Quote from: Thornhammer on August 09, 2022, 11:23:49 PM

Quote from: HappyDaze on August 08, 2022, 12:57:57 PM
I offered to GM a Conan game for a player that really likes Conan Exiles, but he just wasn't interested. Apparently CE differs considerably from most of REH's baseline. I figure he just doesn't want a game where backviews of your character's asscrack and scrotum aren't the highpoint.

Can you elaborate a bit on the differences?

Sure: The asscrack is seen as a vertical cleft above (when the character is squatting) the descending scrotum and narrowly separated by the taint. Female characters have the asscrack but lack the scrotum.

Oh, you meant the games? Exiles is a "pocket" setting that doesn't really care at all about the Hyborean world. It's a survival game of upgrading gear and building bases. The typical Conan RPG is as much about the locations and peoples of the Hyborean world. While you might play out survival scenarios in some lands, a game in Nemedia or Koth (for example) is much more likely to be about political strife, including assassinations and wars. A game in Stygia probably involves mysteries and Cults of Set. The Modiphius Conan game gets some grief at times, but it does a fantastic job of bringing the Hyborean world to life.

Quote from: HappyDaze on August 10, 2022, 12:27:02 AM

Quote from: Thornhammer on August 09, 2022, 11:23:49 PM

Quote from: HappyDaze on August 08, 2022, 12:57:57 PM
I offered to GM a Conan game for a player that really likes Conan Exiles, but he just wasn't interested. Apparently CE differs considerably from most of REH's baseline. I figure he just doesn't want a game where backviews of your character's asscrack and scrotum aren't the highpoint.

Can you elaborate a bit on the differences?

Sure: The asscrack is seen as a vertical cleft above (when the character is squatting) the descending scrotum and narrowly separated by the taint. Female characters have the asscrack but lack the scrotum.

Oh, you meant the games? Exiles is a "pocket" setting that doesn't really care at all about the Hyborean world. It's a survival game of upgrading gear and building bases. The typical Conan RPG is as much about the locations and peoples of the Hyborean world. While you might play out survival scenarios in some lands, a game in Nemedia or Koth (for example) is much more likely to be about political strife, including assassinations and wars. A game in Stygia probably involves mysteries and Cults of Set. The Modiphius Conan game gets some grief at times, but it does a fantastic job of bringing the Hyborean world to life.

If Modiphius had just kept some of the SJW BS out of the game, it would have been better.  If you feel that pressured, put a short disclaimer in the core book about adult content and move on.  Plus, the 2d20 system kind of sucks.  But they do capture the spirit & feel of Hyboria in the various supplements.  The art is generally cool and the game has a solid Conan vibe.  But the mechanics & politics were deal breakers for me.  Instead I recently backed a new S&S game called "Swords & Chaos," which runs on the Siege Engine system used by Castles & Crusades, which I love.

Quote from: Persimmon on August 10, 2022, 09:25:33 AM

Quote from: HappyDaze on August 10, 2022, 12:27:02 AM

Quote from: Thornhammer on August 09, 2022, 11:23:49 PM

Quote from: HappyDaze on August 08, 2022, 12:57:57 PM
I offered to GM a Conan game for a player that really likes Conan Exiles, but he just wasn't interested. Apparently CE differs considerably from most of REH's baseline. I figure he just doesn't want a game where backviews of your character's asscrack and scrotum aren't the highpoint.

Can you elaborate a bit on the differences?

Sure: The asscrack is seen as a vertical cleft above (when the character is squatting) the descending scrotum and narrowly separated by the taint. Female characters have the asscrack but lack the scrotum.

Oh, you meant the games? Exiles is a "pocket" setting that doesn't really care at all about the Hyborean world. It's a survival game of upgrading gear and building bases. The typical Conan RPG is as much about the locations and peoples of the Hyborean world. While you might play out survival scenarios in some lands, a game in Nemedia or Koth (for example) is much more likely to be about political strife, including assassinations and wars. A game in Stygia probably involves mysteries and Cults of Set. The Modiphius Conan game gets some grief at times, but it does a fantastic job of bringing the Hyborean world to life.

If Modiphius had just kept some of the SJW BS out of the game, it would have been better.  If you feel that pressured, put a short disclaimer in the core book about adult content and move on.  Plus, the 2d20 system kind of sucks.  But they do capture the spirit & feel of Hyboria in the various supplements.  The art is generally cool and the game has a solid Conan vibe.  But the mechanics & politics were deal breakers for me.  Instead I recently backed a new S&S game called "Swords & Chaos," which runs on the Siege Engine system used by Castles & Crusades, which I love.

You talk.about the "politics" but they're not really in the books. They may have been involved in discussions about what to put in the books, but unless you hunt for such things, you'll not find it in the pages. As for the 2d20 system, it's not my favorite, but the Conan version is definitely one of the more traditional RPG takes on it. Sure, there is a meta-currency and narrative elements, but it's still based on an attribute/skill/talent triad that has become very common today. By contrast, some 2d20 use wide fields or attitudes/approaches instead and are even more narrative.

Unfortunately, the politics are at the beginning of every one of the books, with their disclaimers about Howard the racist, etc.  Then, some of their writers quit because Modiphius censored their stuff.  And their discussion boards are an SJW cesspit, infiltrated by people who have neither read nor understand the original texts.  There's also their bullshit propaganda about being "pure to Howard" when they add tons of stuff that wasn't in Howard.  Just because he and Lovecraft were pen pals it doesn't mean you stick deep ones in every coastal Hyborian city or whatever.  I have no problem with adding the content itself; it's their Howardian virtue signalling, which is also contradicted by their censoring of the Khitai & Black Kingdoms material that irks me.

And, yes I think the 2d20 system sucks, but that's just personal preference.  It's too bad because I really wanted to like this game and bought a bunch of the stuff after it first came out, but it just didn't do it for me.  Oh well, next.

Quote from: Jaeger on August 08, 2022, 12:44:21 PM
Because modiphius doesn't really do original IP games. (Yes, yes, I know they have some..)

They are essentially catering to the RPG collectors market. i.e. Acquire well known marquee IP then add: Art+Lore = sales.

It's the basis for their entire Conan line. Good luck finding anyone that actually plays the thing.

Strangely, one of the groups I'm playing in is just in the process of switching to Modiphius' Conan (first session next week). I'm very curious to see how it turns out. I bought the book a few years ago and then wound up never running it, because I did a few test combats and found it to be way too crunchy. But we're playing on VTT, so hopefully having some of the math automated will actually make it playable.

Quote from: Persimmon on August 10, 2022, 02:18:42 PM
Unfortunately, the politics are at the beginning of every one of the books, with their disclaimers about Howard the racist, etc.  Then, some of their writers quit because Modiphius censored their stuff.  And their discussion boards are an SJW cesspit, infiltrated by people who have neither read nor understand the original texts.  There's also their bullshit propaganda about being "pure to Howard" when they add tons of stuff that wasn't in Howard.  Just because he and Lovecraft were pen pals it doesn't mean you stick deep ones in every coastal Hyborian city or whatever.  I have no problem with adding the content itself; it's their Howardian virtue signalling, which is also contradicted by their censoring of the Khitai & Black Kingdoms material that irks me.

There's something horribly cycnical about the way that so many people make money off of the works of the Weird Tales generation of writers, while at the same time constantly insulting the very people whose creations they're exploiting.

Modiphius is far from the worst offenders, though. I didn't even really notice a woke bent to their Conan line until I had other things to compare it to. I find the problem is less with what they put in than with what they leave out. I went and looked at some of the old D20 Conan splat books: nudity on every page, grotesque illustrations and extensive discussions of prostitution and slavery. Modiphius' Conan, by comparison, just feels too clean and bloodless. Even Savage Worlds' Solomon Kane products have more teeth to them. 

Greetings!

I think that Franzetta's genre-defining art and artistic vision is so monumental that its celebration of uber-masculinity, heroism, luxurious sensuality, and uber-femininity, makes all of the feminized Woke morons gnash their teeth and simmer in grinding rage and hatred.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: ForgottenF on August 11, 2022, 01:59:25 PM
...
Strangely, one of the groups I'm playing in is just in the process of switching to Modiphius' Conan (first session next week). I'm very curious to see how it turns out. I bought the book a few years ago and then wound up never running it, because I did a few test combats and found it to be way too crunchy. But we're playing on VTT, so hopefully having some of the math automated will actually make it playable.

I did a one-shot session of their quickstart adventure.

I get what they were trying to do -  but man do they have a lot of moving parts...

And some things are just re-inventing the wheel for the sake of doing so - Like how they use d6's for damage, but in a non-standard way so that they can sell special dice.

The Doom pool is what did me in though. "GM Points" meta mechanics just rub me the wrong way. Especially as a player because you can clearly see when the GM 'holds back', because any play group worth their salt will know exactly how many point the GM has in their 'doom pool' at any given time.

Quote from: ForgottenF on August 11, 2022, 02:11:08 PM
...
There's something horribly cycnical about the way that so many people make money off of the works of the Weird Tales generation of writers, while at the same time constantly insulting the very people whose creations they're exploiting.

Modiphius is far from the worst offenders, though. I didn't even really notice a woke bent to their Conan line until I had other things to compare it to. I find the problem is less with what they put in than with what they leave out. I went and looked at some of the old D20 Conan splat books: nudity on every page, grotesque illustrations and extensive discussions of prostitution and slavery. Modiphius' Conan, by comparison, just feels too clean and bloodless. Even Savage Worlds' Solomon Kane products have more teeth to them. 

I have Conan d20. It was a decent attempt, but even they kept the HP bloat endemic to OGL games. Unfortunately, as we've seen with the recent shield maidens thread, mongoose would be psychologically incapable of making that same game today.

Sadly it is very hard for a new publisher to break into the RPG business. Because your average RPG fan is loyal to a fault to their older favorite IP, even when it becomes obvious that said IP is being used as a skinsuit for something else...

No one is playing Coyote and Crow, apparently. 

Quote from: Jaeger on August 11, 2022, 10:37:43 PM

Quote from: ForgottenF on August 11, 2022, 01:59:25 PM
...
Strangely, one of the groups I'm playing in is just in the process of switching to Modiphius' Conan (first session next week). I'm very curious to see how it turns out. I bought the book a few years ago and then wound up never running it, because I did a few test combats and found it to be way too crunchy. But we're playing on VTT, so hopefully having some of the math automated will actually make it playable.

I did a one-shot session of their quickstart adventure.

I get what they were trying to do -  but man do they have a lot of moving parts...

And some things are just re-inventing the wheel for the sake of doing so - Like how they use d6's for damage, but in a non-standard way so that they can sell special dice.

The Doom pool is what did me in though. "GM Points" meta mechanics just rub me the wrong way. Especially as a player because you can clearly see when the GM 'holds back', because any play group worth their salt will know exactly how many point the GM has in their 'doom pool' at any given time.

Quote from: ForgottenF on August 11, 2022, 02:11:08 PM
...
There's something horribly cycnical about the way that so many people make money off of the works of the Weird Tales generation of writers, while at the same time constantly insulting the very people whose creations they're exploiting.

Modiphius is far from the worst offenders, though. I didn't even really notice a woke bent to their Conan line until I had other things to compare it to. I find the problem is less with what they put in than with what they leave out. I went and looked at some of the old D20 Conan splat books: nudity on every page, grotesque illustrations and extensive discussions of prostitution and slavery. Modiphius' Conan, by comparison, just feels too clean and bloodless. Even Savage Worlds' Solomon Kane products have more teeth to them. 

I have Conan d20. It was a decent attempt, but even they kept the HP bloat endemic to OGL games. Unfortunately, as we've seen with the recent shield maidens thread, mongoose would be psychologically incapable of making that same game today.

Sadly it is very hard for a new publisher to break into the RPG business. Because your average RPG fan is loyal to a fault to their older favorite IP, even when it becomes obvious that said IP is being used as a skinsuit for something else...

I agree 100% about the Doom concept. It suggests to me a basic distrust of GMs. I don't mind it so much as just a means of letting the GM push their NPCs rolls, but the idea that you have to spend it to add challenges to the adventures kind of breaks the whole concept of GMing. I just generally dislike meta-currency anyway, though. The general design of Conan 2d20 makes me think that they were trying to copy the design of D100 fantasy games (Especially WFRP), while shoehorning it into their proprietary dice system for copyright reasons. 

I might make a whole secondary thread about this, so I'll spare the details here, but I'm coming around to the idea that HP bloat in D&D-based games is a logical consequence of the AC system, and how it limits your options to improve your defense.

I often wonder the actual number of gaming sessions that take place for a given system. Gaming is a private activity, after all, and not everyone posts about it online. Is there a group out there that have been playing some obscure game for 30 years? Or has that same obscure game been dusted off and given a mini-campaign recently. How many people are still playing Hero System regularly? 10 groups, 100 groups, 1000 groups? My Intuition says far less than 1000 but far more than 10. Only the omniscient Deity knows.

Powers & Perils anyone? Published by Avalon Hill no less.

Some I haven't heard about in a long time...

ElfQuest
Aria
Ysgarth
Ringworld
The Fantasy Trip
Bushido

Quote from: kenmckinney on August 13, 2022, 12:17:57 AM
Some I haven't heard about in a long time...

ElfQuest
Aria
Ysgarth
Ringworld
The Fantasy Trip
Bushido

Oh, I remember seeing that one in the store when it was brand new. I loved the Kaluta covers, and nearly bought it. But then, I couldn't figure out what kind of game was expected based on the flipping through it. It seemed wordy more than anything.

Quote from: Trond on August 13, 2022, 12:49:17 AM

Quote from: kenmckinney on August 13, 2022, 12:17:57 AM
Some I haven't heard about in a long time...

ElfQuest
Aria
Ysgarth
Ringworld
The Fantasy Trip
Bushido

Oh, I remember seeing that one in the store when it was brand new. I loved the Kaluta covers, and nearly bought it. But then, I couldn't figure out what kind of game was expected based on the flipping through it. It seemed wordy more than anything.

Greetings!

I have the ARIA book! The Blue one. I think they also had a Red book, but I didn't get that one. The Blue ARIA book is all about tribes, governments, and kingdom building, as well as society, economics, and religion.

The book has some very cool and interesting ideas, and certainly some interesting presentation and idea development. Definitely a good book for inspiration, ideas, and just "thought chewies".

The ARIA downfall is that they try to construct their own RPG, and try too hard to "Not Be Some Other Game" in which they scrupulously avoid standard terminology for dozens of concepts and ideas, and instead slot in far more obscure terms. Then, they create weird subsystems with crazy names, and much of it gets lost in wordy, arcane jargon.

At the time, I was glad to buy it for inspiration, but there's some very good reasons why D&D is KING, and so many "Indie Games" are ultimately mediocre and are doomed to failure and obscurity. ARIA is a good example of why so many "Indie Games" ultimately fail.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK