Hyboria with WFRP
- Thread starter Solmyr
- Start date
I'm a huge fan of WHFRP, to my taste I think it's a better system than Conan's take on D20. However as you say Hyboria feels more heroic and that's not something that I find WHFRP does well.
The WHFRP system is darker and grittier, something suited to it's world of rat catchers and cultists. It doesn't feel right for something more OTT like Conan with it's muscle glad barbarians wrestling ancient demons and slaying legions of soldiers.
One area where that does reverse though is magic, I really don’t find the idea of WHFRP's sulphur ball powered fireball slinging wizards as being right for Conan.
Strangely enough I've just finished a three year Conan Campaign and may very well be launching into a WH40K one (which has a very similar system to WHFRP). I like both systems and both seem right for the feel that I'm aiming for for each game, however I can't imagine swapping them over.
The WHFRP system is darker and grittier, something suited to it's world of rat catchers and cultists. It doesn't feel right for something more OTT like Conan with it's muscle glad barbarians wrestling ancient demons and slaying legions of soldiers.
One area where that does reverse though is magic, I really don’t find the idea of WHFRP's sulphur ball powered fireball slinging wizards as being right for Conan.
Strangely enough I've just finished a three year Conan Campaign and may very well be launching into a WH40K one (which has a very similar system to WHFRP). I like both systems and both seem right for the feel that I'm aiming for for each game, however I can't imagine swapping them over.
Alternatter
Mongoose
Hi!
I already use WHFRP rules for "conan" games (more than 15 years), and i think it's very suitable for Hyboria.
My players love the simply, quick and bloody rules, they also like the critical hits. (Opponent's head flies off in random direction 2d6 feet away and some other nice stuffs) 8)
Of course, there are a little work with the system, first you need to throw out about the half of the careers (rat catcher, mentioned before for example), and you need to add some "never seen in the Old World" basic fantasy careers.
The characteristic and the skill (+talent?) system almost perfect, just few things needed to clean or change (in name). Same thing for weapons and armors, various equipments.
I never played the original warhammer, and i don't know how "darker and grittier" it is, i just saw some pictures in the books, but maybe Oly is right, especially if someone knows (and like) the setting of WH.
Magic problem: first, i never allowed any of my players to play with a magic user character in hyboria. When i use spell user enemies against characters, i only aware the statistics of the given spell, i always narrating the visible (or feelable) part different. Players will never know what they got. And WHFRP 2nd magic system and spells is much better for hyboria than the 1st one, there are only a few names to change, that's all).
As a gm, my favorit thing in WH is the career system. Think about Conan's careers...
At last, sry for bad english.
I already use WHFRP rules for "conan" games (more than 15 years), and i think it's very suitable for Hyboria.
My players love the simply, quick and bloody rules, they also like the critical hits. (Opponent's head flies off in random direction 2d6 feet away and some other nice stuffs) 8)
Of course, there are a little work with the system, first you need to throw out about the half of the careers (rat catcher, mentioned before for example), and you need to add some "never seen in the Old World" basic fantasy careers.
The characteristic and the skill (+talent?) system almost perfect, just few things needed to clean or change (in name). Same thing for weapons and armors, various equipments.
I never played the original warhammer, and i don't know how "darker and grittier" it is, i just saw some pictures in the books, but maybe Oly is right, especially if someone knows (and like) the setting of WH.
Magic problem: first, i never allowed any of my players to play with a magic user character in hyboria. When i use spell user enemies against characters, i only aware the statistics of the given spell, i always narrating the visible (or feelable) part different. Players will never know what they got. And WHFRP 2nd magic system and spells is much better for hyboria than the 1st one, there are only a few names to change, that's all).
As a gm, my favorit thing in WH is the career system. Think about Conan's careers...
At last, sry for bad english.
In part the "darker and grittier" and grittier that I was talking about does refer to the setting, however I find that the system also promotes that feeling, which is why I like it so.
An example of what I'm talking about is that combat in WHFRP always feels very dangerous. As you gain experience you might gain a few more wounds but you don't get the plentiful amount that you do in Conan. Presuming that you roll average for your hit points then in Conan by the time you're level ten you'll have more than 5 times the hit points that you started with, often it will be a lot more.
So in Warhammer, even with an experienced character, combat was always seen as a risk where you had a very real chance of dying, especially if outnumbered. I find that that suited the mood of Warhammer well, but that level of conflict avoidance just didn't feel very "Conan" to me.
In Conan it feels a lot easier to just go flying in to fights. If it starts to turn you should be able to get out of it somehow before you drop dead, you've got a hefty amount of HP to get through. To me that feels "right" for Conan.
So yes I'm a huge fan of the WHFRP system and I enjoy playing it. However to me it's not right for how I want my Conan game to be. It's not "heroic" and "over the top" enough, if you see what I'm getting at.
However if you want a dark, gritty and above all dangerous system to play Conan with then I really can recommend Warhammer.
An example of what I'm talking about is that combat in WHFRP always feels very dangerous. As you gain experience you might gain a few more wounds but you don't get the plentiful amount that you do in Conan. Presuming that you roll average for your hit points then in Conan by the time you're level ten you'll have more than 5 times the hit points that you started with, often it will be a lot more.
So in Warhammer, even with an experienced character, combat was always seen as a risk where you had a very real chance of dying, especially if outnumbered. I find that that suited the mood of Warhammer well, but that level of conflict avoidance just didn't feel very "Conan" to me.
In Conan it feels a lot easier to just go flying in to fights. If it starts to turn you should be able to get out of it somehow before you drop dead, you've got a hefty amount of HP to get through. To me that feels "right" for Conan.
So yes I'm a huge fan of the WHFRP system and I enjoy playing it. However to me it's not right for how I want my Conan game to be. It's not "heroic" and "over the top" enough, if you see what I'm getting at.
However if you want a dark, gritty and above all dangerous system to play Conan with then I really can recommend Warhammer.
seanbickford
Mongoose
I've played WFRP for a long time before Conan, and there are a lot of similiarities, so I can see where you got the idea. I think, however, that the Conan/d20 system is much more balanced and easier to run. Personally, I like to run a much deadlier game, but you can find ways to do that within the d20 system.
My biggest WFRP love is the career system and the critical hits, if only I could find a painless way to transfer that to d20 Conan. 
Regarding combat - yes it is deadlier in WFRP, however that can be fixed relatively easily for Hyboria by giving characters more fate and fortune points for example.
Regarding combat - yes it is deadlier in WFRP, however that can be fixed relatively easily for Hyboria by giving characters more fate and fortune points for example.
