MMO is an acronym for Massively Multiplayer Online Game, which is a term used for role-playing games that is played on the Internet, involving hundreds and thousands of players simultaneously playing towards the same server or gameworld. Players can then meet each other in-game, play with each other and create a persistent social universe online.

Age of Conan is a MMO based on the Conan fantasy license originally created by the famed author Robert E. Howard. Set in 10.000 BC in the world of Hyboria, the game will provide players a unique opportunity to live their virtual lives in a detailed world holding thousands of other players. In this brutal, lush and barbaric world they can embark on an amazing and action-filled journey in the footsteps of the worlds' greatest fantasy hero. Here you can meet Conan's friend and foes, battle demons and monsters known from 70 year of Conan history, and step up to the ultimate challenge and even befriend the mighty king Conan himself. You can also engage in guild warfare and embark on challenging quests which all stay true to the original written works by Robert E. Howard

Age of Conan will first be released for the Windows PC, and the launch date is set to October 2007.

Age of Conan is co-published by Funcom and Eidos. Eidos is known for publishing titles such as Tomb Raider and Hitman, while Funcom has extensive experience in the MMO field with the game Anarchy Online.

Conan the barbarian was created by the famed American author Robert E. Howard during the 1930's. The Conan stories take the mighty barbarian on amazing and brutal journeys through the vast fictional world of Hyboria. In the past seventy years or so, there have been a multitude of books, comics and even movies based on this popular license, meaning the universe has an incredible depth to it. In these days Conan is going stronger than ever and more than 45 companies are now working on the universe. The Conan stories are best known for their brutal harshness and mystical settings.

Yes, the game is already in closed beta, and it is currently being tested by our developers and the in-house quality assurance team. As we move closer to release, more and more external players will be added to the beta. Announcement on procedures on how to sign up will be posted on the official site. Signing up to the official forums or to the Age of Conan newsletter will be advantageous if you would like to join the beta.

One of the main goals with Age of Conan was to improve the well-known MMO formula, and take the genre in an innovative new direction. As of such, Funcom have focused on taking the best from past MMO games, while creating innovative and fun new systems. Playing Age of Conan should feel new, fresh and exciting.

One of the key features of Age of Conan is the unique combat system, which is a huge leap forward for the genre both from a technological and a gameplay standpoint. Whereas fighting in most MMOs involves targeting by clicking something, initiating attack and then clicking a combination of icons, fighting in Age of Conan centers around something we call the Real Combat System. In this innovative approach to MMO melee combat you don't target anything directly, you actually move up to your foe and start striking your weapon in different directions in real-time, using directional keys or even a gamepad. You can create devastating combos that will lead to brutal finishing moves, and fighting really feels dynamic, exciting and most importantly hands-on and real.
In ranged combat you will actually have to string your bow and aim manually from a first-person or over-the-shoulder viewpoint to strike your enemies. This is a first for any MMO. Casters will be able to combine a series of spells in so-called spellweaves which can create devastating results. In addition there will be mounted combat in the game, where players can get hold of mounts such as horses and camels. You can fight from the backs of these great creatures - either with a sword or with a lance for maximum damage. Age of Conan is also the first MMO ever to feature a mature rating, which gives us the freedom to create truly brutal battles, and thus staying true to the Conan lore.

As well as having all the features you would expect from a full-blown MMO, Age of Conan will also feature a limited single-player portion at the start of the game. Here you advance through a deep and involving story, where the focus is on you, your character and your place in the world. After a while you will start meeting other players, but you will be able to switch between single-player and multiplayer during the first twenty levels of your character's life. After that, its all massively multiplayer. This is a brand new approach to leading MMO players into a deep and engaging world, and it means we can focus on telling an exciting and meaningful story with world-interactive quests.

Last, but not least, Age of Conan also features deep guild systems. The guilds in the game can create entire cities and fight with other players or against the computer for the ownership of these. There is much more to Age of Conan of course, and you can expect to find a vast world with exciting PvE and PvP content.

Funcom is a Norwegian games developer that was established in 1993. We have created more than twenty games for PC and consoles. The most known products from Funcom are the sci-fi MMO Anarchy Online and the award-winning adventure games The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. Funcom's headquarters is situated in Oslo, Norway's capitol. In addition Funcom has offices in the USA, Switzerland and China. Over 230 people from more than 25 nations are employed in Funcom. The company is listed in the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.

The minimum requirements for Age of Conan have not yet been finalize. The game will be highly scalable so you can adjust the settings according to the performance of your PC.

Age of Conan is a Windows Vista launch title. This means that we are cooperating with Microsoft in the development of Age of Conan to make sure it takes advantage of Windows Vista, the upcoming new operating system from Microsoft. As the first online game Age of Conan will also feature DX10 support, which allows us to bring an even more detailed gameworld to the players. The game can also be played on DX9.

You will find all the latest information on the official website www.ageofconan.com. This is the marketing site for the game where new visitors may get a quick overview of the game. Our main website for the community of the game is community.ageofconan.com. Here we go much more in-depth on information about the game. You can also check out the many discussions on the official forums or sign up for the Conan newsletter. In addition you will find numerous fan sites in different languages.

Yes, there will be a monthly subscription fee. The price is yet to be determined, but will most likely follow the norm of the genre. The first 30 days of gameplay will be included when you purchase the retail box.

Yes, Age of Conan will be localized. At first the game will at least be localized into German and French, with local language, local servers and local customer service. Additional languages mat be added

The quick answer is: unlike anything you've ever seen before in any MMO. One of the key features in Age of Conan is the revolutionary approach to real-time combat. With real combat we have created a system that really brings players into the game and make them active participants in the battles they fight. That means giving them complete control over their attacks in real-time, and where they aim their attacks. This is a much more hands-on approach to MMO combat, where the players must make strategic decisions regarding how they stand in relation to the enemies they are fighting. We call this the Real Combat System, and it promises to bring a unique element of action to MMO combat.

When fighting with a sword, an axe or other melee weapons in Age of Conan, you actually have to direct your weapons in certain directions yourself, in real-time. Whereas in other games of the genre you usually just have to target something and then click a "fight" button, in Age of Conan you have to perform the strikes yourself in one of six different directions. This makes battles much more interesting in terms of action, and you have a far greater control on how your character fights. With the unique targeting system you can also hit multiple enemies at once, so if happen to slash your sword through two enemies standing next to each other, both of these will suffer damage. It is all, in one word, real.

Players who enjoy fighting with ranged weapons will also experience the real combat system. Whereas in most games of the genre you will equip a bow, click a "Fire" button and then see your character fire the arrows automatically, in Age of Conan you will actually have to string the bow yourself, aim and fire manually as you would in a single-player game. This makes archery more demanding, but it also makes it incredibly much more exciting.

No, not at all, Age of Conan has a deep RPG skill system. This is still a role-playing game, and you will have skills, feats and abilities that make up how powerful and flexible you are. Players will have to raise these through experience points, which they gain through combat. There will also be separate skill evolution in PvP and crafting. The Real Combat System is just a way to add more human skill and interaction to a genre that is known for its rather static and non-interactive combat.

That is another special feature in Age of Conan. Players (and even computer-controlled enemies) will be able to create formations that will increase the participants damage output and defense rating, as well as giving special types of attacks. A formation will have a leader who can designate spots in the formation for players, and the players have to stand at the specific spot for the formation to reach its maximum potential. Formation combat will naturally be very useful in PvP battles, but will also play a vital role in PvE. You can break out of a formation at any time should you wish, but being inside one will improve your chances of winning. Many formations work in an almost rock-paper-scissor kind of way. For instance if you have a formation of horse riders thundering down on you, a good pike formation may do the trick in breaking them up.

Yes, absolutely. As a player you will be able to acquire mounts such as a horse or a camel, and a central part of the combat system actually revolve around being able to fight from the back of your mount. Not only is it possible to swing your sword and strike your foe while mounted, but it can actually help you deal greater damage if you plow through your enemies while mounted. Players will for instance be able to equip a lance, a weapon that becomes extremely lethal if you are able to time your attack right.

Basically, yes. Your mount can either walk, jog or gallop, and the speed at which you travel will determine how much damage you do. At the same time, making a coordinated attack that strikes true while galloping on a horse can be difficult to master. Once you are skilled at it however you can do some serious damage.

Staying true to the original books of Robert E. Howard and the Conan license in general means that the combat will be bloody, barbaric and brutal. Age of Conan will be a Mature rated game, and this allows us to bring a truer depiction of combat than what you normally see in MMOs. So, there will be blood, there will be decapitations and the violence will be graphic and true to the lore.

We have tried to take the best of the combat systems in past MMOs, but in addition you can control your characters combat moves in real-time. Contrary to other massive online games, you thus won't fight only by clicking a series of icons. You will have to use your keyboard or a gamepad to strike in certain directions and you have to aim your attacks manually. All in all there is a massive amount of strategic opportunities, but the initial system will be quite easy to learn the first time you enter the game.

There is dodging, yes, but you don't actually hit a dodge or block button to prevent strikes from hitting you. These are character skills and whether or not you avoid hits are determined from calculations going on in the background. You will be able to step back though, and use the terrain to your advantage by running behind things and so on. It is very dynamic.

There is no targeting in Age of Conan per se, at least not in the traditional sense. You do not walk up to something, click it and then start attacking it. You will actually have to move up to your foe and strike your weapon towards him. So you constantly have to make sure you're facing your enemy and that you're close enough to hit. Also, if you strike several enemies at once you will actually hit them all - so you can, indeed, charge into a crowd of enemies and strike them all at once by doing a wide melee attack. This will make combat much more frantic, dynamic and exciting. In ranged combat you need to aim correctly in order to hit an enemy.

Yes, you will be able to queue attacks, but only a few. When you make a strike, the game will put this into queue and perform it when your current strike is complete. So you can line up strikes, or attacks, if that is what you want. Or you can fight dynamically and perform strikes as they are completed. There will no be a macro system for the real-time combat.

The term PvP is an acronym for player-versus-player, which basically describes combat between players. The opposite of PvP would be PvE, or player-versus-environment which is used to describe combat between the player and a computer-controlled entity. You will find lots of both PvP and PvE in Age of Conan.

Yes, the Real Combat System is how we handle combat throughout the entire game. When fighting with other players you still use the same rules and dynamics as when fighting computer-controlled enemies. To prevent exploits there may be certain limitations.

Yes, of course. Age of Conan have a deep PvP system where you can tests your skills against other players in different kinds of modes and environments. There will be three main PvP modes in the game, Siege PvP, PvP mini-games and drunken brawling.

Fighting between players is consensual because it is limited to certain areas of the game world. If you want to avoid player-versus-player combat, all you have to do is avoid these areas. The Border Kingdom is the main region for the massive PvP combat, and here player guilds will fight over ownership of battlekeeps. We may also add free for all PvP servers if there is a sufficient amount of players who wants this. We have built the technology to launch free for all PvP servers should there be a demand.

King Conan has opened up for expansion into the bothersome Border Kingdom that lies north of Aquilonia, and several individuals in his court will thus sponsor settlements in this region. This means that the players can set up their own persistent castle, or battlekeep as we call them, in these areas. The battlekeep must be defended against other guilds that want these highly lucrative areas. The Border Kingdom are, in general, a deadly place where you are wise to tread carefully.

No, there are other areas to engage in player-versus-player combat. You can, for instance, pick a fight at a tavern once you get drunk enough, or you can get involved in mini-games in the arenas. But generally other players will not be able to harm you outside the Border Kingdom unless you want them to.

Battlekeeps are structures that players can build and maintain in the Border Kingdom. Throughout the Border Kingdom there is a limited amount of areas where battlekeeps can be built. Because of the limited amount of space, other guilds will most surely come and try to take it away from you or even destroy it completely through the use of siege engines such as catapults. By using collected resources such as iron, stone and wood, players can build upon these battlekeeps, constructing walls and even stables to house the cavalry. It is also possible to add computer-controlled guards to these.

Building, maintaining and defending a battlekeep do take a lot of resources and manpower, and it is not something every guild have the capacity to do. However, spread over the Border Kingdom you will find something we call towers which functions almost like mini-keeps that can be captured and held much easier by smaller guilds. These do not give the same benefits as the battlekeeps, but there will definitively be a rewarding venture to take control over these structures as well.

We realize standing on guard twenty-four hours a day is no fun, so there will be specific periods when a battlekeep is open for attacks. An attacking guild will have to construct a war tent outside your battlekeep and you and your guild will have a limited amount of time to muster your forces and prepare your defense. The attacking guild will then have to bring down your structure by any means possible, both attacking with swords, horses, bows and axes, but also with siege engines.

Yes, there are. Drunken brawling as we call it is a special type of PvP battle designed as a way to get everyone into player-versus-player, regardless of level, without having to risk going onto the battlefields. You will be able to go into a tavern, buy alcohol and get seriously drunk, but you have to be aware of the limits. Being drunk has obvious visual effects. The more you drink the more you stand, but the less chance you have of hitting! Your experience level and equipment plays no part in these fights, and it all depends on how well you hit, what you use as your weapon and how drunk you really are.

It's fun, of course, but we have also tried to give PvP a purpose in the world. One obvious benefit is being able to join a guild and fight over the control of battlekeeps in the Border Kingdom, which will give you added bonuses in the game. You are not required to get involved in this sociopolitical aspect of the game to have fun though. We also have the Blood Money system which is basically an alternative currency that you get when you fight and kill other players in battle. Blood Money can be used to purchase equipment and benefits that are not available for purchase with regular currency. Fighting other players does carry other benefits as well, as you have a separate advancement system for PvP in Age of Conan.

Yes, there are twenty different player-versus-player levels in addition to the normal skill levels. You gain PvP levels by fighting battles with other players, and opening new PvP levels gives you special feats and abilities.

Yes and no, the player-versus-player aspects of Age of Conan is but one of the many core features of the game. You can choose to overlook this feature completely, never even setting your foot in the Border Kingdom or in a tavern or arena for that sake. The world of Hyboria is incredibly rich in myths and exotic locations, and we guarantee you hours upon hours of adventure through some of the most fantastic areas you've ever seen, infested with some of the most incredible monsters you'll ever fight. There are quests to be completed, raids to be had, computer controlled cities to be crushed, dungeons to explored and treasures to be found even at the highest levels of the game.

No, siege combat actually comes in three variations. One for the Border Kingdom where guilds will use catapults, trebuchets and other siege engines to fight over a battlekeep, and two for the player city areas where the player city can defend their own city with siege engines as well as attack the neighboring computer-controlled city that will build up next to it. So you will basically find siege combat in the Border Kingdom as well as in the player city areas, but only the former include PvP siege combat where players dish out against each other over ownership of the battlekeeps.

No, when you start playing you don't pick a class at all. Character creation at the game's start is all about modeling your character the way you want him or her to be - changing their height, their muscle size, the shape of their head, aging of their skin and so on - and you don't have to make any choices other than that. Of course you have to select a gender and a race, but that's about it. You don't have to start making decisions regarding your profession until you've reached level five.

No, you pick an archetype at level five. The archetypes are Soldier, Mage, Priest and Rogue. Each of these bring with them different benefits, penalties, advantages and disadvantages. We use this system so that you won't have to start making difficult decisions from the start - the first five levels is spent just playing the game, and hopefully you get a feeling on what sort of character you would like to play. At level five you only have to select an archetype that best fits your playing style.

Yes, absolutely. Once you've reached level twenty, you will be able to select one of several classes that are part of the archetype you have chosen. The soldier can, for instance, become a Guardian, a Conqueror or a Dark Templar. Each of these has their advantages and disadvantages, and they help to further shape the specialties of the character that you have been playing for the past twenty levels. Each of the four different archetypes has several different classes to choose from.

The classes that are available to you are determined from which archetype you choose and the race you hail from. Not all races can play all classes, so you have to make a conscious decision on what sort of character you wish to play. This information is given at the start of the game. The classes that are planned for each archetype from level twenty are these:

Soldier:

* Guardian
* Conqueror
* Dark Templar

Priest:

* Priest of Mitra
* Scion of Set
* Druid of the Storm
* Bear Shaman

Rogue:

* Barbarian
* Assassin
* Ranger

Mage:

* Lich
* Necromancer
* Herald of Xotli
* Demonologist

No, you won't pick a crafting class like you would pick an ordinary class. There is definitively a room for crafters in the game, and you will be able to become one, but crafting is in another layer of the class system in Age of Conan called prestige classes. Later in the game you will be able to pick a prestige class that you develop alongside your ordinary class. Crafter is one of these special prestige classes, and as a crafter you will have access to all crafting-specific skills, whereas the other prestige classes only will have access to one or two different crafting skills.

There are four different prestige classes: The Crafter, the Lord, the Commander and the Master. Each of these has extremely valuable advantages that can be used both in solo play and in team play, and each has specific skills and benefits that can make a great difference. The commander can, for instance, expand groups and use special formations during combat, while a lord have certain rights when it comes to building cities and gathering resources. As for the master, he will be able to control a computer-controlled follower that can be of aid in battles. Here are some of the benefits that the prestige classes carry with them:

Lord:

* Has exclusive placement rights in regard to the main keep
* Can build Guard Towers that automatically defend against enemy attacks
* Each Lord in a guild increases the resource extraction of gold nuggets for all guild members - up to a max of 30 Lords.
* Each Lord in a guild increases the experience point bonus for all guild members - up to a max of 20 Lords.
* Has acces to the Architect and Alchemy crafting skills

Commander:

* Adds one additional maximum member to a team, up to a total of 10 (with 4 Commanders)
* Can build Barracks for the Village or Keep that will spawn soldiers to protect the village on attack
* Each Commander in a guild increases the resource extraction of iron ore for all guild members - up to a max of 30 Commanders
* Can draw up special "Tactical Plans" to enable Commander only formations. Massive battle formations, such as large mounted formations or the special Raid Attack resistant formations, are available only to the Commander
* Has access to the Weaponsmith crafting skill

Crafter:

* Can build crafting premises, smithies, and other tradeskill facilities in the guild villages
* Each Crafter in a guild increases the resource extraction of wood for all guild members - up to a max of 30 Crafters
* Has access to all forms of crafting

Master:

* Can have one "follower". Being in a guild gives you access to more powerful followers
* Can build stables which upgrade the quality of mounts
* Each Master in a guild will increase the resource extraction of stone for all guild members - up to a max of 30 Masters
* Has access to the Armotsmith crafting skill

The crafting skills planned for launch are weaponsmithing, alchemy, armorsmithing, gemcutting and architecture. Each of these gives the player the ability to make items and structures that are both beneficial for the player him or herself, as well as other players.

There will be several skills planned for the players to improve over time, such as hiding, climbing, taunting and so on. Skills will be raised by investing skill points made available at each level-up, but the main focus in Age of Conan is actually not skills, but feats.

Feats are the meat of character development. There will be hundreds of different feats in the game, and you will both choose them as you go and have some automatically assigned to you. Feats can do anything from modifying statistics to controlling which items you are allowed to use. One feat can, for instance, allow you to use a special form of armor, while another feat would allow you to perform certain attacks. The feat system in Age of Conan is extremely elaborate, giving you the chance to create characters that are as unique as yourself.

You obtain feats every few levels as they become available to you, and you will have to train to get them. Training is done by computer-controlled characters that you find in various locations of the world, and you will have to pay money for the trainer to teach you the feats you want.

Yes, absolutely. There are several specific feats for the rogue classes, and we are planning to implement basic functions like hiding and pick-pocketing. We're also aiming to include climbing and lock-picking so that players will be able to break into places and steal stuff. Even Conan himself, who now is King of Aquilonia, used to be a thief and the Conan lore is fraught with situations where characters have stolen from other people. It is a part of Hyborian life.

At launch the game includes a total of 80 levels. This is the main experience pool, which you advance by fighting and generally developing your character. There is also a PvP specific level-tree that contains 20 levels, and we're also planning specific level-trees for some prestige classes.

There will be three difference races upon the launch of Age of Conan. The world of Hyboria, a fictional representation of our own earth some 10.000 years BC, is a vast place. As such, there are also a huge number of different races that inhabits the world and its numerous nations. In Age of Conan the three nations that are planned for launch are Aquilonia, Cimmeria and Stygia. You will be able to explore these lands and meet their people, but on your travels you will also meet a myriad of other people from all over Hyboria.

Upon character creation, you will be able to choose being Aquilonian, Cimmerian or Stygian. Other races may be available in the future, but these are planned for the launch.

None! Hyboria, the world of Conan, is not your typical fantasy world of orcs and fairies. There are certainly a myriad of mystical creatures, terrible monsters, exotic races and mighty gods, but you will not find all the typical high-fantasy elements. One term often used to describe the world of Hyboria and its setting is "magical realism". The world is gritty, harsh and real - but is still filled with magical locations and fantastic beings.

Yes. The three playable races have their strengths and weaknesses, and some of them are better fit to certain classes than others. The Cimmerians, for instance, are known for their skill with the blade, while the Stygians are renown throughout the world for their magical powers. Selecting one races will have implications towards how the game will play out for you, not only when it comes to the look of your character, but also what choices will be available to you.

No, there are no playable "evil" races in Age of Conan. But, of course, every people have its bad apples and there are plenty of no-good characters in all the lands of Hyboria. And one nation's opinion on another can also differ greatly - so who is to decide who is good and who is evil?

No, in Age of Conan both men and women have equal strengths.

Yes, a part of the gameworld in Age of Conan will be single-player, but you always need to play online on our servers. Even though you are playing alone in an instance in the gameworld you still get the chance to communicate with your friends on the same server, as well as potentially thousands of other players.

Age of Conan is still a fully-fledged MMO, but we have taken some key lessons from the other games out there and decided to feature a limited single-player experience that in some ways plays out like a traditional RPG. When you first start out in the game, you will be spending the first hour or so completely alone before you stumble into the freebooter village of Tortage where you will suddenly start seeing other players. From here on you will be able to switch between single-player and multiplayer. During the day, you're always multiplayer, but during night you're all alone. You can switch between the two by sleeping at the inn. Once you reach level twenty and leave Tortage, then you will step into the massive MMO world where you're always multiplayer and where the day and night cycle is dynamic and independent of your actions.

One of the thoughts behind the single-player experience is to give you a unique and highly interactive story to get you going, a story that captivates you and intrigues you from the start. A story that is tailored to you and told in a fashion that really lets you be an important person in the game. Many other massive online games throw you into the world right away, and because of the nature of MMO games it can be quite difficult to get started and getting to grips with how it all hangs together. By letting you start out with limited single-player we're able to show you how the game is played in a more fun and structured fashion, without having to resort to often rather boring tutorial phases. Still, you can communicate with your friends, and it won't take that long before you are able to meet other players.

Yes, absolutely. During the time it takes to complete the single-player experience your character will grow in strength and talent. He or she will evolve from nothing but a commoner, into someone who has mastered a class! As you then get ready to enter the even greater massive online world you will already be accustomed to the environments and have a much greater knowledge of how to play your character.

We believe this is a new and better way of introducing MMO players into the gameworld. We felt that many online games out there are too difficult to get into, so we tried to find a new approach. The mix of a single-player experience inside a MMO gameworld is our attempt to do something about that. They form one unique whole though, so you will feel that you are playing one complete game.

Only the first hour or so of the game is completely single-player. Once you reach the village of Tortage, you will start meeting other players. You can switch between day and night by sleeping at the inn, and during day you will always be with other players, while during the night you will be all alone. At level twenty you leave Tortage island and head for the mainland, and from there on you will always be in a massively multiplayer environment.

This is something we are still tweaking. We realize that doing the single-player experience the second or third time may not be as rewarding as the first time, so you may be able to skip it one way or another. That being said, playing different archetypes during the single-player experience will offer different quests, experiences and opportunities, so there is definitely a high replay value.

Yes, as you move forward you will gradually be able to meet other players but you won't have access to all the features and amount of people you find in the bigger MMO world. However, you are still playing on our servers, and you are also playing in an instanced part of the bigger gameworld. When you first start out, you will be completely alone and the characters around you will only be computer-controlled. They will talk with you, interact with you and fight you but you won't find any other players around. You will, however, be able to send messages and communicate with friends and other players on the server.

There will be a complete story that we're able to tell in a cinematic and interactive manner. Because you're closed off in your own instance of the gameworld, we have the power to create world-changing events and really let parts of it play out like in a single-player game. When you first start you will enter the game as a galley slave. Here you will create your character, and shortly after this process is completed a sudden change of events will lead to your character being washed ashore on the Barachan Isles off the coast of Zingara. You will have to fight your way through the jungle to reach the multi-cultural melting pot that is the city of Tortage, where you will discover great adventure and many challenges. From there on we are keeping things under wraps to avoid story spoilers.

You start off as a commoner with nothing else but a few old rags to cover your body and a broken ore to fight with. Over the course of the single-player experience, you will become better equipped, discover great treasures, complete challenging quests, and choose a class. You will have a massive amount of experience and knowledge as you step into the bigger massive online world. Still, you will just have scratched the surface of Age of Conan.

Yes, you will still be playing towards our servers, in a personalized instance of the gameworld. So you must log on to the internet in order to play. You will also have to purchase a retail box to play the single-player experience. The retail box includes 30 days of gametime.

Yes, absolutely, magic is a vital part in the Hyborian world. There is a fully functional magic system that closely relates to the Conan lore and the original books of Robert E. Howard. Just as we're making huge advancements in the field of combat in massive online games, we're also handling magic and spellcasting quite differently than other games in the genre. Spellcasting will not only require certain skills and feats of your character, but there is also a very interactive system to it that will take human skill to master.

In Age of Conan we're introducing something called spellweaving. Spellweaving is the art of stringing together a series of spell to create one massive spell that will produce devastating and otherwise extreme results. Spellweaving is an art that will take skill to master, and it is very much a tactical and strategic part of the game that require planning and thinking to carry out.

Spellweaving is the art of combining multiple spells into one big spell. The player will start the spellweave by activating their spellweave ability. This places them in a trance-like state where they cannot move and the only actions they are allowed to perform are adding more components to the weave. Once in the spellweave the player can add as many spells into the weave as they can manage or want to. The maximum number of spells that can be called into a weave is dependant on the players level. Deactivating the ability will then cast the spell and produce the results.

Very much, yes. Spellweaving is almost a balancing act. How much power can you summon forth without incurring some ancient curse or other mysterious ailment? The risk of this depends on how powerful a weave you are performing based upon the power of the spells you are trying to combine and their level. Stray too far beyond what you are capable of and you will run the risk of incurring one of these side-effects! Using more mana than what you have can also be devastating.

Yes, but there are penalties if you are spellweaving too much and too often. The other element to spellweaving is a characters magical burden. Every time a weave is performed they incur a magical burden, a debt as it were that weighs upon them. If too many weaves are attempted consecutively, or you attempt a weave that pushes your limits to the burden, you will increase the chance of incurring ill-effects on the next weave. This burden naturally decays when a caster is not in a spellweave.

Mana is the currency, so to speak, that is used to pay for casting spells. Your mana pool works much the same way as your health pool and when you cast spells this pool is emptied depending on how much mana each spell needs. Your mana pool grows over time as your character develops.

It is true that we try to make the visual look and feel of magic in Conan different from what you have seen in other games. The traditional fireball-tossing magic users in pointy hats, with puffs and multicolored robes, are not part of the Hyborian universe. In Conan's age, magic is dangerous, hidden, and dark. Men who meddle with dark magic may fall to its temptation and powers, so magic uses you as much as you use it! Naturally, the ultimate power comes when you are able to walk the fine line--the one between destruction and creation.

Yes, some of them certainly will. There will even be classes dedicated to this form of magic, and spellcasters can create special formations called summoning circles. By doing this, they can summon special types of demons and creatures that could never be summoned by one spellcaster alone. Again, this is a dangerous art and as with all spellcasting in Hyboria, and it could lead to disastrous results if not done right. It all relates to your skills and powers.

Not at all, you will find a wide array of spells you can perform. There are spellcasting that involves healing people, giving them benefits.

Yes, lots of them. Quests are an integral part of the game (though it by no means is the only way of developing your character), and you will encounter many of them as you progress through the world of Hyboria. Quests can be given by certain computer-controlled characters, or you can stumble upon then out in the terrain and have them offered to you.

We're trying to avoid having quests being all about tasks that just involve killing things or delivering items. While you will certainly find these in the game - after all, they can be quite rewarding when you don't want to dive too deep into a quest line - there are also several quests that really takes skill, strategy and planning to complete. Many quests are multi-layered and they require interacting with both characters and the environment in order to be completed. They also may include puzzle-solving that may require one or several people to break. In addition many of the quests are presented in a very cinematic manner, where NPC's with spoken dialogue will present the story of the world to you in a way you have not seen in MMOs so far.

Yes! While Age of Conan first and foremost is a massively multi-player online game, we realize that one of the major strengths of single-player games is their ability to create involving quests that can really alter the way the world works around the player. In Age of Conan there will be several quests where you will have to do more than just killing or delivering things. This have always been one of the major problems with massive online games, the fact that quests often tend to be non-interactive and not varied enough to really capture the player's imagination. We really aim to change this with Age of Conan, adding quests that are both interactive, captivating and exciting.

Well, one quest that is planned for the game involves having to find food in the form of ice worms in order to distract a dragon that is blocking the player's path. By collecting the food and laying it out for the dragon to see, they might distract it long enough to slip past it. Another one is where you need to burn your way to the bushes, and in order to do so you must first find a torch which will do the job.

Whereas most MMOs feature boxes full of text which pops up when you talk to a NPC, Age of Conan takes an entirely different angle. Funcom, the developers of the game, are also the makers of the award-winning adventure games The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, and we're using this experience to create interactive conversations with computer-controlled characters that sometimes resemble what you would find in such games. The game can take control of the camera and give you a special angle when talking to computer-controlled characters, and there will be a branching dialog-tree where you can choose what to say and what to reply when talking to these. The storytelling element is always present.

Yes and no. You will be able to explore many parts of the world without ever touching a quest, but many areas can only be traversed by reaching certain goals and meeting specific challenges. For instance, in one case, you will have to gain access to a gondola in order to make the ascent up a mountainside so that you can progress further into the region you are exploring.

Both, actually. You will find those epic adventures and quests that take a long time to complete, but you will also find quests that can be finished in a short period of time. Both is quite valuable - the long quests may give you more of a challenge and may feel more rewarding, but sometimes you're just logging in to play for a short time, and then shorter quests are more rewarding.

To a certain degree, but they will have to do that by themselves. There is no system in place for that, and players will not be able to create quests as such. A player can, of course, say that he'll pay money if another player delivers or goes out to kill certain creatures, but it has to be handled by the player themselves. Creating a system for this has not been a focus in the development of Age of Conan.

Yes, there is an extensive guild system in the game. There will be certain requirements for founding a guild such as a certain number of members. Anyone can join a guild, and with a bit of effort, anyone can start one too.

Apart from the privilege and advantages of being a part of a bigger group of people and feeling the companionship and power that this gives you, being a member of a guild will let you take part in the political struggles of the Border Kingdoms and also gives you a chance to build player-made cities. Only guilds are able to build and conquer battlekeeps in the Border Kingdoms, and only guilds can build player cities. Joining a guild is also a great way of getting together with like-minded people, and it is easier to find others to play with when you are a part of a persistent group of people.

All characters are essentially helpful to the guild, but the prestige classes have all specific advantages that work well within the guild system. Guilds will be a very important part of Age of Conan and the prestige class system allows players to provide benefits and improvements to their guild. Here are some of the key benefits:

Lord:

* Can build guard towers at the battlekeeps
* Has access to the architect skills which is used to build player structures
* Increase experience point bonus to all players in the guild

Commander:

* Can build barracks that will spawn soldiers to protect the settlements
* Each Commander in a guild increases the resource exctraction
* Can draw up "tactical plans" to enable special formmations

Crafter:

* Can build crafting premises such as smithies and other facilities
* Increases resource extraction for all guild members
* Can access all forms of crafting

Master:

* Can have powerful computer-controlled followers if in a guild
* Increase resource extraction for all guild members
* Can craft armor for other players

It is an aim for us to make sure the guilds can separate themselves visually, but we will get back with more info on this closer to launch. We do recognize the value of being able to show which faction you are a part of, and it is quite natural for guilds to feel pride by flying guild colors - especially when fighting for power and reputation on the battlefield.

Yes. We are quite aware that one of the benefits usually tied to being in a guild, is being able to put items or money into a guild vault that can be shared among all the members. There is also a taxation system in place for the guild to use if they want that, where the guild leader set a certain tax percentage that all members have to abide to. When a player gains money in any way - whether it may be through looting or selling items - that percentage of the sum will be taken from the player and put in the guild's treasury.

Yes. Players can create entire cities and fill it with different kinds of buildings. There is also a town hall in each city, which should become a gathering point of all guild members when they are in town. We're also thinking about giving players the option to fast-travel back to the guild house from certain points in the world, but this is yet to be decided.

No. You don't need to be in a guild to enjoy the game, but for many players this feature will probably be a significant part of the game. Age of Conan is still very much a game that is playable solo, too, and you don't need to team up with players in short-term groups to enjoy the game. We know that people enjoy playing alone as well, so we have done our best to cater for exciting solo PvE gameplay through all the levels. That said, many features of the game will require groups and guilds, especially when it comes to raids, siege PvP and the largest boss encounters.

Yes, definitely. All of the four prestige classes - the Lord, the Commander, the Master and the Crafter - have access to certain crafting classes. The latter, the crafter prestige class, will be the most flexible one when it comes to this, simply because he or she is dedicated to dabble with all the crafting skills available in the game. So yes, there is definitely crafting in the game.

There are several different crafting skills available to the prestige classes, and the crafter prestige class will have access to all of them. The crafting skills available are the following:

Weaponsmith
As the name implies, a weaponsmith specializes in making various forms of weaponry for arming those he plans to support in battle. Using techniques passed down for generations, a smith trained in these arts can produce some of the most deadly weapons in Hyboria. In addition to creating arms, this smith may also supply various other forms of weapon enhancement materials, such as whetstones and polishes.

Armorsmith
Similar to the weaponsmith, the armorsmith focuses on crafting various pieces of protective gear in addition to ways to enhance said equipment. Having many avenues available to them in terms of advancement, the armorsmith may choose to provide a very wide variety of armor styles, ranging from leather to full plate.

Gemcutter
Taking advantage of the skills of the armor and weapon smiths, the gemcutter specializes in honing and crafting gems to decorate and enhance equipment. While some gems only have minor effects, others found in crypts or carried by those practicing darker arts may carry strange powers which can be harnessed by the gemcutter's craft. As the gemcutter is familiar with working with a fresh set of armor or weaponry, they can also provide some more straightforward modifications such as counterweights or other reinforcement.

Alchemist
Trained in various pharmaceutical and metallurgical arts, the Alchemist specializes in creating various compounds with strange and seemingly unnatural effects. Utilizing both common and rare ingredients found around Hyboria, those trained in this art may provide many useful consumables to their allies for use both in and out of battle.

Architect
Concerned more with the "big picture" than simply making equipment or potions, the architect is set on designing the more impressive buildings and siege engines used to wage war in the Border Kingdoms and beyond. Carrying a great burden of responsibility to those he allies himself with, architects facilitate the design of cities as well as devices designed to protect his allies' assets or destroy his enemy's

Crafting is tied to different kinds of equipment that you have to use in the process. There are different kinds of establishments and structures - many of which are available to put in the player cities - which players can seek out. These may, for instance, be the smithy where players can practice the art of creating weapons and armor. The crafting system is made to be detailed and complex, yet at the same time be simple and easy to learn. There will be requirements to be met, there will be resources you need to collect in order to make things, and there is equipment that must be used to create the items. But everything will, hopefully, be very self-explanatory.

There are six tiers of crafted goods in each different crafting school. Each tier is achieved by performing a number of quests for an NPC master crafter. Once all the quests for one tier have been completed you can move onto the next tier.

In Conan, the crafted equipment is slated to hold a very special place in the object hierarchy. The player-made items are the only ones where you can insert socket gems - thus increasing their flexibility and adaptability. The question of whether you'll find the best items in dark dungeons or on the player market, is difficult to answer and the best way to put it is probably saying that each will have their advantages and disadvantages. The gem socket system will be very valuable to the player-made items, but at the same time, dark dungeons do tend to have some useful loot.

Yes, the item quality will depend on statistics and on the materials being used, yes. That way items made from quality resources will be of better quality than others.

Yes, they will be able to make siege engines such as catapults and trebuchets that can be used in battles, and those who master the architect skill will also be able to create buildings and place them in the player city. The craftsmen of Hyboria have incredible power when it comes to shaping the environments and the lives of people who live there.

No, you will need to advance in level as well. The Crafter is a prestige class, and prestige classes do not open up until later in the game after you've selected an archetype at level 5 and a class at level 20. The crafting prestige class - or any of the other prestige classes that also can master one or two crafting skills - are supplements to your main class, so you will still have to choose to be something else. That being said, once you've obtained the prestige class, there is nothing stopping you from just dedicating your life to making things. Advancement in the crafter prestige classes is done by finishing quests.

Age of Conan is based on Funcom's proprietary DreamWorld engine, a technology we've spent years making and adding to. The engine has gone through many iterations since we started to work on the MMO Anarchy Online in 1996. Today it appears as one of the most advanced MMO graphics engines in the industry, able to render locations, characters and effects that set a new graphical standard in the MMO industry.

Age of Conan is the first MMO to be released with DirectX 10 technology - the next generation DirectX technology. By using this we are able to go to even greater lengths than before, creating some truly incredible sights and sounds that are unheard of in this genre. To our knowledge Age of Conan is currently the only MMO in the works with this technology.

Yes, but in a sensible and appropriate manner. Funcom was the company who pioneered the use the instancing technology in the MMO genre in the award-winning Anarchy Online, which is still going strong to this day. Instancing will also be used in Age of Conan, but we're going to great lengths to ensure that the game world feels large, persistent and massive. It can be used in, for instance, dungeons to make the experience much more enjoyable for the players or to improve performance in areas with many players. Having to fight over spawn points is no fun, and instancing technology can eliminate this problem. Out in the wild, instancing will be used appropriately.

Absolutely, we actually use a 7.1 surround system for Age of Conan. Many of the key computer-controlled characters in the game feature voice acting, and we're investing a lot of resources into making some epic scores for the game as well as creating an incredibly realistic soundscape.

This means that we are cooperating with Microsoft in the development of Age of Conan to make sure it takes advantage of all the new gaming specific features found in Windows Vista, the upcoming new operating system from Microsoft. As the first MMO game Age of Conan will also feature DX10 support, which allows us to bring an even more detailed gameworld to the players. The game can also be played in DX9.

The minimum requirements for Age of Conan have not yet been finalized. The game will be highly scalable so you can adjust the settings according to the performance of your PC.

Mainly through chat text which appears in a window on the screen. You are, of course, free to communicate with people through voice chats but this is not an integrated feature in Age of Conan at launch. Players will also be able to carry out a myriad of different emotes, each accompanied with vivid animations that has been motion captured by real people.

This is customizable, but your character is usually controlled using a mix of the mouse and the keyboard. You're also free to use a gamepad should you wish. There is even a rumble feature that kicks in when you strike your opponents. The combat in Age of Conan is very action-oriented, and we think that the ability to fight so well with the gamepad will be especially valuable to players who like console games.

The majority of the game is played out in third-person, but you are able to zoom both in and out using, for instance, the mouse wheel. We have not decided yet whether or not we want to include a first-person perspective. However, it is possible to zoom all the way in to a shoulder-cam perspective which, for instance, is automatically activated when you string your bow

This number has to be ironed out in the beta where we can actually find the number that fits best with both the technology and the general population level of the game world. We do aim to let thousands of people enter the same server, but how many exactly we can't say yet as this must be balanced properly.

We can not reveal a final number on this as it will be a constant evolution in optimizing the game throughout development. Seeing massive siege battles are such a large part of Age of Conan, we're fully committed in bringing gigantic fights which involves a lot of different characters.

We have stated that we would like all future Funcom MMOs to be released on consoles, but we haven't made any announcements when it comes to this for Age of Conan.

Just about anything you can think of. When it comes to weapons, you will for instance be able to wield swords, axes, clubs, bows, lances and much more. You'll also be able to equip yourself with defensive equipment such as armor and shields, and when we're already talking about armor, it should be noted that there will be a vast variety of these in Age of Conan. Every race has their specific armor sets, and there are a lot of different ones to choose from.

Yes, of course. Furniture for instance - these are items that can be placed in the houses you build in your player city - and you will also be able to buy different of clothing, jewelry and so on. We know how important the social aspects of a MMO is, and try our best to cater for this in the game.

No, the ability to equip items is based on the feats you have obtained. Age of Conan is largely based around a system of feats which you obtain over the course of the game. And while equipment will not be class-specific, it will be feat-specific. It should be noted the certain feats can only be obtained by certain classes. So you will, for instance, need a special feat to wear plate armor or wield certain types of weapons. Not all players can earn every feat, so there is a system of controlling who have access to what. But there is more than enough for everyone.

No, as of now there are no plans to have item decay in the game. This may or may not be tweaked through testing as it's essential for MMOs to have "money sinks" to keep a stable and fair economy.

Yes, there is a complete crafting system in the game. Players can create all sorts of items, and player-made equipment is especially valuable because they are the only ones that can be fitted with special gems that give the character benefits in combat. Whether or not the best equipment is made or found out in the wild is difficult to answer, but we're aiming for the middle-road where there will be advantages and disadvantages to both. Please see the Crafting chapter for more information.

Yes, absolutely. Items come in different levels of quality, something which is especially true when it comes to player-made items which can be made from materials and resources which also have different levels of quality. Statistics like damage output is very much dependent on item quality.

The aspect of human skill is only one part of the combat system. Even though you direct your attacks and do the strikes yourself, you are still dependent on the weapon you use being good enough both in terms of quality and statistics. How and where you strike may be up to you, but the statistics bound to the weapon you're using is determining how much damage you're dealing.

We are planning on including dual-wielding, yes, but we're not ready to go into details on this.

In general we're not planning to include any specific equipment which can only be worn by one race. As for the styles of equipment such as weapons and armor, there will be a multitude of different styles both when it comes to the graphical representations of them, how they actually work and where they can be found. There will be regional looks to generic equipment for all the three nations Aquilonia, Cimmeria and Stygia, and there will also be different looks depending on the culture the equipment originates from.

Yes, there is a complete system in place for allowing guilds to build entire cities, and there will be both PvP cites (or battlekeeps as well call them) and cities found in areas where you can not PvP. Once a guild is rich and powerful enough, it will be able to purchase a piece of land and start building a settlement. The process will, of course, take anywhere from days to weeks and months, and all the members of the guild will have to work together to reach this goal. If you would like more information on PvP cities please check out the PvP and siege section of the FAQ.

There are designated areas in the world where you can build player cities. It is not possible to pick just any place to build a city, as this could quite possibly break not only the aesthetics of the game but also the very structure of it. These areas are open for anyone to settle in.

When dozens of guilds each want to create a player city, there needs to be systems in place to prevent overcrowding and a system to ensure everyone gets space to build on. That's why we're using instancing for these areas. One copy of the area can, for instance, hold a certain amount of player cities, and once that number is reached the server creates another instance of that area which players can settle in. Be aware, however, that everyone can visit every player city if they want to. Using instancing technology is the only way to ensure all guilds get the opportunity to build cities in the PvE regions.

Once your guild have purchased a piece of land you can start building right away. For most of the building work, you will need someone in the guild with the skills of the architect to construct and place the buildings within the boundary of the area you have purchased. You also need resources like iron, wood and stone to construct buildings, and all members of the guild will be able to go out into the world and collect these. The architect can then start setting up buildings.

There are many different kinds of buildings available for player cities - everything from smithies to town halls, taverns and shops. You can even build city walls to defend your settlement.

No, rivaling player guilds can not attack your city in the PvE regions. We came to the conclusion that it would not always be entertaining to have your city attacked by other guilds when you've spent such a long time building it up. Instead, computer-controlled enemies will be more than happy to invade your settlement. Once you start building your own player city, computer-controlled characters will start making a city not far from yours. You will see their structures appearing over the course of days and weeks, and once they've made the barracks they will start producing soldiers which they can then use to launch an attack on your player city.

The computer-controlled enemy city will attack at specific intervals - not all the time, so you won't have to constantly be on guard. However, you would be wise in attacking them first, keeping the development of their city down, or else they will eventually grow into a powerful adversary who can attack and destroy your city using not only their men alone, but also catapults and trebuchets.

Separate from the areas of city building, you will find the Border Kingdoms. In these lands your guild will be able to construct and maintain a battlekeep that can be attacked by rivaling guilds. It is possible to own both a battlekeep and a player-made city.

Besides the obvious statement it makes - a player city being perhaps one of the ultimate symbols of status and success - you will also be able to build structures that are beneficial for everyone in your guild. This is a place where your people can come together and carry out the business needed, and the facilities of a player city can come quite in handy for a traveling adventurer. You can also open shops and man them with computer-controlled vendors, and other players - even those outside your guild - will be able to visit these shops and trade there. So your city can become the ultimate hot spot for trading in the region, if that is what you want. It's all up to you and your imagination.

Anyone can be present in your city and fight whatever invading forces that might appear. The guild can also hire computer-controlled guards that will be able to offer a fair deal of protection.

Yes, everyone can enter any city as long as there are no city walls blocking you out. If there are such walls, the gate will have to be open for non-guild members to enter.

All that, actually, and more! While PvP battles, city building and siege combat are all important features in Age of Conan, it is still a game based on great adventure - either through solo-play or team-play - through a huge, massive and persistent game world. Despite featuring numerous genre innovations, Age of Conan is still like a traditional MMO game where you start a life in a gigantic online world and explore it with other people or by yourself.

The Hyborian world is incredibly huge. The world - crafted by author Robert E. Howard in his original short-stories and books - is basically a fictional version of earth some 10.000 years BC and as such, there is a lot of land to cover. In Age of Conan we have focused on developing regions found within the three nations of Aquilonia, Cimmeria and Stygia, as well as the Barachan isles. The in-game world itself is huge, and will offer incredible opportunities for exploration.

It is based on zones, but these zones can be quite big in size - often up to several kilometers in both length and width. We're using zones because we want to create such a detailed world that it would be technologically unfeasible to do it seamlessly. This, however, will in no way detract from the feeling of being in a massive, persistent game world. Age of Conan is, after all, an MMO.

There are dozens of different zones, or regions as we like to call them, in Age of Conan. We are including areas chosen from Aquilonia, Cimmeria and Stygia and we are trying to show the diversity of these nations through this selection. You will find northern regions with tall mountains covered in snow, southern regions with their sand dunes and rust-colored mountains, and everything in-between that ranges from thick forests to plains, swamps, highlands and lowlands. These regions have been picked because of their importance or relevance to the lore, or what Conan did there.

Yes, absolutely, it will be huge, but our focus for these regions is actually on detail and gameplay, not on making the gameworld huge for huge sake. Many other games try to create the biggest world of them all, but our lessons with the MMO Anarchy Online means that we try to go another way - towards handcrafted detail, loving and care for the characters there - rather than doing corner cutting to increase the size.

Age of Conan is set in the world of Hyboria, a fictional representation of our own planet earth some 10.000 years BC. We are currently focusing on the nations of Aquilonia, Cimmeria and Stygia, but we may go even further in expansion packs after launch. The in-game world is based on accurate descriptions taken directly from the original works of author Robert E. Howard, which feature a world known for its grittiness, its violence, its realism and its mysticism. The setting is one far different from the high-fantasy you find in most MMOs today, even though you will travel to fantastic places and meet creatures beyond your wildest imagination.

To keep the game true to the lore, there is a small or big journey between the different regions by either boat, horse and so on. Players do not actually move up to a zone-line and then teleport to the region, because some of the regions in Age of Conan are often far apart on the world map. Instead you select different ways of traveling such as by horse, boat and other means of transportation. As an example, to travel from Stygia to Cimmeria on foot in a real-life sense of way would mean a lot of running. This is a game after all, so we try to design the experience to be as fun as possible.

Our artificial intelligence is extremely elaborate, and many of the inhabitants of Hyboria react according to a need-based AI system. Computer-controlled characters in online games have often been nothing but static robots standing around, but in Age of Conan we have tried to bring them more to life and make their presence meaningful. This is also true for the monsters of the world, who will fight you in an intelligent manner, should we wish them to.

The need system in Conan artificial intelligence is loosely based around famous American psychologist Abraham Maslow's pyramid of needs. In Age of Conan we have a computer-controlled artificial intelligence which categorizes several distinct needs - like eating, sleeping and surviving. Each of the levels of our pyramid contains a steady growth in need, and the AI will make sure they are fulfilled accordingly where we want it to. So at the night, an NPC may grow tired and close up his shop, and might walk home. On his way home he might be attacked, the need to survive will be kicked into high-gear, letting him defend himself. And so on.

Factions are not a major part of Age of Conan, at least not at launch. That being said, there will be certain factions involved in the game in one way or another, and you may be able to gain and lose reputation with these, but how this will play is something we will announce closer to launch.

By foot would be the usual manner for most people, but once you're able to buy a mount, you can also acquire a horse or a camel to carry you as you go on about your brutal and action-filled adventure.

Conan is a fantasy character created by author Robert E. Howard. Howard wrote a series of stories during the 1930's which took place in the fictional world of Hyboria, where the protagonist was a mighty and fearsome barbarian called Conan. The Howard stories all follows Conan's life as he evolves from a young warrior and thief to finally become king of Aquilonia, the mightiest nation of Hyboria. In the past seventy years or so, there have been a multitude of books, comic magazines and even movies based off this popular license. Today the Conan name stands stronger than ever, and he is considered to the world's greatest fantasy hero.

We're basing the game primarily on the original works of Robert E. Howard, but we're also drawing upon over seventy years of books and comics. The game itself plays out shortly after the events that are described in the story "Hour of the Dragon", which is considered to be one of Howards' finest novels. In this world, filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations and a struggling human race, the mighty barbarian has finally seized the throne as king of Aquilonia.

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