Classic D&D Hyborian Age

[rabindranath72]

...possibly of interest also for C&C.

Here is what I came up with, to play Conan with my old D&D Mentzer boxed sets.

Classic D&D Hyborian Age setting guidelines

Background

At character creation the cultural background must be chosen.

Barbaric: reduce by 1 the chance of being surprised. The lowest ability score must be mental.

Civilised: add 1 to all reaction checks. The lowest ability score must be physical.

Classes

The Fighter

As standard D&D fighter, with the following special ability:

Combat specialization: at 2nd level fighter characters can choose a weapon with which they gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls. They must choose whether this weapon is used mounted (cavalry) or on foot (infantry).

The Thief

As standard D&D thief, with the following special ability:

Eyes of the cat: at 2nd level thieves have eyes like a cat. They gain infravision 60.

The Noble

Primary requisite: Charisma

Hit dice: d6

Armour: all

Weapons: as Thief

Saving throws: as Cleric

Attacks: as Cleric

XP table: as Cleric

Special abilities:

Wealth: the character starts with 200 sp (besides the normal allotment), and he receives this sum every year, provided he does not squander the money publicly.

Rally: retainers have a +1 to their morale score.

Leadership: at 4th level nobles double the number of retainers they can have for their charisma.

Diplomacy: nobles add +1 to any reaction checks.

Do you know who I am?: at 9th level (name level) characters who may fear the noble's reprisal must make a saving throw vs. spells to take action against the noble.

The Scholar

Primary requisite: Intelligence

Hit dice: d4

Armour: none

Weapons: dagger, blowgun, net, whip, staff, mace, sling, club, short bow, spear, javelin

Saving throws: as Magic-User

Attacks: as Magic-User

XP table: as Magic-User

Special abilities:

Knowledge is power: this ability refers to knowledge of ancient history, arcana, artifacts, fables, lost lore, mysteries, occult and relics. It assures full literacy and numeracy. This skill gives one a range of knowledge in fields of study that others are not likely to know. It allows the character to know (or at least know where to go to learn) about a particular subject or issue related to the above mentioned subjects. It also increases the characters chances of locating items of interest in lost tombs, books in libraries, or other related activities.

The percentage chance of success follows the progression of the Thief's Hear Noise ability. If the result of the check is larger than double the chance of success, the information gained is completely wrong and misleading.

Decipher script: as 4th level Thief.

Spells: scholars can cast spells. The Magic-User table gives the number of spells which can be cast each day for each level, although no spell memorisation is necessary. Scholars do not need spell books, although these can be used as sources to learn new spells. Scholars start with one sorcery style (and basic spell) at 1st level. At 2nd level they gain another sorcery style and another basic spell. At 4th level and every four levels thereafter, they gain another sorcery style and related basic spell. From 3rd level onward, they gain one advanced spell per level.

Ancient language: scholars know one ancient language of their choice.

I assigned levels to the spells in the d20 Conan book and Scrolls of Skelos, and I am converting them. Here is the list of spells and spell levels:

CONAN RPG: SPELLS BY STYLE AND LEVEL
Counterspells

Warding (B) 1

Greater Warding 4

Incantation of Amalric's Witchman 1

Rune of Jhebbal Sag 2

Master Warding 6
Curses

Lesser Ill-fortune (B) 1

Awful Rite of the Were-beast 6

Curse of Yzil 4

Dance of the Changing Serpent 4

Draw forth the Soul 6

Gelid Bones 2

Greater Ill-fortune 3

Ill-fortune 1

Doom of the Doll 6

Invocation of Xuthalla 6

Shrinking Doom 5
Divination

Astrological Prediction (B) 1

Dream of Wisdom 4

Mind Reading 3

Psychometry 1

Sorcerous News 5

Greater Sorcerous News 6

Visions 3

Visions of Torment & Enlight. 5

Projection 6
Hypnotism

Entrance (B) 1

Dance of the Cobras 3

Dominatio n 3

Dread Serpent 4

Hypnotic Suggestion 2

Mass-hypnotic Suggestion 5

Ranged Hypnotism 5

Savage Beast 3

Boundary 6

Dance of Atali 6

Enslave 4

Illusion 5

Swell 4

Torment 1

Voice of Power 6

Voice of Power, Greater 7
Nature Magic

Summon Beast (B) 1

Animal Ally 2

Children of the Night 3

Greater Summon Beast 1

Sorcerous Garden 5

Nature Magic (continued)

Bones of Life 6

Control Magical Beast 4

Control Monstrous Humanoid 5

Fruit of Air 7
Necromancy

Raise Corpse (B) 2

Agonising Doom 6

Black Plague* 6

Greater Black Plague* 7

Death Touch 5

Draw Forth the Heart 6
Oriental Magic

Calm of the Adept (B) 1

Darting Serpent 2

Shape-shifter 6

Warrior Trance 2

Yimshas Carpet 6
Prestidigitation

Conjuring (B) 1

Burst Barrier 2

Telekinesis 2

Telekinesis, Greater 2

Animate Statue 3

Animate Swords 2

Magic Builder 5
Summonings

Master Words and Signs (B) 6

Demonic Pact (B) 1

Demonic Pact, Greater* 6

Summon Demon* 4

Summon Elemental* 6

Banish Outsider 6

Bind Demon 7

Form Demon 6
Immortality

Witchs Vigour* 4

Eternal Youth* 5

Life Drain 6

Unnatural Strength* 6

Vampire Transformation* 6
Cosmic

The Time is Right* 6

The Stars are Right* 7

B = Basic spell

* = potential runaway magic

[CharlieRock]

One very interesting item I was going to steal from the Conan MMORPG was the way it handled spell-casters. You can cast and all, but exceed a certain point total (spells accumulate points as they are cast) and you wake up in Hell. Then you have to escape if you want your game to continue. Sounds like that would keep the overall spell-caster population (not to mention background magic) quite low.
_________________
The Rock says ...

Know your roll!

[finarvyn]

I've got some friends who are real Conan nuts, and I'll have to give this a shot when we get together next.

Looks like you're captured the spirit of Hyboria!
_________________
Finarvyn

Lord Marshall, Earl of Stone Creek, C&C Society

C&C Playtester in 2003
OD&D player since 1975

[rabindranath72]

finarvyn wrote:
I've got some friends who are real Conan nuts, and I'll have to give this a shot when we get together next.

Looks like you're captured the spirit of Hyboria!

Thanks Fin! Much appreciated! Actually I am making some small updates after some playtests, so I will post the changes as soon as possible. Nothing major, just some fine touches. Mostly, I set up things so that the characters can evolve only up to 14th level (Expert set) which seems about right given the setting. This implies some reworking of spells levels and how the scholar gains spells.

Cheers,

Antonio