Hyboria age d&d

[thegreyelf]

Thanks! I'm gearing up to run a Hyborian Age game, so we'll see how it all works.

[thegreyelf]

Well my sorcerer character's player came up with an interesting concept. He wants his character to work for the Nemedian Chroniclers, seeking out lore and evidence that certain legendary tales and exploits actually happened. I told him we can definitely roll with that. He's probably going to begin the game Unaligned, giving him a good 4 failed corruption saves before he becomes evil.

Another player is going to be an Aesir Fighting-Man. A third, while still unsure, thinks she's going to play a swashbuckling pirate-type character, probably in the mold of Belit or Valeria. The rest I haven't heard from yet.

The campaign will be set in the reign of King Conan II, approximately 3 years after the abdication and disappearance of King Conan the Great. Still gives me the standard Hyborian Age layout, with reliable information on the monarchs of the various kingdoms and their political boundaries and situations, but removes me from being slave to the canon, with an open future.

Despite his occasionally heavy-handed hack-job editing, I am considering the 12-volume de Camp/Carter/Nyberg series, plus the de Camp/Carter Conan the Liberator as canon. Conan of the Isles is a difficult one to reconcile, as it contradicts Howard's statement that he felt Conan's reign was a bloody and violent one, marked by Conan eventually being forced into wars of aggression to maintain his nation's sovereignty.

However, using the 12(13)-volume series provides me a stable timeline, and honestly, their straight pastiche work really isn't bad. I think those three guys alone of all the pastiche writers had a feel for Conan's character. It's easy enough for me to transplant the idea of forced wars of aggression to Conan's son, also named Conan.

I plan to modify a few generic d20/D&D adventures, and mix them with some of the Mongoose Conan adventures I've got. I should have enough to take them from solving mysteries in Tarantia to escaping slavery in an east-bound caravan, through adventuring in the Black Kingdoms and finally into Stygia to face down a manifestation of Set himself. I'd like to work something in Zamora in there somewhere; I'll have to see what I can come up with.

[thegreyelf]

Here's the spell list I came up with for Sorcerers. I left a few flashy spells in at 8th and 9th level, as by then sorcerers should be kind of world-shakers. Mostly, though, I excised big and fancy stuff and all healing spells. Tried to keep it in the mold of what you might see a dark wizard or priest do in a Conan story.

Notes:
A "1" appearing immediately after a spell name indicates it appears in Supplement I.
A "2" indicates it appears in Supplement III
*Lightning bolt affects only a single target rather than everything in the line.
**As cure spells, but inflict instead of healing.

Level One
1. Cause Light Wounds**
2. Charm Person
3. Detect Magic
4. Detect Snares & Pits2
5. Hold Portal
6. Light
7. Locate Animals2
8. Predict Weather2
9. Protection from Evil/Good
10. Purify Food & Water
11. Read Languages
12. Read Magic
13. Shield1
14. Sleep
15. Ventriloquism1

Level Two
1. Bless1
2. Create Water
3. Darkness 5’ Radius1
4. Detect Evil
5. Detect Invisible
6. E.S.P.
7. Find Traps
8. Heat Metal2
9. Hold Person
10. Invisibility
11. Knock
12. Levitate
13. Locate Object
14. Locate Plants2
15. Magic Mouth1
16. Mirror Image1
17. Obscurement2
18. Phantasmal Forces
19. Produce Flame2
20. Silence 15’ Radius
21. Speak with Animals
22. Strength1
23. Warp Wood2
24. Web1
25. Wizard Lock

Level Three
1. Call Lightning2
2. Clairaudience
3. Clairvoyance
5. Dispel Magic
6. Explosive Runes1
7. Fly
8. Haste
9. Hold Animal2
10. Hold Person
11. Infravision
12. Lightning Bolt* (Arcane Only)
13. Monster Summoning I1
14. Plant Growth
15. Prayer (Clerical Only)
16. Protection from Fire2
17. Protection from Normal Missiles
18. Remove Curse
19. Rope Trick1
20. Slow
21. Speak with Dead
22. Suggestion1
23. Water Breathing

Level Four
1. Cause Serious Wounds**
2. Charm Monster
3. Confusion
4. Control Temperature, 10’ Radius2
5. Fear1
6. Insect Plague2
7. Monster Summoning II1
8. Neutralize Poison
9. Polymorph Self
10. Protection from Lightning2
11. Remove Curse
12. Speak with Plants2
13. Turn Sticks to Snakes
14. Wizard Eye

Level Five
1. Animate Dead
2. Cause Disease**
3. Cloudkill (Arcane Only)
4. Commune (Clerical Only)
5. Conjure Elemental (Arcane Only)
6. Contact Higher Plane (Clerical Only)
7. Feeblemind
8. Hold Monster
9. Magic Jar
10. Monster Summoning III
11. Pass-Wall
12. Quest
13. Telekinesis
14. Transmute Rock-Mud

Level Six
1. Animate Objects1
2. Anti-Animal Shell2
3. Anti-magic Shell
4. Conjure Animals1
5. Death Spell
6. Find the Path1
7. Invisible Stalker
8. Legend Lore1
9. Lower Water
10. Monster Summoning IV1
11. Projected Image
12. Repulsion1
13. Speak with Monsters1
14. Stone to Flesh
15. Word of Recall1

Level Seven
1. Aerial Servant2
2. Astral Spell2
3. Earthquake2
4. Holy Word (Clerical Only)2
5. Monster Summoning V1
6. Phase Door1 (Arcane Only)
7. Polymorph Others1
8. Power Word – Stun
9. Simulacrum (Arcane Only)1
10. Wind Walk1
11. Part Water1
12. Animate Rock2
13. Creeping Doom2
14. Confusion
15. Transmute Metal to Wood2

Level Eight
1. Clone1
2. Fire Storm2
3. Mass Charm1
4. Mind Blank1
5. Monster Summoning VI1
6. Polymorph Any Object1
7. Power Word – Blind1
8. Symbol1

Level Nine
1. Gate1
2. Maze1
3. Meteor Swarm1
4. Monster Summoning VII1
5. Power Word-Kill1
6. Shape Change1
7. Time Stop1
8. Wish1

[thegreyelf]

Also: I have updated the PDF with the included spell list.

[Finarvyn]

Nice spell list, Jason. Very Hyboria-like.

Of course, my players will never get to see spell levels 7-9 because they're not White Box in scope, but it's fun to see the list for my Thoth-Amon clone NPC bad-guy wizards. Come to think of it, my players hardly ever get to see spell levels 5-6, either. :-P

[thegreyelf]

I don't know that my players will ever level that high either, though keep in mind with the magic system I have in place (Chainmail's) it's possible to cast higher level spells using rituals and scrolls. Sure, a first level sorcerer can only learn first level spells (and only one at that), but given enough time and detailed instructions or a magic scroll, he can attempt to cast up to seventh. He's just risking corruption by doing so .

[thegreyelf]

Cross-posted from the campfire thread:

Okay, so...I have a player who wants to play a bard (actually, an Aesir or Vanir Skald). I'm fine with this, but overlooked the fact that bards from The Strategic Review have magic spells; I want to do away with this. The question is, what should I replace it with?

I'm thinking a healing ability based on their Lore skill, representing the fact that they know about holistic medicine and herbal remedies. Given that healing magic is all but non-existent in the Hyborian Age, this could come in handy from a purely gaming perspective. The question is, how to adjudicate this without pulling people out of the game? Do I put a set cap on the number of d6 in hit points per day, perhaps based on level? Do I restrict it based on finding materials (the proper herbs and mosses, for example) and time?

What do you all think?

[coffee]

I like where you're going with this. The SR Bard class is overpowered; this should tone it down somewhat.

I think you could do something similar to the Chainmail style magic your sorceror will use: Have them roll for it.

If it's strictly a role playing thing, like finding the materials, they'll just stockpile them. Then you'll have a walking trauma ward on your hands. If you link it to a die roll, then it's in the realm of fate.

The die roll could vary, depending on the amount of damage. For instance, 1-3 points needs a 9 or better, 4-6 a 10, and so on. Then this base number could come down with added levels (i.e.; at third level you'd need an 8 for 1-3 points, etc.)

Anyway this is just off the top of my head. I'm sure others will have different ideas.

[thegreyelf]

You're right on the roll; perhaps the roll could tie into being a representation of having/finding the proper materials as well as knowledge?

I don't like the difficulty number for different amounts of damage--that just makes the bard an instant full healer so long as he makes the roll. I'd rather it be 1d6 hp healed, he can do it once per person per day (maybe increasing to twice at third level and three times at ninth), and doing so takes 1 turn per patient.

[thegreyelf]

How about this?