Being a fan of the old Marvel Savage Sword of Conan mags and the Sphere Conan paperbacks, I always enjoyed reading the short extracts from "A Probable Outline of Conan's Career" by P. Schuyler Miller and John D. Clark, PhD before the start of each story.
The outline was written by two Conan fans in 1938, I believe.
These extracts were used to link the Conan stories (Howard and pastiches), told what had happened to Conan in-between stories and gave his current location in Hyboria.
The story itself could then leap straight into the action, placing Conan fleeing from wolves or whatever.
I have adapted this technique to fill in the background to scenarios, link them together and remind/update Players as to what is happening in my Conan campaign eg:
THE LAIR OF THE LIZARD GOD
Background (Read the following in italics to Players)
Following their adventure in "The Tower at the Edge of the World", the heroes begin their return to Shem. In their possession is the Stone of Eibon, a magical jewel they hope will free the King of Dan-Macarh from his death-like trance. Whilst sailing off the coast of the Pictish Wilderness, they are overtaken by a violent storm...........
The Adventure
1. The Storm
(Read the following in italics to Players)
Lightning splits the sky like a sword !!!. Beneath your feet, the deck reels as the ship pitches from side to side. Harald the Vanir helmsman utters curses to Ymir as he wrestles the ship away from the rocks of the Pictish coast. Your keen eyes strain though the mist and spray, seeking a safe haven to wait out the storm.
Make a Spot roll vs DC 15 to see a wide inlet sheltered by trees.
and so on.
As you can see this techique works quite well and adds to Conanesque flavour of the story. At least it does if you remember those old stories.
Cheers
The outline was written by two Conan fans in 1938, I believe.
These extracts were used to link the Conan stories (Howard and pastiches), told what had happened to Conan in-between stories and gave his current location in Hyboria.
The story itself could then leap straight into the action, placing Conan fleeing from wolves or whatever.
I have adapted this technique to fill in the background to scenarios, link them together and remind/update Players as to what is happening in my Conan campaign eg:
THE LAIR OF THE LIZARD GOD
Background (Read the following in italics to Players)
Following their adventure in "The Tower at the Edge of the World", the heroes begin their return to Shem. In their possession is the Stone of Eibon, a magical jewel they hope will free the King of Dan-Macarh from his death-like trance. Whilst sailing off the coast of the Pictish Wilderness, they are overtaken by a violent storm...........
The Adventure
1. The Storm
(Read the following in italics to Players)
Lightning splits the sky like a sword !!!. Beneath your feet, the deck reels as the ship pitches from side to side. Harald the Vanir helmsman utters curses to Ymir as he wrestles the ship away from the rocks of the Pictish coast. Your keen eyes strain though the mist and spray, seeking a safe haven to wait out the storm.
Make a Spot roll vs DC 15 to see a wide inlet sheltered by trees.
and so on.
As you can see this techique works quite well and adds to Conanesque flavour of the story. At least it does if you remember those old stories.
Cheers
