Conan - RPG Review

A look at the Conan Tabletop RPG by Modiphius. It's a beautiful book that gives much love to Howard's world, but it's also got a fair number of problems.
You can find it at the Modiphius website here: www.modiphius.net/collections...
Find it at DriveThruRPG: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Find it at Amazon: amzn.to/2H4ktAc
Get my cheatsheets here: drive.google.com/file/d/12M6B...
If you liked my Doom Bowl, you can score one here: amzn.to/2YMUtUM
If you want to support me and my channel, or just want some awesome urban fantasy about modern-day monster hunters, you can find my novels and audiobooks here: amzn.to/2H54uSp
Guest-starring Jack the NPC
00:00 Intro
01:23 The Corebook
02:20 Character Creation
03:50 Game Mechanics
05:10 Momentum
05:47 Traits
06:16 Doom
07:53 Complications
08:59 Combat- Hitpoints
13:21 Combat Damage
14:31 Combat Zones
16:56 Sorcery
17:26 Carousing
17:42 Rest of the Book
18:37 Ease of Use
21:49 Accessories
25:02 The Character Sheet
27:07 Overall Thoughts
29:29 Outro

[@seb24789]

GM! What is best in life! To throw your dice, see them rolling before you and to hear the lamentation of the players!

[@ss-oq9pc]

Well done sir. You have won the internet for a day.

[@Ny-kelCameron]

Yes!! That is best!!!

[@lerxstdirkst6181]

Sebastian Abele roll for Crombat!

[@ramsien]

That is good.

[@marendur]

Here, have an upvote and coment.

[@thekinginyellow7029]

"These [editing criticisms] sound like a bunch of nit-picky little gripes..." Oh no, trust me, they don't. As someone who's been trying to comprehend Shadowrun 5e, the importance of good editing in a rule book CANNOT be understated!

[@Draqer]

God yeah. If you feel like you are trapped in a maze when reading the book it makes it so much harder to learn and play it

[@stevemanart]

I played Aberrant. Copy-editing is the singe most important thing I care about when it comes to presentation of a game book to me.

[@gideonmele1556]

Shadowrun’s rules are like a run itself: planning, disparate cross-referencing, help from others, lots of legwork, frustration, and of course - it never goes down the way you anticipated

[@nathanieljernigan1147]

Editing and formatting. Playing old WoD, man the layout of those books is just bad. When you finally find the entry you are looking for on something. It turns out it is just a header giving you the page of another book where you can actually find it. FML

[@dminard1]

Cannot be overstated.

[@hartthorn]

This sounds like a great game just SCREAMING for a revised edition with some SERIOUS technical writers to handle this shit.

[@davidlewis5312]

yes

[@joshvasquez8196]

Conan 2e?

[@hartthorn]

@badfshn yes. Technical writers is the name of the profession of writing instructions. It's actually an interesting field of work.

[@pieter-jandeboeck5928]

the main book is unfortunately 1 revision away from being perfect. Looking up different rules across the book for simple combat does take a bit of flipping back and forth the first time.

[@ErrantIndy]

Sadly, this seems like a trait throughout Modiphus’s entire rpg line up. Great concepts, interesting system, but terrible technical writing all over.

[@Brodka4Realz]

Really a seriously perfect review, absolutely nailed every aspect. My group has been playing this amazing game for 6 months now and I do finally feel pretty comfy GMing it, but learning the game regularly goes beyond the rulebook into online discussions in forums, into blogs, and (especially) places like your videos on KZbin which were and are super-helpful.

[@azunthewise4914]

Would you recommend it to a gm of about 6 years to try out?

[@yurikendal4868]

@@azunthewise4914 it has some great ideas. It will take a few sessions and research to get it ironed out

[@azunthewise4914]

@@yurikendal4868 I tried it a few times, never could quite get a hold of it but another friend of mine loves the system. So it worked out well

[@marendur]

Brom drawing Conan again. This is a dream come true.

[@williamlee7482]

Brom's AD&D Dark Sun art was awesome

[@Shannovian]

These problems sounds really typical for Modiphius. I remember playtesting Star Trek and there was one point where all of my players and I were rooting through the book to try to find out an answer to something similar to the guard-break in this video.

[@MalrexMontresor]

It is, we had the same problem with all of their games, including Fallout. They also had a tendency to put very important rule information or stat blocks in sidebars.

[@aquarius5719]

Guard break in Modiphius Conan Monolith edition tabletop game is as easy as using energy gems of stamina for an action. Actions have different color dice, each one with different values of axe, which is a phoenix in this game. And comparing your roll axes with enemy axes tells you if guard was defeated or not if you are guarding or the enemy is.

[@matthewmccloud4777]

I completely agree that Momentum is wonderful for teamwork in RPGs. Modiphius does the same mechanic in their Star Trek RPG and finally we have an RPG where the each member of the crew actually makes a difference in how the group succeeds.

[@Kilakro]

I didn't realize Modiphius made that game as well. I played the Star Trek game at a local game shop a few months ago and really liked that mechanic.

[@meatguyf1375]

@@Kilakro Modiphius has become one of my favorite game companies out there lately. Besides Trek and Conan, they've also done John Carter of Mars, Infinity, Mutant Chronicles, and have a Fallout game coming out as well. All their games use some variation of the 2d20 system, but kind of changed around just enough to fit the setting better.

[@matthewmccloud4777]

@@Kilakroyup its pretty much the same mechanic. Best Star Trek RPG game todate I think.

[@Torvik40]

Their first game, I believe, was _Achtung! Cthulhu_ which was dual-statted for CoC 6th edition and Savage Worlds. They also came out with a Fate version, and I've heard they're currently working on converting it to 2d20; I'll be interested to see how that turns out. I wonder if Seth has ever run _A!C_ or if it's a game he'd consider running.

[@jh1859]

Oh, Frazetta. My first interest in the fantasy/RPG world. No artist has come close to surpassing that magic touch he had.

[@WandersNowherre]

Seth, I would also add to your final note there (about the soundtracks) that the soundtracks to both Age of Conan and Conan Exiles do a GREAT JOB of continuing the flavor and style of Basil Poledouris' legendary scores for Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer. I ran a Conan campaign using the old d20 Conan rules and everywhere my players chose to go, thanks to those games, I had music for. They're wandering in the brooding hills of Cimmeria? Check, got music. They're infiltrating a temple in a major Stygian city? Got the music. Raiding an island in the Barachans to find a treasure before a gang of vicious pirates? Got the music for it. I use both the movies and games' soundtrack interchangeably and it's amazing how well they mesh.

[@TehGoodcat]

I really like the universe of Conan. This game looks like a lot of fun. Really interested.

[@sullyb23511]

I watched some actual play videos here on KZbin, and it looked so fun that I bought the PDF.

[@TehGoodcat]

I forgot this existed. But I'm totally reading some Marvel Conan right now. And now I'm looking into it. Let me know how it all turns out for you?

[@kylenetherwood8734]

I like the thought of someone coming from D&D and rolling 20 and their delight turns to dispair as they learn what it really means.

[@johnnysizemore5797]

Grip in the system means the hand your PC is dominant with.If you use your "off-grip" for Combat,it's supposed to impose a +1 to the Difficulty.They have a similar system in their Star Trek adventures game,so they might've forgot to put it in the copy they sent to the printers.Also,don't feel bad 'bout nickpickin Jack,it took me about 3 month's to learn the Star Trek corebook enough to run a game.Hope this helps Seth!

[@MilkmanOfTheApocalypse]

Ugh, that sounds like some Palladium-level copy/paste errors.

[@johnnysizemore5797]

You'd be suprised at just how often that can happen when making a large amount of books in a short amount of time. While Palladium was rather bad for it,it been known to happen in other's...

[@MilkmanOfTheApocalypse]

I do some technical writing in my occupation, so I know how it goes, but it's not a good look.

[@johnnysizemore5797]

I'm in total agreement with you there.But unlike Palladium, at least their not at the mercy of an Adult 8-year old and an overtly complicated Rule system(i should know,i ran it in both HS and College) so they got a fighting chance,at the least...

[@sullyb23511]

@@johnnysizemore5797 An "adult 8-year old"? What do you mean by that?

[@chrisfougere1146]

I'm a big fan of the 2d20 system - from Conan to Star Trek to John Carter and the various ways they change the system enough to emulate the license exceptionally well. That being said, the issues you mention are definitely a thing (I'm surprised you didn't comment on the Gold system) but the rules are pretty straight forward and I found that at the mid point of our 20-ish session campaign I wasn't referencing the book all that often.

[@z.adkins862]

And those special dice they sell is the exact reason why they use a frustrating phoniex symbol for combat dice.

[@spaceranger7683]

Honestly, the Phoenix symbol has never been an issue for me or my players. It only takes a few minutes into session zero for everyone to grasp what it means, and nobody in my group has ever been tripped up using a standard d6 or expressed any interest whatsoever in buying the proprietary dice. Annoying, maybe, but not a real issue in my experience. Not like that Star Wars RPG where special dice do make a difference.

[@tomcat-ek3bh]

A gift, an RPG review years in the making.

[@kensvideos1]

Right!

[@UncleRiotous]

I Kickstarted Conan and therefore have a shelf groaning under the weight of every book. This review is so bang on to my experience. I love the game but it is soooo difficult to read and reference. Amazing game though.

[@pieter-jandeboeck5928]

My greatest collecting joy has come from getting these books. I've been reading all those stories and R.E.H. was ahead of his time in so many ways.

[@c-bass9367]

Your channel is so amazing. By far and away the best channel for DM's . So many D&D channels out there that are cashing in on the trend. You are very genuine and it shows that you have played for years in very exciting campaings.

[@bbd121]

I was recommended Conan some time back because we wanting to play a fantasy game other than Pathfinder 1E and D&D as we were on it for quite some time. Here's a summary of 2 months worth of playing Conan. 1) Starting the game. This was the most fun we had with Conan. As long as we were creating characters, meeting up in the world, getting introduced to the world, exploring, we had so much fun. 2) The first third of the game excluding starting. We didn't have a lot of fun, but it was still bearable. This started with our first combat and it spiralled from there. It just turns out we had different understanding of rules, and this was resolved by a lot of printing of our book. Sorry for piracy. 3) Mid Story. We hated Conan. Nobody knows what's happening. The reason why the DM is not adversarial is because he is just as frustrated with the game as you are. 4) The last Acts. We started somewhat enjoying ourselves again, although the frustration is still there. Someone at the table liken this to Stockholm Syndrome. I won't go that far, but I agree you have to get used to the "wheel of frustration" to like playing Conan. I was thinking whether it was a good idea to recommend this game to another person when something happened right at the end of the campaign that answered it. We read our epilogues and I announced we were going back to Pathfinder. Someone heaved a sigh of relief, and another player said "Finally". This moment convinced me to never recommend TTRPG Conan to anyone whose time I didn't want to waste.

[@aquarius5719]

I bought MechWarrior Destiny which is an RPG to play in the Battletech mecha universe of medieval space houses fighting each other. MechWarriors are the pilots of these mechs. The game also uses zones and has very minimal mechanics which I find very good as the skeleton of an RPG. I plan to understand this Conan RPG and then merge both to make a She-Ra RPG game just for fun. It should have the simplicity of Destiny and the epic feeling of Conan RPG. Wish me luck.

[@Spaceboy02111]

Always a treat to come home from work and see one of your videos on my feed!

[@MaxWriter]

Nicely done. I like to see a well-rounded and honest review. Thanks for sharing.

[@meatguyf1375]

I have to admit that I am firmly in the "Pro Zone" team. They really make the game feel much more cinematic and with clever map design it all makes sense and flows together nicely. I'm not saying they work for every game out there, but they fit the feel of Conan so damn well to me. Having said that, as much as I love the game it does need some editing here and there to tighten things up a bit. Still, it's no Shadowrun at least. I would pay real money to see you have to dig through and review 5th or 6th edition. heh

[@lordzaboem]

I just mentioned SR 5th edition under a comment immediately above yours. That team of reviewers he had with 20+ years of experience each might still be exclusively fantasy genre players.

[@ivane5110]

I remember TSR's Marvel Superheroes in the early 80's had die role random character generation. We didn't use it often, but when we did we'd run off an entire team and just to challenge ourselves to see if we could mesh the randomness into a cohesive group. FASERIP!

[@iskevosi]

It was good to see your review after we've been playing this for some time. Our group love it too, but the book can be difficult.

[@kensvideos1]

Wow! Truly respect your amazing ability to review RPGs!. Big Fan!

[@TonyPuleo1]

Honestly that was a fantastic review and I appreciate the detail you give…Well done

[@shaneflickinger]

Thanks a lot for the review. As a fan of all things (well...most things) Conan I've been thinking about picking this up. Good advice to maybe take it for a spin first with the free quickstart adventure.

[@jasonnewell7036]

We all have that one player who is addicted to making characters. My long time rpg buddy has folders full of characters he has never played.

[@Almighty_Mage]

I am that player.

[@swaghauler8334]

So he has a big folder for well-developed NPCs?

[@andrewrobinson4019]

I thought about my group and was like, ‘weird I don’t think we have... oh. It’s me. I’m that player.’

[@sullyb23511]

@ Jason Newell I LOVE making characters. I'm addicted to it. I also have folders full unused characters, too.

[@Wolfphototech]

*I'm that player .* *I make 5 to 25 for every 1 character i use per campaign .* *I typically have 4 to 8 back up characters per campaign .*

[@TheJDough1]

It took my 2 days to watch this review, but it was really good. Well done. An in-depth perspective that was presented very differently. Thank you.

[@Torvik40]

Thumbs up for including the link to your cheat sheet!

[@menakles]

Great review. Sums up my feelings about the Conan RPG exactly.

[@tschulze]

Thank you for taking the time to review this game. As one of the Kickstarter backers that backed this game at its highest level to get a character in that 30 pages of NPCs you complained about, you have to consider the reason Modiphius was able to afford Brom and all the great Conan artists who contributed to the book, was because of the money the Kickstarter backers who paid to get NPCs in the book contributed. I agree with you that the book is not easily navigable, it definitely plays better than it reads. As a GM that has run an 8+ year campaign in the Mongoose d20 Conan rule set, and is now running a successful campaign using the Modiphius rules, hear me when I say these rules do right by Robert E Howard's Conan character! Your own players each bought a copy of the hardback rules, so you know the game itself is a success as that RARELY happens, in my experience. Anyhow, thank you for your videos and game on!

[@NefariousKoel]

I liked a couple of the backer created characters. The Spider Sorcerer is an especially inspirational one to use as a recurring nemesis, along with some others.

[@spaceranger7683]

The 30 pages of backer characters were great for use as ready made NPCs or villains, IMO. I personally had no problem with their inclusion. Especially since this setting should host more human adversaries than monsters if the game is being played true to Howard's stories. Looked at it as an extension of the bestiary section more than anything. That's my 2 coppers anyway.

[@skavenmatt3904]

I would have liked to see the premades in a soft back supplement myself, I understand the reasons for their inclusion, its just a massive misuse of space and resources though. They need more examples and clear rules in the core book, they didnt need more fluff and filler to make finding those things such a chore.

[@lmorningstar536]

I am currently churning through the core books for Conan, Mutant Chromincle 3E, John Carter of Mars, and Star Trek Adventures (I don't own the Infinity RPG yet, but that is next up in the queue). It's a little like trying to learn the Spanish, French, Italian, and Catalan languages simultaneously. The games have similarites due to all of them being rooted in 2D20, but they have just as many differences. One thing that I have found is that each of them explain similar concepts differently, so if there is something I didn't grok in Conan, I frequently found the corresponding rules in Mutant Chronicles and understood things much better, from a different perspective. That said, you are correct. As beautiful as the core Conan book is, once you get past character creation, deciphering the rules is a messy process. Great review!!!

[@deathwithbenefits3282]

Seth, as a burgeoning game dev myself, and your newest subscriber, your reviews are helping me IMMENSELY

[@briand5979]

Seth, this was a dead on review. I GM for our group and feel the same way you do about the game. I even been using the same bowl that you have for the doom.

[@Colouroutofspace4]

I actually picked up the tiles while at gencon just so I could understand the zone rules with some examples. it makes...more sense now. I still want to convince my players to play the game. I think I have enough of a grasp of it to get going. As for the dagger vs bow problem. I decided that thrown melee weapons use brawn to determine the extra CD. A dirty fix but I think it's fine.

[@boingthegoat7764]

A friend of mine just mentioned this game system to me so I'm glad to see that you've reviewed it. Also Full agreement with your final comment, I play the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack in my head whenever I'm running RPGs, playing RPGs, or thinking about RPGs

[@FordPrefict42]

I have an idea why they thought they were being clever using phoenixes as the definitive dice rolls. In Conan: The Adventurer, the animated series, Needle was Conan's trusty phoenix. He always complained about the big, dumb barbarian not appreciating Needle, he was capable of turning into sigil on any flat surface (usually Conan's shield), and Needle loved pomegranates.

[@kryptonianguest1903]

And Needle was inspired by the first published Conan story, where the ghost of the sage Epimetrius puts the Mark of the Phoenix on Conan's sword so that it will be able to harm the demon that is hunting him.

[@65GTO400]

Thanks for the review. I did the kickstarter and picked up all the PDFs. Watching your reviews of the free adventures makes me want to run this for our group. Also I picked up Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea it’s an A retro clone of 1st Edition AD&D steeped in the flavor of Howard, Lovecraft, and Clarke Ashton Smith.

[@TheDreadedBeauty]

I literally squealed with glee when I saw my notification for this video.

[@ramsien]

Because of your coverage of this game I have been going back and reading ALL of the Robert E Howard Conan stories (as well as Kull and Bran Mak Morn) and something became really apparent to me. While I had always considered the film Conan The Destroyer to be one of the best onscreen example of AD&D I discovered a deeper root in the actual Howard tales - the most obvious being Chapter 9 of The People of The Black Circle. If you took the time to stat-out this chapter, as written, you have a classic dungeon-crawl. Have a read, you won't be disappointed. Great video as always!

[@cerethpainting6606]

I’d love to see you review edge of the empire.

[@Sofus.]

The space waste is one of my pet peeves

[@allluckyseven]

Speaking of character sheets, could you please make a video analyzing character sheets for different games, and how well they work? Maybe showing also (better, if there are any) alternative sheets?

[@Alefiend]

Excellent review, and it's pretty accurate. I backed this game from the beginning (I'm not in the character section though) and I remember thinking more or less the same things when I read through my copy. Great look and feel, but some serious design missteps.

[@EpicFumble]

I'm currently DMing a Star Trek Adventures campaign for my players, and I have the exact same complaints about the game than you have about Conan. The game is awesome (the momentum/doom pools coupled with the advantage/complication system works incredibly well), the 2d20 system and the character creation fits perfectly the Star Trek vibe, and the core rulebook is gorgeous... But it is so damn awfull to use ! I can't find any information I need during my games, so I always have to improvise some rules to avoid losing time and wasting the pace of the game. Unlike you however, I have no problem with zones in combat. I find them being a pretty elegant solution to abstract distance, but I can understand your point of view. I still haven't played Conan despite owning the rulebook, because there are a lot of small differences with STA (such as momentum costs, how wounds work etc...), and it might confuse my players (and myself). But still, I'm looking forward to try the game ! Thanks for the review.

[@edwardbacchetta9092]

I’m a huge Conan fan and after this review it’s tough to shell out the $30-$40 for it on Amazon. Thanks for the honest review sir.

[@warrendavis9262]

How I beat the rules layout issue is to take some preparation time before the session & put what I need onto index cards that I can easily access. (I also went [or go] into the module I'm running & go through the rules iterations I might need to get the flow down pre-session so as to ensure a smooth game flow...) It helps...

[@RichardKurbis]

thanks for this long awaited review. I love Conan and the world... I think I'll pass on this and homebrew it with 5E or C&C...or something else...

[@Tony-dh7mz]

There are a TSR Conan, (rules lite) A Gurps Conan, and Mongoose d20 Conan, If you want to keep it lite you may like Barbarians of Lemuria as well,

[@southron_d1349]

Always enjoy the reviews, even if I'm not interested in playing the game. Thank you. There are two games in my collection which I like very much but can't get the gang interested. One is RuneQuest. I bought the recent edition because all my old stuff is so difficult to wade through. It's not just there's a lot of it, but the text can be turgid. The other is The Dark Eye aka Das Schwarze Auge. I find it interesting but it's a steep learning curve. It'd be great if you could review these games sometime.

[@KurtisRodgers]

That was a great review for a game I've never seriously considered running (a lot of nattering online re:2d20). I guess now I HAVE to go watch all your Conan scenario reviews! JEEZ... ;-P

[@plastickhero]

Yay, I've been looking forward to this review. I've been excited to start a Conan game. I'm intrigued by the abstraction of distance and time; I thought it might make things easier on the fly, but now I wonder. I agree that the rule book is scattershot, but I've not had to consult it in-game. Incidentally the rule book for Modipheus's Star Trek Adventures is just as tangential, if not worse. I'm still excited to try Conan, but now I have a heads up on the difficulties I might run into.

[@jcwolf886]

One of the hardest rulebooks to use? Apparently no one in your group has looked for a rule in a White Wolf book then.

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Speaking as a huge, longtime fan of White Wolf games, I cannot disagree with this remark. 😏

[@lordzaboem]

It has been several years for me, but I do not remember any WoD game books being anywhere near as difficult to navigate as Shadowrun 5th edition. My first SR character I tried making was a Rigger which is a vehicle pr drone pilot and should be the most straightforward character concept. Just figuring out what equipment was required to be a Rigger had me consulting four different chapters spread randomly through the book. I cannot think of any indy titles with such poor book organization, much less a professional flagship product from an experienced publisher.

[@jcwolf886]

@@lordzaboem YEah this is not the first time I've heard that SR 5th edition as having some bad design philosophies all around. Makes me wonder how they managed to go from 4th edition which I personally love and think they did a great job on to 5th where it seems like a massive dumpster fire from everything I've heard.

[@lordzaboem]

@@jcwolf886 Some people love SR 5e, primarily those guys who played all previous editions and already know 95% of the rules. It's just hostile towards new players. SR: Anarchy fixed a LOT of these problems because it's designed by different folks. It's not the streamlined version of the standard game that some gamers were expecting it to be. Anarchy is very narrative and player-empowering to the point that players can dictate what the NPCs are doing. It's just a very different style of game which doesn't sit well with the established player base. I have not looked much into the brand spanking new edition which is slowly coming out this year. I pretty much gave up on SR outside of a rare session of Anarchy.

[@AsukaLangleyS02]

@@Dorian_sapiens Cringe

[@docartemis2878]

Awesome, More Seth and a system I quite like.

[@AzureIV]

You and your players are great artists and creators.

[@yakirchernin6015]

Always great to see your reviews. And has been a while since you reviewed a system! A request though- you seems like a fan of Connan. I know it's your normal thing, but vids about Connan's lore would be welcomed. At least by me.

[@Freyveley]

Hey Seth! Just had it in my grasp today and hesitated. I went with my gut and picked up Symbaroum instead. I love conan, don't get me wrong! Thanks to your review I think I decided the right way for myself for now. I will test the quickstart rules first, I guess.

[@rencecochran7191]

Thank you for talking through this! I few gold nuggets I'm going to try to add to my game have been found. I hope they are actual gold when implemented.

[@MrFroggy27]

Modiphious ran a small campaign on their channel Was fun to see in action

[@Erdnase23]

Great review. Here’s hoping Modiphius watch it before preparing a second edition.

[@calvinsimpkins5363]

400 pages a wrist strainer? That would make Mage 20th Anniversary a damn arm breaker

[@calvinsimpkins5363]

Sidenote, a lot of these mechanics remind me a lot of exalted, I've only played 2nd edition but I get a lot of the same vibes

[@deathguarddavegoogley2022]

Great review. I still have all my old mongoose publishing Conan RPG books though - I think I’ll stick with that! I’d love to see a Cyberpunk review - I remember playing this at uni!

[@andrewpantke1533]

Thanks Seth. Sounds like Conan’s lined up for a epic 2nd edition in the future.

[@lordzaboem]

After backers payed arms and legs for this one? Nerds will be screaming angry if a 2nd edition were released at any period less than years after the intial edition. Remember that we are talking about fantasy gamers here, and many of these guys still use AD&D and refused 3rd, 4th, and 5th edition D&D because they consider additional editions to be money grabs. A second printing with some errata would be acceptable.

[@andrewpantke1533]

@@lordzaboem good point.

[@jackdemarco1545]

Cool review. Definitely peaked my interest. You should definitely check out Degenesis by six more vodka. Best art I have seen for an rpg in some time

[@jasonnewell7036]

Your complaints about the difficulty of finding specific rules, the layout problems and inconsistencies remind me very much of my experience with Rifts. Palladium games had a big problem with organising their books in a logical matter. That, and when actually playing Rifts, the problem is spread across about 20+ different books. Rule references in fluff sections, specific combat rules only referenced in skills or, at times, character creation, stats that have no bearing on gameplay, no consistency of skill progression, skills using different rules systems or dice to utilise, the list goes on.

[@richmcgee434]

That. Ye gods & goddesses, Kevin cannot organize his scattershot rulebooks worth a darn even after decades of trying. But hey, never forget, paladins get a bonus to the Dance skill.

[@lordzaboem]

You are not wrong about any of your observations. I'm just surprised that you would single out Rifts as your target when there are far, far worse offenders. I never had half as much trouble finding a rule or stat or piece of gear in any Palladium game as I had with Shadowrun 5th edition.

[@richmcgee434]

Shadowrun being a mess doesn't make Palladium's books any better. When the best layout of any Rifts product is the licensed Savage Worlds port, you know your editing sucks.

[@gabrielrahn]

Been waiting for this review.

[@rooksgate5574]

Thanks for reviewing Conan. We have just started our second campaign - the original got a bit out of hand - and are really enjoying the system. Your commentary pretty much matches our experience: love the mechanics but sometimes there is just something missing. Some core component that isn't explained or is just absent: I'm looking at you Grip. We modded the rules to include ranges and the cheat sheet also includes guard. One thing I found irritating on the character sheet is how the mechanics of talents seems somehow less important "view-wise" than where the talent came from. All of that said, having a shoggoth chase your players through a crumbling temple on the top of a mountain only to have them jump off a cliff into a pool of water (losing all the treasure) to escape the collapse of the building... something that it seems only possible in this system.

[@codypatton2859]

Grip means what hand you use. Off-grip means using your left hand which adds +1 to difficulty.

[@rooksgate5574]

@@codypatton2859 Probably not the place for these kind of gaming grognardia but if you do a quick attack with an off hand weapon, it would cost 1 doom (second weapon) but the basic difficulty would be 3? (1+1 for second action +1 for offhand?)? Apologies to the host...

[@forestlee1000]

My group had the same issues. We all loved Conan, and the hyborian universe however the game felt to cumbersome. We switched over to the fantasy age system( wich we've all grown to love) kept the setting, and everything has been going great.

[@euansmith3699]

I love the index tabs on your copy of the rule book.

[@beencybouncyburger]

The "zones" way of breaking down ranges and distance also makes an appearance in the old '80s Marvel system from TSR. In that case, so much melee and dashing around is to be expected, a granular ranged weapon or running distance wouldn't have made sense.

[@robharperful]

Excellent overview and sums up my sense of reading it. Grip is poorly explained but from example character sheets it's the 1H or 2 Handed and Size is the Encumbrance (e.g., Sword 1, Crossbow 2). Overall a game that plays better than it is written.

[@THAC0Factor]

I look forward to seeing your reviews. I like your NPC'S you do and you are full of information. How would someone get a set of the Mustache Mike dice?

[@RPGmodsFan]

THAC0 Factor, I like Seth's reviews as well, as well as his skits. He likes the "Call Of Cthulhu" RPG more than D&D. Oh well, no one is prefect :-P ... That last part was a joke. :-D

[@lukebatchelor717]

I'm gonna use Doom Master. Great video !!!!

[@waynedryden6737]

Man I bounced off the Star Trek game for all those reasons. I felt like I was reading it but couldn't understand it. Watched a few vids on it too. Seth cleared up some stuff for me, I'm going to take another run at it. Thanks Seth!!

[@Tony-dh7mz]

Don’t bother go get the FASA or last unicorn version

[@MrElliptific]

Superb review. Thanks so much.

[@lovindablues]

Thanks Seth...Agree...it's a great game and yet so frustrating. My group loves it and plays twice a month for more than a year and yet we all still do the rulebook search practically every game for those one-off situations that aren't so clearly explained. We've gotten into the habit of having a pdf at the table and searching for rules that way. It's not quick, but quicker than leafing through 430 pages. Cheers!

[@HeinrichKonig]

Thank you so much for creating an actual review of this game! I've been trying to work out whether it's worth looking into, but every other review of this game just spends its entire length trying to justify the meta currency mechanics.

[@Acmegamer]

What a great review. On the mark and fair, I strongly agree with your points, good and bad.

[@polvotierno]

I agree with everything said. I am converting the Conan adventures to dnd 5e. For momentum, I use luck ponts. Whenever a player rolls a Nat 20 they get 3 luck points. There is a limit of 7 luck ponts. Each luck point raises any roll by one. Luck points can be shared with other players but only when they are gained. Each morning the players can roll for more luck points. These luck points basically function like momentum in Conan but they are more flexible. I have more homebrew to make Conan adventures work in dnd 5e. I also have a simple way to limit magic to match Conan sorcery. I am preparing to start the games on roll20. Thanks for your great video.

[@richmcgee434]

Those custom dice are adorable. The rulebook sounds like a challenge - can it actually be worse than, say, World of Synibarr, Avalon Hill's Powers & Perils, FGU's Space Opera, or (FSM protect us) the Realm of Yolmi? I have my doubts.

[@krispalermo8133]

Conan the Barbarian : Classic Historic Fiction. Conan the Destroyer : Motion Comic Movie, I see more camp in the film the older I get. Questions that young teenagers put to their religious parents, 1.) You let us watch "Barbarian" movies ? 2.) You let us play Conan in the yard with our friends, hitting each other with plastic base ball bats ? 3.) Why can we not play D&D ? The two Conan movies and Red Sonja is what got people into D&D back in the 1980's. Right along with "He-Man."

[@docartemis2878]

I do agree with your complaints with the system seth, I still enjoy the game when I play, once the group gets to grips with it and it starts running smooth it’s fun, but it’s far from perfect.

[@ruprecht8520]

My take away from this is that a good DM can make an entertaining game out of anything and that knowledge of the source material really helps the players enjoyment. Also Seth consistently has the best t-shirts.

[@TravDadGamer]

Thank you for the balanced and fun review, Seth. I know that it's not exactly your jam, but I would love to hear your and your players' views on the Star Trek 2d20 game.

[@DontForget3oct]

Perfect review. Personally I fell in love with this game even with its “flaws” and has become one of my favorite of all time. Talking about zones, I can understand why many people don’t like it, but with FATE I learned to love it, it’s something that works with very narrative and cinematic combat, from my point of view it’s just what Conan tries. Now let me recommend you to take a look at Frobidden Lands.

[@dane3038]

I run a Gurps Hyboria game and Nameless Cults is my second favorite source book after the Gurps Conan source book. Really, Id love that book even if I didn't run Conan.

[@Sargonarhes]

As long as you're playing the music from the 2 Conan movies in a loop. I suggest find the music from the game Conan Exiles and use it as well, it fits the tone of the 2 movies as well.

[@kadensmith5367]

Zones or Range bands are a fine mechanic. Good for TotM.

[@robertnett9793]

The rules seem pretty similiar to the new StarTrek RPG. I know that momentum-mechanic, the 2D20 and the specialised combat dice (for StarTrek however, there are special D6 with printed stars and federation symbols (for damage resp. effects). It's a pretty good system - and yes, it really really encourages working together, which is great.

[@anthonyragan2696]

Thanks for the review of this. I'm a huge fan of the Conan stories and Howard's writing overall, and I just bought this game (and the cults book). The first thing that jumped out at me were those weird phoenix symbols -- really bad choice from a usability standpoint. The book is beautiful, but symbol and your other comments make me wonder if Modiphius realized that a game book has to serve also as a reference manual. Still, your enthusiasm for the game and the depth of the background material keeps me wanting to try it, so I hope it plays more smoothly than the book makes it seem.

[@RecklessFables]

I feel exactly as you do about 2d20. I love the ideas, flavor, etc. The rules are overly complex or just plain wonky at times. I like it for Star Trek Adventures, but then again, combat is a proper Star Trek session might not even happen, so the 2d20 system shines for RP, perception type checks, etc.

[@theldun1]

Hmm one of your players owns a CPA firm? Sounds like it could be my uncle lol! Thanks for the review, Seth.

[@zonegamma8197]

Very nice review. Thanks

[@ryke_masters]

I've seen a few systems that use zones, but the only one I can think of is Chris Perrin's Mecha. It makes sense in that context since weapon ranges would generally be pretty huge, so range is mostly a cinematic consideration more than "is it physically possible to fire this weapon that far away". Also, that system really takes the deliberate decision to abstract away many potentially complex rules in order to capture the "feel" of mecha anime with minimal fuss (with mixed results, imo). So zones take potentially complex movement rules to turn them into really simple ones, and the consequences on weapon ranges are easy to explain away with "well, it's not like mecha anime is super consistent with weapon ranges anyway" (and also iirc there are abilities for range-focused mecha to increase the range of their weapons, which helps mitigate the problem of ostensibly long-range weapons not being usable when they obviously should). It also allows for playing a mecha game with minimal miniatures and movement/positional bookkeping, in a genre which is known for having a lot of that. Which is not really the approach Conan seems to be taking (and I don't think it would be a good approach for a gritty sword-and-sorcery feel at all). So it is a strange choice in that case, but I'm not sure they did it "just to be different". Possibly they wanted it to be easier to play without a detailed combat map and miniatures, as zones are a good way to help with that. But it seems like it wasn't the right way to go about that, if that really was their goal.

[@sullyb23511]

This may have not been a stellar review, but I still bought the book, and I look forward to running my first game!

[@SSkorkowsky]

Have fun. Don't forget that there's the two free Quickstart Rules adventures you can pick up and run or just harvest for ideas.

[@jamesstorey1578]

Hello Seth, Coming from Blades in the Dark, I found the balances very easy to pick. a lot of the skills you need as a GM for the 2d20 system. I think you have to think more as a fictoin forwards GM - also a lot is to do with the target number you need. (also, LOVE the cup idea!)

[@warrendavis9262]

I ran Devils Under Green Stars! It went well with my single player having fun and being suitably confused...

[@LordSephleon]

I just played my first session of Conan 2d20 on Sunday. Playing a Zingaran Pirate with most of his focus put into Observation (3 talents!), Athletics, Stealth, Survival, and Thievery. Discovered how not-so-helpful he is in actual combat, but he at least managed to warn the party and gain some Momentum doing so, and he's great for spotting/searching. Unfortunately, we ended on a cliffhanger where his nervousness from messing with what appears to be an ancient Atlantean tomb actually caused him to miss the late night ambush... Luckily, as he's used to keeping watch from a crow's nest on the ship, he prefers to continue doing so from trees when on land. >.> Welp... my backup character is a Cimmerian Bard who is even less useful in combat, but will be a great loremaster/face/healer. :)

[@NefariousKoel]

One good thing about the Momentum system during combat: you don't necessarily have to perform a damaging attack to help defeat your enemies. You could do stuff like Athletics action checks to put/lure them into a bad position, in order to set up your allies for an especially deadly attack (for example). Via gaining Momentum to pass along to your teammates. Same with many other skills, even some considered non-combat. I mean.. there are some rules for "damaging" enemy minions' Mental points, sending them fleeing, surrendering, or persuading them to turn on their buddies "or else". The mechanics can reward all kinds of narrative approaches besides the usual stabby. Give it a try! :-)

[@LordSephleon]

@@NefariousKoel Oh, I know. My Agile Talent and decent Acrobatics allowed me to drop 20 ft (as the beast was in the tree with me at first) without taking damage while alerting the team, and the high Observation skill roll I had made just before helped that roll AND our damage dealer protect her ward while slaughtering the beast. But when it came to actually attacking the thing, I was quite ineffectual, instead just basically lightly massaging it with sling stones. And my "mental" attacks are my weakest as I'm not playing a Face character in the slightest, so... just gonna stick to shadows. As it was the first battle, I just had to see if my skill level was effective at all. Thankfully the warrior more than makes up for my lack of combat skill, and my high mobility/awareness skills will definitely make for an interesting character who baits foes into positions that are more advantageous for the party. I look forward to almost being stabbed/clubbed/slashed/eaten in my attempts to give the party the Momentum to kill whatever is chasing me. :) I gotta say: even with only the GM having had experience with the system, combat is relatively quick and brief. I read all the important bits beforehand, so I had a good idea of how things work. The only thing I really still have to remember (or just have a list on hand) are things I can do with Momentum and Fortune spends. Combat Actions are pretty common sense, especially as someone who as been playing and GMing since '95 and '96, respectively.

[@NefariousKoel]

@@LordSephleon Pretty cool that you can specialize like that and still enjoy combat while being a relatively weak combat character!

[@ryanbeck6672]

Hey Seth, I decided to give this game a try thanks to this review. Now, six players and I will likely be starting a campaign soon. I'm a little worried about how the system handles everything after roughly 2,000 experience. I would be very thankful if you could give me some forewarning about how the game is going to feel as it scales. Thank you for introducing us to the game, and thanks again for the review.

[@warrendavis9262]

I'm running Devils Under Green Stars soon. I'll let you know how it goes! (I have 1 player...)