Anyone using Conan in their Conan game?

[quigs]

Yeah, in my campaign he's king of Aquilonia, but I am purposely leaving out certain stories of his from ever happening, just so I can keep all the cool villains that he would have normally killed off.

The group doesn't really care about him, as only one is Aquilonian, but most of my campaign is taking place in Corinthia anyways.

 

[Willowhugger]

There's an irony that both of the player characters have met Conan the Barbarian but don't actually realize it yet. One of the player characters is a veteran of the Battle of Venarium and largely viewed as a "hero" of the massacre by some face saving Aquilonian pre-printing press propaganda.

The second is an Aesir who was part of the band that Conan used to work with and unwittingly is actually part of the tribe that Conan hails from via marriage with them (albeit a very odd marriage that involved kidnapping).

It's unlikely either will bring up the character from their youth unless they encounter Conan while traveling. Right now, Conan is still a thief wandering about Hyborea rather than a mercenary let alone King.

 

[Style]

I agree the most with these two comments:

I don't use Conan directly and avoid mentioning the big guy. After all these years of adventuring, he really doesn't need to steal my players' spotlight.

In my campaign there is no Conan, this has the advantage that I can use the Howard stories as adventures and the players don't have to worry about a big Cimmerian tapping them on the shoulder when they feel like doing a bit of trampling the jewelled thrones!

Only one of my players has read any of Howard's tales, and he's only read a few. My campaign starts around the time when Conan was a young man, just beginning to leave his mark on the world. Here's the thing, Conan doesn't exist. His mother miscarried, and the world will never know him. This, coupled with my players unfamiliarity with the stories, leaves the world ripe for the characters to play the part of Conan. I can use Howard's tales as inspiration for my adventures, and the characters can be the great heroes of the age, playing a great role in the history of the age. I've already ran the Isle of Iron Statues (nearly exactly like the story), and my players loved it. The Isle of the Black Ones is coming soon, as well as Jordan's Conan the Invincible. I can't wait to see where this goes!

I use Conan in my campaign - every adventure. My players all take turns using him - he is by far their favourite fictional character and each and everyone of them relishes when it is their turn to role play the grim Cimmerian. It is an absolute blast - although I'm sure it would make some purists roll over in their grave.

This is an interesting idea, and I admit it has a certain appeal. Having said that, ultimately I imagine it would be more rewarding to have a character of your own creation become a legendary hero. I liken it to a great painter. What is more rewarding, copying the works of the greats that have come before you, or creating your own masterpieces? If you copy some one else's work, even if it's phenomenally done, it will still just be a copy. If you create an original piece, even if it's just good, not great, it will be more meaningful than a great copy.

But then, even with different heroes, I'm copying Howard's adventures, so take it for what it's worth!

 

[DaveNC]

Like most of you, I don't use Conan directly in our games. Our adventures are set when he is still the King, in his later years. He paid the players salaries when they were guarding the Pict Frontier, but thats about it, nothing really direct.

 

[Der Rote Baron]

In my campaign King Vilerus was just (two years ago) replaced by Numidides. I am not that well-reda in the tales of Conan to have the chronology of events ready in my head when Conan will slay him and replace him as King but - quite farnkly - I don't care: None of my players have read the stories and only know the Schwartzenegger-Conan, so there is not much to worry about.

We played Heretics of Tarantia, but set in the times of Numidides.

I would also like to include certain events and charactrs from Howard's story so I pretty much guess that my Hyborian Age has to cope with no Coanan at all - powerful non-player characters that are central to the canonic storyline tend to overshadow the pcs and I don't like that. It's like playin the second most famous consulting detective, living in Baker Street 221C.

 

[Hervé]

Conan might exist in my campaign, although I don't plan any meeting with my players. In my campaign, he's still a young rogue, Vilerus still stands on the throne of Aquilonia and Yldiz still rules Turan, although Yezdigerd's power's growing... After Conan's passage, most of the places suitable for adventure are just a smoking pile of ruins and most major villains/monsters are dead by his hand, so that's why I chose a time period where my players could take Conan's place... It worked pretty well so far but I might encounter problems with the upcoming Trial of Blood campaign, where Conan is supposed to be king of Aquilonia.