GURPS Conan

Last updated
GURPS Conan
Gurps Conan.jpg
Cover
Publishers Steve Jackson Games
Systems GURPS

GURPS Conan is a sourcebook and a series of solo adventures for GURPS .

Contents

Publication history

GURPS Conan was one of the earliest products from a licensed property produced by Steve Jackson Games. [1] The company, after launching GURPS in 1986, acquired a Conan game license from Conan Properties International in 1988.[ citation needed ] The same year, Steve Jackson Games published a solo adventure titled GURPS Conan: Beyond Thunder River. Only the following year, in 1989, saw light of day the GURPS Conan setting supplement: GURPS Conan, The World of Robert E. Howard's Barbarian Hero. The core rulebook was written by Curtis M. Scott, with a cover by Kirk Reinert and illustrations by Butch Burcham, and was published by Steve Jackson Games as a 128-page book. [2] Three other solo adventures followed this setting supplement, all of them also in 1989: GURPS Conan and the Queen of the Black Coast, GURPS Conan: Moon of Blood and GURPS Conan the Wyrmslayer.

Timeline releases:

Contents (supplement setting)

GURPS Conan is a GURPS campaign setting supplement describing how to use fantasy role-playing in the Hyborian Age, including rules for character creation and running a campaign, and an introduction written by L. Sprague de Camp. [2]

Reception

In the September–October 1989 edition of Games International (Issue #9), Mike Jarvis admired the production quality of the book, calling the cover art "a nicely rendered painting showing everyone's favourite barabrian." Jarvis pointed out that "GURPS fantasy campaigns tend to be a little lacking in interesting sword fodder", so he found the seven pages of new monsters "a rare treat indeed! [...] a joy for any fantasy referee. This section would almost warrant the book's purchase." Although Jarvis found the chapter on religions "functional but uninspired", he enjoyed the gazetteer, saying, "It is here that the book really comes into its own. Each country is covered in a detail which I found surprising for such a book." However, Jarvis thought the lack of a scenario to be a detriment. He concluded by giving the book an above-average rating of 4 stars out of 5, saying, "Overall this is a most accomplished work, suitable for anyone who wants a world for the GURPS fantasy campaign, whether they're Conan fans or not. My only reservations are the reliance on [the previously published] GURPS Magic and the lack of a complete referee scenario." [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conan the Barbarian</span> Fictional character created by Robert E. Howard

Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films, television programs, video games, and role-playing games. Robert E. Howard created the character in 1932 for a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine.

<i>GURPS Supers</i>

GURPS Supers is a superhero roleplaying game written by Loyd Blankenship and published by Steve Jackson Games. The first edition was published in 1989.

GURPS Basic Set is a role playing game publication written by Steve Jackson, Sean M. Punch, and David L. Pulver. The first edition GURPS Basic Set box was published in 1986, a standalone third edition book in 1988, and a hardcover, two-volume fourth edition in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GURPS Ice Age</span>

GURPS Ice Age is a genre sourcebook published by Steve Jackson Games in 1989 using the rules of GURPS.

<i>GURPS Autoduel</i>

GURPS Autoduel is the GURPS genre toolkit book which details the post-apocalyptic world of one of SJG's other popular games, Car Wars. The initial publication was in 1986.

<i>GURPS Fantasy</i>

GURPS Fantasy is a Genre Toolkit source book which was first designed by Steve Jackson and published by Steve Jackson Games in 1986 for the GURPS role-playing game. It presented a magic system for the game as well as background information for the fantasy campaign world of Yrth. A second edition by new writers was published in 1990 as GURPS Fantasy: The Magical World of Yrth. These two editions received mixed reviews in game periodicals including Dragon, Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer, and Games International. The fourth edition of GURPS separates the fantasy parts into fantasy and a setting book called GURPS Banestorm.

<i>GURPS Bio-Tech</i> Tabletop role-playing game supplement

GURPS Bio-Tech is a GURPS, the Generic Universal Role Playing Game, sourcebook that covers the implementation of biotechnology in the game. The first edition of the book was written for GURPS Third Edition, while the second edition of GURPS Bio-Tech was written for GURPS Fourth Edition. Both editions of the game are primarily focused on providing supplemental rules, campaign material, and examples of the uses of biotechnology for the players and game-master alike. The second edition contains two outlines for campaign settings but is primarily focused on providing rules and examples of devices that Game Masters could adapt for use in their own campaigns.

<i>GURPS Bili the Axe – Up Harzburk!</i> Role-playing game

GURPS Bili the Axe – Up Harzburk! is a role-playing campaign of solo adventures for the GURPS role-playing game system, set in Robert Adams's Horseclans universe.

"The Lair of the Ice Worm" is a fantasy short story by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published by Lancer Books in the paperback collection Conan of Cimmeria (1969), which was reprinted several times, first by Lancer and later by Ace Books through 1993. It has also been published by Sphere Books in the omnibus paperback collection The Conan Chronicles (1989).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adaptations of works by Robert E. Howard</span> Aspect of history

The works of Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) have been adapted into multiple media, the most famous being the Conan films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In addition to the Conan films, other adaptations have included Kull the Conqueror (1997) and Solomon Kane (2009). In television, the anthology series Thriller (1961) led the adaptations with an episode based on the short story "Pigeons from Hell." The bulk of the adaptations have, however, been based on Conan with two animated and one live action series. Multiple audio dramas have been adapted, from professional audio books and plays to LibriVox recordings of works in the public domain. Computer games have focussed on Conan, beginning with Conan: Hall of Volta (1984) and continuing on to the MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (2008). The first table-top roleplaying game based on Howard's works was TSR's "Conan Unchained!" (1984) for their game Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The first comic book adaptation was in the Mexican Cuentos de abuelito - La reina de la Costa Negra #8 (1952). Howard-related comic books continued to be published to the present day. Howard is an ongoing inspiration for and influence on heavy metal music. Several bands have adapted Howard's works to tracks or entire albums. The British metal band Bal-Sagoth is named after Howard's story "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth."

<i>GURPS Super Scum</i>

GURPS Super Scum is a sourcebook for GURPS.

<i>GURPS Wild Cards</i>

GURPS Wild Cards is a sourcebook for GURPS, published in 1989.

<i>Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of</i>

Robert E. Howard's Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of is a sword and sorcery pen-and-paper role-playing game set in the world of Conan the Barbarian, the fictional Hyborian Age. Both the character and the setting were first imagined by author Robert E. Howard. Howard's original literary work has since spawned a vast franchise of novels, comic books, films, video games, board games, role-playing games, etc. Following this tradition, Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of is the third officially licensed Conan role-playing game. The two precedent games were Conan Role-Playing Game (1985-1988) and Conan: The Roleplaying Game (2004-2010), although there also had been supplements for independent generic systems, like GURPS Conan (1988-1989).

<i>Flight 13</i>

Flight 13 is an adventure published by Steve Jackson Games in 1989 for either the horror role-playing game GURPS Horror or the science fiction role-playing game GURPS Space.

<i>GURPS Planet Krishna</i>

GURPS Planet Krishna is a role-playing game supplement published by Steve Jackson Games (SJG) in 1997 that helps a gamemaster design a GURPS campaign using the Viagens Interplanetarias science fiction setting of L. Sprague de Camp.

<i>GURPS Vikings</i>

GURPS Vikings is a supplement published by Steve Jackson Games in 1991 for GURPS.

<i>Harkwood</i>

Harkwood was published by Steve Jackson Games (SJG) in 1988 for the GURPS rules. Written by Aaron Allston and J. David George, the supplement was designed for the setting of Yrth introduced in the first edition of GURPS Fantasy.

<i>Unnight</i> Science fiction role-playing game

Unnight is a supplement published by Steve Jackson Games (SJG) in 1988 for the science fiction role-playing game GURPS Space.

References

  1. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 107. ISBN   978-1-907702-58-7.
  2. 1 2 Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 388. ISBN   0-87975-653-5.
  3. Jarvis, Mike (September–October 1989). "GURPS Conan". Games International . No. 9. p. 41.