Next Conan Book Purchase?

[KJohnston]

Well my FLGS finally got my order of the Bestiary and Secrets of Skelos in, so popping down tomorrow to pick them up. I also have a bit of extra cash so I feel like expanding my Conan library.

As it stands I have 2 copies of the Conan 2nd Core Rulebook, Shadizar, Messantia, Faith and Fervour, Return to the Road of Kings, Shem, The Compendium and Players Guide to the Hyborian Age.

So, what should my next purchase be? Obviously I'm tending towards the regional books here, any reccomendations?

 

[Ichabod]

Across Thunder River seems like the best written regional and has more content.

Argos and Zingara gives the rules for K: Zingaran Fencing School but doesn't seem terribly interesting except for the crunch.

Stygia is something I'd like to spend more time reading as it seems to have interesting details, though it has the problem a number of the regionals do in terms of being too short.

Lot of people seem to like Ruins of Hyboria; I have no opinion. I used to reference the H*'s F* series a lot but pretty much for the feats and don't even bother doing that much anymore.

 

[rabindranath72]

Ruins of Hyboria is an excellent resource. Lots of ideas on existing arcane sites, plus tools to build more, monsters, traps etc. Strongly recommended!

 

[Hervé]

Well it depends of what you're looking for. Background? Rules? Adventures?

Ruins of Hyboria is indeed a good choice, being the best book of the line for me along with Across TheThunder River.

Of the regional sourcebooks (Thunder River, Aquilonia, Stygia, Argos & Zingara and Shem) Across the Thunder River is the best (unless you don't plan to send your players on the Pictish border), although one might find some interest in Stygia.

The Hyboria Series (Fiercest, Finest and Fallen) are generally appreciated by D20 players and can prove useful if you plan to delve deeper into the rules. The books focus heavily on multiclassing options. Not really my cup of tea.

Of Skelos, Pirates and Free Companies, Secret of Skelos (the new edition) would probably be my pick, although the books tend to be more useful for high levels NPCs than for players. Pirate Isles would be next. I found little interest in Free Companies (eventhough I was running a mercenary campaign at the time!)

Black Kingdoms, Heretics of Tarantia, Lurking Terror of Nahab, Tower of the Elephant, Reavers of the Vilayet are adventures. Tales of the Black Kingdoms is my favourite (although it needs some rewriting), followed by Heretics of Tarantia. Tower of The Elephant is well playable, especially if your players don't know the story before hand. Reavers is just OK and Lurking Terror is terrible. There are also two other adventures available only in PDF from the Mongoose site. I found them only average.

I forgot Tito's Trading Post, a lousy cut & paste compilation of stuff and weapons from other books. Avoid it.

Don't forget to check the Signs & Portents online magazine from Mongoose. most issues contain Conan stuff, and it's free!

 

[B_Steele]

Lurking Terror is terrible

Not to simply defend my own work here, but we have run LToN at conventions before and it has gone over very well. It may not be your style or to your opinion's liking, but each gaming group is looking for their own thing.

I'm not normally one to take offence to someone's opinion about my work (you can't please everyone), but I don't think telling a new Conan player that something is "terrible" is very fair to all of the people I have personally seen/ran for who loved it.

To the original poster: I would say Ruins of Hyboria would be a great place to start as your next purchase. Next would likely be the Aquilonia sourcebook...it might be a little more "future" Conan (King and such) for some people's tastes, but that is my favourite time in Howard's chronology.

Cheers!
Bry

 

[Ichabod]

Haven't read Lurking Terror, only played in it. I thought it was fine, an adventure I enjoyed more than many, though maybe it had to do with the party being quite different from our main one.

 

[Style]

I don't think telling a new Conan player that something is "terrible" is very fair to all of the people I have personally seen/ran for who loved it.

Hervé didn't say "Every one here would agree with me it's terrible", he just said "Lurking Terror is terrible." It goes with out saying that it is Hervé's opinion when he said that.

I don't think it's fair to tell Hervé he can't give his opinion on a book when another poster was asking for opinions.

 

[Hervé]

Sorry Bryan. It was nothing personal, only a personal opinion. Maybe I was too harsh, as for me all Conan stuff is good to grab! I've been harder with Tito's Trading Post or with the Hyboria's books many times on this forum and Vincent Darlage never complained...
You know how customers are, don't you? :wink:
I'll be buying your next adventure, anyways(if there's one)...
Cheers

 

[B_Steele]

I don't think it's fair to tell Hervé he can't give his opinion on a book when another poster was asking for opinions.

No, no...I'm not sayin that Herve shouldn't give his opinion. Just that maybe he might look at Terror in a different light.

Sorry Bryan. It was nothing personal, only a personal opinion. Maybe I was too harsh, as for me all Conan stuff is good to grab!

No harm, no foul. I've got pretty thick skin most days, it just caught me oddly. No true offense taken, mate.

You know how customers are, don't you?

Egads...years of retail before I got into this business. So yeah, I am well aware how customers are. They are our paycheque however, so I am sorry if I came off as a little pointed toward you, Herve.

I'll be buying your next adventure, anyways(if there's one)...

Trial of Blood (the mega-campaign) is my Conan baby. I really hope it takes off like I think it's going to. I hope you like it, too.

Cheers all,
Bry

 

[KJohnston]

Just for the record, not a new player to Conan. Just very little point in posting here to be honest, mostly a quiet forum, oft dead forum.

I also like how no-one actually read what books I owned or was buying anyway, but for the record I picked up The Pirate Isles along with the original purchases I mentioned.

Thanks for your time,
Kevin.

 

[Style]

I also like how no-one actually read what books I owned or was buying anyway

Hervé gave a nice summary of all the D20 Conan books that could be useful to anyone looking to make a purchase, including you.

OK, I'm going to stop defending Hervé now, I swear.

 

[Stygian Devout]

Got to say I would agree with Herve 100% with regards to the Lurking Terror

As a player just did not enjoy it.

 

[The King]

I also feel that Lurking Terror is weak: the basic idea is great (the monster and the reason of its presence + the class struggle) but the events aren't. I feel it's more than linear and not always adequate IMO.

But as it is told above, it's nothing personal because I consider Bryan's Player's Guide to Glorantha truly excellent in the way it is written (it seems indeed that Bry is full of great idea) as well as how it applies in the game.

My favorite scenario is Heretics of Tarantia followed by the tower of the elephant but ONLY if the PCs don't know the original story. In the Hyboria's F* series, I would recommand Hyboria's Fierciest. Though all are typical D20 books, this one is great if you intend to run wilderness adventure because it has rules about nearly everything in that field.

In the other books, I think that the Free Companies is a great addition if you want to run Howard-like conflicts between the various kingdoms.

 

[DaveNC]

I agree with some of the other posters - Across Thunder River is excellent. It has a lot of content, is very well written and I've always liked the potentials of the Pictish wilderness.

 

[Spectator]

Two most important 1st Ed books:
Skrolls of Skelos
and Road of Kings.

Followed by
Thunder River and tied with Stygia.