Conan Role-Playing Game

Game Review

Review by Kerry Lloyd


Designed by David Cook
TSR, Inc. P.O. Box 756, Lake Geneva, WI 53147
Released: March, 1985
Catalog No.: 7014
Price: $13.00
Complexity: Beginner
Solitaire Suitability: Average
* * * * 1/2

I have been a fan of Conan the Cimmerian since I read my first story about the barbarian adventurer in 1945 in a well-thumbed copy of Weird Tales my father left on the coffee table. I'm enough of a fan that my oldest son is named for the husky hero.

Now TSR, Inc. has produced a role-playing game based on Conan and the Hyborian age. To be honest, I approached the game with a bit of trepidation, expecting the subject to have been treated poorly. I was pleasantly surprised! The Conans Role-Playing Game is a tour-de-force of good design and playability.

Conan comes in the standard 9 X 12 X 1 inch box, with a good illustration of the "smoldering blue-eyed, black-haired" barbarian in a ruined temple on the front cover. Inside is a plethora of equipment: a 32- page rule book, a 48-page source book, a large poster map of the Hyborian-age world, a 16-page reference guide, a 4-page master reference folder, two "Character Folios;' two 10-sided dice, and a crayon to mark them with.

The game is quite different in design from all other TSR, Inc. role-playing games. The character creation system is completely skill-driven, based on "Talcrits" and "Talent pools" (groupings of similar or related Talents), rather than on rolled or constructed attributes-in fact, no attributes or physical characteristics are used in the game at all! The character creation process is a matter of choice for the player, rather than a dieroll controlled procedure. No dice are rolled in character creation at all-the two 10-siders provided are used only during actual play ' generally for deciding how successful the character's use of his Talents is.

To create a character in Conans ' the player first chooses the character's birthplace from the list of 23 Hyborian countries provided, and describes his parents, including the father's occupation. The next step is to fill out a Character Folio with the basic information so far accumulated, and write up a short history and description of the new character.

Now the player chooses "Talents" (the basis of the game's plavability) for his character. Each character starts with 35 points with which to build his Talent ratings; this may be increased by five additional points for each "weakness" that the player chooses to inflict upon the character. Some of these weaknesses are not truly damaging, while others can he fatal in the wrong circumstances -- but it's all a matter of choice.

Only three restrictions apply in selecting and rating initial Talents: 1) no more than five points to any one Talent; 2) at least one Talent in each Talent pool; and 3) at least one point must be spent on the father's Talent.

Once the character's Talents have been chosen and rated, the overall rating for each Talent pool is determined by adding all of the ratings for the Talents already specified for the character in each pool and dividing by 10 (dropping all fractions); this gives a rating that can be used for those Talents in a given pool that the character does not possess. As the final step in the process, the character receives basic equipmentagain a matter of choice.

Combat and all general action in Conan use a "Resolution Table" that determines success and the quality of that success for a character's attempts at almost anything; the attempt is based on the character's modified rating in the Talent being used (frequently the attacking character's Talent rating less the defender's in the same Talent).

There are five results: white (failure -no damage), green (bare success -one point of damage), yellow (moderate success-two points of damage), orange (good success- three points of damage), and red (superb success, usually a critical result-four points of damage and a chance for a Specific Wound). The Resolution Table, on the back cover of the rule book, is quite easy to use, with columns marked for various ranges, and broad bands of the result colors.

Combat allows the use of armor and missile weapons, with armor subtracting from damage received by the character wearing it. The fire effectiveness of missile weapons is affected by cover, an excellent touch frequently neglected in other games. Damage in excess of a character's Damage Talent rating does not necessarily kill himalthough continuing in action might (probably will, in fact!). All in all, combat is handled in an excellent, quite playable manner, and flows smoothly within the context of the game.

The experience system used in Conan allows characters to progress, but luckily limits the amount of experience a character can accumulate in one adventure to 10 Talent points. These points may be spent to increase ratings in various Talents, and Talents may be increased without limit-the Resolution Table can handle outrageous Talent ratings without too many problems; new Talents may be added at a cost of five Talent points, plus whatever is spent to raise the rating in the newly acquired Talent. Characters may also earn Fame for their heroic actions, and a provision is made for accumulating Luck points as well. Luck points are spent during play to provide for the circumstance that allows a character or group to escape from an otherwise fatal situation.

Magic is handled in a definitely Hyborian manner--it is neither easy nor safe to use, and inflicts terrible consequences upon its practitioners. Spell groupings are defined as Talents, and different spells are defined by higher ratings in the particular magical Talent. Increases in experience for a mage bring corresponding increases in "Obsession" and special weaknesses for mages (including madness and disfigurement - there are some very ugly, crazy old mages in the Hyborian saga!).

It is generally true that a good Gamemaster can make a pleasurable session for his players out of almost any system. when the system is very easy to play, however, and tends to encourage good play by its very design, it I s a lot easier for the Gamemaster to run the session to everybody's satisfaction. in this category, there are only a few role-playing systems, but the Conan Role-Playing Game is definitely one of them.

TSR, Inc. and David Cook, the designer, are to be congratulated on a fine game. This is the first entry TSR, Inc. has made into the field with a state-of-theart role- playing game, and it is an excellent try. It is to be hoped that they will support Conan as well as they have supported their other products. I would heartily recommend purchase for any member of the Hyborian Legion, for any Conan-fancier, in fact, for anyone who enjoys role-playing games-there is no reason to limit this fine design to the Hyborian Age alone.

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© Copyright 1986 by Dana Lombardy.
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