[CONAN] GM's Closet

[Supplement Four]

Fantastic Spell: ILL-FORTUNE



What's neat about this spell is that the victim may not know that he is being affected by it. Look at the rules for determining curses on page 242 of the core rulebook.

This spell lays a -2 modifier on the victim for a month. This penalty applies to all attack throws, saving rolls, and ability/skill checks.

In order to keep it secret, the GM must apply the modifier without alerting the player, if the target is a player character.

Casting time is one standard action. Range is Evil Eye, Touch, or Magical Link. So, if you can get a piece of the victim's clothing or a strand of hair, the sorcerer can use that Magical Link in order to cast the spell. The component is Verbal only.

A 1st level Sorcerer could conceivably use this spell if he had access to the spell and Lesser Ill-Fortune.

Of course, the Lesser version of the spell is easier and convey's a -1 modifier.

 

[Supplement Four]

Fantastic Spell: NOT THIS HOUR


The downside to using this spell is that it requires that all remaining power points must be used. So, the sorcerer won't be casting any spells after casting this.

The upside is that this spell can save a sorcerer's life.

Casting time is immediate, so it takes a blink of an eye to cast. Component is Verbal, so think of a quick, probably one syllable word to use for that.

When the spell is cast, the character receives 1d6 Hit Points for every Power Point spent. The spell lasts for just that one round, but any damage taken to the character comes off the bonus Hit Points first.



This is another spell where the sorcerer can screw with the mind of his opponent. A foe attacks and hits, yet no damage appears on the sorcerer (because of the extra hit points). A crafty sorcerer can use that to his advantage, trying to make his foe think that the sorcerer is invincible.

Great spell to throw if the sorcerer is running away, too, and might trigger an Attack of Opportunity.

 

[Supplement Four]

Fantastic Spell: PSYCHOMETRY



This spell was seen on one of Howard's stories, The Hour of the Dragon.

This is a great spell for a GM to have in his game. If he knows that a player-sorcerer has this spell, the GM can really make the outcome spectacular and fun.

The spell allows the sorcerer to follow or tell something about a target after casting the spell on an object that was touched previously by the victim.

In Hour of the Dragon, tracking showed were a fight took place on the sands, and blood could be seen. From this, the sorcerer was able to tell that King Conan still lived, and that he had traveled southward on a ship.

The spell takes only a standard action to cast, but gaining information from the spell takes 10 minutes plus 1 minutes per level--with the sorcerer gaining generic to specific information each minute.

See the spell for complete rules. Page 247 of the core rulebook.

I think that this can be a dynamite spell that will add a lot of flavor to the game if the GM uses it appropriately in his game.

 

[Supplement Four]

Fantastic Spell: PSYCHOMETRY



This spell was seen on one of Howard's stories, The Hour of the Dragon.

This is a great spell for a GM to have in his game. If he knows that a player-sorcerer has this spell, the GM can really make the outcome spectacular and fun.

The spell allows the sorcerer to follow or tell something about a target after casting the spell on an object that was touched previously by the victim.

In Hour of the Dragon, tracking showed were a fight took place on the sands, and blood could be seen. From this, the sorcerer was able to tell that King Conan still lived, and that he had traveled southward on a ship.

The spell takes only a standard action to cast, but gaining information from the spell takes 10 minutes plus 1 minutes per level--with the sorcerer gaining generic to specific information each minute.

See the spell for complete rules. Page 247 of the core rulebook.

I think that this can be a dynamite spell that will add a lot of flavor to the game if the GM uses it appropriately in his game.

 

[Supplement Four]

Fantastic Spell: ENTRANCE



This is not a real spell. It is hypnotism being used. It requires no power points. In fact, this may be the "spell" that Thulsa Doom used to chop off the head of Conan's mother in the 1982 movie, Conan The Barbarian.

Remember how Thulsa just stared at Conan's mother?

The first part of Thulsa Doom's staring could be the power boost gained by concentration as described by the spell.

I say "could", because I'm not sure that this is the spell that Doom used. First off, the spell in the book requires a material component, and Doom used no component other than to just stare at his target. Maybe, the master sorcerer has learned a new way to cast the spell without any component needed.

Also, Conan's mother might be flat footed while entranced.

I'm guessing that Doom knows an alternate or improved version of this spell.

The rest of the spell describes exactly what happens in the film. The sorcerer concentrates on his victim, and as he concentrates, the target cannot take any actions.

Even if using the required component, this is a great spell to use. If successful, it renders your unable to act unless attacked.





Note that Terrible Fascination is a similar spell that can affect all in a 10 foot radius of the caster.

 

[Supplement Four]

Fantastic Spell: HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION


This spell is a true spell as it requires 1 Power Point. Components are Verbal and Somatic. Duration is 10 minutes plus one minute per level.

In the hands of a creative player, this can be one incredible spell. For example, the suggestion could be to sleep, if the sorcerer can make this action reasonable to the target.

The spell is versatile, too, in that it can be used, instead, to create illusions for the target.

 

[Supplement Four]

Spell IDEA: SPELLCAUGHT



In Robert Jordan's excellent Conan book, Conan The Invincible, the sorcerer Amanar uses a spell on his slaves to keep them from escaping.

Velita, the dancing girl, explains to Conan that she cannot escape with Conan because of the spell. She says that she had tried to escape once, and she found her feet taking her to Amanar, involuntarily telling him what she had tried to do.

Another time, she tried to kill herself, but when the tip of the dagger touched her breast, she found her arms to become locked like iron. She couldn't move her own muscles in order to impale herself.

Conan figures that the spell will fail if he kills Amanar, which shows us that Conan knows the sorcery Rule of Impermanence from the RPG!



I haven't put any thought into how to cast this spell. The actual casting is not shown in the book. My feeling that the material component is at least Verbal, probably Somatic, and I'm thinking a Magical Link (such as a strand of the slave's hair) as the Spell Range.

I don't know how many Power Points would be required. Your thoughts?

Casting Time?

 

[Supplement Four]

Spell Idea: GEAS



This spell is actually named in the novel, Conan The Invincible. The geas spell compels a captive to tell the sorcerer if the captive sees or speaks to Conan. I'm sure that the sorcerer can use the spell for different instructions.

Amanar, the sorcerer, said that the captive was crying and begging to be killed rather than be compelled to betray Conan, but betray him she did because of the spell.

This spell may be the same spell mentioned above referred to as "spell caught".

I would guess a magical link is needed for this spell, like a strand of hair. Certainly a Verbal component, too.

 

[Supplement Four]

Red Sonja and Sorcery



Just a few random notes....



The Children of the Night spell, from the core rulebook, was taken from a Howard story, Hour of the Dragon. In the comic, Red Sonja/Claw: The Devil's Hands, there is a similar version of the spell where a real raven, not a conjured one, spies from the air then flies to the sorcerer. There, the sorcerer kills the bird, squeezing its body so that the blood forms a pool on the floor. In reflection of the blood, the sorcerer sees what the bird saw.





In the movie, Red Sonja from 1985, there is a version of a crystal ball/silvery mirror, used by the sorcerer Ikol, who serves Queen Gedren.

Also in that movie is an animated aquatic dragon-serpent made of iron, obviously powered by sorcery.



There is also a Mighty Artifact, central to the film's plot, called the "talisman". It looks like a rock, about the size of a large watermelon, with glowing green parts of it. The rock is encased in a non-symmetrical metal web.

Remember all of the green stone that Howard wrote about in his Conan stories.

The talisman can be used to control the weather. In the film, it is used to destroy an entire town. We see it cause lightning and wind. It is said that it can cause earthquakes and such.

Only women can touch the talisman. Any man who touches it is absorbed (maybe the stone benefits from power points as in a ritual sacrifice?).

There is a cult that has been created to watch over and protect the talisman. This cult is divided into two halves--a female/priestess half that directly watches over the talisman in the temple. The other half is all male--a warrior/priest half that operates as the temple's defenders.

The two halves are kept in separate temples, far apart. The women are trained as warrior monks, too. The male warriors are akin to an army that can be summoned when the heavy infantry is needed.

Each half of the cult is watched over by a head Priest and Priestess.

The talisman must be kept in darkness. When it is exposed to light, it becomes more powerful. If it is exposed to too much light, it will destroy the world.

The Priestesses keep the talisman in a dark, deep pit in the center of their temple.

Although not specifically stated, the movies seems to be set among the city-states of Hyrkania.

 

[Supplement Four]

More Red Sonja and Sorcery



A few more random notes...


Sometimes, it is unclear whether the gods are real in the Hyborian Age. In Black Colossus, Conan speaks with a god, but it can be debated if that were really a god.

At the beginning of Red Sonja, the red haired warrior woman is given the power of the sword from a god-like being. She takes an oath that she will lay with no man who cannot best her in combat. And, since her skill with the sword is un-worldly, no man can.

It it assumed that it is a goddess who gives Sonja this power. But, again, it can be debated. I don't remember if it is ever made clear in the film, but the idea of Red Sonja's power being bestowed upon her from a god is also in the comics.





During the climax fight with Queen Gedren, there is a lacky sorcerer off to the side who aids his Queen. He's in front of a long, flat table. As he throws flash powder at the table, Gedren teleports around the room during the fight. As Sonja attempts to strike, the sorcerer will pop Gedren from one place to another.

Again, the sorcerer will throw sand or some type of powder on the slab in front of him. This time it is not flash powder. The sorcerer pulls a knife and scrapes a line through the powder in front of him. A slice appears on Sonja.

In this way, the spell provides a means to attack Sonja from a distance.



Sonja uses acrobatics during her fights. She uses the Use The Battlefield Combat Maneuver. And, at the climax fight, you can see her use the Sunder Combat Maneuver several times until she breaks Gedren's sword. As in the game, not all swords break on the first attempt. In the movie, Sonja tries somewhere around four times or so.

 

[Supplement Four]

Spell Idea: From Conan The Invincible



Conan The Invincible is one of my favorite non-Howard Conan yarns. The sorcerer Amanar is the big bad guy in that novel. At the end of the book, we see him cast a spell....

Instead of answering, the cold-eyed man traced a figure in the air, and the figure seemed to stand glowing as he traced, stirring some buried memory deep inside her. Behind her eyes, she felt something break, like a twig snapping. She would teach him to play his magical tricks with her. She started for the dark man...and stared with amazement at her feet that would not move. They did not feel held, they had full sensation, but they would not move.

"What wizardry is this?" she demanded hoarsely. "Release me, Amanar, or--"

"Throw the sword aside," he commanded.

She stifled a scream as her arm obeyed, sending the jewel-hilted tulwar skittering across the mosaicked floor to ring against a column.

Amanar nodded in satisfaction. "Remove your garments, Karela."

"Fool," she began, and her green eyes stared with horror as her slim fingers rose to the golden pin that held her scarlet cloak and undid it. The cloak slid from her shoulders to the floor. "I am the Red Hawk," she said. It was little more than a whisper, but her voice rose to a scream. "I am the Red Hawk!"

She could not stop watching with bulging eyes as her hands removed the golden breastplates from her heavy round breasts and casually dropped them, unfastened the emerald girdle that rode low on her flaring hips. "Enough," Amanar said. "Leave the boots. I like the picture they present." She wanted to weep as her hands returned quiescent to her sides. "Beyond these walls," the black-robed man went on, "you are the Red Hawk. Inside them, you are...whatever I want you to be. I think from now on I will keep you thus when you are with me, aware of what is happening. Your fear is like the rarest of wines."

"Think you I'll return once I am free?" she spat. "Let me get a sword in mt hand and my hounds about me, and I will tear this keep down about your head."

His laughter sent shivers along her bones. "When you leave these walls, you will remember what I tell you to remember. You will go believing that we conferred, on this matter or that. But when once again within this donjon, you will remember the true nature of things. The Red Hawk will grovel at my feet and crawl to serve my pleasure. You will hate it, but you will obey."

"I'll die first!" she shouted defiantly.

"That will not be permitted," he smiled coldly. "Now be silent." The words she was about to speak froze on her tongue.

That's one heck of a spell!

It's a combination of Hold Person and Charm Person (more like Domination). You can see the bit above where it says...

Behind her eyes, she felt something break, like a twig snapping.

I read that as Karela bricking her Saving Throw against the spell!



The spell could be the same one that I've mentioned earlier--different versions of the same spell. They seem like the same spell. And, obviously, Amanar can adjust the spell to his tastes, either having the victim be fully aware or completely oblivious to when she is under the spell.



The spell is so powerful that I would either make it hard to throw, or make it a high level spell (or both).

I could definitely see a magical link, like some hair from the victim, used in the spell, originally. Then to activate it again (because, earlier in the book, Conan saw Karela under this spell, and she didn't know it when he spoke with her later), it would happen as described in the paragraph above.

I wonder...do you think the glowing runes that float in the air are visible by all...or just the victim?

 

[Supplement Four]

Spell Idea: From Conan The Invincible



Conan The Invincible is one of my favorite non-Howard Conan yarns. The sorcerer Amanar is the big bad guy in that novel. At the end of the book, we see him cast a spell....

Instead of answering, the cold-eyed man traced a figure in the air, and the figure seemed to stand glowing as he traced, stirring some buried memory deep inside her. Behind her eyes, she felt something break, like a twig snapping. She would teach him to play his magical tricks with her. She started for the dark man...and stared with amazement at her feet that would not move. They did not feel held, they had full sensation, but they would not move.

"What wizardry is this?" she demanded hoarsely. "Release me, Amanar, or--"

"Throw the sword aside," he commanded.

She stifled a scream as her arm obeyed, sending the jewel-hilted tulwar skittering across the mosaicked floor to ring against a column.

Amanar nodded in satisfaction. "Remove your garments, Karela."

"Fool," she began, and her green eyes stared with horror as her slim fingers rose to the golden pin that held her scarlet cloak and undid it. The cloak slid from her shoulders to the floor. "I am the Red Hawk," she said. It was little more than a whisper, but her voice rose to a scream. "I am the Red Hawk!"

She could not stop watching with bulging eyes as her hands removed the golden breastplates from her heavy round breasts and casually dropped them, unfastened the emerald girdle that rode low on her flaring hips. "Enough," Amanar said. "Leave the boots. I like the picture they present." She wanted to weep as her hands returned quiescent to her sides. "Beyond these walls," the black-robed man went on, "you are the Red Hawk. Inside them, you are...whatever I want you to be. I think from now on I will keep you thus when you are with me, aware of what is happening. Your fear is like the rarest of wines."

"Think you I'll return once I am free?" she spat. "Let me get a sword in mt hand and my hounds about me, and I will tear this keep down about your head."

His laughter sent shivers along her bones. "When you leave these walls, you will remember what I tell you to remember. You will go believing that we conferred, on this matter or that. But when once again within this donjon, you will remember the true nature of things. The Red Hawk will grovel at my feet and crawl to serve my pleasure. You will hate it, but you will obey."

"I'll die first!" she shouted defiantly.

"That will not be permitted," he smiled coldly. "Now be silent." The words she was about to speak froze on her tongue.

That's one heck of a spell!

It's a combination of Hold Person and Charm Person (more like Domination). You can see the bit above where it says...

Behind her eyes, she felt something break, like a twig snapping.

I read that as Karela bricking her Saving Throw against the spell!



The spell could be the same one that I've mentioned earlier--different versions of the same spell. They seem like the same spell. And, obviously, Amanar can adjust the spell to his tastes, either having the victim be fully aware or completely oblivious to when she is under the spell.



The spell is so powerful that I would either make it hard to throw, or make it a high level spell (or both).

I could definitely see a magical link, like some hair from the victim, used in the spell, originally. Then to activate it again (because, earlier in the book, Conan saw Karela under this spell, and she didn't know it when he spoke with her later), it would happen as described in the paragraph above.

I wonder...do you think the glowing runes that float in the air are visible by all...or just the victim?

 

[Supplement Four]

The Port of Asgalun



Asgalun is usually considered to be Shem's largest port. Some argue that it is the only port of any size in all of Shem. Imagine my surprise when reading the old Marvel Comics series from the 1970's called Conan The Barbarian, I saw, in issue #72 - Vengeance in Asgalan, that the Marvel/Roy Thomas stance in that story is that Asgalan, although on the coast, does not have a deep water port.

Shem is shown with a rocky shore, and up on a high cliff, there is the walled city-state of Asgalan. The argument must be that overland trade is so strong that Asgalan refuses to partake of the riches from the sea.

Still, there must be ports in Shem somewhere as, at the beginning of the story, Conan/Belit hit a Shemmite ship and steal its cargo.

 

[Supplement Four]

 

[Supplement Four]

Spell Idea: From Vengeance in Asgalun



Here's another spell that you can develop for your game. It's from issue #72 of the original Marvel Conan The Barbarian comic series (I read it in The Chronicles of Conan Volume 10).

A Stygian named Ptor-Nubis casts this spell on Belit. He is a sorcerer of the Black Ring. There is no verbal component, although the sorcerer must touch the target (touch attack). From the story, it is clear that the spell falls under the Hypnotism style of sorcery.

Ptor-Nubis merely lurches forward and lightly touches Belit's forehead. That specific attack should have a penalty for the target, and most probably a Finesse Attack is required. Avoiding any armor is also required.

Belit must have failed her saving throw because she beings to attack Conan.

Conan, in the comic, displays the Total Defense style of fighting from the core rulebook.

Belit comes out of it when Ptor-Nubis releases her.

So, it's a powerful spell--one that can make the target fight even his dearest ally.

It should also be noted that Belit acts sluggish from the spell. Maybe a penalty to DEX? Or, maybe use one of the conditions from page 224 of the core rulebook? Say, "Shaken", which provides a -2 penalty to attacks, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Or maybe "Sickened", which provides a -2 penalty on attacks, weapon damage, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.

It is a form of mind control and is more of a spell than it is straight Hypnotism, so it does require some Power Points--at least one.

 

[Supplement Four]

Spell Idea: From The Shadows



It's not exactly clear how this spells works. From the climax of Conan The Invincible, it says...

"It is his soul!" a voice boomed, seeming to come from every direction. Among the shadows along the columns on the far side of the chamber, one shadow suddenly split, folded, and thickened. And there, before them, stood Imhep-Aton.

This is for you to decided for your game, should you want to develop this spell for your campaign. Is it a teleport spell? Is it a concealment spell? Is it kinda both, in the form of a dimensional spell, where Imhep-Aton observes the world from another dimension and then steps into the real world?

That's for you to decide.

 

[Supplement Four]

ISSUE #73: WELL OF SKELOS



I've made it to this issue in the original Marvel run. Fantastic story.

In it, Conan, Belit, and her Black Corsairs find the Well of Skelos, and from its dark depths comes a monstrous thing from hell--a very Lovecraftian (also reminds me of a Moorecockian) demon that resembles, somewhat, a frog-thing.

The thing senses fear and feeds off of it--makes it stronger.

I started thinking about how to translate this into the game. Maybe give the demon +1 attack bonus per 10 hit points that it takes off its victim?

Or, maybe the thing gets vampiric hit points--justifying the getting stronger based on the target's fear?

Another way to do it would be to have the target roll a Fear check, and if failed, the difference failed on the roll provides the beast with a bonus? Maybe a modified Terror of the Unknown check, altered to accommodate higher character levels?

 

[Supplement Four]

 

[Supplement Four]

SHEMMISH ROOT



A root and powerful hallucinogen. Half a root will satisfy an entire room of noblemen. In large amounts, the root can have supernatural qualities.

When prepared, Shemmish Root is used for sacrificial rites. The source of this is the Dynamite Queen Sonja comic, volume 3, Coming of Age. The story is set in Pah-Disha, a Hyrkanian City State on the eastern shore of the Vilayet. The root is hard to grow in these lands.

In the story, a sorcerer uses a piece of raw root, placing a dead moth in his hand. After uttering words that men should never hear, the moth moves, glow faintly green, flaps its wings, and flies out of the sorcerer's palm.

When the root is being prepared, its scent has a long range, but a bit like pheromones, the scent is close to being undetectable. But, it will start to play on a person's senses. Red Sonja feels the air get thick, muggy, hard to breathe. Later, she gets woozy and has double vision. Not all characters are effected, so, if you use this idea in a game, you may want to include a Fort Save for the smell (and maybe even have different effects possible).

There is a scene that reminded me of the orgy scene in the 1982 Conan The Barbarian film. Lots of captive virgins are sprawled on the floor, barely able to stand, all of them blasted out of their minds. They smile, they giggle. They suck on their partners, female on female, and pleasure themselves in all sorts of manner.

The effect of the root.

In this cavern room, there is a large cauldron, stewing over a fire. A man stirs it with a paddle the size of a long boat oar. The root is in the cauldron, being prepared this way, and the man calls to another brute to bring more virgin blood.

The women don't resist. One is taken from the floor. She laughs as she is thrown on a slab, and she doesn't scream until the man raises a meat cleaver and cuts off her leg below the knee. Blood spurts. The man passes the leg, and it is held over the cauldron, draining blood down into the pot.

Instead of the amorous effect, Sonja is inflicted with blood lust due to the effect of the root. She has to be reminded of the mission of theft. She'd rather just fight. Obviously, she didn't make her save.

 

[Supplement Four]