HUGE PROPS to the Combat System (and overall Game)

Deadpool

Mongoose
This has probably already been posted, but after GMing several sessions of Conan, we are loving the new system. In fact, I doubt we can or will ever go back to the old "D20" rules. The unique part about the system of using Armor DR, Dodging/Parrying, and Armor piercing rules is the fact that you can visualize the action better than the abstract D20 system... AND it doesn't slow down the game.

You add maneuvers to that and combat is no longer boring, or just about numbers. The characters are ACTUALLY thinking in terms of what their character will DO instead of what does the most damage and rolling to hit.

Add in the sorcery system and the race / classes and the game FEELS like you are playing in a Conan universe. I agree with other posts that monsters are reserved for that "Oh MY GOD" what is that. Instead, of "Oh, there is another Gnoll".

Thank you guys for making a great game, we appreciate the hard work.
 
Yep, the parry/dodge and armor=damage reduction are cool, but I differ regarding the combat maneuvers. Yes they are cool, but for me, require a lot of referencing. Similarly, many feats are like this. I prefer to run a game without having to memorize or reference a lot of materials, as that slows the game down or requires a lot of time investment.
 
Similarly, many feats are like this. I prefer to run a game without having to memorize or reference a lot of materials, as that slows the game down or requires a lot of time investment.

True - but that is what I like so much, you have the choice of allowing it. Where maneuvers come in is it "tells" the players what they can do. It allows them to do things that they didn't "realize" they can do. I have created a spreadsheet system for quick reference and the players all have maneuver sheets that they already qualify for. That way they can quickly reference an action.

We don't always use maneuvers but when we do - they add that extra flavor to the game.
 
Deadpool said:
Similarly, many feats are like this. I prefer to run a game without having to memorize or reference a lot of materials, as that slows the game down or requires a lot of time investment.

True - but that is what I like so much, you have the choice of allowing it. Where maneuvers come in is it "tells" the players what they can do. It allows them to do things that they didn't "realize" they can do. I have created a spreadsheet system for quick reference and the players all have maneuver sheets that they already qualify for. That way they can quickly reference an action.

We don't always use maneuvers but when we do - they add that extra flavor to the game.

It helps obviously that the characters list what they can do, and get them incrementally, but it adds yet more to have to think about - options are good, but I prefer general rules, and feats to do things like remove penalties rather than with complex descriptions to have to deal with that can interrupt the flow of the game. Obviously the people who are more intimately familiar with the system and have the time on their hands to learn it ahead of time better can use it to good effect.
 
Let me give you an example. There is a sideswipe manevuer allowed for characters that have some ride skill and have a mount. It allows for a character to knock down an opponent and keep riding. Now, most characters wouldn't even "know" they could do that. They really aren't any rules for sideswiping someone. But I have a Vendhyan Knight who loves mounted combat. Now this gives him more "options" of things that he can do - like sideswiping an opponent and knocking them to the ground to allow the "infantry" - the other players, to take him out more easily.

It's easy to look at them and see them as extra rules and that they slow things down. I look at them as a better way of explaining the action that goes around - and it doesn't slow us down at all. In fact it makes for an enjoyable night.
 
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