This page contains the server’s interpretations from existing lore sources. These interpretations exist to highlight, elucidate, or disentangle certain aspects of the lore.

Civilisation and barbarism

In his works, Robert E. Howard explores the contrast between civilisation and barbarism. Civilisation is prone to decadence and collapse, in his view. It is cruel, corrupt, depraved in its excesses, and incomprehensibly complex. Barbarians, by contrast, are more vigorous, honourable, and authentic. He depicts a cycle: inevitably a civilisation falters under the weight of its decadence and corruption, and in their fall they are conquered by barbarians. Those barbarians, now having adopted civilisation, will too grow complacent and corrupt in time.

When role-playing in the Hyborian Age, consider your character’s perspective in this matter. Do they have the byzantine sophistication and decadent comforts of civilisation, or the brutal honesty and lean survival instincts of barbarism?

Consider also the following quote from Iron Shadows in the Moon, which demonstrates the cruelty of civilisation compared to barbarism:

“I am a daughter of the king of Ophir,” she said. “My father sold me to a Shemite chief, because I would not marry a prince of Koth.”

The Cimmerian grunted in surprize.

Her lips twisted in a bitter smile. “Aye, civilized men sell their children as slaves to savages, sometimes. They call your race barbaric, Conan of Cimmeria.”

“We do not sell our children,” he growled, his chin jutting truculently.

Atmosphere

The Hyborian Age is a great mélange of various real-world cultures and time periods, given a thorough coating of cohesion. With few exceptions, its inspirations range from the Bronze Age up to the Early Middle Ages. While there are some elements from later time periods, the atmosphere should remain firmly rooted in those earlier eras.

Civilisation is fragile in the Hyborian Age. It is plagued by decadent excess, corruption, and the unquenchable ambition of man. In the Exiled Lands, civilisation is a mirage at best, a thin veneer beneath which lies the brutal savagery needed to survive and thrive in this hostile land.

Here are some things which you could specifically consider to embody the atmosphere:

  • Make your character illiterate. Writing is a specialised skill belonging to scholars, priests, nobles, and scribes.
  • Engage with your character’s religion. A simple muttering of ‘by Mitra’ goes far in fostering ambiance.
  • Play up the aspects of civilisation or barbarism described above, and consider how your character might view those on the other side of the divide.
  • Consider your character’s view on the role of men and women in their society.
  • Your character may view slavery as a fact of life, a law of the universe that the weak are subjugated, rather than a horrible institution that must be abolished.
  • Your character may greatly value honour and reputation, in themselves and in others. Few people can be trusted in a harsh world, and a good reputation carries one far.
  • Your character may view marriage as a social, political, or economic arrangement rather than a matter of the heart. Love and passion exist, but they often do so in spite of or outside of marriage.
  • Consider your character’s desire for wealth and status. Gold, jewellery, fine silks, lavish feasts, and lovely slaves are powerful temptations, but wealth is ephemeral and dangerous.

On morality

The Hyborian Age portrays a pre-modern landscape full of attitudes and practices which are morally reprehensible from our perspective. We live in a post-Enlightenment world of universal rights and the rule of law, which is decidedly nothing like the world of Conan, where law is the whim of the powerful, and whatever rights one enjoys are contingent on status, strength, and wealth.

The attitudes and practices of the Hyborian Age would be viewed as normal by most of the world’s inhabitants. Marriages are arranged to strengthen bonds between families because that’s what marriage is in this world. Neighbouring settlements are raided for wealth and slaves because the powerful prosper, not the peaceful. The king rules by might and divine providence, not the assent of the people.

In role-playing in the Hyborian Age, one must take care not to apply modern systems of morality. Part of the joy of role-playing in this setting is to create stories under the constraints of an alien system of morality, and to witness how your character survives or thrives under this brutal system. Stories require conflict, and the Hyborian Age’s moral landscape allows a completely distinct set of conflicts to rise.

Importantly, playing with these systems of morality does not and should not equate to approving of them. A strong separation of IC and OOC is required here. Our characters may do or enable horrible things, but out of character in the modern age, we are each of us committed to life and love.

Women in the Hyborian Age

The second sex has historically been oppressed, and given that Conan is essentially supercharged historical fiction, so too are women widely oppressed in the Hyborian Age, reduced to housekeepers and kept out of public affairs. This however leads to a problem: many role-players are women or want to role-play female characters, and may not want to restrict their character to culinary matters.

There are four approaches to ‘solving’ this problem, and none among them are perfect. They are, however, presented here for your convenience.

A fifth option which is not mentioned below is to simply ignore the topic. Although this is certainly a valid approach to role-playing in fantasy settings, this approach is not preferred on The Thin Veneer. See On morality for a rationale.

Avoid patriarchal cultures

Some cultures in the Hyborian Age do not oppress women as a matter of course, or grant women greater standing than would otherwise be afforded in patriarchal societies.

Amazon is a matriarchy, and in Hyrkania women are valued virtually as equals. In the barbarian nations of Cimmeria, Asgard, and Vanaheim, women wield swords as well as men. Among the civilised nations, Stygia is almost gender-egalitarian, and Koth, Shem, and Khitai afford greater rights to women. In Khauran and Vendhya, women rule as queens, so one may assume that noble women there are treated with more gravitas than elsewhere. In the Asuran faith, men and women are equal.

If you wish to role-play a female character with no or limited engagement with patriarchy, then the above options are perfectly lore-abiding.

Embrace a female role

There are some prestigious roles in the Hyborian Age which are reserved exclusively for women, especially in priesthoods.

In Brythunia, the priesthood of Wiccana is exclusively female. In the South, the cults of Ishtar and Derketo are dominated by women.

Don’t be poor

Rich women can simply purchase slaves to tend to the household, granting them more time and freedom to spend however they wish. This doesn’t typically free them from patriarchy—they are limited in their capacity to engage with public affairs—but it does unburden them from a good number of its inconveniences.

Be exceptional

Quoting Robert E. Howard from a letter to Harold Preece:

I could name all day, those women I deem great in Greece alone and the records would scarcely be complete. And what of Joan of Arc and Emma Goldman? Kate Richards O’Hare and Sarah Bernhardt? Katherine the Great and Elizabeth Barrett Browning? H.D. and Sara Teasdale? Isibella of Spain who pawned her gems that Columbus might sail, and Edna St. Vincent Millay? And that queen, Marie, I think her name was, of some small province - Hungary I believe - who fought Prussia and Russia so long and so bitterly. And Rome – oh, the list is endless there, also - most of them were glorified harlots but better be a glorified harlot than a drab and moral drone, such as the text books teach us woman should be. Woman have always been the inspiration of men, and just as there are thousands of unknown great ones among men, there have been countless women whose names have never been blazoned across the stars, but who have inspired men on to glory. And as for their fickleness – as long as men write the literature of the world, they will rant about the unfaithfulness of the fair sex, forgetting their own infidelities. Men are as fickle as women. Women have been kept in servitude so long that if they lack in discernment and intellect it is scarcely their fault.

Sometimes, one need only be exceptional to outrun or outmanœuvre the clutches of patriarchy, or otherwise—even within the constraints of patriarchy—be much more than a simple homekeeper.

The Exiled Lands are a sort of blank slate in which anybody can be exceptional. In exile, a woman from an otherwise unremarkable background could carve for herself whichever prestige she desires if she has the wit and force of will to back it up.

Homosexuality and transgender identities

Very little is written on homosexuality and transgender identities in the Hyborian Age. This does not mean that these things do not exist—there are traces of distinctly non-heterosexual and non-cis people as far back as history goes in the real world. However, people in antiquity did not necessarily understand, experience, or describe gender and sexuality in ways that correspond to modern categories such as gay and trans.

Ancient perspectives on these topics may not always be unproblematic. However, you are expected to approach these topics with some modicum of tact. Especially pertaining transgender identities, reassignment surgeries do not exist, nor any sorcery of that nature, and fetishised depictions of trans people are not permitted. See also Do not fetishise real-world identities.

You may draw from real-world parallels to inform your character’s relation to these topics. What follows are some references and vague guidelines to aid and inspire you.

  • It is written in Stygia: Serpent of the South that same-sex marriage is not forbidden in Stygia, and that no one really cares.
  • It is further written in Stygia: Serpent of the South that the deities Min Koptos and Derketo have no problem with same-sex couplings. One may assume that this tolerance extends to all cultures where Derketo is actively worshipped.
  • In Zamora, anything goes as far as sex is concerned. Furthermore, it is written in Shadizar: City of Wickedness that same-sex marriages are perfectly legal, but that they—like all marriages—are considered an economic affair.
  • It is written in Return to the Road of Kings that Amazon women are permitted female lovers at any time.
  • It is written in Conan the Pirate that same-sex relationships are common in Argos, and that many Argosseans have partners of both genders.
  • The Mitran faith is a sexually repressive religion which forbids women from partaking in its mysteries because women stir lust and passion in men. One may assume that this repression extends to homosexuality and transgender identities.
  • In Corinthia and Koth, homosexuality may resemble the homosexuality seen in ancient Greece, where the ‘passive’ role is seen as demeaning.
  • The Picts, drawing inspiration from the First Nations of North America, may have a concept of a two-spirit gender identity.
  • There are stories in ancient China of ’the passion of the cut sleeve’ and ’the divided peach’. There was still an expectation to marry and bear children, but homosexuality was tolerated as a secondary practice. One may extend these attitudes to Khitai.
  • The Kama Sutra depicts homosexual sex acts matter-of-factly, and discusses a ’third nature’. One may assume homosexuality and transgender identities in Vendhya without taboo.
  • As a general rule, sexuality and gender identity are less rigid and certainly less regulated in barbarian nations. Different tribes may have very different views on these matters.

Slavery

There are many types of slavery in the Hyborian Age, and few cleanly map onto the public imagination of what slavery is. Because slavery can be so varied, it is difficult to define it without over-generalising, but as a matter of course:

  • Slaves can be considered the lowest caste in a society. They fulfil a role as such, which is typically labour. This often puts slavery at odds with disadvantaged free men, whose labour is more expensive.
  • Slaves are characterised by their state of unfreedom. Slaves have no choice in the matter of rendering service. This is not entirely unique to slaves—serfs typically have no choice, either, and economic hardship can make choice an illusion for free people.
  • Slaves have a relative lack of legal protections compared to free people.
  • Slaves are typically owned by a person or institution, and can be bought, sold, and inherited as property.
  • Slavery constitutes primarily a legal condition. The exact laws which apply, if any, vary from locale to locale.

There are three aspects of slavery which all interlock, which are useful to keep in mind. They are the reason for enslavement, the rendered services, and the rights and living conditions of slaves. You’ll need to do some additional work to determine how these aspects apply to your character or characters relevant to yours.

Reasons for enslavement

There are a lot of reasons that one may become a slave in the Hyborian Age. A list of examples follows:

  • Capture. A person may be kidnapped as part of a slave raid.
  • Prisoner of war. A person may have been a soldier in a defeated army, and subsequently rendered a slave.
  • Spoils of war. A person may have been a resident of a city which was captured in a war, and the fate of its residents was determined by the victor.
  • Debt. A person may have sold themselves into slavery—typically temporarily—as a result of economic hardship.
  • Born into slavery. The children of slaves are often, but not always, also enslaved.
  • Punishment. For some crime or transgression, a person may be rendered a slave.
  • Sale. Some people, especially the children of parents, can be sold into slavery.

It is important to note that slavery is not typically racialised. Many societies enslave their own people just as readily as they enslave foreigners.

Rendered services

The tasks performed by slaves vary wildly between individual slaves and societal trends. Below are some broad categories:

  • Manual labour. This is the most common task performed by chattel slaves. They work in the fields or in quarries, or they perform menial tasks such as hauling goods, rowing ships, or constructing buildings.
  • Skilled labour. Skilled slaves can be artisans, scribes, tutors, physicians, accountants, translators, engineers, horse trainers, and many other occupations.
  • Administration. Some especially trusted slaves can become administrators. They are similar to skilled labourers, except they exercise authority. They are household stewards, clerks, overseers, estate managers, and other similar occupations.
  • Domestic labour. These slaves take care of many or all household duties, such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, receiving guests, and aiding with personal care such as bathing, doing one’s hair, or getting dressed.
  • Personal service. Some slaves are in service to one person. They are body servants, aides-de-camp, secretaries, messengers, confidants, and companions.
  • Entertainment. Some people are enslaved for the amusement of the rich. They are musicians, singers, dancers, performers, gladiators, and oddities. These slaves are often a status symbol for their masters.
  • Sexual service. Some slaves are rendered into sexual service or companionship. They are prostitutes, concubines, courtesans, and other intimate attendants. Concubinage is often a status symbol for the master.
  • Combat. Many an army fields slave soldiers. They are capable of all soldier tasks, but are typically low in rank or kept in their own battalions. Other slaves instead serve as bodyguards or household guards.

Rights and living conditions

The rights and living conditions between slaves can be immensely different. Some slaves have their own rooms, while others live in cramped communal spaces.

There is an important distinction between chattel slavery, which treats people as property to be bought and sold, and debt slavery, which is typically temporary until some condition is met. Debt slaves typically retain more rights, but they can be exploited just as harshly as chattel slaves.

Living conditions are often correlated to the task performed by the slave. A concubine may expect better sleeping arrangements and personal grooming than a sailor, even if the sailor is settling a debt and the concubine is strictly property.

Below are some rights which a slave may or may not have. These rights depend highly on the local laws where the slave is kept, the debt bond between the slave and their master, or the whims of the master. Slaves may or may not:

  • Own property.
  • Marry.
  • Have or raise a family.
  • Give birth to free children.
  • Have legal protections from harm.
  • Have free time, or time not spent labouring.
  • Receive wages or retain earnings.
  • Buy or earn freedom.
  • Move freely.
  • Have legal recourse.
  • Testify before a court.
  • Participate in religion.
  • Be sold or transferred.

On Lovecraft

The Modiphius role-playing game—especially in Nameless Cults—references the works of H. P. Lovecraft quite frequently. Robert E. Howard was a friend of Lovecraft, and included his own spin on Lovecraftian horror in his Conan stories.

However, including the entire Cthulhu Mythos into the setting of Conan would be quite a burden on our little server. As a general rule, if something from the Outer Dark isn’t detailed in any approved lore source, it is assumed to be non-canon. This works because, by its nature, nothing is certain in Lovecraftian horror. Furthermore, any links established by Modiphius between elements of the Hyborian Age and the horrors of Lovecraft must be understood as obscure conjecture by a scarce few maddened scholars. There is no way to know the truth of it, and such links will not generally be viewed as canonical.

Including Lovecraftian elements in role-play is incredibly difficult without a game master. You are generally discouraged from making this a focus of your role-play—there are other places to engage more thoroughly with the Cthulhu Mythos. If you do include Lovecraftian elements, you should take care to maintain its themes of cosmic horror, forbidden and dangerous knowledge, the unknowable and the incomprehensible, and madness.

Additional notes on cultures

Hyperborea

There are many misconceptions surrounding Hyperborea in the Conan Exiles space. The notion that Hyperboreans are savage white-haired witch-men is (mostly) false as a matter of course.

On account of their savageness, this is mostly correct, with a caveat. Hyperboreans are called out as having violent natures, and in The God in the Bowl, a Nemedian guardsman names Hyperboreans among ’northern barbarians’. However, in an unpublished draft of Phoenix on the Sword, Howard asserts that Hyperboreans are civilised and live in cities. In Return to the Road of Kings, it is said that Hyperboreans practise agriculture, live in cities, and that their nobles live in great stone castles.

Both of these aspects can be true at once. Hyperboreans can be a civilised people of a violent or barbarous nature.

On account of their white-haired appearance, the Modiphius RPG reads:

Gigantic and blonde are Hyperboreans, prone to gauntness and light eyes, and there is a crudeness to their appearance, a big-boned, rough-hewn sort of mien that is disquieting, as if they are a cruder version of humankind.

The Mongoose RPG reads:

Many Hyperboreans are still tawny-haired [i.e. blond-brown] and grey-eyed like the original Hyperborean tribe. […] Hyperboreans can have a variety of skin, eye and hair colourings. […]

However, Return to the Road of Kings suggests:

They are tall and gaunt, with pale eyes and hair despite the foreign blood in many of them.

Given What to do if lore contradicts, both of these are fine, but it merits pointing out that the pale hair is a later pastiche invention.

On account of Hyperboreans being sorcerous witch-men, this is false as a general rule. In Legions of the Dead, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter invented the Witch-men of Hyperborea. In the introduction, it reads:

Some of the Hyperborean citadels, however, are under control of a caste of widely feared magicians, called Witch-men […]

One may reasonably assume that these Witch-men are a minority cult among the Hyperboreans.

Stygia

A common misconception of Stygia and Stygians is that its people are irredeemably evil, and seek to cause ruin and despair. There is some truth to this—there is darkness and evil in the land of the Serpent. However, it bears saying that Stygia is not one-dimensional. The people of Stygia are motivated by far more than evil and dark sorcery. They trade, feast, make love, make war, dance, play music, write poetry, till fields, pay taxes, and pet cats.

Last updated 13 Sep 2026, 00:23 +0200. history