Conan and the Shadow of the Sorcerer Box Set

Belkregos said:
so....what levels is the adventure set for?

You can use it with starting-level characters.

It should guide them into the 6-7 level range.

Or, GMs can easily adjust the difficulty for higher-level characters..
 
Jason Durall said:
Your assumption is incorrect.

*Monty Burns voice: on*

Excellent.

*voice:eek:ff* :)

I was just curious, why is it "Conan AND the Shadow..." instead of "Conan: the Shadow...". :)
 
I am most definately looking forward to this box set.

Oh, I don't think Conan dies. As I remember, he just disappears after his visit to the Antillia Empire in the west with Sigurd (i.e. Conan of the Isles).
 
VincentDarlage said:
Bjorn the Barbarian said:
Oh, I don't think Conan dies.

You think he is immortal?
I wouldn't say so, but I can't imagine Howard writing or even thinking of the death of Conan. So the metaphor that he sails to the West (where the sun sets) is the best possible. As for some heroes, we suppose that Conan dies but we didn't read or heard of it.
It must not be forgotten that Howard was a poet, though his vivid fighting descriptions were quite graphic.
 
Bjorn the Barbarian said:
Oh, I don't think Conan dies. As I remember, he just disappears after his visit to the Antillia Empire in the west with Sigurd (i.e. Conan of the Isles).

You know, the best "death of Conan" has already been written, only the author was David Gemmell and he called the character Druss, in the novel Legend.


Warning: Potential spoilers abound below! Attempt at Inviso-text to mask information.





I somehow like the notion of an aged Conan turning his back on everything until being brought out of semi-retirement to lead one big last battle - perhaps against the Vanir or the Picts.

I also like the notion of him falling in battle, but doing so in such a heroic, unimaginably tough manner that his enemies claim his body and give him a funeral in high barbaric honor, even inviting his allies under a flag of truce - showing him respect due their greatest foe.

The next day, hostilities resume, but for one day, both sides are united in their respect towards a fallen legend.
 
I sense a plot hook here! I see the aged Conan sort of like King Arthur, he will return again when he is needed, sword in hand. Always one last grand adventure. :D
 
I sense a plot hook here! I see the aged Conan sort of like King Arthur, he will return again when he is needed, sword in hand. Always one last grand adventure. :D

The guest posting above was me again. I keep forgetting to login first before I post. Sorry.

I do think that a honorable death being recognized by your enemies would be a fitting end for Conan should the need arise. For now though, I see my favorite barbarian living forever.

Evil thought: What if Akivasha actually infected Conan with a taint of vampirism when she bit him in "Hour of the Dragon"? After his death, Conan could come back in undeath to plague his enemies. Could make an interesting campaign. PCs must now hunt down and destroy one whom they once admired. A very tough challenge indeed.

Any thoughts? :twisted:
 
The King said:
I wouldn't say so, but I can't imagine Howard writing or even thinking of the death of Conan. So the metaphor that he sails to the West (where the sun sets) is the best possible.

How about, "He was, I think, king of Aquilonia for many years, in a turbulent and unquiet reign, when the Hyborian civilization had reached its most magnificent high-tide and every king had imperial ambitions. At first he fought on the defensive, but I am of the opinion that at last he was forced into wars of aggression as a matter of self-preservation. Whether he succeeded in conquering a world-wide empire, or perished in the attempt, I do not know." (Robert E. Howard in a letter to P.S. Miller)

I think he thought about the death of Conan. He just never told us the tale. Since the essay, The Hyborian Age does not mention such a world-wide empire then I suggest that he does not create a world-wide empire. Therefore, I think it is safe to suggest he perished in the attempt, which would be a fitting end to the mighty Cimmerian.
 
VincentDarlage said:
How about, "He was, I think, king of Aquilonia for many years, in a turbulent and unquiet reign, when the Hyborian civilization had reached its most magnificent high-tide and every king had imperial ambitions. At first he fought on the defensive, but I am of the opinion that at last he was forced into wars of aggression as a matter of self-preservation. Whether he succeeded in conquering a world-wide empire, or perished in the attempt, I do not know." (Robert E. Howard in a letter to P.S. Miller)

I think he thought about the death of Conan. He just never told us the tale. Since the essay, The Hyborian Age does not mention such a world-wide empire then I suggest that he does not create a world-wide empire. Therefore, I think it is safe to suggest he perished in the attempt, which would be a fitting end to the mighty Cimmerian.

This is indeed a possibility. (I thought The sailing to the West was also a letter to P.S. Miller; I don't refer to the de Camp's pastiche with Antillia).

Yes, Conan probably dies, but I say Howard would probably never have written a story about Conan's death. He himself is not sure how Conan died because he never thought really about it. "Every man has to die" (says Dire Straits) but the veil of decency and shyness keep this event shrouded in mystery.
 
I read that Druss book, legend, and thought of Conan as I read it...excellent stuff, and a fitting end, potentially.

Still, it's not been written, it will never happen ;)
 
I plan on re reading all the Gemmel books in the Drenai saga as they are a great recource for characters in the Conan world.
 
bump...
i guess this is still on schedule for december...it'll be a long 3 months.... :roll: then again i'm sureit'll be worth it,
this weekend som of the guys and i were talking about the adventuring style for conan, some of them where missing an overarching story, they felt they lacked an overall goal or epic type adventure, first i sugested them reading more of the conan stories, survival is an epic effort on to itself, but i did understand the point, i think it has more to do with the DM and how he ties the adventure toghether, anyway, there was some talk about changing systems and i started to panic :lol: :lol: (not really but it did touch a nerve) and i brought up theis up coming campaigh boxed set, wich i hope will help our DM give the rest of the players something they fell is more "epic" than survival and plunder,
i am really enjoying this game
our DM is really good about running a made adventure but when it comes to starting to improvise he is not very confortable, anyways, we usually take a turn as DM, i'm kind of burned at the moment and tight on time, so again i hope this boxed set will help
 
Belkregos said:
this weekend som of the guys and i were talking about the adventuring style for conan, some of them where missing an overarching story, they felt they lacked an overall goal or epic type adventure, first i sugested them reading more of the conan stories, survival is an epic effort on to itself, but i did understand the point, i think it has more to do with the DM and how he ties the adventure toghether, anyway, there was some talk about changing systems and i started to panic :lol: :lol: (not really but it did touch a nerve) and i brought up theis up coming campaigh boxed set, wich i hope will help our DM give the rest of the players something they fell is more "epic" than survival and plunder,
i am really enjoying this game

It's interesting to hear that your group has made the same experience; the same problem was dawning at our gaming table. I had created a series of 5, maybe 6, loosely connected adventures trying to stay true to the episodic and mostly unconnected REH stories. When this problem you mentioned first came up, we took a break and played a few sessions of another RPG. During this break I sketched an "epic" storyline taking the PCs from level 1 to (supposedly) level 12 or 13.
The parts of the campaign are still mostly unconnected, but some NPCs appear again and again (not as the cliche arch-enemy) and always a few scenarios form a unit (beginning as Hyperborean nomads defending against raiding Nordheimers, counterraid, defeat, joining a local warlord against a Witchman, with this same warlord into a Brythunian civil war, there abandoning their commander and joining a mercenary company, after a Pyrrhus-victory a heavy argument between the mercenaries and their Brythunian employer, a devastating battle in a burning city, the scattered remnants retreat into the mountains and raid undifferently into Brythunia and Corinthia etc.). The commander of their second mercenary company will hire them several years later and some levels higher again - for a coup de etat in Khauran (yes, a la A Witch Shall Be Born, and yes, they will be on the evil side). Another recurring character is the Salome witch - they first kidnap their mother unknowing that their employer is not just a disappointed nobleman, who wants the girl for marriage. Then they rekidnap the girl unknowing that she is pregnant with demonic seed ("we killed the sorcerer, before the demonic cloud could 100% materialize and possess the girl, didn't we?" - nay, the cloud was demonic seed and it has done his task, hehehe) and bring the girl into another noble family, where she gives birth to Salome and dies during birth. The child grows up very fast (she is half demonic, after all) and brings all the household under her thrall, studies arcane lore and will appear at the end together with the mentioned mercenary commander as their employer (the knowledge of the origin of Salome they will get, when they will be strongly aligned to the usurpers).
One major series of adventures (before Khauran) will be drawn from AK: Mesoptamia.

In this way we have an epic storyline, that results from the actions of the PCs, including some minor story lines, but stay at same time true to the episodic feeling of REH.
 
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