Conan The Barbarian new comic series

 

Picked up the first issue of the new Conan the Barbarian series from Titan Comics today.  Good stuff! The art reminds me of the classic Conan art from back in the day.  A great read for Conan fans and loaded with ideas to use in my Hyperborea Campaign! 

Conan the Barbarian Comics

     I recently discussed my visit to a local comic shop.  As a follow up, I saw an advertisement for a new Conan the Barbarian comic series.  The art drew me in, and when I realized Marvel no longer had the license for Conan, I took that as a very good thing.

     I grew up reading the old black and white Conan the Barbarian magazines.  Well I read them when I could, my parents didn't think they were appropriate so I had to sneak them in, I've since collected the compiled TPB's of many of them and have a solid collection of Conan materials including the earlier Marvel comics Conan series.  

     Not to turn this into an anti-Marvel rant, but as I alluded to in an earlier post, modern era Marvel just doesn't work for me, and I was very disappointed in the more recent Marvel Conan stories/art etc.. just a missed opportunity.  I suppose I am not Marvel's target audience anymore.

However, now that Titan Comics has the Conan license I am most intrigued.  I mean just look at the teaser art for the upcoming series!

 

These really capture the classic look and vibe that I associate with Conan!  I will definitely be looking into this series when it releases.  

So you may ask what does this have to do with gaming?  Great question and I have a ready answer! I see this sort of content as perfect gaming inspiration for a Hyperborea Campaign!  Sadly, due to work and life stuff I have not had a chance to run a true Hyperborea (formerly Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea) Campaign. BUT, it is on my to do list. Now with a new Conan comic series, in the hands of a publisher that seems to be wanting to get Conan back to his roots, I'll have even more inspiration and source material for my games.  

Drogar The Terrible; NPC Villain from The Warlord for Hyperborea

 Thought I would continue my posts about using DC Comic's The Warlord as inspiration for a Hyperborea RPG Campaign.  Issue #2 has some solid content, a fight with some Saber Toothed Tigers and The Warlord ends up getting captured by Drogar, a deceitful fighter that ends up being the captain of a slaver ship.  Thought Drogar would make for an interesting villain/NPC encounter.  Brief write-up below!

 

Drogar the Terrible

(stats as Bandit Captain Hyperborea Referee's Manual P. 80,  has weapon mastery with long sword and short bow- +1 to hit and damage) Speaks Seafarer version of Thieves' Cant

Gryfalcon Crew (25 - stats as Bandit P. 80, speak seafarer version of Thieves Cant)

Drogar the Terrible is the captain of the Slave Galley Gryfalcon. He has a crew of 25 ruffian/fighter types that keep the slaves/rowers in line and to repel boarders and other pirates. Drogar is a clever captain, he seldom risks his own skin and men in a fight, preferring to use trickery and guile to get what he wants.  He is no coward, but a dead man can't spend his hard won gold. 

 

Gryfalcon  (Phoenician Galley)

 

The Lost World of The Warlord for Hyperborea

     I've started (re)reading The Warlord comics series from DC Comics.  I dig it's Lost World vibe.  Just look at that cover! Seems to be a perfect match up for ideas for a Hyperborea Campaign (AS&SH).  While reading this issue the below panel just jumped out at me as an idea for my (eventual?) Hyperborea Campaign.  Have a little Serpentine Wine...just watch out for the "aftertaste"...

 Serpentine Wine - This evil brew is said to have been originally concocted by the foul Snake-Men. A few especially evil human magi are also believed to have also learned how to brew this sorcerous wine.  Anyone drinking this dark red wine must immediately make a saving throw versus Transformation or be turned into a  snake (roll a  d4 : 1=asp, 2=rattlesnake, 3=spitting cobra, 4=viper).  In all aspects the afflicted is for all intents and purposes a snake, they lose their intellect and any special abilities. They are also susceptible to a Snake-man's Command Serpents ability. This wicked wine is thankfully rare and difficult to brew, it acts as a variant of the Polymorph Other spell.  Casting Dispel Magic will reverse the effects, as will, the death of the afflicted.

 Based on a comic panel from DC Comics The Warlord. No copyright infringement is intended

Zonn Vai The Corpse-Master

     Going back to the pulp covers for this one.  Weird Tales, from back in 1929.  Once again, I'm just basing this off of ideas from the cover, not from the actual story within.

     This cover is just creepy as heck.  The seated man, to me is a foul Necromancer, he lives a life of luxury, at least compared to those around him, using his powers over the dead to support his greedy, gluttonous lifestyle.  So now to work this into Hyperborea.  I know at some point my players will be in Khromarium.  When running urban based adventures, I like to have a lot of different options for the characters to follow up on.To me it just makes sense, especially in a large urban environment, for there to be lots of different leads and plot hooks available. The players won't follow up on all of them, these player choices will lead to other events unrolling as a result of the character's actions or in-actions. I like to have the player's characters decisions have an impact on the campaign. 

     So back to the necromancer in the image...he needs a name, fortunately AS&SH has a great PDF to generate names appropriate to the Hyperborea setting. People can play however, they like, but for me genre appropriate names are important to me for my campaign immersion experience. Mr. Boopers the Barbarian is a no go for me. I don't see this guy as an Ixian, no to me he looks like a commoner (mixed blood) that has used his magical abilities to advance himself.  So rolling on the name generator for commoner names I get Zonn Vai...I like it Zonn Vai the Corpse Master!  Creepy villainous character! 

     So Zonn Vai, likes to think of himself as a man of power and ability, but in actually he is just a petty, vile low level Necromancer, just high enough level to be able to animate the dead and terrorize the regular folk in his run down part of the city.  I can see him living in what was once an impressive mansion or structure for the wealthy, long abandoned by its original owners, Zonn Vai has set up his little "kingdom", demanding tribute from the locals.  The area is now a "bad neighborhood", which in Khromarium is the norm. 

     Zonn Vai can cross the character's path in a number of ways...he could initially be a patron. Maybe he has learned of the location of some secret crypt said to contain a magic relic or device in the dark passages below the city, he just needs a group of pawns..er adventurers to recover it for him...Looking at the picture of the young pale, zombie? girl maybe the party is contacted by a local merchant, the merchant's daughter died recently but before the funeral rites could be completed the body vanished.  Zonn Vai has animated her and has her in his lair. Can the party take on Zonn Vai and destroy him entirely, or will they just be able to recover the poor undead girl and allow her to be laid to appropriate rest? Kidnapping a zombie girl? That's an interesting challenge? Maybe a key condition of the Merchant father is that his daughter's body be undamaged/unharmed?  Take that Murder Hobos!

     The ragged slouching dagger wielding guy in the corner to me is a underling of some sort. By the large size of Zonn Vai he clearly doesn't do any physical labor himself, so having a underling to do the grave robbing, petty killing, etc..guess he needs a name as well....rolling on the tables again...I get Sarr...hmmm he is creeping about to me... So how about "Skulking Sarr".  

     Lots of gaming options from this one cover image, and it could even be used outside of Khromarium, Zonn Vai could have set himself up as the petty tyrant over a small town or larger village.  Although, I like the Khromarium connection better. There should be a lot of different personalities and conflicts around in a urban environment for the party to hear about, work for, interact with and come into conflict with...

     So that's my Hyperborea entry for this morning. I came up with this pretty quickly.  Just looked at a old pulp cover that caught my eye, a few random rolls here and there and I think I have an interesting villain to work with...I'll keep his stats to myself for now, never know if my players are reading the old blog!

     Hope everyone is safe and healthy out there during these difficult times.  

Good Gaming! - B.B.

Frankenstein's Monster goes to Hyperborea

     Woke up this morning to see that we had a significant snow last night (for us anyway).  Which got me thinking about Hyperborea.  I then went through my image files of Classic Comic and Pulp Covers and came across this one from Classics Illustrated. My initial thought would be this has nothing to do with Hyperborea, then my eyes caught the dog sled in the background, registered the Monster was fleeing into the frigid icy wastes and I thought...wait a minute...of course!

Frankenstein's Monster wandered off into the frigid frozen lands of Earth...never to be seen again...

Because he ended up in Hyperborea!! 

So I opened up my newly arrived PDF of the Hyperborea Referee's Manual, (love the cover art on it/in it!!)

     At first I went looking for Flesh Golem stats... then I found what I was looking for in the Bestiary, under Automaton.  Flesh Automaton to be more specific! There is a full page art piece for the monster and yes it very much looks like the Frankenstein Monster to me! I'm not going to reprint the stat block here (get the book!!), I'd pretty much use the official stat block, as is, I mean the AD&D Flesh Golem was based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, after all, (you haven't read it?!  get to it!!) however, I would make one minor adjustment to the Flesh Automaton stats to represent the Frankenstein Monster... Mainly related to fire. I'd say in the face of a large fire (DM discretion) the Frankenstein Monster would have a morale of 9 instead of the normal Morale of 11. He would have the rudimentary intelligence mentioned to automaton's that are no longer controlled.  Otherwise you are good to go. 

     I think this could make for a cool (pun intended) and interesting encounter in my Hyperborea Campaign.  Think of the players characters having a ship that comes across a Viking Longboat wrecked on the ice, the crew have been pummeled to death, beaten to bloody (now frozen) pulps.  And deep humanoid tracks lead off into the ice flows...do the characters follow?  I bet they won't expect Frankenstein's Monster!! 

     Another idea or even a connected one, depending on your campaign needs, is that the player's ship now wrecked on the ice, encounter a group of Esquimaux that are being terrorized by "something". The Esquimaux will help the PC's (maybe with supplies or materials to repair/free their ship) but first they need to have the PC's deal with the monster that is out there!   I'm thinking the Esquimaux know more than they are saying, maybe they found the Monster initially frozen in a block of ice.  In true Hyperborean fashion these Esquimaux are Kthulhu worshippers and sought to sacrifice this strange creature to their dark deity. In the process of the sacrifice they "thawed" him out, only to have the monster go berserk attack them and flee into the icy wilds.  Can the party trust these cultists?....

(By the way as an aside, if you have a bit of DM Burnout, or are just looking to get inspired, go to the Pulps! Just looking at the old covers gives me tons of ideas!!).

Hyperborean Great Ape for Simian Saturday

 Love that art!

I don't remember the 70's  Movie King Kong fight versus the giant snake looking this cool!

So this image got me to thinking about Hyperborea (AS&SH).  I went to my newly arrived Hyperborea Referee's Manual PDF for the latest edition of AS&SH and while the Bestiary does have a variety of apes, there aren't specific stats for a Giant Ape.  I remembered an old module from back in the day, Isle of the Ape.  But in looking at it that's an 18th level adventure. Yikes!  I've been gaming since '79 and have never DM'd or played in a game of that high of a level.  I don't want to recreate King Kong for my Hyperborea Campaign (just yet...), Kaiju is neat, but not what I'm looking for here... I'm thinking an ape of something more in line with the size of Classic Mighty Joe Young. Big, but not kaiju sized...

Which took me back to the awesome Hyperborea Referee's Manual.  Like I did with my recent write-up of the Pincer Tiger vs Crimson Maned Wolf why recreate the wheel when I can tweak and adapt what is already there.  So Hyperborea has the Mountain Ape, which is basically a reskinned ogre... they are up to 10' tall and can weigh 1000 pounds...ok now we are talking that is more the size range I am looking for... So adjusted the stats and a few other things, bring in the keen senses of the other Apes in the bestiary and voila...not perfect but gameable.

Hyperborean Great Ape

These rare, massive apes, resemble large gorillas, however, they are much larger and generally more intelligent than normal apes. Standing around 10' tall and weighing up to 1000 lbs.  They tend to be solitary, legend says in ages past Hyperboreans hunted the great beasts for sport, leading to their near extinction.  Some can still be found in lonely isolated lands and islands. They avoid civilized lands and humans, having a dim racial memory associating the smaller humans with danger and death.  Hyperborean Great Apes are generally not savage and chaotic creatures, there have been reports of them coming to the aid of injured or weaker creatures (although this tends to not be believed).  They are said to have shown an interest in human females, although the veracity of these tales is uncertain. 

Hyperborean Great Ape

#E 1 | AL N (a few NG) | SZ L | MV 40 DX 11 | AC 6 | HD 7 | #A  2/1 (pummel or hurled attack) D 1d10+3 (pummel) | SV 15 ML 10 | XP 200 | TC C| Special: Hurl Stone: Hurl a large stone or massive tree branch to a range of 60' for 1d10+3 hp damage. Acute senses: Chance to be surprised reduced by 1-in-6.

Happy Simian Saturday! 

Oh and the Hyperborea Referee's manual has perfect stats for the Giant Pythons! So the work there has already been done.

Pincer Tiger vs Crimson Maned Wolf

 

     As followers of my blog know, I'm a big fan of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea!  When I saw they were kickstarting an updated (but still backwards compatible) edition I jumped on board.  Unfortunately due to Covid the print product has been delayed, but I did get the PDFs on schedule.  While still AS&SH, it is now going by the more easily said title of Hyperborea!  I finally had a bit of time to read through it, and it is the same cool RPG with amazing new art and some tweaks and adjustments here and there, all good stuff!  

     One of the ways I learn a system is to make up monsters and NPC's for it.   So today, since it was pouring down rain outside and I'm still worn out from work, I sat down to have some fun working up some critters.

     While browsing the Pulp Covers blog I found the below image.

 I haven't read the story, but decided to stat up these beasties just from the cover, and decided they needed to be worked into my upcoming Hyperborea Campaign (that keeps getting delayed due to the pandemic).

Pincer Tiger

Vs

Crimson Maned Wolf

     Pincer Tigers  are large tigers with the addition of two large crab-like pincer appendages.  Whether these beasts are the result of some insane arcane experiment or some horrific mutation, is unknown, what is known is that the pincer tiger is a fearsome predator that has adapted the use of its pincers to become even more deadly than its natural feline-kin. Whereas, normal tigers tend to hunt deer, musk ox and boars, the pincer tigers will hunt traditional prey, as well as, other predators in the area, and are known to have a taste for human flesh.  Normal bears, wolves and other predators will generally avoid a pincer tiger's territory or will soon become prey to these felines as well.  These beasts are highly territorial and generally solitary, but in rare instances they  have been known to cooperate as social predators. An old huntsman's tale describes a pack of pincer tigers hunting and killing an owlbear. Pincer tigers can be found in the regions normal tigers inhabit, but seem to be more often encountered in tropical to semi-tropical regions.  There are tales of pincer tigers swimming to smaller islands and wiping out the local game. Fully grown pincer tigers are up to 8+ feet long and weigh 700 pounds.

Pincer Tiger  #E 1 (1d4) | AL N | SZ L | MV 50 | DX 14 AC 6 | HD 7  | #A 3/1 (claw/claw/bite D 1d6/1d6/2d6) or #A 2/1( pincer/pincer 2d4/2d4) | SV 14 | ML 9| XP 530 | TC nil | Special: Rake: If both claw attacks hit, the cat automatically rakes with its two rear claws for 2d4 hp damage each. ‘Special: If both pincer attacks hit the victim will be bitten by the beast for 2d6 damage, the victim is considered pinned and breaking free requires a test of strength or dexterity  Surprise: Superior stalker; chance to surprise increased by 2-in-6.

     The Crimson Maned Wolf has traits of  both lions and wolves. Appearing as very large  wolves with lion-like red fur, manes and tails. They tend to be more commonly found in warmer wilderness regions but can be found throughout Hyperborea.  Unlike normal wolves, there have been no reported successful attempts at domesticating these beasts. Their canine/feline nature makes them too unpredictable and dangerous to handle. These beasts can range over wide areas like normal wolves, while seeking prey and hunt in small groups, led by the biggest alpha male.  They will hunt humans if prey is scarce or if the humans appear weak or injured. Often tracking them at a distance for days wearing their prey down over time. Rogue males, in particular have shown a tendency to develop a taste for human flesh (and humans aren't as fast as deer).

Crimson Maned Wolf #E 1d6 (1d6+6) | AL N | SZ L | MV 50 |  DX 12 | AC 6 | HD 5 | #A 3/1 (claw/claw/bite 1d4+1/1d4+1/2d6) | SV 15 | ML 9 | XP 300   | TC nil  Rake: If both claw attacks hit, rear claws automatically rake for 1d6+1 hp damage each.

 Just for fun I worked up the lady in the background as an NPC

                                                  

Cassia

Priest

Female

Roman

1st level

Alignment: Lawful Good

Religion: Apollo

Hit Points: 3

Hit Die: d4

AC:9

STR 9

INT 10

WIS 11

DEX 9

CON 10

CHA 12

Armour Allowed: None

Shields Allowed: None

Favoured Weapons: Dagger, dart, quarter - staff, sling, whip (as a priest of Apollo, she is Proficient with all bows)

Class Saving Throw Modifiers: Death +2, Sorcery +2

Class Abilities: Scroll Use, Scroll Writing, Sorcery (spells known: 4, spells cast per day: 2), Turn Undead (Turning ability 1)

Known Spells: (1st level) : Detect Malady, Create Water, Ceremony of Consecration, Cure Light Wounds

Secondary Skills: Weaver

Languages: Hellenic (Greek dialect), Latin

Weapons & Equipment

Shortbow (1d6 damage), quiver of 10 arrows, Silver dagger (1d4 damage), backpack, bandages, winter blanket, religious clothing, silver holy symbol of Apollo, holy water, soft leather pouch, wooden prayer beads, iron rations (1 week), small sack, tinderbox, torches ×3, wineskin (half full), writing stick, and 4 gold pieces.

Cassia is the unfortunate victim of a strange phenomenon happening in Hyperborea.  Romans from Old Earth are finding themselves randomly transported to Hyperborea. Cassia has only recently materialized into this strange world which is populated by horrific and terrifying monsters!  She initially thinks she is having some horrible nightmare or even worse she has crossed over into Pluto's Realm as a punishment for failing her god Apollo in some way!

     Given time, and if she survives the encounter with these beasts, she will try to make her way in the world, seeking out other Romans and trying to promote worship of Apollo.