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[Interest/Discussion On] The Hyborean Age
Super Namicchi
Orange County, CARegistered User regular
Orange County, CARegistered User regular
so lately I've been on a comics kick, having started to read the trade paperbacks of Conan by Dark Horse, and it's a really fine time; I recommend you all give them a try.
but this isn't Graphic Violence so it's not a comic thread. What I have been thinking though is the possibility of putting together a game set in Hyboria in the vein of Conan. straight up traditional pulp swords and sorcery, featuring heroes with "gigantic mirth and equally gigantic melancholies".
I dunno what kind of system this thing would use (though I'm leaning towards Savage Worlds).
so what do the gents of CF think? if you were to run something like this, what would you use? what do you think a Conan game consists of?
but this isn't Graphic Violence so it's not a comic thread. What I have been thinking though is the possibility of putting together a game set in Hyboria in the vein of Conan. straight up traditional pulp swords and sorcery, featuring heroes with "gigantic mirth and equally gigantic melancholies".
I dunno what kind of system this thing would use (though I'm leaning towards Savage Worlds).
so what do the gents of CF think? if you were to run something like this, what would you use? what do you think a Conan game consists of?
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fighting your way through an impossible situation, because thinking your way out of an impossible situation is for pussies.
themes of barbarism vs. civilization, free will vs. fatalism, and good-old fashioned muscle vs. sorcery.
phrases like "mighty thews" and "city-bred dogs" and "by Crom/Mitra/Bel/etc"
having every NPC basically wanting to stab you in the back because after you've been useful you're also too dangerous.
mild fantasy racism. i blame those goddamn stygians. fuck all of those guys.
stealing a fortune beyond reckoning, splitting open your bag escaping the untold horror you awoke in the crypt you stole it from, and having just enough coin left in it to get shitfaced and wake up hungover and broke the next day. which was how you woke up the day before, so why not?
I'm absolutely obsessed with the idea of a West Marches style game run swords-and-sorcery using Iron Heroes. If I had enough free time I'd do it online using like, MapTools, and it would be awesome.
posting pictures isn't really a discussion
not to mention d20 OGL has way too much bloat and stupid rules minutiae to contribute anything to something so cinematic and gritty as Conan
and furthermore, what the hell does West Marches have to do with my thread
get out of my sight
I've never heard of savage worlds, is it a more dice-pool mechanics than a D&D-like system? I always feel like the D&D-ish systems might detract from the Swords & Sorcery atmosphere overall since they place so much emphasis on mechanics.
It has everything to do with your thread! Are you serious? It's the perfect gritty ideal, the frontier where you live by your wit and strength!
but no, seriously, the West Marches is completely different from what I'm talking about here. the West Marches is more like an MMO than anything, where you had multiple parties romping through a static world with little to speak of for plot and story.
in the world of Hyboria, there is plenty of plot and intrigue, and the world is always changing...
it's just that you don't give a shit. yet no matter how much shit you don't give, you always find yourself in between the Black Necromancers of Azoth-Thule and whatever the fuck evil artifact of Set they were trying to acquire, and now they want to kill you so you have to kill them first.
Besides, every table has that one guy who plays rogue.
"Hyborian Age"
and in the OP
i don't think he's talking about a Fritz Lieber thing there
conan's a huge thief
practically half of the trouble he gets into are because he stole something, or tried to steal something
Also his chest is waxed and sweaty for some reason. Because that's how it always is.
thanks dude
i'm just putting my finger on the pulse of CF, seeing what everyone thinks of the idea.
In fact, I just did.
STATS
Power: I AM MIGHTY! CLEAVE! REND! DECAPITATE! - Physical force and strength
Guts: I CAN EAT BOULDERS AND SHIT THEM AS A CASCADE OF PEBBLES! - Endurance and fitness
Glory: PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT MY BOULDER EXPLOITS AND THEY ARE OF LEGEND! - Reputation and charisma
Wang: I KNOW THE BOULDER EXPLOITS BUT AM TOO DUMB OR BALLSY TO CARE! - Pigheadedness and fearlessness
Maximum Pain = Power+Guts+Glory+(Wangx2)
Pain starts at zero and goes up as you get hit.
COMBAT
There is no initiative. Whoever attacks first starts the fight and then people attack in whatever sequence they post until everyone important (ie. PCs) has acted once. This keeps going until someone important Loses.
TO ATTACK: Power + 1d6 vs Guts + 1d6: Highest wins
IF ATTACKER WINS: Winning margin + weapon bonus = PAIN received by opponent
If PAIN taken in one hit exceeds Defender's Guts+Wang, Defender takes penalty equal to that excess to their next Glory or Wang check.
IF DEFENDER WINS:
GRUNT: Defender removes PAIN equal to winning margin
OR
MOCK MERCILESSLY: Glory +1d6 vs Wang +1d6; defender winning causes reduction to attacker's next attack equal to winning margin.
LOSING
If you take a total amount of PAIN equal or more than your Maximum Pain, you may Lose.
Make a Guts+Wang+1d6 roll vs your main foe's Power+Glory+1d6. If you lose, YOU LOSE!
Minions automatically will die (or surrender pitifully) when they lose. PCs must be subject to a KILL HIM!
KILL HIM!
If someone has Lost, you may KILL HIM! Roll Power+Wang+1d6 vs Defender's Glory+Guts+1d6 - if you win, he dies!
If you lose, the defender loses Pain equal to their Wang+Guts, and the fight continues!
SPEECHES, CURSES AND INSULTS
There is always time for speeches, curses and insults.
EQUIPMENT
Enormous sword = +1 pain
Really enormous sword = +2 pain
Really enormous magic sword = +3 pain
Really enormous magic sword with story = +4 pain
Really enormous magic sword with story and glint and big sound effects = +5 pain
ALL OTHER ITEMS ARE LOOT AND MAY BE POSSESSED, LOST OR STOLEN AS NARRATIVE DICTATES!
SKILL CHECKS
All skill rolls will be determined by narrative and The Gods. Examples follow.
Lift a big rock: Power +1d6
Hold a big rock: Guts +1d6
Jump across a ravine: Power +1d6
Woo a wench: Glory +1d6
Walk through a ghost: Wang +1d6
Arrange flowers: 1d6 - Wang
Attempting to woo a wench by means of lifting a big rock may involve Glory or Power or both. The Gods will decide.
that's pretty hilarious
but a little too tongue-in-cheek ;p
I really wish Age of Conan had delivered.
I was really proud of the Grunt and KILL HIM! mechanics.
so I guess no one else has any input? so far we've seen hayasa's pretty hilarious 'homebrew' and iron heroes, but no one else has any idea on what would adapt well to Conan?
Savage Worlds, for those not in the know, is a very rules-light point-buy system, where characters are built from scratch. Gameplay is fast and the rules are easy to learn, but mechanically the game is very simple.
FATE might be a good choice for this as well if you are trying for narrative characters.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23