals for orcs etc?

oh and snake men already exist in the game, check the bestiary of hyboria.

 

[Ichabod]

Your problem is, that you still want to use them in the traditional way. Take a look at old legends. There you find how to play them. Sometimes secretive, sometimes helpfull but always uninterested in human politics. (And longlivety never means that some one has met all the great persons of their time during his long life).
Orcs can be used when even a Pict is too civilized. A theme of this genre is that the hero has to fight against inhuman primitives in service of an evil sorcerer.

It's fine to use fantasy races in a more myth and folklore way than is typical to D&D and the numerous knockoffs or in the various Middle Earth RPGs in one's fantasy campaign, but what does it have to do with Conan?

Conan has a world. It has nonhuman races. They are scary. As in horror. There's a reason why Lovecraft monsters get mentioned a lot on this forum. Dwarves and elves come with too much baggage to capture the right flavor, nevermind that they distract from what's already a world full of different human races.

I can see someone doing a Norse setting where these races fit in as mythical beings rather than just silly variations on humanity or whatever, I can even see someone setting something like that in a Nordheimir border dimension to Conan's world, but that's not going to capture much, if any, sense of Conan. It's just a different genre.

And, again, what's the benefit? Inhuman primitives are easily done as man-apes. Etc.

 

[Clovenhoof]

Or in other words, I found it so very refreshing to NOT have a bunch of nonhuman races crawling all over the world.

Sure, Nordic Mythology for instance features Elves and Dwarves -- but did you know that those two terms are often interchangeable, i.e. they sometimes call one creature an Elf and on the next page it's a Dwarf. For example, one of the Dwarves named in the Völuspá is named Gandalf - which means Wand-Elf or Staff-Elf.

On the other hand, if you read contempary accounts of e.g. the Hunnic Storm in the 5th century, you'll read physical descriptions of the Huns and think "damn, those are Orcs!" -- so you'll be just fine if you have those helpless villages raided by Hyrkanian riders, just make them _behave_ like real badass Orcs would.
Similarly, the Picts, Darfari and other savage races will do nicely when you need "Orcs" in different environments.

So my advice is, IF you want to make mythology come alive in your game with Elves and Dwarves, then use them very sparsely, probably each group existing only at one particular place, and of course strictly as NPCs. The players might meet them maybe once, enjoy a nice high-fantasy encounter, and then leave again for new adventures. I really can't see Elves or Dwarves as more than one-shot intermezzos in a Conan game.

 

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

I'm giving up. It was just an idea.

 

[Hervé]

It was just an idea.

Yep. And a bad one. :wink:

 

[Malcadon]

Demi-humans in Hyboria... I remember that game! It was called Darksun. LOL

Combining elements of D&D into Hyboria is not a bad thing, but it would take some cleaver thinking to pull off. Somethings would be easy to pull off, like some of the monsters, or Gods/Arch-Devils/Demon Lords. As you found out, the Tolkien elements is a hard sell. Hobbies would likely live deep within civilized lands as the world is a dangerous place for them. Dwarves would be like Nordhelmers, but living underground. Elves and gnomes would be aloof fairy folk and smaller then what you get in D&D. I cant even think of a place for Goblinoids in a world full of barbaric races - except everywhere.

All though, I dont play D&D in the Hyboian Age, I do play D&D in the Hyboian style! And it rocks! :twisted:

 

[Clovenhoof]

That picture is not D&D, it's the cover art of the old Hero Quest tabletop game. ^^ Got mine some 20 years ago and still have it. 8)

 

[Malcadon]

That picture is not D&D, it's the cover art of the old Hero Quest tabletop game. ^^ Got mine some 20 years ago and still have it. 8)

Well, I know that! It like D&D but with a Sword & Sorcery feel to it. Hell, it what 4e D&D wish it could be!

Even I have my old set, plus some (I'm still finding stuff to put in it)! That is the best dame boardgames, ever!

 

[Clovenhoof]

Barbarians rocked hardest even then. ^^

 

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

All though, I dont play D&D in the Hyboian Age, I do play D&D in the Hyboian style! And it rocks! :twisted:

Yeah! That's what I wanted: Low Magic High Fantasy Hyborian Style.

 

[Malcadon]

Barbarians rocked hardest even then. ^^

Dame strait! That game is cool, even the Elf has ballz of brass (unlike other fantasy games)!

 

[Hervé]

Malcadon wrote:

even the Elf has ballz of brass

you're wrong here. Coz Elves don't have balls. :twisted: