Spence Posted May 30, 2010 Report Share Posted May 30, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans The snake-men aren't in the Conan stories but there are plenty of giant snakes, all of which are seriously bad news and then there's Set, the evil serpent god. Guess Howard had a thing about snakes. OK, I must be crossing my stories. I read a LOT of old sword and sorcery in my youth, and sometime get them mixed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans OK' date=' I must be crossing my stories. I read a LOT of old sword and sorcery in my youth, and sometime get them mixed up.[/quote'] There are also references in the Conan stories to "crumbling temples raised by the blasphemous snakemen in forgotten ages" and such like, but the snakemen themselves are all gone by that time. Even by Kull's time they were pretty much gone. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans There are also references in the Conan stories to "crumbling temples raised by the blasphemous snakemen in forgotten ages" and such like, but the snakemen themselves are all gone by that time. Even by Kull's time they were pretty much gone. cheers, Mark That is most likely what was brushing my memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans There are also references in the Conan stories to "crumbling temples raised by the blasphemous snakemen in forgotten ages" and such like, but the snakemen themselves are all gone by that time. Even by Kull's time they were pretty much gone. cheers, Mark Man , do I love that sort of turn of phrase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted May 31, 2010 Report Share Posted May 31, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Serpent Men are largely gone in my campaign, but they're planning to make a comeback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted June 1, 2010 Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Man ' date=' do I love that sort of turn of phrase[/quote'] I tend to draw heavily on that sort of language as a GM, to inspire my players. Half of them find it evocative and half of them find it amusing cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted June 1, 2010 Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans I tend to draw heavily on that sort of language as a GM, to inspire my players. Half of them find it evocative and half of them find it amusing cheers, Mark As do I. Fortunately, my bunch having mostly been raised on the same stories eats it up and gets into the proper mood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted June 6, 2010 Report Share Posted June 6, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans While snakemen didn't feature in the original Conan stories I think they appeared in some of the comic book versions over the years, which might also add to the confusion regarding their place in canon Conan mythos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted June 6, 2010 Report Share Posted June 6, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans While snakemen didn't feature in the original Conan stories I think they appeared in some of the comic book versions over the years' date=' which might also add to the confusion regarding their place in canon Conan mythos.[/quote'] They also made an appearance in the proto-Conan Kull stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted June 6, 2010 Report Share Posted June 6, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans They also had a Conan cartoon in the 90s where the snakemen were the bad guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Are snakemen ever the good guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans In the movie Sssssss? Howling VI: The Freaks? (or was the an Alligator man?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted June 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Are snakemen ever the good guys? In their own minds, everyone are the good guys. Even snakemen. Snakemen no doubt have their own legends and ethics that are corrupt and twisted by human standards. Human mores are corrupt and twisted by the standards of snakemen. I've often wondered what goes through the minds of the truly foul creatures of fantasy gaming. Runequest's Broo, for example -- living blasphemies who don't think of other beings as anything more significant than livestock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Are snakemen ever the good guys? Well, the Nagas come to mind. In India and other lands in Asia they are sometimes benevolent, dangerous only when crossed. Lucius Alexander The palindromedary says the same could be said of a lot of city streets - dangerous when crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans In their own minds, everyone are the good guys. Even snakemen. Snakemen no doubt have their own legends and ethics that are corrupt and twisted by human standards. Human mores are corrupt and twisted by the standards of snakemen. I've often wondered what goes through the minds of the truly foul creatures of fantasy gaming. Runequest's Broo, for example -- living blasphemies who don't think of other beings as anything more significant than livestock. Given that they were spawned by the Mother of Rape and their ... ahem .. proclivities ... they think of other beings as at least one thing other than livestock In-game, Broo were pretty much the one thing that every other race and creed agreed about! cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Given that they were spawned by the Mother of Rape and their ... ahem .. proclivities ... they think of other beings as at least one thing other than livestock In-game, Broo were pretty much the one thing that every other race and creed agreed about! cheers, Mark I thought their Goddess/Primal Ancestor was the Goddess of Disease? Lucius Alexander Father of Palindromedaries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragitsu Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Is it true that the issue of racism is more likely to come up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Sorry for coming late to the party, but I could swear there was at least one story that had Conan come up against a surviving cadre of Serpent People. The fact of the matter is, they were still around in Bran Mak Morn's time (he makes a "deal with the devil" with some Serpent People atavists before squashing them with a monolith in "Worms of the Earth"), so the timing is fine. I'd thought it was in the Cthulhu: The Mythos and Kindred Horrors collection, but a quick check reveals there are no Conan stories in there. I must be thinking of "The God in the Bowl," which has a descendant of the Serpent People in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Is it true that the issue of racism is more likely to come up? That's an interesting thought, that I have never really considered. I can see it could actually be a problem, depending on how the GM handled it, though I have to say that it's never really been an issue in any game I've played in. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Sorry for coming late to the party' date=' but I could swear there was at least one story that had Conan come up against a surviving cadre of Serpent People. The fact of the matter is, they were still around in Bran Mak Morn's time (he makes a "deal with the devil" with some Serpent People atavists before squashing them with a monolith in "Worms of the Earth"), so the timing is fine. I'd thought it was in the Cthulhu: The Mythos and Kindred Horrors collection, but a quick check reveals there are no Conan stories in there. I must be thinking of "The God in the Bowl," which has a descendant of the Serpent People in it. Yeah, that's just a big snake, though. The name of the story and the general description implied that it was perhaps worshipped by the debased decendants of a forgotten cult, but apart from the effect it had on Conan, I don't recall anything suggesting it was other than an abnormally large snake. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans I thought their Goddess/Primal Ancestor was the Goddess of Disease? Lucius Alexander Father of Palindromedaries Nah, Thed is The Goddess of Rape/ Mother of Chaos, among other fetching titles. The Broo also worship Malia, Mother of Disease, though. They are wonderfully disgusting monsters - so much so that I adapted them for my own game, though the players have encountered them but once. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted June 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Is it true that the issue of racism is more likely to come up? Depends on whether and how you want to handle it. In standard D&D with its multiple humanoid races, some inimically hostile to the PCs, you could make the argument that racism is endemic in the assumptions of the game. Killing orcs and goblins is a noble calling in D&D; substitute a human subculture for the orcs and goblins and you have something particularly nasty that most players will not want to deal with. HUmans-only campaigns will have a lot of national, religious and cultural rivalries, but since it is still viewed through the lens of players who actually live in the 21st century making racial assumptions is hardly necessary. After all, human beings are NOT "Color-coded for your convenience" by any stretch of the imagination, and even among the enemy in war you will find individuals who are opposed to you but still honorable and ethical in their own ways. Fanaticism of that sort is a trait best left to enemies. The fanatical priest of Set who wants to exterminate all other faiths on a global scale is a villain through and through from the modern perspective that the players will have. But even there you could have shades of gray: the emperor of the nation seeking to conquer the rest of the continent is likely to be an enemy, but perhaps he actually manages to improve the lot of the people under his rule in general terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusterBoy Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans The concept of a Goddess of Rape, when rape is mostly against women is pretty disturbing. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted June 11, 2010 Report Share Posted June 11, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans The concept of a Goddess of Rape' date=' when rape is mostly against women is pretty disturbing. . .[/quote'] Well the Broo didn't discriminate by gender - or indeed by species Their shtick was that a Broo could impregnate pretty much any animal and the resulting offspring would just gestate in them until it was ready to claw/chew its way out: essentially like a parasitic wasp laying an egg in something except that the Broo that resulted blended the physical appearance of both "parents". It's such a gross, yet simple horror that I incorporated it - with some minor changes - into my own FH campaign. Cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragitsu Posted June 12, 2010 Report Share Posted June 12, 2010 Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans The concept of a Goddess of Rape' date=' when rape is mostly against women is pretty disturbing. . .[/quote'] There is more than one kind of rape, and, besides, that kind of thinking makes claims by males less believed by virtue of gender...which is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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