Player's Notes: The Age of Conan
Guest post on the Bossonian Marches playtest by Kailes.
We had been playing our main Mystara campaign for over a year at that point, and wanted something entirely different to freshen it up a bit. The Age of Conan was chosen mostly because of the ready-to-play rule books and the sheer coolness of the setting. Each of the four players ran a pair of first-level characters comprising an 8-character party. The two of mine were Riona — a Cimmerian fighter and trailblazer, and Veer — a Vendhyan assassin, and a bastard of some high-ranked noble from a prostitute.
For the reader's convenience, my notes are divided into two chapters: Mechanical and Role-Playing notes. The former contains my impressions from the mechanics of the game (both Conan supplement and OD&D), and the latter — most memorable role-playing situations in the Bossonian Marches mini-campaign.
Mechanical notes ↩
I am no stranger to role-playing games, having played them for the better part of my life, and I do love to try out different systems. The OD&D was not the first, but one of the many, and I found it cool, fun, and deep in its own way.
I made two drastically different characters, which feel and play unlike each other right from the 1st level, at the same time acting as capable adventurers both mechanically and narratively. A fighter can endure a couple of blows, and an assassin is a master of stealth and poison.
Fighter
Riona, Cimmerian Neutral Swordsman (Fighter 3)
STR 15, INT 11, WIS 14, CON 10, DEX 13, CHA 9
HD 3 (11 hp)
Plate & Shield +1, helmet, silvered spear, dagger, short bow.
Languages: Common, Stygian.
I can't say much about my experience with the Fighter, except that it was cool, and multiple creatures were killed in the process. If you get your hands on a plate mail and a shield, you can make a formidable tank. This time, I have chosen a spear instead of my typical go-to weapon—longsword, and it worked out quite well.
Assassin
Veer, Vendhyan Neutral Murderer (Assassin 3)
STR 13, INT 11, WIS 11, CON 7, DEX 13, CHA 14
HD 2+1 (9 hp)
Leather & Shield, sword +2, dagger (blade venom), composite bow (silver-tipped arrows), rope of climbing.
Languages: Common, Stygian.
Compared to the BECMI Thief, which I have played before, the Assassin is a little tougher, appearing to be somewhat closer to a Thief/Fighter multiclass. This makes the Assassin less dependent on the player's skill than your typical “non-combatant” Thief. Also, like the Thief, the Assassin has its own “XP farming machine,” which served me well when I didn't have enough experience to level up. In the course of the game, I completed one assassination contract, resolved with a roll on the corresponding table. That was fun, risky, profitable, and very much in the spirit of an assassin.
Man-to-Man Combat
I was also one of the players who asked for the “firing into melee” house rules. In my opinion, without them, squishy characters in big encounters are either useless or dead.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to test the "different weapon for different situation" style of play much. But this was a short game with a relatively narrow variety of enemies, so I look forward to future tests.
Wargame
Our wargame encounter with the Picts was short, so I don't have much to say about it. Troops are comically cheap, the rules are simple, and resolutions are fast. I think I more or less like it. (I really hated the BECMI's War Machine for its d100 "swinginess"; this one isn't so random, and that's enough for me).
Role-playing Notes ↩
I like the Hyborian Age setting, so it was fun to imagine myself as a person from this world. OD&D, with its simplicity, works well for my immersion, and I wasn't overloaded with rules like in the 2d20 Conan system, so I could concentrate more on the role-playing and problem-solving.
Both of my characters made risky decisions and were rewarded in their own ways. Veer solved a puzzle and was rewarded with a Sword +2 by the ghost of a deceased adventurer named Robin.
Riona, on the other hand, drank wine offered by a ghost and took on a ghost-like appearance while remaining fully corporeal. One of her party members was freaked out by this and tried to find a cure for her condition, but Riona didn't mind it at all — her body worked normally, and she could still kill things, so for her, nothing had changed. Moreover, in her opinion, this new appearance would strike fear into the hearts of her enemies. For me, as a player, such a permanent change in appearance is a cool feature very much in the style of Sword and Sorcery.
And last but not least, during his contract, Veer was wounded and lay up in bed for a couple of days. He spent that time flirting with Renenet – a Stygian sorceress, another player's character – and planning the assassination of his father.
Final Thoughts ↩
From an experienced player's perspective, there isn't a big difference between rolling a d20 in later editions of the game or 2d6 on the Man-to-Man table. OD&D with Chainmail combat was a fun and simple game, and I am looking forward to seeing how this system works in a long-term campaign.
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