Nordheimer Campaign

[badmudderfugger]

Howdy forum,
I'm putting together a campaign to run in a few months (once Uni lets out) that's starting somewhere in Nordheimer.

Now, I know I risk being stoned for this, but I haven't read any Conan novels or stories, but I have read a few of the Marvel comics, seen the flicks and I'm getting the new Dark Horse comic.

My campaign is gonna be a gritty Norse-influenced romp. Thing is, I'm not really sure how much 'fantasy' is too much fantasy.

So, that being said, I'm looking for some suggestions of what level of 'fantasy' is appropriate in a Conan-style game set in the North. How much from Norse myths can I incorporate and still stay true to the material ( and I already know it's my own game so I can do whatever I want). Can you folks offer any suggestions for adventure ideas?

Cheers!

 

[InsomNY]

Sounds like an interesting idea for a campaign, bmf. Nobody can fault you for missing the Conan stories, since they haven't always been in print. I was in junior high before I got my hands on the works of REH and his imitators. However, one friendly word of advice: Conan the Destroyer never happened. :x

You might be able to add a fair amount from Norse myth to a Conan game, but I think most will agree with me that you need to leave most of the actual gods and magical happenings out. Yes, there can be sorcery and some reference to the more primitive bits of the Scandinavian stuff, but you'll want to focus on people. Specifically, translate the myths into human adventures.

Say you want to use the story wherein the gods have to give Freyja to a giant in marriage. They send Thor in disguise instead of her, and he caves in the giant's skull at the wedding ceremony. This could be a story of an Aesir woman being kidnapped by Vanir or Hyperboreans, and the heroes have to infiltrate their stronghold with stealth and guile, attacking from within.

This is just my opinion, of course. Whatever you want to do, just have fun with it.

 

[E Nicely]

My suggestion is to go pick up The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian. Its only like $15. Take a couple of hours to read a couple of the stories. Then you'll fully understand how much fantasy to put in. This isn't a smartass reply, You'll be a better man for reading them :wink:

 

[badmudderfugger]

Thanks InsomNy!

That's a great idea having a mundane source for the eventual stories of the gods. I was thinking of doing something similar with a degenerate race of greedy, sorcerous subhumans living underground (Dwarves).

I can think of one of my players that would love to have his character live through some of the Norse Myths.

 

[Ian Sturrock]

Howdy forum,
My campaign is gonna be a gritty Norse-influenced romp. Thing is, I'm not really sure how much 'fantasy' is too much fantasy.

It's definitely worth reading Howard if you can get your hands on it -- it's always worth it, whether running a Conan game or not.

To my mind, the writer who best captured the feeling of a barbaric & gritty Norse setting is Henry Treece. I don't think you could go too far wrong incorporating some of the feel of his _Viking Trilogy_ and _The Green Man_. Superstition and primitive religion inform everything the characters do, as always in Treece, but there's not a shred of evidence that anything supernatural is real...

 

[S'mon]

Thanks InsomNy!

That's a great idea having a mundane source for the eventual stories of the gods. I was thinking of doing something similar with a degenerate race of greedy, sorcerous subhumans living underground (Dwarves).

I can think of one of my players that would love to have his character live through some of the Norse Myths.

I think you've got the feel of the Hyborian setting very well.
Degenerate subhuman sorcerous cave-dwelling Modsogner (dwarves) would work very well I think. You could probably get away with using the names of Norse gods for tribal leaders & nobles among the Aesir and Vanir, but I'd avoid overdoing it to avoid it making it cheesy, and putting twists on it as with the Freya's Wedding idea above seems best.

 

[Faraer]

As well as the Conan story "The Frost-Giant's Daughter", actual Æsir and Vanir (named as such, with mention of Ymir and Nordheim) appear in Howard's non-Conan James Allison stories "Marchers of Valhalla", "The Valley of the Worm", and "The Garden of Fear" (see here for where to find those stories), and those are pretty much essential to get more of a feel for the Nordheimr. Howard's Viking stories, such as those of Cormac Mac Art (the Baen Cormac Mac Art volume is still in print), are also relevant, and it's helpful to read the Norse mythology in forms Howard saw it, such as in Bulfinch's Mythology.

Æsir and Vanir names are a mix of Norse, Saxon, and Norse gods -- the Æsir and Vanir being races of Scandinavian divinities -- so the euhemeristic idea that the historical Norse gods recall the actions of mortals of the Hyborian Age is already there. Think amazing physical feats, such as the dragon-slaying in "The Valley of the Worm", and feuds as in the Norse and Icelandic sagas.

 

[Grendel]

I also plan on taking my characters into Nordheimer for several adventures during the campaign, their first adventure is going to be loosely based around the film The 13th Warrior (which was based on the book The Eaters of the Dead).

 

[InsomNY]

Nitpick to Grendel and bmf: the name of the region is Nordheim, lads, not Nordheimer – that's what you call somebody from there, and only if you're not sure if he's an Aes (singular of Aesir) from Asgard or a Vanr (singular of Vanir) from Vanaheim.

For those who don't know, Ymir was the first living creature in Norse myth. Check this link for details.

 

[badmudderfugger]

Nordheim.......got it.

And Grendel, I like the idea of using 13th Warrior as inspiration. The only difference I'm making is that Asgard is gonna be covered in snow, with the weather being as much of an adversary as their foes. I live in Canada, so I know of what I speak.

Cheers to all for the great suggestions!