preview - e23 - Steve Jackson Games

More documents

Recommendations

Info

INTRODUCTION: CONAN THE MIGHTY 3 About Curtis M. Scott 3 About L. Sprague de Camp, Map of Hyboria 4 1. CONAN'S WORLD: THE HYBORIAN AGE . . 5 History and Prehistory 5 The Serpent People 5 The Rise of Humankind 6 Bibliographical Entries 6 The Cataclysm 7 The Khari 8 Acheron, Hyperborea the Elder and Stygia 8 The Calendar 8 The Rise of the Hyborians 9 Conan and the Cthulhu Mythos 9 The Coming of the Hyrkanians 10 The Hyborian World 10 The Hyborian Nations 10 Technology 10 The Khari Empires 11 The Khari Successor States 11 The Tribal Peoples, The Iranistani, The Shemites 11 Magic 11 2. HYBORIAN CHARACTERS 12 New Nonhumans 13 Degenerate Men 13 Satyrs 13 Creating New Nonhuman Races 13 Serpent Men, S'Tarra 14 Advantages 15 Disadvantages 16 Skills 17 New Skills, Inappropriate Skills 17 Languages 18 Jobs, Status and Cost of Living 18 Jobs Table 19 Equipment and Prices 20 Powers of the Lotus 20 Other Poisons 21 3. HYBORIAN BESTIARY 22 Key to Animal Statistics 22 Dinosaurs 23 Hyborian Creatures 23 The Walking Dead 26 Mystical Creatures 26 Demons, Summoned Demon Table 28 4. HYBORIAN RELIGION 29 How Religion Works 29 Clerical Magic 30 The "Blessed" Advantage 30 Gods and Pantheons 31 Mitra 31 Set and the Stygian Pantheon 31 Erlik and the Living Tarim 32 The Shemitish Pantheon 32 The Vendhyan Pantheon 33 The Animal Gods 33 Nature Worshippers 33 Gods of the North, Ancestor Worship, Demon Worship 34 Other Gods 34 Map of the Hyborian World 36 5. LANDS OF THE HYBORIAN AGE 38 Antillia 38 Aquilonia 40 Argos 45 Barachan Isles 46 Border Kingdom 48 Brythunia 49 Cimmeria 51 Corinthia 52 Darfar 54 Ghulistan 55 Hyperborea 56 Hyrkania 58 Ira nistan 60 Keshan 62 CONTENTS -2- Khitai 63 Kosala 65 Koth 66 Kush and the Black Kingdoms 68 Meru 71 Nemedia 72 Nordheim 74 Ophir 75 Pictish Wilderness 76 Shem 78 Stygia 80 Turan 83 Vendhya 85 Zamora 87 Zembabwei 88 Zingara 89 6. THE CONAN CAMPAIGN 91 Running a Hyborian Campaign 91 Campaign Settings 91 Campaign Style 92 Rewriting History 92 Money in Hyboria, Ransom 93 Playing Conan 94 HYBORIAN MAGIC 95 The Nature of Magic in the Hyborian Age 95 Adapting Magic to the Hyborian Age 95 Campaign Period, Suggested Spell List 95 Hyborian Psionics 96 The Book of Skelos 97 Sorceries of the Black Ring of Stygia 97 Mysteries of Mount Yimsha 98 Spells of Khitai 99 Amulets, Talismans and Ancient Devices of Power 99 MASS COMBAT 101 Overview 101 Troop Strength 101 Mass Combat Turn Sequence, Determining Troop Quality 101 Troop Types 102 Troop Quality and Morale 102 Changing Troop Quality, Determining Commander's Experience 102 Battle Magic 103 Determining Magic Power 103 Using Magic on the Battlefield 103 Raising Troops 103 Paying and Maintaining Troops 104 Catastrophe 105 Consequences to Player Characters 105 Survival Roll 105 Formations and Ranks 105 Glory Roll 106 Strategy Modifiers 106 Relative Troop Strength 106 Elevation and Defensive Position 107 Special Troop Superiority 107 Special Circumstances 107 Loot, Use of Pikemen, Morale 107 Battle Plans 108 Resolving the Contest of Strategy 108 Morale Modifiers, Rout and Disaster 108 Second Survival Roll 109 Casualties 109 Roleplaying Battle Scenes 109 Casualty Table 110 Force Roster 110 Quick and Dirty Mass Combat 110 APPENDICES 111 Bibliography 111 Conan the Thief 116 Conan, Captain of Turan 117 Amra the Lion 118 Conan the Kozak 119 Conan, King of Aquilonia 120 The Women in Conan's Life 121 Friends and Enemies 123 INDEX 126
INTRODUCTION: CONAN THE MIGHTY Robert Ervin Howard (1906-36), a gifted but ill-starred Texas writer of the 1920s and '30s, created the Hyborian Age, a fantastic fictional setting to rank with Baum's Oz, Carroll's Wonderland and Burroughs' Barsoom. In Howard's Conan stories, before recorded history, " . .. shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars — Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold . . ." Conan, the greatest Hyborian hero, was born in the barbaric northern land of Cimmeria. After an adventurous life as a thief, pirate and mercenary, he literally crowned his career. He became King of Aquilonia, the richest and most powerful nation in the West. Howard proposed that this age had glittered between the sinking of Atlantis, around 18,000 B.C., and the dawn of known history. A catastrophe wiped out Atlantis and Lemuria, whose survivors reverted to savagery. In time these peoples built new civilizations. By 15,000 B.C., the powerful empires of Acheron and Stygia, rife with sinister sorceries, had arisen in the western part of the main continent. Northern barbarians, the Hyborians, overran Acheron. On its ruins, the conquerors raised Howard's "shining kingdoms." Another natural catastrophe later ended the Hyborian Age, whose history survives only in fragmentary form in myths and legends. Howard assured his readers that this was pure fiction, not a serious theory of human prehistory. About GURPS Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of the GURPS system. Our address is Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) any time you write us! Resources now available include: Roleplayer. This bimonthly magazine includes new rules, variants, new races, beasts, news on upcoming releases, scenario ideas and more. Ask your game retailer, or write for subscription information. New supplements and adventures. We're always working on new material, and we'll be happy to let you know what's available. Write us for our current catalog. Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us — but we do our best to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all GURPS releases, including this book, are always available from SJ Games; be sure to include an SASE with your request. Q&A. We do our best to answer any game question accompanied by an SASE. Gamer input. We value your comments. We will consider them, not only for new products, but also when we update this book on later printings! BBS. For those who have computers, SJ Games operates a multi-line BBS with discussion areas for several games, including GURPS. Much of the playtest feedback for new products comes from the BBS. It's up 24 hours a day at 512-447-4449, at 300, 1200 or 2400 baud. Give us a call! Page References Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition. Any page reference that begins with a B refers to the GURPS Basic Set — e.g., p. B102 means p. 102 of the Basic Set, Third Edition. An M reference means GURPS Magic; BY is GURPS Bestiary; SW refers to GURPS Swashbucklers. About Curtis M. Scott Curtis Scott, author of GURPS Conan, GURPS Humanx, and several other books for various game companies, was a software engineer and dedicated gamer. He was perhaps best known in the gaming community for his devotion to M.A.R. Barker's Empire of the Petal Throne. As editor of one huge EPT sourcebook, he added all the Tsolyáni diacritical marks to the final typescript . . . by hand! Tragically, Curtis was killed in a traffic accident on his way to Origins/GenCon 1992. He will be missed. — 3 — Conan The Mighty
Page 2 and 3: THE GREATEST HERO OF THE HYBORIAN A
Page 6 and 7: About L. Sprague de Camp L. Sprague
Page 8 and 9: many westerners (particularly in Po
Page 10 and 11: INDEX Acheron, 8-9, 52, 67, 72, 77,
Page 12 and 13: Shadows; see Black, Red. Shan-e-Sor

preview - e23 - Steve Jackson Games

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?