“Know, O Prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sulleneyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.”
The Nemedian Chronicles
Welcome to the Hyborian Age! AGE of Conan is a modification of Green Ronin’s Dragon Age role playing game inspired by a post on the Dragon Age forums, where a comment was made that the rules would nicely complement a Conan-based setting. This is version 0.1 and will work to create playable characters in the AGE of Conan. Eventually I would like to add a number of extras, like poisons, alchemy, organizations, mass combat and a bestiary.
Please feel free to leave feedback here or at my website. Thank you and enjoy.
Download:
Sep 20, 2011 @ 11:06:49
I’ll take a look, thanks for the work.
Sep 20, 2011 @ 11:34:20
Neat! The culture/race breakdown is really neat, and I dig the language section.
However (this isn’t a critique, but a pet peeve about Conan adaptations), I am a bit of a Howardian Purists when it comes to Conan. The magic system doesn’t represent the original stories, so much (no spell casting, more using ancient lore to summon and bind other worldly entities and make use of “ancient weird technology”. The stories did take place in the Cthulhu Mythos afterall.) BUT, as I mentioned I’ll wave my flag of purism, and keep it at that.
That said, I think the magic system is cool for a dark fantasy game.
Sep 20, 2011 @ 12:32:02
Looking forward to reading it, thanks!
Sep 20, 2011 @ 15:46:34
@savagehominid: To be perfectly honest I’m not sure about the magic system either! I wanted to get this version out so folks could have a look, and I wanted some kind of magic system in it. I didn’t have time to convert spells (like you’d get in, say, the Conan RPG, which is probably not “pure” either!) but I liked the improvised magic system that was posted here and thought that I could tweak it via the magic schools to at least get some of the flavour, i.e. there is no formal magical training: you have to work it out for yourself!
Someone on the GR forums suggested that magic should be for NPCs only, and that’s certainly a possibility. But I know that some of the friends I play with will definitely want a mage-type character!
Sep 20, 2011 @ 18:23:52
@Valelorn On a pure level, I’ll give my Conan magic guidelines.
Magic in Conan shouldn’t be handled like a traditional fantasy game. Magic in Conan is reliant on Lore, and the will to use it (and blast your sanity). Even Conan uses “magic” at points.
In Tower of the Elephant, he breaks the Elephant mans enchantment through his own will. That is a demonstration of brute will versus a ritual.
In Beyond the Black River, he uses the ancient sign of Jhebbal Sag to ward away the possessed animals in service of an Pictish Sorcerer.
If one has the knowledge, the time, and the will to do so. They may work the arts of summoning with other beings, and commanding their power. Jhebbal Sag is ancient dark god, animals know of his sign and obey them.
Its not very “flashy”, or utilitarian. Bigger workings should be reserved for the mad sorcerers (not PCs, usually), but instead of magic points…they should require.
1 – The Knowledge of the working: A learned ritual, or sign of a sort.
2 – The Ritual of the Working: Sometimes as simple as scratching a ward, other times as complex as waiting for the blood moon harvest with the virgin daughter of the seventh son of a seventh son.
3 – The Will to Invoke: This would be the test, it could involve different rolls (or multiple rolls) based on the time involved, and the requirements of the ritual.
Beyond Magic
A lot of sorcerers in Conan use tricks and charlatanism. Whether things such as poisons, and flash powders. Mesmerizing the weak minded (PULP fantasy people), or martial arts from far corners of the Earth. Not to mention, political and social connections inside decaying civilizations. A sorcerer in Conan is a formidable foe even without their dark arts.
Anyway, just my two dinar.
Sep 21, 2011 @ 15:24:46
Thanks for this work! I´ll try it for sure! Ymir!!
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Sep 23, 2011 @ 07:04:32
Dragon Age ¡ya en español!
Dec 27, 2011 @ 05:41:55
Jan 02, 2012 @ 09:27:49
Feb 15, 2012 @ 10:40:54
Great work!! but…. what about the low lethality of the Age System?. A Conan adventure must have blood, decapitations, and lots of deads.
Feb 21, 2012 @ 19:52:45
Thanks! As to lethality… the idea is to run Conan games with the AGE system, rather than change the system to fit the setting. The d20 version of Conan does’t seem to be any more lethal than, say, Pathfinder. I’d say that one way to go would be to lower the rating of armour, or start defence at 9 rather than 10. You could also describe the effects of stunts in certain ways. For example, killing a foe by using the Lethal Blow stunt = decapitation. With the Mighty Blow stunt = brutal disembowelling!
Feb 22, 2012 @ 05:20:04
Ok, I understand the point.
I’ve thinking in some way to increase the damage, by example: add to the damage the range of success (attack-defense)
But i don’t know if this will unbalance the system.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 06:27:45