Quote from: Madprofessor;881154Does any one know when  this will be released to the public, and if so, where I can find it?  I missed the KS, and I don't paint any more (eyes are going) but I'd still like to pick it up.

..err, is there a better place to ask?

It is released to KS backers in June at current estimates, so general release may be 6-12 months thereafter.

Quote from: CRKrueger;881035When's the next CA con?

KublaCon in May. It's the biggest Bay Area con. Absolutely worth attending.
http://www.kublacon.com/

Quote from: Stainless;881108Gosh, when you plug it that way, the 2000+ people signed up to the kickstarter pales into insignificance....or not.

And that's all that really matters.

Plus, while system is very important, its nowhere near as important as "I wanna play Conan with my friends who love Conan" which trumps all other concerns for the vast majority of gamers - at least short term.

That aspect is even tantalizing me.

Quote from: Sytthas;881152This whole post is, in my reckoning, accurate, insightful, logical, and fair. Kudos.

Agree.

Spinach and Walker, like me you don't find the system a selling point, but there's a few things I'm personally considering.

• They do have some real Howard scholars on board to run things by, and those guys have access to stuff that isn't pastiche, but is still new, namely a ton of letters Howard wrote to Lovecraft and others.  
• For the people who liked Vincent Darlage's work, he's focusing on the Black Kingdoms, an area he didn't get to during his work with Mongoose, so it won't be a Vincent rehash, but new Vincent.
• Hyperborea won't be the version that is in nearly all pastiche, namely Finland with Louhi and Witchmen, but what Howard actually intended.
• Sure anything they create will be fanfic, but it will be fanfic with a critical eye to being something that you could infer from Howards writings.  Even total asspulls will be well-researched asspulls.
• Even if they're not doing a detailed worldbook approach, but more of a gazetteer approach to Hyboria, they are focusing on adventures.  The side effect of the zoning system is that it practically requires maps, and it looks like Modiphius is trying to synergize with the release of Monolith's game for everyone to have a lot of Conan minis around looking for alternate uses.  The result is, what they will be publishing is adventures, with area maps, and NPCs.  Mineable material.

I should have been a stupid-level backer because I'm such a Conan fanatic and I'm not going to be, solely because of the system and I don't think I'm alone.  I am thinking of maybe doing the "all pdf" level though, just to have information to mine, because with the team they have, I'm sure they'll put out something interesting to me, and with Jason running herd on the writers, I'm sure the adventures will be useful and fun in any system.

Thanks CRK. I have weighed the decision pretty heavily TBH. I was in for the all PDF and considering all Print if they reached a certain level of books.

But, despite being a Conan freak, I have withdrawn my pledge altogether now. I don't see myself using the system, despite being someone that is OK with narrative mechanics. If Momentum and Doom were narrative resources without the competitive element, I would have thought them to be great.

Settingwise, I already have Road of Kings (and the Conan books obviously) as a consolidated sourcebook which will be easier to use with the system of my choice than a series of smaller books with more crunch per book in them.

When combined with the fact that there are other RPGs I am much more likely to play competing for my $ and the whiff of GMS as a possible (albeit minor) contributor, I am comfortable with my decision.

I wish Modiphius all the best though. They seem like a great company and I love Mutant Year Zero. The artists and scholars they have lined up is superb.

I'm not going to back the KS (because I laid out my reasons) but once it's available, I'll probably going to be waffling over getting this for a long time...

Quote from: Christopher Brady;881236I'm not going to back the KS (because I laid out my reasons) but once it's available, I'll probably going to be waffling over getting this for a long time...

The game books might make a nice information resource.

Quote from: Nexus;881239The game books might make a nice information resource.

Thing is, I'm having the same issue with this Atomic Robo game.  It's got some neat stuff, but the system makes my eyes bleed at just how bad it is for Role Playing.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;881241Thing is, I'm having the same issue with this Atomic Robo game.  It's got some neat stuff, but the system makes my eyes bleed at just how bad it is for Role Playing.

Could be you're just drawn to the source material? Maybe consider the books entertainment. More than a few people read RPG materials for pleasure.

Atomic Robo? That's a FATE driven game isn't it?

Quote from: CRKrueger;881140Well, I'm not exactly a big supporter of the system, but, to be fair, I'm not sure you're looking at the adversarial relationship the right way.

This is not what I want from a roleplaying game, but it isn't trying to be.  

1: Its more that the mechanics will herd things in that direction. The players want to hoard their dice so the DM can get any to use against them and the DM wants to hoard his so they cant. That is an adversarial mechanic right out the gate. Or the players blow off alot of dice to be really heroic. And then the GM TPKs them with all the dice he accumulated.

2: Exactly. Its a different approach. A rather neet idea really. It is not like some narrativist or story games that all but flat out state that the DM is the enemy and must be depowered at all costs.

Quote from: Nexus;881248Could be you're just drawn to the source material? Maybe consider the books entertainment. More than a few people read RPG materials for pleasure.

Atomic Robo? That's a FATE driven game isn't it?

Yes, it is.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;881236I'm not going to back the KS (because I laid out my reasons) but once it's available, I'll probably going to be waffling over getting this for a long time...

I think the system can be beaten into a form that more suitable for a traditionally run RPG campaign. The key is to look at Momentum as a stunt point pool. Mechanically Momentum is a fancy version of "Degree of Success". Like stunt points from the AGE RPG system it can be spent on a shopping list of effects. The trick will be to get rid of the various stuff that require you give Doom to the referee.

Some will be easy and some won't. For example reactions (out of turn actions) give Doom to the referee. So if you parry you give a point of doom. Perhaps change the Momentum rule so that you can save Momentum to the BEGINNING of your next turn. So you can keep some Momentum around to spend on reactions.

Not sure about abilities and effect that can only be activated by giving Doom.

QuoteOriginally posted by CRKrueger
In this game, being surrounded by Picts might very well be the GM's doing, or at least the fact that some of them are Elite warriors, and he's not being impartial, he's doing it to make your life difficult...but he's not. He's doing it to make your character's life difficult and you are not your character, not in the same way, you're both storyteller and character, author and actor. In additional to the roles of player and GM, there's an overarching meta-layer, you're both roleplaying Howard. He's the Howard that comes up with the devilish plots, and you're the Howard that figures out how Conan is going to win this time.

You know, I think I could really enjoy the "lets all be Robert E Howard and tell a story together" aspect of this *if* I was working with the right group of players.  I could even enjoy the minigame that enforces it - if I was working with the right group of players.  The possibility of finding such a group, or somehow convincing my players to be such a group is keeping me on the fence about backing the project.  Clearly the system is not my preference, but I can see myself enjoying in the right circumstances. I am still undecided.

QuoteThey do have some real Howard scholars on board to run things by, and those guys have access to stuff that isn't pastiche, but is still new, namely a ton of letters Howard wrote to Lovecraft and others.

Yeah, Jeff Shanks has done a lot for REHs legacy, and to demonstrate Howard's significance and value in American literature.  Expounding the virtues of a pulp author, especially one who's primary creation has turned comic book hero, is flirting with academic suicide so I certainly appreciate Jeff's courage and conviction. I'm not sure if that is good reason to buy the game or not, but at least we know the game will stay pretty true to the source - no unicorns or flying saucers.

QuoteOriginally posted by estar
I think the system can be beaten into a form that more suitable for a traditionally run RPG campaign.

Yeah, we were discussing this reforging  the system into tradition style up-thread but that conversation died off.  I think its doable, but I am not sure its worth the effort. Just using the quickstart, here are the obvious things that would need modification that we discussed:

A) Momentum could be transformed into a "degree of success mechanic," as you suggested, but this causes some problems with basic actions like parrying and damage that would need to be addressed.
B) Doom has to go away entirely.  All kinds of stuff is dependent on doom, probably including scenario material, NPC powers, etc. Possibly this could be roughly adducted by a careful and fair GM. But it is difficult to say without seeing the full rules.
C) For me at least, Zones would need to be replaced with actual distance.  Easy enough.
D) It would need an initiative system. Easy peasy.
E) I don't really know how dependent sorcery is on doom/momentum so that could be an issue.
F) For me the idea of fortune points is okay.  It's pretty common place these days, but I feel they need to be toned down to make the game a little less cinematic.

Just a quick note that #rpgnet (the IRC chatroom, not the website) will be hosting Jason and Chris Lites for a Q&A about Conan tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. CST.

To join: http://tinyurl.com/rpgnetchat