Quote from: Itachi;883485Barbarians of Lemuria.

I didn't see on the list until I selected the Whatever choice, but this is also one of my choices.

Did it with Savage Worlds a while back. Used the Solomon Kane guidelines on magic, plus the Mongoose (d20) Conan Road of Kings sourcebook. Nowadays I'd use ritual magic and monsters from the Horror Companion and the Gritty Damage rules.

Ah, who am I kidding? I'd use RQ6 precisely for the reasons Krugs mentions. Especially the combat system. And of course, I'd use the Mongoose Legend supplement, Arcana of Legend: Blood Magic for the sacrifice and (Stormbringer/Elric-like) demon summoning rules. Also MRQII Empires the better to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under one's sandaled feet.

I voted ACKS, though I've never used it, because I believe the upcoming Heroic Companion will offer a neat Conanesque mod. But right now, as written, any D&D derivative that allows for safe and reliable spellcasting doesn't really feel Howardian to me.

RQ6/Mythras overall, especially if I want a system that captures the bone-crunching, thrust-and-parry, nature of combat in REH's stories.

Crypts & Things or Barbarians of Lemuria if I want something fast, or a system that is 'Savage Sword of Conan' in tone (as opposed to the original REH stories).

CoC + Dreamlands is an interesting option. Not a great combat system (for Conan), but the magic system seems like a good fit.

Quote from: The Butcher;883524Did it with Savage Worlds a while back. Used the Solomon Kane guidelines on magic, plus the Mongoose (d20) Conan Road of Kings sourcebook. Nowadays I'd use ritual magic and monsters from the Horror Companion and the Gritty Damage rules.

Ah, who am I kidding? I'd use RQ6 precisely for the reasons Krugs mentions. Especially the combat system. And of course, I'd use the Mongoose Legend supplement, Arcana of Legend: Blood Magic for the sacrifice and (Stormbringer/Elric-like) demon summoning rules. Also MRQII Empires the better to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under one's sandaled feet.

I voted ACKS, though I've never used it, because I believe the upcoming Heroic Companion will offer a neat Conanesque mod. But right now, as written, any D&D derivative that allows for safe and reliable spellcasting doesn't really feel Howardian to me.

Since you're a Conan fan and Skyrim fan, check this Skyrim mod out.

I'm currently using Savage Worlds with the excellent Beasts & Barbarians supplement.  I would have used RQ6, but the group plays every two weeks, is unfamiliar with BRP, fluctuates in size, and is comprised primarily of newer players.  They had played some Deadlands, so SW was an easy fit and is honestly working out very well.  The players love the simple skill system as well as the Edges and Hindrances, and they really enjoy having damage rolls blow up.  I'd make it grittier with some of the optional rules but honestly, they're having so much fun with it I'm not going to change a thing.  It's probably more Savage Sword of Conan than pure Howard, but as I'm the closest thing to a "Howard scholar" in the group, no one else knows the difference anyway.

I'm going to say 5e D&D since I'm playing a Primeval Thule campaign, which is a big REH expy, and it works very well (except I wouldn't allow Divine casters, personally - probably only Warlocks & Wizards). Also my Wilderlands Barbarian Altanis-set 5e game is very heavily REH Hyborea-influenced. 4e D&D with a focus on the Martial power source also worked very well for Barbarian Altanis, Brawler Fighter was brilliant.

I ran Mongoose OGL Conan years ago; that worked very well except for the stupid Defensive Blast sorcerer thing. I think the combat in 4e & 5e is more Conanesque though.

Mythras/RQ6 as a core, for basically the reasons CRKruger listed earlier.  (Although I don't consider "toolkit system" and "not a licensed setting" to be cons.  I prefer to roll my own.)

ACKS for domain management if that comes up and I want the kingdoms to be crunchy and realistic.  An Echo, Resounding for domain management if it comes up and I want it to be light and abstract.

If we're talking more generically "Conanesque"/S&S, then AS&SH for the setting, mainly because I know their Hyperborea better than I know Hyborea.  Plus I just plain like the "fragment of Earth orbiting the sun after it's become a red giant" concept better than a normal, boring, spherical planet.

Quote from: JeremyR;883504I'm not sure any system can do Conan. There isn't any singular "feel" IMHO. They range from historical to horror to mythic fantasy.

Take Fate. Add genre Aspects. Run an episodic campaign. Change the Aspects between different parts of it:).

QuoteIn the Frost Giant's Daughter, as an 18 year old (ish), he kills two Frost Giants in basically a single blow each. Then you have that one story where an adult Conan is knocked out by a rock from a sling. Which I guess hurts quit ea bit, but in most game systems the damage from one is about as low as it gets.

That's a failing of "most game systems", not of REH's story. Ask Goliath whether slings have low damage;).

What would I choose for a Hyborian campaign? Well, many systems have the right feel, including as disparate ones as Mythras, Savage Worlds and Exalted 3, once you strip out the charms:D!
Personally, I might be tempted to pick Zenobia, 43 AD and Warband, which are running on the same engine anyway, and use those. Or I might run Conan: OVA edition:p!
If I ever do the latter, I'll remember to report the sessions;).

But realistically, if I do run a Hyborian campaign, I suspect I'd end up running it in 2d20, just because that would be the easiest:D!
Then again, it will be some time before I get a free slot for a campaign, and by then I might choose to run Barsoom instead;).

I wonder how well Two-Fisted Tales, a generic pulp game that can be played at different power levels, would fit the Hyborian Age.

Quote from: JeremyR;883504In the Frost Giant's Daughter, as an 18 year old (ish), he kills two Frost Giants in basically a single blow each. Then you have that one story where an adult Conan is knocked out by a rock from a sling. Which I guess hurts quit ea bit, but in most game systems the damage from one is about as low as it gets.

Just for a bit of nerdery, the second part of that can be explained perfectly in D&D:

IIRC, the story you're referring to is Iron Shadows of the Moon, and Conan has just finished (and won) a grueling duel with a pirate captain. So, in D&D terms, Conan has already lost most of his Hit Points in the duel - remember, in old-school D&D "a hit" and "losing HP" does not mean you actually get stabbed/cut/whatever -, and he stays fully combat capable even on his last HP. Then he gets hit with a measly slingshot that drops him to or below 0 and he keels over like a sack.

Quote from: Premier;883586Just for a bit of nerdery, the second part of that can be explained perfectly in D&D:

IIRC, the story you're referring to is Iron Shadows of the Moon, and Conan has just finished (and won) a grueling duel with a pirate captain. So, in D&D terms, Conan has already lost most of his Hit Points in the duel - remember, in old-school D&D "a hit" and "losing HP" does not mean you actually get stabbed/cut/whatever -, and he stays fully combat capable even on his last HP. Then he gets hit with a measly slingshot that drops him to or below 0 and he keels over like a sack.

That's a metagame mechanic if I've ever seen one;).

GURPS Conan, with my house rules. Because it has a nice detailed and violent/bloody/savage yet intelligent/sense-making tactical (mapped) combat system that makes sense and that I love playing, and I almost always play GURPS anyway.

Also, the only times I actually play Conan are with the GURPS Conan programmed adventures, or one-off encounters for fun and mayhem.

QuoteOriginally Posted by estar
All of them and none of them. I would focus on figuring what I think Hyboria is and list out the details. Whatever system I pick I would whack until it if that list.

This really.

I have run almost all of the listed games and some not listed for the Hyborian age and I've "whacked" them all to make them work better.

Off the top of my head, my "list" for whacking includes:
1) Deadly brutal combat.  PCs should be a cut above average but should not not have arbitrary immunity from a sword in the gut.
2) Skill and stat based without a lot of special abilities or adds/disadds. It should be wits and steel vs an uncaring universe.
3) blurred morality - no alignments or personality traits beyond what is roleplayed.  A lack of cosmic order or meaning.  Gods may or may not exist - though most people are highly superstitious if not complete religious nut-jobs.
4) Terrifying, dangerous and unpredictable magic and supernatural elements with an emphasis on the weird.
5) A hint of Howard's racial/cultural stereotyping.  It's not politically correct but you when you talk to a Zamoran you'd better keep your hand on your purse.
6) able to cover 31 flavors of history.


My vote was for a mash-up of BRP (including bits from magic world, RQ6, Openquest etc.).  RQ6 is nearly perfect right out of the box.  However the combat is slightly too crunchy for my tastes and I prefer the BRP/stormbinger combat.

GURPS Conan could perhaps do what BRP/RQ6 does, if you prefer GURPS.

Anything with class/levels feels off to me.  My players like the Mongoose system because of the widgets for character building, but the game in my experience loses the feel at about 7th level.  Savage Worlds also has lots of character widgets but the system is not for me - too much wonky math, narrative bits, and cinema.

If I was to run D&D in the Hyborian Age it would be Crypts and Things, but all the OSR based systems, as great as they are, feel too much like D&D and it seems tough to change that vibe.  A leathery mass of tentacles and teeth with telepathic powers is a true horror in BRP - in D&D, it's just an Otyugh.

BoL is freaken awesome, but every time I run it I get drunk and add dinosaurs and spaceships.

I ran a campaign in TSR Conan/Zefrs for a summer in high school and my nostalgia runs deep, but the game needs a lot of work and tweeking to fill in the gaps and inconsistencies.

I like the omni-system well enough, and the new Atlantis 2nd Age is a work of mad genius, but it's too gonzo for the Hyborian Age, IMHO.

Some other good resources include The Spider God's Bride adventures, the Savage North for Open Quest,  and TSR's CN3 Conan Triumphant is a good mini-campaign and the only TSR Conan module that's worth a crap.

Quote from: AsenRG;883589That's a metagame mechanic if I've ever seen one;).

Naw, Hit Points are a ridiculously abstracted mechanic, but still representative of something completely in game.  Granted it's abstracted to the point that some may see no difference, but it's there.

Magic World works well for this.  Granted, the line seems to have been given the ax with the reorganization of Chaosium, but all you really need are the two available books anyway.