D&D 5E Adventure Conversion Help

raineym · Jul 14, 2019

I'm thinking of converting the old D&D 2e adventure series Eye of Pain, Eye of Doom, and Eye to Eye to 5e and the conversion part is not the problem. The problem I'm having is the wide disparity in CRs of the creatures in the adventures between editions and where to set the adventures, CR-wise, in my campaign.

For those that don't know these adventures, it is a series of adventures featuring the cunning and deadly beholder and its beholder-kin.

For instance, just in the first adventure alone, Eye of Pain, an adventure set of 4th-8th level PCs, you have CR 1/2 and CR 0 monsters in Violet Fungi, Shriekers, and Gas Spores, then jump directly to the CR 14 Death Tyrant.

According to the tables in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, an encounter with a single CR 14 Death Tyrant should roughly be for a group of 4 12th-level PCs. If that's the case, then the CR 1/2 and 0 creatures would not be a challenge for the PCs at that level.

Eye of Doom has a lot of NPCs so that will not be a problem to convert. Eye to Eye suffers from the same issues as Eye of Pain, with things like bats, fire beetles, centipedes, spiders, and stirges.

I guess what I'm asking is how do I bridge the gap of the creature's CRs while keeping the original feel of the adventures?

Shiroiken · Jul 14, 2019

Updating old adventures can sometimes be very tricky, because some old monsters were a threat at any level (the molds, slimes, and fungus especially), but less so in 5E. In addition, some monsters were not meant to be fought at all, and were well above the abilities of the characters.

While I'm not familiar with adventures in question, I can offer a bit of advice. Add in some similar themed monsters to fill out the low CR spots, or use some hazards to make them more meaningful (possibly both). As for the death tyrant, the simplest solution would be to have it already be damaged (in older editions, undead couldn't naturally heal) and by reducing the HP you can reduce the CR. It will still be a death dealing machine, however, so there's a fair chance of at least 1 character death.

Hriston · Jul 15, 2019

If I was converting this adventure, I’d want to stick with the original level range, keeping in mind that it was written for a slightly larger party size (4-6 PCs) than is typical in 5E. So I’d gauge difficulties for a party of four 8th-level PCs. Depending on what other encounters the party is expected to overcome in the same day, it might not be a bad idea to let there be a deadly encounter with a CR 14 death tyrant, especially if nearby encounters are on the easy side of things. To keep encounters with lower CR creatures relevant and above the party’s easy threshold of 1,800 XP, however, I’d add enough creatures to get there with the encounter multiplier for multiple monsters. So for example, 8 gas spores, 12 violet fungi, or 45 shriekers would each be enough to make an easy encounter for an 8th-level party.

Urriak · Jul 15, 2019

So just a reminder, when one well-optimized party is fighting only one opponent, the CR should actually be higher than they're level.

So for you're Death Tyrant, with a CR of 14, a party of 5 characters with all of their abilities and HP can probably take him at level 9.

D&D 5E Adventure Conversion Help

raineym

Explorer

Shiroiken

Legend

Hriston

Dungeon Master of Middle-earth

Urriak

Explorer

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