Hello everyone,
I am about to embark in a game which I believe will be one of the best I have played yet, themed around the Razor Coast.
Now, I know that one can almost build any iconic character mostly by attitude and RP, but I would like to follow it up with adequate mechanics.
That being said, for me Conan is:
- Tough as nails
- Uncompromising
- Charismatic
- Brave as heck
- Agile
- Stealthy
- Strong as a MOFO
- Have never seen him any armor heavier than a chain mail
- Biased against magic (has much to do with the setting also)
- Savage
Some quote references I find are great for Conan:
- 'Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king'
- Conan sensed their uncertainty and grinned mirthlessly and ferociously. "Who dies first?"
- "...Free my hands and I'll varnish this floor with your brains!"
- "When I cannot stand alone, it will be time to die," he mumbled, through mashed lips. "But I'd like a flagon of wine."
- Conan wheeled toward the gaping corsairs. "Well, you dogs!" he roared, "I've sent your chief to hell--what says the law of the Red Brotherhood?"
Image references:
There would be many more images and much more to say about him, but you guys catch my drift - how would you build him, assuming level 5, and why?
I'm thinking perhaps human, with a stat spread around
STR 17
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 13
WIS 10
CHA 13
Classes Fighter/Ranger with a splash of Barbarian? Our group already has a Slayer but... I still feel that one may fit the concept REALLY well?
Ideas?
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Yeah, a friend of mine and I were discussing this just the other day and we both agreed that Slayer is one of the best ways (if not the best) for making Conan. I don't think you'll likely be able to make a true incarnation of Conan within a 20 lvl based PC (he's pretty epic), but you'll get closest with that class, probably. You should consider looking at adding in some Mythic Tiers as well since that would supplement the 20 lvl base character and also seems like something a character such as Conan would deserve. Have fun character building!
I thought all you needed to be Conan was orange hair and a talk show.
@LoneKnave, Marc, Eltacolibre, Psalmist: How would you guys build him, and why Skirmisher Eltacolibre?
@Magic: Hehe, indeed, you may be on to something ;)
@LazarX: I had thought of that, and agree with you to some extent, but why do you think he would be 'very' out of place?
I thinked about it again and... There really should be nothing against playing two Slayers in the same group is there? It is not as if they would have overlapping abilities like two bards or something like that.
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@LoneKnave, Marc, Eltacolibre, Psalmist: How would you guys build him, and why Skirmisher Eltacolibre?
Main draw of skirmisher: Spell-less ranger, they make up for it by having a bunch of tricks. Stuffs like standing up as a move action without provoking an attack of opportunity, or hateful attack double the crit range of your weapon against your favored enemies, or even reroll missed attacks , also stealth with full movement speed without penalties.
Good thing, since it is a spell-less ranger, you can focus on your physical prowess without having to worry about your mental stats like wisdom for spells. You still keep favored enemies/terrain and everything else from the ranger, which is very approriate for Conan who dedicated his life to hunting a serpentfolk wizard.
Of course as a ranger, you get tons of skills, which should cover everything you want to do stealth wise or show the cunning of conan, and also important skills like perception.
Technically you only need power attack for your two handed weapon, so you can feel free to pick up archery as your combat style, free feats to do some archery like Conan.
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Here is one example of what a level 5 (mythic tier 1) Conan could look like.
Human (erutaki) slayer 5/Champion 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 53)
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 60 (5d10+20)
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +1; +2 trait bonus vs. fear
Defensive Abilities hard to kill
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk longsword +10 (1d8+3/19-20)
Special Attacks mythic power (5/day, surge +1d6), sneak attack +1d6 +1 bleed, studied target +2 (2nd, move action)
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +5; CMB +8; CMD 20
Feats Combat Reflexes, Fast Learner[ARG], Power Attack[M], Weapon Focus (longsword)
Traits courageous, natural-born leader
Skills Bluff +9, Climb +11, Craft (weapons) +5, Disguise +7, Intimidate +9, Perception +8, Ride +10, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +10, Survival +8, Swim +11
Languages Common, Erutaki, Hallit, Triaxian
SQ slayer talents (bleeding attack +1, surprise attacks), track +2
Other Gear mwk longsword, 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Bleeding Attack +1 (Ex) Sneak attacks also deal 1 bleed damage/round.
Combat Reflexes (3 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Courageous +2 save vs. fear.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Mythic Power (5/day, Surge +1d6) Use this power to perform your mythic abilities.
Natural-Born Leader Your cohorts, followers, and summoned creatures gain +1 vs. Mind-affecting effects, +1 Leadership score if you have the Leadership feat.
Power Attack [Mythic] Use 1 power to eliminate attack penalties of Power attack for 1 min.
Roar of Triumph (1 rounds, DC 12) (Su) When an enemy is downed, 1 power to deafen and shaken nonmythic enemies within 30 ft.
Sneak Attack +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Studied Target +2 (move action, 2 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +2 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Sudden Attack (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to make melee att, roll twice with +1 bonus and bypass all DR.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Surprise Attacks (Ex) Opponents are always flat-footed against you in the surprise round.
Track +2 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Slayer is an awesome class! It does fit Conan very well!
Level 12 Barbarian with maybe 2 Mythic tiers.
I think Studied Target is not something that truly fits Conan though.
I'd say he's a couple of levels Viking Fighter, a couple of levels Brawler (Snakebite Striker? Skills, speed and power?), with some Thug Rogue levels thrown around.
I would argue that the world of the Hyborean Age is very magic-item limited (and any normal magical items would have either drawbacks to their use or limiters on either use or effectiveness, such as a +3 flaming battleaxe only being +3 and flaming versus water-type or subtype outsiders and extraplanar beings or only being +3 and flaming during a certain phase of the moon, or a necklace of fireballs that requires a blood sacrifice of 1d6+1 hit points from the user before one of its spheres can be detached - that sort of thing). It probably lacks much of anything of +1 or better, even in rare circumstances - such items are likely treasured relics of a bygone Age. Magical items are largely consumables like low-grade potions or minor scrolls.
Spellcasting classes would also be extremely limited; caster classes that can reach spell levels above 6th would likely be forbidden, classes that can reach 6th level spells are extraordinarily rare and are probably mostly limited to being high-powered antagonists, and classes that can reach 4th level spells would be very uncommon. Any character with any levels in a class capable of spellcasting would likely have to have levels in a martial class as well, unless that class was a martial spellcaster (like a ranger or paladin).
Divine classes would be limited as well, as gods in the Hyborean Age are (mostly) hands-off. Access to spellcasting probably involves some sort of ritual to appease your god that may (or may not) take several hours to perform, or may (or may not) require special ingredients or artifacts.
Personally, I think such a game environment could be a lot of fun to play in, if run properly.
Hyborean Age is very magic-item limited... Spellcasting classes would also be extremely limited...Except for all the artifacts and demi-gods and godling-sorcerers.
Conan's time is an age of old empires built upon the ruins of an even older world order. There is lots of deep magic and hidden powers. You couldn't play the setting with standard 3.PF PC classes. Or at least not most of them and the ones you use will need new limits/options to match the setting.
Artifacts and demi-gods and godling-sorcerers did, indeed, exist in the Hyborean Age world of Conan.
The were just so incredibly rare that they were major plot points every single time they appeared.
"... a thief, a reaver, a slayer, ..."
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Hmmm Conan, well if the game is based around level five
Certainly go with the purchase iconic build starting at
15, 14, 13, 13, 12, 11
Human, +2 to Strength, Level 4: +1 Str
Optional: Instead of the human Linguistics ability, might instead take specialized.
*Barbaric Humans: +2 Str +2 Con and -2 cha
[While their might arguably be a lack of education, I see the Barbarians and wild human tribes just 'not fitting in' with Civilized humans using very straight forward talking, thus the limited Charisma]
*Civilized Humans: -2 Dex +2 Int and +2 Wis
[Not exactly honey-tongued, Nor as fast from things being 'easier' Civilized humans would know more from what they call 'every-man' knowledge and 'common sense']
This reduces starting languages to seven, which I would go with different regional human dialects in Glorion to represent a more 'down to earth languages of knowledge' so that meeting other species can indeed be an adventure.
[I am a huge -HUGE- fan of the Sword and Sorcery settings and try and make them fit when I find gaming table friends with the same feel for gaming. Making humans a little more unique and adding more mystery to the other races, since while core races, don't often have places in the same locations as the humans]
Barbarian, despite movies, there where several comics and such where he used several weapons and armors, so no need for Fighter.
Possible starting Rage Power choices any two would work well for a starting Conan Character at level 5
Powerful Blow
Strength Surge
Superstition
Surprise Accuracy
Feats
H: Iron Will
1: Power Attack
3: Weapon Focus
5: Toughness
Iron Will: Conan faced some pretty mean odds early on, so if anyone who went through that and kept on going deserves Iron Will for a human he does.
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I built this a while ago.
That build obviously isn't intended for PC use, but it gives a general overview.
To differentiate yourself from the other Slayer consider a splash of Barbarian. A Slayer 3/Barbarian 2 works a lot differently from a straight slayer, even if you never take more than the two levels of Barbarian (which also give you Uncanny Dodge, which is pretty awesome and very thematic for Conan, more so than the Rage to be honest).
And I'd go something like what you did for stats, though I'd minimize the number of odd stats, since increasing them is tricky. Something like this would definitely work:
Str 18 (+2 race, +1 Level)
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 8
Cha 12
And a +1 to one of those last 3, whichever you want to boost at 8th.
That'll hurt your will Save, but Rage helps, and you can afford to grab Iron Will if you like. A greatsword (or other two-handed weapon) build isn't exactly Feat intensive.
Maybe go Dual Talented for Dex 16. In that case your Feat loadout could be Power Attack, Furious Focus (from Two-Handed Ranger style), Iron Will, and Deadly Aim. You could also grab Quick Draw next level with Combat Trick if you like (and don't have another Slayer Talent you want). Extra Rage at 7th would also be a good call if going this route.
Conan is a bad fit for Pathfinder. In Hyboria magic items are super rare, the subjects of legends. Magic-users are subtle and specific, and come with huge prices to be paid for their unnatural abilities.
In spite of all the stuff about demons and ancient gods, Hyboria is still a world fundamentally grounded in reality.
In Pathfinder terms, the whole campaign setting would use the Epic 6 rules. Nobody in any Conan story exhibits any skill or power that couldn't be matched or bested by a 5th or 6th level character. Even Thulsa Doom (the book version, not the movie) could be modeled as a 7th level Oracle Lich.
If you want to do a Conan style game, you need to adjust your sense of scale accordingly. If you don't you won't get the feel you're trying for.
That being said, Mythic ranks would be a good fit for Hyboria (especially for any of the demons or supernatural foes). Again though, I'd keep them low. Nothing in the stores exhibits powers beyond 1st tier Mythic abilities. I'd keep the Mythic ranks to a maximum of 3 (and that's for the absurdly over the top stuff, like the Demon Lords or the denizens of the Outer Darkness).