Roleplayer #15, August 1989
Conan Beyond Thunder River
From the Cutting-Room Floor
by W.G. Armintrout
Conan
Beyond Thunder River is packed
from cover to cover with adventure. And still, not everything I wrote could
fit in. Here is some of the material that had to be cut -- but which you
may find useful.
You Want To Do What?
You desperately want to try Conan Beyond Thunder River
with a character of fewer than 400 character points? Obviously, an adventure
meant for Conan will be a killer for a wimpy 100-point starting character
(or even a weakling 200-point character).
Therefore, you'll need a handicap, a simple modifier -- 1 or 2, for instance.
Apply your handicap in any or all of the following situations:
Combat encounters: Whenever you fight Picts, reduce the number
of opponents by your handicap. If the text says you are up against 4 savages,
and your handicap is 1, then you fight only 3.
Skill rolls: Apply double your handicap as a penalty to Pict
skill rolls, especially for Stealth and Tracking. Conan was up against the
very best in Pictland -- your foes aren't as skilled.
Search rolls: When journeying through the wilderness, subtract
your handicap from the die when rolling for random encounters.
Reaction rolls: Add your handicap as a bonus when making reaction
rolls for non-player characters.
Recruitment: Add your handicap as a bonus when rolling to see how many
soldiers volunteer to join your force. In your case, the soldiers at Fort
Tuscelan are more naturally inclined to patriotic service than Conan found
them.
It is suggested that you apply a modifier of 3 for a 100-point character,
2 for a 200-pointer, and 1 for a 300-pointer. Still, all this is only a
jury-rigged solution -- I didn't write this book for "normal"
characters. If this isn't enough to get you out alive, you'll just have
to cheat...
Healing
This reference chart had to be dropped from the final book. It contains
no new rules, but summarizes some of the important information from the
Basic
Set.
If you have been asked to keep track of time, use the "Time Required"
figures to update your current Time score.
Technique..Who Can Do It........Effect........Time Req 'd
bandaging..anyone...............heals 1 HT.....half hour
(p. B111)
first aid..requires successful..1d3*...........half hour
(p. B111)..First Aid skill roll** or default
no aid.....self...............conscious........# of hours = # of
(p. B112)...............but no HT is regained..negative HT points
* minimum of 1 hit always healed. Not cumulative with bandaging.
** on critical success, victim regains maximum HT possible; on critical
failure, victim loses 2 additional HT and bandaging has no effect.
*** if HT is fully negative, roll against HT. If successful, awaken in 12
hours. If failure, go into coma.
Skills and other Notes
Loot. When you win a fight, you may loot the victims. If your Plot
Word is ALERTED, only take the easiest-to-grab items: weapons and money
purses, but not armor. If you don't have this Plot Word, you may loot to
your heart's content (if you spend much time at it, you should update your
Time score accordingly).
(Back to Roleplayer
#15 Table of Contents)