LucaCherstich
Mongoose
I received this book last Friday, I think this is an essential book (together with Conan 2e & RetttRoK) but I must confess that I’m disappointed about some errors and faults, especially because I paid £15 for that...and I’ve already bought Conan 2e and Return to the RoK which had their own errors to be corrected (especially Conan 2e)….
I’ve therefore decided to describe here in details all my considerations regarding the Player’s Guide in the hope that, in the future, somebody there in Mongoose will consider the needs of this customer.
I include also positive comments, just to show that I still think this book is valuable in its own way, especially because some of my comments regard precise choices of the author, not errors in proofreading or printing.
This book remains an optimal tool for both Players & GM to create PCs and NPCs.
Package:
I pre-ordered the book and I like the cardboard package used for delivering me the item. It is much better that the packages used for delivering me the copiers of Conan 2e and RttRoK, which were slightly damaged (especially Conan 2e).
Binding:
Quite good quality, although I fell hard-cover is odd for 116 pages…while a softcover could have helped saving some money.
Printing Quality:
An improvement from the over-dark printing of Conan 2e and RttRoK but some pages have different tonalities of B &W.
My pages 4, 65- 67, 80, 114-115 have even areas of over-light printing…just like somebody used an eraser in parts of the page, without deleting anything.
Title:
My compliments to Vincent for the “Hyborian Age” instead of the “Hyboria”…. Ruins of Hyboria and Hyboria’s F series were very bad titles….
I pass now to comment each chapter
Chapter 1: Backgrounds & Personalities
In general terms I find this chapter quite useful, especially the background tables (clothing style, nationality, personality, etc..), although they are just an help for players, no a substitute for good creative skills.
I have some comments regarding:
Page. 5, Table 1A: Nationality
This table is heavily oriented to the Hyborian Nations/North-Western Thuria, with more possibilities of being Hyborian rather than, for example, an Atlaian.
Focusing on the Hyborian nations is a choice of the author and I do not think is necessarily wrong.
The table is less useful for campaigns settled only in the Black Kingdoms or the Blue East but for the great part of parties I think it is OK.
I do not believe to be an expert in Conan (especially because I know more the Howard stories than the later pastiches) but a couple of entries look odd to me.
What are the “Golden Kingdoms” that you get rolling 26-27?
Rolling a “23” you will be a Ghanara which is something different from “Ghanata” (roll a 24).
http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/G.htm says that “Ghanara” are mentioned in “Drums of Tombalku” , do we have any game statistics or background for them? Should I use the “Ghanata” template for them? And, if so, why these rare, Southern desert tribes like the Ghanara/Ghanata have the same possibilities (2%) to appear than the much more populous Stygia and Pelishtia, and even more than Corinthia or Atlaia?
And why you have more possibilities to get a Brythunian (5%) than a Nemedian (4%)??
I always thought than Nemedia was much more populous.
And why a single Shemite tribe, the Zaheemi hillmen (mentioned in Black Colossus) have the same possibilities to appear (1%) than a large nations like Corinthia?
Physicality
Page 10.
All the combinations of Strength, Constitution and Dexterity are organized according to the scheme of their relative relationships (High-Medium-Low), why we do have (page 10) a combination High-Low-Low?
Family Information
Pages. 11-18
Interesting pages on the character previous life (something like what is in Cyberpunk 2020) but:
1) Table 6 (page 11): why natural death is not included?
2) The connection between some of the tables are not immediately clear, but this is not a real problem, wince with some good sense one can do it.
Chapter 2: Character Variants
Interesting new breeds (Amazons, Kosalans, Half-Breed, Taian Hillmen, Vendhyan variants, Zamboulans). But Why Taian Hillmen are not included in the table at page 5? After all they should be more or less important as the Zahemi which are there in the table.
On the other hand the Half-breed setion is very useful.
The lists of where to find specific races and classes in previous products are quiet useful.
Chapter 3: Character Packages
A very good selection…but unfortunately there are errors regarding nations with similar backgrounds and where some “Copy & paste” operation which was not well checked.
Exemplary is the “Ophirean package” (Pages 38-39) where:
Paragraph regarding Ophirean Barbarians: “Brythunian gladiators…” (the strange thing is that in the real Brythunian paragraph gladiators are not mentioned at all…)
Paragraph regarding Ophirean scholars: “Nemedian scholars …”
Another criticism regards some unexplained pieces of equipment: e.g. why a Ghulistani warrior (page. 33) should bring “a tulwar and a bag full of stones” is unclear…are “stones” rare in Ghulistan? I do not think so….I would like to know the reason for this, if Vincent can explain it.
Other, more plausible, objects are included but not described in game terms. E.G. the jambiya of Eastern Shemites (page. 42). I presume that I have to use the statistics of the normal dagger but an explicit mention should be appreciated.
Another note is: why we do not have packages for some of the new breeds described in this book? (i.e. Zamboulan, Taians, Kosalans).
Why almost none of the new regional objects described in the following chapters is included in these packages? Good exceptions are the silk shirts and the yataghans of the Turanian packages (page. 44-45) but I really do not see why, for examples, the Iranistan packages does not include any of the new regional weapons described in chapter 4.
Chapter 4: The trading Post
Quiet a good set of objects but…
Why we do not have any statistics (i.e. weight & cost) of the musical instruments and adventuring gear?
I really appreciate the new regional weapons but I feel that a few figures should have been included.
In the real world different people used to call different weapons with the same name or the same weapon with different names (e.g. look for “Kopis” and “Yataghan” in Google images and you will get images of quite the same weapon, although in different cultural settings as Ancient Greece and early modern Turkey)…. NEVERTHELESS I’m not an oplontologist (weapon-expert) and I do not pretend that weapons mentioned in a RPG match exactly ancient objects used in the real world, but FIGURES could have helped the reader to understand what is exactly intended with those name.
Why you do spend so much ink for the border and for useless figures (e.g. the Shemites at page 18) and we do not get some useful figure?
Another note is the absence of these weapons from the packages of Chapter 3 (as mentioned above).
Furthermore, I have some doubts regarding the proper position of some weapons in some cultural backgrounds.
Real-wolrd Flyssas were used in Morocco and Ageria ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyssa ) I do not understand why they are now used by Iranistani, but one can say that the Hyborian Age is not the real world…
In the real-world Kopis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopis ) were used not just by Persians (heirs of the Iranistani???) but PRIMARLY by Greeks (Hyborian Argosseans, Corinthians or Nemedians)…nevertheless I can accept their position only among Iranistani weapons with the concept that Argosseans, Corinthians and nemedians ARE NOT exactly 5th century BC Greeks…
…but I have more problems regarding the “Black Kingdoms weapons.” I feel that, especially after the increased level of detail we have now regarding the Black Kingdoms (RtothRoK) one should be more clear regarding who uses what.
Real-world Shotel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotel ) was an Abyssinian weapon. An Atlaian or a Zembabwean armed with a shotel sounds odd…so I suggest to limit their use to Kush and the tribes which live immeditaley south of it, e.g. the Mandingos. RtothRoK specifies that among the Mandingoes young boys bring the curved swords of their elder brothers…could these swords be the shotels?
Real-world Takobas ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoba ) were used by tuareg. I suggest its use by nomads of the Southern Desert and Tombalku, like the Ghanatas and the Tibu.
Chapter 5: Unusual Items
This chapter is an interesting list of objects. I understand the lack of the “cost “ indication since the majority of these things should not be on the normal Hyborian market.
The paragraph “New Sorcerous Items” (page 56) says that “..a large number of brand-new magic items are provided here…” but they are just TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you cut off something here?
Chapter 6: Feats
I appreciate the skill “Knowledge (Fencing Aquilonian School)” (pages 58 – 60) but I have the same problem I had with similar new skills in previous sorcebooks (e.g. The Zingara school in Argos & Zingara): Who uses this skill as class- skill??
The revised feats from The RoK are quite useful, less useful are the TWO manoeuvres presented at pages 68-69. I think that something here was cut off, NOTE FOR VINCENT: can you please tell me the Action-types and prerequisites of these two manoeuvres?
Chapter 7: Naming Characters
Very useful chapters. It demonstrates a lot of research work.
In some cases I would have appreciated also some explanations regarding surnames or clan-names (e.g. How can we get a name like the Cimmerian of page 106 while the paragraph at page 73 is just a list of names?).
There are also some clear errors in editing: e.g. the title “Pictish Names” at page. 78 is in the wrong type.
Chapter 8: Noble titles
Nothing to complain!
Chapter 9: Tips on the Role-playing in the Hyborian Age
These two pages (90-91) are among the ones which most I like in the whole book.
Recommended to all those bloody players who ask me to build bloody stupid, low-intelligence Brutes-Conanesque barbarians looking just for magic swords…(if you are one of those, you got the wrong RPG!!).
Chapter 10: The reins of Power
Useful but the argument deserves its own sourcebook…
Chapter 11: Sorcerers Great & Small
Interesting spells.
The general index (page 105) wrongly mixes Sea Witchery with Weather Witchery from Pirate Isles, I feel one line is missing.
Chapter 12: Hyborian Age Voices
Quite interesting interviews to people from different Hyborean Age-nations. I really appreciated the Stygian, Aquilonian and the Shemite. More of them!!!!!
CONCLUSIONS: a good and essential book but some DECENT proofreading (and useful figures, i.e. weapons) should make this book perfect.
I’ve therefore decided to describe here in details all my considerations regarding the Player’s Guide in the hope that, in the future, somebody there in Mongoose will consider the needs of this customer.
I include also positive comments, just to show that I still think this book is valuable in its own way, especially because some of my comments regard precise choices of the author, not errors in proofreading or printing.
This book remains an optimal tool for both Players & GM to create PCs and NPCs.
Package:
I pre-ordered the book and I like the cardboard package used for delivering me the item. It is much better that the packages used for delivering me the copiers of Conan 2e and RttRoK, which were slightly damaged (especially Conan 2e).
Binding:
Quite good quality, although I fell hard-cover is odd for 116 pages…while a softcover could have helped saving some money.
Printing Quality:
An improvement from the over-dark printing of Conan 2e and RttRoK but some pages have different tonalities of B &W.
My pages 4, 65- 67, 80, 114-115 have even areas of over-light printing…just like somebody used an eraser in parts of the page, without deleting anything.
Title:
My compliments to Vincent for the “Hyborian Age” instead of the “Hyboria”…. Ruins of Hyboria and Hyboria’s F series were very bad titles….
I pass now to comment each chapter
Chapter 1: Backgrounds & Personalities
In general terms I find this chapter quite useful, especially the background tables (clothing style, nationality, personality, etc..), although they are just an help for players, no a substitute for good creative skills.
I have some comments regarding:
Page. 5, Table 1A: Nationality
This table is heavily oriented to the Hyborian Nations/North-Western Thuria, with more possibilities of being Hyborian rather than, for example, an Atlaian.
Focusing on the Hyborian nations is a choice of the author and I do not think is necessarily wrong.
The table is less useful for campaigns settled only in the Black Kingdoms or the Blue East but for the great part of parties I think it is OK.
I do not believe to be an expert in Conan (especially because I know more the Howard stories than the later pastiches) but a couple of entries look odd to me.
What are the “Golden Kingdoms” that you get rolling 26-27?
Rolling a “23” you will be a Ghanara which is something different from “Ghanata” (roll a 24).
http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/G.htm says that “Ghanara” are mentioned in “Drums of Tombalku” , do we have any game statistics or background for them? Should I use the “Ghanata” template for them? And, if so, why these rare, Southern desert tribes like the Ghanara/Ghanata have the same possibilities (2%) to appear than the much more populous Stygia and Pelishtia, and even more than Corinthia or Atlaia?
And why you have more possibilities to get a Brythunian (5%) than a Nemedian (4%)??
I always thought than Nemedia was much more populous.
And why a single Shemite tribe, the Zaheemi hillmen (mentioned in Black Colossus) have the same possibilities to appear (1%) than a large nations like Corinthia?
Physicality
Page 10.
All the combinations of Strength, Constitution and Dexterity are organized according to the scheme of their relative relationships (High-Medium-Low), why we do have (page 10) a combination High-Low-Low?
Family Information
Pages. 11-18
Interesting pages on the character previous life (something like what is in Cyberpunk 2020) but:
1) Table 6 (page 11): why natural death is not included?
2) The connection between some of the tables are not immediately clear, but this is not a real problem, wince with some good sense one can do it.
Chapter 2: Character Variants
Interesting new breeds (Amazons, Kosalans, Half-Breed, Taian Hillmen, Vendhyan variants, Zamboulans). But Why Taian Hillmen are not included in the table at page 5? After all they should be more or less important as the Zahemi which are there in the table.
On the other hand the Half-breed setion is very useful.
The lists of where to find specific races and classes in previous products are quiet useful.
Chapter 3: Character Packages
A very good selection…but unfortunately there are errors regarding nations with similar backgrounds and where some “Copy & paste” operation which was not well checked.
Exemplary is the “Ophirean package” (Pages 38-39) where:
Paragraph regarding Ophirean Barbarians: “Brythunian gladiators…” (the strange thing is that in the real Brythunian paragraph gladiators are not mentioned at all…)
Paragraph regarding Ophirean scholars: “Nemedian scholars …”
Another criticism regards some unexplained pieces of equipment: e.g. why a Ghulistani warrior (page. 33) should bring “a tulwar and a bag full of stones” is unclear…are “stones” rare in Ghulistan? I do not think so….I would like to know the reason for this, if Vincent can explain it.
Other, more plausible, objects are included but not described in game terms. E.G. the jambiya of Eastern Shemites (page. 42). I presume that I have to use the statistics of the normal dagger but an explicit mention should be appreciated.
Another note is: why we do not have packages for some of the new breeds described in this book? (i.e. Zamboulan, Taians, Kosalans).
Why almost none of the new regional objects described in the following chapters is included in these packages? Good exceptions are the silk shirts and the yataghans of the Turanian packages (page. 44-45) but I really do not see why, for examples, the Iranistan packages does not include any of the new regional weapons described in chapter 4.
Chapter 4: The trading Post
Quiet a good set of objects but…
Why we do not have any statistics (i.e. weight & cost) of the musical instruments and adventuring gear?
I really appreciate the new regional weapons but I feel that a few figures should have been included.
In the real world different people used to call different weapons with the same name or the same weapon with different names (e.g. look for “Kopis” and “Yataghan” in Google images and you will get images of quite the same weapon, although in different cultural settings as Ancient Greece and early modern Turkey)…. NEVERTHELESS I’m not an oplontologist (weapon-expert) and I do not pretend that weapons mentioned in a RPG match exactly ancient objects used in the real world, but FIGURES could have helped the reader to understand what is exactly intended with those name.
Why you do spend so much ink for the border and for useless figures (e.g. the Shemites at page 18) and we do not get some useful figure?
Another note is the absence of these weapons from the packages of Chapter 3 (as mentioned above).
Furthermore, I have some doubts regarding the proper position of some weapons in some cultural backgrounds.
Real-wolrd Flyssas were used in Morocco and Ageria ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyssa ) I do not understand why they are now used by Iranistani, but one can say that the Hyborian Age is not the real world…
In the real-world Kopis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopis ) were used not just by Persians (heirs of the Iranistani???) but PRIMARLY by Greeks (Hyborian Argosseans, Corinthians or Nemedians)…nevertheless I can accept their position only among Iranistani weapons with the concept that Argosseans, Corinthians and nemedians ARE NOT exactly 5th century BC Greeks…
…but I have more problems regarding the “Black Kingdoms weapons.” I feel that, especially after the increased level of detail we have now regarding the Black Kingdoms (RtothRoK) one should be more clear regarding who uses what.
Real-world Shotel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotel ) was an Abyssinian weapon. An Atlaian or a Zembabwean armed with a shotel sounds odd…so I suggest to limit their use to Kush and the tribes which live immeditaley south of it, e.g. the Mandingos. RtothRoK specifies that among the Mandingoes young boys bring the curved swords of their elder brothers…could these swords be the shotels?
Real-world Takobas ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoba ) were used by tuareg. I suggest its use by nomads of the Southern Desert and Tombalku, like the Ghanatas and the Tibu.
Chapter 5: Unusual Items
This chapter is an interesting list of objects. I understand the lack of the “cost “ indication since the majority of these things should not be on the normal Hyborian market.
The paragraph “New Sorcerous Items” (page 56) says that “..a large number of brand-new magic items are provided here…” but they are just TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you cut off something here?
Chapter 6: Feats
I appreciate the skill “Knowledge (Fencing Aquilonian School)” (pages 58 – 60) but I have the same problem I had with similar new skills in previous sorcebooks (e.g. The Zingara school in Argos & Zingara): Who uses this skill as class- skill??
The revised feats from The RoK are quite useful, less useful are the TWO manoeuvres presented at pages 68-69. I think that something here was cut off, NOTE FOR VINCENT: can you please tell me the Action-types and prerequisites of these two manoeuvres?
Chapter 7: Naming Characters
Very useful chapters. It demonstrates a lot of research work.
In some cases I would have appreciated also some explanations regarding surnames or clan-names (e.g. How can we get a name like the Cimmerian of page 106 while the paragraph at page 73 is just a list of names?).
There are also some clear errors in editing: e.g. the title “Pictish Names” at page. 78 is in the wrong type.
Chapter 8: Noble titles
Nothing to complain!
Chapter 9: Tips on the Role-playing in the Hyborian Age
These two pages (90-91) are among the ones which most I like in the whole book.
Recommended to all those bloody players who ask me to build bloody stupid, low-intelligence Brutes-Conanesque barbarians looking just for magic swords…(if you are one of those, you got the wrong RPG!!).
Chapter 10: The reins of Power
Useful but the argument deserves its own sourcebook…
Chapter 11: Sorcerers Great & Small
Interesting spells.
The general index (page 105) wrongly mixes Sea Witchery with Weather Witchery from Pirate Isles, I feel one line is missing.
Chapter 12: Hyborian Age Voices
Quite interesting interviews to people from different Hyborean Age-nations. I really appreciated the Stygian, Aquilonian and the Shemite. More of them!!!!!
CONCLUSIONS: a good and essential book but some DECENT proofreading (and useful figures, i.e. weapons) should make this book perfect.
