My Conan Campaign Blueprint

FuryMaster

Mongoose
Hi everyone...Here is the blueprint I've created for my Friday night Conan campaign. Obviously a lot can change as we go along but at least this helps me stay organized...I am looking for a campaign that spans years over the lives of the heroes and takes them across the world. I would be happy to hear your thoughts and suggestions, particularly since I don't have experience with all of the listed adventures...obviously most will have to be heavily modified, but that is ok. Thanks to all those who have recently released adventures and articles, you will see that I plan to make good use of them. We are currently hip deep in Vengeance of the Golden Skull.

Conan RPG Campaign Outline

Year of the Lion, Sun, Wolf, Spider, Serpent, Eagle, Dragon and Horse.

Three of the years (Lion, Spider Dragon) have 13 months (the month Dragon is the plus one) while the rest 12.

The months are named as follows: Griffin, Fire, The Golden Month, Maiden, Scorpion, Bear, Snow Ape, Fish, Rat, Sparrow, Hawk, Ram, Dragon*.

Nemedia: Maiden-Bear (Year of the Spider)
· Betrayal on The Road of Kings (Lord Kurstbands Estate is a breeding ground for snake-people, not a good place to spend the night)
· Numalia: Plunderers of the Dead (Tsadagoth the Sorcerer King of Acheron, now a mummy is released). The Amulet is placed in the vault at the temple of Ibis in Numalia

Messantia, Argos: Dragon- (Year of the Spider, Year of the Serpent)
· The Last Days Games- Dragon* (the heroes have arrived in Messantia as slaves and are forced to fight in the arena for their freedom)
· Vengeance of the Golden Skull- The golden Month, Year of the Serpent- (The heroes must save King Milo from an assassination plot by a cult)
· Swords of the Under City (Lankhmar)
· Gangs of Messantia, The Consequence of Vice (Freeport)
· Dark Assassin (TW)
· Holiday in the Sun (Freeport)
· The Shadow of Thantos (RW Morley)
· Dark Wings Over Messantia (Freeport)
· Death in Messantia (Freeport)
· Terror in Messantia (Freeport)
· Madness in Messantia (Freeport)
· Vengeance in Messantia (Freeport)

The Western Ocean
· Ghosts of the Deep (S&P 29)
· Shrine of the Black Ones (Thulsa)

The Black Kingdoms
· City of the Winged One (Runis of Hyboria 49, Dark Corners- kazzigum)
· Tales of the Black Kingdoms
· Dark Corners of the World: Alkmeenon (Kazzigum)
· Gazal (Ruins of Hyboria, pg 70)

Stygia
· Necropolis (Gary Gygax’s Necropolis)

Shem
· The Staff of Ibis (S&P 37)
· Ruins of the Past (Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotania)

Shadizar and Arenjun, Zamora
· Tower of the Elephant
· The Vault of Thedepides (S&P 47)
· City of the Spider God (Thulsa)
· Horror in Shadizar (Horror in Numalia, S&P 44)
· Swords Against Sorcery (Lankhmar)
· Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn (TW)

Corinthia
· The Lurking Terror of Nahab

Nemedia
· The Pit Where Mad Things Drum (S&P 49)

Aquilonia
· Heretics of Tarantia

Border of Zingara and Argos
· City of the Ghouls (Ruins of Hyboria)

Ophir
· Conan the Triumphant

Turan
· Conan Unchained
· Reavers of the Vilayet
· Dark Corners of the World: The Isle of Xapur (Kazzigum

Vendya-Turan
· To Save a Kingdom
· The Coming of Hanuman
 
Sounds pretty cool. I never plan what adventures I will run when I decide on campaign. I name the plot synopsis, NPC's, Villians, where, and when....

Things change so often in a campaign, and I personally do not like leading the characters in what to do. I give them several options, and normally get a rough draft to follow that is totally adjustable.

Plus, you may be assuming they will be of the appropriate levels to run all those.

Mine started in Aquilonia, and the same campaign in now in Stygia. It was not planned...

Makes it fun for all of us...
 
Koski...normally I run a campaign just as you discribe but for this one I decided that I would run it like Howard wrote his books....This stuff takes place over their entire life time...after a particular adventure the characters may decide they are off to Shadizar instead of where I have planned...I will let them go but that will appear as part of the beginning narrative at the beginning of the next adventures and several months will have passed and they'll find themselves working as mercenaries in Ophir as I had planned...Yes its railroady but my players like this for this game, it feels more like Howard's Conan.

As far as what levels the adventures are, it doesn't matter, they will be scaled appropriately...I'm not going to let the adventures level dictate what stories I tell...its more work, but I like doing it anyways.

I am planning another Conan gamefor another group centered around Aquilonia only...basically it will follow the adventures of a young noble during the reign of Numedis (I know I botched that but don't feel like looking it up)...and the characters involvement in the rebellion before Conan was recruited to lead...this will have much less of a pre-planned effort, pretty much all my own adventures, but with a final outcome that is pre-determined..Conan will be King.

At the end of the first campaign I will let the characters choose individually where they want to settle, where they want to carve out their own empires...and we will take each player and do a series of adventures in their chosen location, the non primary characters will take up the roles of henchmen and lieutenants until it is their turn to take center stage...I would imagine that the worldwide jounts in the above campaign will color the location they choose...some may end up as ruler of a kingdom, others a tribal leader in the Black Kingdoms...A merchant Lord there, or a pirate king here.
 
Game is already in progress...

week 1- Characters are part of a large caravan traveling to Numalia. The tail end of the caravan is to far from Numalia to make it before nitefall so it stops in a nearby town. The lietenant who is leading the tail end details some guards and paying travelers to go stay at the estates of a lord nearby since there isn't enough room for everyone in the small village. The lieutenant is in league with the Lord, setting up a few (15) caravaners who won't be missed..he deliberately causes the tail end of the caravan to slow down or have some disaster that leads to it staying behind. Our heroes are made up of both guards and travelrs just trying to get to Numalia...staying alive and keeping as many others alive as possible...This brings the party together.

Week 2-3. In Numalia we went through the Plunders of the Dead adventure in which the characters failed to prevent the raising of the mummy sorcerer although they did kill the Witchman leader. They escaped with the amulet while the mummy retains the ring. They dropped the amulet at the temple of Ibis and ran, stealing some horses.

4. Week 4 starts 9 months later with our heroes as gladiators in the arena in Messantia. They got captured by the Nemedian army and sold into slavery for horse theft. Their owner was a Kothian who buys slaves for gladiatorial games across Hyboria. The heroes are offered freedom if they can win the Last Days Tournament and gain lots of gold for their owner, which they manage to do after battling warriors and beasts alike.

Week 5. Our heroes are still in Messantia 3 months later working at various jobs in the city. Argentio the Eyes and Ears of the city sets up a meeting with them but is assassinated in a public bath with them...the slaughter that the heoes put upon the beautiful assassins gets them arrested and convicted. The captain of the Patrol can smell a rat however and he believes 1 or more of the Merchant Houses are up to no good...he contrives to let the heroes go, telling them they have 2 days to clear their names or they will be hanged. So begins the hunt for the Order of the Golden Skull
 
Interesting campaign so far. How did your players respond to being enslaved? They clearly survived the arena--did they enjoy that part of it?

So far it seems that you are running the 'low end' of Conan adventures, with the pcs as roguish people always a little on the run from the law. Did you intend for that to be the case or did they just play into your hands?
 
Great outline. We shoot more from the hip and go as the winds of coin send us.

We had a blast with the Vengeance of the Golden Skull as well. I think it is one of the best pre-made adventures the 'Goose has put out. Although our group escaped capture and were hunted the entire time by the watch. Made for some tense and unexpected encounters/moments. 8)
 
The characters have gone the more rogeuish route on their own so far....I do intend to givee them the opportunity to join the Kings Hand if they succeed in foiling the plot against the king, but that will be up to them.

I fully expected the players to flee the bath house but they surrendered peacefully to the Patrol. The commander of the Patro 9forget his name at moment) has gone out on a limb and contrived to release them secretly....as far as anyone knows they are still inprisoned waiting execution...if their escape is discovered the commander has it set up so that a Merchant House is set up as the culprit, thereby setting the game of The Thousand Faces in full motion. Which House did it? For what reason? Should a particular House aid the characters because they think their ally has done the deed or should they kill them because any ally is threatened by the.

The characters need to conduct a serious investigation to save their lives but stay below the radar or they will attract a major political game in which they will be the center piece while trying to avoid capture by the alerted watch...should be interesting.

The party makeup is as follows;

2 3rd level barbarians from Cimmeria
A lvl 2/1 Temptress/Thief from Zamora
a lvl 3 Barachan pirate
a lvl 3 Corinthian Borderer with 2 weapon style
a lvl 3 Bossonian Borderer archer
and a lvl 3 Gunderland pikewoman soldier
 
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