I really enjoy his works. It was his web-site that really got me hooked to the Conan setting. It was the details he put into the backdrop that got me into the Conan game. And its his continued support of the game and the fanship that keeps me coming back.
The Conan game as it is, is a little chunky form my taste. I'm an old-school gamer, and I like rules that are simplistic and ambiguous. So I dont care about fancy or detailed rules - I like ideas! I'm not saying that I reject rules in general, I just like the rules to support the flow of the game, and not for the rules to dictate the way the game should be played. The Heaps of Jewels in a Careless Riot of Splendour idea from Ruins of Hyboria (p 134) is beautiful in its simplicity. It has no mechanics, and you can use it with any game or fantasy setting - its just an idea after all! As for rules, the Temptress class and Thusla's Savant class are some of the best additions I had seen for the game. I basically like to take what rules and ideas that are good, and use it with whatever game or system I'm using.
As I noted, I like the rich details of the setting. I like reading about the costumes, the lifestyles, and the customs of each culture. I'm not big on uber-details, I just like enough details to get the "feel" of the cultures, and not get bogged down with a lot of petty details. I remember White Wolf and TSR did metaplots to nauseam back in the 90s, that once sickened me to the idea of playing established cannons. But I found it was just better to use just enough background material, and rollball with the rest. A lot of the ideas I find in the background fluff, find their way into my other game as well. A good example is how Nordhelmers wear their coinage - it just seems like a neat idea for any culture that likes to flaunt materialism.
I'm quit content with what has been published so far. I really like Road of Kings and Ruins of Hyboria, but I found the F books to be a little to chunky. I cant think of anything more to be said about the fluff that has not already been said. And it hard to make a supplement that is more then just a chunky spat-book. I'm just grateful for the bits of tasty game candy that Vincent throws around on this forum (the Temptress stats, the mystery cult notes, and the priest states).
I think the only thing yet covered in the Conan books are information about playing in the Age of Atlantis.
I'm not planing on getting any new Conan books any time soon, but if Vincent made a book with nothing but character stats for every character from the books, and a level-by-level notes of Conan's life path (basically like how his Conan site is like), I would get that book before it had a chance to get to know the store shelves! I would not buy such a book unless, it was written by Darlage, as I was quit impressed with the quality of detail he put into the personalities of Nafertari (from the Belit the Temptress thread), Conan and Valeria (from Ruins of Hyboria). I cant think of a better person for the job then Bob Howard himself! :wink:
