Free Companies

[Lord Jolly the Scribe]

I have seen a lot on the forums and in some posts and on other sites that talk about problems with Free Companies. I will eventually purchase the book cause of the info that could be useful and for certain feats, prestige classes and info, but how bad is the book really? :?

 

[Azgulor]

I have seen a lot on the forums and in some posts and on other sites that talk about problems with Free Companies. I will eventually purchase the book cause of the info that could be useful and for certain feats, prestige classes and info, but how bad is the book really? :?

I believe there were some editing criticisms, but I can't recall any content-related issues. It's actually one of the gems of my Conan collection. Finally, an adult look at medieval/fantasy warfare!

Every time I flip through the book I come up with campaign ideas.

I recommend getting it sooner than later. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

[argo]

I'm actually rather fond of the book. The crunchy bits alternate between some very good bits (the alchemical items are quite nifty) and some less-than-impressive bits. The chapter on running a massed combat is less of a mass combat system and more of an extended discussion on how a GM can give some structure to an event that might only happen once or twice in a given campaign. It is a good system if you fall into that category.

But the really good stuff is the write-ups of the various military orginizations and all the plot seeds scattered throught the book. This is much more a GM-supplement than a player-supplement. I go back to it time and again.

Hope that helps.

 

[Trodax]

I also think it's a rather nice little book. The only "problem" I've heard people have with it are the rules for Corruption; they were applied rather differently than in other supplements (in Free Companies you could get Corruption for basically just being a mean son-of-a-bitch, which is different from how Corruption is described in the other supplements).
That's easily enough ignored, though.

 

[Strom]

I have seen a lot on the forums and in some posts and on other sites that talk about problems with Free Companies. I will eventually purchase the book cause of the info that could be useful and for certain feats, prestige classes and info, but how bad is the book really? :?

I believe there were some editing criticisms, but I can't recall any content-related issues. It's actually one of the gems of my Conan collection. Finally, an adult look at medieval/fantasy warfare!

Every time I flip through the book I come up with campaign ideas.

I recommend getting it sooner than later. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Well said - I agree completely! It's one of my favorite supplements for even though it is specific in its detail, it covers the entire land and can be beneficial regardless of where your campaign is. Mercenaries are very mobile and follow the gold lunas. Free Companies really adds flavor to the Road of Kings meaty main entrée!

 

[Lord Jolly the Scribe]

Cool. Thanks guys for the opinions. I just got Road of Kings and I am so happy with it. It is an awesome book. I will be picking up Free Companies down the road here soon.

 

[Hervé]

Everybody here seem to love Free Companies, so I thought a negative view might be useful.
Maybe I was the only one, but I was very disappointed with free companies.
Unuseful technical data, boring rules and cumbersome mass combat sytem, you've got it all... With my players starting as mercenaries for Turan, I was hoping a lot from this supplement but I found it quite hollow...
If you're looking for technical stuff, you'd might like the book, but if you want to add some colour to your mercenary campaign, just walk away.

 

[Starkus]

Its got some interesting feats and flavor, but honestly I was really looking for mass combat rules for the Conan RPG when I bought it. I was disappointed that it really didn't have a fully comprehensive Conan / miniature warfare rules set.

Currently IMC there is about to be a battle between besieged Zaugir nomads (which the party is allied with) vs. a large Turanian battalion. In order to compensate I've adapted (quite well, actually) the old BattleSystem for 2E DND to Conan and it worked well in a trial run.

Stark

 

[Lord Jolly the Scribe]

OK, thanks for the opinion guys. It sounds useful, but for now I don't really need it too much for the game, but I will probably pick it up eventually. Thanks again though.