Conan by Modiphius Games: some informations

The Conan roleplaying game to be published by Modiphius Games keeps on adding great people to its roster. Thus Vincent Darlage, awesome writer on Mongoose Publishing's Conan rpg, has joined the team, as well as the illustrators Ken Kelly (cover artist) and Tomas Giorello (comic book artist). The faithfulness to Robert E. Howard's writings is assured by Jeffrey Shanks, Mark Finn and Patrice Louinet, who already acted in this capacity for the Conan boardgame made by Monolith.

No information yet about what the base game will be (book? box?), but there are already some insight about the supplements. They will focus on a game style, rather than on a region or a specific aspect of the game like before. Each supplement will vaguely match one of Conan's "careers". Those planned supplements are:

1. Barbarian: set in the North -- Cimmeria, Nordheim, Hyperborea; Play style is like the viking stories of Harold Lamb mixed with Norse mythology. Raids, blood foods, etc.

2. Thief: Set in Zamora and the streets of the eastern Hyborian Kingdoms; Play style -- It should have the feel a of a caper of heist film, with the aesthetic of the 1924 Thief of Baghdad -- a street level urban environment with maze-like thieves' quarters like the Maul, shady wealthy patrons that need a dirty job done, unlikely and uncertain allies brought together to pull of a dangerous heist in a sorcerer's tower, corrupt officials and priests, crafty fences, guards on the take, etc.

3. Mercenary: Set primarily in the southern Hyborian kingdoms like Koth, Ophir, Khoraja, Khauran, as well as Shem and Stygia. Play style should feel like Harold Lamb's and Howard's own crusader stories, but focused on playing as a low level grunt or sell-sword working their way up the ranks and surviving the wars of petty kings and ambitious princes.

4. Pirate: Set along the Western Sea;  it will cover the whole coast of the Western Sea, all the ports like Tortage, Messantia, Khemi, etc. Also, the different factions like the Zingaran buccaneers, the Red Brotherhood, the Black Corsairs, etc. There would be new optional rules like naval combat. But again the focus will be on the style of play -- running a game that feels like one of Howard's pirate stories or like Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood.

5. Brigand: Set in Turanian territory, the Vilayet, and the central deserts and steppes. Playing as a kozaki or Zuagir bandit, raiding caravans, discovering lost cities in the desert, always with a Turanian patrol breathing down your neck. The play style should be like some of Howard's Oriental adventures and the cossack stories of Harold Lamb.

6. The East: This will focus on play in the eastern kingdoms, Vendhya, Khitai, Kosala, Ghulistan. The play style should feel like the Oriental adventure pulps. In the Himelians the game would be overshadowed by the "Great Game" geopolitics of Turan and Vendhya using the hillmen as pawns. And it should have the feel of Talbot Mundy or Kipling or Howard's El Borak stories.

7. The Southern Kingdoms: this will focus on Stygia, Kush, and the Black Kingdoms. The play style here should be like the adventure stories of Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard -- ruined cities in the jungle, strange lost races, ancient pyramids hiding Lovecraftian creatures, etc.

8. Border Scout: Set on the Aquilonian frontier, the Westermarck and the Pictish Wilderness. Play style should be like the frontier stories of James Fenmore Cooper and the Revolutionary war stories of Robert W. Chambers.

9. King: Set in the powerful nations of the Hyborian Kingdoms -- Aquilonia, Nemedia, Koth, etc. but focus on playing a high level game from the point of view of kings, nobles and generals. Imperial conquest, huge battles, court intrigue and politics, nefarious sorcerers behind the throne, assassination plots, etc. PLay style should be Arthurian and medieval adventure like Doyle's The White Company meets Game of Thrones (remember GRRM is heavily REH-influenced).

Here is the original message where I found those few informations:

http://www.conan.com/invboard/index.php?showtopic=11026&page=6

The kickstarter campaign should begin in June!