Gearing up for the Hyborian Age
Sunday we will do character generation for my Hyborian Age OD&D game. I'm hastily printing off copies of my Age of Conan booklet for the group, and will try to have enough Men & Magic, Eldritch Wizardry, Chainmail, and Underworld & Wilderness Adventures booklets to go around as needed. Plus at least one copy of each of The Strategic Reviews which have the other character types, and one or two spare copies of Philotomy's musings (I booklet-ized them for myself to fit in my OD&D box).
My intent is to start them off fairly light--I have a Dungeon Crawl Classic that involves solving a murder by entering a haunted house, which will then tie in nicely to the Mongoose "Heretics of Tarantia" module. It'll ease them into the Hyborian Age with somewhat more familiar tropes.
After that, I'm going to go full-bore in--slavers, cults of Set, adventures in the Black Kingdoms, the works. I may even attempt to adapt the modules from the old TSR Conan RPG. I have a thought that, properly adapted, Gary Gygax's Necropolis could make for an excellent Stygian campaign. I will have to play with it and see. I have so many adventure ideas, hooks, and modules the real trick will be deciding what to do first. If the game is a success I can run for a long while with what I've already got on the shelf.
I'm very much looking forward to this game. I hope it goes well.
Someone pointed out that in what I call the "Troop Type" combat system, a character's experience and fighting ability should be accounted for in addition to their arms and armor. I would argue that this is accounted for in their "Man" rating as they level, but there is something to be said for individual prowess, too. I am considering the following "judgment calls" as DM:
Fighting Men start off based on weapons and armor. At Fourth level they increase their fighting type by one degree (to a maximum of Armored Foot/Heavy Horse)
Thieves start off reduced by one degree in attacking, but increased one degree on defense. At fourth level their attacking increases to standard.
Sorcerers start off reduced by one degree in both attack and defense. At fourth level defense evens out. At eighth level offense evens out.
Light weapons increase defense one step while lowering offense one step, UNLESS the wielder is wearing heavy armor, which slows him down and negates the defense bonus in favor of the armor's own.
Heavy weapons increase offense one step while lowering defense one step.
That's my thoughts as of now. Hopefully the game goes well. I'll keep you all posted here.
My intent is to start them off fairly light--I have a Dungeon Crawl Classic that involves solving a murder by entering a haunted house, which will then tie in nicely to the Mongoose "Heretics of Tarantia" module. It'll ease them into the Hyborian Age with somewhat more familiar tropes.
After that, I'm going to go full-bore in--slavers, cults of Set, adventures in the Black Kingdoms, the works. I may even attempt to adapt the modules from the old TSR Conan RPG. I have a thought that, properly adapted, Gary Gygax's Necropolis could make for an excellent Stygian campaign. I will have to play with it and see. I have so many adventure ideas, hooks, and modules the real trick will be deciding what to do first. If the game is a success I can run for a long while with what I've already got on the shelf.
I'm very much looking forward to this game. I hope it goes well.
Someone pointed out that in what I call the "Troop Type" combat system, a character's experience and fighting ability should be accounted for in addition to their arms and armor. I would argue that this is accounted for in their "Man" rating as they level, but there is something to be said for individual prowess, too. I am considering the following "judgment calls" as DM:
Fighting Men start off based on weapons and armor. At Fourth level they increase their fighting type by one degree (to a maximum of Armored Foot/Heavy Horse)
Thieves start off reduced by one degree in attacking, but increased one degree on defense. At fourth level their attacking increases to standard.
Sorcerers start off reduced by one degree in both attack and defense. At fourth level defense evens out. At eighth level offense evens out.
Light weapons increase defense one step while lowering offense one step, UNLESS the wielder is wearing heavy armor, which slows him down and negates the defense bonus in favor of the armor's own.
Heavy weapons increase offense one step while lowering defense one step.
That's my thoughts as of now. Hopefully the game goes well. I'll keep you all posted here.
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