Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Cimmerian Defenses Battlemap

Level 1 Defenses


Level 2 Defenses

Level 3 Defenses

Simple Battlemap for defending a section of perimeter against incoming attack.

Cimmerian village setting. Simple defenses using logs to create choke points. Archers are rarely used by barbarians, and Cimmerian villages aren't particularly well defended. Mostly used as a lookout to send for reinforcements.

The defenses of the players village can be upgraded to three stages.

Defenses 1 Adds a simple wall to the hillside from which a watch can be posted.

Defenses 2 Adds more walls, creating choke points and a little better defenses for the watch to hold until reinforcements arrive.

Defenses 3 Adds triplines in the trees, creating additional choke points and hazardous terrain. It also adds spikes to the front of the walls, so they are unscalable, forcing infantry through the choke points. Also, the players have access to large rocks, which they can throw down the hill as improvised missiles.


Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Cimmerian Fighting Pit Battlemap


Starting to really get a feel for designing battlemaps. Decided to make a fighting pit for my campaign. I am toying with the notion of letting one of my players roll as a Vanir or Aesir instead of Cimmerian. I could use this map to introduce the character (have him fight for his freedom). The other possible use is to have players with a criminal background start off fighting for a crime. Or even to have players who commit a crime fight to remain free. So many possibilities.

Monday, February 23, 2015

New Battlemap - Cimmerian Hills


New Battlemap - Cimmerian Hills.

Designed for possible ambushes. Hill with treeline on upper left. Cliffs to right.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

New Battlemap, Cimmerian Forest Creek


I've created another battlemap and added a few handy features. For scale I've added Icons above the movement scale to show relative sizes for creatures and PCs. From Tiny to Huge for this map.

Starting to get a better hang on map creating. Going to have this one laminated by tomorrow so I can give it a few tests.

Features a creek running through one side with a choke point crossing (fallen log). Scattered trees provide ample cover and ability to break LoS.

Friday, February 20, 2015

First Battlemap for Playtesting - Field of Snow

I decided to work on a battlemap so I can playtest some of my NPCs and the Hyborian Age combat mechanics. Here's my first attempt at a Frazetta-like painting of an icy battlefield.


Features include Snow Drifts, Rock Protrusions, and an Icy Stream cutting through the middle.

I decided not to include a hex overlay, or a square grid, because I am going to encourage gridless combat. A scale is provided to show 30 ft, so movement in turns can be guessed at. The map is designed to be printed out on A4 paper. I'm having it laminated so I can track the battle using dry erase markers instead of icons.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Aquilonian Race breakdown for 5e

Aquilonians

The mightiest kingdom of the west, the foremost of the Hyborian kingdoms of Conan's day, Aquilonia is a commercial and military giant with a high level of civilization. Only Nemedia, Aquilonia's rival, boasted of a richer cultural diversity.


Aquilonia is, overall, a land of pleasant temperate climate. The Aquilonians are tall and varied in complexion, but all are steadfast in their devotion to Mitra. In matters of war, Aquilonia puts their trust in a heavily armed cavalry and a strong infantry. The Imperial troops are called the Black Legion, and the king's personal bodyguard are known as the Black Dragons. Tarantia, the seat of power in Aquilonia, is a center of romance, adventure, wisdom, and wit. Tarantia also houses the grim Iron Tower, a notorious prison.


There is a shortage of good farmland in the interior of Aquilonia because the great lords of Aquilonia have sequestered much of the cropland for personal use (such as privileged hunting preserves), creating a never ending movement of pioneers toward the Westermarck, the frontier between Aquilonia and the Pictish Wilderness.

Classes Fighter, Rogue, Ranger, Bard

Traits

Ability Score Increase - Everything increased by 1
Alignment Lawful Good
Size The Aquilonians are a tall race, standing between 5 and 6 feet tall.
Speed 30 ft
Skilled laborers: Aquilonians gain proficiency in an additional skill of your choice.
Noble Feats: Choose between Mounted Combatant, Inspiring Leader, or Martial Adept
Languages: Aquilonian + one other language of choice


Subraces

Gunderman

Only in Gunderland is the pure Hyborian stock found unblemished. Gundermen are uniformly compactly-built, tall, tawny-haired and gray-eyed.


No infantry was a match for the wild Gundermen,  who, born and bred to battle, were the purest blood of all the Hyborian peoples


Gunderman are the infantry of the Aquilonian army. Usually wearing chain mail, with pike or shield and battleaxe in hand.


Additional Feat: Polearm Master


Bossonians

The Bossonians are of medium height and complexion, their eyes brown or grey, and they are mesocephalic.


They live mainly by agriculture, in large walled villages, and are part of the Aquilonian kingdom. Their marches extend from the Border Kingdoms in the north to Zingara in the southwest, forming a bulwark for Aquilonia against both the Cimmerians and the Picts. They are stubborn defensive fighters, and centuries of warfare against northern and western barbarians have caused them to evolve a type of defense almost impregnable against direct attack.


The Bossonians are particularly well versed with a bow. They are known as some of the best rangers in the Hyborian world, only challenged by the Shemites.


Bossonians tend to wear chain shirts with longbows and short swords.

Additional Feat: Sharpshooter

Hyperborean Race breakdown for 5e

Hyperboreans

The first of the aboriginal Hyborian tribes to discover the use of stone in building, the Hyperboreans abandoned a primitive, nomadic way of life to settle in huge walled dwellings of stone, consequently founding the very first, but most isolated, of the Hyborian kingdoms.


The citadels of Hyperborea are impressive even by Hyborian standards. They are made from mortarless stones carefully fitted together and dressed smooth to give no foothold for a climber. The walls are turreted and crenellated, fifty feet high and twenty paces thick, giving the fortresses a squat appearance. Windows and arrow-slits are set into the walls, too high to be entered, but low enough to allow effective defense. The ironwood gates are protected by iron portcullises and decorated with protective runes formed by patterns of iron nails.


The people are pale-skinned, extremely tall and gaunt, with white hair and cat-green eyes. Many are as tall as seven feet. They are a superstitious lot who live as serfs in huts and hovels beyond the stone walls where they eke out meager livings from gardening the stubborn soil and herding small numbers of shaggy cattle and reindeer.
Hyperborea is ruled by the White Hand - a coven of sorcerers not unlike the Black Ring of Stygia or the Scarlet Circle of Khitai. The White Hand "Witchmen" are the priests and priestesses of Louhi, the ever-reincarnating goddess of the Hyperboreans, as well as accomplished sorcerers. Their magic focuses around the cold of their land and control of the dead. Hyperborean sorcerers are highly prized in the northern wilds, but they are little respected in Hyborian lands.


Hyperborea also hosts several bands of hardy slave raiders who make repeated forays into Cimmeria to fill their slave pens.

Classes Fighter, Rogue, Sorcerer

Traits

Ability Score Increase - Constitution +2
Alignment Lawful Evil
Size The Hyperborians are a tall thin race, standing nearly 7 feet.
Speed 30 ft
Frost Resilience: Hyperborians are Resistant to Cold and Cold effects
Feats: Choose between Savage Attacker, or Charger
Languages: Nordheimr, Hyperborian, Cimmerian


Subrace

Witchman of the White Hand



Additional Ability Score Increase: Wisdom +2

Additional Feat: Ritual Caster

Vanir Race breakdown for 5e

Vanir

The Vanir are a red-haired barbarian people, worshippers of the god Ymir, Lord of the Giants. It is Ymir who gives them strength in battle and fuels their drive for conquest.


The Vanir live in snow-covered lands and are winter-bound throughout the majority of the year. During the warmer season they venture from their homes to prey upon the barbarian tribes around them. In this fashion, they believe, year by bloody year, they will eventually purge the world of their blood enemies, the Aesir and Hyperboreans. They despise each race with equal passion.


Vanir raids are known to be especially brutal. The Vanir are famed for burning all they cannot carry away with them. Vanirs dislike intrusions into their territories and will always destroy any settlements which come within several days’ march of their villages.


Vanir men have only a single mate, although they seek sexual relations with all women who are not of Vanir blood. To the Vanir, this type of sexual activity is not considered adultery and is perfectly acceptable, even to the Vanir women.


Vanir are fond of the spear, axe, and sword. They use wooden shields covered in horsehide and wear horned helms and scale mail shirts.

Classes Barbarian 2, then any of Barbarian, Fighter, Rogue, or Ranger

Traits

Ability Score Increase - Strength +2
Alignment Lawful Neutral
Size The Aesir are a tall race, standing between 5 to over 6 foot.
Speed 30 ft
Cultural Bravery: You have Advantage against Fear Savings Throws
Menacing: You gain proficiency in the Intimidate Skill.
Feats: Choose between Shield Master, Savage Attacker, or Charger

Languages: Nordheimr

Aesir Race breakdown for 5e


Aesir

The Aesir find their home in Asgard, a far-northern mountainous nation which is permanently glaciated.

They are a race of hunters and warriors who live by tribal units with its own king, each residing in timber-roofed great halls.

All Aesir worship Ymir, the frost giant. They are the blood enemies of the Vanir.

At the close of each winter, the Aesir begin their yearly raids, riding south on horseback to pillage townships of their cattle, wealth, and women. Men who surrender to Aesir warriors are usually spared. Those who resist are slain in a gruesome fashion. Aesir rarely burn a village they plunder, preferring to leave their targets fairly intact to allow the survivors to rebuild and provide another lucrative target in the future.

In battle, Aesir prefer the broadsword or battleaxe. Additionally, they rely upon their chain-mailed shirts, horned helmets, and wooden shields to protect them from the weapons of their enemies. Many Aesir learn to use the throwing axe, but most will refuse to learn the spear or bow, weapons they think are cowardly.

Only by dying in battle, with sword or axe in hand and courage in the heart, can an Aesir find his way to Valhalla, the after-life paradise sought by all Norsemen.

The Aesir live by conquest. When two Aesir fight, the winner takes his choice of the loser’s women, children, and animals.

Traits

First 2 Barbarian, then choose from Barbarian, Fighter, or Rogue

Traits

Ability Score Increase - Strength +2
Alignment Lawful Neutral
Size The Aesir are a tall race, standing between 5 to over 6 foot.
Speed 30 ft
Cultural Bravery: You have Advantage against Fear Savings Throws
Feats: Choose between Shield Master, Savage Attacker, or Charger
Languages: Nordheimr

Cimmerian Race entry for 5e

Cimmerian

Known for their strength and ferocity throughout the western world, the Cimmerians are barbarian tribesmen to whom war is the only known way of life.


Cimmerians respect strength and little else. This belief is best represented by their chief god, Crom, who breathes life into men when they are born, and gives them the strength to conquer all which they must face. Afterwards, the man may rely only upon his own skills to carry him through life. Magic, they believe, corrupts the soul, and extracts a terrible price from those who practice it.


Men can expect little pity from a Cimmerian. Women are to be protected, but a man who cannot fend for himself is usually left to die. Even the sick are rarely helped unless they are of the Cimmerian’s own tribe or clan. Those children born deformed are left on the snows to die. Invaders are slain outright. Any companions captured by the enemy are considered dead men. In this way the Cimmerians remain strong and are not weakened by pity or remorse.


In Cimmeria, a youth is considered a man when he has killed in battle. For most Cimmerians, this comes before the sixteenth birthday, either in clan-feuds or in battle against the Vanir, Aesir or Hyperboreans. After this time, he is obligated to uphold custom like any adult. A proper Cimmerian male takes a wife before his eighteenth birthday, then stays to take care of the clan cattle and lands. Widows are often married by the brother of the deceased, although the Cimmerians do not practice polygamy.


Few Cimmerians live to old age. Gray hair is a mark of respect, as it indicates that the elder has been skilled enough to survive.


They are tall and powerful, with dark hair and blue or gray eyes. They live in small, isolated tribes which hunt, herd cattle, grow oats and raid one another for cattle or wives.


The pantheon of their gods are Crom, Lir, Babd, Morrigan, Macha, Nemain, Diancecht, and Dadga.


Cimmerians learn to war with the spear, club, battleaxe and broadsword.

Classes

First 2 Barbarian, then choose from Barbarian, Fighter, or Rogue


Traits

Ability Score Increase - Strength +1, Constitution +1, Dexterity +1
Alignment - Most Cimmerians are Lawful and Good natured. They obey a more barbaric code of honor instead of centralized laws.
Size - Cimmerians are tall and strong. The average male stands well over 6 feet, with the females nearing 6 feet tall. The average male weighs around 230, with the female weighing 150.
Speed - Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Primitive Survivalist - You are proficient in Athletics and Survival Checks.
Mast of the Wild - You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, or other natural phenomenon.
Feats: Choose between Alert, Mobile, Skulker, Charger, or Savage Attacker
Languages: Cimmerian

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Hyborian Age as a D&D Setting

Conan's World - The Hyborian Age


At the Start of the DMG there is a great description of the various kinds of settings that adventures can take part in. A typical Conan adventure fits squarely in the Sword and Sorcery category. In this world, magic items are few and far between, with wizards often acting as the classic villains.

There is ample information on the internet about the Hyborian Age. The best breakdown I can give for purposes of D&D is to relate its races and key geographic features to modern day.

As you can see in the map above, based off of a map drawn by Howard made, the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, English Channel, and North Sea are all dry during this lost age. The Caspian Sea has been renamed Vilayet Sea, and extends north to reach the Arctic Ocean. 

A large portion of the west Coast of Africa lies beneath the sea.

Aquilonia is a prominent feature of many King Conan stories, and is a cross between The Roman and Carolingian Empires.

Asgard is basically a dark age Scandinavia.

The Barachan Islands, featured in many of Conan's nautical adventures, represent the Caribbean Islands.

The Border Kingdoms represent the German Baltic Sea coast.

Cimmeria lies over modern day Ireland, Scotland and England.

Corinthia represents ancient Greece.

Hyperborea represents Northern Russia and the Baltic countries.

Hyrkania represents Mongolia.

Khitai is ancient China.

Nemedia is a cross between Roman and Byzantine Empires.

Pictland is pre-Columbian America.

Poitain represents France.

Shem represents Palestine, Arabia, and Syria.

Stygia represents Egypt.

Turan represents Turkey.

Vaneheim also represents Dark Age Scandinavia.

Zamora is a blend of Spanish Romani culture and Italy.

Zingara reperesents Spain and Portugal.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Conan's Fighter Levels and Feats for 5e

A lot of the 5e Builds I've seen for a "Conan" character seem to either be pure Barbarian, or a multiclass that is predominately fighter. I think this is the result of designing the character from an optimization stand point under 5e mechanics, instead of actually trying to capture Howard's Conan for a 5e adventure.

Given the abilities my Conan gets from his 12 levels of Barbarian, the remaining 3 levels of Fighter are all that is needed to round out his abilities. You don't need a lot more levels of Fighter to make Conan a deadly melee fighter. You just need enough to get what I consider an essential archtype to create the warleader aspect of Conan's later career.

Hit Points: 33
Hit Dice: 3d10

Red = Ability Necessary to capture the ultimate feel of Howard's depiction of Conan
Orange = Ability useful in a 5e mechanics
Light Blue = Ability not really necessary to capture Howard's Conan

Class Abilities:
Great Weapon Fighting Style
Second Wind
Action Surge

Battle Master Archtype Abilities:
Student of War
Pushing Attack
Riposte
Maneuvering Attack

Great Weapon Fighting Style - Conan wields a variety of weapons in Howard's stories, but most frequently a longsword or an axe. Mechanically, this is a useful ability to help make the character a little more dangerous under 5e rules.

Second Wind - This ability is pretty useful for a Conan character, but with all his other abilities in his Barbarian core class levels, it isn't essential to the playstyle.

Action Surge - In Howard's stories, Conan is pretty much a direct actionist. If he enters combat, he is going to go all out in the first round and wreak as much havoc as he can. Action surge will give him plenty of opportunity in that first round to deal out as much damage as possible, and is essential to capturing Conan's attack style from the stories.

Battle Master Archtype
Consensus is split for a true Conan build. From an optimization standpoint, Champion Archtype, with its increased critical range, is very much a key to optimizing a barbarian fighter hybrid build. However, I always side with the flavor build, trying to give a player the ability to play Conan as Conan should play. That being said, I went with Battle Master for thee essential maneuvers.

Pushing Attack - Howard describes Conan raining blows on an opponent and driving them back all the time in his stories. It is probably one of his most common maneuvers whenever Conan is fighting an opponent.

Riposte - Read any of the battles in Howard's Conan stories and you will see at least one character swing, miss, and find himself on the business end of Conan's sword. Truly essential to the character.

Maneuvering Attack - This is probably a maneuver that most would overlook, but in most Conan stories he ends up paired in fights with other characters on his side. Another common tactic used by Howard is for Conan to attack and direct that character to move to safety. This is another essential maneuver for a Conan build.

With three levels of fighter we have completed our level 20 Conan build. Next we should round out his abilities with some feats.



Conan's Rogue Levels and Features for 5e

Any Conan build would have to feature some levels in Rogue considering there are a number of Conan adventures that capture his life as a young thief after leaving Cimmeria. After looking at what Features and Abilities I would need to recreate a fully developed level 20 King Conan character, I decided that 5 Levels of Rogue would be appropriate to capture the character's early days as a thief.

Hit Points: 50 total
Hit Dice: 5d8

As a Rogue Conan would also gain several Class and Archtype Features that would add to his character.

Red = Ability Necessary to capture the ultimate feel of Howard's depiction of Conan
Orange = Ability useful in a 5e mechanics
Light Blue = Ability not really necessary to capture Howard's Conan

Class Abilities:
Expertise 
Sneak Attack
Thieves' Cant
Cunning Action
Uncanny Dodge

Thief Archtype Features:
Fast Hands
Second-Story Work

Given that Conan is not primarily a thief character, but a Barbarian who was a thief early in his career, it is natural for some abilities to be more essential for a true Conan build than in the other classes. Again, most the essential features are what round out a Conan character's flavor, not necessarily optimizing him for 5e play.

Expertise - This ability is pretty much a mechanical one. It is helpful to round out his Ability Checks, but not necessary to flavor a Conan playstyle.
Sneak Attack - I am split on this ability. Most players aren't going to go wielding a knife or short sword with Conan, but if you read the Conan stories carefully, you'll notice there are many times he is forced to fight with little more than a knife or broken sword. So the ability to do even 1d6 extra damage with these weapons is a plus to capture the flavor of Conan.
Thieves' Cant - Again a mechanical bonus that might or might not be helpful actually playing like Conan.
Cunning Action - Quintessential Conan ability. A properly played Conan would have to have the extra option to Dash, Disengage, or Hide during combat. This is especially useful for a flavor play style because there are several Conan stories where he is forced to run and hide against supernatural or overwhelming odds.
Uncanny Dodge - Again, for a Conan play style this reaction is pretty essential. Reckless Attack and then having Uncanny Dodge as a fallback is a pretty definitive tactic for the way Howard's Conan would fight. 

Conan's Barbarian Levels and Feats for 5e

Barbarian 12 Levels
Howard's Conan stories always center on the contrast between civilization and barbarism, often pointing out the flaws of civility and contrasting them with Conan and his simple barbaric code of honor.

Conan is by and large a barbarian in the 5e sense. Building Conan off of 12 levels of Barbarian gives me a core of abilities that allow the player to "fall back" on Conan's barbaric abilities much in the way Howard would have Conan fall back on in the stories. When it comes to combat, Conan should be very deadly melee class and I have to say the 5e Barbarian captures many of his abilities from the story very well.

HP: 144
Hit Dice: 12d12

The HP and Hit Dice are just for his core Barbarian levels. At level 20, King Conan will also have 5 Rogue and 3 Fighter levels worth of HP and Hit Dice.

Red = Ability Necessary to capture the ultimate feel of Howard's depiction of Conan
Orange = Ability useful in a 5e mechanics
Light Blue = Ability not really necessary to capture Howard's Conan

Class Abilities:
Rage 
Unarmored Defense
Reckless Attack
Danger Sense
Extra Attack
Fast Movement
Feral Instinct
Brutal Critical
Relentless Rage

Path of the Berserker Archtype Abilities
Frenzy
Mindless Rage
Intimidating Presence

There are numerous debates on 3.5, Pathfinder, and 5e builds to capture a true Conan. There seems to be a debate on how to build an 5e Conan, with some multiclassing, some going pure Barbarian, and others going a Fighter build with a splash of Barbarian.

The core of any build, particularly this one, has to be Barbarian to capture Howard's intent with the actual character. Conan reverted to the barbarian when cornered, hurt, or overcoming enormous odds. Any multiclassing build that attempts to capture Conan should have a strong core of Barbarian levels. For 5e, I found 12 levels gives a solid core of Barbaric traits that also allows for key multiclassing to round out the character.

As for class abilities, the Barbarian class captures the core of Howard's Conan perfectly. While I have read some debate on the subject, I cannot see how anyone could read through Howard's stories and not see how a number of these abilities are perfect for building a Conan in 5e.

The essential abilities for capturing Conan's flavor are:

Rage - Conan flies into a Rage when entering combat throughout the Howard stories.
Reckless Attack - Howard puts it best in Phoenix on the Sword:
He was no defensive fighter; even in the teeth of overwhelming odds he always carried the war to his enemies. 
 Danger Sense - Hardly a Howard stories passes when Conan's barbaric senses warn him of danger well in advance of others around him.
Fast Movement - Howard almost always describes Conan's movements in combat as swift. He is often able to move much faster than anyone around him.
Feral Instinct - This ability is also perfectly Conan. He is never caught flat footed, and even when surprised often acts faster than his enemies.
Relentless Rage - This is quintessential Conan. Again Phoenix on the Sword is a great early example:
[Conan] stood like an image of the unconquerable primordial - legs braced far apart, head thrust forward, one hand clutching the wall for support, the other gripping the ax on high, with the great corded muscles standing out in iron ridges, and his features frozen in a death snarl of fury - his eyes blazing terribly through the mist of blood which veiled them. ... They shrank back - the dying tiger could still deal death.
Mindless Rage - I've read several builds that criticize the archtype options for a Conan Barbarian build. Primarily, they seem to think Berserker isn't a great fit for the character. I find this puzzling, because it definitely fits in with Howard's depiction. In particular, this archtype feature is definitely Conan, as we can see in Phoenix on the Sword as an abyssal demon attempts to mesmerize him:
But the horror that paralyzed and destroyed Ascalante roused in the Cimmerian a frenzied fury akin to madness.
 Intimidating Presence - Again, another feature that is pure Conan, although I would extend it beyond one target and possibly make it a single use aura for a duration, as we can see in Phoenix on the Sword:
They stopped short. Conan faced them, not a naked man roused mazed and unarmed out of deep sleep to be butchered like a sheep, but a barbarian wide-awake and at bay ... 
For an instant the tableau held - the four noblemen in the broken door, and the horde of wild hairy faces crowding behind them - all held momentarily at bay, frozen by the sight of the blazing-eyed giant standing sword in hand in the middle of the candle-lighted chamber.
The  remaining abilities are heavily combat mechanics related, so I haven't listed them as "essential" because they relate mostly to the mechanical and not flavorful playing of a Conan character in 5e. Bonus attacks are important to a melee class, as well as the ability for a Conan character to have a high defense without armor.

The Barbarian class with the Berserker archtype is an essential core component of any Conan build. For my purpose, 12 levels gets you all the abilities you would want to play a Conan character in the style of the literary Conan, and still have the freedom to multiclass to round out the literary Conan's abilities.




Conan's Ability Stats for 5e

One of the biggest tasks of creating 5e modules for Howard's Conan stories is to make sure the Player gets to play as Conan along various parts of his development. One of the first problems is balancing Conan against other NPCs and Enemies, which ultimately will require to bend some of the Character creation rules so that the stats and abilities for the Conan Character match up with what he is capable of doing in the stories. My goal is not to be bound by 5e rules but to use 5e to recreate the characters and stories as much as possible.

The easiest approach I can take is the same as Howard, starting with Conan as King of Aquilonia and at the end of his adventuring days. Starting the player at level 20 and with full abilities in the first module, Phoenix on the Sword, will give me a great template that I can use to roll back levels for various stages of Conan's development.

After pouring through the Player's Handbook, I came up with a combination of classes that I think best covers a fully developed Conan in 5e. King Conan would be a Barbarian 12 / Rogue 5 / Fighter 3 at maximum level 20.

The Core Ability Stats of Conan

Before I start breaking down Conan's 5e classes, archetypes, and feats I have to start by setting his Ability Scores. One of the problems I ran into was using the standard techniques of determining ability scores to recreate the literary Conan. Conan's numbers can't be arbitrary. Rolling for them or spending points to set them at level one tend to leave Conan with stats below what he would have in a typical Howard Story.

What I kept coming back to is contrasting Conan with character classes built by traditional 5e rules in a traditional 5e party and setting. If I put Conan into a group, how would he compare and still have the flavor of Howard's creation? If I were to take this build and put him in a party of level 20s and run an appropriate adventure, Conan would still have to be Conan.

You can find a variety of "Conan" builds online that use traditional Ability Score setups to create the character, but none actually capture the depth of the character as Howard wrote him. In the strictest sense, Conan's primary stats are obviously Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. In fact, these three traits are the most commonly emphasized by Howard, especially in combat.

Where most builds fall short of a true Conan are the dump stats. Often Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence take a hit, leaving the character with the noncombat abilities of an ignorant, witless social boar. Howard's Conan is far from this.

The problem with dumping Wisdom

Wisdom in 5e governs Insight, Perception, Survival, Animal Handling, and Medicine Checks. The biggest issue with dumping an 8 or 10 in this and calling the build Conan is that Howard's Conan, being a true barbarian, would be very proficient in Perception and Survival. At the very least any Conan build would be proficient in both so that the Proficiency Bonus could be used to augment a low score in Wisdom.

The problem with dumping Charisma

Conan is a charismatic character. Throughout the Conan stories, his Charisma is often pointed to as he frequently assumes leadership positions by being well-liked and respected by his peers. Charisma, if anything, should be the fourth highest stat for any Conan build.

The problem with dumping Intelligence

Probably the most common dump stat of all, Intelligence. Popular culture might reduce Conan or barbarians based off him as a dumb brute in loin cloth swinging a massive great sword, but Howard wrote the character quite the opposite. Conan was a highly intelligent character. He knew many languages, and learned new ones very quickly. He could read and write and could decipher code. He was a great strategist, and as a King a great ruler whose ideas led Aquilonia to flourish under his reign. Far from ignorant, Conan always seems to know a great deal about History and Nature, in the 5e sense. So again, dumping an 8 here would drastically change how the character would play.

At level 20, I decided to set the stats outside of the regular character creation guidelines. For earlier levels, I will probably roll back some stats a little to show a youthful Conan. But for the King Conan stories, at level 20, he will be at full power. Especially since the grandest and most epic of his adventures, Hour of the Dragon, occurs while he is a king.

Comparing his stats with stats for NPCs and Monsters in the Monster Manual and DMG, I set Conan's stats as follows.

Strength 18
Dexterity 17
Constitution 20
Intelligence 10
Wisdom 13
Charisma 14

Strength is set at 18. He needs to be at the top end for medium sized humanoids and pretty competitive against large sized humanoids, but going a full 20 would seem to be out of contrast with most creatures in the MM.

Constitution is maxed at 20. His stamina is always described as nearly endless, and in most stories the very thing that sees him victories is not his superior strength or dexterity, but his stamina and resilience.

Dexterity is not quite maxed, but is set at 17. Conan was a very agile character, and more importantly a very stealthy one.

Intelligence is the one true dump stat. I felt that 10 would still allow the character to be true.

Wisdom is set at 13 because it influences some pretty core abilities for the Conan character out of combat. Charisma is set at 14 for the same reason.