I fucked up.
This stuff is great. Too often does fantasy inspire me to add to my precious setting, but Conan inspires me to write gameable content.
I'm going to attempt to read every issue of Savage Sword of Conan, and with each issue, I'll give my opinion on whether I found a story to be:
- an enjoyable or worthwhile read
- having evocative or particularly outstanding panels of art
- inspiring for designing an adventure, dungeon, or encounter (this will be cetner-aligned for folks who just want to scan for some quick ideas)
Without further ado, my review of Savage Sword of Conan #1
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Right off the bat, this issue knocks it out of the park. The cover with Conan and Red Sonja slaying skeletons is great
Curse of the Undead Man
An adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Mistress of Death, with art by John Buscema
This story is fucking great. Go read it now. Descriptions of the art and what to steal will give away too much.
The art is top knotch. The backgrounds evoke the seediness of the setting. It's both full of a variety of background characters and cramped architecture, furthering the feeling of danger with the decadent city. The characters are well drawn and dynamic, and shadow is used very effectively. If I had to make a criticism, Buscema's closeups are inconsistent. But given the breakneck pace which old comics were drawn, this is an absolute non issue.
If you need art to inspire your descriptions for the rough underbelly of a decadent city, or imagery of a cultic ritual chamber, give this story a scan.
As for gameable content, this story is the quintessential adventure. An attack by thugs which seeds further mystery, the party organizing in a tavern before venturing out to stop some cultists, and a solid twist which can give DMs nice opportunity for a brief recurring bad guy. Naturally, your players are unlikely to ditch a potentially valuable ring out of superstition like Conan does, so some creativity is required. Sometime after finding Costranno's body with the missing finger, I would have the players hear a rumor about someone found murdered who was trying to sell a ring attached to a finger.
Furthermore, I love the set of the final encounter. Making dynamic rooms is always a great idea, and I would just rip this room as is and put it in a dungeon. A pit with a monster is a great hazard for players to try and interact with, and the mechanism for lowering the cover is something for the less combat capable characters to interact with.
Red Sonja
I'll be much briefer with this one. The story is fine and the art definitely succeeds at presenting an oppulent palace for a decadent despot. If you like scantally drawn women, and pulp that's closer to exploitation then you'll get a kick out of it.
What I'd rip from this are the characters. King Ghannif and his albino bodyguard Trolus make for a dynamic pair. I would make the king a good source of questing opportunity, and possibly a liege for high level play. He should get on their nerves and be a bit despicable, but powerful and materially beneficial to the players. Trolus is where you maintain the sympathy. He should be capable, respectable, and likeable, enough so that his allegiance to the king makes players more likely to ally. He's the adventurer that survived some dangerous delves and military campaigns, and was smart enough to retire early into a luxurious life instead of carving his own domain.
Blackmark
If you want some inspiration for a post-apocalyptic fantasy or a sword & planet locale, this story is worth a read. It's not a full comic; more of a comic, short story hybrid. A couple of panels depict interesting environments and some unique armor design. I also like the weird mutant horse.
The Frost Giant's Daughter
Another Robert E. Howard adapatation, with art by Barry Smith.
I had a feeling that the adaptations are going to be the strongest of the stories, but this was my least favorite of the issue. While it isn't near the level of Curse of the Undead Man, it was enjoyable enough that reading it wasn't the slog that some stories in later issues are. My main complaint is the fight with the giants is a non-scene. Conan had just been in a battle, then trekked for miles through a cold vastness, and proceeds to easily cut down two giants on the same page that they ambush him. However, the strangeness of the ending sort of saves the story.
The art seems to improve as the story progresses, with the backgrounds becoming more than just empty arctic wastes as the pages turn. It isn't nearly as dynamic as Buscema's art, but it doesn't detract from the story.
I would just straight up steal this story and use it as a wilderness encounter. After the party emerges victorious from a battle, I'd have the daughter approach the heroes and goad them to give chase, maybe saying she's been watching the bandits/orcs/etc... that the party just defeated and knows where they stash their treasure, and then proceeds to lead them into an ambush (she had been planning to lure those you just killed until your party showed up).
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On the whole, I think you should at least check out this issue, if only for the first story.
