The Dark Horse Conan Sourcebook

[DourDeadlyPuritan]

Raven, really I think maybe you should put Conan as a higher level at issue#1, since he seems to have advanced pretty early on in his life. Conan's a remarkable exception to most people, even other adventurers. As silly as it might sound, in game terms, he was probably a 1st Level Barbarian when he fought the wolf. Just IMHO after some consideration.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Oh, I'll agree that Conan was a first level barbarian then but he didn't have the attributes like 17 STR at that point. Hadn't grown into his frame yet. Killing the wolf with a bite I'd say was a really good critical hit- he had the Brawl and Fighting Madness Feats by then so he did [2d6 + 2 x (STR + 4) attribute bonus] damage to the wolf which lowered the old wolf's hitpoints to below zero.

As for Conan's starting level I think it is commiserate with a barbarian warrior with one great battle [Venarium] behind him. Besides since he gains 1-2 levels per volume and I am estimating at least fifteen volumes so I have to have room for him to grow..... 8)

 

[DourDeadlyPuritan]

I gotcha. Sounds good, then. Oh and don't forget young Conan also used his skinning knife against the wolf at least twice from the looks of things. I know I did.

Looking forward to the next write-up!

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Edit: The stats for Conan the Defiant now have an opening quote more appropiate for the character. one of the great things about this sort of sourcebook is my ability to update myself without having to recall hundreds of copies from shelves or worse yet force people to buy 'the next edition'.

That being said, the Dark Horse stats for Atali and her brothers have hit a snag. Due to the conversation I'm having about The Frost Giant's Daughter storyline I am not sure if Atali is a Outsider or a Spirit. Since there exists an Outsider version already pronted in The Scrolls of Skelos I'm planning on making a Spirit version- which means that I'll have to scrap everything I've written so far.

But so as not to force you to suffer I'm posting out of sequence. The material for Aerie- the city of the wizard lords that is the setting for issue #4-6 is huge. I'll be posting them for weeks to catch up with the spells, new magic items and NPCs. So I'll post them in smaller batches so you'll have someting to feast your eyes on. Enjoy!

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Aerie- the city of the wizard lords

He had been told this land was paradise. Had traveled far, just to glimpse it- to see the wonder of it with his own eyes. And there it was. Just as he’d been promised. The balmy air, sun-drenched by day, star-kissed at night. The music, played by women of surpassing beauty. The exotic fruit native to many lands. The birds and beasts beyond number, bowing to their masters. The languorous ancients, leading near-eternal lives of contemplation. There it all was. All of it. Almost exactly as his grandfather had described. But this was a paradise for a few. For a few only, and it came at a steep price. A price paid not by those who basked in it, but by their armies. By their slaves. A heaven built on the back of its victims

-Conan, Conan #5

Aerie stands in the northern reaches of Hyperboria amidst the glaciers and rocky outcroppings of that bleak place. The citadel is built in the typical manner as most of the older fortifications of that ancient land. Tall cyclopean blocks of the native black stone form the immense walls and tower once needed by the natives of this place to protect themselves from the great monsters of that region. Aerie is built on a great outcropping jutting up from a great abyss whose bottom lies shrouded in a perpetual gray mist. A single bridge made from a single piece of black stone provides the only access to Aerie linking the main gatehouse and tower to the winding path all traffic to Aerie must follow through the northern mountains. On the opposite side of the city a smaller half completed bridge stands only a few dozen feet from the city walls. A great storm circles perpetually around Aerie, making travel to that remote city difficult.

Inside the city’s character changes dramatically. Coming through the gatehouse a visitor first notices the change in the weather. Though Aerie dwells in arctic climes, the weather in Aerie resembles the balmy and calm summer days of the southern Hyborian lands in early summer. The skies above are always blue with a few errant puffy white clouds in day and present to an onlooker at night a clear and unbroken view of the stars above. This is due to the wizard lord’s sorcerous machines beneath Aerie which create this effect which they call the summerspells.

Aerie has two distinct sets of levels. The upper levels begin at the level of the main gate- house and are the dwelling of the wizard lords themselves and their household servants. Though still cast from the same bleak stone of the rest of the city these areas are lined with marble statues, gold and silver bas-reliefs, fountains and ornamental gardens. Straight and broad streets run through the towers, temples, arenas, theaters, storehouses, museums and mansions of the wizard lords. There the art and treasure of nations lies gathering dust. The dwellings of the wizard lords are decorated in silk, gold and the finest furnishings from the world be they Vendhyan[sp?] rugs or Khitan paper screens. Through out the gild and gold though there is an air of abandonment and stillness.

The lower levels are unchanged from the style of the original Hyperborean. These bare passages and corridors run for miles beneath the surface of the street level of Aerie. The highest of these levels house the mind deadened common slaves of the wizard lord’s armies when not training, exercising or performing in the arena. Here they sleep on bare stone pallets when not needed by their masters. Lower than this are the laboratories of the wizard lords’s undermages where they manufacture the Yellow Lotus Mash that keeps the lesser slaves mindlessly obedient. Here too are the cells in which the Gurnakhi are housed. Lower still are catacombs containing the sorcereous machines that power the might spells of Aerie. The undermages assigned to these levels provide the nearly constant sacrifices needed to maintain these spells. The shriveled and dried husks of the thousands that have died to feed the machines lie scattered about the unused parts of this level. It is possible some of the skyree [See upcoming post New Monsters] from the bottom of the abyss have climbed into these levels to scavenge among the remains.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

The Wizard Lords

The genesis of the wizard lords begins well over 500 years prior to Conan’s time. At that time the original builders of Aerie and the other ancient citadels of Hyperborea were overrun by the first waves of the barbaric ancestors of the Hyborian people. Most citadels soon fell to the blond blue eyed savages but Aerie being larger and more remote that the other strongholds held out much longer. Indeed Aerie was impervious to all forms of siege and assault available to the majority of the barbaric invaders. The city repelled invasion after invasion only to fall under the attack of a small tribe that had begun to practice the arts of sorcery. This tribe then took the castle as their own and it’s former inhabitants as their slaves.

The wizard lord’s forefathers were unusual for Hyborians. Having no contact with the evil sorcerous kingdoms to the south they lacked the usual racial fear of magic. Indeed after securing the city the wizard lords ancestors devoted themselves to solely to the research of sorcery and other arcane practices. This knowledge and power served the first generation of wizard lords well allowing them to repel the later barbaric invaders to their lands with ease. The vanquished invaders became subjects in the wizard lord’s experiments. Among the results of these trials was the creation of the Yellow Lotus Mash the wizard lords use to keep the majority of their slaves in drugged obedience and the gurnakhi which serve as the wizard lords’s shock troops. Their next generation discoveries outshone their father’s though. Though the use of ritual sacrifice of living beings to produce mystical energies is common knowledge to almost all that practice the arcane arts, the process of how it works is not. The second generation of wizard lords believing that the only limit to their power was the energy available to them worked to understand this more fully. They discovered a more efficient method of extracting the lifeforce of a subject by liberating the soul of a subject while they were near death. Though this produced great power, containment of the this energy was their greatest problem- bereft of a mortal vessel the soul faded rapidly. That problem was solved by the third generation of the wizard lords who created great sorcerous machines to contain their victim’s souls indefinitely. Now with a way to harvest near infinite energy these wizard lords created what they call the great spells. These include the winter spells that create the eternal storm that surrounds and protects Aerie, the summerspells that maintain the sun and warmth within Aerie and the lifespells which grant them near eternal life by slowing the process of aging within them. The price of these spells is great though. The energetic cost of thwarting Nature’s will is great and grows more each year. Were it not for the wizard lord’s practice of the Day of Farewell decreasing their number gradually likely the great spells would have already failed due to inability of the wizard lords to feed their machines the staggering number of sacrifices they would need to support Aerie.

As a result, more and more slaves are needed to feed the machine and must be gathered by raid or commerce from further and further away. The lands around Aerie for leagues are stripped of inhabitants and the wizards lords must raid into the Border Kingdoms, Turan and Asgard for fresh human stock. They also bargain with merchants of Brythunia for slaves and other more common goods. Left unchecked the wizard lords may directly raid into Brythunia and Nemedia within Conan’s lifetime.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

The Lifespells

”And the lifespells that keep [them] young. That prevent a lifetime’’s work being lost in death and allow that work to continue indefinitely, building, ever building in breadth and depth….Is that not a noble purpose?”

-Lord Aishti’ana, Conan #5

Perhaps the thing that defines the wizard lords is the lifespells that extend their existence. The wizard lords are each over five hundred year old- the time of the creation of lifespells. These spells were designed to stop the processes of aging and in truth were only partially successful. While they have extended the life of the current wizard lords for over five hundred years, the process of aging was slowed, not stilled. As such the wizard lord’s vibrant blond haired and blue eyed Hyborian visages slowly changed over the centuries into the pale, filmy eyed bald and dull eyed appearance of well preserved old age. The wizard lords are also unable to bear children- this generation of the wizard lords will be the last. When the last one falls inevitably to the reaper’s embrace the city of Aerie will silent forever.

The greatest undesirable effect of the spells may not be magical at all. The human mind is not meant to endure centuries. The wizard lords have the means and the time to enjoy every diversion, every luxury, every vice, every whim they ever wanted until even the most debauched libertines among them grew tired of their revels. Worse yet is the isolation the wizard lords suffer. The lifespells are powered by the great machines below Aerie and bound into the city itself. This has reduced the wizard lords to virtual prisoner within their own homes. Should they step beyond its bounds they will begin aging again. It may be that all their unlived years would descend upon them and they would revert to dust. No wizard lord has decided to try this theory. They instead rely on their armies and agents among other nations to collect what their desires and needs.

As such the wizard lords live in idle luxury, surrounded by dancing girls from every nation, food and drink for every cuisine and palate, animals from all climes, the collected knowledge and art of millennia of learning, living in the same perfect summer day again and again all the while slowly growing mad from boredom.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

The Day of Farewell

“The first to cast himself from the wall is Smia’dha….It is surprising how little shock there is at the act.”

-Lord Aishti’ana, Conan #5

Five hundred years before the young Conan was brought to Aerie as a slave, the inevitable happened. Maddened by centuries of ennui a wizard lord named Smia’dha simply put down his pen and leapt from the ramparts of Aerie intot he Abyss below. Although all the remaining wizard lords agreed publicly that Smia’dha’s suicide was an aberration, a sign of a weak mind secretly many of the wizard lords envied him his peace. Three more wizard lords jumped from the walls that year.

”No one ever quite knows where the thought begins that they have drunk their fill of life and are soaring into the embrace of the gods. The idea takes root, however…..It becomes a celebration, a release first a day of farewell, than a Day of Farewell.”

-Lord Aishti’aha, Conan #5

In the end the remaining wizard lords created a religious meaning to these suicides. Those that leaped to their deaths were said to have drunk their full of their lives and in jumping their spirits were set free to join the gods in the skies above while their empty bodies fall forever into the bottomless abyss. The wizard lord’s practice of believing their household slaves to be extensions of themselves though gave this practice a more sinister aspect. Every one of their personal slaves was expected to follow them into their new existence as well- willingly or not.

The practice became named the Day of Farewell. When a wizard lord declares he is done with this world, a great feast is hosted for them in the great temple at the heart of Aerie. Here no wine, woman, food or song is spared for the celebration and the wizard lord departing on the morn is cheered and toasted by all. His life is reviewed and his accomplishments lauded. After the feast his household slaves are gathered in the early hours of the morning are dressed int heir greatest finery and exposed to the mists of the Yellow Lotus to dull their wits and make them absolutely mindless and pliable to his will. Then upon the first of morning all of the other wizard lords, their household slaves and the slaves of the army line the streets of Aerie. From the temple the departing wizard lord and his household march from the great temple to the bridge of farewell- a half bridge that extends from the walls of Aerie amid garlands and accolades. Upon arriving at the bridge the wizard lord leaps from bridge and their slaves, blindly obedient by the power of the Yellow Lotus follow him into the abyss.

Though legend says the abyss is bottomless it has an end far from view of those on the walls of Aerie. The fall is so great that it kills almost all instantly. Those that manage to survive possess crippling injuries that merely kill them slowly over hours. The floor of the abyss is littered with the remains of dozens of wizard lords and thousands of their slaves. Here and there a piece of salvageable equipment can be found and the jeweled bauble of some wizard lord artisan can be found with diligent searching The remains are not all that the abyss’s bottom holds though. A species of large insectoid scavengers lives upon the floor of the abyss. Though no threat to any healthy adult male, they prey on the bodies of the dead and nearly dead. Thus is the final fate of the different wizard lords no different that any other living being born to Earth.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

The Wizard Lords

”This then, was a Hyperborean…..Not purple skinned, as the tales said, but fully as tall as his grandfather had described, and with an air of ancient calm.”

-Conan, Conan #4

Although Conan refers to the wizard lords as Hyperboreans he is in fact technically incorrect. The race referred to as the Hyperboreans by the majority of the Hyborian world are descendants of the other Hyborian tribes the wizard lords sprung from and the ancient people they conquered. After years of interbreeding the original Hyborian strain merged into the sturdier stock of the land’s prior inhabitants to produce a newly distinct race. The wizard lords however are unnaturally preserved examples of the original invaders and are considered Hyborian for gaming purposes.

Wizard lords and ladies normally possess 1-2 ranks in Noble and 14 or more levels of Scholar to represent the vast wealth and knowledge they have accumulated. They have a wide breadth of sorcerous abilities- they may possess knowledge of any school of magic or spell they desire. That being said since they are already immortal and somewhat tired of that fact they have little use for the Immortality school. Wizard lords all have the Total Sacrifice Feat and its perquisites detailed below as it is essential for the understanding of the sorcerous principles that maintain their life. They all also possess the Carouser Feat to represent their jaded lifestyle. Some of the more debased among them also possess the Debaucher Feat detailed in The Scrolls of Skelos. The Feats Craft Aberration, Craft Magic Item, Craft Major Magic Item, Craft Life and Permanent Sorcery from that book are also common among the wizard lords. Ranks in Craft [alchemy] and Knowledge [arcana] are maximized and they have a wide variety of high rank Knowledge skills reflecting the collected information of centuries of study.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Lord Aishti’ana [First Appearance Conan #4]

”We had everything. Paradise. Passion. Dreams. When did it get so tedious? So….functional? Where did the joy go? That drive, that spirit, that fire?”

-Lord Aishti’ana, Conan #5

Medium Male Hyborian Level 2 Noble/Level 16 Scholar
Hit Dice 2d8 + 8d6+ 26 [68 hitpoints]
Initiative: +6 [+5 Reflex; +1 Dex]
Movement: 30 feet
Defense Value: Dodge 17; Parry 18
Damage Reduction: None
Base Attack/Grapple: +13/14
Attack: Unarmed or by weapon +14
Full Attack: Unarmed or by weapon +14/+9/+4
Special Attacks: +1 to attack with Broadsword, Hunting Bow, Heavy Lance and War Spear
Special Qualities: Increased Maximum Power Points [quadruple], Knowledge Is Power; Rank; Scholar Background [Independent]; Title; Wealth
Saving Throws: Fort +7; Ref +7; Will +20 (1)
Abilities: Str 13; Dex 13; Con 14; Int 21; Wis 20; Cha 19
Skills: Appraise + 15; Bluff + 1 (3); Concentration + 20; Craft [alchemy] + 29 (2); Craft [herbalism] + 28 (2); Craft [sculpture] + 24; Diplomacy + 10 (3); Gather information + 4 (3); Heal +22 (2); Intimidate +12 (3); Knowledge [arcana] + 27; Knowledge [geography] + 18; Knowledge [history] + 24; Knowledge [nature] + 23; Knowledge [religion] + 23; Sleight of Hand +7
Feats: Carouser; Craft Aberration; Craft Magic Item; Craftsman; Iron Will; Jaded, Leadership; Permanent Sorcery; Ritual Sacrifice Tormented Sacrifice; Total Sacrifice

Magic Attack Bonus: + 12 [+8 natural; +4 Charisma]
Base Power Points: 13
Maximum Power Points: 65
Sorcery Styles: Divination, Hypnotism, Nature, Necromancy, Prestidigitation
Spells Known: Astrological Prediction, Conjuring, Domination, Entrance, Eyes of Dead [see upcoming post on New Magic], Greater Summon Beast, Greater Telekinesis, Greater Warding, Hypnotic Suggestion, Psychometry, Mass Hypnotic Suggestion, Master Warding, Raise Corpse, Somnolescence [see below], Sorcerous Garden, Stillness [see upcoming post on New Magic], Summon Beast, Telekinesis, Torment, Visions, Warding, Wizard’s Fist [see upcoming post on New Magic]
Corruption: 10
Insanity: Ennui, severe [see upcoming post on New Insanity]

Reputation: Talented [Aerie- 65]; Jaded [Aerie- 55]
[As almost no one ever leaves Aerie Aishti’ana and all other wizard lords have a zero Reputation outside of Aerie]
Code of Honour: None

Equipment: Noble class robes, anything he desires

(1) Includes Iron Will Feat
(2) Includes synergy bonus
(3) Includes effect of ennui

Lord Aishti’ana is a typical example of the wizard lords. Powerful beyond measure, rich beyond counting, more knowledgeable that almost any man living and a waste of great potential. He spends his nights in luxury and his days in idle speculation of where the joy of living has gone.

Lord Aishti’ana is so old that he himself can no longer remember his age. The grandson of the tribal leader who took Aerie more that ten centuries ago years have little meaning to him. One of the team of mages who created the great spells of Aerie he worked hard to forge the sorcerous trap he is in. Completely protected from assault from without, surrounded by slaves dominated by his will and the effects of the Yellow Lotus and having mastered all sorcerous knowledge he could discover in that time no challenge remains to his vast intellect. The mere details of running his household are so simple and beneath his notice that he grows weary whenever one of his slaves requires his attention for some pedestrian matter. Even the slave revolt of Conan and his Aesir allies was too insignificant to warrant his full attention. His senior undermages were sufficient trained to eliminate all of the rebellious barbarians save Conan himself. So disinterested in the details of his life that he never discovered the treachery of his chief slave Iasmini though in the end that proved all but ineffectual as her actions served to save Conan from the fate all the slaves of Aerie face- to die at their master’s whim.

Lord Aishti’ana stands taller than most men though his frame is sparse and frail. His skin is pulled taunt against his frame and his drooping lids give him the appearance of being half-asleep. His once brilliant blue eyes are dull and faded and his head is bald save for a small topknot at the crown of his head. Deep wrinkles and worry lines further develop the tired expression he seems to always wear. He tends to wear simple jewelry and fine clothing. His grows curt and annoyed when dealing with his slaves, as if forced to endure the company of fools.

The years of ennui have taken their toll on his personality. He speaks little save to himself and spends hours engrossed in magical visions of the past. Even the act of eating has grown tiresome. Even the erotic lures of his seraglio no longer interest him. Each Day of Farewell he attends he looks more wistful on the wizard lord that leaves via the Bridge of Farewell, terrifying Iasmini that the day he will drag her to death with him is growing closer. In the end her fears proved true.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

The Winterspells

The machines of Aerie maintain an eternal storm around Aerie. Within five miles of Aerie the weather is always severe and cold. Characters overland speed is reduced must make Fortitude saves against taking non-lethal damage as per usual in this area. Survival in these areas is nearly impossible. No game may survive and what roots exist are forever frozen- thus characters cannot use their Survival skill for Hunting or Foraging checks in this area. They may still use their Survival skill to gain a bonus for their Fortitude saves and to avoid getting lost as usual but gain a +5 DC to all such checks. Slave trains to Aerie must either be well protected from the elements or accept high losses.

Maintaining the Winterspells requires the expenditure of 500 Power Points a year in the form of Sacrifice.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

The Summerspells

The summerspells are another effect the machines of Aerie produce. Inside Aerie the condition resemble early summer in Poitain- nice, balmy and warm. The climate is always considered Temperate Summer in Aerie.

Maintaining the summerspells requires an expenditure of 1000 Power Points a year in the form of Sacrifce.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

The Lifespells

The last and most powerful of the effects of the machines of Aerie are the lifespells. The machines create a powerful field of magical energy only the wizard lords may utilize. Within the field the wizard lords do not age and suffer no effects of aging upon their characteristics. While this effect may seem limitless boon there are limitations and undesirable effects as well. The field only extends as far as the walls of Aerie. Once outside the walls the wizard lords begin to age normally. This effect extends only to wizard lords. Their slaves and other pets age normally. And finally the minds of the wizard lords have grown stolid and weak from the passage of so great a time. Each year they must make a 25 Will save or gain a point of Corruption. The effects of this Corruption is unique- instead of the usual effects it produces the effect of Ennui. [see upcoming post on New Insanity]

Maintaining the lifespells costs 1 Power Point per wizard lord for each decade they have lived beyond their natural span in the form of Sacrifice. The cost is estimated as being at least 5000 Power Points a year at the time young Conan is imprisoned in Aerie.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

New Insanity

Ennui

The human mind is a tricky beast. It desires security yet it desires new stimuli to keep fit and alert. The experiences of most lives fall between these poles and in the dangerous Hyborian world rare is the person who lives a life of ease. Those who do- for the most part less than ethical Nobles and Scholars- run the risk of gaining this insanity.

People suffering from ennui lose interest in life. They grow listless and bored and trivial details of life fail to interest them. The lounge about day and night and sample more and more outrageous pleasures in order to stimulate them, but failing to do so. If not cured, this madness will end in the character’s suicide.

In game terms a character suffering from Ennui doe snto use the normal rules for the effect of Corruption. Instead for each point of Corruption a character gains while under the effects of Ennui, they gain a –1 to all Cha based skills as their lack of emotional effect serves to make them seem distant and unconcerned. Whenever a character with Ennui must make an action- even reacting to a life threatening circumstance- they must make a 10 + Corruption score Will save to do so. Even if they make the save they take the simplest action that requires the least effort from them. If they fail the save, they simply sit there uncaring though they make another save the next round. When a character reaches a Corruption score of 10 they must make a DC 20 Will save each week or commit suicide.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Notable NPCs in Aerie

City Guard

Hyborian Male Level 1 Soldier
Hit Dice: 1d10+1 [7 hit points]
Initiative: +4 [Improved Initiative]
Movement: 25 feet [in armor]
Defense Value: Dodge 10; Parry 12
Damage Reduction: 7 [Breastplate and Steel Helm]
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+3
Attack: Shortsword +4 melee (1) [1d8+2; 19-20 critical, 3 AP]
Special Attacks: Weapon Familiarity [Greatsword]
Special Qualities: Adaptability [Knowledge [arcana], Spot]
Saves: Fort + 3; Ref + 0; Will + 2 (2)
Abilites: Str 14; Dex 11; Con 13; Int 10; Wis 10; Cha 13
Skills: Knowledge [arcana] +4; Intimidate +4 (3); Jump +4; Perform [trumpet] +3 (3); Spot +6;
Feats: Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon Focus [Shortsword]
Reputation: Brave [Aerie- 2]
Code of Honour: None

Corruption: 1
Insanity: Ennui [minor]

Equipment: Breastplate, Steel Cap, Shortsword, Red Cloak, Loincloth, Gold Brooch worth 100 silver luna; Guards at their posts in Aerie also possess a signal trumpet.

(1) Include Weapon Focus Feat
(2) Includes Iron Will Feat
(3) Includes penalty for Ennui
Soldiers posted to the directly service of the wizard lords generally have it better than those in the dungeons. The wizard lords prefer to be served by Hyborian slave-soldiers that are at least comely to look upon and dress them in the red cloaks designed in the fashion of the ones worn by the warriors of their ancestral tribe. Because of the potentially unstable nature of the gurnakhi the wizard lords wisely use men to patrol their city instead.

Due to the powerful magic of Aerie their jobs are redundant and almost ceremonial. They man the walls of Aerie, looking for invaders that never come. They watch over the slave pens and arenas for revolts that almost never happen. They patrol empty streets. They stand in formation. They run messages between the lords and their lesser slaves. They attend their lords in the rare times the wizard lord actually feel the need for an armed escort. They never leave Aerie itself- instead slave soldiers and gurnakhi foray into the outside world for the wizard lord’s needs. This boredom, routine and lack of combat experience created in them such an inattentive nature and lack of combat experience was the reason that Conan’s attempted escape at the head of a band of freed Aesir slaves caught them by surprise and that they proved so ineffective in battling them.

The guards of Aerie have never faced a serious assault before and it shows. Accustomed to bullying mind-deadened slaves, they have little knowledge of tactics and will rush to any disturbance blindly, sometimes without reporting to anyone else what they are doing. They attack without coordination or clear chain of command. They are not completely incompetent however. Accustomed to the high walls and higher levels of Aerie they often attempt to Bull’s Rush attackers off the edge of the battlements to their deaths below. Their extensive contact with the wizard lords and their magic gives the guard a small knowledge of the nature of Sorcery and the Corruption such knowledge brings.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Dungeon Guard

Hyperborean Male Level 1 Soldier
Hit Dice 1d10 + 3 [9 hit points]
Initiative: +4 [Improved Initiative]
Move: 30 feet
Defense Value: Dodge 10; Parry 12
Damage Reduction; 5 [Mail Shirt]
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+3
Attack: Shortsword +3 melee [1d8+2; 19-20 critical; 3 AP]
Special Qualities: -1 to Diplomacy, Gather Information and all verbal uses of the Bluff and Perform skills.
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +0; Will -2
Abilities: Str 14; Dex 10; Con 15; Int 9; Wis 6 (1); Cha 8
Skills: Craft [stone] +1; Intimidate +7 (2), Listen +1
Feats: Brawl, Improved Initiative, Toughness
Corruption: 2
Insanity: Addiction [minor- Yellow Lotus Dust (see upcoming post on New Drugs)]
Reputation: Cruel [Aerie-1]
Code of Honour: None

Equipment: Mail Shirt; Shortsword; Loincloth

(1) Includes the Effect of Yellow Lotus Dust
(2) Includes Racial Bonus and effect of Corruption

The wizard lords love to surround themselves with beauty to better distract and stimulate them. Not all slaves can meet that criteria. Those slaves that cannot but can still perform a useful service to the wizard lords are banished to serve in the levels below the surface of Aeire away from sight. Their life is an almost subterranean existence and seeing little of the enchanted warmth granted to the more favoured of Aerie. This creates a bitter and hostile undercurrent to those stationed to guard these places and maintain the needs of the slumbering slave-soldiers. The dungeon guard know better than to cause problems to their betters though. They can be just as useful to the wizard lords as mindless gurnakhi than as guards. As a result they abuse the other less favoured slaves of wizard lords and have gained a reputation as sadists. Due to the monotonous nature of their jobs many dungeon guard have become addicted to Yellow Lotus Dust, a by-product created in the creation of Yellow Lotus Mash.

Native Hyperboreans tend to find themselves in the role of dungeon guards. The wizard lords dislike their less than attractive appearance and surly manner. They are more bullies than trained warriors. Intruders to Aerie are so rare that most of them have never fought against someone able to fight back and thus underestimate opponents who can.

 

[DourDeadlyPuritan]

Outstanding, Raven. Now I'll be able to get a handle on using the wizards in my own fledgling campaign. Thanks for the hard work.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

You're welcome. I'll likely have the last half of the entry dealing with the new magical creations done in a week or so.

 

[Vincent791]

Damn Raven! Have you thought about working for Mongoose or something? Congrats!

 

[LokiOne]

Hey there Raven, and hello Vincent ...

Did someone say that they were going to do up the transforming Witch-woman that appeared in the first Conan movie No1?

What would 'she/it' be Classed as ??? Lycanthrope-Witch?

I must say that there's considerable discrepancy between Director's visions and what was actually described in Stories, although I DO need to dust off and start re-reading my vast Conan book collection that I started when I was 18yo ... (Damn, I'm now 44 ...)

I just started reading the : 'Legends of Kern' Volume 1 ('Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures'), "The Blood of Wolves" by Loren L. Coleman., published by Ace Books, New York.

Good Work Everyone, I must catch up with some of the latest RPG releases, with NPC's being the prime consideration right now. The Aquilonia S/Bk is next ... I still need to get a damned Gm's Screen too - Arrrrrrggggh!