Playing D&D - Conan Style!

[Malcadon]

I have been a fan of D&D for years (since 1st ed.). When 3rd ed. came out, it was way to systematic and I was getting sick of all the dependency of magic with High Fantasy. When the Conan game came out, it was a godsend! The classes, the combat system, the sorcery system and the style of gaming form the Conan game was all the things I prefer when playing D&D.

So when I play D&D, I use the Conan rules and I convert some of the thing from D&D into the game. The game still has the LotR type elements from D&D (D&D type humanoids, dragons, magic items and so on), but in a sword & sorcery style and set in a more of an ancient setting (I really dont like the whole medieval styled setting). I do not use alignment, paladins, spell-casting rangers, flashy spells, the great wheel and the like. Nor, do I make magic items common (but not as rare as in Conan).

One of the things I enjoyed was converting some of the Demon cults (namely Graz'zt) into Conan styled religions. Some think that converting the games together is tough, but I found ways around it.

So, I was wondering If anyone else convert the Conan game to play D&D? And if so, how do you go about it?

 

[Aholibamah]

IF you check out Vincent Darlage's personal site you'll find that his homebrew D&D world has a lot of Conan/Hyborian type elements. For one thing it is a lot more 'adult' than regular D&D.

I haven't so far gotten much done with my Zamoran campaign, so I've put some elements of Conan D20 into my D&D campaign instead. In general the setting I have for D&D is a little less high fantasy and a little more gritty/low magic anyway so Conan stuff works well for it. I also use Harn material too.

One element I did use was to have D&D style cleric/wizardry/spellcasting be very very rare, only practiced by a couple of mysterious orders that don't exist in mainstream civilization. Magical items are definitely all either temporary things, revered objects of cults or sorcerors or else remnants of an ancient civilization.

 

[DaveNC]

The last few D&D campaigns that I ran, I made them very low magic. In the world that we created, magic items were exceptionally rare, and high level magic users also very rare. I forget what we called it, but there was a Magic Users Guild/Governing body that only allowed 1 10th level magic user in each of the three alignments (lawful, neutral, and chaotic), then only one 5th level in each actual alignment (Lawful good, chaotic evil, etc.). No magic user could increase a level unless there was an "opening" in a position based on aligment. Hated to use alignment, but I did give the world a very "Conan" feel. Then I saw the Conan RPG come out, it occurred to me that was what I was trying to create all along!

 

[therion666]

I have been running a campaign in the Dawnforge world but using a more abstract style of game, no alignment( I use the Pendragon attribute system instead), knightly levels Barons over knights over squires over surfs.
Pushed the combats toward being more intelligent method, making certain creatures lethal if the appropriate amount of thought isn't used. It has been a great success.

I now wished I'd used the conan system now for all things with it but next time maybe.

 

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

Not to be too critical, but if you want to play DND, Play DND. If you want to play CONAN (Which is FAR BETTER) Play Conan...

 

[Malcadon]

Not to be too critical, but if you want to play DND, Play DND. If you want to play CONAN (Which is FAR BETTER) Play Conan...

Yes, Conan is better. The rules are great improvement over the normal d20 game and the Hyborian world is very rich. But I'm an old-school D&D gamer, I enjoy making new worlds, making use of the classic monsters you would find in the old MM books (you can find lots of them in the Tomb of Horrors book), and I think the arch-devils and demon lords form D&D are hella cool!

I still like D&D, but I don't like how the game is so systematic (wacky CR system, encounters & treasure based on levels and alignment being imposed on the system) and the rules are just not playable anymore! I hate fumbling around hundreds of spells, how you need magic stuff cuz your base AC is static, the Ranger should not be a spell-casting, tree-hugging faggot, and how life is cheapened to the cost of a diamond!

Simply put, I still love D&D, but the rules suck and the default settings are a joke! Conan is a dame good game with a lively and rich setting, but I don't care to limit my setting to the world of Hyboria (I do, however, find lots of inspiration from the setting).

 

[Spectator]

I think the appeal of old school Advanced Dungeon and Dragons (the kind we played in the 80s) is the fact that there aren't all these feats, combat maneuvers, and skill rolls. You had THAC0, HPs, and AC and you could emphasize gameplay and storytelling w/o getting caught up in the heavy mechanics of 5 foot steps and all the advanced d20 stuff which can slow down a fight considerably, even when every one knows the rules cold.

Sure the magic system sucked, but that is easily fixable.
YEah the characters were much more one dimensional (especially since there were no 'skills,' except the thief tables), but a great GM could move worlds with storytelling and the combat was pretty fast, even if was pretty formularic.

 

[therion666]

I still recon the combination of the conan style of characters along with the slightly adjusted( and improved) rules ( Armour giving damage reduction, Armour penetration etc) could be used to improve the system and with a slight adjustment on GMing style you would have the Roleplay that most gamers enjoy more instead of the Rollplay that has become inherant in standard D&D.
A small bit of re-writing of the character creation to include Elves, Dwarves, Halfling ( and gnomes if anybody plays them) along with a creation of new spells would ,make the game.
Personally the Well overpowered\unbalanced magic system in D&D is the main issue.
Players enjoy Paladins because of Roleplaying possibities, clerics likewise.

My present Campaign has been very old english Arthurian style with the odd Manticore to fight, brigands and feuding knights, a large dollop of intrigue to make the PC's think. So far the PC's have been advancing 1 level per 2 or three game sessions and really enjoying it. The rogue characters are peasant squires, huntsman, the fighters are men-at-arms or knights and the Paladin is a Knight.
I would say a game like that could work very well in Zingara, Aquilonia or Argos.

 

[Aholibamah]

Not to be too critical, but if you want to play DND, Play DND. If you want to play CONAN (Which is FAR BETTER) Play Conan...

So what if you want to play a bit of both?

Anyway it's sometimes fun to borrow from this system or that, to have houserules of your own.

 

[Yogah of Yag]

I too play Conan/Hyborian RP but more with 1e AD&D rules. (Not that Mongoose's d20 take on it is bad: quite the contrary), I just decided I needed a d20 break early this year.

The Dragonsfoot forum has gazillions of good ideas for this. 8)

 

[Aholibamah]

I really do prefer 1st Ed. too.

One thing I'll add--the problem with Conan is a lack of scenarios. That's partly why I've taken to researching Harn online--it has a lot of scenarios that are free, and are low magic. Many are more well suited to say western Hyboria than to Zamora or Turan but that's quite alright.

 

[Azgulor]

I use the Conan rules as my Swords-n-sorcery rules set. I've currently got a campaign using the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting. I use the Conan rules as my foundation.

Since I didn't want to go with the "dark sorcery" feel to the extreme of the Conan game, I instead incorporated Green Ronin's Thieves' World Player's Manual. By adding Parry & Dodge values plus a few other tweaks, I was able to take the Mage, Priest, and Witch and insert them in my Conan-Kalamar game. I did the same for the some of the other classes as well. The TW spellcasting mechanic (and judicious trimming of certain spells) preserves the in-genre feel.

It's proven to be a nice middle-ground. I've got the swords-n-sorcery feel, but can more readily utilize D&D adventures and supplements. I strip out most of the magic items and tweak monsters as needed.

Of course, I also enjoy a straight-up Hyborian game as well. But the beautiful thing about Conan is that the rules work great just as a swords-n-sorcery RPG, they don't HAVE to be just for Conan games.

 

[Spectator]

I really do prefer 1st Ed. too.

One thing I'll add--the problem with Conan is a lack of scenarios. That's partly why I've taken to researching Harn online--it has a lot of scenarios that are free, and are low magic. Many are more well suited to say western Hyboria than to Zamora or Turan but that's quite alright.

Its funny how things come full circle. The simplicity of that game made for fast and furious combat. If your character was a fighter, it was assumed he could ride a horse, swim, jump, etc...

I use the alternate magic system of PowerPoints, in the OGL system for magic. I never liked the concept of a wizard lugging a spell book around a dungeon, or being completely powerless without it.

 

[rabindranath72]

Instead I have gone the other way round: I use AC, discarded parry and dodge, discarded armor damage absorption, discarded attacks of opportunity and simply "ad hoc" the maneuvers. I ditched the skill points system, and use the simplified method from UA. I want my games to be fast, and with the current rules set, they are far from it. Conan should be about fast action, not a combat simulation.

 

[Spectator]

Interesting about the old AC (armor Class) and being harder to hit vs being harder to damage (Conan RPG concept of Armor) I absolutly hate the AC concept and much prefer the conan concept.

 

[Malcadon]

I still recon the combination of the conan style of characters along with the slightly adjusted (and improved) rules (Armour giving damage reduction, Armour penetration etc) could be used to improve the system and with a slight adjustment on GMing style you would have the Roleplay that most gamers enjoy more instead of the Rollplay that has become inherant in standard D&D.

I totally agree!

A small bit of re-writing of the character creation to include Elves, Dwarves, Halfling (and gnomes if anybody plays them) along with a creation of new spells would, make the game. Personally the Well overpowered\unbalanced magic system in D&D is the main issue. Players enjoy Paladins because of Roleplaying possibities, clerics likewise.

I make such adjustments to my games. But I like to keep the magical elements rare and powerful. Believe it or not, you can play a paladin in Conan (but not in the typical way). You take Noble or Soldier, give him a (civilized) Code of Honour, and make in a worshiper of a religion with faith and atonement. Most Conan do not like Paladins, but they forget that Solomon Kane is a paladin (he is definitely not your typical Paladin as his "smite evil" is a swift kick in the ass! :wink.

Instead I have gone the other way round: I use AC, discarded parry and dodge, discarded armor damage absorption, discarded attacks of opportunity and simply "ad hoc" the maneuvers. I ditched the skill points system, and use the simplified method from UA. I want my games to be fast, and with the current rules set, they are far from it. Conan should be about fast action, not a combat simulation.

I know that rule set. Its called AD&D. :lol:

 

[Clovenhoof]

I also don't see any reason why I should play D&D anymore. There was so much about D&D that annoyed me, and Conan fixed it all. The bloody magic item dependency more than anything, directly followed by plotbreaking magic spells and and and...

No, really, Conan is exactly my cup of tea, I love sword&sorcery, I love the barbaric world, I love not having to accumulate a shitload of junk to get by, I love my character being a HERO and not a mobile platform for magic trinkets/item slots, I love having magic as a rare, dark and threatening force, just to name the most important aspects. I know this list is kind of redundant but that's how I feel about it. Oh, and I love not having gay elves in the game. <g>

Others may be happy tossing fireballs around and magic weapons being a dime a dozen, but I very much prefer that "seat of the pants" style of gaming.

 

[Tathlum]

All true. But nothing at all wrong with the OP wanting a bit more of a DandD feel.

Add in more monsters (simply converted from D&D) and maybe tweak magic a bit. You could use Conans as is, maybe use (Ravens??) alternative system on here or something like the spellmaster from "the advanced players manual" by Skip Williams, or the system from "Iron Heros" or the system from the Black Company setting (very mutable, flexible and magic feeling, but not very balanced).

Conan is my favourite base system and being based on d20 means there are plenty of alternative systems out there to make little changes.

Take Pendragons virtues system and the setting, the Conan game system and classes, throw in a spellmaster who has to sleep to replace each Con point he loses from spellcasting and trim down the spells to the apropriate list for Arthurian magic. Add Goblins, Dragons, Giants, Elves, Manticores, Dire Boars.
Tah dah, classic old school adventure. Its not Conan anymore but its still a lot of fun, and not the dungeonpunk crud my favourite game has mutated into over the years.

Theres more to Conan than Hyboria.
Then again, this is coming from someone who uses Starship Troopers to run his Traveller campaign....

 

[Aholibamah]

Clovenhoof: I see them very much as separate games. The problem is for those who have gamed for a while the old problems of D&D could get quite irritating--one example is the 'monster mash' and 'monty haul' problems of D&D. It's perfectly possible though to have a very interesting fantasy style world.

I have to admit as well that I like gaming for its own sake, and my players seem to want to stick to D&D. I'm kind of pining to really get my Conan game up and running--I mean I have the Shadizar boxed set, the various adventures I've downloaded from S&P, the main Conan rules, Stygia, and yet I've held off from buying more because I don't know anyone who even likes Robert E. Howard and who'd also like to game that way. The handful of other gamers I know are either way too busy (and can't blame them) or else want to play D&D. So if I can put a little bit of the world of Conan into my game to give it a bit more maturity and flavour then...that's what I'm going to do.

 

[Malcadon]

I still find some cool stuff from D&D games, scenarios, NPCs and so on.

I find some useful thing in Scarred Lands books. Secrets & Societies is full of assorted NPCs. The Conan classes make some of the characters less patched together. Some knightly characters have a few levels in Aristocrat to reflect their highborn status. I convert their aristocratic and fighting class to Noble. Courtesan-type characters would use Bard or Rogue to reflect their socialite status. Dame, the Temptress class kicks ass for this! I also find use for Nomads & Pirate classes as well. The ability to shift classes without penalty is a big plus!

Gary Gygax's Necropolis is a really good adventure when you play it with the Conan rules (elves in Egypt is still feels like a queer idea). I like Egyptian adventures, but I find Stygia to limited with Set being the chief god. Keeping the magic low and the action gritty works best for this game, otherwise I like to keep some of the elements from D&D to give the world feel of mystery and wonder. The Cult of Set is still the big bad guys, but they dont rule the land. The Yuan-ti are called the Sons of Set. The Cult of Bast are made up of shape-shifting Were-Lions and are not portrayed as deranged as seen in the book (this makes good use of my Basti minis). As noted above, the NPCs benefit greatly from the Conan classes and rules.

I like to use monsters from the Monster Manual and the Tome of Horrors (mostly cuz Im old-school). I like to put players up against the usual D&D odd-balls and mutant freaks. The best part of the of the Conan game is how monsters are not everyday things and once encountered, they put fear in the hearts of characters and players alike!

This is just some example of how I play D&D with the Conan rules. The D&D rules, as is sucks, but I find that many D&D books (more so third party books) still have lots to offer to a good pulp-styled sword & sorcery adventure.