'Barbarism is the natural state of mankind,' the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. 'Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.'

-Robert E. Howard
Beyond The Black River

Corrupt Cliffs

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Showing posts with label DOOM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DOOM. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Status Tokens for Conan!

Awhile back I got tired of using small plastic chits with sharpie for status markers for Conan 2d20. I wanted something a little cooler to help with that visual appeal.

I came up with these small tokens. One for each of the major conditions, as well as a few versions of them for indicating how severe they are, ie Grapple 2 vs Grapple 1. In addition to the status tokens I also included a set of numbered tokens for various uses and a set of tokens that can be used for Doom, Momentum and Fortune.

I had these small tokens created and shipped to me via "The Game Crafter" for about $15cad, working out to be about 10 cents a token. As you can see in the photo the set included 150 total tokens. I am quite looking forward to using them in my games! If you follow me on instagram you are sure to see them in play after the weekend!

And of course if you want a set I made them available for order at The Game Crafter!

Until next time! Keep it weird!

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Conan 2d20 on Roll20. Using Decks for Doom, Fortune and Momentum.

This is a simple how to tutorial designed to walk you through setting up a way to use Roll20s decks to build piles of Doom, Fortune and Momentum. It will give you a nice visual way to track the use of these items within Conan 2d20.

The following steps will build a DOOM deck, and you should be able to create the other decks as you need. Lets get to it!

The first thing we need to do is created a new deck. Go to the Macros and Deck sections of roll 20. Click "+Add", then click on the "New Deck" that was created. This will open the dialog box governing that new deck.
Give the deck a name, in this case "DOOM".
The players don't need to see the decks.
The players don't need to be able to draw cards.
We only have 1 card in these decks, so the set Cards are infinite and disable being able to choose from the deck. The discard pile should show the backs of the cards. They don't need stats and I set my size to be 50x50, although that might change depending on your screen and resolution.
Scroll down to the bottom of the deck dialog box and click "+ Add Card", in that new cards dialog box, add a name and drag and drop the icon you want to use. In this example I am using a basic doom icon, a red box with a black D in it. Once that is complete, save you changes and drag and drop the same icon into the Card backing area and again save those changes.
The deck is now set up. Click on "SHOW" (which will then change to "HIDE") and the new deck will be displayed on the side of your screen.
To use the deck, just hover over the deck and choose deal. Select the number of icons to distribute and select the player to give them to. In this case, 5 Doom tokens to the GM.

Here we can see the GM has 5 Doom tokens. Click on the 5, displays a box showing each instance of the token.
When you want to spend them, simply drag and drop them from this opened window onto the desktop. Once there they can be counted, compared and deleted when you are done with them.
Hopefully this quick guide gets you on your way to building a useable Roll20 interface for Conan 2d20 (and others!)

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

RPG Accessories. Tokens, Trackers and Coins! Oh My!

Tabletop roleplaying games need very little in the way of supplies to play; Some dice, Some paper and a pen or pencil. Of course you need a set of rules as well. Apart from that though? Nothing.

BUT! There is always a but. Sometimes accessories can help take your game from cool to COOL. Most players like rolling dice. The physical aspect of touching and using an object adds to the fun. This idea can be applied to many other things we need to track!

Many of these accessories can be made. DM Scotty has some videos on building things like this. Things like little quivers to track arrows instead of erasing 10 and writing 9 can be simple and add another element of fun to the game.

Some games have a set number of Hero points, Bennies, Fortune or similar mechanic that could also benefit from this idea. Having a player toss in a coin of some description is more fun than just changing that number of the page.

If you are busy like me, sometimes you don't have time to craft everything, or sometimes you just need so many tokens it's just not feasible to craft them.

Below is a list of things that I have found on aliexpress, amazon and a few other places where you can simply drop some cash and grab your supplies. I personally use a far number of these in my Conan 2d20 games. Remember, AliExpress will generally be less expensive, but you will need to wait longer for shipping.

Skull Beads! White! - AliExrpess
Black! - Amazon.ca
Flat Beads! White Acrylic - AliExpress
Transparent glass cabochon - Amazon.ca
Plastic chips AliExpress
Amazon.ca
Coins! Plastic Pirate Coins - AliExpress
Fortune Coins - AliExpress
Fortune Coins - Amazon.ca
Metal Phoenix beads - AlieExpress
Bowls for your Tokens AliExpress
Amazon.ca
Wound Trackers AliExpress

Hopefully you will find something you can find useful, or it sparks your imagination!

Monday, April 23, 2018

Conan 2d20 Momentum Spend - Wrecked Weapon Trope.

They stopped short. Conan faced them, not a naked man roused mazed and unarmed out of deep sleep to be butchered like a sheep, but a barbarian wide- awake and at bay, partly armored, and with his long sword in his hand.

"In, rogues!" yelled the outlaw. "He is one to twenty and he has no helmet!"

True; there had been lack of time to don the heavy plumed casque, or to lace in place the side-plates of the cuirass, nor was there now time to snatch the great shield from the wall. Still, Conan was better protected than any of his foes except Volmana and Gromel, who were in full armor.

The king glared, puzzled as to their identity. Ascalante he did not know; he could not see through the closed vizors of the armored conspirators, and Rinaldo had pulled his slouch cap down above his eyes. But there was no time for surmise. With a yell that rang to the roof, the killers flooded into the room, Gromel first. He came like a charging bull, head down, sword low for the disembowelling thrust. Conan sprang to meet him, and all his tigerish strength went into the arm that swung the sword. In a whistling arc the great blade flashed through the air and crashed on the Bossonian's helmet. Blade and casque shivered together and Gromel rolled lifeless on the floor. Conan bounded back, still gripping the broken hilt.

The Phoenix on the Sword
-Robert E Howard


One of the most iconic occurences in a final battle is a weapon being broken. Troy, Willow and the '82 Conan film all feature this prominently.

In Willow, Mad Martigan, after becoming his heroic self, charges General Kael who easily parries the blow, redirecting it into the wooden structure of the fortress, where it becomes lodged. With a deliberate blow Kael shatters Martigan's sword leaving him on the ground without a weapon. It is a tense moment.

In front of Troy two heroes do battle; Achilles and Hector. As they fight back and forth, Achilles swings his shield and snaps the spear of Hector. Hector retreats and throws his useless weapon aside. Achilles seeing a moment of weakness presses in for the kill. Hector defends himself with skill and prowess as death comes for him. The onslaught continues and Hector is unable to draw his sword during the exchange. Finally Achilles thrusts at Hector who redirects the blow to the ground. In the next instant Hector snaps the spear of Achilles like a twig.

And of course in the '82 Conan film Conan and Rexor in their final battle clash sword on sword. Finally Conan is victorious as the gleaming Atlantean blade slices through the sword crafter by his father and continues through to mortally wound Rexor.

As we see above, Howard himself employed this in the very first Conan story. It is a dramatic, cool and powerful piece of story telling, and as such I believe it deserves a place in this fantastic role playing game.

This is a fairly easy thing to plug into a game that has a system in it like Momentum. Knowing how well an attack or parry was executed allows us to decide to add cool moves and flavor into our combat. Looking through the combat momentum spends we find one called Disarm. It costs 2 or 3 momentum to disarm someone you are engaged with. This seemed like a pretty solid place to start building the Weapon Break momentum spend.

Clearly we want this to be a more expensive spend than disarm, as it has far greater ramifications. My initial thoughts have involved adding 1 momentum to the spend raising it from 2-3 to 3-4 AND also making it only a CHANCE of breaking the weapon.

SpendCostDescription
Weapon Break3-4+The attacker may attempt to break one melee weapon being weilded by the target.
This costs 3 points of Momentum if the target is holding the weapon in one hand
or 4 points of Momentum if the weapon is braced or held in two hands.
The attacker then rolls 2cd. On a roll of 2 effects, the weapon is shattered.
On a roll of 2 numbers the weapon is knocked away. Any roll of a blank
indicates that the attempt has failed.
The attacker may spend 2 additional momentum to reduce the 2cd roll a to 1cd roll.

WAIT! There is more! In ALL of the scenes I talk about above that broken weapon is used to end the fight or used to end the quest. Clealry, even though they are broken they are still effective weapons, Conan has rules for improvised weapons, but I think we can do better than that. My initial thought is the weapon simply become broken and stats are reduced. For a guideline on this I am thinking reach is reduced by 1. If reach becomes 0 it is completely useless. Damage dice are reduced to 3cd or lowered by 1, whichever is lower. And then we remove the effects "Intense", "Grappling", "Knockdown" and "Fearsome".

For example:
Conal is wielding a broadsword (Unb, Rch2, 5cd, Parrying) against Thokuh, Captain of the "Serpent of Set". Conal swings his steel in a deadly arc, but Thokuh deftly redirects the blow into the ground, and with a quick action drops his weight against the flat of the blade snapping it in two. Conal dances back, his broken broadsword in his hand (1H, Rch1, 3cd, Parrying). Thokuh laughs and moves in swiftly bringing his cutlass down in a flashing heavy blow. Conal barely blocks the blow catching the cutlass on his broken sword, before pressing past Thokuh's guard and driving the broken blade hard into the fat stomach of Thokuh."

What do you think? Is this a worthy mechanic and something you might try in this form or another? Think I am crazy? Let me know!

If you are interested in checking out the Conan system why not head over to DriveThruRPG and pick up a copy of either the Conan 2d20 core book or the Conan 2d20 quickstart pdf?

Friday, January 26, 2018

Conan 2d20 review. How clunky is it? A comparison with Pathfinder.

I have seen a lot of posts. People often read the Conan 2d20 rules and decide without playing them that they are too clunky. They have too many fiddly bits and they are just too slow.

But are they? Does Conan 2d20 present us with a system that is actually clunkier? I aim to answer this in this post by comparing a combat through multiple systems to see how they stack up.

For simplicity our encounter will start with a lone fighter, "Conal", breaking into a dark tomb to retrieve some long forgotten treasure. In an ancient tomb he is attacked by five skeletons.

Conan Zone Layout
Pathfinder Grid Layout

-- Conan 2d20 --

Conal
Agility: 13
Melee: Ex 5, Fc 5. TN 17/5
Coordination: 10
Parry: Ex 3, Fc 3. TN 13/3
Brawn: 12, +3cd
Fortune: 3
Broadsword: R2, 5cd, parrying
Shield: R2, 3cd, 1H, parrying, Shield 2
Armor = soak 2 everywhere.
Vigor: 13
Resolve: 10
Talents: No Mercy (equivalent 3 ranks): Re-roll xCDs

Skeletons (M)
Agility: 9
Combat: 2. TN 11/2
Pitted Sword: R2, 5cd, parrying
Armor: 2
Vigor: 5
Resolve: 8
Fear: 1

DOOM POOL: 3

Round 1

Conal
Conal goes first (Don't need to roll initiative in Conan, PCs always start unless interrupted by a GM doom spend)
Conal moves into a new zone(minor action)
Conal attacks the skeleton. (standard action)
Conal pays 3 doom into the pool and rolls 5d20. DOOM=6
Conal attacks and rolls 5d20 vs D1: 4,15,11,16,1 = 7 successes = 6 Momentum.
Conal rolls 8cd for damage: 5,2,3,4,3,2,3,5. Re-rolls 3 misses, rolls 3,4,4. tough luck. Damage = 6.
Conal spends 1 momentum for 2 points of soak ignored.
Conal does 6 vigor damage, causing a wound, destroying the skeleton.
Remaining momentum to the group pool. MOMENTUM=4
Conal approaches the first skeleton and raises his sword, striking the abomination. Although his sword blow is not devastating it slashes past a week spot in the skeletons ancient armor, through the torso reducing the bones to a broken and collapsed mess.

Skeletons
Skeletons form a mob.
The remaining 4 skeletons all move to engage Conal. They form a mob giving them extra attack dice.
Skeleton mob rolls 4d20+3d20 from doom. DOOM = 3
Conal attempts to parry and rolls 5d20, buying 3 dice with momentum. MOMENTUM=1
Skeletons attack and roll 8d20 vs D1: 6,11,16,11,14,15,4,18 = 4 successes = 3 momentum.
Conal parries and rolls 5d20 vs D1: 4,16,1,11,9 = 5 successes = 4 momentum.
Conal successfully parries the mob of skeletons. MOMENTUM=2
The shambling mob approaches Conal and with only the noise of metal on bone the 4 raise and slice at Conal, with a terrific effort Conal wards off the blows, feeling as if he has gained the upper hand on this undead horde.

Round 2

MOMENTUM reduces by 1.
MOMENTUM: 1
Conal
Conal pays 1 doom into the pool, uses 1 point of momentum and 1 fortune and rolls 5d20 against the mob of skeletons. DOOM = 4
Conal rolls 5d20 vs D1: 20,10,14,8,1 = 5 successes = 4 momentum. MOMENTUM=5. Complication. DOOM=6
Conal rolls 8cd for damage: 6,4,6,6,2,4,3,5. Re-rolls 3 misses, rolls 3,2,4. Damage=8.
Conal spends 2 momentum to increase damage to 10.
Conal spends 1 momentum for 2 points of soak ignored. MOMENTUM=2
Conal does 5 points of vigor to the first skeleton destroying it. 5 damage is carried to the next skeleton. 2 skeletons remain.
Taking advantage of the skeletons being pushed back by his parry, Conal swings a deadly arc of steal crashing through two of the skeletons reducing them to dust.
Conal spends 1 point of momentum and strikes at the remaining skeletons with his shield (Dual Wield, Swift action)
Conal kills 2 with a sword and 2 with his shield.
Conal spends 1 point on an extra die and 2 into the doom pool. DOOM=8
Conal rolls 5d20 vs D2 (D1 +1 for swift action): 11,17,1,19,14 = 5 successes = 3 momentum. MOMENTUM=4
Conal rolls 6cd for his shield. 1,3,4,3,3,5. Re-rolls 3 misses, rolls 2,3,2. Damage = 6.
Conal spends 4 Momentum to bring his damage to 5 and spends one point of doom to gain 2 points of soak being ignored.
Conal causes the other two skeletons 1 wound each.
As Conal's sword slices through two of the skeletons, he lashes out at the other two with his shield. With a terrific crash the impact reduces the remaining two skeletons do nothing more than a pile of bones and a slight haze of dust in the air

-- Pathfinder --


Conal
Fighter
Human Level 1
STR: 17 +3 (attack rolls, Damage rolls)
DEX: 14 +2 (Armor class, initiative)
CON: 14 +2
HP: 12
Longsword DMG: 1d8 Crit: 19–20/×2
Chainmail AC:+6 Max Dex Bonus:+2 ACP:–5 Spell Failure: 30% move: 20 ft.
Shield, light steel: AC:+1 ACP:–1 Spell Failure: 5%
Power attack, Cleave
AC: 10+6+1+2=19
MELEE ATTACK BONUS: 1+3=+4

Skeletons
AC: 16
Hp: 4
Speed 30'
broken scimitar +0 (1d6)
Base Attack = +0
FEATS Improved initiative (+4 initiative)

Round 1

Roll for Initiative
Rolled and sorter for order
Skeleton 5: 20+4 = 24
Skeleton 2: 17+4 = 21
Skeleton 4: 10+4 = 14
Skeleton 3: 9+4 = 13
Skeleton 1: 6+4 = 10
Conal: 4+2 = 6

Skeletons
Skeleton 5 moves to engage Conal and rolls a d20 for his attack. Rolls 15. Conal's AC = 19.
Skeletons move to attack.

Skeleton 2 moves forward 30'
Skeleton 4 moves and attacks Conal. Rolls a d20 and scores a 9. Not enough to beat Conal's AC.
Skeleton 3 moves up and attacks Conal as well. Skeleton 3 is opposite Skeleton 4 and so gains a +2 flanking bonus. Rolls it's 20. Gets an 8+2=10. Still fails to strike Conal.
Skeleton 1 moves forward 30'
The skeletons advance quicker than the undead should be able to. Three reach Conal with 2 close on their heals. Their sword swings are ineffectual, a combination of armor and dexterity cause all three to miss

Conal
Conal attacks Skeleton 4. Rolls his d20 and rolls 9. +4 = 13. Not enough to defeat the skeleton's AC.
Conal being pressed back by the horde of bones strikes wildly but fails to land an effective blow against the skeletons.

Round 2

Initiative
Skeleton 5
Skeleton 2
Skeleton 4
Skeleton 3
Skeleton 1
Conal

Skeletons
Remaining 2 skeletons close.  All attack and miss.
Skeleton 5 swings at Conal! Rolls a d20. 12. not good enough.
Skeleton 2 moves and attacks Conal. Rolls a d20. 12. Not enough.
Skeleton 4 attacks Conal. d20. 16+2 flanking = 18. Not enough.
Skeleton 3 swings. D20. 7+2 flanking, misses.
Skeleton 1 moves up and swings. 4...Misses.



Conal
Conal strikes at Skeleton 4 and rolling a d20, gets a 14+4=18! A HIT!
Conal rolls 1d8 for damage and gains a +3 from attributes. He rolls a 5+3=8! A skeleton falls!
Conal using cleave strikes at Skeleton 2! He rolls a d20 and scores a 15+4 = 19! Another hit
Conal rolls a 1d8 and scores a 2, but with his +3 it becomes a 5 and a second skeleton falls.
Conal slashes out at the skeleton beside him, his blade passing easily across the bones reducing it to dust, his deadly arc continuing in a devastating attack, striking down a second skeleton

Round 3

Initiative
Skeleton 5
Skeleton 3
Skeleton 1
Conal

Skeletons
Skeleton 5 swings out, this time enjoying a flanking bonus, and Conal is at a -2 for his AC from using Cleave.
The skeleton's D20 roll is a 16. +2 = 18, enough to hit Conal with his temporary AC of 17.
Skeleton 5 rolls a 1d6 for damage and scores a 5.
Skeleton 3 stikes next enjoying the same bonuses as his cohort. Rolls a 19. Also enough to strike Conal.
Skeleton 3 rolls a 1d6 for damage and scores a 6.
Conal has suffered 11 damage, leaving him a single hit point.
Skeleton 1 lashes out at Conal, rolling a 13 on a d20. Not enough to hit Conal, even with his -2 AC
Unbalanced by his massive attack two of the skeletons slice out with ancient steel, blood flows and Conal barely blocks the third blade from ending his life.

Conal
Conal swings at Skeleton 5. He rolls 6 on his d20, missing the Skeleton.
Conal staggers and ineffectually swings back at the undead seeking to have him join them.

Round 4

Initiative
Skeleton 5
Skeleton 3
Skeleton 1
Conal

Skeletons
Skeleton 5 rolls a 4, +2 flanking isn't enough to strike Conal.
Skeleton 3 swings and rolls a 17. +2 = 19. Enough to hit Conal.
Skeleton 3 rolls damage. and rolls a 2. Conal only had 1 HP left and so it reduced to -1 and dying.

-- Analysis --

Number of Rounds
Conan-2d20: 2
Pathfinder: 4
Verdict: Conan resolves combat faster.

Number of d20s
Conan-2d20: 22 in 4 rolls
Pathfinder: 16 in 16 rolls
Verdict: This depends on if you like dice pools. We roll more dice in Conan. We roll more often in Pathfinder. Time wise I suspect Conan will win here as I do not think each combat roll in Conan-2d20 will take 4x the time to resolve, and there are times it will be just as fast in my experience

Damage dice
Conan-2d20: I didn't count this. You roll A LOT of damage dice.
Pathfinder: Way less dice to resolve damage
Verdict: I am going to go with Pathfinder. It's simpler to roll a single die and things can be sped up by just rolling damage with your attack die. The upside for Conan-2d20 is with it's effects you can have a lot more interesting things to happen. More damage, grappling, stunning etc.

Narrative guidance
Conan-2d20: Each roll you make tells you what has occurred. How much you were successful by, if your weapon pierced armor etc.
Pathfinder: While providing some it is generally obscured by choosing a simpler resolution
Verdict: Conan, in my opinion provides the player and GM with more ideas about what is actually happening.

-- Final Thoughts --

I am not here to tell you which system is better. I simply wanted to compare two systems, one I feel is a popular game with a combat system people seem to enjoy, and the other a system that often gets a bad rap. The system in Conan reads poorly, but in actual play is a fun and interesting combat system. It is not without it's problems, but all games have some.

One of the interesting things about this comparison is seeing the hero die in Pathfinder, having this occur in Conan against enemies like this is practically unheard of. The system provides players with characters which are by all definitions, heroic.

If you have any comments, I would love to hear them!

Monday, January 8, 2018

Fantasy Grounds extension for Conan 2d20 v3.3

HO Dog Brothers and Sword Sisters!

Many moons ago I set out to extend the beautiful Fantasy Grounds extension created by the Jolly GM.

I am far from an expert user of Fantasy Grounds, so I will direct you to an excellent blog post by the aforementioned Jolly GM where he describes where to get MoreCore as well as his Doom Pit.
http://thejollygm.blogspot.ca/2017/01/conan-2d20-theme-for-use-with-morecore.html

As I mentioned my extension builds off of his, and so builds off of MoreCore with a specific Conan Character Sheet, Conan NPC sheet and fledgling combat tracker. 

There is still much to do on the project but I will keep spending a little time on it here and there as I can.

The current version is V3.3
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Pg7wGnGcJA6IzsCgK6Z_LVHSSN3SqJCm

V3.4 is in the works
-Proper tab control on NPCs for easier entering. -Completed
-Selecting of NPC type (Minion, Toughened, Nemesis), and the setting of the correct base dice. -Completed
-Increased NPC sheet size to allow for larger buttons.

Known Issues
-Player combat tracker needs work.
-GM combat tracker has a few issues I would like to work on, but should be functional.

Future ideas
-Working/automatic Momentum & Doom Pools.
-Difficulty set for rolls.
-Further work on the Combat Tracker

Please feel free to download and give the extension a try in it's current form, and don't forget to drop me some feedback on what you think.

If you find this to be useful please feel free to buy me a coffee over here at ko-fi

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Conan 2d20 Sorcery Example: Dismember.

**NOTE** It has been clarified that the below is not the way Dismember works. Consider this an optional rule interpretation now. The Sorcery FAQ is located here

Conal cautiously worked his way into the ancient Stygian tomb.  He came here in search of the treasures of Menkmek Amon, once said to be a powerful wizard, but now long dead and entombed here. 

Those Conal spoke too said he was a  Necromancer, but what is this childish belief in sorcery in this day and age.  Deep within the tomb is said to be Menkmek's most prized possession, a giant blue sapphire, said to be from Python itself.  The lure of the jewel far outweighed any thought of childish beliefs in the magic of long dead wizards.

Finally his torch illuminated the door to the final chamber and he pushed inside.  His touch slowly illuminating parts of the ancient sandstone tomb as he swept the fire across it.  Alcoves with long dead warriors on guard for eternity and after what seemed like an eternity the sarcophagus and above it, the blue sapphire of Python.

As Conal approaches the tomb he hears the sound of grating stone, and the distinct sound of metal and bone.  Wheeling with the torch he sees the two skeletons raise rusty blades and step towards him.

Fear grips Conal as the dead things stagger towards him, and then a commanding voice from the darkness causes him to turn momentarily away from the skeletons to see the open sarcophagus and the long dead wizard risen, holding his lotus staff, “You have chosen to die today.  You have defiled my resting place.  You will join my guardians.”
With the words spoken in this dark place the skeletons lurch to end his life.

Conal
Fortune 3. Melee 13/2. Parry 11/2. Acrobatics 9/1.  Vigor 12. Resolve 9. Disc. 10/2  Armor 2. Courage 1.
Two Handed Sword: R3, 2H, 5CD(+2 for brawn), V1

Skeletons(T)
Melee 11/2. Parry 11/2. Vigor 9. Resolve 8. Armor 2. Fear 1. Night vision
Pitted Sword: R2, 5cd, Parry
Battered Shiled: R2, 3cd, 1h, KD, Shield 2

Menkmek Amon(N)
Melee 8/0. Sorcery 16/5. Ranged 12/2. Vigor 10. Armor 1. Doom Hrld. Dread Creat 3. Night vision
Dagger: R1, 3cd, H1, Parrying, Thrown, Unforgiving
Spell: Dismember

Start of combat:
Doom=3(fortune)+1(Doom Herald)=4
Momentum 0

Round 1:
PLAYER
Conal is affected by Fear 1
Conal rolls 2d20 against his discipline.  Rolls 3 and 5 = 2 successes = 1 momentum.
Momentum=1
Doom=4
Conal swings at the first skeleton and rolls 5d20.  2 dice from doom and 1 from momentum.
Difficulty=2 due to the darkness of the tomb.
Momentum=0
Doom=6
Rolls: 5,10,6,9,16=4 successes=2 momentum.
Conal rolls 7cd for damage: 4,2,1,1,3,4,2, spends 1 momentum to re-roll misses. 6,6,2
Damage roll = 2,1,1,2,6,6,2=12 Damage.
Skeletons have 2 armor + shields 2 = (5,6) = 2 = 4 Soak.
Conal swings the mighty great sword against the first skeleton, the blade crushing deep into the animated bones, it barely slows and keep coming despite the crushing blow.
Damage=12-4soak=8.  Skeleton = 9vigor-8=1Vigor
Skeleton also suffers a single wound.
Momentum=1
Doom=6

Round 1:
CREATURES
Skeleton 1

The first skeleton swings at Conal and rolls 4d20, taking 2 from doom.
Difficulty=2 due to reach. Conal attempts to parry(+1 Doom), D2.  Rolls 4d20 as well. 1 momentum, 1 doom.
Skeleton 1 Rolls: 6,2,10,5=5 successes=3momentum
Conal Rolls: 16,17,5,8=2 successes=0 momentum
Momentum=0
Doom=9
Skeleton rolls damage, adds Penetration 2 (see page 118) for 1 doom.
Rolls: 1,5,5,1,6 – Penetration 2 = 5 damage
Conal has 2 armor soak which is negated by the penetration spend.
The Skeletons blade swings down in a deadly arc catching Conal below his breast plate causing him a grievous wound.
Conal Vigor=12-5=7.  5 Dmg in a round = +1wound.
Skeleton 2 rolls 4d20, taking 2 from doom.
Difficulty=2 due to reach. Conal attempts to parry (+2doom),D3. Rolls 5d20, adding 4 to doom.
Momentum=0
Doom=14

Skeleton 2
The Second skeleton advances, it's blade cutting a deadly arc towards Conal
rolls: 5,13,19,1=3 successes=1 momentum
Conal rolls: 5,3,9,14,4=4 successes=1 momentum
Skeleton pays 1 doom to break tie.
Skeleton rolls damage, adds Penetration 2 for 1 doom.
Rolls: 5,6,6,5,2 – Penetration 2 = 6 damage.
Skeleton adds 1 damage to the total = 7 damage.
Conal has 2 armor soak which is negated by piercing.
The second skeleton crashes down on Conal, who nearly knocks the pitted sword to the side, but misses it by the breadth of a hair.  The old sword cuts deeply into Conal.
Conal Vigor = 7 – 7 = 0.  Conal suffers 2 wounds.  One for vigor being reduced to zero and 1 for suffering 5 vigor in a single attack.
Conal spends a fortune point to ignore the effects of the 3 wounds he has suffered.
Momentum=0
Doom=10

Menkmen Amon prepares to cast Dismember and uses a minor action to focus.
Menkmen Amon uses his standard action to cast Dismember. (D1)
Menkmen Amon is a Dread Creature 3 and gains an additional 3 doom.
Doom=13
Menkmen spends 3 doom to gain a fortune point.
Doom=10

Menkmen spends 2 doom to gain two dice and spends the fortune point to gain a 3rd rolled as a 1.
Doom=8
Menkmen rolls 4,14,3,16 = 6 successes = 5 momentum.
The spell successfully cast with 5 momentum, Menkmen adds.
Wounds of Sorcery: Vicious 2 = 2 momentum
Overwhelming Agony: Gain Intense = 2 momentum
Brutal Force: Gain 1cd = 1 momentum.

The energy seems to coalesce around him in tendrils so dark they are clearly seen in the darkness of the tomb.  With words of power, Menkmen strikes out at Conal with the summoned energy in an attack to end his life.
Menkmen spends 2 points of Doom and uses a swift action to attack Conal with the summoned energy. The attack is Difficulty 2.
Menkmen again uses 3 doom to gain a fortune point and spend it for an extra d20.
Menkmen then spends 2 more doom to gain an extra 2 dice.
Momentum=0
Doom=1
Conal attempts to dodge the force from beyond.
The dodge is difficulty 2.
Menkmen rolls his 4d20+fortune: 9,7,7,2,1=7 successes=6 momentum
Conal spends a fortune point and as well rolls 5d20, adding 2 to the doom pool.
Conal rolls: 6,9,19,2,1=6 successes = 4 momentum
Menkmen wins the struggle, gaining 2 doom.
Momentum=0
Doom=5
The force of the otherworldly energy strikes Conal and he feels things grabbing at him and pulling, hands reaching and tearing at his flesh.
Dismember = 4cd+1 = 5cd, Piercing 3, Intense, Vicious 2.
Rolls: 4,4,5,6,4.  Spends 1 doom to reroll.
Rolls: 2,6,3,5,6 = 2,(3),0,(3),(3) = 11 damage piercing 3. 
Conal takes 1 wound for suffering damage at 0 vigor.
Conal takes 1 wound for suffering 5 or more vigor damage.
Conal takes 1 wound due to the intense.


Conal screams in agony as the dark tendrils reach around him and pull, tearing flesh from bone, limbs from sockets and bringing agonizing death.
Menkmen smiles a deathly smile as he watches another intruder die horribly seeking what is not his.  Another guardian of the tomb will soon be on watch…………………..

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Pillar of Skulls!

New terrain project up on the YouTube channel. This week we are building a marble pillar adorned with 4 skulls and chains. It is a cool craft and great addition to any dungeon! Check it out!


Monday, January 23, 2017

Conan 2d20 - Part 2: Basic Mechanics

Part 2 of my series on basic mechanics for the game. Rolling dice and making skill checks!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

DOOOM!

While following and participating in discussions on the new 2d20 system, and the concept of the DOOM mechanic, it was brought up that it could be used to build tension. As the players are adding to the doom pool and using it to build successes it is always in the back of their mind that the GM has this resource and it will eventually come back and haunt the PCs.

It is a cool mechanic.

While playing the system I found that while using a screen it prevented the players from seeing just how much DOOM that had accumulated. I had tossed around ideas in my head including a drawer like system that you could pull to your side, add doom, and push back to the PC side of the screen.

My final solution, which has not been used in a game yet, but I think has some cool potential.

It is a simple solution. 3x5 note card. Divide into 4 segments, draw skulls on them, fold them over. PCs add to the doom pool? Now that can clearly see how many skulls they have accumulated that may bite them in the ass.

What do you think? leave a comment below and let me know!