The Kettle-Drums They Beat

The steppe winds howl kicking up great billowing clouds of dust. Your hand draws back over your face shielding your eyes and black cracked lips.

Aeons seem to pass before the eerie stillness returns, as does that gnawing hollowness in your stomach. Your companions shoulder on next to you in that endless march toward the beckoning mountains shimmering in the purple distances before you.

You were the lucky ones.

Once each of your were of a band of dissolute rogues, the Free Companions, who burned and looted their way along the borderlands. Five thousand strong you were, from a motley score of the dregs of Hyboria, serving as mercenaries for a rebel prince in eastern Koth. When that cur made peace with his cursed sovereign, the Companions were out of gainful employment. By fire and sword you took to plundering the outlying dominions of Koth, Zamora and Turan alike.

In command of your company was a mighty-thewed Cimmerian. Blue of eye and black-maned, he was a demon on the battlefield of which he was said to be born on. Though mighty in battle, his tactical range fell on the short side.

A week ago Shah Amurath trapped your band near the banks of Ilbars with fifteen thousand men. Mitra! The skies were black with ravens that day. When the lines broke, after a whole day of fighting, some tried to break through to the north, some to the west. The steppes were covered with horsemen riding down the fugitives.

High above you a vulture calls.

Broken of your reverie, you halt suddenly. Far out under a lonely peak a flash of metal glimmers through the heat...

The first one-shot (of three planned) for Conan/ZeFRS is now rearing and ready to flex its tree-trunk arms against the untutored, man-beast hordes of Google+.

Titled King of the Mountain (unless we can crowdsource something better), it will take your would-be conquering hero/heroine up a blood-drenched lonely peak in a harrowing race. You and your companions have three and a half hours tops to best the horrors of that haunted place. Tarry once too many and you lose your moment in the sun.

More Particulars:

Possible Play Windows. As I said before the game will run “whenever”, that is some floating time period in which I have the spare hours and we have a critical mass. I will be traveling to the sun-swept wastes of the desert this coming weekend for work but I do have a few possible windows where I could run a game: Friday night after 8 CST, and/or Sunday or Monday sometime in the early day. Insomnia may make for some spontaneous late night sessions too.

Three Player Limit. I am trying to keep the action quick and the feel less like the small army of D&D parties, thus I will be limiting parties to only three players maximum.

Making your Own Character. Again look here for a free copy of the rules, make up your character and email it to me at kutalik at gmail the dawt com.

A few house rules (it was inevitable as the dawn rising of the sun):

1. You have 35 free talents to spread around as per the rules. The rules contradict themselves by stating that you get 5 talents per weakness you opt in the rules and 10 for each in the reference guide. Though the second reference for 10 is likely an editorial error, we will use that. Three weakness max.

2. You can have up to 7 points in any particular talent.

3. Pick or roll a d100 on the following chart for your nation of origin, note the bonus talents for each:

Roll	Nation	Bonus talents
01-06	Aquilonia	3 points any Knowledge
07-11	Argos	3 points any Knowledge or Medicine
12-16	Asgard	3 points any Fighting or Strength
17-21	Bossonian Marches	3 points any Endurance or Bow
22-27	Brythunia	3 points any Perception
28-30	Cimmeria	3 points in Animal Reflexes or Fighting
31-36	Corinthia	3 points any Knowledge, Pike or Halberd
37-42	Gunderland	3 points any Endurance or Pike
43-46	Hyrkanian Steppes	3 points any Prowess or Bow
47-49	Iranistan	3 points any Perception
50-52	Khitai	3 points any Knowledge
53-60	Koth	3 points any Knowledge
61-64	Kush	3 points any Prowess
65-72	Nemedia	3 points any Knowledge
73-78	Ophir	3 points any Knowledge
79-80	Pictland	3 points any Prowess
81-82	Poitan	3 points any Knowledge or Broadsword
83-86	Shem	3 points any Knowledge
87-89	Stygia	3 points any Insight
90-92	Turan	3 points any Prowess or Bow
93-94	Vanaheim	3 points any Fighting or Strength
95-98	Zamora	3 talents in Acrobatic, Climbing, Pocket Picking or Observation
99-00	Zingara	3 points any Fighting

Onwards and Upwards. If you survive the scenario your character (all pre-gens will be unique to the player) will gain experience and be eligible to run in the second, linked scenario.