I see no reason to switch to this from 2d20. I game with experienced players who had no trouble learning 2d20 and now the game runs fast. I think most of the 2d20 detractors just didn't stick to it long enough and walked away with the impression the game was "too crunchy" or "too confusing." That hasn't been my or anyone I play with's experience of that game at all. Except for the sorcery section - I freely admit that system needed better explanation without having to use the (now defunct) Google+ page.
I still think the best Conan simulator ever is Barbarians of Lemuria. A Shane they didn't have the budget for cool art, but the rules system and the whole book are golden. Simple mechanics, high customizability
They recently finished a KS to bring the french version of it to the english speaking world. The pages are gorgeous. Plan is to translate the entire french line and then some more if there's enough interest. The core book is currently in printing. Too bad it's not a hardcover, but hopefully it becomes popular enough to justify an hardcover run.
@@Iulian111 I saw this and thought of backing it but I already own every previous edition of BoL (Mythic and Legendary in hardcover). If they release a hardcover I'm liable to pick up this edition as well!
Finally a Conan RPG that also seems to feel like Conan. Until now, Barbarians of Lemuria was my go-to Sword & Sorcery game, but that could change now. Conan THA seems to have everything I'm looking for. A fast, action-oriented set of rules, character options that fit the setting, rules for minions and atmospheric, dark sorcery and - very important - lots of adventures that can be prepared quickly and whose focus is the High Adventure! Btw: Yes, I would like to see more of this game on your channel!
I like the optimism. Although BoL, or even something like Savage Worlds, still looks good when it comes to quick rules-light sword & sorcery. This new Conan RPG appears rather thin on content and the mechanics don't feature much that stands out to me. Perhaps that will change after seeing more of it in the future, dunno. Hopefully something changes my mind after release.
I'm all in on it, and really, really want to love it (absolutely love the boardgame), but this seems like a really mixed bag. The Origins look either to general or to specific & limiting, Sorcery doesn't look mysterious or corrupting (healing & snake arrow spells? Really guys...) and the only cost is spending some points. Easy mode PC death & Respite rules feels weak and more 5E than Conan. The Minions rules seem almost as fiddly as just using normal enemy rules (hard to say though), Some terminology just feels out of place, like "Flex" die is face-palm bad, "Stamina" doesn't really describe what those points do etc... Other than the awesome art the mechanics themselves don't seem to be reinforcing that Conan vibe. Hopefully the final release ends up better than the glimpses I've seen.
I backed it. I like the rules, but as a big Sword & Sorcery fan, what absolutely sold me was the art. Gorgeous, exciting, and unapologetically sensual. Exactly what this kind of book needs. That mini collection as well... not that I need more, but it convinced me to go to the King tier!
I have very mixed feelings about this game. The Modihpius one was very clunky and really needed some, weel a lot, of streamlining here and there, but from a very superficial read and Dave's description, this new one didn't won me over for three reasons: 1) the various origins swing a bit too much between generic and specific; you can trace them easily to various Howard's stories, but for me they seem to fall short in covenying the size and scope of the Hyborian world, especially if you want to take a little step beyond the established Howard's stories (which is exactly what any IP-heavy RPG should do). 2) from what little I was able to understand the Flex Die provides a safety net which doesn't really gel with my image of the Hyborian Age, the auto-success seems a pretty big crutch. 3) speaking of crutchs, both the "Fate Intervention" and the paragraph about heavy armor scream of poor design to me; I'm not against them in principle, but they offload a significant amount of authority and responsibility upon the GM.
I am a Monolith fan and have all the Conan board game material. I have not found a Conan RPG to my satisfaction, but this looks like it might be it. I really like the focus on getting the game to the table with adventures over exhaustive setting material. Having straightforward mechanics is also refreshing. Monolith’s Batman RPG is also very good, though it uses a different system derived from d20.
I´m backing the game - I played the Quickstart and it was a blast. Please, keep track of this game and make some more videos for it in the future. Great to see some more pages of the upcoming book in this interesting introduction 👍
I backed the board game at the King tier and now I'm back a decade or so later to back the RPG! Definitely hope you do more coverage and a deeper dive into this one. I'm thinking 2025 is the year of Conan, at least in my own personal gaming endeavors.
I also posted a link to this vid over on the kickstarter comments section, as I'm sure people will be interested to see the book and what you think of the game.
I backed it. I'm looking forward to this. My D&D/ OSE is set in a darker version of Greyhawk, and my Black Sword Hack has become something from Heavy Metal. Having something that seems specifically geared toward Howardian adventure should cinch things up nicely.
How would you compare it to the one by Modiphius? Modiphiu's developers and writers were very careful and respectful in their exploration of the S&S genre and its links to Lovecraft.
@H-HWJvN they're streamlined, satisfying, fast, and highly customizable when it comes to character progression. I'm insanely biased because I designed the game, but this is the sword and sorcery RPG I've always dreamed of making. Despite having written splat books for the Modiphius game, those mechanics were not for me. This one is quick to learn, prep, and get to table while also offering satisfying depth. anything that bogged down the action got cut with extreme prejudice.
@matthewsullivan7443 I'll wait for it. I live overseas and the shipping costs now are just impossible; I won't be able to buy the physical copies but I'll wait for the DTRPG PDF. Good luck with the Kickstarter!
I'm backing this at a king pledge, basically all in. So thank you for this, it was great to see the book, hope we get more coverage. I'd love to see the figures, I know they are from the board game (I have that) but it difficult to see what exactly you are getting, especially with the stretch goals coming thick and fast.
All the minis are from the Boardgame core box, plus the King box extras (Kickstarter version), plus the boardgame stretch goals box. All the stretch goal minis for the Rpg are from the boardgame Conqueror expansion. If you have the Kickstarter core game and the Conqueror expansion, then you already have all these minis
Great overview, even for backers like myself. The rule lite action focus seems appropriate for the setting and if one wants to do something more crunchy its easy to just drop in whatever system you like (maybe The Broken Empires) so I'm really happy with this and they already talking about wanting to support it with a lot of supplements and expansions down the line ⚔
The Modiphius 2D20 Conan has a lot of setting books which can help if the DM needs help on the setting. PDF’s of them can be found in various places(nowhere legit as Modiphous lost the license), if you weren’t foolish like me and bought the books from a company that lost the license.
Same here. Bought entire 2d20 line. Great information to last a lifetime but the system needed lots of ironing to properly run a game. So disappointed when Modiphius lost the license. Was hoping for a 2nd edition of the core book to solve all problems but perhaps was already lost cause for them
Thanks for a great, comprehensive review, it really fleshes the game out. We've been playing the game for about a month now through the Quick Start edition they put out. It's a good introduction to the basic mechanics, and we are loving the system. We can't wait for the release as there are details in character development we need, but the game is definitely worth it. The intro scenarios seem to be geared towards learning how the basic rules work. If you like RPGs and Conan, definitely check this out while the Kickstart is still active.
It is awseome, much is re-used from the boardgame, but almost everything shown is just single characters standing in a pose. I hope there's a lot more variety, more full scenes, action pieces etc...
So the minis look to be the same ones from their board game. As someone who bought all of their board game stuff I could. The minis are fire, they are awesome for use and painting. I've had players go oh hell no when I set down some of the monsters from their catalogue onto the battle map. 10/10 would recommend all of their minis. And the boards that come with the board game are also fantastic for just making prebuilt areas to use.
The sparseness of the magic reminds me of a bump my players ran up against when we tried BitD. Everybody was cool with the mechanics and heist stuff, but my Ghost (Spook? Can't remember the playbook name) PC really has a hard time figuring out how to bring in his magic because he felt like he didn't have a baseline to draw on. He commented that he wished there was a thorough spell list. On the other hand, he really loves the OSR and that style of game, so it might just not have been the class best suited to his playstyle. And in a Conan game, i feel like magic really tends to be an npc/bad guy tool, so maybe it doesn't need to be super robust.
Great review. Jealous that you have the full rules already. I suspect that more setting details will emerge in the adventures. Also, if you're desperate for more setting, the Modiphius books have a ton of it.
Mongoose has two editions of a modified d20 version. Ran a full campaign and we really enjoyed it. Modipheus has their version and there are older scattered supplements from folks like tsr.
@@daleandrade8140 Yeah, I actually think Mongooses's Conan is the best version of D20 we've ever played. There was also the GURPs Rpg before that, the TSR game before that and the DnD/ADnD scenarios before that. Love the Modiphius series the most though
Those miniatures and maps are all from the boardgame, I believe, of which I own quite a bit. I find them to be excellent quality. Monolith can likely offer a decent deal on bulk miniatures because the molds are already made. I may back this one for the PDFs and use them as reference aids for a different system (this system is not to my liking).
Honestly this is more of a play as a Conan clone RPG than a play in an Hyperborean setting kinda game. Conan is an exception in this world. Its a dying, extremely dangerous and harsh world in which Conan strives contrary to the rest of the world. Its not bad per say but it emphasizes on Conan rather than the lore Howard created in the end. I'm more of an Hyperborean fan so this is clearly not for me as its flexibility and focus on HEROISM is completely opposed to what Hyperborea is....... unless your Conan which you are not supposed to be. Also, sorcery is way too present from what I'm seeing. Artwork is hella fine though props on that! Im gonna stick to Modiphius Conan and Hyperborea TTRPG ( Highly recommend this one ) for my Hyperborean fix!
Came here just to say that Ludospherik brought the french edition of Barbarians of Lemuria to english and that it is a superior Sword & Sorcery and rules light system to this. The only thing this game has going for itself is the artwork and the IP associated with it. The system is just weird and it would had been better if they just used SWADE, especially since they also made a SWADE version for Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane. They also won't flesh out the setting like the people at Modiphius did, so another wasted potential. Very strange decisions and a very strange ruleset that doesn't do Sword & Sorcery and not even Rules Light true justice. Probably the most disappointing Conan RPG since the TSR era. The minies are cool though. BoL for the win!
@matthewsullivan7443 it really wasn't. We really wanted to like it, but it fell flat. The biggest let down was that despite it being a rules light game, it felt too mechanized and didn't leave room for rullings and narrative flourishes, making it feel more like a more complicated boardgame. As I see it, a rules light system starts that way and becomes in time more complex because the game master makes rullings that become rules at the table. I couldn't make that with it.
@@pandr3sI judge systems based on how well they can pull the genre they're trying to emulate. I'll take a system that's "wonky" with the math yet does a better job at evoking the genre it's used for than one with tight math, but flavorless if stripped of artwork and mechanically mismatched with the genre it's advertised for. Based on what I saw in this review and in the Quickstart, this system has no teeth in the genre besides visual presentation. Maybe it's just me and it ends up being the best Conan RPG ever...time will tell. As for metacurrency, there a way to do it and ways to not (Modiphius 2d20 Conan RPG being a prime example). If the metacurrency is there to be used by the players for their benefit it works; it works especially in Sword & Sorcery because it helps simulate the blind luck that is sometimes as important as skill and preparation for survival. Metacurrency becomes a problem when it can be used by the GM to screw-up the PCs and make their life harder.
A very comprehensive review of the rpg. The artwork looks great. The mechanics I will have to try out. I wonder how this will compare to the other Conan game being published by Autarch as a supplement to the second edition to the Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg coming out.
Not sure, that wasn't based on the real Conan stuff but some other guys Conan books. Is that even still coming out? Since ACKs is just a DnD20 reskin I'd imagine it may be similar to the Mongoose Conan S20 game.
I posted this on the KS comments, but since I typed it all out and this video is what prompted it I'm posting it here too. One of my issues with the game is how Origins are handled. However, like some other things here I think it's poor choice of terminology and naming convention that hurts it For example Origins seem to be a kind of starting archetype, providing bonuses, starting skills, whether that "Class" can use sorcery etc... Problem is the names of the Origins don't imply that, and confuse the issue by implying that must be the exact geographic location you're from. For example From the Hills, From the North, From the Steppes & From the Wilds are very specifically geographic, and unfortunately their fluff text reinforces that even more. But it really doesn't make any sense to tie archetype to geography. For example Cimmeria is a land in the north, and the From the North Origin bonuses might suit a Cimmerian character just well as From the Hills, but the From the North fluff very specifically talks about icebergs, glaciers and growing up on the sea and having skill with ships. So it is very specifically sticking this "Class" as coming from someplace like Hyperborea. which really thematically locks characters that pick this Origin. Yes this can be houseruled, handwaved and fixed by the GM. But why then design and name Origins so specific that they require houseruling right out of the box in the first place? Why didn't they go more general, universal and broadly thematic like From Parts Unknown, one of the only ones that works as written as it is open to interpretation and gives the players creative freedom. Unlike From the Blood of Jhebbal Sag or From the Blood of Acheron which are both hyper specific and do more to remove creative freedom. From the Hills could have been something less specific like From Blood and Danger which doesn't tie you geographically to anything, just your bonuses, archetype and situation you were raised in. You can take that and be from the north, the south, the wilderness or a city, however you choose to view your character. From a Civilsed Land could be more general like From Knowledge and Power... You could still be a from a civilised land, but also just as easily be raised deep in the Jungle by a coven of potion brewing witches or in the north as the son of a blacksmith who secretly dabbled in alchemy. From the Streets really bugs me because it implies theives, knaves & rogues must be born and raised in cities. Yet Conan himself is one of the most famous pulp hero theives there is and he sure as hell didn't come from the streets. Maybe something more like From Cunning and Guile makes more sense. From the Blood of a Demon is overly specific, whereas something like From Supernatural Beginnings leaves it open to all manner of mysterious origin, not just demonic and that's it. On and on. Simply putting some thought into these Origins, the terminology used, the (over) specificity of the writing, could have pumped these full of theme, and promoted character ideas and creativity instead of stifling it. Even more so if for each of these Origins they bulletpointed a good sized list of areas, nations, cities, gods or ideas as examples that might make a great origin story for someone of this class. Such as Hyperborean Seas, at One with Jhebbal Sag, Of the Lineage of Acheron, Out of Deepest Kush or Born of Demons which would make great bulletpoints to provide fuel for PC ideas and spark imagination rather than the opposite. Plus it would be a great way for players new to Conan to learn about his world and start to piece it together. I'm not at all saying my name examples are remotely the best choices, just giving examples of how much better and more broadly thematic I feel these Origins could (and should) have been.
I am not a massive fan of the origins, where people from city are either thieves or shcolar, why are there so many magic origins? Magic is supposed to be kinda rare in Conan. But that is really more nitpick in the end. Overall it seems like a bit more hack and slash oriented game, but it might be fun.
i disagree on the art thing; I know it sounds shallow but Im really turned off by ttrpg's with hyper-cartoony art like pathfinder and whatnot. It can make or break my experience with a ttrpg... Having said that, the art here in Conan really puts me in the headspace for the tone of the setting
I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this one. I couldn't gel with the 2d20 system, which was a shame--I'm a massive Conan nerd, but I just couldn't get into the game. But this one looks amazingly pulpy, and the mechanics look a bit more like my cup of tea. Now I'm impatient to get my hands on it!
The flex die seems way too pro player. NPCs dont get one? How does this add to heroic moments and not devolve into dynasty warrior silliness? Hyperborea should feel incredibly dangerous. there needs to be a counter balance for the villain. The 2d20 Momentum worked in part because Doom existed alongside it.
Totally different mechanics, Modiphius is roll under 2d20 and crunchier, but much of that crunch also gave it strong ties to the Conan theme. It heavily uses meta currency (Doom & Momentum) for both players and the GM which gives it very strong Conan/S&S vibes and awesome moments. But is can also be fiddly and at times confusing and/or slows the game down, and many rpger's dislike meta currency in general let alone as a central mechanic. As written PCs start too powerful, but the optional starting PC rules help fix this (should have been the default). Combat has a lot of punch & meat & options to it, very satisfying and visceral. Sorcery is super thematic and flavorful, but also quite crunchy, and the way you combine cool sorcery Talents (like Pact, Delver in the Dark, Life Eternal, Ritualist, Curse, Everlasting, Witch Hunter, etc...)with spell knowledge to create tons of effects is freaking awesome, and also makes different sorcerers feel very different from one another. Rulesey but really sells that Conan sorcery vibe. Much more complex, but with a few houserules, incorporating the refinements newer 2d20 games have mode, a few rule simplification etc... we absolutely love it. Not rules lite at all though
Hm... I thought the Mödiphius Conan RPG was already very true to the setting and the books. The 2d20 system isn't my favourite, but worked very well with Conan actually. I'm a little disappointed, because I had high hopes for this new Conan RPG, but I actually don't like the system so far... There are no wounds... It's like D&D it seems: you are fit to fight until hitpoints are zeroed, then you go down and maybe die. I hate that. I wished there was a system incorporated in that for gathering wounds. Especially for Conan that's vital I think.
Thank you for the review. Very informative. Out of curiosity, what’s the 5th sorcerer discipline? Only alchemy, white, black, and demonic were mentioned.
On the world...there is a ton information about available to read. I wonder they felt you could explore other sources if you wanted. I backed this and would love more coverage
It might sound heretical but I lean into Clarke Ashton Smith more than Lovecraft in terms of background cosmic horror. Having mechanics accentuate the setting and action is where its at imo as well. Its great to see. Like WEG "d6" Star Wars or some others; when it works it really kicks ass. I wish that the economic realities weren't what they are so that I could swing this, but thats a sob story that is tedious and tiresome so I'll just suck it up. Thanks for the fine video production!
This looks like a really great system to jump into quickly and easily. Quick to create characters and easy to learn and get started adventuring. Limited scope of progression, but still meaningful. This keeps Conan characters power level reasonably grounded and more importantly keeps game mechanics stable and easy to grok across a variety of character xp ranges. Advanced characters can play easily with newer ones. If these virtues are valuable to you, then this could be a great game for you. The shortcomings, such as lack of specific rules supporting a broad variety of weapons, skills, abilities, spells, limited scope of progression, and lack of crunchy game mechanics for conditions and actions, mean that it is no replacement for the high adventure experiences D&D and other 20 or so level ttrpgs. I didn't want a reskin of those mechanics, these days I'm looking for something to play with my young kids and attention-deficit brothers. This looks like something I can get people into quickly and get to the fun, emphasize heroic actions, present moral quandaries, provide physical and mental challenges or obstacles, give some role-playing experiences, and stay having fun.
My question is how does it compare to other Conan RPG by Modiphius? I think this one is a lot easier to get into but I want to know what everyone else thinks
I was very excited about this, but reading through their quickstart preview, I was totally underwhelmed. Not exactly rules heavy, but just rules annoying. It does look good in terms of the art, but I think I'll pass, though the minis look cool as well. I had hoped that Goodman Games would have gotten the Conan license because they've done interesting things with other IPs that I don't particularly care for so I think a DCC Conan would be cool.
I think it would take 8-10 minutes to homebrew the mechanics for a knight origin, probably someone from Aquilonia or Nemedia. Or you could wait for an official expansion (not sure if there will be one, or if will contain knights).
I tried looking through the 2d20 Conan RPG rulebook after hearing about it so much and have decided "yeah this isn't for me." So I'm still looking forward to this version as it's very straightforward, which is something I look for these days in a rpg. A lot of people say this "doesn't nail the sword and sorcery theme" but I couldn't disagree more. Maybe that's bc I exclusively read the Howard stories and none of the pastiches so maybe that's why? There were a lot of sorcerers in the stories (mostly baddies admittedly) so I think the magic and the classes representing them are fine. Especially bc I was thinking of playing as a bastard sorcerer weaving evil schemes
Wouldn’t reading the original Conan stories serve to fill in whatever details a GM would need to run a campaign in a specific nation? If the information isn’t there then they can just make it up as they won’t have to worry about “playing it right” or “keeping continuity”. Old sword & sorcery stories, especially Howard’s Conan, constantly contradict each other and were released in no attempt to form a linear timeline as they would jump around the character’s life at different points.
It seems a lot of GM decision to reign in the sorcery aspect, given there are so many by origins with magical background. I would’ve loved more mechanical variety on the origins, especially the non magical ones. On the death mechanic: every good GM knows the price of character death. So it’s your job to work around it without taking off the edge of death. Never make it super transparent, slightly adjust damage done by NPCs, keep player characters just „at the edge“. Death doesn’t need to actually happen for players to feel adrenaline. That is weak writing in many stories. Where they kill a side character to „heighten the stakes“. writers and story tellers can do that without all the character murder. In the Conan stories you know Conan is not going to die. Yet you feel the threat of it constantly. Another example: what feels more exciting, dying in Solesbourne games, or making it juuuuust in the last microsecond. I bet you would still feel adrenaline if you’d beat every boss without dying in the very last second. In Soulsborne games that is impossible, because you have no DM, that’s why you die constantly. But the death is not what makes those games fun. It’s how tough they are and that as a skilled player you still often only make it by the last second.
Totally different mechanics, Modiphius is roll under 2d20 and crunchier, but much of that crunch also gave it strong ties to the Conan theme. It heavily uses meta currency (Doom & Momentum) for both players and the GM which gives it very strong Conan/S&S vibes and awesome moments. But is can also be fiddly and at times confusing and/or slows the game down, and many rpger's dislike meta currency in general let alone as a central mechanic. As written PCs start too powerful, but the optional starting PC rules help fix this (should have been the default). Combat has a lot of punch & meat & options to it, very satisfying and visceral. Sorcery is super thematic and flavorful, but also quite crunchy, and the way you combine cool sorcery Talents (like Pact, Delver in the Dark, Life Eternal, Ritualist, Curse, Everlasting, Witch Hunter, etc...)with spell knowledge to create tons of effects is freaking awesome, and also makes different sorcerers feel very different from one another. Rulesey but really sells that Conan sorcery vibe. Much more complex, but with a few houserules, incorporating the refinements newer 2d20 games have mode, a few rule simplification etc... we absolutely love it. Not rules lite at all though
This looks like it goes way beyond Howard’s literature and vision. I’m familiar with his works and a lot of this stuff doesn’t look like it’s from his canon.
I wanted to back this SO bad...but, The Broken Empires ruined my bank account. Not related-have you taken a look at Outcasts silver raiders? would really enjoy a review on that if it snags your interest.
In reality there really were a Cimmerian people, and no they were not from England or Doggerland, they were essentially Steppe people in what today would be Russia today, or parts thereof, or some other Asian nation. My favorite is Iranistan. I call California, Californistan so I get where Howard is coming from. Stan just means 'land of'
I was excited about this right p until I saw the quick play mentioned "auto succeed on X" and "auto failure on Z".... I despise that dated and nonsensical mechanic. It doesn't suit simulationist or narrative or cinematic gameplay.
As interested I was in this, I am sad to say there are too many red flags for me to buy it. I'll narrow it down to the big ones. 1. Magic appears to be treated as a tool in your box of tricks, like in modern D&D, as opposed to being a carefully crafted metaphor for how those who use magic for their own gains or to subjugate others will ultimately be consumed by it as a cosmic punishment. 2. Clunky damage thresholds for minions: I experimented with that exact idea years ago, but found that the numbers would either be too low in a vertical progression system to matter or so high the players would have to min/max to even damage certain enemies. It became tedious and unsatisfying. It's still a cool concept, but the execution here doesn't appear to have any real solution that makes sense. The enemies look either too easy or extremely difficult to hit. I can see this being fun for 1 session, but after that, most players would probably abandon it for a system with more consistency. 3. The Fate die: Let's call it what it is; a lazy, player facing oracle. It's there to provide the swingyness of a D20 without being married to the static curve. Sounds good on paper, but in real play will simply give the players another safety-net to stave off death, which isn't very sword and sorcery. 4. The lore appears to be pulled from the movies and comic books, not the novelettes, novellas, or novel Howard wrote for Conan. This is evident In the preview document where there is a severe overuse of the word "Crom" as if it is a common word that Conan said all the time, he didn't. What's worse is that Crom should only be invoked with a negative connotation as Crom was not a god who would take kindly to prayers, since he already gave you everything you needed at birth. having phrases like "By Crom's Teeth!" makes no sense in this context. 5. Player safety warning at the beginning of the book: This is easily the biggest turn off. This is a TTRPG, and a SWORD and SORCERY TTRPG at that. Sword and Sorcery is about heroes (or characters close enough to) who face reality with a grim blend of stoic heroism and *Honest* fatalism. If you are playing with people that are easily offended by reality or can't separate their own personal problems from the game they are playing, then they probably shouldn't be playing a TTRPG, let alone a sword and sorcery one. At best, this feels like a "Monolith presents Marvel's Conan: the Barbarian!" and at worst it's another soulless cash grab.
Don’t like the adversion to armor. In the original stories you see Conan clad in full plate armor several times. He just has a tendency to really screw things off while off screen so when we return to him he has sold or lost most of his stuff. Of course realistically you need a whole team of support to able to wear and use plate armor like a formula 1 car driver need a whole team before he can drive the race car. So using plate armor is not really feasible if you are a band of semi outlaws romaning from place to place….. realistically. So do we want realism in a game like this?
Once again Conan is being watered down with too much magic in an attempt to attract a wider player base. Conan is interesting because it's DIFFERENT and having a list of player spellcasters just makes it D&D in Hyboria. How you determined magic is rare is beyond me.
@atlasdm yea its abstract and not as defined as D&D so I doubt you will see the weird ass furry race bard wanting to seduce the deep ones, or if they do, you are honor bound it eat its face off immediately
I have all books from the 2d20. The art is very hit and miss. Some is amazing, then some from Deviantart and generic fantasy. Also it’s not very selective. The style clash, sometimes on the same double page. From what I’ve seen now, this seems much improved and more carefully selected.
Checked out the Kickstarter page, saw delivery date of Aug 2025 and then checked out. I have never had a good experience with any Kickstarter with that long of a delivery date.
I miss the Conan 2d20 game by Modiphius Entertainment. This game just seems a bit bloated compared to that. And worst of all, I missed the HUGE clearance sale on all of the Conan stuff at the time 😭
Місяць тому
Artifact spirit: How old it is, where it was made, by whom it was made. - So 9/10 times that's going to be, "Really old" "In Stygia." "By Thamahuk the blacksmith" and have no valuable information for whatever the plot is. And Jhebbal sag is a forgotten ancient god of beasts. Acheron is dead, there's just some blood from them in Stygia. Thulsa doom was a serpent man, he didn't turn into a beast, that was his real form.
Sorry to be the wet blanket here, but I'm personally not impressed with this game compared to the Modiphius Conan game from ~10 years ago. I get that all the rage now is for "rules lite" treatment, but this one seems too soon and too watered-down by comparison. Had this come out years ago or years from now, I might be more open to it. But the same focus on art, same lore expertise, same desire to be canon-faithful were just used to sell me a Conan RPG not that long ago and I don't see why I'd buy this after investing in the other one so recently.
Honestly? I don't think I like anything about this game. And as a Conan fan, I'm pretty disappointed. Modiphius' RPG seemed to be better designed overall. I think I would stick to GURPS, though.
Support the channel by joining my Patreon! www.patreon.com/thaumavore
Sign up for my newsletter! bit.ly/ThaumavoreNewsletter
I’m on the fence on this one. I already own all 22 books of the Conan 2D20 system by Modiphius and I absolutely loved that game.
From what I've seen so far of this one the Modiphius version nails the Conan (and S&S in general) flavor and vibe far better
@@sethpeterson8261 Yep, same here.
I see no reason to switch to this from 2d20. I game with experienced players who had no trouble learning 2d20 and now the game runs fast. I think most of the 2d20 detractors just didn't stick to it long enough and walked away with the impression the game was "too crunchy" or "too confusing." That hasn't been my or anyone I play with's experience of that game at all. Except for the sorcery section - I freely admit that system needed better explanation without having to use the (now defunct) Google+ page.
Me too, but I am not on the fence at all. LETS GO!!!
I still think the best Conan simulator ever is Barbarians of Lemuria. A Shane they didn't have the budget for cool art, but the rules system and the whole book are golden. Simple mechanics, high customizability
BoL absolutely rules.
They recently finished a KS to bring the french version of it to the english speaking world. The pages are gorgeous. Plan is to translate the entire french line and then some more if there's enough interest.
The core book is currently in printing. Too bad it's not a hardcover, but hopefully it becomes popular enough to justify an hardcover run.
@@Iulian111 I saw this and thought of backing it but I already own every previous edition of BoL (Mythic and Legendary in hardcover). If they release a hardcover I'm liable to pick up this edition as well!
@@Iulian111 fffffffffffffffff*ck, i missed it. I hope they at least sell the pdf to non backers later on.
Yeah, the art from the French version of BoL was sorely needed. It's great. Good to see it will be out before long.
Finally a Conan RPG that also seems to feel like Conan. Until now, Barbarians of Lemuria was my go-to Sword & Sorcery game, but that could change now. Conan THA seems to have everything I'm looking for. A fast, action-oriented set of rules, character options that fit the setting, rules for minions and atmospheric, dark sorcery and - very important - lots of adventures that can be prepared quickly and whose focus is the High Adventure! Btw: Yes, I would like to see more of this game on your channel!
I like the optimism. Although BoL, or even something like Savage Worlds, still looks good when it comes to quick rules-light sword & sorcery. This new Conan RPG appears rather thin on content and the mechanics don't feature much that stands out to me. Perhaps that will change after seeing more of it in the future, dunno. Hopefully something changes my mind after release.
I'm all in on it, and really, really want to love it (absolutely love the boardgame), but this seems like a really mixed bag. The Origins look either to general or to specific & limiting, Sorcery doesn't look mysterious or corrupting (healing & snake arrow spells? Really guys...) and the only cost is spending some points. Easy mode PC death & Respite rules feels weak and more 5E than Conan. The Minions rules seem almost as fiddly as just using normal enemy rules (hard to say though), Some terminology just feels out of place, like "Flex" die is face-palm bad, "Stamina" doesn't really describe what those points do etc... Other than the awesome art the mechanics themselves don't seem to be reinforcing that Conan vibe.
Hopefully the final release ends up better than the glimpses I've seen.
@@sethpeterson8261 Agreed and very well said.
I backed it. I like the rules, but as a big Sword & Sorcery fan, what absolutely sold me was the art. Gorgeous, exciting, and unapologetically sensual. Exactly what this kind of book needs. That mini collection as well... not that I need more, but it convinced me to go to the King tier!
I have very mixed feelings about this game.
The Modihpius one was very clunky and really needed some, weel a lot, of streamlining here and there, but from a very superficial read and Dave's description, this new one didn't won me over for three reasons:
1) the various origins swing a bit too much between generic and specific; you can trace them easily to various Howard's stories, but for me they seem to fall short in covenying the size and scope of the Hyborian world, especially if you want to take a little step beyond the established Howard's stories (which is exactly what any IP-heavy RPG should do).
2) from what little I was able to understand the Flex Die provides a safety net which doesn't really gel with my image of the Hyborian Age, the auto-success seems a pretty big crutch.
3) speaking of crutchs, both the "Fate Intervention" and the paragraph about heavy armor scream of poor design to me; I'm not against them in principle, but they offload a significant amount of authority and responsibility upon the GM.
I appreciate the measured, thoughtful input.
Agree
Flex die is Savage Worlds properly done. If you upgrade your attribute dice your critical chance worsens, Flex dice fix this.
@@pandr3s I might misremember thing, but I believe that the luck/fate die in SW is always a d6.
I am a Monolith fan and have all the Conan board game material. I have not found a Conan RPG to my satisfaction, but this looks like it might be it. I really like the focus on getting the game to the table with adventures over exhaustive setting material. Having straightforward mechanics is also refreshing.
Monolith’s Batman RPG is also very good, though it uses a different system derived from d20.
I´m backing the game - I played the Quickstart and it was a blast. Please, keep track of this game and make some more videos for it in the future. Great to see some more pages of the upcoming book in this interesting introduction 👍
I backed the board game at the King tier and now I'm back a decade or so later to back the RPG! Definitely hope you do more coverage and a deeper dive into this one. I'm thinking 2025 is the year of Conan, at least in my own personal gaming endeavors.
I also posted a link to this vid over on the kickstarter comments section, as I'm sure people will be interested to see the book and what you think of the game.
@@charliebananas7334 thanks!
I backed it. I'm looking forward to this. My D&D/ OSE is set in a darker version of Greyhawk, and my Black Sword Hack has become something from Heavy Metal. Having something that seems specifically geared toward Howardian adventure should cinch things up nicely.
How would you compare it to the one by Modiphius?
Modiphiu's developers and writers were very careful and respectful in their exploration of the S&S genre and its links to Lovecraft.
Yeah Modiphius was great with Conan. 2D20 is hit or miss tho imo.
Well, we brought back the same writers for the lore. 😊 we've just got a more succinct approach here.
@matthewsullivan7443 good to know. Now, what could you say about the mechanics?
@H-HWJvN they're streamlined, satisfying, fast, and highly customizable when it comes to character progression. I'm insanely biased because I designed the game, but this is the sword and sorcery RPG I've always dreamed of making. Despite having written splat books for the Modiphius game, those mechanics were not for me. This one is quick to learn, prep, and get to table while also offering satisfying depth. anything that bogged down the action got cut with extreme prejudice.
@matthewsullivan7443 I'll wait for it. I live overseas and the shipping costs now are just impossible; I won't be able to buy the physical copies but I'll wait for the DTRPG PDF. Good luck with the Kickstarter!
I'm backing this at a king pledge, basically all in. So thank you for this, it was great to see the book, hope we get more coverage. I'd love to see the figures, I know they are from the board game (I have that) but it difficult to see what exactly you are getting, especially with the stretch goals coming thick and fast.
All the minis are from the Boardgame core box, plus the King box extras (Kickstarter version), plus the boardgame stretch goals box.
All the stretch goal minis for the Rpg are from the boardgame Conqueror expansion.
If you have the Kickstarter core game and the Conqueror expansion, then you already have all these minis
From the Quickstart rules they supplied this looks to be not just a great Conan RPG but a great RPG in general.
❤ thank you!
Great overview. Backed it day one as an owner of the board game and lover of Conan. Absolutely would love to see more coverage of this game.
I am backing. I got the quivkstart scenario and interrupted out Traveller campaign to run the adventure. I thought it was spectacular.
Great overview, even for backers like myself. The rule lite action focus seems appropriate for the setting and if one wants to do something more crunchy its easy to just drop in whatever system you like (maybe The Broken Empires) so I'm really happy with this and they already talking about wanting to support it with a lot of supplements and expansions down the line ⚔
This does look really good, and I’m not even a Conan fan until now.
Backed it. Super excited for it. Glad they added a Foundry module to the stretch goals!
The Modiphius 2D20 Conan has a lot of setting books which can help if the DM needs help on the setting. PDF’s of them can be found in various places(nowhere legit as Modiphous lost the license), if you weren’t foolish like me and bought the books from a company that lost the license.
Same here. Bought entire 2d20 line. Great information to last a lifetime but the system needed lots of ironing to properly run a game. So disappointed when Modiphius lost the license. Was hoping for a 2nd edition of the core book to solve all problems but perhaps was already lost cause for them
Definitely more coverage of that game is appreciated, great video!
Thanks for a great, comprehensive review, it really fleshes the game out. We've been playing the game for about a month now through the Quick Start edition they put out. It's a good introduction to the basic mechanics, and we are loving the system. We can't wait for the release as there are details in character development we need, but the game is definitely worth it. The intro scenarios seem to be geared towards learning how the basic rules work. If you like RPGs and Conan, definitely check this out while the Kickstart is still active.
Art look sexy and cool. This tells me the right people are on it.
It is awseome, much is re-used from the boardgame, but almost everything shown is just single characters standing in a pose. I hope there's a lot more variety, more full scenes, action pieces etc...
So the minis look to be the same ones from their board game. As someone who bought all of their board game stuff I could. The minis are fire, they are awesome for use and painting. I've had players go oh hell no when I set down some of the monsters from their catalogue onto the battle map. 10/10 would recommend all of their minis. And the boards that come with the board game are also fantastic for just making prebuilt areas to use.
The sparseness of the magic reminds me of a bump my players ran up against when we tried BitD. Everybody was cool with the mechanics and heist stuff, but my Ghost (Spook? Can't remember the playbook name) PC really has a hard time figuring out how to bring in his magic because he felt like he didn't have a baseline to draw on. He commented that he wished there was a thorough spell list. On the other hand, he really loves the OSR and that style of game, so it might just not have been the class best suited to his playstyle. And in a Conan game, i feel like magic really tends to be an npc/bad guy tool, so maybe it doesn't need to be super robust.
Great review. Jealous that you have the full rules already.
I suspect that more setting details will emerge in the adventures. Also, if you're desperate for more setting, the Modiphius books have a ton of it.
I was just thinking of looking into the older Conan RPG because of some system I've heard it uses, this couldn't have been better timed!
Which older Conan game? There's been a few
Mongoose has two editions of a modified d20 version. Ran a full campaign and we really enjoyed it. Modipheus has their version and there are older scattered supplements from folks like tsr.
@@daleandrade8140 Yeah, I actually think Mongooses's Conan is the best version of D20 we've ever played. There was also the GURPs Rpg before that, the TSR game before that and the DnD/ADnD scenarios before that. Love the Modiphius series the most though
Those miniatures and maps are all from the boardgame, I believe, of which I own quite a bit. I find them to be excellent quality. Monolith can likely offer a decent deal on bulk miniatures because the molds are already made.
I may back this one for the PDFs and use them as reference aids for a different system (this system is not to my liking).
Thanks for the review, this is a time of year with lots of Kickstarters, and I had dismissed this one, but ended up backing it.
It's extremely funny that the reaction to seeing a spell do what it was made to do is 'well we need to homebrew a way for it to be shitty'
Doesn’t Clark Ashton Smith also write in the Hyperborian age?
Finally, I've been waiting for some Jhebbal Sag love since Conan Exiles. I wanna try this rn.
Honestly this is more of a play as a Conan clone RPG than a play in an Hyperborean setting kinda game. Conan is an exception in this world. Its a dying, extremely dangerous and harsh world in which Conan strives contrary to the rest of the world.
Its not bad per say but it emphasizes on Conan rather than the lore Howard created in the end. I'm more of an Hyperborean fan so this is clearly not for me as its flexibility and focus on HEROISM is completely opposed to what Hyperborea is....... unless your Conan which you are not supposed to be. Also, sorcery is way too present from what I'm seeing. Artwork is hella fine though props on that!
Im gonna stick to Modiphius Conan and Hyperborea TTRPG ( Highly recommend this one ) for my Hyperborean fix!
The Hyperborea game is great, and as a veteran D&D player, I already know all the rules.
Came here just to say that Ludospherik brought the french edition of Barbarians of Lemuria to english and that it is a superior Sword & Sorcery and rules light system to this.
The only thing this game has going for itself is the artwork and the IP associated with it. The system is just weird and it would had been better if they just used SWADE, especially since they also made a SWADE version for Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane. They also won't flesh out the setting like the people at Modiphius did, so another wasted potential.
Very strange decisions and a very strange ruleset that doesn't do Sword & Sorcery and not even Rules Light true justice. Probably the most disappointing Conan RPG since the TSR era. The minies are cool though.
BoL for the win!
I'm sorry to hear your play experience wasn't positive.
@matthewsullivan7443 it really wasn't. We really wanted to like it, but it fell flat. The biggest let down was that despite it being a rules light game, it felt too mechanized and didn't leave room for rullings and narrative flourishes, making it feel more like a more complicated boardgame. As I see it, a rules light system starts that way and becomes in time more complex because the game master makes rullings that become rules at the table. I couldn't make that with it.
Ay least this one has a list of spells. Also goes lighter on the metacurrency
Swade math is wonky, this one fixes it.
@@pandr3sI judge systems based on how well they can pull the genre they're trying to emulate. I'll take a system that's "wonky" with the math yet does a better job at evoking the genre it's used for than one with tight math, but flavorless if stripped of artwork and mechanically mismatched with the genre it's advertised for. Based on what I saw in this review and in the Quickstart, this system has no teeth in the genre besides visual presentation. Maybe it's just me and it ends up being the best Conan RPG ever...time will tell.
As for metacurrency, there a way to do it and ways to not (Modiphius 2d20 Conan RPG being a prime example). If the metacurrency is there to be used by the players for their benefit it works; it works especially in Sword & Sorcery because it helps simulate the blind luck that is sometimes as important as skill and preparation for survival. Metacurrency becomes a problem when it can be used by the GM to screw-up the PCs and make their life harder.
A very comprehensive review of the rpg. The artwork looks great. The mechanics I will have to try out. I wonder how this will compare to the other Conan game being published by Autarch as a supplement to the second edition to the Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg coming out.
Not sure, that wasn't based on the real Conan stuff but some other guys Conan books. Is that even still coming out? Since ACKs is just a DnD20 reskin I'd imagine it may be similar to the Mongoose Conan S20 game.
@@sethpeterson8261 The version being put out by Autarch is based on the Conan comics and maybe the novels written by Chuck Dixon.
@@jackleg2007 I think Chuck Dixon is the name I remember. Didn't know it was based on comics too
The Autarch Conan book is no longer being done. Back in December 23 it was confirmed that Autarch Lost the Chuck Dixon Conan License
@@DeathMasterSauron Thanks for the info.
Great review.Very interested ina follow-up.
That art is sooo good! hmm I wonder if I can just get the adventure books
It looks very interesting, I have pledged on the Kickstarter.
I posted this on the KS comments, but since I typed it all out and this video is what prompted it I'm posting it here too.
One of my issues with the game is how Origins are handled. However, like some other things here I think it's poor choice of terminology and naming convention that hurts it
For example Origins seem to be a kind of starting archetype, providing bonuses, starting skills, whether that "Class" can use sorcery etc... Problem is the names of the Origins don't imply that, and confuse the issue by implying that must be the exact geographic location you're from. For example From the Hills, From the North, From the Steppes & From the Wilds are very specifically geographic, and unfortunately their fluff text reinforces that even more. But it really doesn't make any sense to tie archetype to geography. For example Cimmeria is a land in the north, and the From the North Origin bonuses might suit a Cimmerian character just well as From the Hills, but the From the North fluff very specifically talks about icebergs, glaciers and growing up on the sea and having skill with ships. So it is very specifically sticking this "Class" as coming from someplace like Hyperborea. which really thematically locks characters that pick this Origin.
Yes this can be houseruled, handwaved and fixed by the GM. But why then design and name Origins so specific that they require houseruling right out of the box in the first place? Why didn't they go more general, universal and broadly thematic like From Parts Unknown, one of the only ones that works as written as it is open to interpretation and gives the players creative freedom. Unlike From the Blood of Jhebbal Sag or From the Blood of Acheron which are both hyper specific and do more to remove creative freedom.
From the Hills could have been something less specific like From Blood and Danger which doesn't tie you geographically to anything, just your bonuses, archetype and situation you were raised in. You can take that and be from the north, the south, the wilderness or a city, however you choose to view your character.
From a Civilsed Land could be more general like From Knowledge and Power... You could still be a from a civilised land, but also just as easily be raised deep in the Jungle by a coven of potion brewing witches or in the north as the son of a blacksmith who secretly dabbled in alchemy.
From the Streets really bugs me because it implies theives, knaves & rogues must be born and raised in cities. Yet Conan himself is one of the most famous pulp hero theives there is and he sure as hell didn't come from the streets. Maybe something more like From Cunning and Guile makes more sense.
From the Blood of a Demon is overly specific, whereas something like From Supernatural Beginnings leaves it open to all manner of mysterious origin, not just demonic and that's it.
On and on. Simply putting some thought into these Origins, the terminology used, the (over) specificity of the writing, could have pumped these full of theme, and promoted character ideas and creativity instead of stifling it. Even more so if for each of these Origins they bulletpointed a good sized list of areas, nations, cities, gods or ideas as examples that might make a great origin story for someone of this class. Such as Hyperborean Seas, at One with Jhebbal Sag, Of the Lineage of Acheron, Out of Deepest Kush or Born of Demons which would make great bulletpoints to provide fuel for PC ideas and spark imagination rather than the opposite. Plus it would be a great way for players new to Conan to learn about his world and start to piece it together.
I'm not at all saying my name examples are remotely the best choices, just giving examples of how much better and more broadly thematic I feel these Origins could (and should) have been.
I'm with you, Origins are the worst part of this system.
I am not a massive fan of the origins, where people from city are either thieves or shcolar, why are there so many magic origins? Magic is supposed to be kinda rare in Conan. But that is really more nitpick in the end. Overall it seems like a bit more hack and slash oriented game, but it might be fun.
i have the conan boardgame, its uperfun and beautifully crafted
*superfun
i disagree on the art thing; I know it sounds shallow but Im really turned off by ttrpg's with hyper-cartoony art like pathfinder and whatnot. It can make or break my experience with a ttrpg... Having said that, the art here in Conan really puts me in the headspace for the tone of the setting
If by hyper-cartoony you mean stylized.
@malcomalexander9437 oof yes I do, The word escaped me. Non-realism stylized
I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this one. I couldn't gel with the 2d20 system, which was a shame--I'm a massive Conan nerd, but I just couldn't get into the game. But this one looks amazingly pulpy, and the mechanics look a bit more like my cup of tea. Now I'm impatient to get my hands on it!
The flex die seems way too pro player. NPCs dont get one? How does this add to heroic moments and not devolve into dynasty warrior silliness? Hyperborea should feel incredibly dangerous. there needs to be a counter balance for the villain. The 2d20 Momentum worked in part because Doom existed alongside it.
Have you played the older Modiphius Conan? I need to know the differences.
They are different systems so there are many differences. Broadly, Modiphius’s RPG is more complex and fiddlier than this version.
Totally different mechanics, Modiphius is roll under 2d20 and crunchier, but much of that crunch also gave it strong ties to the Conan theme. It heavily uses meta currency (Doom & Momentum) for both players and the GM which gives it very strong Conan/S&S vibes and awesome moments. But is can also be fiddly and at times confusing and/or slows the game down, and many rpger's dislike meta currency in general let alone as a central mechanic. As written PCs start too powerful, but the optional starting PC rules help fix this (should have been the default). Combat has a lot of punch & meat & options to it, very satisfying and visceral. Sorcery is super thematic and flavorful, but also quite crunchy, and the way you combine cool sorcery Talents (like Pact, Delver in the Dark, Life Eternal, Ritualist, Curse, Everlasting, Witch Hunter, etc...)with spell knowledge to create tons of effects is freaking awesome, and also makes different sorcerers feel very different from one another. Rulesey but really sells that Conan sorcery vibe. Much more complex, but with a few houserules, incorporating the refinements newer 2d20 games have mode, a few rule simplification etc... we absolutely love it.
Not rules lite at all though
Hm... I thought the Mödiphius Conan RPG was already very true to the setting and the books. The 2d20 system isn't my favourite, but worked very well with Conan actually. I'm a little disappointed, because I had high hopes for this new Conan RPG, but I actually don't like the system so far...
There are no wounds... It's like D&D it seems: you are fit to fight until hitpoints are zeroed, then you go down and maybe die. I hate that. I wished there was a system incorporated in that for gathering wounds. Especially for Conan that's vital I think.
I’m curious about this one. My go to game for this style is Runequest and my group of old men are pretty dedicated to it. But tempting…
Thank you for the review. Very informative. Out of curiosity, what’s the 5th sorcerer discipline? Only alchemy, white, black, and demonic were mentioned.
Necromantic
Holy crap this looks dope, but I missed the KS. By Crom! Hopefully they have some late entry options.
@@deathbare5306 they will.
On the world...there is a ton information about available to read. I wonder they felt you could explore other sources if you wanted. I backed this and would love more coverage
It might sound heretical but I lean into Clarke Ashton Smith more than Lovecraft in terms of background cosmic horror.
Having mechanics accentuate the setting and action is where its at imo as well. Its great to see. Like WEG "d6" Star Wars or some others; when it works it really kicks ass. I wish that the economic realities weren't what they are so that I could swing this, but thats a sob story that is tedious and tiresome so I'll just suck it up.
Thanks for the fine video production!
This looks like a really great system to jump into quickly and easily. Quick to create characters and easy to learn and get started adventuring. Limited scope of progression, but still meaningful. This keeps Conan characters power level reasonably grounded and more importantly keeps game mechanics stable and easy to grok across a variety of character xp ranges. Advanced characters can play easily with newer ones. If these virtues are valuable to you, then this could be a great game for you.
The shortcomings, such as lack of specific rules supporting a broad variety of weapons, skills, abilities, spells, limited scope of progression, and lack of crunchy game mechanics for conditions and actions, mean that it is no replacement for the high adventure experiences D&D and other 20 or so level ttrpgs.
I didn't want a reskin of those mechanics, these days I'm looking for something to play with my young kids and attention-deficit brothers. This looks like something I can get people into quickly and get to the fun, emphasize heroic actions, present moral quandaries, provide physical and mental challenges or obstacles, give some role-playing experiences, and stay having fun.
Thanks. just backed it
My question is how does it compare to other Conan RPG by Modiphius? I think this one is a lot easier to get into but I want to know what everyone else thinks
Would you choose this or the Black Sword Hack if you were going to run a sword and sorcery game yourself?
@@Jevonater personally, this game. But Black Sword Hack is excellent.
It looks very interesting.
I was very excited about this, but reading through their quickstart preview, I was totally underwhelmed. Not exactly rules heavy, but just rules annoying. It does look good in terms of the art, but I think I'll pass, though the minis look cool as well. I had hoped that Goodman Games would have gotten the Conan license because they've done interesting things with other IPs that I don't particularly care for so I think a DCC Conan would be cool.
‘Rules annoyingly’ is a perfect description of games like this. It manages to be rules lite yet somehow rules unnecessary.
Can I play as a knight like in Modiphius Conan?
I think it would take 8-10 minutes to homebrew the mechanics for a knight origin, probably someone from Aquilonia or Nemedia. Or you could wait for an official expansion (not sure if there will be one, or if will contain knights).
I tried looking through the 2d20 Conan RPG rulebook after hearing about it so much and have decided "yeah this isn't for me." So I'm still looking forward to this version as it's very straightforward, which is something I look for these days in a rpg.
A lot of people say this "doesn't nail the sword and sorcery theme" but I couldn't disagree more. Maybe that's bc I exclusively read the Howard stories and none of the pastiches so maybe that's why? There were a lot of sorcerers in the stories (mostly baddies admittedly) so I think the magic and the classes representing them are fine. Especially bc I was thinking of playing as a bastard sorcerer weaving evil schemes
Wouldn’t reading the original Conan stories serve to fill in whatever details a GM would need to run a campaign in a specific nation? If the information isn’t there then they can just make it up as they won’t have to worry about “playing it right” or “keeping continuity”. Old sword & sorcery stories, especially Howard’s Conan, constantly contradict each other and were released in no attempt to form a linear timeline as they would jump around the character’s life at different points.
How do people think this compares to the Modiphius game?
It seems a lot of GM decision to reign in the sorcery aspect, given there are so many by origins with magical background. I would’ve loved more mechanical variety on the origins, especially the non magical ones.
On the death mechanic: every good GM knows the price of character death. So it’s your job to work around it without taking off the edge of death. Never make it super transparent, slightly adjust damage done by NPCs, keep player characters just „at the edge“. Death doesn’t need to actually happen for players to feel adrenaline. That is weak writing in many stories. Where they kill a side character to „heighten the stakes“. writers and story tellers can do that without all the character murder.
In the Conan stories you know Conan is not going to die. Yet you feel the threat of it constantly. Another example: what feels more exciting, dying in Solesbourne games, or making it juuuuust in the last microsecond. I bet you would still feel adrenaline if you’d beat every boss without dying in the very last second. In Soulsborne games that is impossible, because you have no DM, that’s why you die constantly. But the death is not what makes those games fun. It’s how tough they are and that as a skilled player you still often only make it by the last second.
Which are the differences between this Conan and the existing one?
The Conan rpg created by modiphius uses its 2d20 system.
Totally different mechanics, Modiphius is roll under 2d20 and crunchier, but much of that crunch also gave it strong ties to the Conan theme. It heavily uses meta currency (Doom & Momentum) for both players and the GM which gives it very strong Conan/S&S vibes and awesome moments. But is can also be fiddly and at times confusing and/or slows the game down, and many rpger's dislike meta currency in general let alone as a central mechanic. As written PCs start too powerful, but the optional starting PC rules help fix this (should have been the default). Combat has a lot of punch & meat & options to it, very satisfying and visceral. Sorcery is super thematic and flavorful, but also quite crunchy, and the way you combine cool sorcery Talents (like Pact, Delver in the Dark, Life Eternal, Ritualist, Curse, Everlasting, Witch Hunter, etc...)with spell knowledge to create tons of effects is freaking awesome, and also makes different sorcerers feel very different from one another. Rulesey but really sells that Conan sorcery vibe. Much more complex, but with a few houserules, incorporating the refinements newer 2d20 games have mode, a few rule simplification etc... we absolutely love it.
Not rules lite at all though
@ thanks a lot
This looks like it goes way beyond Howard’s literature and vision. I’m familiar with his works and a lot of this stuff doesn’t look like it’s from his canon.
Awesome!
I wanted to back this SO bad...but, The Broken Empires ruined my bank account. Not related-have you taken a look at Outcasts silver raiders? would really enjoy a review on that if it snags your interest.
You'll still have the Pledge Manager starting next month, put 1 € do be sure to receive the updates on the project, including PM launch!
@@gillesplantin7350Thanks for the heads up!
In reality there really were a Cimmerian people, and no they were not from England or Doggerland, they were essentially Steppe people in what today would be Russia today, or parts thereof, or some other Asian nation. My favorite is Iranistan. I call California, Californistan so I get where Howard is coming from. Stan just means 'land of'
Could you review Mutant Epoch some day? Its a very good alternative to MCC, but it's unknown to most of the gaming community
I was excited about this right p until I saw the quick play mentioned "auto succeed on X" and "auto failure on Z".... I despise that dated and nonsensical mechanic. It doesn't suit simulationist or narrative or cinematic gameplay.
I would like to see a review of Conan 2d20.
As interested I was in this, I am sad to say there are too many red flags for me to buy it. I'll narrow it down to the big ones.
1. Magic appears to be treated as a tool in your box of tricks, like in modern D&D, as opposed to being a carefully crafted metaphor for how those who use magic for their own gains or to subjugate others will ultimately be consumed by it as a cosmic punishment.
2. Clunky damage thresholds for minions: I experimented with that exact idea years ago, but found that the numbers would either be too low in a vertical progression system to matter or so high the players would have to min/max to even damage certain enemies. It became tedious and unsatisfying. It's still a cool concept, but the execution here doesn't appear to have any real solution that makes sense. The enemies look either too easy or extremely difficult to hit. I can see this being fun for 1 session, but after that, most players would probably abandon it for a system with more consistency.
3. The Fate die: Let's call it what it is; a lazy, player facing oracle. It's there to provide the swingyness of a D20 without being married to the static curve. Sounds good on paper, but in real play will simply give the players another safety-net to stave off death, which isn't very sword and sorcery.
4. The lore appears to be pulled from the movies and comic books, not the novelettes, novellas, or novel Howard wrote for Conan. This is evident In the preview document where there is a severe overuse of the word "Crom" as if it is a common word that Conan said all the time, he didn't. What's worse is that Crom should only be invoked with a negative connotation as Crom was not a god who would take kindly to prayers, since he already gave you everything you needed at birth. having phrases like "By Crom's Teeth!" makes no sense in this context.
5. Player safety warning at the beginning of the book: This is easily the biggest turn off. This is a TTRPG, and a SWORD and SORCERY TTRPG at that. Sword and Sorcery is about heroes (or characters close enough to) who face reality with a grim blend of stoic heroism and *Honest* fatalism. If you are playing with people that are easily offended by reality or can't separate their own personal problems from the game they are playing, then they probably shouldn't be playing a TTRPG, let alone a sword and sorcery one.
At best, this feels like a "Monolith presents Marvel's Conan: the Barbarian!" and at worst it's another soulless cash grab.
Your concerns echo many of mine, particularly concerning the "safety warning" FFS.
I downloaded the quick start.The safety warning was all the farther I needed to read. My group already plays 2d20 I'll just stick with it.
Don’t like the adversion to armor. In the original stories you see Conan clad in full plate armor several times. He just has a tendency to really screw things off while off screen so when we return to him he has sold or lost most of his stuff.
Of course realistically you need a whole team of support to able to wear and use plate armor like a formula 1 car driver need a whole team before he can drive the race car. So using plate armor is not really feasible if you are a band of semi outlaws romaning from place to place….. realistically. So do we want realism in a game like this?
Once again Conan is being watered down with too much magic in an attempt to attract a wider player base. Conan is interesting because it's DIFFERENT and having a list of player spellcasters just makes it D&D in Hyboria. How you determined magic is rare is beyond me.
Do you think sorcerers have spells per day in this?
@@ev17dan According to the free quick start magic is fueled by stamina and health.
@atlasdm yea its abstract and not as defined as D&D so I doubt you will see the weird ass furry race bard wanting to seduce the deep ones, or if they do, you are honor bound it eat its face off immediately
Agree 100% OP. I feel the setting is most interesting when it is portrayed like it is in the Howard stories.
Wooow is Cool 😎🔥🔥
People wear heavy armor in Conan stories, even he wears it...
Are you comparing this eve no 2d20 conan? As i dont see this being that much superior in art
I have all books from the 2d20. The art is very hit and miss. Some is amazing, then some from Deviantart and generic fantasy. Also it’s not very selective. The style clash, sometimes on the same double page. From what I’ve seen now, this seems much improved and more carefully selected.
Justified text! Thank god!
Robert E Howard’s Conan would never have an obvious magic user as a friend or trusted ally.
Checked out the Kickstarter page, saw delivery date of Aug 2025 and then checked out. I have never had a good experience with any Kickstarter with that long of a delivery date.
Is 49 euro a bit expensive for the pdfs on a Kickstarter?
2 questions: Can you play as Conan? Is there any solo support?
I miss the Conan 2d20 game by Modiphius Entertainment. This game just seems a bit bloated compared to that. And worst of all, I missed the HUGE clearance sale on all of the Conan stuff at the time 😭
Artifact spirit: How old it is, where it was made, by whom it was made. - So 9/10 times that's going to be, "Really old" "In Stygia." "By Thamahuk the blacksmith" and have no valuable information for whatever the plot is.
And Jhebbal sag is a forgotten ancient god of beasts. Acheron is dead, there's just some blood from them in Stygia. Thulsa doom was a serpent man, he didn't turn into a beast, that was his real form.
battlemap fest no thank you I was looking for a roleplaying game... it also looks too polished and cute and 21st century to my taste... pass
Sorry to be the wet blanket here, but I'm personally not impressed with this game compared to the Modiphius Conan game from ~10 years ago. I get that all the rage now is for "rules lite" treatment, but this one seems too soon and too watered-down by comparison. Had this come out years ago or years from now, I might be more open to it. But the same focus on art, same lore expertise, same desire to be canon-faithful were just used to sell me a Conan RPG not that long ago and I don't see why I'd buy this after investing in the other one so recently.
This looks cool, but too modern and crunchy for me I think.
Honestly? I don't think I like anything about this game. And as a Conan fan, I'm pretty disappointed. Modiphius' RPG seemed to be better designed overall. I think I would stick to GURPS, though.
I had the Monolith boardgame and the rules booklet was really badly written. Puts me off this to be honest.
Read it and its so frakong soarse. This is mot a full game.