D&D 4E Converting old adventures to 4E?
Freakohollik
First Post
I'm about 90% of the way through converting The Gates of Firestorm Peak (2e) to 4e.
The only problem that has really slowed me down is keeping the combats interesting. For example, on the way to the Gates, the PCs are supposed to encounter a vicious cave bear. Looking at the bear's statblock, it looks like he could possibly hit the PCs for a bit of damage, but the fight should be over pretty quickly without any threat of dying. The fight is there more for setting up the tone of the module rather than to be exciting. This gives me a lot of trouble since the fights in 1e/2e were so much faster than 4e. On the one hand, I want the encounter to be there for tone. But, on the other, if I put it in, chances are good that it will take too long to resolve with the new system and just slow the game down.
The older editions had so many more rooms and combats, where as 4e emphasizes fewer, but more dramatic combats. This is the hardest thing to deal with. Everything else so far has been managable.
The only problem that has really slowed me down is keeping the combats interesting. For example, on the way to the Gates, the PCs are supposed to encounter a vicious cave bear. Looking at the bear's statblock, it looks like he could possibly hit the PCs for a bit of damage, but the fight should be over pretty quickly without any threat of dying. The fight is there more for setting up the tone of the module rather than to be exciting. This gives me a lot of trouble since the fights in 1e/2e were so much faster than 4e. On the one hand, I want the encounter to be there for tone. But, on the other, if I put it in, chances are good that it will take too long to resolve with the new system and just slow the game down.
The older editions had so many more rooms and combats, where as 4e emphasizes fewer, but more dramatic combats. This is the hardest thing to deal with. Everything else so far has been managable.
GRStrayton
First Post
I know exactly what you're trying to achieve. One option may be to use bear minions (say 4 or 5, depending on the size of the party). That way, you get the tone you want, but the fight ends quickly.
Spirynth
First Post
I'm actually working on converting Atlas games' "Thieves in the Forest" module right now. I think the "toughest" part is that I'm not trusting the viability of the 4e monsters - I keep thinking: "geez, thats too powerful! It'll smear the players all over the lawn!" so then I try to dial the monster down via the tips in the DMG. But I keep micro-managing it, tweaking it - again, thinking: "No, that can't be right! Lemme tear it down and re-figure it..." and so I'm practically re-building everything from zero.
After sleeping on it and coming back - I'm getting the feeling that I over-thinking it, that I need to zoom out a bit and stop trying to re-build things at a granular level. GO for a more overall, simpler substitution approach.
Upside is that I'm learning a lot about things. It may be time-consuming, but its kinda fun. When I run it - I'll get to see (probably in glaring clarity) where I blew it - and I can learn from that.
I'm thinking of converting an old, older module from Judge's Guild next ("The Book of Illhedron").
After sleeping on it and coming back - I'm getting the feeling that I over-thinking it, that I need to zoom out a bit and stop trying to re-build things at a granular level. GO for a more overall, simpler substitution approach.
Upside is that I'm learning a lot about things. It may be time-consuming, but its kinda fun. When I run it - I'll get to see (probably in glaring clarity) where I blew it - and I can learn from that.
I'm thinking of converting an old, older module from Judge's Guild next ("The Book of Illhedron").
Mustrum_Ridcully
Hero
Three DMs in my group are converting their adventures to 4E.
We're converting the Savage Tides adventure path, and the first two Pathfinder adventure paths.
We've had two converted sessions so far. There are still some things to work out a little better (our first attempt at skill challenge left a lot to be desired), but the conversion itself doesn't seem too problematic.
I am converting the Cormyr - Tearing of the Weave in mid-flight. So far I managed to convert about 4 encounters in an afternoon, without much effort. It sure takes some creativity and I even had to create a monster, but it can be done.
One thing that is bothering me is distributing treasure, but I think I'll get used to it.
I'd be happy to compare notes with others interested in this adventure.
One thing that is bothering me is distributing treasure, but I think I'll get used to it.
I'd be happy to compare notes with others interested in this adventure.
D'karr
Adventurer
I'll be converting Ravenloft in October for our "yearly" romp through that site.
I'm also going to convert the original A1-A4 - Slavelords adventures for use with my regular campaign.
I converted City of Peril on the fly for a game about 4 weeks ago.
Conversion is not difficult, you just have to have a sense of what the original encounter was trying to do and find a good equivalent. If a particular monster has not been published for 4e, it is super simple to find an equivalent and tweak it.
I'm also going to convert the original A1-A4 - Slavelords adventures for use with my regular campaign.
I converted City of Peril on the fly for a game about 4 weeks ago.
Conversion is not difficult, you just have to have a sense of what the original encounter was trying to do and find a good equivalent. If a particular monster has not been published for 4e, it is super simple to find an equivalent and tweak it.
Also on my to-do list is a conversion of Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, though I doubt I'll get it done by Halloween. I may try to create a horror one-shot for it, though.
The monster I adapted presented a bit of difficulty in that there is no more immunity to magic, but all I did was take the framework of a Mad Wraith and create some powers for my monster using references as diverse as the 2nd Ed MM for getting the theme right on the monster. If you'd like, I could even post it here. No sure I can reveal the monster name, since there's no spoiler tag...
The monster I adapted presented a bit of difficulty in that there is no more immunity to magic, but all I did was take the framework of a Mad Wraith and create some powers for my monster using references as diverse as the 2nd Ed MM for getting the theme right on the monster. If you'd like, I could even post it here. No sure I can reveal the monster name, since there's no spoiler tag...
Combine mutiple old encounters into one.
i.e. the monsters in the next room hear the noise and show up on round 3 but one of them went to get help from another room and they will show up on round 6, just as the party has blown all their encounter powers and is looking forward to a short rest...
A lot of published modules fail to take into account this sort of thing.
Of course under older editions after you do this the 1st time that party casts silence 15 foot radius at the start of every encounter...
Kambuk
i.e. the monsters in the next room hear the noise and show up on round 3 but one of them went to get help from another room and they will show up on round 6, just as the party has blown all their encounter powers and is looking forward to a short rest...
A lot of published modules fail to take into account this sort of thing.
Of course under older editions after you do this the 1st time that party casts silence 15 foot radius at the start of every encounter...
Kambuk
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