In the style of Conan or in the world of Conan - thoughts?

[The King]

agreed

 

[Majestic7]

I stereotype for the sake of discussion, but I get the impression many campaigns discussed on this forum could fall somewhere into these two categories. I am certainly not saying one is better than the other or more 'correct' or 'in genre'. Just wondering how you play, your thoughts on this style and other styles, and why you have chosen to play that way - or indeed, other styles I haven't even thought of? Finally, whether in the 'style' or the 'world' - how do you seek to achieve that.

Look forward to the discussion.

A bit of both, I guess. I find the world of Conan in itself interesting and try to lead a game where the characters are whole persons living inside the world, rather than running erratic adventures in the spirit of Conan. However, certain parts of the "spirit" leak through. There is some sort of violence or a possibility for violence almost guaranteed for every session, whether it is a barfight or a full-fledged battle.

I actually see REH as a sort of underestimated author. When I read his stories, I ignore the stuff about buxom ladies and shallow storylines - I see them as a necessity he had to abide to in order to sell his stories. Instead I concentrate on enjoying the world the stories unfold behind my eyes - stories of the cultures, religions, politics and conspiracies of Hyboria. Those, I think, are the real core of REH and which puts him lightyears away from other pulp writers of the time. Thus I think the world itself is more important in Conan than the pulp genre.

I generally prefer campaigns in RPG's over oneshots. Oneshots are fine for conventions and trying out new stuff - but campaigns are "the real stuff" that makes this hobby so great, both as a player and as a GM. They give a change to unfold large stories and character developement that would be almost impossible in oneshot and hard in episode-style game. You can take a look at my campaign report thread here on the forums, if you are interested.

 

[Willowhugger]

For me, I tend to run a lot of very short games at the start because that allows player characters to get a feel for Howard IN the vein of Conan. When they're more established THEN they can start interacting with the world around them in a more RPG style.

 

[bradius]

We play monthy so I run an episodic campaign. Though, there is a continous story going on and I, and the players communicate during the month to see what they do during the downtime. During the month I send out several stories that describe the movement (in time &/or place) of the party from where they were last month to where they'll start on the next session. I also post a backstory of what is going on elsewhere, if appropriate.

For example, our last two sessions were set in a small town in Argos. During downtime, the party sails to Dan-Marcah in Shem, does business and has things happen. Then they will go overland to Asgalun. The next play session will begin in Asgalun.

So it is episodic, but with a linking thread.

As these are episodic, there are generaly supernatural elements on each monthly adventure. The inbetween is usualy much more 'normal'.

 

[Hervé]

The King wrote:

Anyway, whatever the magic, it's stays at a quite low level, i.e. no fireballs, wish, etc.

I only partially agree with this one King, magic in Conan can be quite high level, on the contrary. Sorcerers can wipe entire cities with one spell, rip the heart out of the chest of the bold adventurer, or summon demons for the outer voidand so on... That's pretty high level to me. But, as you say, there's no fireballs, wishes and all...

 

[UberDog]

The King wrote:

Anyway, whatever the magic, it's stays at a quite low level, i.e. no fireballs, wish, etc.

I only partially agree with this one King, magic in Conan can be quite high level, on the contrary. Sorcerers can wipe entire cities with one spell, rip the heart out of the chest of the bold adventurer, or summon demons for the outer voidand so on... That's pretty high level to me. But, as you say, there's no fireballs, wishes and all...

There is, I think, a distinction to be made between "high level" and 'cheesy."

Fireballs and Wish and the like have always seemed silly to me. Indeed, D&D, as designed, has many silly elements in it. This is one of the reasons I have always preferred Hyboria. I also, back in the day, loved the Dark Sun setting for Second Edition in which magic had ravaged the land.

Howard's work, while fantastic, was always edged with the illusion of realism, with the grit of noir and the eye of pulp. What has come since leads more to something like Eberron, which, while interesting, is not the sort of game I like to run.

Conan is a hero, he's over-the-top, he's pulp, but he never stuffs his Rod of Lordly Might into his bag of holding or flies away with his boots of levitation.

Like any good story, he must fall back on his own strength rather then the ubiquitous deus ex machina that shoot through the world of traditional fantasy.

 

[Style]

I run Conan as "semi-episodic" - I don't deal with the mundane BS in-between interesting adventures, but the adventures are usually within a month and a neighboring country of the previous event (i.e., not years apart and cross-continent), and start off by saying "after the events last session, you have ended up in the present situation because of X," and start the adventure, typically in media res to be exciting right off. I minimize bookkeeping (i.e., keeping track of rations, basic equipment, etc.) and focus on the entertaining adventure that virtually always starts off mundane (encounters with soldiers, bandits, pirates, thieves, merchants, royalty/nobility, etc.) but builds up to the fantastic/supernatural element (whether sorcery, weird happening/location, monster, or monstrous animal) present in each session just as is the case in each REH Conan story.

I've just started my first conan campaign, but this is exactly how I plan to run mine. Wish me luck!

 

[librarycharlie]

Ours is continuous, but occasionally skips massive spans of time. In the last session, they sailed from Stygia to Vendhya.

Basically, I played out all the major events in the span (the ship's charter allows challenges every 30th day at sea, for example). Several months passed.

Anytime the characters are actively living (not just drinking heavily) for weeks/months, I let the players choose any skill that is applicable (balance, use rope, or profession sailor came up for several, diplomacy was chosen by the captain). They just gain one rank in it for free, up to their maximum allowed by level.

It might be sacrilege to give out bonus skill points rather than XP in a 3rd-edition-based game, but the players appreciate it, it's not particularly imbalanced (maybe 10 skill points to a yearlong campaign), and it's realistic. You can't be on a ship that long and not learn something about how it works.

 

[UberDog]

I think one of the central issues here is the difference between what Necromancer Games calls "That First Edition Feel" and what most players have come to expect in a role playing fantasy game.

Post Howard, post pulp, fantasy began to take on an epic scale with continuity. Howard didn't have that issue, he really couldn't. What happened, in both fiction, and eventually with D&D, is that people yearned for the mighty saga, the long story, the epic war against all things dark and foul.

Conan, in Howard's universe, does some of this but his stories are episodic. It's the difference between Star Trek and Lost. Players want more of a Lost feel these days, the serialized narrative rather than the episodic.

This is why a product like Trial of Blood, has such potential for this game. It should speak directly to the central dichoitomy between the two styles of fiction and play.

 

[Atula Siriwardane]

So you may have orcs if you wish .

Since I am not yet to play games (no time though I would love to.. ) I don't understand much discussed here. But I feel that it would help my work a lot if I play..

_____________________________I once had Uruk-Hai with Conan in a pinup..____________________________________________________________