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FAITH AND FERVOUR

Credits Contents

Author

Vincent Darlage

Editor

Richard Ford

Cover Art

Chris Quilliams

Interior Artists

Jim Brady, Slawomir Maniak, Philip Renne &

Chad Sergesketter

RPG Manager

Ian Belcher

Production Director

Alexander Fennell

Proofreading

Scribendi

Playtesters

Mark Billanie, Daniel Haslam, Mark Howe, Alan Moore,

Daniel Scothorne, Mark Sizer & Michael J Young

Special Thanks

Thommy Wojciechowski & Fredrik Malmberg at

Conan Properties.

Introduction 2

Prayer & Sacrifice 3

Skills & Feats 8

Mitra’s Might 15

Aquilonia’s Asura 23

Gods of the Black Kingdoms 25

Brythunian Heresies 41

Crom & his Dark Race 44

Hyborian Bori 47

Hyperborean Heresies 49

Lords of Hyrkania & Turan 51

Ancient Traditions in Khitai 54

Nemedia’s Ibis 58

Nordheimir Religion 61

Dark Rites in Pictland 63

Shem’s Polytheism 68

The Faith of Set 80

Mystical Reverence for Asura 83

Religion in Zamora 87

Mitra & Zingara 90

Arcane Religions 93

Roleplaying Priests & Cultists 95

License 96

related logos, characters, names and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Conan Properties International LLC

is released under version 1.0 of the Open Game License. Reproduction of non-Open Game Content of this work by

any means without the written permission of the pulisher is expressly forbidden. See page 96 for the text of this

license. With the exception of the character creation rules detailing the mechanics of assigning dice roll results

to abilities and the advancement of character levels, all game mechanics and statistics (including the game

mechanics of all feats, skills, classes, creatures, spells and the combat chapter) are declared open content.

Printed in China.

Introduction

Religion in the Hyborian Age

Religions in the Conan stories are generally dark,

brutal affairs, full of secrets and monstrous priests. Most of

the stories give religion a rather unholy, unclean air. Conan

the Cimmerian strives to conquer and tread a primitive time

with primitive religions. This volume in the Conan

the Roleplaying Game series is designed to enhance the

roleplaying aspect of scholars, cultists and religious

leaders in the Hyborian Age.

world; a completely comprehensive work would diminish a

player’s and a Games Master’s ability to make the game world

of the Hyborian Age his own, with its own rituals and gods

and concepts.

In the Conan stories, it is left unclear as to whether

the gods exist or not. The descriptions for the

Hyborian Age gods, which may or may not be real

entities, do not include ‘statistics,’ such as might

be found in many sourcebooks. Even if a Games

Master does consider the Hyborian Age gods to be

real, they would possess powers that no mortal, not

even the mighty Conan, could hope to defeat. Thus

the need for monster-like statistics for these gods is

still unnecessary. Conan does not come into armed

conﬂict with Set but only with Set’s priests. Keep

in mind that just because a certain demon claims to

serve a deity, that demon could be lying or may have

the same misconceptions about the gods as some

mortals have.

Since this volume does not contain useless statistics

for the gods, the question becomes, what does a

priest of a god worship and why does he worship it?

This volume is designed to answer those questions,

not to become some sort of ‘divine bestiary’ of ﬁends

and foes for Conan the Roleplaying Game characters

to ﬁght and defeat.

The religions are divided up largely by culture and

even a few heresies and alternate religions at variance

with the ‘ofﬁcial’ religion of an area are detailed. New

feats, spells and other concepts are also detailed.

Readers will note that a few things are left vague.

For the most part, this book does not try to

describe each and every ritual or even catalogue

all the possible rituals a given religion

might have. A game should live during

actual play, and players and Games

Masters both should be able to

contribute to the overall

Prayer & Sacriﬁce

Pantheons and Gods

Most of the gods are structured together into

pantheons, which are worshipped in particular regions.

This is because those gods who are worshipped in more

than one kingdom often seem to change according to the

perceptions and culture of their new worshippers, so that in

effect the Asura worshipped in the Hyborian kingdoms is no

longer the same Asura worshipped as part of the Vendhyan

pantheon. Thus what appears to be the same god may be

worshipped within different pantheons. While worshippers

of one pantheon might be respected by and happily engage

in debates with the priests of another, as worshippers of a

different form of the god they are not regarded as having the

same privileges as local worshippers.

experience and thus creates the ﬁrst sacrament of the religion.

Later, after his death, his tribal symbol becomes a holy symbol

for the new religion, adding another sacrament, and his burial

place becomes holy. His teachings are preserved and guarded

as the revelations of the god he worshipped. Thus the tribal

religion is converted to a revealed religion with sacramental

aspects.

Mystical Religions: Mystical experiences are at the heart

of this type of religion. In order to understand the divine

and become devout one must have a mystical experience

of some sort. Life, society and even fellow believers are of

no consequence. The divine must be experienced directly

and individually. Usually these religions do not go beyond a

single person but occasionally there arises a charismatic and

powerful individual who constructs a social structure built

around the achievement of the preferred divine experience.

These religions usually die with the charismatic leader unless

a new authority quickly takes over. Ritual, sacraments

and traditions are used to aid beginners in achieving the

divine experience but are ultimately thought of as crutches

and the goal is to get rid of the need for such crutches as

soon as possible. A problem with this religious form is its

unpredictability. Anyone can have any sort of experience and

come away with virtually any message, inspiration, insight

or teaching, even if it contradicts the current authority’s

teachings. These alternative insights may generate their own

followings, creating a split or even hostility in the religion.

Some mystical religions revolve around the use of certain

drugs or around certain acts, such as masochism or even

orgasm. Many of the mystery cults are simply craftsman

guilds devoted to protecting the secrets of their chosen craft.

At annual festivals the various craft guilds put on complex

morality plays emphasising myths and philosophies relevant

to their chosen craft.

Some of the gods are sufﬁciently powerful that they are the

only one worshipped by many people in a particular region.

Sometimes these lone gods are worshipped alongside a more

established local pantheon; other times they are suppressed,

regarded as demons by the ofﬁcial state religion.

A character who is a worshipper or priest of an entire pantheon

may well have a preferred god or gods within that pantheon

but he will call upon whichever deity is most appropriate at

the time. A priest of a pantheon can ofﬁciate at the services

of any of the gods of that pantheon.

Types of

Religions

There are many types of religion in the Hyborian Age.

Mystical, nature, prophetic, revealed, sacramental and tribal

religions all exist throughout the nations of the world. Many

of these religions revolve around the same pantheon of gods

and are simply alternative paths argued and debated among

the priests and holy men, but others are truly alternative

types of religions. Most Hyborian Age religions are complex

enough that many of these types are intertwined. An example

might be a revealed religion with sacraments that create a

mystical experience.

Nature Religions: Among the earliest sort of religion

developed by men, nature religions present gods and

supernatural powers as revealed through natural events and

objects. Deities can be metaphorical or literal. Nature

as a whole is often treated as sacred; everything in the

universe is connected by an intricate web of energy.

These religions are almost always polytheistic.

They do not rely upon sacred writings,

individual prophets or single religious

ﬁgures. Shamans act as religious

guides to serve the community

Religions often grow and change and these types may help

a Games Master develop a history for a religion. Perhaps a

charismatic leader of a tribal religion has a mystical experience

and a revelation. He leaves his tribe and begins to spread the

word of the revelation and his teachings are written down.

He encourages people to use lotus to re-enact the mystical

but any believer is considered to be capable of experiencing

divinity and the supernatural. Often all members are

considered members of the clergy and both men and women

can be found in leadership positions. Religious events are

held in open air courts or outside of cities. Few followers

erect permanent sacred buildings, preferring to leave nature

unmodiﬁed as much as possible. Most of these religions have

a darkness lurking behind them, a ‘dark side’ inclined toward

the mastery of nature and other humans. Unfortunately,

many people tend to embrace the darker elements of these

types of religions.

authoritative interpreters of existing revelations, but

sometimes serve as conduits for continued revelations. The

primary duty of the believer is to be loyal and perform slavish

obedience to the religion’s gods and/or priests. Few of these

religions exist at this point in Hyborian history. Thieves

often consider the theft of the written revelations of these

few temples to be a testament to their thieving abilities.

Prophetic Religions: A prophet deﬁnes a prophetic religion.

Prophets guide and warn society, playing an ongoing and

dynamic role, something other religions cannot provide with

their static texts and past messages. Oracles play a large

part in prophetic religions. Prophets do not authoritatively

interpret past revelations; instead, prophets receive new and

ongoing revelations. The past is not important. The new

information being received supersedes the past. The focus

is on society and action as manifestations of divine will

and presence. The nature of society is a portent of divine

will. If good things are happening, the gods are happy but

if bad events are ongoing, divine anger is evident… and

the prophet will reveal what the gods want from

man to ﬁx society. Obedience to divine will is

mandatory in these religions to avoid divine

anger and retribution. Correct behaviour is far

more important than correct belief. Members of

prophetic religions can be found in all Hyborian

Age nations, preaching their visions

and revelations, warning everyone

of their impending doom.

Revealed Religions: A revealed

religion has a set of revelations,

usually given to mankind by

a god or gods, as its symbolic

centre. The law is communicated

to believers in the form of sacred

writings, prophets or miracles.

These things express the will

or desires of the god or gods.

Revealed religions teach that their

god or gods are active and real.

They have a hierarchical structure

in terms of religious leadership

and even in relationships

between members. Priests are

considered intermediaries

between the human and

the divine. They

usually serve as

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