TEXT: SoC#2
  1
  Sons of Cimmeria #2
  Sons of Anshan
  Iranistani Player 
  Character Guidelines 
  for Conan the 
  Roleplaying Game
  T
  he core rulebook for 
  Conan the Roleplaying 
  Game hewed very close 
  to the original works of Robert 
  E.  Howard, almost too much so 
  in one instance.  No character 
  creation options were provided 
  for the Iranistani, the natives 
  of Iranistan, an area analogous 
  to ancient Persia (modern Iraq 
  and Iran).  Since this is a rich 
  and evocative region, ripe for 
  adventuring and adjacent to many 
  other well-travelled areas from the 
  Conan stories, this article presents 
  guidelines for creating Iranistani 
  player characters.  
  Howard never detailed this area in 
  his writings, nor did he place it on 
  any of the few maps he made of 
  the Hyborian world.  Its presence 
  in his original stories is limited 
  Iranistani 
  The folk of Iranistan are black-haired and often broad 
  across the shoulders, with a full range of heights.  Their 
  eyes are brown and their complexion dark, with a small 
  range of tribal variation in appearance and culture. 
  They can range from fine-featured and near fair 
  skinned, to swarthy and heavy-featured.  Men 
  favour facial hair, often oiling their beards, and 
  women traditionally wear their hair long 
  and straight.  Women (and sometimes 
  to a single mention in The People of the Black Circle.  L.  
  Sprague de Camp adapted Three-Bladed Doom (a Howard 
  story featuring the pulp-era adventuring hero El Borak) into 
  the Conan story The Flame Knife, set in Iranistan, a region 
  Sprague de Camp placed south of the Ilbars Mountains, east 
  of Zembabwei and Punt, and west of Kosala and Vendhya.  
  More details about Iranistan can be found in Conan the 
  Roleplaying Game and Mongoose’s Hyborian Age gazetteer 
  The Road of Kings, and following are guidelines for creating 
  Iranistani player characters.  
  
  2
  SoC#2
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  User. 
  men) ornament their eyes with kohl, and most Iranistani 
  wear richly ornamented clothing and anoint themselves 
  perfumes or scented oils when possible.  
  Culture:  The Iranistani are essentially a tribal people, 
  with the tribal unit based on an extended family and 
  hereditary allies, led by powerful chiefs loosely united under 
  a powerful Shah.  They are a proud people, and somewhat 
  xenophobic, with a strong distrust of those outside their 
  culture.  Iranistani have a great appreciation of life and its 
  pleasures, seeing it as a temporary gift that might be taken 
  away at any moment.  This fatalism fuels their art, with rich 
  ornamentation adorning virtually all crafted items, and at 
  the same time, they will readily give their lives in combat for 
  honour or in defence of their faith. 
  Names:  Iranistani names tend to be Arabic in origin, 
  particularly Iraqi or Iranian.  Examples: (male) Arshak, 
  Balash, Bardiya, Gotarza, Hakhamani, Kerim, Kobad, 
  Kujala; (female) Nanaia.  Suggestions: (male) Abbal, Amar, 
  Assad, Bijan, Davoud, Farouq, Firouz, Haroun, Hassan, 
  Jaafar, Khalid, Parviz, Rahim, Rassoul; (female) Alireza, 
  Badri, Farah, Farida, Fatima, Nissa, Sabah, Samina, Soraya, 
  Tahereh, Zora.  
  Religion:  Many northern Iranistani have adopted the 
  Asuran religion and follow its strictures.  However, their 
  culture has flavoured their worship of this faith, and their 
  innate fatalism steers them from attempting to divine the 
  future.  As a result, Iranistani scholars and mystics rarely use 
  divinatory magic styles, and those schools are not taught to 
  Iranistani worshippers or priests in Iranistan.  The southern 
  Iranistani follow a variety of more shamanistic, primitive 
  faiths, and are not bound by this restriction.  
  • 
  -2 to Wisdom, +2 to Charisma.  Iranistani are quick 
  to anger and often let their passions overcome their 
  better judgement, but are charismatic and socially 
  adept when dealing with their family, friends and 
  potential allies.  
  • 
  +2 circumstance bonus to all uses of the Appraise, 
  Diplomacy, Forgery, Intimidate, Sense Motive and 
  Spot skills when relating to haggling or negotiating 
  the price of goods in an appropriate situation or 
  venue.  This bonus can apply whether the character 
  is the buyer, seller, or an impartial negotiator, and 
  only relate to the motives, goods, and or currency 
  relating to any and all the parties in the transaction. 
  This +2 circumstance bonus can also apply to 
  any appropriate Craft or Profession skills if the 
  character possesses them and they relate to the 
  negotiation at hand.  
  • 
  Fatalistic:  Iranistani believe strongly in the 
  machinations of fate, and that their destinies are 
  to be adhered to rather than fought against.  As 
  a result, Iranistani characters do not collect or 
  spend Fate Points as easily as other characters 
  do.  Iranistani characters begin with only 1 Fate 
  Point (opposed to the standard 3 Fate Points for 
  starting characters), and can never have more Fate 
  Points than they have combined levels in all classes.  
  Furthermore, the Games Master may impose an 
  unmodified check (DC 10) for the use of a Fate 
  Point – if the roll is less than 10, the Fate Point is 
  lost and the character must adhere to the path the 
  gods have set before them.  The player can spend 
  another Fate Point on the same action, but the same 
  check must be repeated until the roll is successful 
  or the player chooses not to spend further Fate 
  Points.  (Note: Restricting player use of Fate Points 
  is a seriously limiting factor, though in character with 
  the Iranistani culture.  The Games Master should feel 
  at liberty to ignore this restriction, favouring only 
  the initial limitation of Fate Points, or ignoring all 
  aspects of this racial characteristic altogether.  If so, it is 
  suggested that this ability be replaced with a –1 racial 
  penalty to all saving throw checks as per the Shemite 
  race, described in Conan the Roleplaying Game.) 
  • 
  +2 racial bonus to Animal Handling and Ride 
  checks for horses and camels.  Most Iranistani are 
  familiar with horses and camels from an early age, 
  using them for travel (and food when necessity 
  requires).  
  • 
  Weapon Familiarity: Iranistani characters can 
  use sabres and tulwars as though they are martial 
  weapons, rather than exotic weapons.  Additionally, 
  they gain a +1 racial bonus to attack and damage 
  rolls when using either of these weapons.  
  Background Skills: Appraise, Intimidate, Sense Motive.
  Favoured Class:  Nomad.
  Prohibited Classes:  Borderer.
  Automatic Languages:  Iranistani.  
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Conan RPGs/Conan (d20)/3rd Party/Sons Of Anshan.pdf