The Tower of the Elephant is one of Robert E. Howard's classic Conan tales. It has been adapted thrice into comic book form (the Dark Horse Comics adaptation is currently unfolding monthly in a comic book store near you, both Barry Windsor Smith and Big John Buscema brought this tale to life in the Merry Marvel Marching days). The Tower of the Elephant was featured in the pilot for the Conan TV show and inspired the Tower of Set segment in the first Conan film.

Before Conan found his destiny and RPG Kingship at Mongoose Publishing, he wandered through several other gaming systems and experienced both 'official' and 'unofficial' adaptations over the years. Needless to say, the folks at Mongoose have surpassed these, and all other previous attempts in bringing the Conan Saga to life.

Conan and the Tower of the Elephant, the first in a series of Classic Conan modules, allows you and your friends to test your Hyborian Age mettle by braving the epic adventures that made Conan the Cimmerian famous. How will you fare against Yara and his monstrous minions? Will pity move you to grant Yag-Kosha's bloody request, or will greed compel you to keep the Heart of the Elephant? It is, after all, a unique talisman that promises great power... or profit.

Familiarity with REH's original tale is not required, though GMs may wish to mine the story for additional atmospheric detail. I would recommend checking out several of the visual adaptations as well.

Taurus of Nemedia, the Prince of Thieves, is not on hand to help out the PCs, but two new characters (the Brythunian soldier Buryal and Vanku, the Zamorian thief) are handy for getting you past some dire perils and out of a few deadly scrapes.

Conan and the Tower of the Elephant leaves one looking forward to future Conan Classics releases. This adds a whole new dimension to Hyborian Age roleplay: the assumption that not all the tales told of Conan (even the canonical ones) were actually about our favorite Cimmerian - but may have become part of his legend later on.

But what if you're a Conan purist and find this utterly blashemous?

You can still enjoy this wonderful module:

Nothing prevents you from playing Conan and meeting Taurus in the garden. Mongoose has fleshed out Yara's tower and its environs rather thoroughly, allowing for strange incidents beyond those described by REH.

Or... Marvel Comics ran a three-part mini-series, Conan the Barbarian: Lord of the Spiders in 1998. It took place a decade after the events chronicled in The Tower of the Elephant. Harpagus, High Priest of Zath (the villain from Conan and the Spider God) has regained his memory and wishes vengeance on Conan. He establishes residence in the ruins of Yara's Tower and lures Conan back to Arenjun. Harpagus is a master of mesmeric illusion and privy to Yara's secrets. Conan and the Tower of the Elephant can be played in this context without violating the canon.

Or... King Conan, whose enemies include several Sorcerers of great power, hears that the Tower of the Elephant has re-arisen in Arenjun. He sends your party to Zamora to investigate.

Whatever your context for exploring Conan and the Tower of the Elephant, you're in for a great time. While you're in Zamora, I reccomend you also explore  Shadizar-City of Wickedness and The Black Stones of Kovag-Re, both available from Mongoose Publishing.