Conan: Aquilonia: Flower of the West

[J-Star]

Thanks a lot Vincent

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you quote your book. I just bought it two days ago and haven't yet had time to read it cover-to-cover.

I guess I just spotted the prohibition on sorcery from the original, non-Atlantean core book and my brain skipped over anything else.

Thanks again.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Just want to point out that the intolerant Mitrans have become an enemy to my rather sorcerous party in my version of Hyboria. They had a bad experience working for Aquilonia as noted above. It seems that the devout Mitran Aquilonian lord was willing to wipe out hundreds of his own people in an attempt to destroy a magical artifact with the reasoning that it could have been a threat to his rule. Sort of like a certain government's attitude toward Weapons of Mass destruction, but I digress....

Raven

 

[VincentDarlage]

Sounds like you have an interesting campaign, Raven.

 

[sbarrie]

Just want to poitn out that the intolerant Mitrans have become an enemy to my rather sorcerous party in my version of Hyboria. They had a bad experience working for Aquilonia as noted above. It seems that the devout Mitran Aquilonian lord was willing to wipe out hundreds of his own people in an attempt to destroy a magical artifact with the reasoning that it could have been a threat to his rule.

"And well he should have! The gods made men just strong enough to resist the forces of Darkness! Our fate is precipitous at best - every time a pure man turns his back on evil, the darkness grows deeper!

Only by uniting under Mitra can Hyborean men survive against the horrors that surround us! Those who turn from Mitra and embrace INHUMAN sorcery are the worst traitors of all! Mitra defends men, not monsters, and his back shall turn on us and his light leave us should we forget that!

Would you see your sons' blood feed the Great Serpent to the south? The priests of Asura - who lurk amongst us! - are planning exactly that! The Picts breed their daughters to subhuman Chakras - and their gods command them to do the same to yours!

Those who died doing fighting evil will be forever remembered in Mitra's Halls. It is only thanks to their sacrifice that we good Hyborean people can forever preserve our decent way of life."

:twisted:

(Thanks Raven - I now have an adventure for Thursday!)

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Well, as a practitioner of inhuman sorcery [I am a shaman among other things] taking a different view of things in the Hyborian world comes naturally. [I have two Stygian PCs for crying out loud….] So the idea that the supposedly lordly Aquilonian Empire weren’t really the good guys and Mitran not a ‘good god’, but one that may or may not even exist. And if he does he’s a jealous one who denies his children the knowledge of Creation’s gift of magic to all but a few ‘chosen’ who destroy humanity’s potential for their own profit. But I digress.

However, don’t think I paint Stygians as good guys either. Like Howard, I say there are no ‘good guys’ or people in white hats roaming the world. Even Conan is hardly a model of proper behavior. As Amra he did after all help kill thousands of relatively innocent people beside Belit. Not to mention all those years of banditry, mercenary work and thieving. He usually just kind of stumbles into being a good guy by being a little more decent that the world about him and an odd sense of enlightened self-interest. After all, if he wants to keep ruling a portion of the world, he’s going to have to make sure that it doesn’t get overrun by hostile Outsiders- something other people don’t seem to realize as threatening their power base. I mean what is it with all those cultists anyway? Do they honestly believe something good will happen to them when the Old Ones start consuming the world?

So like my .sig says, I usually pit my somewhat amoral party against other evils, and not for profit or philosophic principles, but for bonds of friendship and mutual assistance. They’ve become attached to the rather laid back attitude of Argos and Messantia and having lost a mentor and friend to a cult that menaces that country they’ve found themselves somewhat unlikely defenders of the Merchant Kingdom and their own small power base within that city.

Raven, who never planned it this way, but Fate plays with creators and created alike.

 

[sbarrie]

When I started to write my previous message, I intended to make the point that in Howard's writings the strongest magic seems innately corrupting, evil and inhuman. People have good reason to reject it culturally, and Mongoose's system supports that nicely.

Then I got into the character of a Mitran Priest, and found I enjoyed writing that more. Right or wrong, he'll be in my campaign tonight.

I suppose all I have to say now is that:

1) ConanRPG makes a damn fine base for any Swords and Sorcery campaign. As you've shown, there's no need to slavishly follow REH's world beliefs. In fact, I've considered stripping out the magic system and setting, and replacing them with Green Ronin's Psychic Handbook and my own campaign world.

2) My first instinct upon hearing that you were altering the magic rules because you were a shaman was to think that sometimes knowing too much about something can hurt a game. I'm a physicist, and I learned a long time ago to separate fictional physics from real world physics. Except in Hard SciFi, of course, but nobody lets me play that anymore (I misused a black hole).

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Ah, but I was writer before I was a shaman- I know what is too much info and too dangerous to be public domain and skim it off. In fact, I kept the original system- just expanded so it could accept more spells for other systems I have played. For examples I included the idea of Magical Spheres of Power from Mage instead of schools of magic, added some altered spells from Call of Cthulhu [which in fact the same universe as Conan- see 'Conan and Cthluhu' for my comments on that], Green Ronin, even D&D without violating the genre and added a few of my own invention from logical extending existing spells/ideas- such as Raise Undead Horde- a more advanced version of raise corpse that allows a necromancer to raise multiple corpses at once rather than one a time at the cost of 1 PP/corpse. [I'll post it if you want 8)]

Also shaman works because the experience of RPing is so close to Dreamwalking that often Spirits will come into the little Dreamrealm I create when I [or anyone else] creates something and take the form/Essence of NPCs. In fact my familiar Spirit has gotten is so often present that my most experienced players can identify which major NPC she is. 8) Ironically, it makes GMing easier with them taking some of the load.....

Raven, on the borderlands

 

[Raven Blackwell]

When I started to write my previous message, I intended to make the point that in Howard's writings the strongest magic seems innately corrupting, evil and inhuman. People have good reason to reject it culturally, and Mongoose's system supports that nicely.
.

As for your original idea- yes Howard saw magic as corrupting and evil because he was a depressive alcoholic. [Readying anti-flame shielding] Thus when writing from his point of view everything, magic included, was almost too dark to bear. Much as I like the man's writing, he might have been better off going to college like his father wanted him too. We might have had more stories to talk about. [I also have a theory that Howard had untrained magical potential, which gave his stories colour most frequently lacking in the pastiches and may have been partially responsible for his mentally unstable state, but I digress]

And yes, Sorcery is rejected- by the Mitran societies. Koth, which rejected the Mitran religon 900 years prior to Conan's life and now worships Ishtar and the Shemite pantheon and seems to have an at least neutral attitude toward magic. Nemedia [and perhaps other countries] has the small cult of Ibis, which uses Sorcery freely in their opposition to Stygia. In pastiches Byruthia seems to have an older pre-Miran nature baased religion still alive in the rural populations. [One of my PCs is a priestess of this Old Religion] The Shemite noble race of Pelishtim are magical scholars by apitude and seem little inclined to take over the world. Most barbaric tribes be they from the frozen north or from deepest Kush [Cimmerians excepted] have shamanic leaders and advisors who help lead the tribe- but whether the results of the leadership are good or ill depends on the individual shaman. Sorcery is also a common part of Khitan's life, which I believe is the oldest extant human society in the Hyborian world. [Not that good of a Howard scholar] It's Stygia, last remenant of the ancient Archeron empire that gives Sorcery such a bad name. I mean how do they manage to keep a functional population with every priest and follower of Set needing a human sacrifce every month or so? 8)

So, I have the same working theory of magic [both real and fictional] as I do weapons- 'it is not the tool, but the one who wields it.' And in societies that follow Mitra [or it's real life succesor, the Catholic Church] are like those real life countries with total gun control- only the bad guys have sorcery, leaving the [realitively] innocent and [realitively] good guys at a disadvantage.

Raven

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Then I got into the character of a Mitran Priest, and found I enjoyed writing that more. Right or wrong, he'll be in my campaign tonight.

Magic, real or imaginary, can be quite seductive, can't it? 8)

I suppose all I have to say now is that:

1) ConanRPG makes a damn fine base for any Swords and Sorcery campaign. As you've shown, there's no need to slavishly follow REH's world beliefs. In fact, I've considered stripping out the magic system and setting, and replacing them with Green Ronin's Psychic Handbook and my own campaign world.

Once Mongoose published Conan or the first pastiche artist made the first Conan knockoff, Howard's original vision was 'lost'. I however like to think of Hyboria like I do J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, the concept was so primal and deep that it survived it's parent's death. And yes, like any child it will continue to grow as long as it's tended to and watched over. It will likely grow in ways it parent never anticipated, but don't all children? 8)

I'm a physicist, and I learned a long time ago to separate fictional physics from real world physics. Except in Hard SciFi, of course, but nobody lets me play that anymore (I misused a black hole).

I am actually a amatuer physist too- I incorperate wormhole theory, string theory, chaos theory, singualrity theory and basic astrophysics in my Star Wars campaign. [West End's 2nd Edition- not that weak d20 system (Readying anti-flame shield)] It works fine- when a Star Dragon opens a 'wyrmhole' as I put it, I explain how bending time/space might look. When the evil Shadows [a extra-dimensional evil alien race] needed power, they converted a living planet into an artifical singularity and used it as a power source for their abilites. [The players were in low orbit at the time- wasn't that fun for them :twisted:] As a shaman I can see where physics and magic blend at the highest level- a concept that freaks out most scientists.....that flavours my version of the Force [or 'Forces' as I put it] as well. 8)

Raven, who is likely going to end up with her own system at this rate....

 

[ReptileJK]

Finally picked up Aquilonia late last week. A great book. This is the type of information that regional sourcebooks need to have (cultural/societal/governmental info. etc.).

Great job, Vincent.

The only qualm I have (and it's a very minor one) is that it would have been nice to see just a *few* more city maps, etc. (although the regional one illustrated on the inner covers is beautiful).

Otherwise, overall, this product is well worth every penny!!!

(love the cover art, btw).

 

[Padre]

Got it with Messantia yesterday and so far it seems better than the boxed set. I don't mind the lack of maps (although some generic building maps would be cool) and the one on inner covers is okay (it looks like it's glued on the map of Hyboria, though :\)

 

[VincentDarlage]

Finally picked up Aquilonia late last week. A great book. This is the type of information that regional sourcebooks need to have (cultural/societal/governmental info. etc.).

Great job, Vincent.

Thank you! I hope to write a lot more of the regional sourcebooks.

 

[Maximo]

ReptileJK wrote:

This is the type of information that regional sourcebooks need to have (cultural/societal/governmental info. etc.).

That's exactly what I think. And Aquilonia nailed it. I hope future sourcebooks will continue this pattern.
My only let down with the book was the lack of a sample Gunderman Pikeman (the Prestige Class one, not regular pikeman). Anyway, there are loads of good material in the book, so that's nitpicking.

VincentDarlage wrote:

Thank you! I hope to write a lot more of the regional sourcebooks

Glad to hear it. I heard you are writing Stygia, which most likely will become another must-buy sourcebook. Any chance you'll author a Zingara sourcebook? Hey, I loved the Zingaran civil war idea from Road of Kings.

 

[VincentDarlage]

Any chance you'll author a Zingara sourcebook? Hey, I loved the Zingaran civil war idea from Road of Kings.

If I am asked to write it by Mongoose, I will happily do so!

 

[Padre]

If I am asked to write it by Mongoose, I will happily do so!

And if not - mutiny check!

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Well, it looks like I will be picking up Across the Thunder River and A:FotW. It seems my party got shanghied(sp?) by Zingaran pirates whose captan decidd that he could use the party's sorcerous talents to counter Pict shamanism. Seems he heard of a treaure the Picts salavged from a sinking pirate ship [yes, I am borrowing from Howard again] and now he taken a risky venture to attack the settlement guarding it in the guise of opening up trade.

However, one of the PCs is a survivor of adventure detailed earlier where he assisted a Pict tribe in recovering a item of great power before the Aquilonians could destroy it. So I made a Reputation check on him when the pirate captain had him along as a translator when they met the Picts. The roll was high enough- the Pict leader knew him by the recent tales told by the shaman's fire. Then I rolled randomly to see the tribe's relation to the tribe he helped. It seems they are allies.

So with 180 pirates trying to secretly move into position to attack a Pict village, the PC decides he's going to switch sides to assist the Picts and drag the party with him. Since we ended the game on that cliffhanger, I've got two weeks to procure Across the Thunder River and absorb it. Then, since the party has an urgent appointment in Messantia and they're likely not going to get the chance to catch a ride back on the pirate ship no matter the outcome, they're going to have to walk through Aquilonia to get there. Thus I have to buy Flower of the West.

The gods must favour me giving money to Mongoose, it seems....

Raven

 

[VincentDarlage]

I hope you like Across the Thunder River and Aquilonia-Flower of the West better than you liked Shadizar.

 

[Decurio]

Vincent, I know I'm jumping in late here, but I really dug A:FOTW. It wasn't quite as meaty as 'Thunder River' but it had a depth which I wan't expecting.

Unexpected pleasant surprises are never a bad thing!

 

[VincentDarlage]

Thank you!

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Hey, I loved the Zingaran civil war idea from Road of Kings.

When are the Zingarans not having a civil war?

Raven