Other d20 OGL Games That Are As Good as Conan?

[Supplement Four]

I've recently looked through the Thieves World rpg and the Black Company rpg, and I'm quite impressed with both of them.

I like Conan the best, but, in a different time and place, I could see myself delving into those games, too.

Are there other d20 OGL games that impress you? I heard they did a good job on Star Wars, but I've never looked at it (I love WEG's D6 version). And, I've heard that Traveller 20 is a good d20 game, too (again, I'm a Classic Traveller fan). And, Modern d20 gets good marks from people I've heard.

What about you? Other good d20 games to recommend?

 

[Spectator]

I'm a GIANT fan of the SLAINE RPG put out by Mongoose (1st edition D20, not the RQ edition).
Celtic witches, chariots, human sacrifice, WickerMan, etc...

 

[rabindranath72]

Wheel of Time rpg is quite good. It includes both the setting and the rules in one book. It's also based on the 3.0 rules set, so it's somewhat "lighter" than the other d20 games (including d20 Conan).

Another good game is Call of Cthulhu d20. It's the closest to a classless system you can get with a level-based game. Tons of interesting background stuff for all eras of play, and a nasty sorcery system. Even in this case the rules have been tweaked and it's quite light to run. Also combat does not need a map since attacks of opportunity have been removed. It's what d20 Modern should have been, IMO (and it can work as such in a pinch.)
It can be useful to import additional Cthulhoid stuff into Conan d20.

Slaine is also good, but it depends on the 3.0 PHB; it's not a stand-alone game.

 

[Supplement Four]

I like the language system used in The Black Company rules. If you wanted to get more detailed about languages in the Conan game and not allow PCs to speak and write and read just about every language they want, the system would port easily.



And, the Black Company uses an Action Point system not unlike Conan's Fate Points. One of the options in spending an Action point is to add 1d6 to your d20 roll. I like their random/variable take on it, unlike Conan's where players can always count that spending a point will have the desired effect.

 

[Sting52jb]

I've really enjoyed the Midnight game setting put out by FFG, as well as The Black Company, and Thieves World by Green Ronin.

Similar to the Wheel of Time source book, there was also a Game of Throne's source book made for d20 that has a bunch of unique rules a lot of which are suitable for a Conan styled game as there are no sub-human races.

 

[Supplement Four]

I think it was Black Company I was looking at, and Trailblazer, too, that suggested using a character's CON score as a sort of "life's blood" for characters.

Hit points would work normally, but once you reached 0 HP, instead of dying, they character has this reserve of life's blood--his CON score. When CON went to zero, the character is dead.

I'm not sure this is needed. I know the Trailblazer analysis is that 1st and low level characters are too weak. But, it is an interesting thought.

 

[Spectator]

I like the Wheel of Time game.
I never played it though.
I bought the RPG because I read the first 4 books in series (13 novels anywhere from 600-800 pages, each!!!).
It was my first RPG in nearly 10 years (bought it age 28, back in 2001).
First intro into D20.
I then did not purchase anything until Conan in 2004, and then got hooked back in.

 

[rabindranath72]

I think it was Black Company I was looking at, and Trailblazer, too, that suggested using a character's CON score as a sort of "life's blood" for characters.

Hit points would work normally, but once you reached 0 HP, instead of dying, they character has this reserve of life's blood--his CON score. When CON went to zero, the character is dead.

I'm not sure this is needed. I know the Trailblazer analysis is that 1st and low level characters are too weak. But, it is an interesting thought.

You may want to have a look here:
http://www.d20srd.org/
Look under Variant Rules. You will find many ideas which are quite similar to ideas implemented in the d20 Conan game. You could easily have a similar "Conan feel" with D&D by implementing those changes.