Take three parts Conan, add one part OGL, mix well and serve piping hot. Conan is low-fantasy at its finest - but is the game worthy of the source material?
Post originally by Taurren at 2005-05-30 03:49:48
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Just kidding.
Great review of a great product. A Conan adventure does require a subtle but distinct mind shift for your GM and player. Its not about the loot, or the xp's ... its about leaving your foe a bloody mess.
I've seen a couple of players really "poo-poo" the game because they couldn't handle that shift. But when both players and GM are on the same page, this game is a winner!
Post originally by Ernest Mueller at 2005-05-30 10:56:48
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I agree that Conan d20 rocks on ice. Perhaps its only failing is not enough information on the Hyborian world, although Mongoose has filled this gap in with a crushing number of other supplements. If you'd like a bit more on the rest of the world without paying hundreds of dollars, however, I'd recommend the old out of print GURPS Conan book - its gazetteer is more complete, and it's also got good in-depth info on lots of the other areas covered by Conan d20.
Post originally by ANonnyMouse at 2005-05-30 13:01:07
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Excellent review. The best reviews make you want to rush right out and buy that game, and your review did exactly that. Witty, comprehensive, and enthusiastic.
Have you tried the supplements to the game. If so, what did you think of them?
Post originally by LarsDangly at 2005-05-30 14:28:57
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It is true; the GURPs conan book was both one of the best GURPs volumes printed, and the definitive dense coverage of the hyborian age. Its gazeteer is the best 50 pages on the subject you are going to find. Actually, the game system is also pretty good for a Conan campaign. This is one of several settings that would have benefitted from having a setting-specific version of GURPs instead of the one-size-fits-all philosophy behind the system. It always rubbed me the wrong way to sit down for my hyborian age campaign with a rule book that had a bunch of nerdy spacemen on the cover, and a bunch of spell and monster books whose contents were 90% irrelevant for the setting.
Post originally by Gredavin at 2005-05-30 14:47:30
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A friend of mine owns the book and had told me snippets about combat, the world etc. I fancied the very human aspect of the setting, and so I thought I would delve in. The problem is, I dont know Conan, I have never read the books, comics or the like. I have seen the movies, but.. I can only assume that means little.
I read through the book, and at the end I realized; I still have no idea about the people, places or politics of the setting. The information in the book assumes you already have a decent understanding of the Conan universe. I don't know, perhaps that is who the game is aimed at, big time fans. I never did end up running a Conan game because I just felt I wouldnt even know where to begin.
On a side note, you Conan fans will find this interesting:
Post originally by Matt Drake at 2005-05-30 17:16:33
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I can see how a non-fan would not love this game, but at the same time, I sort of disagree that you don't know anything about the setting by the end of the book. It is true that I had a better understanding of Conan because I am a semi-fan, but I learned a ton from reading the Conan RPG. I think it would be important for your GM to know Conan, or at least to have read a few of the comics, but I don't necessarily think all the players have to be familiar with the source material to enjoy a low-fantasy, sucking-chest-wound, dark-as-pitch game of Conan.
Post originally by Matt Drake at 2005-05-30 17:18:03
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I have not delved into the supplements yet, though I hope to in the future.
And thanks for the kind words. If I made you want this game, real bad, then I did what I meant to do. This game is just about the best product I have ever reviewed (although Heroscape might have given it a good run for its money if the box were bigger).
Post originally by 7thPsi at 2005-05-30 18:11:03
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While I concur that Hyboria can be intimidating for the new Conan GM, the setting info is actually better than what I've found in other products that combine rules & setting.
The difference is, in the Conan rulebook, you're presented with a high-level view of the world. Taking Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play as a counter example, it focuses most of its attention on the Empire in the core rulebook. The Empire and other nations will presumably receive additional detail in supplements. Which is exactly the route used by the Conan game.
Like you, I had only a passing familiarity with Conan. The Road of Kings supplement provides a more comprehensive detail of each of the nations and cultures. If Conan OGL is a view from 50,000 feet, then Road of Kings is 10,000 feet. I haven't picked up the regional sourcebooks (yet), but the view drills down even further from what I have read on the Mongoose forums.
Post originally by Roy Morgan at 2005-05-30 20:48:36
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Check out this anthology:
/The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian/, originally written by Robert E. Howard.
My copy's being read by a friend, so I don't have the exact page count. But it's at least 200 oversized-paperback pages of the best sword-and-sorcery ever written, illustrated with Mark Schultz's incredible artwork. I've also heard that there are more volumes planned. Great news for Conan fans who want all the original stories in one place without having to sort through a veritable mountain of pastiches.
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