Non-Howard content in the game

[Anonymous]

I just found out about this game, and am really impressed by what I've heard so far in terms of game mechanics. The changes made to D&D's combat and magic do seem very Conanesque.

With regards to the campaign setting side of things, though, I have a few questions.

Is the material drawn solely from Howard's original writing, or has material from L. Sprague de Camp and other Conan fan-fiction writers made it in? Also, is Howard's material represented correctly, or are there errors or inaccuracies in descriptions of the places and peoples and so on? Finally, how much creative filling in of blanks was done by the Mongoose writers?

I expect some of the latter is an inevitable and probably necessary part of producing a game like this, so I can accept a certain amount of it. If there's too much non-Howard setting information, however, or if the information given doesn't match the original stories, then it might affect my decision to buy.

 

[Anonymous]

Are the rules and technical errors likely to have stabilized with the release of the Atlantean edition, or should I wait for another update?

 

[Anonymous]

Are the rules and technical errors likely to have stabilized with the release of the Atlantean edition, or should I wait for another update?

The Atlantean edition deals with all rules issues I am aware of. The new book only has one errata I am aware of sos far. So it is an excellent book.

Additionally, I doubt there will be another update (at least of any substance) but if there is it will be a second edition and years down the track.

As for pastiche, my experience is that the RPG is solidly focussed on Howard's work. The main rule book even includes Howard's a Hyborian Age essay as the main source of history. Where patische arises it is often flagged as such, presenting the theories or patische work to assist the GM. The main references to patische are where Howard's material doesn't cover a topic sufficiently for the purposes of an RPG. For example, the Shadizar Box Set is based upon a lot of patische as it never actually appeared in any Howard story.

 

[Anonymous]

Wonderful, thank you. That sounds great.

Is the main rulebook a playable core, or are supplements called for?

 

[Anonymous]

Is the main rulebook a playable core, or are supplements called for?

My own view on this is that the main rulebook is a playable core if you know your Conan. If not, then you should probably get Road of Kings as it gazettes the entire Hyborian world in more detail. I am so glad that Mongoose did this first, rather than individual country books So Conan core IMHO is Rulebook and Road of Kings.

Finally, I recommend Scrolls of Skelos which expands magic, especially useful for Conan antagonists. It is not "core" but I have got a lot of use out of the book as a GM.

However, all other supplements so far revealed are not core. They provide nice detail on specific topics (pirating and mercenaries) or areas (Picts, cities) but these may not even appear in many Conan games.