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Hello guys,
I'm going to GM Pathfinder this weekend and my players asked me for a Conan-like adventure. You know, with distant/desolate places, barbarians, low tech, evil slavemasters, exploration, etc, but with more magic and D&D elements. I think the final result should possibly resemble an 80's cartoon, maybe Thundarr minus the futuristic bits or something taken out of a heavy metal album cover :P
Seriously though, I know enough about the Conan universe to get the feeling of what the RPG setting should be like but I'm not very familiar with this kind of story. I'm gathering similar material and inspiration before starting plotting. Does anybody know if there's any adventure published by Paizo or a Third party publisher that resembles this setting? I don't want to use the Conan universe, just similar story elements. I also accept ideas for quests, characters, tropes, anything.
Thank you!
I think you can get a great Conan feeling in the game by just saying that the only spelcasting class is the adept.
Classes that have spells Exchange them for spelless Archtypes or nothing at all.
Of cause you have to chance quite a lot of monsters and stuff and i recomendation you keep magic items relatively common.
This charges the game a lot and can be quite fun.
But this is just one part of the Conan feel you get and some May find it too costly.
I don't know of any specifically "Conan-feeling" adventures but if you want barbarians and exploration maybe the Kingmaker AP is your thing? The party is essentially carving out their own legend in an empty wilderness; they just have to fight some bad guys first.
Of course, you could just make it up too.
One thing that I highly suggest you do is ban full caster classes from being PC's. They make great villains and should be included in that role (though rarely, obviously) and I've found that for the most part, partial casters and full BAB classes are fairly well-balanced against one another.
Certain allowances need to be made when doing that, like understanding that healing, condition removal and spells like Restoration are less available to the party, but then, in such a setting, supernatural threats likely are less common as well.
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According to Endzeitgeist, you can't go past these adventures for pulp heroic Conania:
and here are some
Supplemental Rules and Considerations
from the author too...
Plus here is a Map of Xoth and the
Also, the first product from the same author is not PF, but is I think easily converted.
XP1: The Spider-God's Bride and Other Tales of Sword and Sorcery
I'd suggest giving players a 25-point build, but then tell them at the outset that "suggested weath by level" magic and money is just not going to happen. Encourage them to waste their money - maybe give then bonus XP for loosing their cash. Conan-esque heroes live for the day, not for long-range planning. You'll have to balance encounters carefully to allow for the lower level equipment.
Something to consider, something done in the game that I sat in on several occasions but did not actually play (the one with no full casters as an option) was that, to compensate for the lesser amount of healing available, the GM simply maxed HD for the PC's, meaning that each character had the maximum hit points possible for their class. He also had armor provide DR - light armor granted DR 1/-, medium armor granted DR 2/- and heavy armor granted DR 3/-. One of the benefits of those changes in a game that features so many martials (and therefor less limited use-dependent characters) was that he could keep the action going and going...
He also made a concerted effort to make skills as useful and even as necessary as possible. When you can't fly/breathe water then climb and swim suddenly become quite important, but only if your GM makes allowances for them. With that understanding, definitely boost skills, at least for the 2 rank classes like Fighters. Every character gets a minimum of 4+INT skill ranks per level and INT penalties don't reduce that number.
So, in summary:
No full casters as PC's.
Max out hit points and add DR to armor in order to account for reduced healing options.
Boost minimum skill ranks to 4+INT.
Sounds like a campaign I'd love to be part of.
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There was a d20 game system Conan book. It got some of the races that populates conan world and diferent system for defense, being level dependent AC (dodge) and converting armor to damage resistance. Take it a look for locations citys and maps too.(And being d20, it will be easy to convert if needed at all.)
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One thing that I highly suggest you do is ban full caster classes from being PC's. They make great villains and should be included in that role (though rarely, obviously) and I've found that for the most part, partial casters and full BAB classes are fairly well-balanced against one another.
Certain allowances need to be made when doing that, like understanding that healing, condition removal and spells like Restoration are less available to the party, but then, in such a setting, supernatural threats likely are less common as well.
This. Though I'd argue that Restoration isn't too unavailable given Inquisitors and the like.
As another piece of advice, I'd scrap WBL for the most part and go with something like this, but probably replacing the Spell-Like Abilities with a scaling stat boost of some sort (maybe +2 to one stat at 5th, +2 to two stats, stacking with the bonus from 5th, at 9th, +2 to three stats, again stacking, at 13th, +2 to four stats, stacking once again, at 17th...that'd give +8, +6, +4, +2. Maybe cap it at +6...), and removing even the WBL suggested there for the most part.
Barbarian characters should be illiterate, and have to spend a skill point to learn writing, possibly for each language they learn. Different languages for different nations should be normal, and a 'common' tongue...not be.
And yes, stay away from magic. That means monsters are far more dangerous then they are in PF. A +1 Magic sword should be a hellaciously rare find and a character's prize possession. Feats that punch DR should be extremely valuable. That Rhahadoum feat that lets you heal yourself 1/day would be near priceless to a fighter type.
Masterwork should be the norm for your adventurers gear, not magic. Any magic item they get should be legendary and famous, just like in mythology.
"Behold the Sword of the Kings of Valusia, forged three thousand years ago from a star fallen from the sky...One of the Arrows of INDRA!!!"
My favorite Conan story line (from the newer novels, tho)
==Aelryinth
Though designed for d20, there is Xoth, a very Conan-esque setting, subsystem of rules, and series of adventure modules for the magic weak worlds this belongs. Endzeitgeist gives an awesome review of the Xoth adventures. Being that's d20, it should be an easy enough conversion to Pathfinder.
In the interest of Thread Necromancy ...
I too would like an adventure (or even a mini-campaign) with a Robert Howard's Conan feel, but I am not looking to go out and buy a new system.
I like your suggestions, but I need to look carefully at what can be done.
I am considering the first three books of the Serpent's Skull for a base, but ...
- Change most of the opponents to human (the Vast majority of Conan's foes were other men).
- Eliminate some of the competeing factions, and replace the remander with setting appropriate ones.
- I'd like to pre-create characters for my PCs (to limit how much conversion would be needed), but I might not get buy-in from my players (two of which are women).
B.T.W., what is meant by "partial casters"?
Grab one of the classic Conan adventures from first edition and just convert it with new bestiary entries.