D&D 5E Convert ROTRL or wait for Out of the Abyss?

[pontinyc]

Hi All,

My group is only two sessions into my ROTRL conversion. So far I've just been using the conversions available online. However, those only go up a few levels, after that I'll have quite a bit of math ahead of me. The group likes their characters and the adventure, however we can only get together once a month or so due to work, etc.

Considering the fact that Out of the Abyss will be out in six weeks, would you recommend that I wait for its release and start with that or continue with ROTRL? I know it's tough to gauge the quality of the new adventure without having seen it. Also, to note, my party started Hoard of the Dragon Queen and really didn't enjoy it and I, personally, wasn't attracted to Princes of the Apocalypse after having read the majority of the adventure. We haven't played Lost Mines of Phandelver as they really want something that will take them from 1-15 over a year or two of playing. A full home-brew campaign isn't possible at the moment due to time constraints.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated though, as I mentioned, I understand that it's a bit of a guessing game as to the quality of the upcoming adventure.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[jrowland]

I would stick with ROTRL if both YOU and the players are enjoying. OotA may be the best module ever, but why stop the fun you're having now?

I assume the only reason is the pain of conversion. That's a good reason, for sure, but if you play infrequently I'd either a) suck it up and do the work between sessions or b) come up with a more ad-hoc conversion rule you can do on the fly, and wing the rough edges. There is a rough guide for ad-hoc conversions, I think on this site but I'm not sure. It works well enough.

"Winging it" is easy to do in 5E and its a DM skill I highly recommend mastering if your prep time is limiting.

 

[Agamon]

This would be useful for converting a PF AP.

 

[pontinyc]

Thank you both for the input. Very good reasons to stick with what we're doing. Do we know if there will be any advanced opportunities for people to try out OotA before its release? Would just be curious to see how folks are enjoying it.

Thanks again!

 

[Wik]

Here's a vote for Out of the Abyss. I just finished RotRL a few months back, and the last few modules were BRUTAL. The first three were kind of fun, but they were not my cup of tea later on. Maybe the modules would run better in 5e, but I dunno. I found it very rough to run.

 

[pontinyc]

Thanks, Wik. Wondering if you could clarify a bit what you mean by rough. Do you mean that it got sort of unenjoyably lethal to the party toward the end or that it was just sort of boring and a bit of a slog?

Thanks for any input!

 

[Kryx]

This would be useful for converting a PF AP.

I did the original RotRL conversion he's likely talking about as well.

I'd suggest you refine some of those numbers as my new converter is likely more accurate, but it doesn't get all the details.
Either way should work.

 

[Mercurius]

This question really depends upon you, your group, and your collective needs and desires. Not sure how anyone else can answer it.

 

[Jester David]

Out of the Abyss will still be around later. And the longer you wait, the more errata and play reports there will be to help you run the game and avoid problem areas.

Oh, and since people are awesome, there's also this:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kloyX_I_8wP9WGzwzKj-tJMh-TfyGcotrIu7xuHUjF8/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Kryx]

Oh, and since people are awesome, there's also this:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kloyX_I_8wP9WGzwzKj-tJMh-TfyGcotrIu7xuHUjF8/edit?usp=sharing

Ya, that's the one one I made and was linked/mentioned above.

My new converter (also linked above) is probably a bit more accurate - you just have to add the extra traits.