Pathfinder (RPG) can do almost any fantasy case study #1: Conan

  First, I'm not a 4e hater, it just so happens that some of the good people I game with regularly don't like it. 3.X /d20 is what everyone is most familiar with, have the most books for, and/or generally prefer. Therefore, I have steppedback from 4e (with all hopes of returning) and stepped towards Pathfinder as the current definitive D&D 3e rules set. Now the challenge is to use this sytem to create any sort of fantasy setting rather than just D&D settings, which I love, but stepping outside that paradigm is nice once in a while.

  Now to the end of using Pathfinder as my fantasy bible, I want to prove that Pathfinder can do it all as far as fantasy and sword and sorcery go. It can do LotR. It can do A Song of Ice and Fire. It can do virtually anything in the realm of fantasy. Today I will show that it can do Conan.

  Here I present Pathfinder game statistics for the mightiest warrior of them all and the reason why Barbarian is a class in the first place. 99.999% of the credit for this build belongs to Vincent N. Darlage and his amazing, amazing, amazing Conan fan page wherein the aforementioned gentleman takes us through twenty levels of Conan 3rd edition style. Now every build for Conan in a class system that I have ever seen includes some sort of multiclassing with warrior/thief type combos being universal, AFAIK. However, my feeling is that if barbarian is to be a class at all (and not just a background choice), then the character who inspired that trend should, nay must!, be single classed. But can it be done? Let's see...

Conan the Adventurer

Male human barbarian 16
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +11

DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+4 Dex, +4 chain shirt, +1 dodge, –2 Rage)
hp 235 (16d12+112)
Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +8 (+3 Rage)
Defensive Abilities trap sense +5, improved uncanny dodge, indomitable will

OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee longsword +24/+19/+14/+9 (1d8+8/19–20)
Ranged +20/+15/+10/+5 (by weapon)
Special Attacks rage (30 rounds per day), rage powers (fearless rage, guarded stance +3, intimidating glare, no escape, rolling dodge +3, strength surge +16, superstition +6, unexpected attack)

BASE STATISTICS

When Conan is not raging his stats are:

AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +4 chain shirt, +1 dodge)
hp 203 (16d12+64+16); Fort +14, Will +5
Melee longsword +24/+19/+14/+9 (1d8+8/19–20)
Str 21, Con 19; CMB +21; CMD 35; Climb +24, Swim +11

STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 18, Con 19, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 17
Base Atk +16; CMB +21; CMD 35
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Mounted Combat, Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics +23, Appraise +2, Bluff +6, Climb +24, Craft (blacksmithing) +5, Handle Animal +5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (Local) +3, Knowledge (Geography) +6, Knowledge (Nature) +6, Linguistics +6, Perception +11, Profession (seafarer) +7, Ride +15, Search +9, Sense Motive +3, Stealth +13, Survival +14, Swim +11
SQ background (apprentice [blacksmith]), drawbacks (abrasive attitude, impatient), fast movement

Notes on the build:

I used the optional rules for Drawbacks (PF: ToS) and Occupations (PF: ToS). Conan has 16 extra hit points from barbarian being his favored class and for his hit dice I rolled and then compared it to the average, which was higher. I then checked the average against the hit points Mr. Darlage had provided for Conan, which worked out to be something like 11 points above average, so that's what this Conan has, but being single classed he has 30 more hit points than the source version.

It was very tempting to add other classes, and perhaps build Conan as a gestalt character (in which case I would include levels of warlord and probably rogue). I was also tempted to not use any barbarian levels and instead go all fighter, but with a primitive background, but then I came to my 'if he's not a barbarian, then who is?' line of reasoning. You'll note that my Conan lacks heavy armor proficiency but Conan does wear heavy armor now and then, in which case he just lives with the penalties.

Recommended Optional Rules:

Defense: Each class will offer a defense bonus which functions like, and does not stack with, armor bonuses. Classes known to be agile or which stand on the front lines as "tanks" will have a "good" defense progression (3/4 class level), classes that use no armor typically have a "poor" progression (1/2 level). This can be very subjective from GM to GM but I would say the Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger and Rogue should get the "good" progression.
  Using this variant, Conan will have a +12 class bonus to defense, which would replace his armor bonus of +4.

Massive Damage Threshold: Characters have this new statistic and it is equal to Constitution score plus level or hit die. When a character suffers damage equal to or greater than this number, he must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be reduced to -1 hit point, unconscious and dying. Conan's massive damage threshold is 25 or 28 while raging.

Armor Variant: If using the options described above, you may wish to change the effects of armor. My recommendation is to add the armor bonus to the massive damage threshold of each character. In addition I would suggest that armor provides temporary hit points depending on the armor's category; +5 for light armor, +10 for medium armor and +15 for heavy armor. For enhancements from magic or other sources you could add the bonus to one or both of these values and/or apply it to defense.

Taint: I recommend using the updated rules from Heroes of Horror. Despite claims of "low fantasy" or "low magic", magic isn't really all that rare in Conan's tales, but it causes physical corruption and mental depravity and so you can't use it much without becoming an inhuman thing.

Sanity: I further recommend using some type of sanity system (d20 already has one which can be found in 3e's Unearthed Arcana and the d20 version of Call of Cthulhu). Magic and some monsters will threaten a character's grip on sanity. Using taint and sanity together should discourage most player's from selecting spell-casting classes (which you could also ban outright).

Incantations/Rituals: This is the heart of magic use in Hyborian tales; strange rituals performed in dark places to summon even darker powers and creatures. Many, if not all, Hyborian "sorcerers" will actually be non-spellcasters with arcane knowledge and the will to use it despite the dangers.

Final disclaimer

Spellcheck has crippled my spelling... not utterly but I limp now and then, so I'm bound to have typos here and there and I'm very wonky with the netbook, so I might accidentally cut and paste or something. Also I might make a math error here or there or make somekind of technical error with my builds, and finally I'd love to hear feedback, but if my thoughts make you boil with rage do me a favor and just don't.