Warrior's Companion: I hope it will fix...

[LucaCherstich]

I do not know whether the writing of this sourcebook is finished or not but, condering its scheduled date (Feb 09) and usual Mongoose' delays I suppose we will not see it before April or May...
SO...
If the author (I do no know who is he) can accept suggestions, I made this topic for problems we have with combat and which I hope will be fixed in a sourcebook like this.
So, if you have other suggestions, please indicate them here (I hope somebody will listen...).

Regarding me I hope this sourcebook will contain something fixing the SPEAR PROBLEM:
(see the topic "War spear - a few thoughts").
Conan rpg does not make the war spear a decent weapon alternative to swords and axes, and war spears should be the basic weapons of all the Hyborian (and many non-Hyborian) infantry units!
Most than anything else, the actual rules do not allow a decent combination of Large Shield + War Spear, a combination which one should aspect from a variety of infantrymen all along the Thurian continent, from Keshani tribesmen to Corinthian Hoplites, from Cimmerian warriors to Khitan infantrymen.

 

[B_Steele]

Note taken.

Note accepted.

Note agreed with.

I am a huge fan of the war spear...but I see where everyone wants to see something to give it a bit more bite (perhaps, like a new Spearman basic feat?).

I'll see what I can do.

-Bry

 

[LucaCherstich]

Thank you for such a quick reply!
I think a re-working of the spear statistics or the introduction of a new kind of war-spear (as the assegai in Tito's) would be more useful and less dramatic in terms of existing characters.
Giving to an old PC a new feat is more difficult than giving him a new spear.
But, in any case, thank you again for the prompt reply!

 

[windman]

Are you the author Mongoose Steele?

If so, that is great that you're here and willing to take input.
Some better rules for war spear would be cool.

If you're willing to consider other ideas, here are my thoughts:

Revise, expand or offer optional variants for the Soldier's Formation Combat Power. I like that Soldiers get something more than just extra feats, and Formation Combat extras are a fine idea, but I find them rather arbitrary as written. The bonuses don't really seem to reflect the real advantages gained by fighting in a trained group. I first thought about this when wondering how the Conan rules would portray fighting in a shield wall, a tactic well described by Bernard Cornwell in his Saxon Stories (The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, ...) And I thought better Infantry Formation Combat bonuses might reflect this.

Now I see there is are shield wall rules in the new Cimmeria book, and I wonder how they will work. Further mechanics for Roman style shield tactics, phalanxes and turtles and such would also be cool. Combined with war spear rules for Hoplite type characters there could be great rule opportunities for gaming some battlefield tactics realistically.

Another option for Soldiers who have turned to a more adventuring life, and don't practice so regularly with a trained unit, might be allowing them to trade Formation powers for some much needed skill points.

I would also like to see some creative revision of mounted combat and archery. As is I feel they both need far too many feats to become useful.

Especially mounted combat, which seems greatly under-powered.
By simply being on a horse, a character should be more dangerous, inflict greater damage from position and the strength and weight of the mount behind his blows.

Mounted combat is a middling feat. I think it should include ride by attack and possibly born in the saddle too. (Nomads should get all this granted at first level.

Also how about more skill based fighting techniques like Vincent's Zingaran Fencing?

 

[B_Steele]

I'm taking on any suggestions, but fans be forewarned - I am a HUGE fan of the d20 system and like the varied facets it brings to gaming tables.

As to some of the suggestions so far, I had similar thoughts on several things (skill uses in combat, Soldier formations, etc.) but my ideas could vary from what some of you might want.

Have some faith that I won't break the system (*gulp*) and will hopefully give you all some other things to look forward to.

Cheers, and keep 'em coming. I'll have my eyes on this thread for the next few weeks.

-Bry

 

[cbrunish]

Hey! I'm also a HUDGE fan of the d20 system!!! Keep up the good work.

 

[sgstyrsky]

Bryan,

I'd love to see more tricks an animal can learn under the Handle Animal skill, as well as more information on how a borderer can employ an animal side-kick. (I'm thinking Balthus and the dog Slasher in "Beyond the the Black River", definitely two butt-kicking warriors.)

And since we're on the subject, how about more borderer combat styles?

Also, since many nobles in the Hyborian age find themselves leading men in combat, perhaps there could be a section on noble/soldier combinations such as new feats that allow them to combine their class abilities for combat optimization.

Thanks!
Stefen

 

[Ichabod]

More borderer combat styles? Aren't there like 40 scattered throughout the various supplements?

More uses for existing skills is good. I'd put profession, craft, perform, and escape artist at the top of the list of skills that need help.

As for the war spear, it's not completely useless assuming you do crazy stuff and design low STR Power Attacking characters ... and can't afford a war sword.

Speaking of STR, more reasons to have high DEX or CON and not high STR would help with game balance.

 

[Clovenhoof]

Speaking of STR, more reasons to have high DEX or CON and not high STR would help with game balance.

Yes. At least since D&D 3.0, STR has been the single most important stat for all fighter-type characters. Conan D20 takes this even further, since you can even use STR for Defense here, in addition to improving your attack, damage, carrying capacity and special attacks (Bull Rush and such).
The Conan system tries to improve DEX a little by way of new Finesse rules and such, but since the stat improves little else, and its Defense effectiveness is capped by Armour where STR is not, DEX is just an "also-ran".
In short, DEX fighters always get the shaft compared to STR fighters, and that is a pity (I had to learn that lesson the hard way back in the 3.0 days). A first step towards making it more worthwhile might be to allow Finesse fighters adding their DEX bonus to damage as well, instead of STR.

 

[Ichabod]

To head off a wasteful nondebate -

Dex-based characters and finesse fighting work perfectly fine for a limited group of characters - those with massive amounts of Sneak Attack. Crap for everybody else, yes, as Str is just so much more useful throughout the game.

At least Dex helps with initiative. Con is more hit points, healing faster, and Fort saves. I'm actually starting to care more about the first two, while the third is a random "don't die" roll most of the time it matters. But, that's it. You can look at a high Con either being like having some luck on your side when you may get screwed or as being a slightly better way to endure screwage. It's just not flexible enough or consistent enough in its payoffs. Put another way, I'd rather kill my enemies than hope they don't kill me and that's not even factoring in that Con has essentially no impact to skills.

 

[Sutek]

Are you the author Mongoose Steele?

If so, that is great that you're here and willing to take input.
Some better rules for war spear would be cool.

And that, my friend, is why I'm suce a loyal Mongoose supporter.

I ahve no input for this supplement, but would like to echo the thanks to you and all other Mongoose big-shots who still take the time to listen adn interact with the plebs...

8)

 

[B_Steele]

you and all other Mongoose big-shots

Woo hoo! You see that Matthew? He called me a big shot!!!!

Seriously though, you are all very welcome. There is nothing like having a good relationship with your customer base. I think it helps sales and the community as a whole.

-Bry

 

[Sutek]

Seriously though, you are all very welcome. There is nothing like having a good relationship with your customer base. I think it helps sales and the community as a whole.

-Bry

Oh yeah? I wish that was a universal feeling amongst RPG publishers, but it ain't. Just keep up the good work and I'll keep shelling out Mongoose's way. Together we will bring an end to the Empire (aka WOC)

:wink:

 

[LucaCherstich]

I also hope this sourcebook will solve the "Explosive Power" problem.
I have recently posted teh following comment in the post "choke".

"Explosive Power" should not be a bad feat, but its requirements MUST be fixed.
This feat offer a lot of advantages for a single attack and you can do it every turn!
The only limit is that you can do just ONE attack.
However, among its requirement is "BAB +5".
With that BAB you have still Only ONE attack per round, so You will always use that feat each round!
On the other hand, if we change the requirement to BAB + 6 or more (I should say BAB +9) one have the alternative of using the Explosive power OR the multiple attacks.

 

[Clegane]

I also hope this sourcebook will solve the "Explosive Power" problem.
I have recently posted teh following comment in the post "choke".

"Explosive Power" should not be a bad feat, but its requirements MUST be fixed.
This feat offer a lot of advantages for a single attack and you can do it every turn!
The only limit is that you can do just ONE attack.
However, among its requirement is "BAB +5".
With that BAB you have still Only ONE attack per round, so You will always use that feat each round!
On the other hand, if we change the requirement to BAB + 6 or more (I should say BAB +9) one have the alternative of using the Explosive power OR the multiple attacks.

I guess it'd be nice if a change like this made it into a future sourcebook, but it sounds like you already have a perfectly rational solution worked out for you and your group. I mean, the rules in the book are just guidelines. If you don't like the way they work...change'm yourself and let the published material say what it will.

I can understand requesting a total rework of the 'war spear' issue, whether it is designing new weapons or vastly augmenting existing rules. Something that intensive should be handled by the designers. But for little tweaks like the Explosive Power requirement, well, its not like Conan is played competitively at a national tournament level or something...just make the small adjustment in-house and roll with it.

As an aside, didn't VD also say that he had intended to remove Explosive Power from the game altogether and simply neglected to do so? I expect, as a result, that if you see anything regarding it in a future sourcebook, it'll be an addendum deleting it from the current core.

 

[Csmallo]

Bryan,

I'd love to see more tricks an animal can learn under the Handle Animal skill, as well as more information on how a borderer can employ an animal side-kick. (I'm thinking Balthus and the dog Slasher in "Beyond the the Black River", definitely two butt-kicking warriors.)

Please no "animal companions". I always thought of Slasher as more the "lone wolf" who attaches himself to Conan and Balthus because he senses that is where the action will be. Once the battle is over , assuming he didn't die, he would have headed back into the wild to hunt Pictish throats.

 

[Spectator]

I totally agree about the war spear problem.
Not only is a spear one of the most simple weapons to learn, make, and handle, it was also incredibly effective.

The need for reworking the formation combat feats is needed bigtime. As of now, they are pretty worthless for a lone soldier or amongst his varied class gang of wandering companions. As of now, I just treat these as a freebie feat.