[RPG]: Conan: the Black Stones of Kovag-Re, reviewed by Dan Davenport (3/3)

[RPGnet Reviews]

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11370.phtml

Dan Davenport's Summary:

It's an adventure for characters from 1st to 3rd level that's a little too rough on the GM, the players, and the characters to make an ideal introduction to the game.

Go to the full review (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11370.phtml) for more information.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by The Old Geezer at 2005-06-27 09:11:22
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Thanks.

Though I think this may be a case of "Adheres to the source too closely to be a good game"; reading your description, I could see this as a real REH Conan story ending with a barely-alive Conan dragging his brutally bloodied self out of the cave (variant Left for Dead) with everyone else dead.

Lots of Howard's stories went that way.

Sucks to be anybody but Conan in that case, tho.

-- Old Geezer

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Stewart Stansfield at 2005-06-27 09:17:43
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Thanks for the review, Dan. I ran through this colourful little adventure about a year ago, and largely to a group unenamoured with d20.

At the time, I was very concerned as to how I might actually run the Stones and the caves-sequence as a whole, but that was rapidly taken out of my hands as the whole narrative ran completely off the rails.

In our game, the characters were 2nd level, and fought through Bogdan's soldiers with consumate ease, cleaving and clefting with violent abandon. Yes, that is "Bogdan's soldiers"; it was very quickly decided that they didn't really like this Bogdan fellow, and, as obnoxious as Oleksa was, at least he was a man of means.

Also the Salome of the party (oh, it was a one-off and I was being kind) very quickly decided she had her own licentious desires toward the beautiful Juliana, and so it all fell-apart from there... And I didn't have the strength to even try to keep to the pretense of a plot as written.

The bandits fell like chaff, and poor Juliana was beset by the blood-moon Witch in her tent; a disconcerting experience made all the more upsetting as Bogdan's head came rolling in through the door, knocked clean off by the war club of Ngongor the Quivering Man-Beast.

As if it couldn't get any worse for the poor, now hysterical lass, Ngongor (a Darfari who had been raised by the children of Gullah the Ape God after fleeing his cannibal kin) plunged through the side of the tent after it, promptly failed a corruption check and went back to his old culinary ways, chomping down on Bogdan's gushing neck.

I think Oleksa turned up at the end, but seeing the sheer carnage and bloodletting the party had wrought, his concerned men backed into a stand-off. And there ended the session.

Wonderful stuff. I can't exactly remember if one of the players asked "So, er... what are these 'Black Stones of Kovag-Re', then?" -- but I'm sure the story will eventually be emended so he did.

Ironically, it was probably the most successful game I've ever run, and the players were clamouring for more d20 Conan. So bravo there, Mongoose!

Cheerio,

Stu.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Dan Davenport at 2005-06-27 10:13:44
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The Old Geezer wrote:
-------------------------------
<b>Thanks.

Though I think this may be a case of "Adheres to the source too closely to be a good game"; reading your description, I could see this as a real REH Conan story ending with a barely-alive Conan dragging his brutally bloodied self out of the cave (variant Left for Dead) with everyone else dead.

Lots of Howard's stories went that way.

Sucks to be anybody but Conan in that case, tho.</b>
-------------------------------

You make a valid point, there. It'd definitely take such a variant for Left for Dead to make any sense at all in this case. It's hard to imagine the ravenous stones leaving any blood-filled bodies in that chamber before leaving to continue their rampage elsewhere. Sounds more like a use of the Back from the Dead Drama Point trick in Buffy/Angel. :)

Thanks for the feedback!

--
Dan Davenport

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Dan Davenport at 2005-06-27 10:16:20
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"What Black Stones?" *snicker*

That's a great story, Stu -- a prime example of "whatever works". :)

It puts me in mind of the first and only time I ran Kult. I thought it went horribly wrong, but my players claimed it was the best horror adventure they'd ever had. :)

--
Dan Davenport

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by John Fiala at 2005-06-27 11:40:12
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*reads Stu's version*

Dan? I think we were playing it wrong. *laugh*

John

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Kael at 2005-06-28 12:29:27
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Nice review. Upon reading the module, I too was concerned about the ending. As a result, I changed it so that Oleska's servant (who showed up in Oleska's place. Why would Oleska bother to show up?) was possessed by the "spirit" of Kovag-re. This gave the characters a tangible, defeatable enemy. It was a challenging battle, but they prevailed and won the day. By having Oleska remain in the city, I was able to hook his betrayal into future adventures. Nothing like a bit of revenge.

When my players found out about the real ending (ie the stones animating) they were relieved that I had changed the ending.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by screenmonkey at 2005-06-29 06:13:41
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....it's a fantastic review!

It's a playtest review, which immediately places it in the top 1% of all reviews at rpg.net, and it covers all the likely stumbling blocks a GM is likely to encounter.

Thank you Mr. Davenport for a job well done!

Happy Gaming, =)
screenmonkey

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Dan Davenport at 2005-06-29 09:20:36
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Thanks! I'm glad you found it so useful!

--
Dan Davenport

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by ThBrain at 2005-06-29 23:18:23
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Any easy fix to the slightly cliche' "true lover rescues beloved from fat slob" routine I had the Julia npc play both sides, sure she likes a fling the good looking bandit cheif but hey she also likes the governer's money and in conan Zamorian=backstabber.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Dan Davenport at 2005-06-30 14:59:49
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Heh. Good point, re: Zamorians. :)

--
Dan Davenport