I am a huge Conan fan, so this seems like a must do.

The first choice is which armor to take, and being a barbarian, light armor seems like the obvious choice. But if you read the books, Conan (particularly King Conan) wears heavy mail quite a bit also. I think in this instance I would favor the young Conan and go light armor - though heavy armor is just as tempting. Thoughts?

Now for the weapon. I think either would do, and I am confused here. Yes, the the handed tree has the "barbarian" perks, and that seems a natural fit, but Conan uses one hand weapons a lot, possibly even more. However, I cannot recall him using a shield, so I will likely go 2H.

How about a ranged attack? I have not read all of the books, but I do not recall Conan ever using a bow. I was considering no ranged attack at all, and maybe using a companion for ranged, as Conan often travels with others in his adventures.

Conan is a highly skilled thief. Perhaps I will throw some points into sneak as well.

Ideas?

First ask yourself do you want to play as king conan or conan the barbarian. I would suggest starting your journey as younger conan the barbarian then later in your journey switch to older king conan...imo it will make the whole experience more realistic and therefore more engaging.
I would start with basic fur armors, maybe the fur armor that's a kilt with no shirt. I say stick with 2h weapons the whole game for the power and look, I think the 2h skyforge steel broadsword is the best looking for conan unless you're on pc and have access to the conan atlantean sword. I would also not use any ranged or magic as conan isn't known to use either and for more realistic vibe you should only consume meat and mead to heal vitals...conan isn't a milk drinker

finally stick to what conan would do...battle, steal, conquer and bow to no one.

Oh and i'd like to add that conan wasn't religious but I would say talos is the closest in game "god" to conans crom.

Conan was practical in every way, and used bows sometimes (read Queen of the Black Coast), but that wasn't his thing. He was only truly against magic. Maybe even "against" is not the right word. He was scared of magic. He didn't even want to fight wizards, like the latest (crap) movie makes out. He mostly just ran away and said "Crom!" edit: That's exagerrating, but basically Howard always displayed magic in very Lovecraftian terms. It was always a frightening sort of existential nightmare to be around. Unlike the Skyrim Nords, who say it's for the weak, Conan thought it was for the immensely powerful.

Another aspect to roleplay is his lawlessness. He wasn't a hero or villain per se, but an ubermensch.. Which means he made his own laws sometimes. There's a funny story where he was taken to a court for a crime (forgot the crime) and only went with the guards because he was merely curious about the process and how these "civilized" people lived. When he found that he'd been sentenced, he was surprised that they thought they could just simply do that. The only rule was strength. So he killed everyone in the courtroom and left.

When you retire the character, collect every book you can find and become http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2wh1aD5MP1rsnrovo1_400.jpg!

I would say use 2-Handed greatswords and for range just give a bow to a companion. It seems really to take a long time to switch from a bow to a 2-handed weapon.

Conan was Kimmerian who were an Indo-European people of Russia so definitely Nord

Definitively 2-handed.

Light armor = fur (otherwise heavy armor = ancient Nord but I think Conan was lighter footed with less armor & big weapons)

smithing, archery (for range)

Conan was also good at sneak and was sometimes a good thief (lockpick maybe?)