Conan Role-Playing Game
The Conan Role-Playing Game was published by TSR, Inc. in 1985.
 Conan Role-Playing Game Boxed set cover | |
| Designer(s) | Zeb Cook |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | TSR, Inc. |
| Publication date | 1985 |
| Genre(s) | Sword and sorcery |
| System(s) | ZeFRS |
Contents
This boxed game was designed for players age 10 and up contained a full-color map, a 32-page rule book, a 16-page reference guide of talents, weaknesses, and charts, and a 48-page notebook about the land of Hyboria plus two 10 sided dice.
Game mechanics
The game's main rules are adapted from the Marvel Super Heroes rules, a role-playing game first published by TSR in 1984 and mainly designed by Jeff Grubb, although Zeb Cook brought some help, as stated by Grubb himself.[1] The system refers D100 dice rolls to a resolution table. Mark Krawec, a member of the RPGnet community, recovered the system from the past in 2007, named it ZeFRS (Zeb's Fantasy Roleplaying System[2]) and published a free PDF document where the game mechanics had been completely expurgated from any licensed Conan material.[3][4] Two years later, in 2009, a ZeFRS paperback book was printed and distributed.[5]
Supplements
The series produced three adventures, each based on novels from the Conan series.
- Conan the Buccaneer
- Conan the Mercenary
- Conan Triumphant
Reception
Steve Hampshire reviewed Conan the Barbarian for Imagine magazine, and stated that " The mood of this module is different from the normal run of AD&D material, and the players and referee really need to get into the swing of the thing. It helps if one is familiar with the Conan books or films. This scenario is good for introducing the characters, but stronger plotlines will be needed if there is to be a series."[6]
Pete Tamlyn reviewed Conan for White Dwarf #69, giving it an overall rating of 7 out of 10, and stated that "It's a great shame. With a bit of care it could have been a very good product. Most of the errors are essentially cosmetic and even with them I still prefer it to AD&D."[7]
Reviews
- Different Worlds #45
See also
References
- "Secret Origins", by Jeff Grubb
- Original 2007 ZeFRS PDF document as mentioned in the RPGnet website
- Conan: TSR's Lost Game, a review on Conan Role-Playing Game in Hill Cantons, by Chris Kutalik
- The ZeFRS system online
- ZeFRS' physical edition, as mentioned in RPGnet
- Hampshire, Steve (March 1985). "Notices". Imagine (review). TSR Hobbies (UK), Ltd. (24): 42–43.
- Kyle, Stephen (September 1985). "Open Box". White Dwarf. Games Workshop (Issue 69): 15.