tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post1590976391947424327..comments2024-03-18T20:22:06.331-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Retrospective: Conan Role-Playing GameJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-58749924279155866142012-07-14T02:52:43.129-04:002012-07-14T02:52:43.129-04:00>
Especially when D&D/AD&D did Conan-st...><br />Especially when D&D/AD&D did Conan-style Swords and Sorcery so well?<br />What? D&D is the opposite of Conan swords and sorcery.Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-85500373677437163702012-06-24T23:51:24.618-04:002012-06-24T23:51:24.618-04:00I'm pretty sure that when Mark was putting ZEF...I'm pretty sure that when Mark was putting ZEFRS together, Cook confirmed that the game was released at a not-quite-finished stage. Can't recall the reason. <br /><br /><br />I think the most distinctive thing about the game is the way that your skills create your pool, rather than the other way round.Matthew Slepinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-74665959692309954782012-06-12T08:42:02.294-04:002012-06-12T08:42:02.294-04:00There's nothing silly about an undreamt of age...There's nothing silly about an undreamt of age in prehistory. History extends back in time for a very short span in the big scheme of things, about six thousand years. What happened before this was not written down and is the domain of myths and legends and folk lore. The Recursion Kingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73867198875128769162012-06-07T15:23:50.825-04:002012-06-07T15:23:50.825-04:00This is a game that I like to play around with fro...This is a game that I like to play around with from time to time. Like others in the comments, I own the box and the modules. The one thing that I found a tad irksome was that characters created through the initial creation process couldn't be used in the adventures as written, they are just too inexperienced.<br /><br />While I like to come up with my own adventures, I have always been a "working" gamer. Whether it was baseball, soccer, sky team, and wrestling plus work at the grocery store as a kid, or as a busy manager with twin daughters, my time to design is pretty limited. That makes intro adventures a thing of great value to me...it makes things like Vornheim by Zak S. a godsend as it lets me design in no time.<br /><br />Time to pull out the books to see what I can garner from them. Oh, and speaking of Indiana Jones...the Judges Pack has some great chase rules. <br /><br />I think the largest problem that Indy and Conan faced as games was that their primary modus operandi was to create rules with which people could play Indy or Conan, and not rules where players could play people in the worlds of Indy and Conan. Conan suffers this less than Indy, but it still suffers it.Christian Lindkenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-14494691143071601342012-06-07T11:15:42.914-04:002012-06-07T11:15:42.914-04:00I took advantage of that Dragon mag fire sale and ...I took advantage of that Dragon mag fire sale and got the game, three modules, and two boxes of minis for like, $20 or something (does anyone know which issue the ad was in? I've looked for it a couple of times). At the time, I thought the game sucked horribly. I was just starting to really enjoy Rolemaster, and was not down with a single chart resolution mechanic. I also found the field guide and modules to be mostly useless.<br /><br />When the G+ game popped up a few months ago, I gave the game a fresh look. Now, I can definitely appreciate the elegance of the system and would love to give it a try.Shawn Sanfordnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-64675358718783176052012-06-07T06:33:56.019-04:002012-06-07T06:33:56.019-04:00I was one of those disappointed it wasn't for ...I was one of those disappointed it wasn't for AD&D. I had D&D alternatives, didn't need another.<br /><br />I think the later Lankhmar stuff showed that AD&D could be altered to suit that sort of game pretty well.<br /> Jeremy Zharkovhttp://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Zharkov/100000590970112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-47181289728162791112012-06-07T04:05:22.143-04:002012-06-07T04:05:22.143-04:00Yup very nice game; although the AD&D module b...Yup very nice game; although the AD&D module by David "Zeb" Cook was also quite good, also providing a small introduction to the setting and a few setting-specific rules. The other AD&D module was not as good, but still fun (and it features Akivasha!)Antonio Eleuterinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-35668253470246111752012-06-07T01:51:28.413-04:002012-06-07T01:51:28.413-04:00By the time this came out, most of the people loca...By the time this came out, most of the people locally (including me) had grown pretty jaded with TSR. After the (in our view) horribly failed design of the TSR <i>Indiana Jones</i> RPG, we had no confidence in the design abilities of any remaining TSR personnel. So, I had no idea until recently the value of this game.Faoladhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-37842248117477929612012-06-06T23:46:56.436-04:002012-06-06T23:46:56.436-04:00There were indeed three modules published for the ...There were indeed three modules published for the game, as Dain Lybarger lists above. "CN1 Conan the Buccaneer" and "CN2 Conan the Mercenary" are middling at best, reading like D&D manuscripts that were converted due to a strong generic fantasy feel and dungeon-based play-style (notably not written by Zeb Cook). However "CN3 Conan Triumphant" is much better, being a political-themed scenario with a gazetteer of Ophir and a quick mass-combat system (it includes other rules expansions as well).<br /><br />Annoyingly, the core boxed set mentions a Referee's Pack that was never published. At that there's other hints that the game was hit by corporate politics of some kind. The boxed set seems to have gone through some kind of rush or rewrite, given that the combat chapter mentions chits and combat maps that don't exist, and a supplementary sheet had to be included to explain all the fundamental rules oddly missing from the booklets. Barely a year after the game was released Dragon ran a full page ad announcing a fire-sale on the complete line, and never was it mentioned again.E.T. Smithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-49089826600842881202012-06-06T19:10:11.850-04:002012-06-06T19:10:11.850-04:00One of the modules, Conan Triumphant I think, feat...One of the modules, Conan Triumphant I think, featured a city map and building geomorphs which I used and re-used for a number of games. The city map used the geomorph number and a directional arrow to show orientation of the building, and the individual geomorphs were given multiple scales. It was both simple and brilliant. There was also a great map of a fortified palace which featured multiple building heights for climbing and jumping when sneaking in (or out).<br />I don't remember ever playing the module as written, but the maps were a staple of my games for years.Lord Majesticnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73848437727627774982012-06-06T18:31:53.512-04:002012-06-06T18:31:53.512-04:00I remember being confused when this came out. Why ...I remember being confused when this came out. Why was TSR creating a game that competed with their flagship product? Especially when D&D/AD&D did Conan-style Swords and Sorcery so well?<br /><br />Now I appreciate it as a classic in game design. Back then, not so much.Mark Rouleaunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-12885328375317400722012-06-06T12:29:59.695-04:002012-06-06T12:29:59.695-04:00I loved the Conan RPG back then, it was definitely...I loved the Conan RPG back then, it was definitely on top of the stack of TSR's many efforts at other RPGs. Was also glad when it returned as ZeFRS, although finding players experimental enough to try it today is a bit tough. Definitely in agreement that it was great back when TSR was willing to experiment and crank out more RPGs than just D&D. I was hoping the new boxed set Gamma World would inspire WotC to try their hand at this again, but it was not to be.Nicholas Bergquistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-23352056175291015302012-06-06T11:38:57.707-04:002012-06-06T11:38:57.707-04:00I received the Conan game as a Christmas gift when...I received the Conan game as a Christmas gift when I was 11 or 12, I think. While I never had a chance to play it, I can remember thumbing through the books that came in the box. I specifically enjoyed the anthropological notebook that described Conan's world.<br /><br /> Mbottiglieri1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28509034137527814722012-06-06T10:13:14.824-04:002012-06-06T10:13:14.824-04:00I have fond memories of this game. One thing that ...I have fond memories of this game. One thing that left a strong impression with me was the way your general stats (i.e. your "talent pool" ratings) were derived from the aggregate of your specific skills ("talents") rather than vice-versa. This was a revelation to me after years of D&D and similar "top-down" systems. The thought of a character being the sum of all the specific experiences he's had and skills he's developed was, I thought, a great way of handling both character generation and character advancement in a pulp-style picaresque game.Lucas Picadornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-77905805476485933592012-06-06T10:02:32.181-04:002012-06-06T10:02:32.181-04:00This game still has legs! I played it for the firs...This game still has legs! I played it for the first time in a Google+ Hangout game a few months ago. The GM had the Conan rules and the rest of us used the free download of the ZeFRS PDF (basically the system and setting with all the Conan references scrubbed off) to make our characters.<br /><br />What I enjoyed most was the total departure from the resource management of D&D. It was more of a creative use of what you find lying around game. Maybe it was just our GM, but the gaming experience felt like a Conan story. It's too bad TSR didn't put a little more effort into marketing this game. It is an excellent fantasy RPG that isn't just another version of D&D.David Rollinsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-80357334644972731372012-06-06T09:07:13.995-04:002012-06-06T09:07:13.995-04:00I didn't know about this game. I just recent...I didn't know about this game. I just recently grabbed the Steve Jackson GURPS PDF editions of their Conan game. I will need to hunt down this TSR game.Paul McNameenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-72151871997434186902012-06-06T09:03:54.888-04:002012-06-06T09:03:54.888-04:00There were indeed modules for TSR's Conan game...There were indeed modules for TSR's Conan game:<br />TSR7401 - CN1 - Conan the Buccaneer<br />TSR7402 - CN2 - Conan the Mercenary<br />TSR7403 - CN3 - Conan Triumphant<br /><br />People should also know that 'Zeb' Cook's rules live on, as the open-source ZeFRS rules, available here: http://www.midcoast.com/~ricekrwc/zefrs/<br /><br />(I'm not affiliated with the site, I'm just a serious fan of the game.)Dain Lybargernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-445566588846547502012-06-06T09:02:14.117-04:002012-06-06T09:02:14.117-04:00There were at least three Conan modules: Conan the...There were at least three Conan modules: Conan the Buccaneer, Conan the Mercenary, and Conan Triumphant. There were also several AD&D modules of the Conan genre: Conan Unchained, Conan Against Darkness, and Sonja Unconquered.Robert Baldwinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-21889393740072758302012-06-06T08:52:58.791-04:002012-06-06T08:52:58.791-04:00I find it an interesting TSR game simply because I...I find it an interesting TSR game simply because I can convert it over to D&D (Rules Cyclopedia). I have the two adventure modules for it and the box set. <br /><br />Perhaps most useful of all was the assumption that zero xp characters never have more than 13 in any ability stat. it meant that a Zero Level Human might be a blacksmith with 13 Strength but anyone from a character class could have more.yellowdingonoreply@blogger.com