Help for a noobie?

[GurgleSnuff]

Now that I'm reading the source book and got some pre made stories to run like "danger in the westmark" and the coming of Hanuman" etc...
What I need to know is about the time frames in Conan Rpg. After the lesser cataclysm how do one count years and months. And in which time period is best for playing? Im a noob to conan rpg, and im also reading the complete chronicles of conan- centanary ed. while studying the rpg game. I have of course read conan comics and seen all the movies, so Im not a complete noob. Played RPG's for 15 years, but never runned myself as an dungeon master/storyteller. But I wanted to imply a change within the group Im with. So I thought Conan would be something they appreciated.
Any good tips is appreciated.
And more questions will come!

Thanks!

 

[Aholibamah]

http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/timeline.htm

Check this out, this may help.

Also: it might be easier to think of which stories you like best first--what inspires you the most? Have you read any of the books? The comics are often based on the novels so it may help to consider what you liked best and go with that.

 

[GurgleSnuff]

So what U are saying is that I should concentrate more about the story than the actual timeline? Its after the cataclysm, so basically thats what is important. And its well into the evolving stages of the civilisations? So if I want to let the players start when Conana is born that would be allright? But who is King of aquilonia then? How do I get to know these "facts"? Or do i make'em up? hehe...Im a noob and have a lot to learn

 

[VincentDarlage]

You can make it up. Probably Vilerus is king of Aquilonia at Conan's birth, but I don't think that is really established anywhere.

Story is more important than timeline. You are worried too much about unimportant details.

As for the best time, I like to play after Conan is king.

 

[rgrove0172]

I started out my campaign as somewhat of a Conan purist, reading through tons of material trying to determine minor little details here and there I planned to incorperate into my game. Eventually I decided to just let it go, if I dont know a certain fact for certain, I make it up. Essentially at the moment you start to flesh out your world, it becomes YOUR Hyboria as much as it is Howard's. Just take the general info you have and the flavor of the mythos and run with it. Have fun!

 

[argo]

Regarding "timeline" the default assumption of the RPG is that you are playing durring the time of King Conan, shortly after the events of Hour of the Dragon. So if it is important to you to have your "facts" right then you will want to set you game durring this time and pick up Road of Kings and any regional sourcebooks for the area you play, this will give you the correct NPC's and so forth. This is also a good time to play because there is plenty of adventuring opportunity, it seems like every nation and people is ready to go nuts and explode into confilict.

You can also try advancing the timeline a few hundred years to the downfall of the Hyborian age. Read the Hyborian Age essay and extrapolate from there. You will be left inventing your own NPC's and such since there isn't any cannon for this time period other than the essay itslef.

Or you could just do what I usually do. Handwave at your players and say "its roughly a couple centuries before the time of Conan". This is close enough to the "official" timeline that you can use most of the data directly if it is convenient to do so but far enough away that if you or your players change anything you don't have to worry about "disrupting" the "official" timeline. Just handwave that it got "fixed" in the time in-between.

Hope that helps.

 

[Aholibamah]

Or frankly you can leave whether Conan himself is around up in the air. For instance if I want to run my pcs through "Tower of the Elephant" I will--but what I've got in mind is this: if they fail or something then I might very well decide that a young Conan manages to accomplish this feat! I'm kind of winging it myself. It's only if you really want to play out major historical events that it is important, I think.

 

[GurgleSnuff]

I am not sure if im gonna be a fact freak or be a little loose about it. Right now Im reading and taking everything in. What I know is that I need to be in with the enviroment at least, so I can portray the world as grim and savage as it is. I've played D&D a lot. And I feel that Conan is a grimm and dark version of D&D. Or D&D is a more romantic version of Conan if u will But this is what I like. Take what u want and honour your comarades in the party.
I want the players to feel this world as being filled with men of cruel and selfish intensions. Men of war. A world of war. A world taking no prisoners. Take wat u want to own, and crush dishonorable backstabbers to the ground.
Hmm...did that sound Conan'ish?

Crom!

 

[GurgleSnuff]

But for scenarios!

I was thinking of something pre-made.
And I have "Danger in the westmarck"- "Heretics of Tarantia"- "Lurking terror of nahab"- "The black stones of Kovag-re"- "The dark altar og katar"- "The coming og hanuman" which I havent come around to reading yet. But I read that "Danger in the westmarck is a ok linear first time adventure to warm up to?
Maybe u guys have an opinion on this?

There is other adventures too I know, so mayne u have som pointers?

Crom!

 

[Halfbat]

I'll quote the master:

Story is more important than timeline.

as I've found that what he says is absolutely right. The details of the timeline are only important as they apply to the current story. I'd even go as far as to say that if the timeline upsets a good story then bend it or stretch it or even compress it.

ime, more than other d20 games (possibly bar Star Wars), running Conan adventures is all about the story, exploring it and wondering what's happening, finding strange twists, or finding it _is_ the blindingly obvious, after all. The timeline's merely a frame, and one that can be changed if need be.

It's not always the Stygian sorcerer who's behind the evil.

Is it? :twisted:

 

[Spectator]

THat's an interesting take by Vincent about setting his Stories after Conan. I have never done that for one simple reason: Conan kicked too muc A$$ and alot of the bad guys and bad things seemed to have been taken care of, whether it Thoth Amon, the various other creatures Conan killed, or the numerous ruins where Conan attempted to plunder, yet in the end they fell to the ground.
Conan seems to have been somewhat of a wizard whoopin, creature killin, ancient race destroying, ruin crashing mofo.

 

[rgrove0172]

Yeah, he was - but there are so many tales written about him its impossible for one man to actually have been responsible. Easy enough to assume some of those stories got attributed to him by mistake and someone else, like YOUR PLAYERS, were the actual heroes.

 

[Halfbat]

Easy enough to assume some of those stories got attributed to him by mistake and someone else, like YOUR PLAYERS, were the actual heroes.

Absolutely!

 

[Kyorou]

But for scenarios!

I was thinking of something pre-made.

Advice : plunder the Signs and Portens section asap. There's plenty of useful stuff there.

As a first adventure, I used Coming of Hanuman. It has a very Howardish tone (brutish ape-men, defiant Zuagirs, Presumptuous Turanians, naked girls in distress,...) and plenty of action.

I'm not fond of Danger in the Westermarck. It is a basic "start at point A, go to point B, kill everything in between" adventure. Too linear, even for a first adventure.

 

[GurgleSnuff]

Hmm...okey...I will start reading the hanuman story first then. The nation of Turan is more like pakistan or afghanistan? Theres something in the source book but just for conversation here. If we were to compare with today? Maybe more like egyptians?

 

[GurgleSnuff]

And please! Can some one explain Finesse fighting to me. How that works counter ordinary melee fighting. It has to do with armor piercing yes? First u need a weapon that suports finesse fighting. Which is marked with an "F" Can someone break it down for me? If I want to attack using the Finesse option what happens? U roll d20 plus your finesse. Then U have to bypass the doge or parry plus his armor DR rating? If u bypass allt that u roll ordinary damage without actually hurting ur opponents armor. Correct me if Im wrong!

And also Armor piercing (AP) Is it so that u add the weapons AP rating to damage? Lets say first 1d10+STR as damage and 1d10+str+AP to define if u reduce the DR of opponents armor? Do one roll once or twice?

 

[Aholibamah]

It's more like Turkey actually.

 

[GurgleSnuff]

Okey! I got the idea

 

[argo]

Hmm...okey...I will start reading the hanuman story first then. The nation of Turan is more like pakistan or afghanistan? Theres something in the source book but just for conversation here. If we were to compare with today? Maybe more like egyptians?

Afguhlistan is like Afganistan :wink: Turan is more like the Ottoman Empire (in what is now the contry of Turkey) at the height of their expansion/conquest of christian lands.

The secret to decoding Howard's world... look at the map and figgure out what country would be there today, then figgure out what was the coolest people ever to live there, then use the most blantant steryotypes of that people to tell the most evocative story possible.

Later.