Tales of the Black Kingdoms

Of the many adventures faced by Conan the Cimmerian, his exploits in the many lands of the Black Kingdoms are by far some of the most tantalizing and tempestuous of the various tales. The purpose of this trilogy of adventures is to give other Hyborian adventurers a chance to experience the Black Kingdoms as well.

The three scenarios in this book are designed to be run as a single campaign, but it is possible to include them as individual scenarios in a larger campaign. A party of stalwart adventurers can become embroiled in the Wadai revolt, while another group can discover the mysteries of Atlaia or battle the cultists of Jullah in Kush. Characters which follow the scenarios as a campaign will stand to gain the most out of each adventure as alliances are formed, broken, and linger on from one tale to the next. Ultimately, it is up to the individual Games Master to do with these scenarios as he sees fit.

Each of these tales is written in the spirit of Robert E. Howard’s works, which means a great deal of combat, bloody betrayal and unexpected twists. To reflect the narrative nature of the source material, each scenario is built around a series of encounters. This format is designed to reflect a narrative pace, by which the Games Master can present each element of the tale in a sequence that will help the players feel as if they are experiencing a story straight out of the pages of their own Conan story. Plenty of advice and suggestions on what to do when the players decide on unexpected courses of actions are provided. Games Masters should find that most players will gravitate towards the storyline rather than away from it, but if they do take off in strange directions, do not discourage them. Simply use the material at hand to develop alternate pathways through the storyline.