With 2 sessions of Conan under my belt, i’m doing what’s about every Conan RPGamer has probably done before me : i’m contemplating the list of all those great talents i’m going to be able to purchase with that formidable amount of experience points i’ve gathered so far (675 Yeah !). The awaited downtime phase will probably occur at the end of our next session. I feel like when you’re hungry and you sit at a good restaurant, a beautiful waitress comes and gives you the menu with a nice smile and you just know that you’re going to have a good time.
So…I find myself at a table with my beloved DM, Amra - praise be his name- and naturally, i’m gloating about all those great talents i’m going to purchase and how in no time my fantastic bossonian archer will reach semi-god status when, to my great astonishment he said : ‘’ Sure man, sure…as long as you can justify it…‘’
Of course, upon hearing this, i immediately and energically replied : ‘’ Er…but…just…i mean…er…‘’
After regaining my composure, i finally managed to ask : ‘’ O Powerful Amra, what do you mean exactly by justifying it ? ‘’
And He said : ‘’ Thou shalt roll at least one test in the skill associated with the talent you covet ‘’
So, i was like : no problem…and i went home.
But now, i’m wondering… …I mean, i’ve been a RPGamer for decades now, and so are ALL of the 4 other players. We’re all very new to Conan, including our DM, but certainly not new to RPGs.
I kinda know where this is going…
So, here is what i foresee for this next session.
At the first sight of a combat, instead of grabbing her bossonian longbow, my character will draw her broadsword and grab her spiked shield and run for the clash. I got to be sure to get at least one melee roll. Then, to be sure to get to roll a parry test, my character might even stop moving to help the opponent getting at least one success. Then, after the parry, i will simply accept to take a blow so i can lose some vigor and be entitled to roll for resistance, and so on…
Now imagine this multiplied by 5 because each player will want to be able to get the talents they really want…
I’m 100% sure that our DM doesn’t mean to frustrate or annoy his players in any way. Not at all. And you know what, i think he’s got a point since i can really figure out some situations (very specific though) where, as a DM, i personally would not allow the purchase of some talents.
But in our case, i’ve got the feeling that this legitimate desire for realism goes to far.
After all, as great poster FrankF brilliantly put it in another topic :
Conan is NOT “realistic” at all, it is the cinematic, high-action, larger than life type of combat action that you see in novels, comics, movies etc.
So, what’s your take on all this ? Maybe it’s just me worrying for nothing (it wouldn’t be the first time).
What would you suggest as alternate solutions (if any) ? How would you handle this ?
thanks