Quick review of Adventures in the Hyborian Age

[cbrunish]

Just recieved this today. Have to say that I was impressed. It is a compilation of short to mid length adventures. I felt that they were well written and can add to a campaign.

The only problem I had is that all the adventures are on the edge of the Hyborian lands. The only adventure actually in a Hyborian country is in Brythunia. But again, the book is an enjoyable read. I would give it 3 1/2 stars (out of 5).

 

[Hervé]

I didn't get my copy yet, but I noticed from the preview that two of the adventures had been published elsewhere, either on forums for Cursed Tomb of A'Amar or through the old Sons of Cimmeria program for Dark Altar of Katar. Anyway I'm glad to see these adventures back and I'm eagerly waiting to discover the new ones.

Having the adventures set outside the main hyborian lands is not a problem for me. Actually, most of my campaigns happen outside the hyborian kingdoms, which are too close to 'Traditional European Medieval Fantasy' for me.

On the other hand, the plains of Hyrkania, the sands of the Kharamun desert or the jungles of the Black Kingdoms are literally screaming for adventure!

A compilation of short unrelated adventures is a good thing after two heavy campaigns like Trial of Blood and Betrayer of Asgard.

As I'll be ordering the book from the french distributor, I guess it won't be at the shop until the end of next week. A far too long time for me to wait...

 

[LucaCherstich]

The only problem I had is that all the adventures are on the edge of the Hyborian lands. The only adventure actually in a Hyborian country is in Brythunia.

Actually, I think this is more in line with REH original stories.
Considering all the published Conan stories by REH the Hyborian settings are definitevely less frequent than non-hyborian settings.
De Camp and Jordan wrote more Conanesque stories in Hyborian lands than REH ever did!
Even REH stories in Hyborian lands always have strong "exotic" elements, e.g. "the God in the Bowl", an Hyborian setting with an exotic, STygian monster.

 

[Clovenhoof]

Yeah, and I think that God in the Bowl was possibly the weakest of REH's tales and not published during his lifetime. Apart from that, I think the only REH tales set in the Hyborian lands are the ones where Conan is king. Not counting the adventures beyond Thunder River because that's not exactly Hyborian territory.

Personally I wouldn't be very interested in actual Hyborian adventures either. As Hervé has said, the setting is too standard medieval.

 

[Demetrio]

Rogues in the House? Is that not set in a Hyborian Kingdom?

I grant you the general point is sound regardless.

 

[DaveNC]

I haven't received my copy yet, but I'm looking forward to the book. It's always nice to have a couple of quick, ready to go adventures easily accessable.

 

[Hervé]

My distributor (Millenium) got Hunters of Granbretan (which is credited as a March release), but Adventures in the Hyborian Age (a Febuary release) still won't be available this week.

 

[kintire]

Rogues in the House? Is that not set in a Hyborian Kingdom?

The setting of Rogues in the House is not given in the story. Best guess is probably Corinthia. But, like God in the Bowl, it has many exotic elements: Thak and Nabonidus' various devices and drugs.

 

[Sting52jb]

I just got an email from Paizo about new releases and this book cover was in the preview and I would say it looks 100 times better then the one pictured on Mongooses page and am wondering why it wasn't used.

 

[Demetrio]

It is a much better picture. Can't go wrong with ape wrestling. Something about the girl's expression just kills the current cover picture stone dead.

 

[Hervé]

Chick or ape, they had to choose...

 

[Strom]

Chick or ape, they had to choose...

It's the truth.. remember, the Thak cover was originally announced as the cover for the 2nd edition until CPI asked for a different cover (and we got the floating head montage.) Plus, if Mongoose used the Thak cover I could see people complaining that the Rogues in the House adventre is not included.

I'm excited to see the cover in person - it looks vibrant and alive if nothing else.

 

[Demetrio]

Chick or ape, they had to choose...

Well they chose the chicken-brained option... strange since man is the most intelligent of the apes...

Actually even the Thog cover is not without flaws. Old Thoggy sor of looks like he's doing a ballerina stye pirouette. But the girl's vacuous expression on the official cover just ruins it for me - which is a shame because otherwise it's not bad at all. Ho hum. At least the artwork is the least important factor in an rpg book.

 

[Strom]

Actually even the Thog cover is not without flaws. Old Thoggy sor of looks like he's doing a ballerina stye pirouette. But the girl's vacuous expression on the official cover just ruins it for me - which is a shame because otherwise it's not bad at all. Ho hum. At least the artwork is the least important factor in an rpg book.

A Thog cover would've been cool

Thak is the man-ape with the scarlet robe in Rogues in the House.

A thong is underpants resembling a G-string; worn by women especially under very tight pants:

:lol:

 

[Demetrio]

Thog, Thak, your thong, they're all better than the cover with the girl running. If only her expression could have been tweaked before publication. Oh well.

 

[Hervé]

The Children of Ishiti adventure refers to a Stygia-The Sands of Death book. Is it a misprint for the Stygia-Serpent of the South book, or is there really a new Stygia book underway?