This is probably insane...

[Risen of the Pit]

...but it's been nagging at me and so I just had to see if it was doable. My earliest exposure to Conan that I can recall was a short-lived cartoon series called "Conan the Adventurer". I later came to discover the original Conan materials, but in my heart I've always held a soft spot for my "initiation". Now, I know that it can't be translated as a "pure" Conan D20 game, but I was thinking that, if suitably adjusted for a more adult audience, it might make a good "alternaverse" for use with the Conan D20 rules. Does anyone agree/think they can help me?

For those who don't know of this series, which may well be a good number of you, here's the basics...

Eons ago, a foul demon lord named Set, a dark god in the shape of a monstrous cobra of tremendous size, held dominion over the world. Served by legions of monstrous serpent-men, mankind was little more than cattle. Then, finally humanity rebelled, and with the aid of a powerful cabal of sorcerers Set and the majority of his followers was banished to the Abyss, a hellish prison where he was supposed to remain forevermore.

Unfortunately, not all of the serpent-men were banished with their master, and with the multitude of casualties caused during the fighting humanity was too exhausted to root them out. Via then own innate power to disguise themselves as humans, the remaining serpent-men hid themselves amongst humanity, plotting, planning, corrupting and scheming for the day when Set could be returned to the world.

And that time is come. A mysterious celestial event, a spectacular rain of meteorites, marks the thinning of the dimensional walls. The asteroids that have bombarded the world were composed of an alien metal -"Star Metal"- which can be used in two ways. Firstly, the touch of an item forged from this otherworldly matter will strip a serpent-man of its protective illusion, whilst a telling stroke from a weapon forged of Star Metal will banish them body and soul to the Abyss, there to join their foul master. However, this substance can be corrupted, and in this lies the key to restoring Set; once seven stone pyramids, each topped with a disk of tainted Star Metal, have been erected in a specific, mystical pattern, the gates to the Abyss will be torn open and Set will return to the world.

As you can see, this setting is a bit more mystical than the core setting of Conan D20; in this universe, as well as the dark sorceries practised by Set's loyal minions, there is also the city of Zanthus, the last remaining refuge of white wizards (who each wield a single form of elemental magic- so if you can control the wind, you can't do anything else). That doesn't mean that players would have to fight monsters and demons all the time- in fact, with the exception of the serpent-men (who are, after all, a core feature of the backstory), monsters are about as rare and weird as they are in core. Off the top of my head, I can think of three- two of them magically-warped minions of the High Priest & Chief Sorcerer of Set, and one a demon guarding a long-lost city.

The serpent-men wouldn't just be mere cannon fodder either; as far as I recall, the reason why they used Star Metal in the cartoon (besides the censors, naturally) is because mundane weapons are either of little effect against serpent-men or completely useless (I don't know if this was due to thick scales, rapid healing, or simply their unearthly nature), so PCs without such a weapon are going to be in trouble with just one-on-one, let alone if outnumbered. Also, by their very nature, serpent-men make good manipulators and otherwise hidden villains- why pit the PCs against an army of serpent-men when you can instead have it that the city they've just pulled into to lick their wounds is ruled by a dynasty of serpent-men, and the current king has just ordered the construction of one of Set's Pyramids?

So, does anyone think that there is any promise in this idea at all? If yes, these are the things I require help with.
*Stats for Serpent-Men. Also, as it's proven that they can successfully interbreed with humans, a race, feat tree or template to allow for "serpent blooded" would also be handy.

*Some help altering Sorcery. The basic rules are alright, but the styles need revising. Nature magic, Curses and Hypnotism can probably stay, but I need some advice with Elemental magic (you pick one type of element, you don't get any others) and possibly an NPC only "Dark" style for Setites, Serpent-men sorcerers and other practicioners of the black arts.

 

[Trodax]

So, does anyone think that there is any promise in this idea at all?

Sure, why not! As you say, this setting sounds much more high-magic than standard Conan, but if you think it sounds fun, go with it. Actually, the Conan rules work well for running lots of different games that aren't strictly Conan canon.

*Stats for Serpent-Men. Also, as it's proven that they can successfully interbreed with humans, a race, feat tree or template to allow for "serpent blooded" would also be handy.

IIRC, there are stats for Serpent-Men in Call of Cthulhu d20. Oh, here is a thread where someone posted those stats:link

Actually, do a search for "serpent AND men" and you'll find a bunch of threads discussing serpent men in Conan.

 

[Axerules]

*Stats for Serpent-Men. Also, as it's proven that they can successfully interbreed with humans, a race, feat tree or template to allow for "serpent blooded" would also be handy.

IIRC, there are stats for Serpent-Men in Call of Cthulhu d20. Oh, here is a thread where someone posted those stats:link

Actually, do a search for "serpent AND men" and you'll find a bunch of threads discussing serpent men in Conan.

There are stats for Serpent-men in the RPG too (in Ruins of Hyboria or Stygia, can't remember).

 

[Trodax]

There are stats for Serpent-men in the RPG too (in Ruins of Hyboria or Stygia, can't remember).

Hell yeah, that's right, I forgot about that!

 

[Risen of the Pit]

Actually, the serpent-men of this setting are somewhat different to those of core Conanverse, so II'm not sure if the stats already existing would be appropriate. I'll try and list the details of them that I can remember, see if that helps things.

This setting's serpent-men appear as lean but muscular humanoids, covered in thick scales of a dark green hue and devoid of hair -despite this androgynous appearance, there are both male and females amongst them, and no fertility problems- with elongated, fang-like upper canines and the eyes of snakes. They don't have poison, or at least it's so weak that a strong, healthy human has little to fear from it.

As an innate ability, serpent-men can cloak themselves in a sort of "glamor" that makes them appear as humans- not as specific humans, but more as what they would have looked like had they actually been born human. This illusion is multi-spectrum, from as major as sight and texture to as subtle as body heat- as far as I know, there's no method of detecting such a cloaked serpent-man without actually subjecting them to a decloaking method (a touch of Star Metal, and possibly a spell- perhaps even Howard's ka nama kaa lajerama?). This makes them a genuine threat; there's no way of knowing who could be a serpent-man. Anyone, from the merchant you passed in the street to the guard on the corner, from the highest judge to the lowliest beggar, the king on his throne or the wench in your lap, can be a serpent-man.

Serpent-men are essentially impervious to mundane weapons, or at least are so resistant to them that trying to kill one with a mundane weapon is extremely frustrating. Star Metal can "kill" them, though in reality a serpent-man reduced to dead by a starmetal weapon is merely banished to the Abyss. In the Abyss, or if the gates to the Abyss are open, the best you can hope for is to render them insubstantial clouds of mist for about a minute, after which they recoalasce (with full health).

Serpent-men evidently give birth to live young and their children apparently are born with the ability to cloak themselves. They can also cross-breed with humans, producing fully-human (by appearance) offspring. There is also an extremely rare and difficult spell that can inflict a curse upon a human victim, transforming them into a serpent-man.