'Barbarism is the natural state of mankind,' the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. 'Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.'

-Robert E. Howard
Beyond The Black River

Corrupt Cliffs

Corrupt Cliffs
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Friday, April 19, 2019

Friday's Forgotten Fiends: Giant Nassarius Snails

Welcome back to another installment of Friday's Forgotten Fiends! Custom monsters for your RPG table feature stat blocks for Conan 2d20 and Dungeons and Dragons 5e as well as paper 28mm miniatures and VTT tokens! It has been awhile since the last posting but I am back! Hopefully I can get these to be more regular again.

Awhile ago now someone posted a video on Facebook that featured a water tank and a fish body being dropped into it. As it lay there you watched as this empty tank slowly sprang to life as these tiny snails began popping out of the sand and devouring the fish. So the inspiration for the giant carnivorous snail was born and after some time, has finally come to fruition!

Conan 2d20

D&D 5e

in progress

VTT Tokens

Paper Minis!



If you would like a version on these with backs as well as fronts please check out my offering of this set on Drive Thru RPG. They are offered for the low cost of $1usd and and support is greatly appreciated. Thank you! If you liked this article then don't forget to subscribe to get the next exciting installment on pulp rpg gaming both Sci-Fi and Fantasy!

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Thursday, April 18, 2019

The Witch of the Screaming Woods

At the end of April 2019, I will be at the Calgary Expo GMing two games of Conan 2d20! I will run 4 players through an adventure, once on Friday and once on Sunday. If you are around and want to check out Conan 2d20 for real stop by and sign up!


The games will feature paper miniatures from Okum Arts, Kevs Lounge and Printable Heroes as well as tiles from Black Scroll Games.

Everything I will be using will be all self printed and assembled. Even if you can't play stop by the table and see what you can come up with for an ultra portable, but awesome kit!
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Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Savage Sword of Conan: Issue #4 (2019)

Are you feeling SAVAGE!? This week we see Savage Sword #4 hit shelves, and as always I am here to give you my first thoughts, spoiler free!


Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Ron Garney
Colorist: Richard Isanove
Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Alex Ross

Cover Price: $3.99cad

The cover is again, independent of the story. A beautiful rendering of the Cimmerian superimposed over old Savage Sword covers. Currently apart from the name we aren't seeing much similar to the old title though. At current these covers are skillfully done, but for me lack the drive to pull me into the story. I would really like to see some covers that, at least, tie tangentially into the story within the pages.

The format continues with 19 pages of Conan action, and it goes by at a very quick pace. My complaint here is that the story isn't progressed at all. We have a very minor amount of movement along the plot, which puts the action at odds with the story. The action is in abundance, but in 19 pages the story is not. Compared to what we are seeing in "The Barbarian", this is moving at a snail's pace. I have also come to the conclusion that I must simply ignore Howard canon pretty completely for this series.

I still like the interior art, and I still think it lends itself to the savage nature of this title. This issue has some beautiful interior panels that really scream "CONAN" to me.


This issue is *FULL* of Sorcery however, almost every panel has something weird in it. It may have too much to be honest, but to that end I would rather have too much than too little. The sorcery on display is fitting to the genre however, so we aren't seeing fireballs shooting off left and right, or wizards casting magic missile.

Art:

Story:

Cover:

Sword & Sorcery:


And with that, this issue lands at 3.5 skulls.

This issue doesn't necessarily do anything wrong. Conan: Check, Swords: Check, Sorcery: Check, Action: Check. Despite that I feel like we aren't seeing much progression with the story. We could go from Savage Sword 3 to Savage Sword 5, include 1 or 2 panels from 4 and be totally up to speed on the story. I certainly want action and swords and sorcery in my Conan, but I also want the story to progress a little quicker, especially given the monthly nature of the title. This may play much better in a longer format collected series. The book did scream along, and I definetely checked to see if it was the standard 19 pages long.

But don't take my word for it, run down to your local comic book store and pick up your copy today!

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Till next time, don't forget to Keep it Weird!

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Conan the Barbarian: Issue #5 (2019) "The Captain of the Ship of the Dead"

Now that the schedule for this book has fallen into its intended monthly offering, I find myself looking forward to this title. This is partially because it's Conan and partially because the week before this title there isn't a Conan title being released. But enough of this pre-amble. I have coffee and some Conan to read.


Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Mahmud Asrar
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Esar Ribic

This issue sees the return of Mahmud Asrar to the art side of this title, so this issue is much like the first four in regards to style. It has some excellent panels, some of these are highly detailed and others are less detailed and still very evocative of our Cimmerian hero. The colors, as always, are excellent and I really like how some is executed, but alas I cannot tell you the specific panels until you have also read the book. If you liked Matt Wilson's color with Mahmud's art in past issues, you will not be disappointed!

Unlike Savage Sword the covers of this book are more in line with the story and feel like the Esar is given a basic plot of the book before he sits down to create the beautiful covers. This one is no different and I find I like this approach much better to the covers we are seeing on Savage Sword.

The story is told in a present, looking back at recent events type of format, we know Conan is in a bad spot, and we learn how he got there. I initially wasn't sure about it. About 3/4s of the way through the book I was pretty invested in the story that brought Conan to his current predicament, but I also came to feel about a possible weakness in this title, as we swapped back and forth from present to past. Some stories might be a little too long to feature in a single issue. I was pretty sure this tale could be fleshed out longer, but I think Jason did a pretty good job getting it into a single 19 pages of panels.

My chief issue with this title is the resolution, as it features things wholly out of Conan's control, even if he uses them to his advantage in the end. Having a key element outside his control isn't something I think we really like to see. But thinking back to other issues perhaps it is more common than we might think. In issue 3 the tree breaks, in Issue 2 the Picts rescue him, so perhaps I am just being nit picky.

Unlike the last issue this story is again full of sorcery and all things weird, making it feel more like a Conan tale to me than last months tale. Finally we see the Scarlet Witch again, although she doesn't tie into the story at all, we get another glimpse of her carting Conan back to her lair in the distant future.

Art:

Story:

Cover:

Sword & Sorcery:


My rating this month is 4.5 out of 5 Skulls of My Enemies!

Overall I quite liked this issue of Conan the Barbarian! It had a lot of the hallmarks we come to expect from Conan and I look forward to discussing direct aspect of it on the forums in the coming days. So run out and grab your copy of Conan the Barbarian and let me know what you think!

If you liked this article then don't forget to subscribe to get the next exciting installment on pulp gaming both Sci-Fi and Fantasy!

If you have questions or comments don't forget to hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube or Instagram!

Make sure you don't miss a single post and subscribe by e-mail today!

If you need to check out any of these great games stop on by DriveThruRPG and pick something up through my affiliate link to help support the blog!

Till next time, don't forget to Keep it Weird!