Conan

[Nik]

I think an off-grid, wednesday night Conan game at Gary Con VIIII is in order. Who wants in?

In.

[gizmomathboy]

I think an off-grid, wednesday night Conan game at Gary Con VIIII is in order. Who wants in?

By Crom I think that is in order.

[Chainsaw]

I think an off-grid, wednesday night Conan game at Gary Con VIIII is in order. Who wants in?

Shotgun!

[EOTB]

I think an off-grid, wednesday night Conan game at Gary Con VIIII is in order. Who wants in?

Oh hell yeah.

[josh]

I'm sure you won't allow us to be Stygian sorcerers, regardless, I'm in!

[capitalbill]

I think an off-grid, wednesday night Conan game at Gary Con VIIII is in order. Who wants in?

I'm always up for crushing my enemies. Seeing them driven before me. And hearing the lamentations of their women.

[Falconer]

The TSR Conan RPG has a 4-page Tower of the Elephant scenario in the core rulebook, which is very weak. Morten Braten did a Tower of the Elephant (3e) module for d20 that seems to do the job. Someone subsequently did a conversion of that for AD&D 1e, which can be found here: Tower of the Elephant (1e). Later, Mongoose published a Tower of the Elephant (Mongoose d20) module for their Conan line, which might also be worth mining (or using as the base module and converting), as it seems very similar but somewhat more fleshed out.

Morten Braten has also put together a module called The City of the Spider-god, which is actually an adaptation of D3 Vault of the Drow to Conan’s world. It also converts it to Mongoose d20 rules, so, the discerning referee will want to use the original D3 module and only consult Braten’s conversion. I really dig the concept, though. You can also find on his site adaptations of D2 and S4, but I find these rather less inspired.

Module B4 is basically "Red Nails" as a D&D adventure, and could be the basis of an entire campaign.

Good call.

[Falconer]

Speaking of the TSR Conan RPG, it comes with a rulebook for its standalone FASERIP-style ruleset (which I have no interest in), but it also comes with a 48-page setting guide called The World of Hyboria. Roughly equivalent to WoG ’80 in size and scope, it appears to be a concise and evocative gazetteer, and I look forward to getting my hands on it.

[Falconer]

Here is a calendar I’ve found from Aquilonia: Flower of the West (Mongoose). Please let me know if you find anything better. After all, I want to HAVE A MEANINGFUL CAMPAIGN.

The Aquilonian Calendar

The moon takes slightly over 29.53 days to orbit around the planet and return to the same phase, a period known to the Aquilonians. The Aquilonians also know how to measure the seasons and the solar year. The Aquilonians are aware that the solar year is eleven days longer than twelve lunar cycles. The Aquilonians also observe the stars and have a zodiac of their own. All of these factors have gone into the creation of the Aquilonian calendar.

In ancient times, just after the fall of Acheron and the founding of Aquilonia, the Hyborians had a nineteen year cycle in their calendar beginning with the Year of the Lion and ending with the Year of the Dog. The cycle ran thus: lion; dragon; snake; turtle; wildcat; wolf; eagle; hawk; bear; otter; alligator; mongoose; panther; rat; horse; lotus; gazelle; falcon; and dog. Most of these years had twelve months of 29 or 30 days, but would be eleven days short of a full solar year. To correct the resulting drift of seasons, seven of the years in the cycle included an intercalary month. The years with thirteen months were: snake; wolf; hawk, alligator; rat; gazelle; and dog. These thirteen month years fixed the errors caused by the difference in lunar and solar cycles to keep the seasons approximately on the same days. Months of 30 days were called full and 29 day months were called hollow. The full months were deemed auspicious and lucky and the hollow months were considered months of ill-repute and were unlucky.

As the centuries wore on, differing perspectives on calendars were proposed and, with occasional shifts in power, instituted. Thirteen month years fell into disfavour due to superstitions about the number thirteen. Also, even numbers are considered foul in some of the backwoods provinces of Aquilonia, so the calendar eventually shifted to months of 29 or 31 days. 29 day months are still known as hollow months and 31 day months are known as full months. Two additional years were added to the cycle, the Year of the Elephant and the Year of the Tiger, because of royal edicts based on nicknames of an Poitainian usurper and an Attalusian hero. The Year of the Snake was renamed the Year of the Cobra.

The current Aquilonian calendar has a 21 year cycle with twelve months in each year. The twelve months are based on the Aquilonian ‘circle of animals’, known to us today as the zodiac, the constellations that the sun passes through in each season. The night sky is seen as an enormous, revolving bubble surrounding the planet, taking a year to make a complete circle. The path of the sun, the ecliptic, also contains the path of the five known planets. The twelve Aquilonian months are: Lacerta; Baquil; Aquila; Caris; Balluan; Messor; Valica; Crinso; Horuma; Kapray; Palagus; and Kiphias.

Aquilonian Astrology Table

Month	Constellation	Season	Element	Quality	Duality	Ruler	Days
Lacerta	Salamander	Spring	Fire	Cardinal	Male	Mars	Hollow
Baquil	Bull	Spring	Earth	Fixed	Female	Venus	Full
Aquila	Bird	Spring	Air	Mutable	Male	Mercury	Hollow
Caris	Crab	Summer	Water	Cardinal	Female	Moon	Full
Balluan	Lion	Summer	Fire	Fixed	Male	Sun	Full
Messor	Unicorn	Summer	Earth	Mutable	Female	Mercury	Hollow
Valica	Vulture	Autumn	Air	Cardinal	Male	Venus	Full
Krinisa	Ray	Autumn	Water	Fixed	Female	Mars	Hollow
Horuma	Drake	Autumn	Fire	Mutable	Male	Jupiter	Full
Kapray	Goat	Winter	Earth	Cardinal	Female	Saturn	Full
Palagus	Cormorant	Winter	Air	Fixed	Male	Saturn	Hollow
Kiphias	Fish	Winter	Water	Mutable	Female	Jupiter	Full

Month: This is the name the Aquilonians have given to this month.

Constellation: This is the group of stars the sun passes through during this month. Early Hyborians assigned names to various stellar patterns according to the pictures suggested by the patterns.

Season: This column indicates whether the month is in the spring, summer, autumn or winter.

Element: The Aquilonians have assigned a fundamental substance to each of the constellations in the ‘circle of animals.’ Fire signs are lively and enthusiastic; earth signs are practical and steady; air signs are communicative and cerebral; and water signs are emotional and artistic.

Quality: This indicates the type of ‘energy’ the months fall under. A cardinal sign is innovative, vigorous and initiating. A fixed sign is said to be unrelenting, indomitable and creative. A mutable sign is supposedly versatile, adaptable and accommodating.

Duality: A masculine month is said to be indicative of action, energy and outward strength of arms. A feminine month is said to be a sign of receptivity, charisma, and inner strength of will.

Ruler: This is the planet or luminary that is said to have dominion over the month. The planets of Uranus, Neptune and Yag have not been discovered yet by the Hyborians.

Days: If a month is full, it has 31 days. If a month is hollow, it has 29 days.[/size]

[Falconer]

Races of the Hyborian Age Cheat Sheet

Cimmerian - Celtic (esp. Irish)
Hyborian - Germanic
Hyrkanian - Mongol/Hun/Turk/Tatar
Khitai - Chinese/Japanese
Nordheimr - Nordic
Pict - American Indian
Shemite - Arabic
Stygian - Egyptian
Tribesman of the Black Kingdoms - Black African
Vendhyan - Indian
Zingaran - Spanish (esp. swashbuckling/flamboyant Inigo Montoya type)

Please feel free to suggest corrections/refinements.

[Bard]

As far as I remember, when I started DM-ing, I were reading lots of Howard, and it influenced my style... One player even asked whether I like Howard, because all my adventures are about evil priests, and dungeon temples...

I think basic AD&D without demihumans is a good choice, and I would even allow all the spellcaster classes, priests of Hyborian deities, druids, magic users (and not every magic user must be evil, just think about the film...), illusionists (!!!)

I would concentrate on the feel of Hyboria, and not the feel of the Conan adventures though... Conan is just Howard's PC... if someone wants to play a priest of Set, or a barbarian druid, why not...

One of main features of the Conan stories is the beautiful setting in my opinion.

[TRP]

Someone wrote up a Tower of the Elephant for the DF Footprints 8 or 9 years ago.

[Falconer]

I posted a link to that 5 posts back.

[TRP]

I posted a link to that 5 posts back.

Ah. Sorry, I didn't follow the link; so didn't know it was the DF version.

[ThirstyStirge]

Races of the Hyborian Age Cheat Sheet

Cimmerian - Celtic (esp. Irish)
Hyborian - Germanic
Hyrkanian - Mongol/Hun/Turk/Tartar
Khitai - Chinese/Japanese
Nordheimr - Nordic
Pict - American Indian
Shemite - Arabic
Stygian - Egyptian
Tribesman of the Black Kingdoms - Black African
Vendhyan - Indian
Zingaran - Spanish (esp. swashbuckling/flamboyant Inigo Montoya type)

Please feel free to suggest corrections/refinements.

I thought that REH was of Scottish extraction, and Conan was thought of as a Proto-Celt (Scot). I may have misremembered though: it's been a decade since I last read REH. By Crom, how time flies!

Shem I take to be an amalgam for Mesopotamian cultures (Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, etc. and maybe Hittite?)

Argos = Ancient Greece.

Zamora = Transylvania, Romania, etc.

Pictish Wilderness = the Native Americans of the Eastern US seaboard, a la Last of the Mohicans, et al.

Aquilonia = Mediaeval England/France.

Hyperborea = Finland (?)

Cimmeria = Scottish highlands (?). IIRC Aquilonia tried settling Cimmeria and established a fort at Venarium -- where a young Conan was first in combat. I assume that this was inspired more by either the Anglo-Saxons pressing northward into Alba, or Roman military expeditions in Germania and Gaul. (I wonder if REH had ever read de Bello Gallico...)

Turan = Turkey (?)

Iranistan, Vendhya, Kambuja = erm, well, it's pretty obvious.

There used to be tons of discussion of this very subject over on the official Conan forum, but that is now defunct. RIP.