Conan Trivia

[thelevitator]

I was having an interesting discussion with another GM about the difference between a conventional heroic fantasy game and a Sword & Sorcery game. I felt that one primary difference is that players in a S&S game don't necessarily expect "escape hatch" games, where, no matter what the party does, they expect to survive and escape any real lasting consequences. I pointed out that getting captured and imprisoned seemed to be a popular plot device in grittier games. I admittedly have limited knowledge of the Conan mythos, as I haven't read everything out there, but it did prompt me to wonder the following:

Does anyone here know how many times Conan was either captured or imprisoned during his lifetime? This isn't to settle a bet or anything, I'm honestly curious just how prevalent that sort of thing is in the Conan stories. I've started to get a few of the comics, and I have the original stories from an online site that posted them as text, so I'm trying to catch up. I'm just wondering what the best estimates are?

 

[Supplement Four]

I've read quite a bit of Conan. Not all of it, but at least a fourth of everything ever published. I'm speaking of novels and short stories--not really the comics.

Conan does get captured at times, but it doesn't happen that frequently. If you count the times he's had to sit in the city jail, it's probably a bit more frequently.

But, the number of stories (at least the ones I've read) where Conan is imprisoned for any length of time isn't a huge percentage of the total number of stories.

 

[Krushnak]

It happens to him a fair few times in the Howard stories, in one of them he's even crucified!

 

[Style]

Of course, there are more differences to Sword and Sorcery games than the threat of imprisonment. Here's a great thread on the matter: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18994

The presence of guys with swords and sorcery doesn't make a work S&S. S&S is generally characterized by a short story-centric narrative structure, the lack of "quests" (except as a driving force to adventure), mosaic-based/fragmented worldbuilding versus overarching themes, violent and random versus meaningful death, human insignificance versus being the center of existence, and a sort of amorality... not in the sense that the heroes don't have some moral code, but in the sense that their successes aren't derived from moral superiority.

...

In Tolkien's books and other high fantasy tales, protagonists emerge victorious because they are good people willing to fight for their ideals. Traditional sword and sorcery doesn't offer that hope. The fantasies of Howard, Smith and Vance are in many ways closely related to the horror of H. P. Lovecraft, because they present worlds without a God.

 

[sgstyrsky]

Off the top of my head there is:

The Scarlet Citadel (Conan deposed and imprisoned)
The Hour of the Dragon (ditto)
Rogues in the House (Conan in jail)
A Witch Shall be Born (Conan captured and tortured in the first few pages)
The Queen of the Black Coast (Conan running from the law)
The Hall of the Dead (ditto)
The Drums of Tombalku (Conan captured in flashback)

Then there are stories such where he's been through rough times and has only a sword and the clothes he wears.

 

[Krushnak]

'The Hour of the Dragon' he actually gets captured twice! once by Xaltotun and the second he gets gang pressed onto an argossean merchant ship but that doesnt last for very long.

 

[thelevitator]

Of course, there are more differences to Sword and Sorcery games than the threat of imprisonment. Here's a great thread on the matter: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18994

Totally agreed Style. In our conversation, we were focusing primarily on the topic of PC capture in a game and how to best have that element in play. That turned us to the discussion that it seems like PC capture is more prevalent in S&S style games than traditional fantasy games.

That's a really interesting thread by the way. Thanks for the link!

Thanks everyone for the great feedback so far. PC capture is an element that I really like to have present in a game, as long as it isn't overused. Once or twice in a campaign is usually enough to make the world feel more consequential and provides a common plot twist found in a lot of stories. I have learned that it's important to know your group and their expectations before injecting this type of element, for sure! :wink: