I just uploaded "Conan D20 Races.doc" under Conversions. It is a
conversion of the races from Mongoose Publishing's great campaign
setting. I would love to hear your feedback.
One thing you will notice right away is that the races all balance to
having 2 major abilities instead of just 1, as recommended in the
rules. I felt this was ok for three reasons. One, all races balance
to 2 majors, so things should balance. Two, I wanted the characters
to start with a little more "ummph." Three, it was a good way to
include more of the flavor of the setting, backed up with some crunch.
One thing I have not decided on yet is things like situational edges.
For example, a Desert Shemite should probably only have the woodsman
edge while in desert conditions, but I didn't include that restriction
because I was unsure how to balance it. After all, is the woodsman
edge still a major ability if it's restricted like that? In a
primarily desert campaign, probably yes, but otherwise? Likewise,
there were several races that had edges tied to a specific family of
weapons. For example, Bossonians gain Marksman, but only with bows.
Even though there was a restriction, I still felt this counted as a
major ability. After all, if you're only using bows for ranged
combat, that restriction is not very restricting! However, I could
still see players complaining that their Zingaran isn't balanced
because he can't use sweep with the nice masterwork ax he picked up
while the Desert Shemite is a master survivalist in the arctic.
One way I've thought of handling this is to have all the races start
with restrictions on any weapon edge or woodsman edge, but providing
they gain experience "in the field" (ie. not just practice outside of
real danger), then when they gain a rank the restrictions come off.
So the Desert Shemite would start with the Woodsman edge effective
only in Deserts, but providing they adventure beyond the desert and
use their various outdoor skills, upon becoming Seasoned they would
have the woodsman edge with out restriction, just as if they'd gained
it through normal advancement.
Of course, there is something to be said for not ever removing the
restrictions. After all, if your Gunderman warrior throws down his
pike upon becoming seasoned, never to use it again because the player
likes the broadsword, you just lost a little flavor right there.
(Gunderman are renowned for being the best pike men in the world.)
Thoughts?
Thank you in advance.
