RexMundi Posted February 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Thugnacious. Split the difference. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted February 27, 2010 Report Share Posted February 27, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... That wasn't an REH story' date=' but one of the L. Sprague and de Camp pastiches.[/quote'] Ah, that explains it...though I've Heard that they worked off REH's notes dor at least some of that stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted February 27, 2010 Report Share Posted February 27, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Ah' date=' that explains it...though I've Heard that they worked off REH's notes dor at least some of that stuff...[/quote'] In some cases, they took non-Conan stories and made them into Conan stories.Re-writing some of Howard's piracy tales for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted February 27, 2010 Report Share Posted February 27, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... I seem to remember his first story being him having just escaped slavery' date=' running from wolves, and taking cover in a haunted tomb, kills a Zombie and gains a sword. Next step Wolve burgers for lunch! Might not be first published though...I last read REH some 30 years ago....[/quote'] That sounds like a novelization of the Conan movie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted February 27, 2010 Report Share Posted February 27, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... That sounds like a novelization of the Conan movie Actually, the movie seems to be based on the L Sprauge de Camp and Lin Carter expanded Conan history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Heh.....That's like saying, Poul Anderson wrote about Elves, in the Novel "The Broken Sword." .......These ain't your fanboy elves here..... ~Rex So it is true, what stories are they in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... I'd look for elf reverences in the Bran Mak Morn and Cormac Mac Art stories. Basically, the idea was that they were the degenerate descendants of early populations, living underground after having been pushed aside by newcomers. Eventually the Picts would go the same way. From vague and distant memory, the remnants of the Valusian snakemen ended up this way too. Not Tolkien, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Wait... when was Conan a slave? Or' date=' should I say... when did REH say Conan was a slave?[/quote'] He may not have. I've read a lot of Conan. It may have been another Conan author. But it doesn't change the essential point - the first Conan story was a rewritten Kull story and the two characters share a great many points of commonality. Conan is just a reworked Kull. And, as much as I verve on Conan, I still say By This Ax I Rule! is the better versions of the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... I'd look for elf reverences in the Bran Mak Morn and Cormac Mac Art stories. Basically, the idea was that they were the degenerate descendants of early populations, living underground after having been pushed aside by newcomers. Eventually the Picts would go the same way. From vague and distant memory, the remnants of the Valusian snakemen ended up this way too. Not Tolkien, no. Ok, I thought that too. I beleive that this becomes the basis for the stories of the "little people". In some Conan stories though he alludes to some non-human races, so I wasn't sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted February 28, 2010 Report Share Posted February 28, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... He may not have. I've read a lot of Conan. It may have been another Conan author. But it doesn't change the essential point - the first Conan story was a rewritten Kull story and the two characters share a great many points of commonality. Conan is just a reworked Kull. And' date=' as much as I verve on Conan, I still say By This Ax I Rule! is the better versions of the story.[/quote'] Conan has some reworked Kull stories and viseca versa. I read in one of my books that he would submit a story under one name, the editors didn't quite like it, change the protagonist and it was excepted. Off the top of my head though I can't name a story where it was Conan then changed to Kull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted March 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Basically, just one story. Kull, was the Cool Prototype Sports Car. Conan, was the production Model. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starblaze Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... I personally think the Howard suffered from clinical depression. Unfortunately, this kind of problem was not easily diagnosed back in the 30's. If you see the movie The Whole Wide World it touches on the fact that REH had some problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted March 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Oh no doubt. Technically speaking, the more artistically gifted and driven you are, the more issues you have with things like addiction and depressive or manic states. That gets brought up a lot, on all the various mental health shows. Not to mention, REH was a boxer, and speaking as a boxer, you don't get into something like that, because your brain is a field of zen calm and happiness with the world. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted March 6, 2010 Report Share Posted March 6, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... after reading a bunch of Conan stories, I now have a different impression of magic in a sword and sorcery game. In Fantasy Hero it is suggested that when you compare a sorcerer to a warrior, don't bet on the sorceror. But if they are getting this from Conan stories, I think that it is a misreprensentation. Conan beat most sorcerors because he was that quick. He pretty much could beat anyone unless story needed him not to. Does anyone else gets this impression? I think that if I'm right, then there should be a shift the way sword and sorcery game should be played. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted March 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Conan's main thing really was his nearly inhuman speed. He's faced off against guys as strong, or stronger even, but rarely does he run into someone faster then him. Pretty common trait amongst writers with a personal knowledge of hand to hand really. AS for modifying it, no I don't think so. When you compare a Sorcerer, to a Warrior, in Hand to Hand, when you are playing on the warriors turf so to speak, don't bet money one the magic guy. However, if that magic guy has time to prep, watch out. There were after all things in the Conan stories, Conan would back off from. Usually though, he preferred to be Preemptive. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted March 6, 2010 Report Share Posted March 6, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Conan's main thing really was his nearly inhuman speed. He's faced off against guys as strong, or stronger even, but rarely does he run into someone faster then him. Pretty common trait amongst writers with a personal knowledge of hand to hand really. AS for modifying it, no I don't think so. When you compare a Sorcerer, to a Warrior, in Hand to Hand, when you are playing on the warriors turf so to speak, don't bet money one the magic guy. However, if that magic guy has time to prep, watch out. There were after all things in the Conan stories, Conan would back off from. Usually though, he preferred to be Preemptive. ~Rex I guess the point I was trying to make is it seems that in game the sorcerer is weak versus all regular people. Now if the game is loosely based on the stories, then this is not necessarly true. Our protagonist should still beat the sorcerer because they are that much better than the average joe. Now this may seem like spliting hairs, but I think though the by changing the sorcerer alittle bit, it does make them more fearsome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 6, 2010 Report Share Posted March 6, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... I guess the point I was trying to make is it seems that in game the sorcerer is weak versus all regular people. Now if the game is loosely based on the stories' date=' then this is not necessarly true. Our protagonist should still beat the sorcerer because they are that much better than the average joe. Now this may seem like spliting hairs, but I think though the by changing the sorcerer alittle bit, it does make them more fearsome![/quote'] At least one sorcerer in a REH Conan story was able to pull what I'd call wuxia stunts. He punched down doors and guards with minimal effort. So yes, certain sorcerers should be able to whip up on normals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted March 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Indeed. Conan though, was pretty prone to the preemptive strike. Stab First, find out if they were really a Sorcerer, three stories later. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister E Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... I'd look for elf reverences in the Bran Mak Morn and Cormac Mac Art stories. Basically, the idea was that they were the degenerate descendants of early populations, living underground after having been pushed aside by newcomers. Eventually the Picts would go the same way. From vague and distant memory, the remnants of the Valusian snakemen ended up this way too. Not Tolkien, no. Are you thinking of "People of the Dark": which is the earliest REH story to feature a reaver named Conan w/black square-cut mane who swears by Crom. PotD predates Phoenix, but in it Conan is a Gael rather than Cimmerian & obviously the continuity is off from all that follows. Still, I like to think of it as the first crystal seed of Conan of Cimmeria. from PotD: "The Little People--I wondered if those anthropologists were correct in their theory of a squat Mongoloid aboriginal race, so low in the scale of evolution as to be scarcely human, yet possessing a distinct, though repulsive, culture of their own. They had vanished before the invading races, theory said, forming the base of all Aryan legends of trolls, elves, dwarfs and witches. Living in caves from the start, these aborigines had retreated farther and farther into the caverns of the hills, before the conquerors, vanishing at last entirely, though folk-lore fancy pictures their descendants still dwelling in the lost chasms far beneath the hills, loathsome survivors of an outworn age." also from PotD: "What three thousand years of retrogression can do to a race hideous in the beginning, I saw, and shuddered. And instinctively I knew that in all the world it was the only one of its kind, a monster that had lived on. God alone knows how many centuries, wallowing in the slime of its dank subterranean lairs. Before the Children had vanished, the race must have lost all human semblance, living as they did, the life of the reptile." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister E Posted March 7, 2010 Report Share Posted March 7, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... I think Conan would kill Tarzan... but I also think both would kill Captain America &/or Doc Savage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted March 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Ah but neither Tarzan, Doc, or Cap are in this bar (though such may show up in another thread Idea I have). Just the Core REH folks.......which Sailor Steve is mopping the floor with. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower Boy Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... Are you thinking of "People of the Dark": which is the earliest REH story to feature a reaver named Conan w/black square-cut mane who swears by Crom. PotD predates Phoenix, but in it Conan is a Gael rather than Cimmerian & obviously the continuity is off from all that follows. Still, I like to think of it as the first crystal seed of Conan of Cimmeria. from PotD: "The Little People--I wondered if those anthropologists were correct in their theory of a squat Mongoloid aboriginal race, so low in the scale of evolution as to be scarcely human, yet possessing a distinct, though repulsive, culture of their own. They had vanished before the invading races, theory said, forming the base of all Aryan legends of trolls, elves, dwarfs and witches. Living in caves from the start, these aborigines had retreated farther and farther into the caverns of the hills, before the conquerors, vanishing at last entirely, though folk-lore fancy pictures their descendants still dwelling in the lost chasms far beneath the hills, loathsome survivors of an outworn age." also from PotD: "What three thousand years of retrogression can do to a race hideous in the beginning, I saw, and shuddered. And instinctively I knew that in all the world it was the only one of its kind, a monster that had lived on. God alone knows how many centuries, wallowing in the slime of its dank subterranean lairs. Before the Children had vanished, the race must have lost all human semblance, living as they did, the life of the reptile." Ah, the Twenties. Amd just for a twist, there's some elements of Howard's biography that are best explained by his being of mixed race, much like his boxing hero, Jack Dempsey. It's even more interesting that he explicitly did not identify Conan the Cimmerian as an "Aryan." What changed between the beginning of his writing career and the appearance of Conan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted March 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... His hometown. He wasn't really happy, with what happened with that. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... I'd be surprised if Gottfried von Kalmbach didn't show up at this bar eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Re: A Robert E. Howard moment..... His hometown. He wasn't really happy, with what happened with that. ~Rex Care to explain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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