Conan RPG (Modiphius) - Down to the wire

Started by Nefaro, July 08, 2016, 07:59:37 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Dammit Carl!

 In a related vein, there's a Conan bundle up for grabs at DriveThru.  See the sales thread for linkys.

...and now it's mine, by Crom!

Yskonyn

I've now worked through the rulebook twice. Its a great system which enables high pacing games. The abstractness of some rules are a great thing, especially movement in combat comes to mind.
I do find the 'Struggle' mechanic a little too cumbersome, however. Maybe I am not using it correctly.

"Pilots do not get paid for what they do daily, but they get paid for what they are capable of doing.
However, if pilots would need to do daily what they are capable of doing, nobody would dare to fly anymore."

Nefaro

#18
Quote from: Yskonyn on March 30, 2018, 12:52:58 PM
I've now worked through the rulebook twice. Its a great system which enables high pacing games. The abstractness of some rules are a great thing, especially movement in combat comes to mind.
I do find the 'Struggle' mechanic a little too cumbersome, however. Maybe I am not using it correctly.

:bd:

I really appreciate newer RPGs which abstract such fussy specifics as range into 'zones', like this system does, along with others like Star Wars/WHFRP3e, PbtA, and FATE.  Way more flexible and accommodating to a 'theater of the mind' approach, yet still supports using minis & maps if desired.

The money abstractions can be hit or miss.  I've not really delved into Conan's specific money/carousing/upkeep mechanics, but I've seen some positive remarks about it.  It's different, in Conan, compared to others using the same core system.

I've seen the occasional person call the 2d20 system "crunchy", but I don't think so.  Especially compared to something like D&D3/Pathfinder.  Probably just people used to class-based RPGs who aren't used to classless ones & all the options.  Plus these Modiphius games tend to have a lot of background fluff implemented in character creation & such.


The give & take of the Momentum and Doom is primarily there to give the players more authority over their dice rolls and outcomes.  To not only help curb bad stretches of dice rolling, as a group, but also to add extra cool action-oriented effects over the repetitive "chopping down trees" kind of back & forth you get from things like D&D hit point pools and damage dice. 

Of course, using such advantage either requires excessively good die rolls or giving the GM Doom points with which to do bad stuff later.  Some GMs seem to think the Doom pool takes away their ability to do whatever they feel needs doing, but I think those people don't understand that they can still GM-manipulate, as always, without ever needing to really spend Doom pts.  The GM's Doom points are there as an open reminder to players that when they push their Momentum-given player agency too far, by giving the GM more Doom, there will be inevitable consequences when the GM later spends them. 

I look at the Doom pool in these 2d20 games as a visibly building threat that will, if regularly used, make the players think twice about frivolously giving more to the GM in exchange for more of their Momentum.  But not so much that they don't want to use it at all when in a desperate or critical moment. 

The whole Momentum & Doom mechanic is about offering more player agency, but making sure they know it's not completely without future consequences if they push it too much.

Yskonyn

I never had experience with the Momentum vs Doom mechanic in other games, but I really like it in Conan. It also gives the GM an elegant tool to raise the pressure on the group or let them get away with unforseen actions while still maintaining control and direction.
"Pilots do not get paid for what they do daily, but they get paid for what they are capable of doing.
However, if pilots would need to do daily what they are capable of doing, nobody would dare to fly anymore."

Nefaro

Quote from: Yskonyn on March 31, 2018, 02:47:46 PM
I never had experience with the Momentum vs Doom mechanic in other games, but I really like it in Conan. It also gives the GM an elegant tool to raise the pressure on the group or let them get away with unforseen actions while still maintaining control and direction.

It's pretty cool.  Who doesn't enjoy spending extra successes on doing more cool cinematic stuff, anyway?   :nerd:

The mechanical pedigrees from the creator's FFG Star Wars/WFRP3 system are apparent.  I'd say it's an evolution of them in some ways.  What was effectively "Advantage" in FFG-SW is "Momentum" in 2d20, and it has become a pooled group resource that can be saved over time, and given a wider variety of uses.   :bd:

The options for limiting Momentum pools to individual characters is also a good one for groups that may include a Momentum hog type of player.  I'm inclined to say it's preferable, by default, simply because you could still allow players the option to give their Momentum to other players.  Which would not only allow each player full control over the momentum they rolled earlier, but also provide more opportunities to narrate such assistance by the donating player - something just drawing from the communal pool turns anonymous by it's nature.

Yskonyn

Yeah I agree.
I wonder; do you actually play Conan with a group?
"Pilots do not get paid for what they do daily, but they get paid for what they are capable of doing.
However, if pilots would need to do daily what they are capable of doing, nobody would dare to fly anymore."

Nefaro

Quote from: Yskonyn on April 03, 2018, 01:02:25 PM
Yeah I agree.
I wonder; do you actually play Conan with a group?

I don't have a group.  I get an occasional request for a "D&D" session, but when it comes down to it the timing is never right for most.  Plus I'm not as interested in the generic D&D themes nowadays, anyway.

I have enough amusements that it's not a big priority to get into a regular group at the moment.  Especially since I expect to be moving sometime in the future. 

Have only GM'd one cut-short session (Star Wars) in recent history, so it's not like I'm speaking from much modern day GM experience.  However, after reading game rules for so many decades, it's easy to see the reasoning behind most game mechanics, and frame a good approach using that insight.

Still thinking of starting up some play-by-posts here, after sorting through numerous titles to see which would be best suited.  Much reading left to go, but I've always enjoyed reading game rules for some odd reason.   :nerd:

Yskonyn

Heh I fully understand. I am in a similar position AND I like to scour through rulebooks myself as well. For me opening a rulebook is probably like opening a machine is to an engineer; I am curious what workings and clever things I'll find inside.
And I also enjoy reading about a setting I am unfamiliar with. Fluff is nice.  :smitten:

Though for Conan its much more about the ability to think up stories and finally play them out in a setting that has been captivating for me since I was a kid.
"Pilots do not get paid for what they do daily, but they get paid for what they are capable of doing.
However, if pilots would need to do daily what they are capable of doing, nobody would dare to fly anymore."

Dammit Carl!

The GM's Toolkit is pretty nifty too - particularly for the adventure generators in the book (and could see that being useful for a few other games as well).

Nefaro

#25
Quote from: Dammit Carl! on April 05, 2018, 09:56:07 AM
The GM's Toolkit is pretty nifty too - particularly for the adventure generators in the book (and could see that being useful for a few other games as well).

Definitely dig the GM toolkit for it's basic hook generating tables.

Dunno if you've checked it out before, but the Covetous Poet's Adventure Creator and Solo GM Guidebook has some huge genre-specific plot generation tables to help you brainstorm outside the normal ruts a bit.  It has methods for creating a 3-5 Act story, and all the bits inside, if need be. 

At the very least, it's great for rolling up a fairly detailed intro to take wherever you want.   O0

Yskonyn

Thanks for the link, Nef!  O0
Any more gems you can suggest?
"Pilots do not get paid for what they do daily, but they get paid for what they are capable of doing.
However, if pilots would need to do daily what they are capable of doing, nobody would dare to fly anymore."

Dammit Carl!

Nice.

Speaking of sandboxy generators (outside of Sine Nomine's stuff), I've recently got two OSR themed games made by RPGPundit; Lion and Dragon and Dark Albion and the sourcebook for Dark Albion called Cults of Chaos that are chock full of table-y goodness.  In addition to the aforementioned tables in the books, these two games are honestly some of the more pretty and well laid out ones I've seen in a while, in my opinion.

Nefaro

#28
Quote from: Yskonyn on April 06, 2018, 01:14:14 PM
Thanks for the link, Nef!  O0
Any more gems you can suggest?

The Tome Of Adventure Design by Frog God Games is a massive book of fantasy-themed random tables for creating every detail you'll likely need. 

Although I prefer to use Covetous Poet's for plot & twist generation, filling out everything else can pretty much be done with this beast.

They did a print run of a newer revised edition a few years ago; I found a hardback at Noble Knight and snatched it up.  There may still be more physical copies available there, or at Frog God's site.  As much as the PDF costs, I figured may as well spend a bit extra for a proper book.

Hardcover is available at their home site -->  https://www.froggodgames.com/tome-adventure-design



This lady flips through and describes some of the content in the Tome Of Adventure Design in the following vid; you can get a good idea what type of stuff it's filled with:




For some quick brainstorm generators which can be mixed with stuff like The Covetous Poet's Creator and Mythic GM Emulator's Yes/No style progression, I own a few different GM's Apprentice Decks for quick on-the-fly random generators while in session.  They can come in handy when GM'ing for others and you want something randomized, too.

Each card has numerous brainstorm generator categories.  Names, various descriptor words, symbols, scatter direction, etc, etc for quick sparks.  Using the physical decks of cards for some of the simple answers saves time since you don't have to look up & go to a table in a book, roll d100/d1000 and find the result.  Instead, you just figure out which category of the cards is appropriate and draw one (or more). 

I have physical decks of the Generic/Universal version, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror genres.  The Fantasy one is the newest, and contains an extra category on them, so that's the best option for a single deck.  My only complaint about it is the text & symbols are in a smaller font than the other decks.  I'd say my second choice would be Sci-Fi, or maybe the Generic/Universal one if you don't do much sci-fi.  The horror one seemed to lean a bit more toward bloody slasher type results, whereas the others gave me the impression of being more varied within the themes, so it was my least fave.

Yskonyn

Thanks for the pointers!
The Tome seems to be an awesome addition to my library and its available for International Print-on-demand service as well, meaning I can save on shipping and handling. Many thanks!
"Pilots do not get paid for what they do daily, but they get paid for what they are capable of doing.
However, if pilots would need to do daily what they are capable of doing, nobody would dare to fly anymore."