Conan Bestiary
- Thread starter mthomason
- Start date
red_herring
Mongoose
Great! I saw that there's a picture for the cover of Shadow of the Sorcerer (link below). I also saw a product marked Conan Collectors Boxed Set 1 (link below). Any ideas what this is?
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=857&qsSeries=7#
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1007&qsSeries=7
Thanks
-RH
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=857&qsSeries=7#
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1007&qsSeries=7
Thanks
-RH
sanseveria
Mongoose
I'm just taking a guess here, but seeing as they indicate 0 pages, could it be minis?
SS
SS
Mortepierre
Mongoose
I wonder what the Bestiary will be filled with, though. It's not like Conan's world is so full of monsters to begin with and most of them have already been described in various accessories :?:
sanseveria
Mongoose
Hopefully they'll also have a chapter on enemy archtypes as well as a section on generic mooks.
SS
SS
sbarrie
Mongoose
Mortepierre said:
Hopefully lots of animals. They could easily add advanced versions of different animals. It's nice to have stats for a wolf, but sometimes you want a Starving, Alpha Male Hyberborial Wolf.
I bet there will be stats for a Liger.
I wouldn't mind more named demons. Decent rules for swarms would also be appreciated.
While there might be problems with securing the rights, how about introducing some of the creatures from other Howard stories?
Solomon Kane fought both mindless vampire/zombie creatures, and the race that gave rise to the legends of the Harpies. Both of these would have a place in the Conan setting.
I doubt that anyone here would have a problem with the inclusion of Kull's Serpent Men.
Also, previous supplements for the game have included creatures taken from the pastiches. I know that there are still a number of creatures that could taken from those works. Although care needs to be taken so that the world does not become populated with hidden races of intellegent monsters.
In addition, I would not mind seeing some of the previously printed creatures included in the book. Its always a problem having to go through several books because you know that one of them had the stats. Having alll but those listed in the core rule book would save a lot of GMs time.
Just my idle thoughts on the subject.
Solomon Kane fought both mindless vampire/zombie creatures, and the race that gave rise to the legends of the Harpies. Both of these would have a place in the Conan setting.
I doubt that anyone here would have a problem with the inclusion of Kull's Serpent Men.
Also, previous supplements for the game have included creatures taken from the pastiches. I know that there are still a number of creatures that could taken from those works. Although care needs to be taken so that the world does not become populated with hidden races of intellegent monsters.
In addition, I would not mind seeing some of the previously printed creatures included in the book. Its always a problem having to go through several books because you know that one of them had the stats. Having alll but those listed in the core rule book would save a lot of GMs time.
Just my idle thoughts on the subject.
Reading Howard's stories as a whole, there is a clear consistency in the portrayal of different 'monsters' that is very helpful to understanding the menaces of the Hyborian Age, and enough to put together a bestiary from. I can't see what intellectual property problems there'd be, since we're not talking about copying text (copyright) or unusual names (trademarks) here, and most of the stories are public domain anyway.
slaughterj
Mongoose
Faraer said:
How do you come to the idea that most of the stories are public domain?
slaughterj
Mongoose
Faraer said:
I think I saw that a couple of years ago. It may well be that many are public domain, and that list seems like a good starting point, but I'd want more information before I tried to use those materials. The copyright term has gone through several changes (http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hlc), there have been restorations of copyrights that had gone public (http://www.copyright.gov/gatt.html), as well as renewal requirements in the past, which makes the analysis not so simple. What I would want to see is a listing like on that link, but that also provides each individual basis for why each individual work is no longer protected (e.g., under XYZ law, the term has run or the renewal was not filed, and the work is not covered under any restoration) so that the basis for being on the list is more readily verifiable. Also note, to the extent that additional previously unpublished materials are published, they may some copyright life in them.
slaughterj
Mongoose
Faraer said:
Certainly a sign, but to the extent that the recent Howard books are coming out without modifications by others, they may not be covered.
slaughterj
Mongoose
The King said:
Copyright law has no reference to "heirs." But yes, recently there was an extension (thanks Disney) to death plus 70 years (also, if made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), it is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter).
