tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post6561969717747534131..comments2023-05-12T05:10:20.941-04:00Comments on Raven Crowking's Nest: Conan vs. Tarzanravencrowkinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-57057138351135569072019-02-12T07:53:51.474-05:002019-02-12T07:53:51.474-05:00My pleasure!
I have a deep, abiding love for both...My pleasure!<br /><br />I have a deep, abiding love for both characters.....and for Dungeon Crawl Classics, a game system robust enough to actually be able to stat them out reasonably close to how they appear in the literature!ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-8759226064966319572019-02-11T22:14:50.491-05:002019-02-11T22:14:50.491-05:00thanks for your quick answer. yours is a very fun ...thanks for your quick answer. yours is a very fun and interesting way to try to find and answer to the Tarzan vs Conan question. kudos :) beastmagichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18424223491316108356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-78887034230064412112019-02-11T08:25:30.077-05:002019-02-11T08:25:30.077-05:00You need to understand the rules system being used...You need to understand the rules system being used as well as the characters. My interpretation is based on having read all of REH and ERB's stories about these characters, not just the first.<br /><br />It is also not a matter of seeing "catlike movements over that of speed like lightning", but looking at what actually happens in the stories rather than using the similes and metaphors their respective authors preferred. I actually gave Tarzan maximum human Agility (18) and more than maximum human Strength (20). Conan is less agile than Tarzan. Conan has a consistent speed of action which is based in part on Agility, but in part on his warrior's training, resulting in a higher initiative bonus than Tarzan. Tarzan, on the other hand, has an ability to spend Luck to receive a substantially higher bonus than Conan gets.<br /><br />Sure, Tarzan does sometimes suffer horrific wounds, and there are no firearms in Hyboria, but Conan does survive being crucified, and comes back from that without any longterm damage. I give both maximum human Stamina, because both exhibit it in their stories. <br /><br />Both are polyglots who easily pick up additional languages, but there are several stories in which Tarzan falls for tricks that the reader certainly knows are tricks, so I give Conan a slight advantage in Intelligence. There is also a story in which Conan clearly succeeds in a spell check.<br /><br />Personality-wise, both can be imposing and strong-willed, but Conan always stands out, whereas sometimes Tarzan blends in. More, Tarzan has lapses in his memory, often shedding his outer personality completely to rejoin natives and/or apes. Conan's Will save appears to be better than Tarzan's, based on the events of several adventures of each character.<br /><br />Tarzan is clearly luckier than Conan. He is lucky enough that ERB actually mentions his strange relationship to fate, and this jibes well with both the Thief class and the "recover the body" mechanic of DCC. Although Conan has actually worked as a thief, and has some of the skills thereof, Tarzan exhibits the stealth, disguise, and backstab functions of a DCC Thief regularly in his adventures.<br /><br />As I said earlier, though, I don’t imagine that this post is going to end the “Conan vs. Tarzan” debate. Or even slow it down.ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-16636033665235681602019-02-10T17:48:27.004-05:002019-02-10T17:48:27.004-05:00Nice, and yet it all comes down to how you assign ...Nice, and yet it all comes down to how you assign strengths to your characters.... if you choose to see catlike movements over that of speed like lightning? or a life of pampered boredom of being a tyrant yuler of disgruntled citizens of a town whos king you murdered over life among violent, savage fanged and hulking apes in the tropical rainforest of Congo with the closest thing to civilization are tribes of murdering cannibals. ERBs first story is more than 4 times as long as Howards story and thatmuch better. I suppose I will give Tarzan 4 times more stamina than Conan. Yes, I do agree that Tarzan is ever more cautious but that is to his advantage and that Conan striking first could be ruthless and sneaky but also to his advantage and one he desperately needs against Tarzan. Conan faces 5 conspirators and an ape-like demon in his first story and wins because of a magically marked sword. Tarzan faces all kinds of real savage predators and dangerous beasts, cannibal warriors and their witch doctor, is shot with a rifle on the head and wounded by his French friend by accident but quickly heals and learns about himself technology and civilizaed humanity. when assigning powers you cannot be partial.beastmagichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18424223491316108356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-83373400213984169052019-02-10T17:46:47.877-05:002019-02-10T17:46:47.877-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.beastmagichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18424223491316108356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-67811089094374291592017-11-22T08:33:01.523-05:002017-11-22T08:33:01.523-05:00The word of the original authors - Edgar Rice Burr...The word of the original authors - Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard - are the only things under consideration here. Who wins, then, depends very much on how the fight is set up.<br /><br />You can consider it an exercise in statting people from Appendix N literature, if you like. You can consider it an exercise in demonstrating the versatility of the Dungeon Crawl Classics rules. Or you can consider it a fan letter to the creations of both authors.<br /><br />You could consider it in any one of those ways, and not be wrong. In any event, nothing has changed about the last line in the post:<br /><br />I don’t imagine that this post is going to end the “Conan vs. Tarzan” debate. Or even slow it down.ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-68139377982414898742017-11-21T22:47:20.527-05:002017-11-21T22:47:20.527-05:00Therefore i say, let art in book cover paintings, ...Therefore i say, let art in book cover paintings, posters, magazine pics, comics, movies and especially the pen of storytellers like ERB and REH let you decide who wins!<br /><br />I say TARZAN!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04577010854554618266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-57698990718734235912017-11-21T10:42:47.589-05:002017-11-21T10:42:47.589-05:00(Using these stats, you can easily set up a battle...(Using these stats, you can easily set up a battle between these two legendary Appendix N icons. It should go without saying that, if you disagree with these statistics, you can also change them to better match how you see the characters.) I like that, but this is if the fight would be in this kind of game. If the fight was in a comic, some factors are missing, like what hero belongs to what comic house. example: marvel allowed captain america to lose to batman and hulk to superman in exchange for victories for spiderman and storm, but when both characters belong to the same house, then batman defeating superman is the result (like the movie)! there are other ways to go about tho, we could use the WWE system to get our results: there the most popular wrestler is the champ period! this is possibly the best because we must remember neither Tarzan or conan are real, the situations are incredible and the places fantastic!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04577010854554618266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-15738894738057062542016-05-14T13:25:11.874-04:002016-05-14T13:25:11.874-04:00Hello, I am looking for the artist (Carlos) who dr...Hello, I am looking for the artist (Carlos) who drew the Conan the Barbarian you have posted here. I have a question about it. Can you help me? Schools.james@yahoo.com Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06864293047914793082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-7274363482226284512015-04-15T11:21:15.199-04:002015-04-15T11:21:15.199-04:00I fear that you will find Howard a better writer t...I fear that you will find Howard a better writer than Burroughs, although I still think both are worth reading. In any event, the movie Tarzan is not the book Tarzan, although within the continuity of the books, the books are actually published, and the movies begin to come out!<br /><br />ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-13413233379999511062015-04-14T12:51:18.128-04:002015-04-14T12:51:18.128-04:00Makes total sense. I really need to read some Tar...Makes total sense. I really need to read some Tarzan. I unfortunately have done to Tarzan what I warn people not to do with Conan. Making judgements on a character without actually reading any of the original works. So much to read...so little time.Marzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05467367495852741429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-23507943239174156092015-04-14T08:19:58.747-04:002015-04-14T08:19:58.747-04:00Thanks.
In devising stats, I made use of the fact...Thanks.<br /><br />In devising stats, I made use of the fact that DCC has more than one way of describing speed. So, the Ape-Man's agility, compared most often to lightning and allowing him to leap onto the back of a charging lion, is higher. But Conan's warrior training - that "perfect fighting brain" still gives him a +6 bonus to initiative, making it likely that Conan will strike first. Against a normal soldier, Conan almost certainly goes first, and strikes twice against Tarzan's single blow.<br /><br />ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-78991257721099155462015-04-13T22:22:00.986-04:002015-04-13T22:22:00.986-04:00Your post has compelled me to read Tarzan. For th...Your post has compelled me to read Tarzan. For though I have read every word of Howard's Conan, I have not read a single word of Tarzan (shameful I know!). But do not make the same mistake many an unfortunate opponent has underestimating Conan's speed & agility should you meet him on the battlefield. Remember Howard described Conan as a "tigerish barbarian whose motions were blurs of quickness possible only to steel thews knit to a perfect fighting brain...Not with jerky quickness of over-tense nerves, but with cat-like speed that blurred the sight which tried to follow him." As for other great match ups, how about Wagner's Kane or the Death Dealer Gath of Baal or Imaro. <br /><br />Great post...Marzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05467367495852741429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-13876921322870183012015-04-13T12:50:17.225-04:002015-04-13T12:50:17.225-04:00As a longtime fan of both characters, I agree with...As a longtime fan of both characters, I agree with your analysis. In any "straight" fight between the two I think Conan would win because of his speed, ferocity, and generally superior weaponry. But once you move beyond a straightforward fight, things could change...TheShadowKnowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11073693648569864707noreply@blogger.com