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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 13, 2009 8:16:43 GMT -6
In case anyone is interested, I've begun work on a follow-up to my Age of Conan book. This one is called Secrets of Acheron (mostly because I didn't want to call it "The Book of Skelos" and step on Mongoose's toes) and will function largely as a black grimoire for Hyborian Age sorcerers. I plan to adapt most of the spells from the Conan RPG which aren't redundant with D&D spells, and include one or two others for fun. I'm also including clarifications on corruption and sorcerers and things like sacrifices and battle magic.
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 13, 2009 12:48:27 GMT -6
Interested? This sounds awesome! Black grimoires and Hyboria go hand-in-hand, so this should fit great into my (occasional) Conan campaign!
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 13, 2009 14:42:05 GMT -6
Well, I'm working on it. How long it'll take depends upon how long it takes me to adapt the material, how much I decide to include, and how obsessive I get about doing it.
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 17, 2009 7:14:13 GMT -6
So far I have 27 new spells (though that's sort of cheating, as several are "Greater" and "Master" versions of lesser spells--Animate Dead, Greater and Animate Dead, Master, for example). Still playing around with what all I want to include. I think I'd like to place the existing spells into categories, too, even though the categories are flavor with no real game effect. Just for consistency's sake, though, it seems the right thing to do.
here's the list so far:
Counterspells Warding (Complexity/Level: 1) - creates an energy field around the sorcerer to make it difficult for other sorcerers to affect him with spells. Greater Warding (Complexity/Level: 3) Master Warding (Complexity/Level: 6)
Curses Breath of Yizil (Complexity/Level 5) - as he dies, the sorcerer inflicts long-term penalties on his enemy. Curse of the Werewolf (Complexity/Level 8) - turns a single person into a lycanthrope under the sorcerer's thrall. Evil Eye (Complexity/Level 1): Imparts short-term penalties to an enemy. Evil Eye, Greater (Complexity/Level 3) Evil Eye, Master (Complexity/Level 6)
Divination It Is Written (Complexity/Level 1) Glimpse of the future grants a bonus to a single die roll. Psychometry (Complexity/Level 3) The sorcerer can read the history of objects by touching them. Psychometry, Improved (Complexity/Level 4) Psychometry, Master (Complexity/Level 5) They Speak in Dreams (Complexity/Level 4) Prophetic dreams grant automatic success on a single die roll.
Domination Fascinate (Complexity/Level 1) The sorcerer entrances a single subject so long as he maintains eye contact and concentration. Dominate (Complexity/Level 3) The sorcerer enslaves a single subject he has already fascinated.
Summoning Summon Vermin (Complexity/Level 1) The sorcerer calls forth venomous insects, arachnids, and other crawling vermin to fight for him. Vile Weapon (Complexity/Level 1) The sorcerer can use scorpions, snakes, or other small creatures as weapons. Banishment (Complexity/Level 2) The sorcerer sends a demonic creature back to the Outer Dark. Banishment, Greater (Complexity/Level 5) Banishment, Master (Complexity/Level 8)
Necromancy Grave Torment (Complexity/Level 1) The sorcerer forces a victim to feel what it is like to die an agonizing death. Agonizing Doom (Complexity/Level 5) Black tendrils of energy drain the life from a single victim. Vampiric Touch (Complexity/Level 6) The sorcerer's touch drains hit points from a target and restores the sorcerer's own health. Your Heart is Mine! (Complexity/Level 7) The sorcerer boosts his own power by tearing the heart from a victim's breast and consuming it. Animate Dead, Greater (Complexity/Level 7) Vampiric Touch, Greater (Complexity/Level 8) Animate Dead, Master (Complexity/Level 9)
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Post by aldarron on Nov 17, 2009 8:08:15 GMT -6
Hey Jason, these sound really cool. I'm wondering, are you drawing these out of the Conan stories, the larger corpus of Howards stories, your own imagination, or all three? If its a little of all three what percent would you say belongs to each? My sense is that it's all Howard, but then again I always thought his concept of magic was vague and distant, like necromatic control and hypnotism - hard to translate as spells exactly.
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 17, 2009 9:08:25 GMT -6
They are actually for the most part adapted from (or at least inspired by) Mongoose's Conan RPG. I'm more concerned with maintaining the gritty sword-and-sorcery flavor of the spell effects than anything else. Howard didn't spend a great deal of time on how magic worked in his world--we definitely see specific effects, however. There are summoned demons, Conan gets blasted by what seems very similar to a Hold Person spell on a couple occasions, the wizards in People of the Black Circle, iirc, use a similar effect to the Agonizing Doom spell above. I don't think specific spells are antithetical to Conan's universe, though; we just aren't given names for them, so for these I simply tried to maintain an appropriately "Cthulhu Mythos" flavor, as it were.
[EDIT] I'm going to be putting up a revised version of the original booklet as well, as I keep finding duplicate spells in the lists as I go through them to categorize. For those who don't want to re-download, in general I am erring on the lower side, so if a spell appears at third and fourth level, I'm going with third as its level. The sole exception (so far) is Hold Person, which remained third, and I moved Hold Animal to the second level slot formerly held by Hold Person.
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 18, 2009 9:28:35 GMT -6
Okay, gents. It's complete (at least the first effort is). Please, by all means read and comment. www.grey-elf.com/dnd/acheron.pdfOh, I shouldn't fail to mention: like the other, it's bookmarked for ease of navigation, and it will print as a digest-sized booklet using the "booklet printing" option in Acrobat Reader. Just print pages 2-32 for the insides, then print page 1 by itself for the cover, using "Multiple Pages per Sheet" as your option, and "Horizontal Reversed" as your layout. You'll need to select "Page(s)" and just enter "1" instead of "Current Page" to get that option. And last but not least, the revised version of the first booklet is posted now, as well, with the spell list fixed.
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Post by geordie on Nov 18, 2009 11:49:33 GMT -6
This is excellent, have an exalt - it 'feels' right, well done
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 18, 2009 14:04:31 GMT -6
Thanks!
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 19, 2009 8:23:32 GMT -6
I have also created a DM Screen for Age of Conan. www.grey-elf.com/dnd/AoC-DM-Screen.pdfIt's designed to work with the old MasterScreen customizable GM screen. They won't work with the Pinnacle one, sadly, because that's landscape format and these are portrait. There's a 4-panel one available at www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=36007&ref=goog, but I've only made 3 panels, front and back. I'm sure you could easily fill the fourth with extra tables, maps, etc., however. I'm told that tri-fold menu covers work great, but I've never been able to find a place where you can order them in quantities of less than 25. In any case, there you have it. Enjoy!
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Post by snorri on Nov 19, 2009 8:46:00 GMT -6
Wonderful! Thanx !
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Post by amalric on Nov 19, 2009 8:55:09 GMT -6
Yeah, this is really good, great inspiration!
Where would I get a copy of the first book?
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 19, 2009 9:31:10 GMT -6
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 19, 2009 14:23:52 GMT -6
Jason, your Secrets of Acheron supplement is awesome. It's a great length (many RPG books are too long and wordy) and has classic Conan-style artwork. Very well done!
I know I PM-ed something to this effect, but I wanted to post it so everyone could hear how good it is. :-)
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 20, 2009 10:49:23 GMT -6
Just did a huge (and final) revision of the original Age of Conan. This one includes the revised bard character class, corrected spell tables for the Sorcerer, and corrects a bunch of typos, including removing references to elves, dwarves, and hobbits in the combat rules and clarifying the saving throw system.
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 20, 2009 15:36:58 GMT -6
Huge (and final) version downloaded! :-)
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Post by thegreyelf on Nov 28, 2009 23:44:34 GMT -6
Woot! Just thought you might all be interested to know that the d20 Hyborian Age gaming site (well-known site which has been around since before the Mongoose game) has linked the PDFs I'm using for our game. Pretty sweet. hyboria.xoth.net/We're under "Links."
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Post by thegreyelf on Dec 2, 2009 9:30:31 GMT -6
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 2, 2009 12:16:56 GMT -6
Jason, you have so many cool ideas ... have another EXALT!
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Post by thegreyelf on Dec 2, 2009 14:35:43 GMT -6
Thanks, Marv! Seems I'm starting to get some small recognition from Howard scholars as well--I've had posts from Dale Rippke over there, and my AoC stuff has gotten a nod from The Cimmerian website/blog.
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 2, 2009 21:41:35 GMT -6
Have you thought about taking your various supplements and blending them together into a single file? That would be really neat!
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Post by thegreyelf on Dec 3, 2009 7:25:49 GMT -6
It'd also be a lot of work for something from which I can't make money . With school, work, and my (hopefully) professional writing, I don't really have the time to go in for something like that at the moment. Plus, this way people can pick and choose what they want from smaller supplements that they can print out in booklet form. If I put them all together, the sheer size of it would not be conducive to booklet printing.
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Post by Hans E Magnusson on Jan 5, 2010 12:25:39 GMT -6
Hello
Can i use Swords & Wizardry Whitebox to The Age of Conan
/ Hans really bad in English
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Post by thegreyelf on Jan 5, 2010 13:45:43 GMT -6
Yes and no. Age of Conan is designed to be played with OD&D, but using Chainmail as the combat system and magic system. If you don't use Chainmail, it'll work but will lose some of the flavor, particularly where magic is concerned, but in combat as well. It would work better with Spellcraft & Swordplay, as that is based on the Chainmail mechanic (and has a similar task-based magic system), but since most people consider S&W: White Box to be a retro-clone of OD&D (I don't, but that's my opinion) it should theoretically function properly with S&W, but will require some adaptation. IF you want to use it with S&W:WB, Sorcerers should attack as Magic Users and save as Clerics, save that they gain +3 to save against spells. Saving throws can use the system in S&W:WB or in Age of Conan, whichever you are most comfortable using (though if using a d20-based saving throw system I'd up the Sorcerer's bonus to save vs. spells to +5). Not much can be done about Vancian magic, though it doesn't fit the Howard style. I suppose you could replace Vancian magic with a quick and dirty casting roll system, wherein the caster rolls 2d6 to cast a spell, adding his caster level, against a target of 7 plus the spell's level. If he succeeds, the spell goes off. If he fails by one, the spell goes off, but is delayed a round. All other rules for spell casting are as detailed under the Sorcerer character class, including corruption and backlash.
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Post by thegreyelf on Jan 5, 2010 14:38:40 GMT -6
Hans' post reminded me, though, to work on the revision of this. The complete spell table is in place, now, as is battle magic. I just need to convert the rest of the spells and we'll be good to go.
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Post by Hans E Magnusson on Jan 5, 2010 14:54:24 GMT -6
Thanks for the reply.
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Post by thegreyelf on Jan 5, 2010 16:45:10 GMT -6
Okay, everyone, the major revision of Secrets of Acheron is complete. This one includes: Battle Magic: rules for magic in mass combat A few new spells Complete spell tables (turns out there wasn't much worth converting--only some new prestidigitation spells). Enjoy: www.grey-elf.com/dnd/
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