New DM here... a few questions

[AGNKim]

Hello guys. Huge REH fan, love Conan. Been an RPGer for years. Finally, the two have combined and I really like what I am reading. I plan on starting a game soon. Everyone is looking forward to it. But, I have a few questions...

1. Is there any Healing magic in Conan RPG? I have read the spells, but none seem to bestow heals. I see a Scholar can be a Lay Priest, so I would assume there is some sort of Priestly magic (to some extent).

2. Is there some sort of quick-n-dirty Race guide? I'm pretty familiar with REH works, but even I am daunted by the information presented in the books, but at the same time, feel there isn't enough to decide which to play. Has anyone written a paper with each Race given a few paragraphs to assist new players in deciding which is right for them?

3. I have the corebook, Return to the Road of Kings, Players Guide to the Hyborian Age and Trial of Blood (all 2nd Edition it would appear). Is there any other books that you DMs (GMs?) feel is a must-have? Also, I read there is a DM Screen, but do not see one on the Products page.

4. I always appreciate fan-created playing guides. Is there a repository set up where players can upload there created works, such as the aforementioned Race guide?

5. Any hints?

Thanks,

Kim

 

[kintire]

1. Is there any Healing magic in Conan RPG? I have read the spells, but none seem to bestow heals. I see a Scholar can be a Lay Priest, so I would assume there is some sort of Priestly magic (to some extent).

None. Priest is a social rank, priestly magic is sorcery like any other, and is usually done by calling your god into the world to wreak his vengeance upon the cult's foes. And not you. Hopefully.

2. Is there some sort of quick-n-dirty Race guide? I'm pretty familiar with REH works, but even I am daunted by the information presented in the books, but at the same time, feel there isn't enough to decide which to play. Has anyone written a paper with each Race given a few paragraphs to assist new players in deciding which is right for them?

Frankly, you can't go wrong with Hyborian. There is a reason they rule the world.

3. I have the corebook, Return to the Road of Kings, Players Guide to the Hyborian Age and Trial of Blood (all 2nd Edition it would appear). Is there any other books that you DMs (GMs?) feel is a must-have? Also, I read there is a DM Screen, but do not see one on the Products page.

I would recommend Secrets of Skelos. I also like Betrayer of Asgard

4. I always appreciate fan-created playing guides. Is there a repository set up where players can upload there created works, such as the aforementioned Race guide?

Not that I've found...

5. Any hints?

Keep it fast and bloody! But don't be afraid to put in some politics and manipulation as well. Black Stranger is my main guide... manipulation, trickery and political maneuvering with a massive bloodbath at the end.

 

[flatscan]

Hey there Kim, welcome to the forums!

1. Is there any Healing magic in Conan RPG? I have read the spells, but none seem to bestow heals. I see a Scholar can be a Lay Priest, so I would assume there is some sort of Priestly magic (to some extent).

Nope, no healing magic. This is grim and gritty sword & sorcery. The PCs will have to take some ranks in the Heal skill and buy some healing kits. Natural healing in Conan yields greater results than standard d20. There's the off chance the PCs may find some Golden Wine of Xuthal which recovers a substantial amount of HP. In my games I've added some minor healing poultices that generally do the same as a Heal check, depending on potency, rarity of the herbs, etc, but the PCs don't have to spend 10 minutes applying it, unlike the Heal skill.

2. Is there some sort of quick-n-dirty Race guide? I'm pretty familiar with REH works, but even I am daunted by the information presented in the books, but at the same time, feel there isn't enough to decide which to play. Has anyone written a paper with each Race given a few paragraphs to assist new players in deciding which is right for them?

The Player's Guide has some good info on the various races. If nothing else, the day in the life section of that book should be enough to give players an idea of what the races are like RP-wise. For stats and such, the main rulebook is your go to source though there are some variants in the different region books.

3. I have the corebook, Return to the Road of Kings, Players Guide to the Hyborian Age and Trial of Blood (all 2nd Edition it would appear). Is there any other books that you DMs (GMs?) feel is a must-have? Also, I read there is a DM Screen, but do not see one on the Products page.

Really, if you're planning on running Trial of Blood you've got everything you need. You might look at the Warrior's Companion if your players need more options and crunch, but you're off to a great start already.

4. I always appreciate fan-created playing guides. Is there a repository set up where players can upload there created works, such as the aforementioned Race guide?

No repository that I know of, but there are some fantastic resources scattered about these forums. Seanbickford recently compiled all the Combat Manuevers together on this forum. Highly recommended. Thulsa has a site out there with some goodies, but I've not used much of it.

5. Any hints?

Be brutal. Re-read the Howard stories (forget the pastiches) that deal with the locations you'll be playing in. Get a copy of the finishing move descriptions in the GM section of the main book to keep at the table while playing. A basic RPG tip, but I keep index cards behind the screen with the names of the various PCs and NPCs on it. I record initiative scores on the cards as well as HP and status effects. This way init is a breeze, you just deal with one PC/NPC, then flip the card to the next one.

Anyhow, I think you'll enjoy your games in the Hyborian Age. It truly is an age undreamed of. :wink:

 

[rabindranath72]

Hi Kim,
I recognise you from the TLG and DF boards. Welcome to the forum!
Now, on to the questions:
1) I only own the Atlantean Edition and Scrolls of Skelos, but in these references there is not healing magic. Not sure if they added something to the 2nd edition, but I would say no. Note that characters heal naturally quite fast, and there is also the A Flagon of Wine rule which allows recovery at 0 hit points. Characters can also avoid death with Fate Points.

2) Not that I know (at least not for d20 Conan)

3) I would say Scrolls of Skelos since it provides more spells and artifacts, and backgrounds on sorcerous societies. Also Ruins of Hyboria is an excellent book. I would say that the books above plus the core book and Road of Kings are more than enough for a lifetime.
Note that many of the 2e books are more about crunch than detailed background info. So if you do not plan to use the d20 rules, these would only be filler.

4) Cannot help here

5) I would suggest starting with an Hyborian character (so you only need concentrate on that one paragraph in the book; after all, it's called Hyborian Age for this reason!)
If you are new to d20, do not try to digest the rules all at the same time. I personally do not like the rules system at all, seeing as it is even more complex than standard d20 (armor factors, parry, dodge, combat maneuvers etc.), but if you want to give it a try, introduce one bit at the time.

Cheers,
Antonio

 

[Hervé]

Hello there

1. Nope. Forget about it.
Magic in Conan is dark and corrupting... and very rare. There are no "good magicians" or healers. Priests are just religious leaders or fanatics, not superpowered spellcasters. Religion is very subjective in Conan. First ther are no really "good gods" as such (although Mitra is quite an exception). There are no material proof of the existence of "real" gods, thus there's no "divine magic" as such. Remember that any giant ape or worm lurking in a ruined city is often called a "god" in Conan. For healing, PCs have to rely on the faster healing rate. Remember that there are also very few magic items, and most of them are corrupting. Do not count on "healing potions" either.

2. The quickest "race guide" you can get is the one from the main rulebook.
For players who are not familiar with REH, show them the map and present it as a “pangean” European/African/Asian continent.
To the north, the barbarians. The Western hyborian kingdoms are pretty close to the “traditional” medieval Europe present in most RPGs. Down South, the Shemites have jewish/Arabian culture, Stygia is a somewhat “evil” version of Ancient Egypt while the Black Kingdoms are very much a fantasy dark Africa. To the East, we have the Hyrkanian steppes which reminds of Gengis Khan's Mongolia, while Turan would be close to the Ottoman Empire. Vendhya is India and Kithai is ancient China.
This is somewhat reductive I know, but it should give your players a quick glance of the Thurian continent. Give them a broad picture at first, using images there are familiar with, and then concentrate on racial details present in each “major” culture.

3. The books you have seem pretty enough for a start, although you might want to play a stating scenario before diving into a big campaign like Trial of Blood. Heretics of Tarantia is not so bad for a start, as it can easily be linked with Trial of Bood.
There was a GM screen for the first/Atlantean Edition, but there are none for the 2nd Ed. Anyways, the changes between the two editions are minor, so the 1st ed screen might do the trick.

4. Be sure to check Thulsa’s Site for a wealth of information, rules and adventures:
http://hyboria.xoth.net/index.htm

5. Be dark, dirty and gritty. This is not AD&D, even if the core rules look the same.

Welcome abroad.

Hervé

 

[Jeffreywns]

Hello- I hope these answers can help.
Healing- The Stygia book introduced Stygian Physicians, and our groups highest level character took it (Stygian Scholar with Noble Blood feat). He swears by it. Other than that its the heal skill everyone mentioned.
The 3 "F" books, Hyborias Fiercst, Finest and Fallen describe each races and Kingdoms version of the classes with guidelines and options in greater detail. I think they are still for sale. Plus the multi-class characters might appeal to some of your group, not to mention making great NPC's.
Core book choices- Ive always thought the ons you already have, Secrets of Skelos and the 3 F books mentioned earlier.

 

[AGNKim]

Thanks everyone!

 

[kintire]

Magic in Conan is dark and corrupting... and very rare. There are no "good magicians" or healers.

There ARE "good magicians", but they don't seem to do healing spells.

There are no material proof of the existence of "real" gods, thus there's no "divine magic" as such.

Gods show up in person on occasion... but it is true there is no divine magic in the DnD sense. You might call Summoning "divine" magic, but its not the same thing at all!

 

[Clovenhoof]

Some additional words on Race: the core races are not all balanced; some are clearly more powerful than others, and intentionally so. I suggest to leave the weaker races to NPCs.

Here's the shortlist that I consider the Crème of Races sorted by desired Class, taking into account both the Favoured Class rewards and how the racial features synergize with this class:

Any: Hyborian. Never forget that this race is the jack of all trades and an excellent choice for most classes.

Barbarian: Cimmerian, no contest. Effectively, you get +1 to attack, damage and Will saves, and lose 1 skill point per level. Some nice skill bonuses too.

Borderer: Tauran, or Hyborian in general. The Tauran subrace gives you some very minor skill bonuses and the rather useless Farmer skill.

Noble: here I have to pass as I've never really bothered about the Noble as a PC.

Nomad: Hyrkanian, definitely. Their bow freebies harmonize excellently with the Nomad class features.

Pirate: Argossean/Barachan is a good choice for Adaptability (and thus, a skill-centered pirate) whereas Zingaran gets bonuses to Arming sword and extra Sneak Attack. Over all I think the Zingaran is the best choice.

Scholar: here I definitely recommend Hyborian again, because all other classes with FC:Scholar get penalties to certain saving throws.

Soldier: lots of choices here, depending on what combat style you're into. For "Sword & Board" style, I consider Nordheimer a worthwhile choice, despite their not Favouring this class. You lose the FC feats, but Soldiers get an assful of feats anyway and you get War Sword proficiency for free, plus a damage bonus for every sword.

Temptress: Zingaran is very well suited for a Temptress that expects to fight often, due to the free sword proficiency and attack bonus and extra sneak attack.

Thief: what choice do you have -- Zamoran for some thief-related boons, or Hyborian for a bit more versatility.

So in short, the best races overall are:
Cimmerian, Hyborian, Hyrkanian, Zamoran, Zingaran.

 

[Violetsaber]

1. Is there any Healing magic in Conan RPG? I have read the spells, but none seem to bestow heals. I see a Scholar can be a Lay Priest, so I would assume there is some sort of Priestly magic (to some extent).

Welcome!

The others are quite correct - magic in Conan is quite different tasting than in any other fantasy game I've ever played. If you have not read a few the original books by Robert E. Howard, I would recommend it. They are well written, entertaining, and will give you the feel of how to run a Conan RPG better than anything anyone here could ever say.

The good news, though, is that there is a Healer class from awhile ago. I believe these rules came out before 2E, but they work fine for me. They are free to download from the Mongoose site.

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1552&qsSeries=13

The class isn't "magical" by any means, but it does provide powerful and skilled healers who can keep your party on thier feet.

I hope that helps you out.

 

[Hervé]

There ARE "good magicians", but they don't seem to do healing spells.

You surely mean "there are some who are not so evil"... :twisted:. I'm kidding... I know there are some, but they are far from being the majority.

I would suggest starting with an Hyborian character (so you only need concentrate on that one paragraph in the book; after all, it's called Hyborian Age for this reason!)

Well, yes and no. It might be good to simplify matters and run an hyborian based campaign like Trial of Blood, but Hyborians are rather dull as a race, as they quite meet the standards of traditional fantasy. You need to be exotic in a Conan game, or so I think, so don't hesitate to go for other races like Black Kingdoms, Hyrkania, Stygia and such, which will add far more flavour to your campaign...

I would recommend Secrets of Skelos. I also like Betrayer of Asgard

The Skelos books include new rules and options for scholar and are more, to my eyes, very good GM sourcebooks for high level baddies. Although excellent, I wouldn't advice them for a starting GM. Same for Betrayer of Asgard. The campaign is quite good and has a better "REH flavour"(at least for me) than Trial of Blood, but the adventure is scaled for levels 5-9, which is not so good for a starting campaign.

You might look at the Warrior's Companion if your players need more options and crunch, but you're off to a great start already.

or

The 3 "F" books, Hyborias Fiercst, Finest and Fallen describe each races and Kingdoms version of the classes with guidelines and options in greater detail. I think they are still for sale. Plus the multi-class characters might appeal to some of your group, not to mention making great NPC's.
Core book choices- Ive always thought the ons you already have, Secrets of Skelos and the 3 F books mentioned earlier.

My advice is: don't go for more crunch before you fully master the rulebook.

Note that many of the 2e books are more about crunch than detailed background info. So if you do not plan to use the d20 rules, these would only be filler.

Hey, that's not true. Only the Warrior's companion is really "crunch oriented". The Player's Guide, Bestiary and Secrets of Skelos have some crunch too, but not so much, and Cities of Hyboria, Cimmeria, Kithai, Trial of Blood and Betrayer of Asgard are more fluffy.

If you are new to d20, do not try to digest the rules all at the same time. I personally do not like the rules system at all, seeing as it is even more complex than standard d20 (armor factors, parry, dodge, combat maneuvers etc.), but if you want to give it a try, introduce one bit at the time.

That's true. And you'll soon see also pretty soon that the rules are pretty much flawed. The changes from the standard D20 rules have caused some major imbalances in the game:

-Defense is considerably lower than the standard D20 Armor Class counterpart. Power Attack becomes thus very easy and EXTREMELY munchkinesque and powerful.

-Two Handed Weapons do tremendous amounts of damage (high damage ratings, Str bonus x 1.5 and double damage bonus on Power Attack)

-Massive Damage have been lowered from 50 to 20.

You'll see easily by yourself that by combining the three paragraphs above, any two handed weapon blow kills instantly almost anything...

-Damage Reducing armor is a good idea, but doesn't really fit well in the standard D20 rules: It's quite useless against high powered characters due to Armor Penetration and heavy damage (especially with the aforementioned dreaded two handed weapons) but is way too much powerful against low level opponents who aren't able to damage the character.
Using these rules, a well armoured character could sweep an entire army of low level soldiers without taking a single wound...

-Magic can also be pretty much unbalanced if you let it loose. Most of the time, scholars will be underpowered, but some spells can wipe out an entire city or totally ruin your campaign...

So my advice would be: study the rules before going deeper, learn to master them before going for more crunch. You'll have plenty of opportunities to add new options as your campaign grows.

Good gaming

 

[treeplanter]

-Defense is considerably lower than the standard D20 Armor Class counterpart. Power Attack becomes thus very easy and EXTREMELY munchkinesque and powerful.

-Two Handed Weapons do tremendous amounts of damage (high damage ratings, Str bonus x 1.5 and double damage bonus on Power Attack)

-Massive Damage have been lowered from 50 to 20.

You'll see easily by yourself that by combining the three paragraphs above, any two handed weapon blow kills instantly almost anything...

-Damage Reducing armor is a good idea, but doesn't really fit well in the standard D20 rules: It's quite useless against high powered characters due to Armor Penetration and heavy damage (especially with the aforementioned dreaded two handed weapons) but is way too much powerful against low level opponents who aren't able to damage the character.
Using these rules, a well armoured character could sweep an entire army of low level soldiers without taking a single wound...

Good gaming

Damn I have to answer some of that.

1. Defense in 3.X DnD was a shame. Not only was it lower than in Conan in general, but it was also absurd. The only way to improve your AC was magic item. I remember playing a Barbarian, I sarted at 15 AC at level 1, and I was still at 15 AC at level 9 (Same good old Chain shirt)

2. About Power attack and 2 handed weapon, Hervé's right. You should from the start make some errata otherwise it become a bit boring. Simple suggestion include increasing MD trigger, removing double power attack bonus for 2-handed weapon (must), and allowing 2-weapon figther to get one attack with each hand even if they move.

3. Damage reduction is genius. The fact it is useless against strong character or monster and godly against thug is actually REALIST! A full plate give you a tremendeous advantage in a mass battle, but it is quite useless against a Gargantuan frost worm. It is also untrue that a heavy armoured character could swipe an entire army cause:
1. An army is most likely to have sergent or captain to deal with Mr. Can.
2. You can apply the 1 damage minimum rule.
3. You can use the piling rule along with the grapple rule to pin or bring it down Mr. Can

In any case, I use my logic in those particular situation.

Happy gaming

 

[Strom]

Welcome Kim - don't forget all the free content available for the Conan RPG in the monthly e-mag Sign & Portents. Here's a handy link:


http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20177


8)

 

[Ichabod]

So in short, the best races overall are:
Cimmerian, Hyborian, Hyrkanian, Zamoran, Zingaran.

Hyrkanian?!? Haven't we established that archery sucks? Haven't we established that nomad is strictly inferior to barbarian?

There's nothing I would care about having from a Hyrkanian I couldn't get from a Vendhyan (i.e. ability to wield tulwars as martial weapons). Speaking of which, if Vendhyans just didn't have such awful favored classes, it would be a solid race. I should hope that all of the different castes will get different favored classes in a Vendhyan source book.

Subrace rules are hard to follow and seem to not really make any sense, but if you assume that Chagans aren't screwed by being subKushites, then not particularly bad. Again, terrible favored class.

And, I don't see the problem with Stygians or Khitains. Both have a good favored class. Both get useful specials, if unspectacular ones.

Of course, I believe PCs should have all classes favored, which would make a lot of races worth playing.

 

[AGNKim]

Again, thanks for all the help. I am re-reading my Howard (for the umpteenth time) and still love everything about it.

My perception on this game is you play it for the atmosphere... for the setting... If you come in min/max'ing the numbers, then you'll find the weaknesses. Let the numbers take care of themselves and play in Howard's world for the sheer fun of it. That's just MY take. Everyone has their own, and I'm sure everyone can justify it, and rightly so.

Another question popped up as I was making a sample character (a Zingaran Pirate): Do 1st level characters start with only one (optional) Feat? In other words, some Feats are given to a character (Two Weapon Fighting for my Pirate for example). Other than these, is it just one that the PC can pick at first level?

Thanks,
Kim

 

[treeplanter]

Don't listen to Ichabod and Clovenoff they are muchkin-crunching-obsessed guys lol

In that particular case your character would get 2 additional feat at level one: One from his character level and one from Pirate being one of zingaran favoured class.

Hope that help!

 

[Hervé]

Treeplanter wrote:

Defense in 3.X DnD was a shame. Not only was it lower than in Conan in general, but it was also absurd. The only way to improve your AC was magic item. I remember playing a Barbarian, I sarted at 15 AC at level 1, and I was still at 15 AC at level 9 (Same good old Chain shirt).

I only partially agree on this as magical enhancements are a vital part of the D&D rules. At higher levels, a D&D character will generally end up with a higher AC than his Conan counterpart, who relies only on stat and classes bonuses. Furthermore, Attack bonuses in Conan are generally far higher than Defense bonuses, another point that’s making Power Attack too powerful.

Damage reduction is genius. The fact it is useless against strong character or monster and godly against thug is actually REALIST! A full plate give you a tremendeous advantage in a mass battle, but it is quite useless against a Gargantuan frost worm. It is also untrue that a heavy armoured character could swipe an entire army cause:
1. An army is most likely to have sergent or captain to deal with Mr. Can.
2. You can apply the 1 damage minimum rule.
3. You can use the piling rule along with the grapple rule to pin or bring it down Mr. Can

I don’t doubt that DR is more realist than AC, and as I said, I like the idea but not so much the mechanics. BTW, how do you handle Sneak Attacks with the “One Damage Minimum” rule?
Extra damage from Sneak Attacks are added only if the regular damage bypass or pierces the target’s armour. This optional rule allows to pass Sneak Attacks 100% of the time. In our games, we ruled that the regular damage has to be higher than the target’s DR for the SA to take effect (of course, there are always Finesse Attacks that can allow to bypass armour totally, but that’s not really the point here).

What’s the “piling rule” anyways?

In any case, I use my logic in those particular situation.

I guess that what we all do when the rules seem absurd…

Ichabod wrote:

Hyrkanian?!? Haven't we established that archery sucks? Haven't we established that nomad is strictly inferior to barbarian?

Yes, I agree that archery quite sucks in Conan. As for Nomads, they are probably the weakest class…

AGNKim wrote :

My perception on this game is you play it for the atmosphere... for the setting... If you come in min/max'ing the numbers, then you'll find the weaknesses. Let the numbers take care of themselves and play in Howard's world for the sheer fun of it. That's just MY take. Everyone has their own, and I'm sure everyone can justify it, and rightly so.

I’m totally with you on this, being more on the “storyteller’s” side than on the “gamist’s” one… Unfortunately the D20 rules are pretty much about crunching numbers, and by reaching mid levels, you’ll have a huge power difference between a “mini/maxed” character and a “fun” one. The major problem comes from Feats that all have the same cost, whatever their impact on the rules. A character generally have a limited choice of Feats, making thus “fun” characters considerably weaker than optimized ones…

 

[kintire]

BTW, how do you handle Sneak Attacks with the “One Damage Minimum” rule?
Extra damage from Sneak Attacks are added only if the regular damage bypass or pierces the target’s armour. This optional rule allows to pass Sneak Attacks 100% of the time.

No it doesn't. Adding a minimum damage even when the armour is not bypaassed or pierced does not affect the fact that the armour is not bypassed or pierced.

Yes, I agree that archery quite sucks in Conan.

Only if you don't fix the two handed weapon problem.

Unfortunately the D20 rules are pretty much about crunching numbers

:roll:

All rules systems are about crunching numbers. All of them.

by reaching mid levels, you’ll have a huge power difference between a “mini/maxed” character and a “fun” one. The major problem comes from Feats that all have the same cost, whatever their impact on the rules. A character generally have a limited choice of Feats, making thus “fun” characters considerably weaker than optimized ones…

I am unconvinced. My experience of people attempting to min max Conan characters is that they end up just that: very Max at what they do, but extremely Min elsewhere. They end up more dependent on the group not less.

 

[Clovenhoof]

@Ichabod:
Yeah, but still I consider Hyrkanians as the best race for Nomads. I can't help it if the Nomad class is underpowered in itself.
Actually, Nomads can be formidable opponents - as NPCs. A bunch of angry ragheads circling you on their little horses is bad news for a party of adventurers. But a single Nomad in a typical adventurer party usually can't play his strengths.

 

[Hervé]

kintire wrote:

All rules systems are about crunching numbers. All of them.

Maybe to a certain extent, but some systems are far more number crunching oriented than others. With its load of Feats and character options, D20 belong to this category.
I know you think the system doesn't affect RP and you know I think it does. Skeletal rules kinda force you to focus on character background and personality when more rule heavy ones lead to number crunching.
That doesn't mean I like skeletal rules either. It's all matter of balance between mechanics and characterization. More than often, I have seen players reasoning in terms of game mechanics rather than trying to be "in character".

I am unconvinced. My experience of people attempting to min max Conan characters is that they end up just that: very Max at what they do, but extremely Min elsewhere. They end up more dependent on the group not less.

Well, I'm not too convinced either. Take two different Soldier build for instance. One mini/maxed with favoured class, proper feats, well thought stats and well chosen weapons and armour, and another one that would rely more on character concept or background, with not so efficient stats/powers/stuff. Both would be somewhat poor in the skill department, but the first one would be a killing machine while the other would be worth nothing (in game terms) after a few levels...
Anyway, I think D20 is a lot about character specialization, as are most class based systems. You have to be the best at what you do, letting the others in the party handle what you can't do.

I'm not saying you can't play D20 without crunching numbers, but if there are some players that maximize the system when other don't, you'll end up with a big power difference within the party.