TSR's Conan

[linefacedscrivener]

The first module created for the Conan Role-Playing Game was Conan the Buccaneer (CN1) written by Kim Eastland and developed by Anne C. Gray, and it was published in 1985. The module is largely based on the L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter book by the same title, though clearly modified to fit the game. The back cover describes the game as follows:


“Many Argosseans have been forced out to sea by burdensome taxes and penalties imposed by the king and his court. Most flee to Messantia where a person can lose himself in the streets. Some sign on to merchant vessels. And some become freebooters and buccaneers who sail the western seas.

“Of those who feed off other's labors, one group is of importance. Although backed by foreigners, the captain and crew are mainly Argossean. Their expedition will take them far past the Isle of the Black Ones, past the domain of the pirates of the Barachan Islands, in search of a lost island kingdom and the untold wealth it contains.

“Their fame, however, lies not only in what they accomplish, but in one of their crew - a young barbarian.

“His name is Conan.”



The module is a traveling adventure, taking Conan to the isle of Atothar, up the river Colvar, to a lake by the same name. Eventually, Conan and his party find the City of Kings, where he will face all manner of monsters. The game could use some fleshing out by the DM to give the game more mystery and meaning to the exploration than what is given in the module, but overall, it is not a bad effort.

[bonesaw]

Oh man, that cover artwork brings me back. Specifically, in my early twenties, I attended Gen Con when it was in Milwaukee- so awesome and much different time compared the weirdness of the gaming/comics scene now. Anyway, I purchased a D&D artbook at that time and was able to go around and get a bunch of big-name artists to sign it. Guys like Brom, Elmore, Parkinson, Julie Bell, Vallejo...that cover with the symbol as a signature- I got his too. I just can't remember his name right now. His art-style though, to me, always bridged that really old-school D&D art-style from the very first books to when the game moved into 2nd edition. Those were the days and those Gen Cons were so much fun. I was there at the beginning of Magic: The Gathering when it just started gaining traction and the whole convention was filled with people playing pick up games. At that time I tasked one of my buddies who was known as a master negotiator with cards to take my "Abyss" deck and trade it away for a Black Lotus and a Mox Jet. Whatever was left he could keep. He did so and I still have those cards in a "discard black deck" that I have today worth thousands of dollars.

The craziest thing? I remember bitching about paying 25 dollars for a Black Lotus back then.

[linefacedscrivener]

Sept 2, 2021 7:36:13 GMT -5 bonesaw said:

Oh man, that cover artwork brings me back. Specifically, in my early twenties, I attended Gen Con when it was in Milwaukee- so awesome and much different time compared the weirdness of the gaming/comics scene now. Anyway, I purchased a D&D artbook at that time and was able to go around and get a bunch of big-name artists to sign it. Guys like Brom, Elmore, Parkinson, Julie Bell, Vallejo...that cover with the symbol as a signature- I got his too. I just can't remember his name right now. His art-style though, to me, always bridged that really old-school D&D art-style from the very first books to when the game moved into 2nd edition. Those were the days and those Gen Cons were so much fun. I was there at the beginning of Magic: The Gathering when it just started gaining traction and the whole convention was filled with people playing pick up games. At that time I tasked one of my buddies who was known as a master negotiator with cards to take my "Abyss" deck and trade it away for a Black Lotus and a Mox Jet. Whatever was left he could keep. He did so and I still have those cards in a "discard black deck" that I have today worth thousands of dollars.

The craziest thing? I remember bitching about paying 25 dollars for a Black Lotus back then.

Awesome story. I always like hearing old school D&D stories from people who played, especially about their early trips to Gen Con -- so much different than today. Glad the old school module brought back some memories.

[linefacedscrivener]

CN2 - Conan the Mercenary

The second module for Conan the Role-Playing Game is Conan the Mercenary (CN2), also written by Kim Eastland, and edited by Anne Gray McCready. The game appears to have also been released in 1985. The module is loosely designed to follow Conan the Buccaneer, but it can easily be played by itself. The back-cover tease reads:

“Fair fortune or foul brought you and your companions to the Barony of Aldoc, infamous for its bloody persecution of mages and the priesthood of any pantheon. But where there's strife there are those willing to hire a band of mercenaries such as yours. Indeed, fate seemed to smile the first week, for the Baron himself sought your services to recover a bauble, a royal symbol stolen by some lackwit.

“But fate played strange games when the trail led to an underground labyrinth. Now you scrabble through slimy caves, stalked by a band of mysterious masked men, unsure if you will ever again see the light of day.

“But if any man can succeed, it is the captain of your company. He earned his sword in the frozen wastelands of the north against barbarian and soldier alike. He's one man you'd follow into the netherworld itself, this man called Conan!”



The game takes place as Conan and his adventuring party leave the island of Atothar in Conan the Buccaneer. A storm suddenly arises and wipes out half the crew. When the storm lifts, they sight land – Zingara. Through a series of events that seem a bit contrived and forced, the heroes dream, come to a grove, and find an enormous underground labyrinth, for which the exploration takes up a good portion of the game. While in the underground maze, they are supposed to come across a trans-dimensional gate that will take them, ultimately, to the city of Melena.


This game takes somewhat a nose dive from the first one and starts to force players to go to one place because of a storm, and another because of a dream, and another because of a . . . well, you get the picture.

[linefacedscrivener]

CN3 - Conan Triumphant

Sporting a Conan painting by Boris Vallejo, Conan Triumphant (CN3) starts off strong –Not to mention the creature on the cover is a cool looking monster. This module, rather than being written by Kim Eastland is by William Carlson this time, though, again, edited by Anne Gray McCready. It is based on the Robert Jordan novel by the same name, which puts the quality of the game in jeopardy for while Jordan wrote many good novels, his pastiches of Conan were, well . . . horrible (I know, some disagree, but remember, back in the 1980s, I still read them!). Fortunately, the module deviates some from that story in order to adapt to the module. The back-cover details the adventure as follows:

“The king of Ophir is dying. He refuses to name an heir, believing he will be cured. His nobles are sure no cure will be found and that the country will soon be left without king or heir. The nobles are amassing private armies, plotting for the throne, while the king's army hides. Bandits now raid freely, and the Ophireans are refugees within their own land, fleeing to the safety of the cities.

“It is through this land you, Conan and your company of mercenaries, journey. For there are reports of good work for any who can swing a sword or cut a purse. In this troubled land, however, the trick is to avoid having your own throat or purse cut...”



The adventure uses a different format in that there are 17 scenarios Conan and the other player characters will move through. For the opening, “The Road to Ianthe,” there is a mass battle for which there is a new mass battle system to use. From there, they come to the city gates, an Inn, seek out the gold mines, meet up with assassins and then finally comes the death of the King. There is a “last" battle before the avatar of Al’Kiir is encountered. Ianthe is soon destroyed, and eventually the final confrontation arrives. The game’s scenarios are interesting and the game gets high marks for being a highly varied game. The one thing this module also has that the other two did not is plot. There a pretty good story line running through the game and the scenarios help drive this along. There is a murder mystery, political intrigue, and varied forms of combat that also help keep the module interesting.




Like the previous module, how the player characters move from one scenario to another is a bit wonky and no doubt there will be criticism and allegations by players of being railroaded. A good DM could make the transition between scenarios make more sense, but in some instances, that is going to take a lot of work, foresight, and planning. Still, of the three, this may be the better one, though more complicated. The first may be the better one for its simplicity. Hands down, however, the worst of the three is the second module, but even that still has merit and would be worth playing.

[linefacedscrivener]

RS1 - Red Sonja Unconquered

I would be remiss if I did not mention the other TSR module inspired by Howard, but not necessarily of the character he created, and that is the Red Sonja Unconquered module. As the back cover blurb reads:

"Steel met steel as Sonja slashed wildly before her. Sparks flew into the air; the mercenary's sword flew to the ground. her arms vibrated with the contact and her hands grew numb as she tightened her grip on the mighty sword. Still they came--only four in all, but with deadly intent shining deep within their hungry eyes. 

"What do these men seek? WHey would they rather die than run?"



The module is more in line with the two AD&D Conan modules as it is intended to be played with the modified AD&D rules. It was designed for characters of levels 10 through 14, and it was written by Anne G. McCready, the editor on several of the Conan Role-Playing Game modules. The game is essentially a river journey looking for an ancient burial ground, and while simplistic, the game does afford the DM a number of good opportunities for role-playing.

[linefacedscrivener]

Conclusion

Robert E. Howard’s creation of Conan certainly has influenced many people for many reasons, but when it came to Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, it influenced them to create Dungeons & Dragons. It is not surprising then, that Conan would eventually earn his own AD&D modules and role-playing game. Clearly motivated by the popularity of the movie, TSR secured the rights to create two Conan modules, as well as a Red Sonja one, using modified AD&D rules. This led Zeb Cook, also a huge fan of Howard’s Conan, to create a role-playing game dedicated to Conan built on a new system he created.

Although others would create Conan related material, many using the AD&D system or other adaptations, TSR was predominately the first to do so. The games and system have been somewhat forgotten, dismissed as products from a time-period in which TSR was cranking out anything popular to try and stay afloat. They are actually worth revisiting, for while they all have their deficiencies, overall they did a good job at creating the atmosphere of Hyboria in which Conan, as we came to know him through Howard’s writings, could thrive and not die in a role-playing game.

[Von K]

Thanks for all the posts in this series linefacedscrivener! What stats did they give Red Sonja in RS1?

[linefacedscrivener]

Sept 15, 2021 17:43:26 GMT -5 Von K said:

Thanks for all the posts in this series linefacedscrivener! What stats did they give Red Sonja in RS1?

You're welcome. Sorry for the delay in responding, things have been hectic around here. The module didn't really give a full fledged states block to Sonja, only a slight framework. In some other locations, they give a small tidbit. It was really a crappy way of creating a Red Sonja D&D module. Here is what there is:

[Von K]

Sept 20, 2021 10:45:45 GMT -5 linefacedscrivener said:

Sept 15, 2021 17:43:26 GMT -5 Von K said:

Thanks for all the posts in this series linefacedscrivener! What stats did they give Red Sonja in RS1?

You're welcome. Sorry for the delay in responding, things have been hectic around here. The module didn't really give a full fledged states block to Sonja, only a slight framework. In some other locations, they give a small tidbit. It was really a crappy way of creating a Red Sonja D&D module. Here is what there is:

Thanks for the RS1 stats info linefacedscrivener!