D&D General Reassesing Robert E Howards influence on D&D +

[Jadeite]

What in the failed anatomy lessons is that?

A prime example of Vicissitude.

 

[Stormonu]

110 year old Batman would be an interesting series, though.

Eh, back in the day this always struck me as that...

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Would be kind of cool to get Arnie back to play an older Conan.

Absolutely. Roles like Maggie and The Last Stand show that he can still deliver good performances. Timeline-wise, we're probably at Conan of the Isles rather than Hour of the Dragon, but either could still work.

They've toyed with it over the years, but I think that ship has probably sailed. If Jason Momoa can't get butts in seats for Conan (in an admittedly boring movie), I'm not sure 76 year old Arnold Schwarzenegger could get people to come out for King Conan.

Sadly, probably true. The returns on the last Terminator movie (which I thought was decent) probably put the nail in the coffin of King Conan, if anyone was still entertaining thoughts of making it.

The Momoa movie had a good Conan in a not-as-good story, unfortunately. It had it's moments, but really should've lead with something simpler before starting off with the big world-ending threat. I could've seen Momoa doing well in a Tower of the Elephant or Red Nails adaptation.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The Momoa movie had a good Conan in a not-as-good story, unfortunately. It had it's moments, but really should've lead with something simpler before starting off with the big world-ending threat. I could've seen Momoa doing well in a Tower of the Elephant or Red Nails adaptation.

Yeah, I thought he did an excellent Conan in a so-so story.

 

[Mannahnin]

He was ok, but he didn't have a passion for the character. I remember him being asked in an interview which he liked better- Khal Drogo or Conan, and it was not close. Of course, he got to play Drogo longer and it was during the parts of GoT which were still pretty well-written, so that's not surprising. But it'd have been cool if he understood the character a little better, and appreciated him being an archetype progenitor without which Drogo might never have existed.

 

[Aelryinth]

Rage was a 3E addition to the barbarian that turned the class into a DPR berserker. The 1E and 2E versions played very different to the version we have now. Gygax's 1E version played a lot closer to the Conan of the books. The class morphed according to what players wanted from the class and away from its origins. I don't think you could pull it back to the original version without major outcry from the player base these days.

COnan was not a berserker, he was definitely a fighter-type and specialist with the broadsword.
In 3E, Conan is perfectly summed up by making him a Ranger with FE: Humans, Beasts, and Magical Beasts, with Weapons Focus: Broadsword. It gives him a plethora of skills, it explains his phenomenal combat ability, and it fits the world he lives in, as well as selling his savage, wilderness-trained background.
The standard progression of undead, fiends, dragons, constructs, etc for a D&D adventurer is from a VERY different world.

 

[cbwjm]

COnan was not a berserker, he was definitely a fighter-type and specialist with the broadsword.
In 3E, Conan is perfectly summed up by making him a Ranger with FE: Humans, Beasts, and Magical Beasts, with Weapons Focus: Broadsword. It gives him a plethora of skills, it explains his phenomenal combat ability, and it fits the world he lives in, as well as selling his savage, wilderness-trained background.
The standard progression of undead, fiends, dragons, constructs, etc for a D&D adventurer is from a VERY different world.

Conan often goes into a rage in the stories so I think he has some levels of barbarian.

 

[Kurotowa]

Conan often goes into a rage in the stories so I think he has some levels of barbarian.

To a degree. When it comes to "Fight or Flight" situations, Conan nearly always goes with fight. The few exceptions were particularly deadly and sanity blasting supernatural weirdness. And the original Barbarian class was definitely drawing on Conan's go-for-the-throat battle focus. But over time it's picked up other influences, such as Wolverine's signature "berserker rages", that exaggerate the effect far more than Conan or the other pulp heroes did.

 

[GreyLord]

Conan often goes into a rage in the stories so I think he has some levels of barbarian.

Yes, this absolutely. There are times when it's not just a rage either, but raw fury or pure instinct on his part. Normally this is where he starts killing everything in sight and shows superb martial skills in combat.

 

[Mannahnin]

Eh, I think that's a little overblown. He always shows superb martial skills. He does rely on instinct/finely-honed senses to avoid danger at times. And wits and cunning at others.

Kurotawa is right that he often leaps with decisiveness rather than hesitating with fear or uncertainty. His "rage" is when truly pressed or badly outnumbered, desperation channeled into anger and determination to overcome, rather than despair. I don't think the original stories contain any scenes of him truly berserk, in the classical sense of losing one's wits and at risk of being unable to tell friend from foe. And he does flee sometimes, especially from supernatural things which truly overmatch him physically (which are rare).