Munchkin Conan at Warehouse 23

[RL]

http://warehouse23.com/item.html?id=SJG4411

I'm looking forward to this one!

[TheBiff]

Bought stuff from W23 yesterday....
Looks like another order....
Thanks for the heads up.

[Mister Ed]

This is definitely one I'll be waiting to demo before even considering. Everything I've seen so far leads me to believe that, if I'm not a Conan fan, this will have little of interest to me. The humor that really sets Munchkin apart seems to be lacking from much of what I've seen thus far (including the booster), in favor of things being lifted straight from the source material with little or no parody involved (unless you count the illustration style).

But I've only seen a few cards, hence the "Wait and see" attitude. This license seems a poor fit for Munchkin to me. Seems like unlicensed parody of Conan would have been more "Munchkin-y". IMHO, the best license opportunities are ones that have humor inherent IN them. I love Star Trek and Star Wars, for example, but I'm far happier with the U.S.S. Secondprize or the XXX-Wing Fighter than I would be with straight-up Enterprise or X-wing cards, even WITH Kovalic's art.

But in general I have a lot of trust in SJGames, so...

[emillang1000]

Two things I have to point out:

1) The stories of Conan the Cimmerian are the second-most prominent sources of influence on Dungeons & Dragons and similar RPGs and games (right after Lord of the Rings). Given that Munchkin is a parody of said games, especially D&D, it only goes that Conan IS a rather fitting source to parody.

2) The Weird-Tales-Published version of the Conan stories and Conan himself are in the Public Domain, so the extent to which SJGames needs to license the whole thing is limited. It's like "licensing" something based on Sherlock Holmes - it's not really necessary since the character is now legally usable by anyone.

I do admit that Conan may only be really funny if you're familiar with stories about The Cimmerian, but then again ALL Munchkin is that way.

You don't get the full enjoyment or humor of Munchkin (Fantasy) without being decently familiar with the High Fantasy or Sword & Sorcery genres, or with Tabletop RPGs. The cards are all silly, sure, but things like "Feed the DM's Dice Habit - Go Up A Level" will make veteran RPG gamers crack up, while non-gamers will wonder what's so darn funny.

At the same time, someone who knows nothing about Lovecraft or the Cthulhu Mythos in general will not get even half of the references in Munchkin Cthulhu; those of use that DO bow to the Great Old Ones, however, think it's brilliant.

One reason why Munchkin Booty and Zombies do so well is that both have been relatively ubiquitous themes in popular culture for decades, so everyone can immediately identify and understand the jokes very easily.

That's unfortunately not the case for things like Munchkin Impossible or Munchkin Fu - two genres which have devoted-yet-small fanbases (Spy/Super-Spy stories and Kung-Fu/Wuxia films respectively) - and they've not fared extremely well because of that.

Also remember that Conan was originally going to be a standalone version, and only later became a special version of (Fantasy) because Conan was/is a huge influence on D&D, so the pretense for inclusion in (Fantasy) was already established by view of being the influence of the influence of Munchkin.

I'm a fan of Conan, so of course I'm gonna get it. But, if you're not a fan of S&S, then I'd say simply look at it as it was initially intended - a totally separate version, like Bites or Zombies, that just happens to have overlaps with (Fantasy).

One last thing: if the extent of your experiences with The Cimmerian are the 2 movies (or, 3, but we really don't like to talk about The Destroyer), then I really suggest seeking out and reading the original Howard stories or the Dark Horse graphic novels based on the Howard Stories - they're far, far better than the movies (although the second movie is a step closer to the stories than the Schwarzenegger movies are).

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by emillang1000

2) The Weird-Tales-Published version of the Conan stories and Conan himself are in the Public Domain, so the extent to which SJGames needs to license the whole thing is limited.

Discussion of the terms (or necessity) of SJ Games' license for Munchkin Conan -- or for any other property, for that matter -- is inappropriate and off-topic. Talk about the set and stay away from internal business matters, please.

[Mister Ed]

Originally Posted by emillang1000

Two things I have to point out:

1) The stories of Conan the Cimmerian are the second-most prominent sources of influence on Dungeons & Dragons and similar RPGs and games (right after Lord of the Rings). Given that Munchkin is a parody of said games, especially D&D, it only goes that Conan IS a rather fitting source to parody.

I think perhaps I have not articulated my concern (though that seems too strong a word) well enough. I absolutely agree that Conan is a fitting source to PARODY. The problem is that with the license, the parody seems to have been minimized in what I've seen so far, in favor of straight-up inclusion of Conan source material (understandably, since otherwise why acquire the license).

But to me, what makes Munchkin Munchkin IS the humor. Fighting a Gelatinous Octahedron with your Boots of Buttkicking and/or your Singing and Dancing Sword is funny. Fighting Nabonidas, the Red Priest with Stygian Talons and/or the Sword of Corin...not so much. Even if I were a fan of Conan, that STILL wouldn't feel that much like Munchkin to me, though I might enjoy it just for love of the source material.

There certainly have been some funny bits shown (I chuckled at the Barbarian Booties, and laughed at the REALLY Chainy Mail), but by and large, what I've seen feels more like Conan cards with Kovalic art than MUNCHKIN cards, if you know what I mean.

Like I said, I'm reserving judgement. I just haven't seen anything to make me particularly optimistic. I'm sure it will be a good product, this IS SJGames after all. It just might not be a good product for ME. I know THAT's possible, since I didn't enjoy Zombie's much at all, and was rather indifferent toward Chthulhu (can't stand zombies in general, and wasn't fond of the gross-out humor in the Munchkin set, and didn't get much of the humor in Cthuhlu due to lack of famialiarity with (and lack of interest in) the source material).

[Dr. Mauric]

Come on, the Hang Out With Conan GUAL is top notch Munchkin humor. ;)

[Mister Ed]

Originally Posted by Dr. Mauric

Come on, the Hang Out With Conan GUAL is top notch Munchkin humor. ;)

Like I said, there are some humorous bits. All I'm saying is, based on what I've seen so far (which is not a lot, hence the wait and see attitude) the level of humor is significantly less than I've come to expect.

[Solelron]

Originally Posted by Mister Ed

Like I said, there are some humorous bits. All I'm saying is, based on what I've seen so far (which is not a lot, hence the wait and see attitude) the level of humor is significantly less than I've come to expect.

Don't worry Mr. Ed We'll make sure you see a copy soon enough. Mine are already on the way and working on some new venues for demos

[Mister Ed]

Originally Posted by Solelron

Don't worry Mr. Ed We'll make sure you see a copy soon enough. Mine are already on the way and working on some new venues for demos

My local TFAW just moved to a location with more space for that sort of thing. ;-)