D&D 5E Night Below 5E Conversion

[Giltonio_Santos]

I'm running it in the Realms right now, using the 5E rules, but not a lot of realmslore involved, just deity names and some references to bigger cities and countries here and there.

I second the advice given above about the death dogs, they're very nasty. Generally, beware of any encounter that mentions enemies in considerable numeric advantage, because they're easier to overcome in 2E rules.

Also, it's not the kind of adventure to run without careful preparation. Take some time to prepare your sessions, because players will probably go on various side quests that are barely laid out in the books, and it's important that they do that, if you want them to be the right level for the main storyline encounters.

That said, I believe it's a great choice. My players are loving it!

 

[Quickleaf]

Casting thread necromancy...

I'm running our group thru an Underdark-focused game, and while we're still at 1st level and on the surface I thought I'd hit up the great sages of ENWorld for thoughts on how to run such a game.

One of my players directed me to Night Below and I am very impressed. I'd heard about it in conversation and seen it on my friend's shelf, but I'd never run or played it before. So I'm definitely thinking of incorporating it into our game, since the aberration theme tracks nicely with what my players said they wanted to focus on.

I've concocted, with the help of my assistant-DM, a set of great Underdark encounter tables for the "Upperdark / Shallows / Upper Caverns" over here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...awesome-Underdark-encounter-table-in-5e/page2

Also, I've mined this thread for advice, which seems to be what you'd expects: (a) adjust number of monsters down when the PCs face large groups, and (b) beware the death dogs in 5e!

Anyone have further thoughts or bits of advice for a DM converting Night Below to 5e? And, moreover, for a DM running (a modified) Night Below for the first time?

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Cool. In a campaign that we played a lot more back in 2008-2012, my spouse ran my daughters and I through a 3.5 tabletop Night Below. It's very sandboxy, and players have a LOT of choice about the progression of their investigation.

We've taken two stabs at this boxed set, once using 2e and once using 3.5. The latter was more successful, probably because the DM had a better feel for how to keep the group engaged, and how to weave a common thread even given disparate investigations during the campaign's prequel on the surface world. Frankly, with you as DM I wouldn't worry about a group staying interested. You'd do just fine.

Based on what I've seen of it so far, it's a great adventure. I like that we have so many choices about how to interact with and effect the game. I sometimes sense my kids are bored and frustrated with what they perceive to be a lack of focus, but they're older now and starting to also appreciate the sandbox feel of the game.

Don't know if that's helpful to you. I like the aberration bent you've given your version. Neat. Gives it a quasi sci-fi feel?

 

[werecorpse]

I ran it in 3/3.5e between 2000 & 2006. I changed it a bit to make it go from levels 1-20. I wouldn't reduce the middle stuff but I would shorten the end (though maybe that's because how 3.5 plays at high level).

2e converts pretty well to 5e as I understand it. Focus more on story, exploration and approximate threat levels - rather than specific numbers of certain types of monsters. It is regarded as one of the best campaigns my players have been in.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=11146]CanadienneBacon[/MENTION] Thanks for sharing your experience That gives me a good feel for what to expect on my end. Sounds like it was a growing experience for your kids as gamers!

I stumbled into the game because some friends were running Roll20 and got stuck with a less-than-ideal DM. Apparently there was a mutiny. I'd DMed for half the group before so I volunteered to DM the game. My four gaming friends here are couples with babies so meeting up in person to game isn't going to happen for a while. Hence we're playing via Roll20.

So I asked everyone what kind of a game they wanted and the response was overwhelmingly: Underdark! with abberations! Interestingly, the group are serious Firefly fans, so I am considering weaving in a little sci-fi element along the way, maybe with the Serenity ship crashed in the Underdark? Haha, don't know yet.

 

[DM_Jeff]

King for a Day

I ran this back in 1996, finished the whole campaign and set it in my homebrew world. The players loved it.

When my friend from Post World Games, Jim Pinto, wanted to run an old-school D&D campaign, he asked me for my best reccomendation. I said The Night Below boxed set.

He got it, dissected it and over the course of a year "reimagined it" with an eye toward gritty detail, logical, interwoven plot threads and a cast of nearly 300 NPCs each with motivation and a hand in the story. He also examined the main crux of the adventure's key goal of the foes, and gave it new life in psychological horror.

It's called King for a Day (system-less), and you can get it in PDF or softcover book.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/112514/King-for-a-Day

I'm running this again for a new generation of players with 5E and mixing in parts of Night Below I liked but otherwise going with this new "version" and it's better than ever. It's neat for me too because I'm not just running the same exact adventure again. It takes it to a new level for me, and the players are completely hooked.

Otherwise for my conversion I either just swap out the creature straight-up, and I'm embellishing with NPC foe stats stolen from Princes of the Apocalypse and other WotC releases for 5E, as well as 5th Edition Foes by Necromancer Games.

 

[Staffan]

Do most people agree that the campaign should just have a shorter middle section? Can anyone link to another in depth discussion of this module. I've suddenly thought maybe I should dust this off for 5e

As I recall, the middle section could use some work. My impression was that they had a great section on the surface for the lower levels, and a great section deep underground with the Sunless Sea (or whatever it was called) for high levels, and then realized they needed to bulk up the PCs with a bunch of XP and items in between.

 

[Eric V]

One of my absolute favourites.

Some pretty important monsters in it are missing from the 5e MM, though.

 

[DM_Jeff]

http://marklenser.com/5econverter/MONSTER CONVERTER

 

[Quickleaf]

As I recall, the middle section could use some work. My impression was that they had a great section on the surface for the lower levels, and a great section deep underground with the Sunless Sea (or whatever it was called) for high levels, and then realized they needed to bulk up the PCs with a bunch of XP and items in between.

Huh, at first glance I'm not seeing the problem with the middle section. Are you saying that it's directionless or less connected to the main aboleth plotline?

There's basically 3 parts which all look like fun:

1. Haranshire -- (59 pages) surface villages (with various "hook" sub-plots), Brokenspire Keep, Gnarlstone Mines
2. Perils of the Underdark -- (64 pages) Svirfneblin city-maze, the long path (misc. encounters), rockseer elves, derro at war, kuo-toa City of the Glass Pool
3. The Sunless Sea -- (64 pages) the great cavern (misc. encounters), isles, Shaboath the aboleth city