LOL I love how they just keep repeating the same theme in all the big pics... but it NEVER GETS OLD.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN (Conan the Cimmerian)
Created By: Robert Howard
First Appearance: Weird Tales (Dec. 1932)
Role: The Ur-Example of Barbarian Fantasy Heroes, The Guy You Wanted to Be When You Were Twelve
Group Affiliations: Cimmeria
PL 11 (184)
STRENGTH 5
STAMINA 5
AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 14
DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3
AWARENESS 4
PRESENCE 4
Skills:
Athletics 10 (+15)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+16)
Deception 3 (+7, +9 Attractive)
Expertise (Soldier) 11 (+14)
Expertise (Thief) 4 (+7)
Expertise (History) 3 (+6)
Insight 5 (+9)
Intimidation 8 (+12)
Investigation 5 (+9)
Perception 8 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Animal Empathy, Assessment, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Defensive Throw, Diehard, Equipment 2 (Old-School Weapons), Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Sword) 2, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 2, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Improvised Weapon, Inspire, Jack-of-All-Trades, Languages 2 (A Few), Last Stand, Leadership, Luck 2, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 6, Skill Mastery (Military), Startle, Takedown 2, Taunt, Tracking, Ultimate Strength, Uncanny Dodge
Equipment:
"Broadsword" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 4) -- (8 points)
Offense:
Unarmed +16 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Broadsword +14 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +9
Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +14 (DC 14), Toughness +5 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +8, Will +11
Complications:
Responsibility (Honor)- Conan has a sense of honor that makes him rather straightforward when dealing with more "cultured" others.
Relationship (Every Woman He Sees)
Enemy (Kulan Gath, Wrath-Amon, Thulsa Doom, etc.)- Conan has many enemies.
Total: Abilities: 84 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 51 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 17 (184)
-One of the most famous and recognizable names out there, Conan the Barbarian actually had a REALLY big run at Marvel in the 1970s & '80s under Roy Thomas' writing- this span of time actually made the character a bit of a fad again (his creator, Robert Howard, committed suicide DECADES before this- only four years after the first publication of a
Conan story!), resulting in the famous Schwarzenegger movie and a bunch of other stuff. Conan's stories are, of course, HUGELY-influential in terms of "Low Fantasy" (ie. fantasy stories about killin' stuff), and the stories were reprinted for decades after Howard's death, alongside countless new tales by franchised writers. A nerd like Roy Thomas had naturally heard of them (he was an old-school comic book fan from the '40s, so naturally had read the pulp magazines from which
Conan sprang as well), and so worked on a new, more "adult" line of comics alongside guys like John Buscema on art. These books pre-dated DC's Vertigo line by YEARS, and were violent, boob-filled affairs, as all great things are.
-Conan is a sullen, gruff Barbarian dude who basically wanders from place to place, kicking ass for survival and because kicking ass is awesome, scoring with every hot chick he sees, and killing unkillable dudes and monsters. Basically, the awesome, alpha, super-macho ideal of the manliest of men- is it any wonder that his tales appealed to the kind of nerds that could have never survived in the Hyborian Age? Howard's Conan was apparently one to joke, but later versions kinda dropped this in favor of being an ass-kicker.
-I've only read a handful of the Marvel
Conan stuff, but it's really good from what I've seen- very simplistic storytelling and generic "Fightin' Round the World!" stuff, but it's drawn REALLY well (you don't get better than John F'in' Buscema, that's for sure) and full of ass-kickery. And Marvel's Conan was HUGE- he had TWO comic books running simultaneously all the way back in the mid-70s, during a time when only Spider-Man, Batman & Superman could've pulled that off. In fact, both books lasted all the way until the Comic Book Crash of the early 1990s, running more than TWENTY YEARS EACH. And then all of a sudden Marvel dropped them, and they disappeared into the adaptation-based works in Dark Horse Comics, where they are written to this day (I think).
-Marvel's Conan was a straight-up KING of ass-kickers- he was effectively super-strong (able to outwrestle guys who'd never been beaten before by anyone, and claimed they were unstoppable), skilled as Hell, and one of the best fighters who ever lived. In some team-up issue, he ended up in the mainstream Marvel U, and held his own with CAPTAIN AMERICA. He's damn-near unstoppable, and could be fit right onto The Avengers or Daredevil's crew or something without missing a beat. He's also a great Skillmonkey and highly-athletic, being one of those Fantasy Males that EVERY dude wanted to be- he was just good at EVERYTHING.