I am using a barely defined term on purpose (or at least think it is), since I don't have any specific setting in mind. Rather, I am thinking of a certain feel for a campaign and making a setting for it.
The basic idea is a world and adventures resembling 70s and early 80s fantasy movies and comics, and myths and epics of the Bronze and Iron Age, but set in a world based on the basics of Pathfinder. A world that should be illustrated by Frank Frazetta.
City states and tribal culture, large prehistoric and pseudo-prehistoric animals, dark cults, and so on. While the classics of this genre are usually humans-only, I would like to run a game that sets these things in a world where elves, dwarves, and orcs also could play a part. Dark Sun was close, and I would say still should be a major source of inspiration, but it is rather post-apocalyptic survival than making a start at the dawn of civilization.
I am looking for ideas and advice people have from planning or running such games, to help me making my own.
What things work well, which ones should be avoided? I am looking for pretty much everything, be it classes, items, monsters, or variant rules, or certain types of organizations, locations, adventure plots, and ways in which society works.
All general advice is wellcome, but in case anyone is interested, the world I have in mind specifically is one in which the elven and dwarven kingdoms are still young and solidifying their power. Humans, halflings, and orcs would still be living in tribal clans, like the North American tribes, or clans of the central Asian Steppes. Most of the land is still untouched forests with only small portions of farmland, as in Roman time Germania or Viking Scandinavia. Nature spirits still rule most of the world and appeasing them is just as much, if not even more important, than worshipping the distant gods.
I think a good way to start is with the character classes:
Barbarians, fighters, rangers, and rogues are all very good and obvious candidates for player characters.
Druids, witches, and oracles, complement them well as the dominant spellcasting classes. I think oracles are even better suited than clerics, since it seems to me that in such a world, a priest is much more a scholar and mystic than a holy warrior.
Since we're at the topic of gods, I also think that gods for such a setting should be focused primarily on aspects of the natural world, than aspects of civilized society. Deities of hunting and the weather should have a much more priminent role than gods of art or commerce.
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Funny, I was thinking about something just like that - much inspired by the 80s Conan movies, and stuff like Scorpion King and Thirteenth Warrior.
I was thinking of getting rid of spellcasting classes that have no limits on spells known; clerics, wizards, and maybe witches and druids.
My main beef is with clerics and wizards here; I like the classes, but not in this kind of setting. Clerics can heal the wounded, raise the dead and learn the will of the gods. That would give them way too much social power, compared to the warriors. Their massive spell list also irritates me. I like oracles much better; mysteries, curses and limited spells known means that oracles are very diverse, while clerics are much the same for any religion, with only good/evil making a big difference. The automatic spell knowledge of clerics makes them too much "organized religion" for a setting like this.
It's kind of the same with wizards: they're like the tech geeks; way too advanced and they can pool abilities too effectively if they get organized. I like sorcerers better for such a setting; bloodlines are good flavor, the power level is good enough to get along with other classes, and limited spells means there's less crazy sharing of knowledge.
I'm uncertain about witches and druids; the flavor is great, but I'd rather have them on a different spell-knowledge system. I'm digging around for spontaneous/limited spell knowledge druid variants.
I think witches would work best if they get the spells known and spells per day of the sorcerer.
Though actually, I think all spellcasting should be done by refluffed psions. ;)
Conan rpg for d20 by mongoose is what you are looking for. Its out of print but you may be able to find something somewhere. I love it and as its d20 its dead easy to covert over to pathfinder.
The rules certainly work for such a game. But you have to learn new classes and a new spellcasting system, as well as the more complex dodging system. Also, all the PF monsters don't work so well without adjustments. And when it comes to world building, I don't think it makes much of a difference.
The thing with druids is, that they are a good class even without any spells. I might tend to even give them Inquisitor spellcasting. And even then they would still be a really good class.
But I think such tweaks are largely to any GMs personal preferences.
Level Range
Personally, I believe that for such games, it works best if the maximum level for PCs and NPCs would be set at 10th, or even go full out E6. Elaborate, even cataclysmic, magic rituals are clearly a major part of such worlds, but they are generally long rituals that take hours or even days, with weeks or months of preparation. The magic that is readily at hand even for the most powerful sorcerers and priests usually is not above the power of 3rd or 4th level spells.
Also, many of the, if you call it that, iconic monsters are big animals. And while big and dangerous, these rarely have a CR higher than 6 or 8 in PF.
However, if one would want to go for a more "epic" feel, 11th to 20th level wouldn't be out of place automatically. However by default, I would recommend to have very few, if any, NPCs that exceed 10th level.
Silver Standard and Treasure
Maybe someone disagrees on this, but I think the truckloads of gold carted around in common PF and D&D games are not appropriate for a game like this. At level 6th to 8th, characters can still do quite well with just masterwork weapons and armor, and that also means that if you do find a magic sword, it really means something. My quick and dirty approach is to just change all prices from gp to sp, effectively cutting them by 10. Except for magic items, that still retain their original prices. Once you have your masterwork scimitar, your masterwork chain shirt, masterwork large metal shield, and masterwork composite longbow, there isn't much opportunity to spend money on equipment. By cutting money down by 10, you can afford these things at maybe 5th level and not right at 2nd.
Also, having silver as the standard coin, gold becomes a lot more tempting. What is special about a chest full of gold if every 4th level PC has a small trunk of it as change?
Weapons and Armor
Many of the iconic weapons and armor are in fact iconic of the late middle ages or even early modernity. These weapons should probably not appear in a game like this.
Prominent examples would be half-plate and full-plate armor, as well as bucklers, rapiers, and greatswords. And while people often object (rightfully), that crossbows have been around in China for thousands of years, they became iconic weapons of war in Europe only in the late middle ages. And I think preserving the feel of the world is more important than histroic accuracy, so personally I would not use crossbows in such a game.
New equipment that should be made available would be falcatas, khopeshs, rhomphaias, and boomerangs. I think spears and bows should be given a major role as well. The sword as the "hero weapon" is a later development, in earlier cultures spears and bows were very prestigious.
Bronze should be a very common material for weapons and armor, though I do not agree with giving them the fragile trait. Bronze is certainly not as good as modern steel, but at the beginning of the Iron Age, well made bronze was still superior to early attempts at making steel. Historically, bronze was easier to make (you can make bronze items on a campfire) but the raw materials are much harder to come by. The materials for steel are much easier to get, but it takes a lot more advanced equipment to turn them into a steel that is as good or better than bronze. Breaking a bronze weapon with a 5% chance on every attack is rediculous. In a world were steel technology is still young, there should be no mechanical difference between the two materials.
For extra flavor, I think it's an interesting idea to make steel weapons and armor almost exclusively produced by dwarves and gnomes, as they are the only ones with furnace technology. Given that they would likely have huge forges and are also working with a cheaper material, I could see steel equipment either being deluxe items for the rich, but also cheap and mass produced items made to equip armies. For the common man, who has his weapon made in his home village or possibly even by himself, bronze would be the material to go.
All seems fine to me, shame about the magic system, the Conan one is really rather good. The Khitian Scholar in my group really loved it and normally only likes normal wizards, its his favorite charcter in his 30+ years of roleplaying.
Maybe use the Words of Power from UM? or there is a runecasting system in Northlands for the Midgard campaign the might help a little (im think of using this).
I agree with you about the Druid, the Witch and sorcerer are also good class fits too. Level range is good as is the treasure aspect (conan uses something similar, next to no magic items, no + weapons and wealth is usually squandered on getting drunk, feasting, spreading the wealth and whores).
Not so sure about the sword though I think you need to make it a prestiege item maybe? named possibly, I think there was something in the old d20 Slaine book about that if I remember (another helpful resource if you can find it). Bow and Spears major def though.
There are an awful lot of ideas you have in the conan rulebook maybe you have read the conan book, it seems that way.
Technology too seems about right and its dead easy to acheive now with all the bone, stone, bronze rules. Bone armour?
I have been thinking along the same lines as you but its kind of a backburner at the mo. Im taking the Conan ruleset, pathfindering aspects of it and then using the Northlands Saga with the Linorm sourcebook and seeing what I can do with it. My group has played the Conan game and Pathfinder but for some reason they like Conan better. I think its because its less magic heavy. Sure the combat is a bit harder but it has a slightly better feel with the dodge and parry and armour as dr makes so much more sense. As you say though I think my biggest problem is going to be converting the pathfinder monsters over
I did read it. And lots of the things in it seem rather obvious once you see them mentioned by someone.
Word Casting certainly is an interesting system. For anyone running such a High Adventure campaign, I would recommend at least looking at it.
Personally, I think the old Incantation system from the d20 SRD also becomes something to consider. The system suffers from being Skill based and there being relatively easy ways to perform them without risk of failure. But if characters buy a scroll, there is virtually no chance of failure at all, and an incantation tends to be much more work and even more expensive. So making spells like raise dead, break enchantment, or planar binding incantations instead of spells doesn't really affect the game balance-wise. But it does give the party access to magical effects that might be hard to come bye if they can't get one of the High Priests that are 9th level or higher to perform their 5th level spells for the PCs. With an incantation, they can do it themselves almost as a short mini-adventure.
Regarding swords, I am uncertain. Swords are expensive just alone by the fact that a lot of metal goes into their creation. Even a short sword has enough metal for three or four spears and daggers. However, they don't seem to have been the super expensive special item they are often made to sound like. An expensive weapon, but not a luxury item. And I think even at 2nd level, PCs are already prominent enough to be able to afford it if they chose so. Having any special treatment for them doesn't really seem neccessary in my eyes.
Using the rules of PF for a High Adventure game is quite easy, I think. Where it really starts to get a bit more difficult is at planning the campaign and preparing the world.
I think one important thing is to make the number of cities very low, but make these cities rather spectacular places. Just five or seven major cities is more than enough. That's where all the palaces, big temples, and arcane societies are based. Outside these cities, there is mostly wilderness with lots of small villages within walking distance of a small central market town, where farmers and hunters sell their produce to traders from the cities.
Another thing that comes to mind is to severely limit access to other planes or dimensions. If you play below 10th level, it would not show up often anyway, but I think it's best to make them places where mortals usually do not go, and that would require intervention from the other side to create any passage. Descending into the Underworld or being taken to see the gods are major things that happen only to the most extraordinary and legendary heroes.
At the scale of other continents, I personally tend to leave them unidentified entirely. If it fits the game, there might be some distant places where merchants trade for exotic goods, but it's probably best to make these more places of legend than simply more places well known to the local people. I also think that having only a continent map while leaving the rest of the globe blank actually enhances the feel of the world significantly. A world that is fully mapped is a world that people understand and control. Lack of this knowledge seems to be an important aspect of stories set in early societies.
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I ran a classic sword and sorcery campaign set in Hyperboria using a modified set of the pathfinder system which the players really enjoyed. The problem with running a straight pathfinder game is that it favors high fantasy. A low fantasy campaingn can only be run smoothly within levels 1-6. Here is an abridged version of some of the rule changes I implemented. If you'd like, feel free to PM me your email and I can send you word documents of stuff.
Instead of a max level 20, you should set a maximum level of six. This is similar to the way E6 campaigns are run but with a new modified way of leveling up. Instead of gaining all your class abilities per level, players gain tiers within their class before finally "leveling up". A player begins at tier 1.0 and chooses which class they'll advance into for level 2. They gain hp for first and second levels (this promotes great gameplay from the get go as first level combat is pretty lame). When a hero reaches tier 1.1, they select one of the following:
-Their advancing class's skills per level
-Their advancing class's base attack bonus
-Their advancing class's save bonus
-Their advancing class's class abilities
-Finally a feat of their choosing (players effectively gain a feat every level rather than every other)
Once selected, they must choose a different tier benefit. After they obtain tier 1.5 and "level up" again, they are now considered a 2.0 character, choose which class they'll advance next, gain hit points in that new class, and repeat the process. This slows down progession while still regularly rewarding players.
Class: The following classes are available for play: Barbarian, Bard (referred to as Minstrel), Druid, Fighter, Oracle, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Witch, and Wizard (referred to as Scholar). Below are the following changes to each Class.
Barbarian:
- Rage Powers: The following Rage Powers are not legal for play: Beast Totem (Lesser, Normal, Greater), Bleeding Blow, Chaos Totem (Lesser, Normal, Greater), Dragon Totem(Normal, Resilience, Wings), Elemental Rage (Lesser, Greater), Fiend Totem (Lesser, Normal, Greater), Hive Totem (Normal, Resilience, Toxicity), Spirit Steed, Spirit Totem (Lesser, Normal, Greater), and World Serpent Totem (Normal, Spirit, Unity)
- Archetypes: The following Archetypes are not legal for play: Elemental Kin and Totem Warrior
Druid:
- Archetypes: The following Archetypes are not legal for play: All Inquisitions
Fighter:
- Proficiency: Fighters do not begin with Heavy Armor Proficiency.
- Skills: Fighters receive 4+Int skill points per level and the following skills are considered class skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, and Perception.
- Archetypes: The Dawnflower Dervish Archetype exists only within Turan. The following Archetypes are not legal for play: Aldori Swordlord and Rondelero Duelist
Minstrel (Bard):
- Proficiency: Minstrel’s do not begin proficient with the whip. In addition to normal proficiencies they are proficient with the shortsword and broadsword.
- Spells: Minstrel’s do not receive any spells. Instead at 2nd level and every two levels thereafter, a bard may select a Rogue Trick or General Feat as a Bonus Feat. He must still meet all prerequisites for the trick or feat chosen.
- The following Archetypes are not legal for play: Animal Speaker, Arcane Duelist, Chelish Diva, Dawnflower Dervish, Dervish Sancer, Sandman, and Songhealer.
Oracle:
- Mysteries: Since there are no deities that grant power, Mysteries should reflect the character’s background and should be selected for roleplaying purposes.
Ranger:
- Favored Enemy: Rangers may not select human as a favored enemy.
- Spells: All Rangers must use the Skirmisher Archetype which replaces spells with Hunter Tricks.
- Archetypes: The following Archetypes are not legal for play: Nirmathi Irregular, Sable Company Marine, Shapeshifter, and Trophy Hunter
Rogue:
- Proficiency: Rogue’s are proficient with all simple weapons, sap, shortbow, shortsword, broadsword, two other martial weapons of their choice, and light armor.
- Rogue Talents: The following Rogue Talents are not legal for play: Black Market Connections, Bleeding Attack, Finesse Rogue, Firearm Training, Grit, Ki Pool, Major Magic, and Minor Magic
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Scholar (Wizard):
- Scholars receive 4+Int skill points per level and add Use Magic Device to their list of Class Skills. Scholars may use Int instead of Cha with Use Magic Device.
- At 1st level, Scholar’s receive the Bardic Knowledge ability. This replaces Scribe Scroll.
- Bonus Feats: A Scholar may not select Item Creation Feats (Since they are all not legal)
- Arcane School: The following Arcane Schools are not legal for play: Infernal Binder (Cheliax), Mage of the Veil, Thassilonian Specialist, and Arcanamirium Crafter
- Archetypes: The Arcane Bomber is referred to as Alchemist. The following Archetypes are not legal for play: Scroll Master, Scroll Scholar, Siege Mage, Spellslinger, and All Arcane Discoveries
Sorcerer:
- Sorcerer’s recieve 4+Int skill points per level and add Diplomacy to their list of Class Skills.
- Archetypes: The following Archetypes are not legal for play: Razmiran Priest
Witch
- All archetypes are legal for play.
Feats:
Combat: The following combat feats are not legal for play: Advanced Defense Combat Training, Aldori Dueling Mastery, Amateur Gunslinger, Belier’s Bite, Bloody Assault, Cockatrice Strike, Cornugon Shield, Cornugon Stun, Critical Versatility, Deadly Stroke, Dervish Dance, Dispelling Critical, Efreeti (Stance, Style, Touch), Eldritch Claws, Elemental Fist, Firebrand, Hamatulatsu, Indomitable Mount, Ki Diversity, Ki Throw, Let Them Come, Massed Charge, Master Combat Performer, Performance Weapon Mastery, Performing Combatant, Reckless Aim, Sword and Pistol, Taldan Duelist, Thunder and Fang, Weapon Finesse, Wheeling Charge, and Whip Slinger
General Feats: The following general feats are not legal for play: Additional Traits, Andoren Falconry, Black Marketeer, Blood of Heroes, Companion Figurine, Conceal Scent, Dark Adept, Demonic Obedience, Discordant Voice, Eye of Arclord, Extra Grit, Fey Foundling, Gunsmithing, Harmonic Spell, Hero’s Fortune, Luck of Heroes, Mounted Blade, Racial Heritage, Sahir-Afiyun, and Spear Dancer.
In Conan, the gods have no effect on the world and may not even exist. Therefore Divine spellpower doesn't exist. You should go through every spell available and decide which ones fit your setting. Then divide those spells into schools of magic adding light to include healing/anti-demon spells and dark to include necromancy and inflict wounds spells. I have a word document with this done if you'd like to check that out.
Every magic item means something in this world. Magic items cannot be crafted as those arcane secrets to do so have been forgotten. As for magic weapons/armor, do not allow any straight enhancement bonuses. Only effects such as flaming, ect. should be allowed. This will maintain balance with your relatively low AC's and make every magical weapon seem... magical lol. Not conanish, but I added a mechanic called runes which simply meant if the players found a rune they could use it to enchant their weapon. I'd say they found a rune with enough power to hold a +1 enchantment, so a player might utter the rune word for fire, imbuing his greatsword with the flaming enchantment.
This is more personal preference, but it fits with a low magic campaign as well. I always hated the critical hit mechanic in pathfinder since it promotes min/maxing based on 18-20 crit range not on character flavor. So I rewrote the armory wrapped around the concept you only critical on a 20. This made characters more diverse and free to play the character they wanted to not be restricted due to mechanical reasons.
This is easier than it sounds. Simply change all gold piece costs to silver pieces, silver pieces to copper, and copper use your judgement. The scale should be 100 cp = 1 sp, 100 sp = 1 gp. This makes gold a valuable commoditiy. Also, steel plays a huge role in the world of conan so items made primarily of steel (such as broadswords, full-plate armor, ect.) should cost twice their normal amount.
I highly support giving at least4 skill points to characters per level. At low level, in a game where you are supposed to come up with creative solutions instead of killing everything with weapons or magic, skills get a much more prominent role.
And at the very least, minor magic and major magic should not be available to rogues. That just doesn't seem right.
Even more so for ranger spellcasting. Skirmisher is one way to do it, an additional combatstyle feat at 4th and 8th level is another. (A "classic" solution for spell-less rangers.)
Lets talk about monsters.
Generally, what monsters live in the world depends on the setting. But I think certain monsters should be given special considerations since they lend themselves really well to a High Adventure game:
Going through the bestiaries in alphabetical order:
Aboleth: These guys always came third after Mind Flayers and Beholders, which I think is unjustified as they are at least as cool and creepy as mind flayers, if not even more. Aboleths are fish aberrations and they are ancient, that makes them perfect candidates for such a game. Their main thing is taking slaves and having vast amount of knowledge about anything imaginable. While the slave taking thing certainly is interesting, haveing a race of psychic fish who know things about the ancient past that nobody else remembers makes them even more fascinating enemies. Or sages to seek out.
Azata: I think the Azata/Eldrin make good candidates for an ancient race of fey that inhabited the world before the mortal races, if you are using a cosmology that is different than the basic Great Wheel system with it's aligned Outer Planes.
Basilisk: A somewhat classic beast of mediterranean antiquity.
Centaur: Another Greek classic.
Chimera: Again.
Cyclops: And again.
Dinosaurs: In a world with dragons, drakes, linorms, and wyverns, a deinonychus and compsognathuses wouldn't be completely out of place. Elasmosaurus and Tylosaurus make great aquatic beasts.
Dire Animals: With just very minor refluffs, you can use these animals to make new fantastic beasts.
Elementals: In a world with strong nature powers, elementals are right at home.
Genies: Like the Azata, Genies could very easily be made to be either the former masters of the world, or still a major power in the Spiritworld.
Giants: In many settings, giants are the descendants of powerful early mortal kingdoms. In a game set in an earlier age than most, giants could still have a much more prominent role.
Griffon: More classic Greek critters.
Harpy: And even more.
Hydra: You know the drill.
Lamia: ...
Monitor Lizard: At CR2 these guys are not a laughing matter, and they are called Komodo Dragons for a reason. These things actually can kill and eat humans.
Lizardfolk: Lizardfolk are usually used as dumb savages, but in a world where prehistoric animals still roam, they actually make for a good high culture civilization as well.
Manticore: A classic monster of Antiquity, because we don't have nearly enough of them.
Giant Mantis: CR 3 isn't that much, but you can always advance them to make them a serious threat to even mid-level parties. I feel this critter is always beng sadly forgotten, but they are awesome. Especially in a world with giant lizards and insects.
Medusa: *sigh*
Merfolk: Not sure if they are from classic antiquity. But they probably are.
Minotaur: This one definately is.
Naga: Finally getting there! Giant! Snakes! I think there is no creature more appropriate to a High Adventure game than giant snakes. Especially when those snakes can talk and are powerful sorcerers as well.
Nymph: No comment...
Phoenix: Bestiary 1: The book of Greek critters.
Rakshasa: Something not from Greece but from India. Who would have thought? Rakshasa are awesome. Shapeshifting sorcerers with the heads of tigers. Their almost insane Damage Reduction and Spell Resistance makes them suitable only for boss fights as they will be really tough.
Remorhaz: It doesn't always have to be seas and deserts. This is one big crazy beast from the frozen mountains that can be quite a thrat with it's searing heat.
Roc: I wonder where these are from?
Giant Snakes: As I have said before, these games need giant snakes! Too bad those in the Bestiary aren't scaled up, but that can be easily done.
Sphinx: There are actually two types in mythology. One is egyptian, the more well known from stories is, wait for it, Greek.
Giant Spiders: Not quite as great as giant snakes, but close.
Giant Squid: For when a Kraken would be a bit much.
Tengu: I've never been a fan and don't really know much about them, but they might work well in certain settings.
Treants: Technically plant type, but of all the forest spirits, treants are certainly the biggest and most powerful. They pretty much own the place!
Vampire: Really more of an iconic modern horror creature, but adapting them to an early antiquity creature could lead to very interesting results.
Wight: Something entirely diffrent now, being a classic monster of the Germanic people, espcially Skandinavia. Taking a hint from Skyrim and Lord of the Rings, I think wights could make great keepers of ancient knowledge, as they are trying to maintain a culture in their tombs, that has ceased to exist for centuries in the outside world.
Worgs: Worgs go with everything. This is no exception.
Wyvern: The more bestial variant of the dragon. For mid-level characters, these make great enemies, especially in groups or when advanced to greater strength.
Yeth Hound: A creature that somehow tends to be completely forgotten. However, I got a new appreciation for them since I learned that in Planescape, they were preying on fey. Now that's an interesting concept to develop further.
Aranea: The picture in Bestiary 2 really sucks. But basically, it's a race of shapeshifting spider sorcerers. How cool is that?
Aurumvorax: I think it's a weird critter, but should fit the theme quite well. A big furry and angry beast with way too much teeth and claws. Especially claws.
Azer: If there are world in which Azer would fit in well, these would be the type, I guess.
Crypt Thing: An undead guardian of ancient tombs. They should feel right at home.
Drakes: Not a fan myself, but sure, why not.
Draugr: A weaker version of the wight, when Energy drain seems too harsh.
Dust Digger: Hello, baby sarlac.
Faceless Stalker: Basically they are the same thing as doppelgangers, just with a slightly different look in their natural form. But maybe that works better for some people.
Hippogriff: Somehow I think these are much cooler than griffons. I think they are a bit less implausible looking and more badass.
Leucrotta: Basically really smart and dangerous hyenas, with a few unusual features.
Megafauna: Another bunch of big prehistoric animals.
Nereid: A more powerful variant of dryads and nymphs.
Qlippoth: The most lovecraftian of the outersider races. I think these make far better demons than demons or devils.
Serpentfolk: I have no inhibition to say it again: Giant Snakes! Or more accurately, Snake People! I think these need to be major villain in ever High Adventure game.
Giant Snapping Turtle: Because it's a giant reptile!
Witchfire: Can't exactly say why, but I would give them a chance. They are a bit like evil nymphs, I guess.
Animal Lord: I think these are a good template to create demigod spirits of the wild.
Asura: Their Indian theme makes them an interesting alternative to demons.
Axe Beak: Big prehistoric beast. You now my stance by now.
Caryatid Column: A nice low-level alternative to stone golems.
Derhii: Large, winged, intelligent gorillas. They should make great inhabitants for mountain fortresses hidden deep in jungles.
Div: Like Genies and Asura, these make an interesting and unusual choice for prominent outsiders.
Graven Guardian: Another low-level golem.
Huecuva: Undead false priests somehow seem to be right at home here. They are a representation of corrupt magic, which is kind of a staple of the genre.
Jorogumo: A not so friendly spider lady.
Kami: If you are aiming for powerful nature spirits, Kami are the way to go. I noticed that Kodama have stats that are excelent representations for Spriggans of the plant variety. Jinushigami and Toshigami make great minor nature deities or demigods.
Maftet: Another winged lion-lady with magical tattoos.
Nephelim: The race of Goliath. Another classic.
Rakshasa: Bestiary 3 has more creatures called Rakshasa. I don't really see the difference to Asuras (and I think in Indian myth, the Rakshasa are a type of Asura), so everything that goes for them goes for these as well.
Terracotta Soldier: Low-level clay golem the third.
Thriae: Bee people with magic powers.
My favorite rule in the Conan system was when characters found tremendous treasure. I can't remember the game mechanics exactly, but characters had to make Will and Fort saves until the treasure was mostly all exhausted in a continuous drunken celebration. Hilarious.
It also allows you to avoid mucking with the economy too much.
The Rule of High Living. Note it only really applies when the Game Master feels the characters have a large amount of cash with no definite plans for it.
Every week, all characters will spend a minimum of 50% of their current wealth on high living, if that wealth is currently over 50 silver pieces.
No save, it just happens. You get nothing out of it, except occasionally (1/month) scholars and nobles can get a minor bonus on a couple checks. Though the rules did recommend characters getting a bonus on Gather Information checks if they spend a particularly large amount on high living.
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