Conan 2d20: Chase Trials.

Recently we talked about a mechanic to bring extended tests into Conan 2d20. We named this the Trial. Today we are going to extend this a little further using what amounts to Trial struggle, or the Chase Trial

We saw a Trial denoted like this, "10-D2", where D2 was the difficulty and 10 was the total momentum that needed to be generated to complete the extended test. The Chase Trial will work essentially the same way. One side will be given the Trial, and the other side a simple difficulty rating.

The Chase

Those being chased will be given a Trial they will need to complete to escape, ie 15-D1. In order to escape their pursuers they must complete the Trial. Those chasing will make their own skill roll, and as in a struggle the total momentum available will be the difference between the two.

Those escaping can, of course, use any momentum left to work through the Trial, while those giving chase can use their momentum to undo whatever headway the escapees have made.

How Far?

If we assume an accumulated momentum on this Trial of 0 is equivalent to the parties being in the same zone then we can take this a step further and introduce zones and ranged weapons into the mix. Perhaps an accumulated momentum of 1 or 2 indicates the two parties are at medium range and an accumulated momentum of 3 or 4 indicates long range.

How many momentum is indicated by range will largely by the GMs call. A short chase across a grassland might mean 3 momentum still indicates close range, while a long chase through the narrow streets of the Maul might indicate only 1 momentum is medium range and beyond that you lose line of sight on your opponents.

Test Difficulty

Generally, start the difficulty at 1 and add to it based on the environment. The total momentum required will vary based on the number of players, how capable they are, and how much they are willing to risk. If the player leading the challenge is unwilling to use Doom to gain additional dice, the players may flounder, especially if their base difficulty is 2 or higher.

• Escape through a well known, lit city. Base difficulty = D1.
• Escape through a known darkened city. +1 Difficulty = D2.
• Escape through an unknown, darkened city. +2 Difficulty = D3.

Here are a few quick samples illustrating this as an idea.
Quick escape through known darkened streets - 10-D2 Survival/Stealth vs D2 Observation/Survival
Quick escape through unknown darkened streets - 10-D3 Survival/Stealth vs D2 Observation/Survival
Prolonged Escape through known daylight streets - 15-D1 Survival/Stealth vs D1 Observation/Survival
Chasing a cart on horseback along a forested road - 10-D2 Animal Handling vs D1 Animal Handling

The night is dark and a thick mist has descended upon the city. Two men stand outside a money house, while a third crouches and works the lock with slender tools that glint occasionally in whatever light is available. The standing men are both of native stock, Nemedia, while the third is clearly Zamoran. The Nemedians scan the area and one speaks, "Hurry up." "Almost there.....", replies the Zamoran, his voice trailing off in concentration. With a click the door opens and a quick sly smile jumps across the Zamoran's face. Just as quickly the smile vanishes as men in clanking armor and the livery of the Numalian town guard step from the shadows and utter a single command, "HALT!" The three companions look at each other and with a small nod that only their years together allowed them to understand. They bolted off into the night, the guardsmen in pursuit! Round 1 Momentum Pool: 2 Doom Pool: 13 GM: Ok! You escape into the fairly familiar streets of the city with the guards hot on your tail. Your difficulty in evading the guard is 10-D2 Stealth or Survival, and they are at a D2 to catch up to you. Nemedian1: I have a 15/3 Survival rating so I will take the lead. Nemedian2: I assist with my 13/2 observation helping to pick the safest path through the darkness. Zamoran: I will assist with my Stealth 12/2 skill, helping us stay as silent as possible. GM: Ok Roll! Nemedian1: I roll 4 dice, buying 1 with momentum. 15, 1, 2 and 12 for 6 successes and 4 momentum! Nemedian2: I roll my assistance die! I roll a 2 adding 2 more success! Zamoran: I roll 1 die as well. I get a 4. That is 1 more success! GM: Your total momentum for the struggle is 7! GM: Ok. The Squad of guards rolls. 3 for the Sgt with an observation of 9/1 and 4 more for the rest of his unit also at 9/1 GM: 10,9,1,13,17,4 and 15 for 4 Successes and 2 momentum vs your total momentum of 7 GM: You manage to put some ground ground between you and them. Your total momentum for the escape is at 5/10. Round 2 Momentum Pool: 0 Doom Pool: 12 Nemedian1: I roll 3 dice! a 3, 14 and a 10, for 4 successes and 2 momentum! Nemedian2: I also roll assistance 1d20 against my observation again! I get a 1! 2 more successes! Zamoran: I assist with my stealth again rolling my 1d20! 12 for 1 successes. GM: Your total momentum for the struggle is 5! GM: The sergeant buys 3 dice with doom and the rest of the squad rolls 4, for a total of 9d20 all at 9/1. GM: 3,10,19,11,20,7,13,13,10 for a total of 2 successes and 0 momentum, PLUS a complication! GM: Your total momentum for this Trial is now at 10! The three men race into the familiar streets of the city, the night and mist work in their favor as they quickly slip away from the guardsmen that were laying in wait to catch these three thieves.......

Until Next Time

If you have any ideas or thoughts about this as a simple system to mechanically run chases, let me know. Feel free to drop a comment or check me out on YouTube .

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

Naval Combat in the Hyborian Age: Conan 2d20, an overview and example.

It was just at sunrise when the lookout shouted a warning. Around the long point of an island off the starboard bow glided a long lethal shape, a slender serpentine galley, with a raised deck that ran from stem to stern. Forty oars on each side drove her swiftly through the water, and the low rail swarmed with naked blacks that chanted and clashed spears on oval shields. From the masthead floated a long crimson pennon. Queen of the Black Coast -Robert E. Howard

Overview

Like many things in Conan 2d20, small details are ignored to bring big action and quick resolution. We generally don't count arrows and we don't concern ourselves with exactly how many coins of gold we find. Naval combat works like this, scaling up regular combat to the high seas. Allowing us to resolve the epic ship battles of the open water in only a few rounds.

This is not a wargame by any stretch of the imagination. It is a high level abstraction of ship combat that allows PCs to still be central to the action. Like combat at a man to man level we have familiar ideas like zones, soak, stress(structure) and harm(breaks). Despite these similarities a man's weapon isn't going to cause damage to a ship, but flaming arrows, ramming and siege weapons can all batter and destroy a ship sending it to the depths.

Ship Positions & Roles

Crew Assignment - One or more crew members on a ship assigned to the same task. If the crew assignment is larger than one, then one of the crew assignment is designated as the leader and the others as support. For example a PC might be the leader on a crew assignment that commands the ship and have a number of NPCs to assist in the role.

A ship is split into various positions that describe the functions a ship might perform during its turn: Commander, Helmsman, Lookout, Marine and Piper. Each of these positions has a selection of actions they can perform; marines can try and grapple the enemy ship or fire flaming arrows at it, Commanders can attempt to coordinate actions or assign command crew.

Each crew assignment is able to complete one action in a ship's turn. In order for a ship to complete one of these actions in a turn, it must have a crew assignment to complete the skill test associated with it. For marines to shoot flaming arrows there must be one or more marines assigned to attempt a ranged weapons test.

Each position can only have one crew assignment associated with it. You can't have two command crews and perform two coordinate actions in a turn. The only position this is different, is the marine crew. You can have as many marine crew assignments as you have men for.

This is a list of the positions, what they do, and the number of crew assignments they can have.

• Commander - Generally giving orders and coordinating. Adding momentum to the pool and moving crewmen around if needed. 1 crew assignment.
• Helmsman - Making movement decisions and sailing tests to avoid shallows, reefs and debris. 1 crew assignment.
• Lookout - Watching and adding momentum to movement and helping to coordinate attacks. 1 crew assignment.
• Marines - Boarding, Firing arrows (Normal and flame), firing siege equipment. 1+ crew assignment.
• Piper - Coordination of the rowers. Adding momentum to movement. 1 crew assignment.

Large ships will generally have enough crew to create larger crew assignments and be more effective. Smaller ships will have less effective crew assignments, or in the case of very small vessels, not enough crew to fill all the roles, causing them to not be able to perform an action from each position during a turn.

The term "Crew Assignment" is one of my own creation to help clarify the positions on a ship. Conan the Pirate talks about crew (generally the PCs) and Support crew. However support crew are a part of the rules that could use a little bit of clarity. I play them based on my idea of the crew assignment and assistance rules; the leader rolls their dice and the support crew roll their dice. If the leader is successful then the support successes are added in. If I was GMing a party of six adventurers on a sailing vessel and they had managed to scare up 20 crew members, they might organize their vessel something like this.

• Commander - PC1 - 2 crew - Command rolls are PCs 2d20-5d20 + 2d20 assistance dice from the crew.
• Helmsman - PC2 - 3 crew - Helmsman rolls are PCs 2d20-5d20 + 3d20 assistance dice from the crew.
• Lookout - PC3 - 3 crew - Lookout rolls are PCs 2d20-5d20 + 3d20 assistance dice from the crew.
• Marines - PC4 - 4 crew (Squad with PC) - Marine rolls are PCs 2d20-5d20 + 4d20 assistance dice from the crew.
• Marines - PC5 - 4 crew (Squad with PC) - Marine rolls are PCs 2d20-5d20 + 4d20 assistance dice from the crew.
• Marines - PC6 - 4 crew (Squad with PC) - Marine rolls are PCs 2d20-5d20 + 4d20 assistance dice from the crew.

Reactions

Although the rules state a single action per crew assignment, it lists actions as a Standard Action and as a Reaction. This is another area I feel the rules could use a little work, but it we assume a scaled up version of normal combat, in which players receive a single standard action and can still perform reactions, we can reasonably make the same assumption here. We can of course make the same assumption on the cost of these reactions being 1 doom for the first, 2 for the second etc.

The Ships

As I mentioned combat is essentially scaled up from standard melee combat. Each ship is given basic specifications, some matter for combat and some do not. The ones we care the most about are as follows.

• Structure - Stress of the ship.
• Breaks - How many breaks it takes to destroy/sink/incapacitate the ship.
• Soak - How much armor the ship has.
• Maneuver - How nimble a ship is, grants bonus d20s on sailing tests.
• Qualities - Some of these are general concepts and don't lend themselves to combat, others allow combat centric abilities like quicker moves, or easier ramming.

Damage

Ships can suffer from a few types of damage. Ramming, flaming arrows and siege weapons can all cause physical damage that can sink the vessel. Boarding and regular arrows generally cause non-lethal damage, and again the rules are a little loose here, so use your best judgement on how many crew are actually killed if the ship takes several non-lethal breaks.

Final Thoughts

As a set of rules these could use a little more polish. There is a large portion of gamers that want to play RAW and some things just don't make sense as they are written. Others require more of a leap of faith than some are willing to make. If you can get past that, then you can easily use this as a framework to play out high level narrative combats on the high seas, while allowing each PC to handle a specific action on a ship.

An Example

In the example to follow we will break it down in depth and split each ship turn up into the crew positions. Our example will illustrate a battle between a Merchant Cog named "The Promise of Ishtar" being attack by a Pirate Caravel named "The Fury of Set". Below are the specifications for the two ships. You will see that the "Fury of Set" has a maneuver of 1, and so will gain +1d20 to sailing tests. It is also listed as agile which means it can move an additional zone with any movement action it takes.

Also take note that the "Promise of Ishtar" is a much heavier ship with more structure and breaks than the caravel has.

To further help in our example, we will call the "Promise of Ishtar" the PC vessel and the "Fury of Set" the NPC vessel. Further we will assume all crew positions have an acting leader, who is at least toughened, to give each ship equal actions during a turn. We will also assume play has been in sessions for awhile and the players have 3 momentum in their pool while the GM has 15 doom accumulated.

Fury of Set Class: Caravel Sailing Range: 14 Days Maneuver: 1 Soak: 2 Structure: 6 Breaks: 3 Crew: 20 Qualities: Agile, Shallow Draft, Ship Stowage: 100

Promise of Ishtar Class: Cog Sailing Range: 8 Days Maneuver: 0 Soak: 2 Structure: 10 Breaks: 4 Crew:10 Qualities: Deep Draft, Ship Stowage: --

Here I have laid out the crew assignments for the various ship positions. As well as the skill Target Number(TN) and Focus(FC) we are most likely to need in this scenario.

Crew Assignments
	Fury of Set	Promise of Ishtar
Commander	1 Leader 3 crew Command Skill: 9/1	1 Leader 1 crew Command Skill: 10/2
Helmsman	1 Leader 4 crew Sailing Skill: 9/1	1 Leader 1 crew Sailing Skill: 12/1
Lookout	1 Leader 4 crew Observation Skill: 10/1	1 Leader 1 crew Observation Skill: 9/2
Marines	1 Leader 4 crew Ranged Skill: 10/1 Command Skill: 10/1	1 Leader 1 crew Ranged Skill: 9/1 Command Skill: 10/1
Piper	None	None

One final note before we move to the example. It will seem long as there is a lot of writing, however it is only 3.5 rounds of combat. I have also not included any descriptive text as this was designed to be a mechanical example of the rules. Of course if you have any questions or find any mistakes please drop me a line or leave a comment on the blog!

Khemi was still a day away, and as the sun began to set, the crew of the “Promise of Ishtar” prepared for another night at sea. They sailed from Messantia loaded with cargo, headed for the northern end of the Black Coast. They had travelled this route many times, past dark coves and around small islands holding mysterious ruins. The remainder of the day was quiet in the embrace of the dying sun, only the sound of the ship’s prow plying the waves made any discernable noise. Suddenly the silence was broken by a sharp cry from the lookout as he spotted a long dark shape sliding out of one of the shallow coves. Its mast flying a brightly colored pennon, floating on the breeze. Its triangular sails unfurled and full of wind as it bore down on them with remarkable speed. “By Mitra!” The captain cursed. “Get ready ya dogs! That be the Fury of Set!”. Opening set-up.  "Fury of set" sailing out of the cove to attack "Promise of Ishtar". Round 1 Momentum: 3 Doom: 15 The Fury of set is headed toward the Promise of Ishtar, but is currently at long range and running with the wind. Players always get initiative unless the GM interrupts. Promise of Ishtar "Promise of Ishtar" takes damage in the shallows. Commander: Coordinate. D1 Command Test vs. 10/2. Rolls 2d20(9,17). 1 success, 0 momentum. Crew support of 1 rolls 1d20(19). 0 successes, 0 momentum. No momentum spent. No momentum is added to the group pool. Lookout: Heading. D1 Observation Test vs 9/2. Rolls 2d20(14,14). 0 successes. Failure. No momentum spent. No momentum is added to the group pool. Helmsman: Full Sail. It is a deep draft ship, so the difficulty is increased by 1 step due to crossing shallow waters. Move 2 zones. Z5->Z6->Z4. D2 Sailing Test vs. 12/2. Rolls 3d20(13,16,5). 1 success. Failure. The ship fails to cross the shallow water and slows as it takes damage ending its turn in Z6. The hazard causes 3cd(2,5,6). Promise of Ishtar suffers 2 structure damage as her soak absorbs 2 points. 1 momentum spent. (+1d20) (2 left) No momentum is added to the group pool. Fury of Set "Fury of Set" softens her prey with flaming arrows. Commander: Coordinate. D1 Command Test vs. 9/1. Rolls 3d20(1,5,10). 2 successes, 1 momentum. Crew support of 3 rolls 3d20(15,19,2). 1 success, 1 momentum. 1 doom is spent. (+1d20) 2 doom is added to the doom pool. (16 left) Lookout: Heading. D1 Observation Test vs, 10/1. Rolls 2d20(4,15). 1 success, 0 momentum. Crew support of 3 rolls 3d20(8,4,19). 2 successes, 2 momentum. 0 doom is spent. 2 doom is added to the doom pool. (17 left) Marines: The ships are now in close range. Flaming Arrows. "Promise of Ishtar" attempts to evade and pays 1 doom for the reaction. Reaction Struggle "Fury of Set" D1 Ranged attack vs 10/1. 4d20(19,16,14,4)+crew 4d20(8,18,7,13)=2 momentum. "Promise of Ishtar" D1 Sailing Test vs 12/1. 5d20(8,10,16,3,14)+crew 1d20(15)=2 momentum. GM spends 1 point of doom to break the tie for the NPCs. Flame arrows cause 4cd(4,2,2,3) damage to the "Promise of Ishtar". 2 points are soaked. She takes points of structure damage. 3 doom is spent. (+3d20) 2 doom from PCs. (1 reaction, (+1d20)(18 left) 2 momentum spent. (+2d20)(0 left) Round 2 Momentum: 0 Doom: 18 GM interrupts initiative and "The Fury of Set" goes first. Fury of Set "Fury of Set" grapples and pulls in her quarry! Commander: Coordinate. D1 Command Test vs. 9/1. Rolls 3d20(12,12,13). 0 successes. Failure. 1 doom is spent. (+1d20)(17 left) Lookout: Heading. D1 Observation Test vs. 10/1. Rolls 4d20(17,5,15,10). 2 successes, 1 momentum. Crew support adds 4d20(10,14,19,18). 1 success, 1 momentum. 2 doom is spent. (+2d20) 2 doom is added to the doom pool. (17 left) Helmsman: Standard motion. Z6 close – Z6 reach. D1 Sailing test vs. 9/1. Rolls 4d20(17,2,17,4). 2 successes, 1 momentum. Crew support adds 4d20(8,14,6,9). 3 successes, 3 momentum. 1 doom is spent. (+1d20) 4 doom is added to the doom pool. (22 left) Marines: Grapple. D2 Ranged attack. "Promise of Ishtar" attempt to evade spending 1 doom. Reaction Struggle "Fury of Set" D2 Ranged attack vs 10/1. 5d20(10,11,8,4,4)+crew 4d20(17,6,2,4)=5 momentum. "Promise of Ishtar" D1 Sailing Test vs 12/1. 5d20(4,14,11,19,2)+crew 1d20(16)=2 momentum. "Fury of Set" wins the struggle with 3 momentum. 3 Doom is spent. (+3d20) 4 doom from PCs. (reaction, +3d20) 3 doom is added to the doom pool. (26 left) Promise of Ishtar "Promise of Ishtar" fails to cut herself free. Commander: Coordinate. D1 Command Test vs. 10/2. Rolls 2d20(7,3). 2 success, 1 momentum. Crew support of 1 rolls 1d20(6). 1 successes, 1 momentum. No momentum spent. 2 momentum is added to the group pool. (2 left) Lookout: Heading. D1 Observation Test vs 9/2. Rolls 2d20(16,15). 0 successes. Failure. No momentum spent. No momentum is added to the group pool. Helmsman: The ships are grappled and floating aimlessly within the zone. There are no rules presented to ungrapple the ships, or at least non that I can find. You can assume it is not possible in combat or you can allow the grapples to be unhooked if a boarding action is successful. We will allow the grapples to be unhooked after a successful boarding action. Marines: Boarding Action. Attackers are at D0 when attacking during a grapple. Command Struggle D0 vs. D1 Struggle "Promise of Ishtar" D0 Command Test vs 9/1. 4d20(3,19,10,4)+crew 1d20(5)=3 momentum. "Fury of Set" D1 Command Test vs 10/1. 5d20(7,1,4,5,12)+crew 4d20(8,10,6,19)=7 momentum. "Fury of Set" wins the struggle with 4 momentum. 2 momentum is spent. (+2d20) (0 left) 3 doom is spent. (+3d20) 4 doom is added to the doom pool. (27 left) Round 3 Momentum: 0 Doom: 27 GM interrupts initiative and "The Fury of Set" goes first. Fury of Set Savage pirates board and kill on "Promise of Ishtar". Commander: Coordinate. D1 Command Test vs. 9/1. Rolls 5d20(19,16,2,15,2). 2 successes, 1 momentum. Crew support adds 3d20(9,17,11,3). 2 success, 2 momentum. 3 doom is spent. (+3d20) 3 doom is added to the doom pool. (26 left) Lookout: Heading. D1 Observation Test vs. 10/1. Rolls 5d20(17,10,1,5,17). 4 successes, 3 momentum. Crew support adds 4d20(9,17,11,3). 2 success, 2 momentum. 3 doom is spent. (+3d20) 5 doom is added to the doom pool. (28 left) Marines: Boarding Action. Attackers are at D0 when attacking during a grapple. Command Struggle D0 vs. D1 Struggle "Fury of Set" D0 Command Test vs 10/1. 5d20(11,19,9,8,6)+crew 4d20(8,2,19,19)=5 momentum. "Promise of Ishtar" D1 Command Test vs 9/1. 4d20(17,15,19,8,3)+crew 1d20(8)=2 momentum. "Fury of Set" wins the struggle with 3 momentum. Note this is not doom yet, but momentum generated from a test and so can be used for non-immediate spends. Boarding actions cause 5cd NON-LETHAL damage. Rolls 5cd(4,1,1,2,6). 1 momentum to re-roll the 4 and a 1. Rolls 2cd(6,5). Total damage = 6. 1 momentum to gain a penetrating attack ignoring 2 points of soak. "Promise of Ishtar" takes 2 breaks. 1 for suffering more than 5 structure in a single attack and 1 for having it's structure drop below 0. Note: You may wish to reduce the crew of "Promise of Ishtar" by about 1/2 as it's now suffered half of it's breaks. For this example we won't bother. You should do whatever makes narrative sense. 3 doom from PCs (+3d20) 3 doom is spent. (+3d20) 1 doom is added to the doom pool. (27 left) Promise of Ishtar "Ishtar" fails to cut herself free again. Commander: Assign Crew. D1 Command Test vs. 10/2. Rolls 2d20(17,15). 0 success. Failure. No momentum spent. No momentum is added to the group pool. Lookout: Heading. D1 Observation Test vs 9/2. Rolls 4d20(5,16,15,7). 2 successes, 1 momentum. Crew support adds 1d20(19). 0 success, 2 momentum. No momentum spent. 1 momentum is added to the group pool. 2 doom from PCs. (+2d20)(28 left) Marines: Boarding Action. Attackers are at D0 when attacking during a grapple. Command Struggle D0 vs. D1 Struggle "Promise of Ishtar" D0 Command Test vs 9/1. 5d20(14,1,9,8,10)+crew 1d20(14)=4 momentum. "Fury of Set" D1 Command Test vs 10/1. 5d20(12,16,5,5,9)+crew 4d20(6,14,7,12)=4 momentum. Gm breaks the tie in favor of the "Fury of Set" 1 momentum is spent. (+1d20) (0 left) 2 doom from PCs. (+2d20) 4 doom is spent. (+3d20, Tie Break) 0 doom is added to the doom pool. (24 left) Round 4 Momentum: 0 Doom: 24 GM interrupts initiative and "The Fury of Set" goes first. Fury of Set The Pirate's of Fury of Set finish the job, taking the ship. Commander: Coordinate. D1 Command Test vs. 9/1. Rolls 2d20(19,10). 0 successes. Failure. 0 doom is spent. 0 doom is added to the doom pool. (23 left) Lookout: Heading. D1 Observation Test vs. 10/1. Rolls 2d20(7,11). 1 successes, 0 momentum. Crew support adds 4d20(14,19,11,3). 2 success, 1 momentum. 0 doom is spent. 1 doom is added to the doom pool. (24 left) Marines: Boarding Action. Attackers are at D0 when attacking during a grapple. Command Struggle D0 vs. D1 Struggle "Fury of Set" D0 Command Test vs 10/1. 5d20(9,1,6,15,2)+crew 4d20(19,3,16,9)=7 momentum. "Promise of Ishtar" D1 Command Test vs 9/1. 5d20(3,17,19,10,2)+crew 1d20(6)=2 momentum. "Fury of Set" wins the struggle with 5 momentum. Note this is not doom yet, but momentum generated from a test and so can be used for non-immediate spends. Boarding actions cause 5cd NON-LETHAL damage. Rolls 5cd(5,3,2,2,2). Total damage = 11 structure damage - 2 soak = 9 structure damage. "Promise of Ishtar" takes 2 breaks. 1 for suffering more than 5 structure in a single attack and 1 for having it's structure drop below 0. 3 doom from PCs. (+3d20) 3 doom is spent. (+3d20) 5 doom is added to the doom pool. (29 left) "Promise of Ishtar" has now suffered 4 non-lethal breaks and so has been subdued and taken over by the "Fury of Set".

Conan 2d20. Skill Trials

In previous articles I have talked about how success in Conan2d20 aren't simply pass/fail. There is a measure of how well a character completes a skill test; how well you attack, observe or hide. Momentum is an easy way to track this, each point you generate allows you cause more damage, do cool stunts or learn more about your environment.

Generally failure is, however, still failure. The one place this is different is combat. If I am fighting a skeleton and I make a melee skill check to hit and I fail, the skeleton is still there. I get to try again to succeed in the next round. Compare this to your party sage trying to decipher ancient runes on the wall. If he rolls a failure, it's all over and the meaning of the writing is lost forever, beyond the abilities of our heroes. Certainly there are mechanics in games that work to address this, such as "taking 20" but most of these make the assumption that the player and their character has essentially unlimited time to solve the puzzle or make the skill check.

Today we are going to try and address this potential issue with something I am calling a "Trial". I didn't invent this mechanic. Several other systems use it, such as ICRPG and the AGE system. (It has been noted since I published this that both the Infinty and Star Trek 2d20 RPG systems have similar mechanics.) These "Trials" also works well once it is placed alongside the "TIMER" mechanic from ICRPG. Now rolling a failure, in a time sensitive encounter, doesn't mean they will never know what it says. Now it just takes them longer to figure it out. How long it takes might be a key part of a combat encounter; can the sage get the door open before the horde of ghouls overwhelms the party?

Some ideas for skill tests that might benefit from these "Trials" are deciphering runes, solving puzzles, exploring ruins or jungles, negotiating costs etc. It can give your non-combat characters the ability to work to complete something during combat and contribute to success of the party instead of taking the backseat.

The Basic Idea

The current iteration of the system is quite simple. I make a note like 10-D3, which signifies a 10 momentum D3 challenge. Succeeding at the challenge lowers the total by 1 and momentum generated goes towards solving the puzzle or being stored in the pool. When challenge momentum reaches 10 you have solved the puzzle, deciphered the runes, made it through the jungle etc.

Probably the easiest way to track this is to pick a momentum score that is a multiple of one of the types of dice we use for general RPG play, this way you can easily use a die to track how much progress a players has made. You could even get a special set of dice that you use only for "Trials", this way players can easily tell what they are and how much work still needs to be done.

Round 1: Our Sage, Altan, has come across a series of strange runes at the end of a corridor. He suspects deciphering the runes is key to opening the passage, and so sets to work. Player: I try and decipher the runes. GM: Ok it's a 5-D3 test. Player: I will roll 4d20 against his Lore score of 13/2 and get 8,9,15,13. Altan looks over the runes and begins his work to decipher them. At first he doesn't recognize anything, but finally he thinks he has a good place to start and continues to work on them. Round 2: Altan continues to work on deciphering the runes, as his work continues his fellow adventurers hold off the ongoing things in the dark, but time runs short and his friends are being to fall back. Player: I continue to try working on the runes. GM: OK, since you succeeded last time it is now a 4-D3 test. Player: I will roll 5d20 against his Lore score of 13/2 and I will use a Fortune for one of the dice. 10,5,17,19,1. Giving me 1 point of momentum. GM: The test has been reduced to a 2d3 test. Altan works hurriedly decoding and deciphering, he believes he has slightly more than half of the words figured out, but they still don't make much sense. Round 3: In the darkness, something large stalks towards the party. Four warriors standing, heaving with exhaustion. Blood and sweat drip down their bodies. Behind them, seeking the way out, an older man in robes hurriedly works, scrawling in a notebook. GM: Something large will be upon your party next round Player: I continue to work! GM: OK, We now have a 2-D3 test! All you need is success and a momentum! . Player: I will roll 5d20 again agains his Lore score of 13/2. I roll 17,10,4,4,12, giving me 4 successes! GM: You solve the runes! They are an ancient version of Turanian your didn't initially recognize. They tell you to how to open this passage and so you do, allowing you and your fellows to escape the coming doom.

Lending a hand

Assistance generally works the same as before, players can try and lend a hand by rolling an extra die and hopefully adding momentum to the pool. It was suggested another way to handle this is to allow the players to choose which skill they will roll against to offer the assistance. All they have to do is narrate their character using the skill in the scene.

Our Heroes set out into the desert looking for a long forgotten tomb of an ancient Stygian king. All they have is a map and the setting sun. GM: It is going to take you 10-D2 Survival Trialto navigate the desert with the information you have. Failing a test will cause fatigue to occur. Player 1: I have the highest Survival test so I will make that as a roll. GM: Will anyone assist? Player 2: My alchemist would like to use Lore to assist to better understand the map. Player 3: I would like to use Observation to keep a keen eye on the horizon and make sure we are not going astray. Player 4: I use my counsel skill to keep everyone's spirits up, hoping the high moral will keep our heads about us. GM: Ok. make your rolls! Player 1: As lead I roll 5d20 against my Survival of 14/2. I roll 13,7,8,8,16 = Success and 3 momentum. Player 2: I roll my assist vs my Lore of 13/1. 10 = +1 momentum Player 3: My roll vs. my Observation of 12/2 is 3 = +1 momentum. player 4: I roll against my Counsel of 12/2. I get a 5. +1 momentum! GM: Your total is 7, reducing the "Trial" to a 3-D2 test on your next round.

Fatigue and Despair

If your players are exploring a deep oppressive dungeons, parching desert or big infested swamps, it might be worth while having a negative effect to an outright skill check failure. Perhaps if the party is working on a Survival Trial, rolling to navigate the desert and they fail it can be assumed they wander hopelessly and gain 1cd Fatigue, and likewise if trapped in the oppressive dark of a dungeon and they fail they gain 1cd Despair.

Complications

The simplest complication is to raise the difficulty of the next test by 1. But other things could occur depending on what the test is. In a dungeon? Perhaps they set off a trap. In a desert? Perhaps they encounter a snake and they take 2cd before killing it. Negotiating in a tavern? Maybe they have been pickpocketed and lose 1cd+1 gold. Another idea is, especially if they are burning through the test too fast, to extend the length of the test by 2 per complication, or some variant depending on how much you want to slow them down.

Conclusion

I have used this a few times and find it to be a decent way to abstract explorations without having to focus on mapping. It allows you plenty of places to use combat and encounters to spice things up. It also allows non-combat characters to participate more and at a similar level to combat characters. Going forward I have a few more articles planned that will utilize this mechanic to enhance your sessions of Conan 2d20.

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

Conan 2d20 RPG Overview: The Nemesis.

Welcome back to the blog everyone! I hope your weekend was full of friends and good times. My last few posts have focused on the adversaries, minions and toughened opponents, in the Conan 2d20 rpg. Today we are going to wrap up the final one of these classes; The Nemesis. What is a nemesis? Well the following quote gives us a little insight. No, it's not from Conan, in fact it's not even from Robert E Howard, but I think you will recognize it either way.

Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible ****... me. Bricktop, Snatch, 2000

A great line by a very bad man. It defines "nemesis" for us. In the Conan 2d20 RPG these are the personification of powerful entities. The nemesis class is the most capable class of foe your characters will face. They will present their largest challenge.

We talked about the town guard being minions and the sergeants being examples of the toughened classes. Continuing this example, the leaders of the guard, generals and the like, will be this nemesis class. Conan himself served as the leader of men in this capacity. These are the horrors in the dark, the witches, the wizards and the warriors of renown that Conan faced throughout his travels.

Ok so what does all this mean? The nemesis class is again going to have better equipment and attributes as compared to minions and toughened opponents. In addition the follow items are true of a nemesis.

• The nemesis can suffer 5 physical and 5 mental harms.
• The nemesis can react as per normal reaction rules.
• The nemesis can spend 3 doom and gain a fortune point.
• The nemesis often have a wide range of skills and abilities
• The nemesis uses hit locations and armor just as a player does.
• The nemesis is often leading multiple bands of foes.
• The nemesis CAN lead a squad.

When it comes to special rules the nemesis is, in some ways, the simplest of the three classes. They work just like player characters. They become complicated in how they are played and their wide range of talents and abilities.

Now lets not get carried away here, if you drop a single nemesis down against a party of players, the nemesis will be lucky to survive a single round. These opponents become truly epic and frightening when they are leading groups of toughened or minions, forcing the players to engage their followers first.

Another thing to keep in mind is the one large difference between PCs and the nemesis. If the PCs want to buy 3 bonus dice and have no momentum, they can exchange dice for doom. If the nemesis has no doom they are unable to get bonus dice.

If your PCs are able to survive off of their built up momentum then the nemesis is going to be considerably weaker than one who has a fat pile of doom to draw from. This is something to keep in mind as players roll complications, if you are low on doom, it might be better to stockpile the complications till the final confrontation. Also keep in mind that any generated momentum by the nemesis can be stored as doom if it's not use right away.

The nemesis is a powerful entity in it's own right, but for it to really shine, it will need strategy and support. As always I love to hear comments and feedback, ideas and errata. As we go forward I wonder what else would be useful to go over? Till next time, KEEP IT WEIRD!

If you are interested in checking out the Conan system why not head over to DriveThruRPG and pick up a copy of either the Conan 2d20 core book or the Conan 2d20 quickstart pdf?

Conan 2d20 RPG Overview: The Toughened Opponent.

We started this discussion with minions, but now I want to move on to the second of our opponent classifications; the toughened opponent. These opponents have the potential to cause some real challenges for your players in the form of more fully realized NPCs and creatures.

These adversaries represent opponents who are better skilled and probably better equipped. If you think of a militia or town guard as minions, then their sergeants are going to represent toughened foes.

Rules wise they work pretty much like a character does with a few exceptions.

• They roll 2d20 for skill tests, and can gain up to 3 bonus d20s.
• They are able to parry, dodge and react.
• They are able to sacrifice shields to prevent a wound.
• They are NOT able to sacrifice other forms of armor.
• They do not have hit locations.
• They can suffer two of the same type of harm before being eliminated.

A special note for the GM based on my play experience. Although toughened opponents can survive better than minions, many characters have weapons or skills that bestow the INTENSE ability, which causes a second wound if a first is caused. For toughened opponents it means that can easily be dropped in a single hit, just like a minion.

Optional House Rule, If you follow Modiphius at all they recently launched a kickstarter for John Carter of Mars using the 2d20 system, or a variant of it called 2d20 lite. In this they introduce what is essentially a modified toughened opponent. These opponents don't necessarily have the ability to only take 2 harms before being removed. They have a rating which specifies how many harms they can take. Consider how much more effective your toughened opponents will be if they have a third wound? Now when fighting against an INTENSE weapon or skill they will need to have all of their stress dropped to 0 in a round to have them removed from the board. Remember though with 2 harms the toughened opponent will be at +2 difficulty and so not very effective at much.... besides giving his buddies time to maneuver.

Last time we also talked about The Mob, a loose group of sword fodder without much combat organization. We can remove one of those five minions and replace it with a toughened opponent, to increase it's overall effectiveness. The Squad represents a unit of opponents led by a better trained and equipped leader. It can contain up to 4 identical minions and 1 toughened opponent. When you roll skill tests for the group it is important to have a set of dice assigned to the toughened leader as their skills and expertise will likely be better than the minions they lead.

Remember the bonus dice granted from the minions to the toughened leader are assistance dice, and it is possible for the leader to buy 3 bonus dice bringing their total to 5 before gaining up to an additional 4 dice depending on how many minions exist in the squad.

Damaging the squad works pretty much like damaging a mob, with damage moving to the next member of the squad as minions are eliminated. The toughened leader is the last to receive damage this way. While existing within a squad, the toughened leader is unable to parry or react as they would normally do. Despite this the toughened leader can be attacked directly by using a called shot momentum spend.

And that is pretty much it. There are a couple of small things we will take a look at next week that deal with groups (squads and mobs), but this is a good overview of the toughened opponent and how they can be used with minions to present a greater challenge for your players.

As always I love to hear comments and feedback, ideas and errata. As we go forward I wonder what else would be useful to go over? Till next time, KEEP IT WEIRD!

If you are interested in checking out the Conan system why not head over to DriveThruRPG and pick up a copy of either the Conan 2d20 core book or the Conan 2d20 quickstart pdf?

RPG Accessories. Tokens, Trackers and Coins! Oh My!

Tabletop roleplaying games need very little in the way of supplies to play; Some dice, Some paper and a pen or pencil. Of course you need a set of rules as well. Apart from that though? Nothing.

BUT! There is always a but. Sometimes accessories can help take your game from cool to COOL. Most players like rolling dice. The physical aspect of touching and using an object adds to the fun. This idea can be applied to many other things we need to track!

Many of these accessories can be made. DM Scotty has some videos on building things like this. Things like little quivers to track arrows instead of erasing 10 and writing 9 can be simple and add another element of fun to the game.

Some games have a set number of Hero points, Bennies, Fortune or similar mechanic that could also benefit from this idea. Having a player toss in a coin of some description is more fun than just changing that number of the page.

If you are busy like me, sometimes you don't have time to craft everything, or sometimes you just need so many tokens it's just not feasible to craft them.

Below is a list of things that I have found on aliexpress, amazon and a few other places where you can simply drop some cash and grab your supplies. I personally use a far number of these in my Conan 2d20 games. Remember, AliExpress will generally be less expensive, but you will need to wait longer for shipping.

Skull Beads!	White! - AliExrpess Black! - Amazon.ca
Flat Beads!	White Acrylic - AliExpress Transparent glass cabochon - Amazon.ca
Plastic chips	AliExpress Amazon.ca
Coins!	Plastic Pirate Coins - AliExpress Fortune Coins - AliExpress Fortune Coins - Amazon.ca Metal Phoenix beads - AlieExpress
Bowls for your Tokens	AliExpress Amazon.ca
Wound Trackers	AliExpress

Hopefully you will find something you can find useful, or it sparks your imagination!

Conan 2d20 Momentum Spend - Wrecked Weapon Trope.

They stopped short. Conan faced them, not a naked man roused mazed and unarmed out of deep sleep to be butchered like a sheep, but a barbarian wide- awake and at bay, partly armored, and with his long sword in his hand. "In, rogues!" yelled the outlaw. "He is one to twenty and he has no helmet!" True; there had been lack of time to don the heavy plumed casque, or to lace in place the side-plates of the cuirass, nor was there now time to snatch the great shield from the wall. Still, Conan was better protected than any of his foes except Volmana and Gromel, who were in full armor. The king glared, puzzled as to their identity. Ascalante he did not know; he could not see through the closed vizors of the armored conspirators, and Rinaldo had pulled his slouch cap down above his eyes. But there was no time for surmise. With a yell that rang to the roof, the killers flooded into the room, Gromel first. He came like a charging bull, head down, sword low for the disembowelling thrust. Conan sprang to meet him, and all his tigerish strength went into the arm that swung the sword. In a whistling arc the great blade flashed through the air and crashed on the Bossonian's helmet. Blade and casque shivered together and Gromel rolled lifeless on the floor. Conan bounded back, still gripping the broken hilt. The Phoenix on the Sword -Robert E Howard

One of the most iconic occurences in a final battle is a weapon being broken. Troy, Willow and the '82 Conan film all feature this prominently.

In Willow, Mad Martigan, after becoming his heroic self, charges General Kael who easily parries the blow, redirecting it into the wooden structure of the fortress, where it becomes lodged. With a deliberate blow Kael shatters Martigan's sword leaving him on the ground without a weapon. It is a tense moment.

In front of Troy two heroes do battle; Achilles and Hector. As they fight back and forth, Achilles swings his shield and snaps the spear of Hector. Hector retreats and throws his useless weapon aside. Achilles seeing a moment of weakness presses in for the kill. Hector defends himself with skill and prowess as death comes for him. The onslaught continues and Hector is unable to draw his sword during the exchange. Finally Achilles thrusts at Hector who redirects the blow to the ground. In the next instant Hector snaps the spear of Achilles like a twig.

And of course in the '82 Conan film Conan and Rexor in their final battle clash sword on sword. Finally Conan is victorious as the gleaming Atlantean blade slices through the sword crafter by his father and continues through to mortally wound Rexor.

As we see above, Howard himself employed this in the very first Conan story. It is a dramatic, cool and powerful piece of story telling, and as such I believe it deserves a place in this fantastic role playing game.

This is a fairly easy thing to plug into a game that has a system in it like Momentum. Knowing how well an attack or parry was executed allows us to decide to add cool moves and flavor into our combat. Looking through the combat momentum spends we find one called Disarm. It costs 2 or 3 momentum to disarm someone you are engaged with. This seemed like a pretty solid place to start building the Weapon Break momentum spend.

Clearly we want this to be a more expensive spend than disarm, as it has far greater ramifications. My initial thoughts have involved adding 1 momentum to the spend raising it from 2-3 to 3-4 AND also making it only a CHANCE of breaking the weapon.

Spend	Cost	Description
Weapon Break	3-4+	The attacker may attempt to break one melee weapon being weilded by the target. This costs 3 points of Momentum if the target is holding the weapon in one hand or 4 points of Momentum if the weapon is braced or held in two hands. The attacker then rolls 2cd. On a roll of 2 effects, the weapon is shattered. On a roll of 2 numbers the weapon is knocked away. Any roll of a blank indicates that the attempt has failed. The attacker may spend 2 additional momentum to reduce the 2cd roll a to 1cd roll.

WAIT! There is more! In ALL of the scenes I talk about above that broken weapon is used to end the fight or used to end the quest. Clealry, even though they are broken they are still effective weapons, Conan has rules for improvised weapons, but I think we can do better than that. My initial thought is the weapon simply become broken and stats are reduced. For a guideline on this I am thinking reach is reduced by 1. If reach becomes 0 it is completely useless. Damage dice are reduced to 3cd or lowered by 1, whichever is lower. And then we remove the effects "Intense", "Grappling", "Knockdown" and "Fearsome".

For example: Conal is wielding a broadsword (Unb, Rch2, 5cd, Parrying) against Thokuh, Captain of the "Serpent of Set". Conal swings his steel in a deadly arc, but Thokuh deftly redirects the blow into the ground, and with a quick action drops his weight against the flat of the blade snapping it in two. Conal dances back, his broken broadsword in his hand (1H, Rch1, 3cd, Parrying). Thokuh laughs and moves in swiftly bringing his cutlass down in a flashing heavy blow. Conal barely blocks the blow catching the cutlass on his broken sword, before pressing past Thokuh's guard and driving the broken blade hard into the fat stomach of Thokuh."

What do you think? Is this a worthy mechanic and something you might try in this form or another? Think I am crazy? Let me know!

If you are interested in checking out the Conan system why not head over to DriveThruRPG and pick up a copy of either the Conan 2d20 core book or the Conan 2d20 quickstart pdf?

Conan 2d20 RPG overview: Tasks and Difficulties

In my previous Conan 2d20 article we talked about skill checks and how they work. Today I want to go over what they represent in more detail, really understanding these and what the represent is pivotal to getting your head around what this system is trying to do.

• Task - A task is anything a player is trying to accomplish: steal an apple, attack a skeleton, sail a ship etc.
• Difficulty - How hard is it for the player to complete this task?
  
  

Conan 2d20 uses a system of 6 values to define how hard a task is to accomplish.

• A difficulty 0 rating is a Simple task, nothing of any consequence, we don't even need to roll any dice to succeed!
• A difficulty 1 rating is an Average task, and if we roll our 2d20 we have a pretty good chance of accomplishing this.
• A difficulty 2 rating is Challenging. This is something that is hard for the player to accomplish, but not out of the realm of a standard person.
• A difficulty 3 rating is Daunting. This is a hard task. If you are not trained in this skill, you are going to fail. If you are trained, you are going to need a little luck.
• A difficulty 4 task is Dire. Think of this as a VERY hard thing to do. You are going to fail unless you are trained and get VERY lucky.
• Finally the Difficulty 5 task is Epic. Don't bother. You will need the gods with you to complete this task.

Attributes for humans range from 6 - 12, with average being an 8. This means an average, untrained human, has around a 60% chance of successfully completing a D1 task. This jumps to about 70% with a little training

It is possible to gain 2 successes on every roll of a d20 if you are trained in a skill, so you could roll up to 4 successes on 2d20, the base roll in the game.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/13894106014 (CC)

For example:
Conal is faced off against a wolf growling at him, it's jaws are slavering as it anticipates it's dinner. The night is inky black with only a sliver of light coming from what is left of the day. To make matters worse the rain has become harder as the storm grows ever more violent.

Attacking the Wolf is an average difficulty, or D1. However it is raining and dark, moving it from a D1 to a D3.




Lets examine this with two versions of Conal; the Merchant and the Warrior.

• Merchant Conal has no training in combat and so the player can only roll a maximum of 2 successes.
  With a roar the wolf leaps forward and lands on the helpless merchant, Conal falls into the muck as the wolf tears at his flesh, ending his business permanently.
  
  
• Warrior Conal has training in combat and so the player can roll a maximum of 4 successes.
  With a roar the wolf leaps at Conal who raises his shield just in time, and sends the wolf off in another direction. In a flashing moment the wolf twists and is back on it's feet. Lightning flashes in the darkness, it's light reflected onto Conal's sword. The two circle each other warily.
  
  

The next segment of this series will talk about Doom and Momentum. These are probably the most controversial part of Conan 2d20, and understanding the above ideas will help to lay the foundation for how these two mechanics work.

If you are interested in checking out the Conan system why not head over to DriveThruRPG and pick up a copy of either the Conan 2d20 core book or the Conan 2d20 quickstart pdf?

Printable Miniatures. Part 2, Basing the figure.

In the first part of this series on paper miniatures I went over the various ways to get the paper miniatures with links to some kick ass guys on drivethrurpg as well as some links to a few custom tutorials. Today I want to continue this series with a short discussion on bases and the pros and cons of each type.

The easiest way to base the paper miniature is to grab a piece of foam core, put a slot in it and insert your figure. It may require a coin or similar on the bottom to give it a little heft. These are cheap, plentiful and with a little work, can look good. This isn't the method I use, but Wyloch goes over it in his video on creating the paper miniature.

The next option is also a DIY option with the caveat that it requires you to have access to a 3d printer. 3d printers can be fairly expensive, especially a genuine Prusa, however there are several models of inexpensive printer that are good for basic printing for a gamer.

I have an A-net A8 which is a decent machine, print quality wise, and gives you the ability to try getting your feet wet for not a lot of money. It is built with cheaper components which should be replaced if you are going to use it a lot though. It will be more than able to print up bases and other things that you might find at a website like thingiverse. These two links are some samples of thingiverse links you can use for basing paper miniatures. Sample 1 Sample 2

Moving away from the DIY option we start to move into some for of clip. The first and cheapest version of these is a binder clip. These are a pretty good solution being easily available, inexpensive and coming in multiple sizes and colors. I don't personally use them, and right now as I am typing this I am wondering why. The only real drawback I can see to these is they will be a little more fiddly when it comes to changing your figures over. You will have to re-insert the metal handles so you can easily open the clip to remove the figure. I think the pros may outweigh the cons here.

You can get a cheap acrylic base designed for boardgames as well. These are pretty good and give you a clear plastic base, and can be purchased in multiple colors. The downside to these is they require a fairly thick card as the clip is fairly wide. I have used these and need to use several layers of construction paper to make them work. Despite how inexpensive they are, I don't really recommend these ones unless your paper figs are quite thick.

The ones I have purchased and use the most are most similar to the binder clips, they can be found sold as "card holders". These are easy to use and replace the figure into. I have only found them in black, which is another strike against this style. The downside to these is they are among the more expensive option, that being said they are still going to run you less than $.50CAD cents each. As much as I like a lot about this style, I doubt I'll be buying more of them.

Litko makes a range of bases for paper figures, similar to the 3d printed model I talk about, these are square or circular and come with a curved slot to hold your figure. The downside to these are two fold. One, they are getting upwards in price, running about $.50CAD each. Two, I don't find litko to have especially friendly shipping options to Canada. If you are in the USA this might be a great option where they will be about $.40USD each and have better shipping options.

Over the past year of using paper miniatures in most of my games I have used several of the above purchaseable solutions. At this time I have not tried the binder clips or 3d printed models, but I think that the binder clips might be the best option being inexpensive, easy to get and in multiple colors. I have also not ordered from Litko. Another possible downside to some of these is that they represent non-standard bases sizes. I don't think it'll take much to make them work, but it's something to think about.

Now that we have our bases and figures, next week we will talk about the process I go through when I assemble these figures! Until next time, keep it weird out there!

Conan 2d20 RPG - The Black God.

When I started writing the last adventure for our group, I had no clear goal on what I wanted to do. The players had trapped themselves in a small vault designed to contain an artifact of, perhaps, alien origin. Why they were there or how they became trapped isn't of great importance. I set out with an eight point system for writing short fiction: Stasis, Trigger, Quest, Surprise, Critical Choice, Climax, Reversal, Resolution. Armed with a basic outline I laid out the first room and then proceeded to not go very much further.

A few weeks later 'ol Hankerin' Ferinale posted a podcast on something he called "Monster Sets", basically 3 creatures connected in theme and perhaps in some other method. Translated to Conan 2d20, maybe you have a Minion type who is easy to kill, and perhaps you have a toughened opponent that can summon Minions at will, or whatever. The Nemesis is probably your boss. For a clearer idea I highly recommend you check out Hankerin' at the link above.

I wanted to try the Monster Set idea in my game. I knew my players had an aversion to statues. I had already placed several statues as creatures in the adventure but was at a loss on how to go forward. I needed to find a way to create a Monster Set around these. Fortunately for me I had just read "The Black God's Kiss" and "The Black God's Shadow" by CL Moore.

To make a long story short, Jirel, the main character retrieves a weapon to exact her revenge, which she then determines was the wrong action. In her attempt at redemption she heads back to the realm from which her weapon came from. Here she finds her victim locked in a black statue, the personification of all of his magnified sins. She releases him from this and he becomes a shade she needs to track across this unholy landscape. Meanwhile she is assaulted by the Black God and feels herself losing and becoming a statue herself, barely fighting them off. If you haven't read those stories, I do highly recommend them, there are of course links on the sidebar to Amazon so you can get copies of the stories.

But back to Conan. And so I had Statues, Shades and the Black God itself, and with this triumvirate the Monster Set was born. I wrote some custom creatures that were perhaps a little over powered, but only by a little.

The first is the Black Statue, an unholy abomination of some black material. Sin, magnified and made real. Physical forms twisted and distorted, no two the same.

The second is the Black Shade, an ethereal form of the statue. The soul trapped within the statue freed from its physical constraints. These are horrific apparitions that strike the most stalwart warrior down to a gibbering child.

I failed to used these strategically so I am not certain on how useful the ability to regen the statues is. I pretty much attacked with the Black Shades and followed up with the Black Statues.

Finally the Black God itself. The Black God can not actually be attacked by physical means. It must be present to be attacked, ie it must be engaged in combat with someone. I would allow direct mental attacks against it. As well, a player resisting successfully over two rounds will drive it off for 2cd rounds

These challenges proved exceptionally difficult for my party of five, the shades wreaking havoc on them with the mental attack they possess. I modified them a little in this post to make them a little more reasonable, but you might wish to tweak them further if you so desire.

Conan 2d20 RPG overview: Skill Checks.

Cover of the Modiphius Conan RPG

In an unremembered age great heroes strode across the landscape. Shining kingdoms rose from the mountains, grasslands and deserts. The greatest of these, Aquilonia, was ruled by it's mighty lion king; Conan.

The Hyborian Age was a time before ours, a time now long forgotten, wiped off the face of the earth by great cataclysms that formed our people and our continents.

It is a time of warriors and magic. Of men and monsters. It is a time of high adventure.

Conan 2d20 is an RPG by Modiphius that aims to remain as true to the original Conan stories as they can. I have been playing with a group of about 5 players once a month for about 1 1/2 years and I hope I can share some of my knowledge and experience about the game with you.

At it's heart Conan 2d20 is a simple roll under system. You roll your d20s against a target number to gain a number of successes. As the name of the system implies your base roll is 2d20. When a player wants to preform a task the GM assigns a difficulty to that task ranging from 0-5. To successfully complete that task the player must gain that number of successes or more.

For example:
Conal wishes to lift a log that has fallen across the road, preventing the parties wagon from proceeding. The GM assigns a difficulty of 2 to the task and Conal rolls his 2d20. Both of his dice come up as a success, giving him 2 successes. This equals the difficulty rating of the task and Conal moves the log out of the way.

This is the core of the game system, the full mechanics allow players to gain more d20s to make their skill rolls as well as to not only succeed but to succeed by measure, turning a success into something truly epic, but we will discuss that another day.

If you are interested in checking out the Conan system why not head over to DriveThruRPG and pick up a copy of either the Conan 2d20 core book or the Conan 2d20 quickstart pdf?