New player to both Conan and RPG...

J

jrmorgan56

Banded Mongoose
I haven't looked at a role playing game book in detail since the mid-eighties. I fell in love with the Basic Dungeons & Dragons booklets (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, Immortal).

Now I bought the Conan RPG because I am such a fan of Howard's creation. Very different stuff here! I was a little disheartened at the lack of a "tutorial", or examples, walkthrough, etc, on character creation.

I did a search on this forum for this but didn't find anything, so I apologize in advance if this has been brought up before.

Has anyone written a little blurb for new players on creating a character? I always start to get a little confused when I get to the skills section....I am sure I will get the hang of it with enough practice and re-reading.
 
Ok, here is a question for character creation:

When you choose a Hyborian race, say Aquilonian, it gives as a racial feature "Adaptability". A Hyborian may choose two skills that for him or her are treated as class skills, no matter what class was chosen.

Does that mean my character chooses two skills now, in addition to normal background and class skills, or does that only apply to two skills that are chosen later?

Also, I assume background skills are never considered "Cross-class", correct?

Sorry if these questions sound stupid, this is a lot to digest for someone who hasn't been around RPGs for so long... :oops:
 
Just like the rule states, the character chooses 2 skills that are now treated as class skills. So, a Hyborian Soldier could take Hide and Move Silently, and they will always count as class skills for him. Makes for interesting characters.

Not sure about the background skills, but it sounds right (don't have my book in front of me).
 
From Conan RPG first edition:

Background skills, page 16:

For each background skill in a racial backgroud skill listing, a character from that race gains 2 ranks of the appropriate skill, wether or not it would usually be a class skill for him.

So, backround skills are not treated as class skills.


jrmorgan56 said:
Does that mean my character chooses two skills now, in addition to normal background and class skills, or does that only apply to two skills that are chosen later?
Click to expand...

He can choose any skills, even if they are not one of his background skills or 1st level class skills. Usually you would take from those skills for the adaptability trait, it makes more sense backgroundwise, or a skill in wich you are planning to have maximum ranks, in order to take better advantage of the +2 competence bonus.
 
jrmorgan56 said:
Sorry if these questions sound stupid, this is a lot to digest for someone who hasn't been around RPGs for so long... :oops:
Click to expand...

You started around the same time I did, and I can tell you your questions are not stupid for someone just getting back into the game. If you haven't looked at the latest incarnation of Dungeons and Dragons (the 3rd edition) which the Conan game is loosely based on, it can be confusing. You might want to at least look at the Player's Handbook for D&D; it has a lot more explanation and examples to look at.

Cheers!
Michael
 
Thanks for the responses. I've been taking time doing nothing but re-reading, generating several characters, you know, getting used to the process. I know that one of my questions didn't come over very well, but I figured it out now...

...That adaptability, mentioned for the Hyborian class, goes for skills you choose later. You don't actually get 2 free new skills from the beginning that have +2 competency bonuses...you apply that to skills you choose later.

I've also been looking at the fantastic downloads that Mongoose Publishing offers for download...great stuff! NPCs, character sheets, the Xuthol article...

I am going to look over the new D&D too, so I can get a better grasp of the d20 system.
 
jrmorgan56 said:
I am going to look over the new D&D too, so I can get a better grasp of the d20 system.
Click to expand...

I had posted a site in another thread and foxworthy provided the link to a web page that has all the essential rules of the 3rd edition of D&D that this Conan game is based off of. Here is a hypertext link: http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm

It can seem a little overwhelming, but the site is arranged fairly well into broad categories and whatever you click opens into more detailed options.

Hope this helps. I have been away from the boards lately.
 
Hmm. Decurio. I'm going to guess that you are in a Classical dept.?
IIRC, a decurio is a captain of a decuria, or 10-man cavalry unit, a division of a turma.
 
Yogah of Yag said:
Hmm. Decurio. I'm going to guess that you are in a Classical dept.?
IIRC, a decurio is a captain of a decuria, or 10-man cavalry unit, a division of a turma.
Click to expand...

DAMN! Busted! :D
 
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