These are the rules which guide sorcery. It is accompanied by the Sorcery article, which explains how the system actually works.

The system is not immensely concrete, and requires a lot of imagination and creative input. If you do not like this, or if you really want a solid and comprehensive system of RPG progression, then we ask you not to make a sorcerer. This system is deliberately narrativist in its approach to role-play.

1. Be evocative

This rule is technically a rephrasing of Strive to uphold the atmosphere. As a sorcerer, you should apply your imagination and creativity to evoke a sense of unnatural otherworldliness. This is the primary role of sorcerers in the setting, and more than anything, it is the very point of role-playing a sorcerer.

2. This is not Dungeons & Dragons

The rule’s name is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it conveys the idea well enough. Magic in the Hyborian Age works nothing like the magic found in many other fantasy settings. It is mysterious, dangerous, and often villainous. It is certainly not a hard magic system, and it is altogether less ‘flashy’ than most modern fantasy interpretations of magic, but no less grave for it.

3. Take your time

Magic in the Hyborian Age is a slow affair. There are ingredients, sacrifices, rituals, and countless hours spent in experimentation. Sorcery is a path to immense power, but it is no shortcut.

4. Not everything is magical

As detailed in Mimicking magic, there are many traditions of lore practised by sorcerors which are not magical in nature, but which are indistinguishable to the layperson. As a sorcerer, you should lean into this as your ’everyday’ source of magic.

5. Look the part

There is nothing physically preventing a sorcerer from wearing armour, but the trope of sorcerers in ceremonial garb is well-established. Even as there is no fictional justification for this (but you can make your own), you must wear nothing heavier than light armour. And when casting spells, sorcerers should look the part, meaning that they are dressed according to their tradition.

This rule does not prevent sorcerers from looking ’normal’ when they are not engaged with their sorcerous endeavours.

This rule extends to a sorcerer’s physical appearance. Hale sorcerers exist, but they are rare and unlikely to keep their mighty stature for long.

6. Self-imposed restrictions

In role-playing a sorcerer, you are expected to inconvenience yourself for the narrative enjoyment of it. Perhaps a certain spell can only be cast at night or in flagrante delicto, or the result of a divination attempt requires days to decipher, or an upcoming ritual requires an especially rare sacrifice.

Especially pertaining offerings to empower or enable certain magic, you must—as much as is possible and within reason—acquire the things which you wish to sacrifice in role-play. The sacrificed objects need not be actual in-game items.

The restrictions and offering can vary even for the same spell, as the context changes or the stars are differently aligned.

7. Don’t use in-game mechanics which your character does not possess

As part of being a sorcerer, you are given in-game sorcery. The sorcery as depicted in Conan Exiles does not really accurately match the vibe we’re going for. When interacting with this game mechanic, please refrain from using mechanics which your sorcerer does not have access to in the fiction.

This is the most important rule of the bunch, given the auspicious number eight. In essence, the sorcery rules exist in extension of the conflict rules. It is based on trust, collaboration, and consent.

When you want to cast a spell, you should communicate and negotiate the effects of the spell with those affected by it. Those players are expected to lift you up in doing an awesome thing, but they may have conditions or questions, or suggestions to help boost their own stories.

This rule essentially robs the sorcerer of all power unless all involved parties consent. The upside of this is that, when magic happens, all parties engage with it eagerly, and sour feelings about over-poweredness are avoided. The downside is that this makes possibly one of the most important components of your character reliant on the whims of others. This can suck, but you must assume good faith.

When a spell fails or has some lesser effect as a result of out-of-character negotiation, you may attribute some in-character reasoning to its failure or effect. Perhaps you did not have the right offerings, or perhaps the stars were out of alignment.

As with declining conflict, you may open a ticket to signal people’s refusal to engage with your character’s spells. They have the right to refuse, but not as a matter of course.

9. Elaborate rituals and grand workings

More than the spells which your sorcerer possesses, you may wish to perform rituals or grand workings. As a general rule, you should open a ticket to do these things.

10. With great power comes great responsibility

Your sorcerer may have the power to utterly ensorcel, dominating a person to helplessness. This is a great and grave power, and you are expected to be responsible about this. The power fantasy of being a fearsome sorcerer is excellent, but the enjoyment of all players involved is more important than that.

Furthermore, there is no game master to constantly check whether everything you do is permissible by lore. You are given a lot of autonomy in your creativity, which is great, but you are expected to stay true to the magic of the Hyborian Age.

Whitelisting a sorcerer

If you want to whitelist a sorcerer, you must add the following template to your application. This is an opportunity for you to flex your creative muscles.

Furthermore, your backstory must describe in some detail what sorcerous education your character received, and what their patronage looked like.

**Describe your character's sorcerous tradition:**

In your own words, describe the tradition of your sorcerer. You may invent some 'lore' here to supplement what is written in the book. This defines the most fundamental component of your character's sorcery.

**Describe the mimicries of magic which your sorcerer practises:**

What do these mimicries look like, what do they do, and what are their (self-imposed) limits or restrictions? Extra points for writing example emotes.

**Describe the two spells which your sorcerer has mastered:**

What do the spells look like, what do they do, and what are their (self-imposed) limits or restrictions? Extra points for writing example emotes.

**Describe appropriate offerings that enable or empower your sorcery:**

Name a few things which can be sacrificed as part of sorcerous rituals. You can be general or specific. The list need not be exhaustive.

**Describe a weakness of your sorcerer:**

This can be anything. More severe weaknesses are not necessarily better, but a sorcerous character is well-served by some fatal flaw. You may, if you want, name multiple weaknesses.

**Describe the price which your sorcerer has paid, and continues to pay:**

Sorcery comes at a cost. Describe the cost it has incurred upon your character, and how you envision to role-play it.

Last updated 26 Jul 2026, 13:14 +0200. history