RQ--Conan!!
- Thread starter ottarrus
- Start date
VincentDarlage
Mongoose
I am working on the project right now. I finished the magic system last week.
ottarrus
Emperor Mongoose
Outstanding Vincent!
I'm currently delving into the Conan material as my time and budget allow, and I'm impressed with the work. And RuneQuest is, well, RQ. I'm thrilled at the renaissance of the BRP engine, and the Glorantha Second Age book is wonderful.
The addition of Conan to the Lhankmar and Gloratha is a sign of great things. Keep up the good work.
I'm currently delving into the Conan material as my time and budget allow, and I'm impressed with the work. And RuneQuest is, well, RQ. I'm thrilled at the renaissance of the BRP engine, and the Glorantha Second Age book is wonderful.
The addition of Conan to the Lhankmar and Gloratha is a sign of great things. Keep up the good work.
weasel_fierce
Mongoose
untill its out, just take Runequest, and throw in the demon summoning rules from Stormbringer.
I recently got this rumor confirmed over by Vincent over on the Conan forum too. As someone that has been buying the Conan OGL books for source material to use in a BPR version - I couldn't be happier. I can't think of a RPG book I've been more eager to get. Hyboria + BRP (MRQ) = Perfect!
I'm especially eager to see the rules for magic, corruption and heroic action.
Vincent - This may be too early to answer, but is the Hyborian Adventures book going to include all the background stuff in the OGL Conan main rule book? I've been debating on picking up the main OGL rulebook because of all the d20 content I won't need.
I'm especially eager to see the rules for magic, corruption and heroic action.
Vincent - This may be too early to answer, but is the Hyborian Adventures book going to include all the background stuff in the OGL Conan main rule book? I've been debating on picking up the main OGL rulebook because of all the d20 content I won't need.
ottarrus
Emperor Mongoose
CStA, while there is alot of good crunchy Conan goodness in the Conan game, I'd recommend waiting (Sorry, Vincent!). Of the backgroud info, I really liked the Unabridged Hyborian Age by Howard's inclusion. Gives you a taste of what the man himself thought of his work.
There is some other good stuff in there (Military OOB's, some current plots and byplots), but by and large you can take any three Conan books and get an adventure out of them.
I think that the one aspect that I'll like about RQ-Hyboria is that NOBODY will be wading into combat feeling immortal. An RQ fight is just as tough in the first one and the last one. None of that bulling your way through tribes of Lesser Men (aka Kobolds, Goblins and ilk) because you're always one crit away from D.E.A.D. dead. Most of Conan's super-hero battle stuff was his desparate attempt to keep soul and body together when some genius general has dropped it in the pot, and it's hard to maintain that kind of suspense when a 150hp behemoth from barbaricum goes bulling through a regiment of 8hp lvl 1 Soldiers...
And I admit that even firearms combat in my d20Modern game got more interesting when we took a page out of Starship Troopers and started giving everyone 1 or 2 plus Con hp per level, rather than 1d8 or 1d10... :twisted:
There is some other good stuff in there (Military OOB's, some current plots and byplots), but by and large you can take any three Conan books and get an adventure out of them.
I think that the one aspect that I'll like about RQ-Hyboria is that NOBODY will be wading into combat feeling immortal. An RQ fight is just as tough in the first one and the last one. None of that bulling your way through tribes of Lesser Men (aka Kobolds, Goblins and ilk) because you're always one crit away from D.E.A.D. dead. Most of Conan's super-hero battle stuff was his desparate attempt to keep soul and body together when some genius general has dropped it in the pot, and it's hard to maintain that kind of suspense when a 150hp behemoth from barbaricum goes bulling through a regiment of 8hp lvl 1 Soldiers...
And I admit that even firearms combat in my d20Modern game got more interesting when we took a page out of Starship Troopers and started giving everyone 1 or 2 plus Con hp per level, rather than 1d8 or 1d10... :twisted:
I must admit, I'm not completely convinced by this idea. Doubtless there will be some rules changes, but RQ in general doesn't look like a Conan friendly game. I'm especially concerned about the combat system; the "if someone swings at you you WILL take damage" attitude means that any warrior will be either heavily armoured or needeing a bretaher after a couple of even average adversaries. That doesn't sit too well with Conan's habit of hacking through a dozen or so adversaries. Yes, he isn't invulnerable, but he isn't completely reliant on heavy armour to survive a multiple opponent fight either.
VincentDarlage
Mongoose
Constantine St.Amour said:
Too early to answer. You should consider picking up the OGL version anyway because it is a pretty awesome book in its own right.
ottarrus
Emperor Mongoose
kintaire,
There is no guarantee of taking damage in any fight. A 38% attack still implies a 62% chance of a miss, after all. Not to mention your own Dodge and/or Parry chances.
As for armoring up, there are plenty of stories wherein Conan wears armor. Even if you use the Conan (d20) RPG, your character will armor up simply because of the bonus to your Defense.
I've spent several years fighting in a medieval re-creation group (the SCA) and here are a couple of observations I have about medieval weapon combat:
*Not getting hit is better than getting hit.
*Parrying or Dodging is better than taking a blow on your armor.
*It is better to Parry with your shield than with your weapon, after all that's what the shield is designed for.
*Armor does not make you harder to hit. It's bulk makes it easier to hit you.
*Armor does not keep your from getting hurt. It keeps you from getting grieviously hurt.
Now, the problem here is that the Conan stories are gritty and fairly realistic when Howard (et. al.) wish them to be, and VERY heroic fantasy at other times. From a gamer point of view, this makes adjudicating combat kinda hard. Realistically, Conan could not shrug off weapon strikes described as 'a mere scratch that tore Conan's mail from his mighty shoulders'. Any strike that can tear mail off an human body is not a 'mere scratch', it is a Critical Dodge Success... :!:
There is no guarantee of taking damage in any fight. A 38% attack still implies a 62% chance of a miss, after all. Not to mention your own Dodge and/or Parry chances.
As for armoring up, there are plenty of stories wherein Conan wears armor. Even if you use the Conan (d20) RPG, your character will armor up simply because of the bonus to your Defense.
I've spent several years fighting in a medieval re-creation group (the SCA) and here are a couple of observations I have about medieval weapon combat:
*Not getting hit is better than getting hit.
*Parrying or Dodging is better than taking a blow on your armor.
*It is better to Parry with your shield than with your weapon, after all that's what the shield is designed for.
*Armor does not make you harder to hit. It's bulk makes it easier to hit you.
*Armor does not keep your from getting hurt. It keeps you from getting grieviously hurt.
Now, the problem here is that the Conan stories are gritty and fairly realistic when Howard (et. al.) wish them to be, and VERY heroic fantasy at other times. From a gamer point of view, this makes adjudicating combat kinda hard. Realistically, Conan could not shrug off weapon strikes described as 'a mere scratch that tore Conan's mail from his mighty shoulders'. Any strike that can tear mail off an human body is not a 'mere scratch', it is a Critical Dodge Success... :!:
Kintire:
I actually think MRQ is very,very good for depicting the world of Howard, and the style of combat described by him.
Combat is gritty and realistic enough, but you can easily create people like Conan with high skills and abilities and most importantly, legendary abilities. A mixture of realism and heroic fantasy. You can have realistic combat, but you can also have people who are far above the norm.
Heroes with high resilience can take FAR more damage than an average combatant. Conan often was _completely_ covered with grievous wounds but kept fighting with his high stamina, resilience and persistence. He also could shurg off some mean sorcery trough willpower. In RQ3 once you lost the use of your arm you were pretty much done unless you rolled under your CON with a d100.
And with some use of legendary abilities heroes can become very, very hard to hit (avoidance). And warriors with enough martial prowess (a skill in legendary heroes) can easily take on multiple lesser opponents.
ottarrus:
And to add one thing: This is one of the books I am most expecting for. A long time Howard fan, I've run Conan in RQ3 a couple of times in the past but with the d20 conan bacround stuff and MRQ Conan, the yearning to make a new hyborian campaing is starting to get too overwhelming considering my financial situation. x)
I actually think MRQ is very,very good for depicting the world of Howard, and the style of combat described by him.
Combat is gritty and realistic enough, but you can easily create people like Conan with high skills and abilities and most importantly, legendary abilities. A mixture of realism and heroic fantasy. You can have realistic combat, but you can also have people who are far above the norm.
Heroes with high resilience can take FAR more damage than an average combatant. Conan often was _completely_ covered with grievous wounds but kept fighting with his high stamina, resilience and persistence. He also could shurg off some mean sorcery trough willpower. In RQ3 once you lost the use of your arm you were pretty much done unless you rolled under your CON with a d100.
And with some use of legendary abilities heroes can become very, very hard to hit (avoidance). And warriors with enough martial prowess (a skill in legendary heroes) can easily take on multiple lesser opponents.
ottarrus:
Yea.. But I can easily see how hero points come in play here. Any major wound can be downgraded to a serious one etc..
And to add one thing: This is one of the books I am most expecting for. A long time Howard fan, I've run Conan in RQ3 a couple of times in the past but with the d20 conan bacround stuff and MRQ Conan, the yearning to make a new hyborian campaing is starting to get too overwhelming considering my financial situation. x)
As a long time BRP player, I'm confidant that the system can handle "pulpy" action, and that's without MRQ's Hero Points, Legendary Abilities or other MRQ rules Vincent may introduce. The Stormbringer RPG is a good example of a BRP game that's successful in the genre.
Even with Conan's sometimes amazing feats in battle, Hyboria generally has a gritty and dangerous feel to it. BRP engenders this feeling much better than d20 IMO, you just need to give the PC's a little heroic edge.
BRP is extremly mutable, the best thing about Hyborian Adventures is getting the world of Conan in a BRP friendly format.
Even with Conan's sometimes amazing feats in battle, Hyboria generally has a gritty and dangerous feel to it. BRP engenders this feeling much better than d20 IMO, you just need to give the PC's a little heroic edge.
BRP is extremly mutable, the best thing about Hyborian Adventures is getting the world of Conan in a BRP friendly format.
weasel_fierce
Mongoose
Conan wore armour when it was available. When its not, Howard usually waxes about all his manly macho wounds and scrapes
ottarrus
Emperor Mongoose
All the points are well-taken. MRQ can certainly be tweaked any way you want it, and I agree that BRP (the basis for MRQ anyway) is much more malleable to any referee's vision of how they want their world to work.
And I certainly agree that BRP has a better logic base for it's rulings than D20M.
The point in MRQ is that the player characters are somehow 'different' than ordinary folk. After all, what sane man would leave the expected comforts of home, clan, or city to go headfirst into a hole in the ground to see what lives there??? Most those people that any given society regards as 'exemplary' gain that respect through conventional means, such as serving with a noble's huscarls or army, studying within the local religion, or success in business. These provide plenty of 'adventure' for most honest folk.
But 'Adventurers' as a social class are simply mutants. They desicrate tombs, rob nobles, plunder merchants, despoil virgins, commit murder for hire and brag about it at the top of their lungs until the inevitible day that they don't come back to brag anymore. We have a name for people such as these in our society: sociopathic serial killers :lol: I mean really, what is a normal person's reaction to an agent of the law telling them to surrender their weapons? Most of us put them down. But a Player Character? They'd rather commit ritual suicide than go to the jakes without their two-handed sword! Tight fit, but you never know who's in the outhouse.... (And yes, that you mention it, most armors in the Dark and Middle Ages that didn't allow for the call of nature.
)
All the joking aside, there is something that separates PC's from Normal Folk. In MRQ, it's called Hero Points, in CRPG, it called Fate Points, in other games it's called Pure Dumb Luck. Whatever it's called, and wherever it comes from, you don't discover America by staying home, and the PC's are just this sort of person. Whether you choose to do adventure in a Very Real Combat System or a Hey Don't Let Rules Get In The Way Of My Story fashion, you share something with Conan, Aragorn, Elric, and all the others: You can't keep your butt a home...
And I certainly agree that BRP has a better logic base for it's rulings than D20M.
The point in MRQ is that the player characters are somehow 'different' than ordinary folk. After all, what sane man would leave the expected comforts of home, clan, or city to go headfirst into a hole in the ground to see what lives there??? Most those people that any given society regards as 'exemplary' gain that respect through conventional means, such as serving with a noble's huscarls or army, studying within the local religion, or success in business. These provide plenty of 'adventure' for most honest folk.
But 'Adventurers' as a social class are simply mutants. They desicrate tombs, rob nobles, plunder merchants, despoil virgins, commit murder for hire and brag about it at the top of their lungs until the inevitible day that they don't come back to brag anymore. We have a name for people such as these in our society: sociopathic serial killers :lol: I mean really, what is a normal person's reaction to an agent of the law telling them to surrender their weapons? Most of us put them down. But a Player Character? They'd rather commit ritual suicide than go to the jakes without their two-handed sword! Tight fit, but you never know who's in the outhouse.... (And yes, that you mention it, most armors in the Dark and Middle Ages that didn't allow for the call of nature.
)All the joking aside, there is something that separates PC's from Normal Folk. In MRQ, it's called Hero Points, in CRPG, it called Fate Points, in other games it's called Pure Dumb Luck. Whatever it's called, and wherever it comes from, you don't discover America by staying home, and the PC's are just this sort of person. Whether you choose to do adventure in a Very Real Combat System or a Hey Don't Let Rules Get In The Way Of My Story fashion, you share something with Conan, Aragorn, Elric, and all the others: You can't keep your butt a home...
It is a while since I read any of the stories (but I have the new collection of the REH stories to look forward to) but does it really need a magic system at all? Is magic not nearly always bad news for our hero? I suspect it might be like Pendragon where a magic system was eventually added because some players moaned about it (ex. D & D players I would wager) and proved to be a mistake and has been removed again. All you need are some guidelines for the GM.
klingsor - Vincent mentions above that he finished the magic system last week, so there should be a magic system in the book. Which is as it should be I think. There is a lot of magic in Hyboria, it's just mostly the dark and dangerous kind. If nothing else, we'd want a magic system to use for all the evil magicians that the PC's are going to chop-up.
