Has anyone had success dusting off a very old module that you own like AD&D 1 Ravenloft, and running it using new rules and replaced monsters?
If so, any tips or things to keep in mind?
If so, any tips or things to keep in mind?
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D&D 5E DMing an old school module
- Thread starter Falcon10275
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I ran a couple of 1e adventures under 3e. My biggest take-away is that encounters may require tweaking and shouldn't be converted over straight. What I mean is that if an encounter has 6 ogres, it may be appropriate for 1e, but might not work at all (or very well) under later editions. There was one such encounter that would have been a challenge in 1e in one of the modules I converted (IIRC from Dungeon), that was a cakewalk in 3e. Presumably conversion to 5e might need tweaking as well.
Damon.
Damon.
I have found this in converting a 3.5 AP to 5e. I use the 3.5 encounter level as the XP budget in 5e and go from there.
ExploderWizard
Hero
I am running T1 Village of Hommlet for a 5E campaign. Conversion was pretty easy.
Sacrosanct
Legend
During the past 2 years of playtest, I've run over a half dozen AD&D classic modules. Just replace the monster stat blocks with the 5e ones, convert saving throws to 5e's version, and tone down magic items a bit (not a lot of +4 swords in 5e 
.
But it's super easy. I didn't even need to do any prep work, but just swapped on the fly.
.But it's super easy. I didn't even need to do any prep work, but just swapped on the fly.
the Jester
Legend
Yeah, I do this all the time. I've ran Gates of Firestorm Peak (a 2e adventure) in 3.0; I have run the Lost City (B4, a Basic/Expert era module) in 2e, 3e and 4e; I've run ToEE (a 1e adventure) in 2e and 3e; I've run Return to the Tomb of Horrors (a 2e module) in 3e; etc.
I have not, as yet, run any conversions for 5e outside of the playtest, but the playtest used a number of different old school adventures.
Basically, though, it's usually pretty easy to do. Sometimes you might need to convert/reskin/change some monsters and stuff, but I've never found it to be difficult.
halfling rogue
Explorer
care to illuminate us to your process? did you just swap stat blocks? Make stuff up on the fly? I guess I'm asking, pretty easy in what way?
ExploderWizard
Hero
The classed npcs I created as PC versions. It was a lot of fun and it helped me learn basic stuff about creating characters of various classes. Rufus was fun to create as a battle master fighter. When I am at my home computer I will post the converted stat block so you can see what it looks like.
The monsters were converted using the monsters in the pdfs with some adjustments as needed. The frogs out in front of the moathouse was a terrifying encounter in AD&D and I wanted it to be just as cool in 5E so I swapped out a few of the giant frogs for giant toads, since the frogs can't swallow anything larger than a small character.
Some of the magic items I made stats up for since there were no counterparts in the pdfs.
halfling rogue
Explorer
Thanks! I've read a bunch of different ways folks have done it. Some convert every detail, some like you, and others said they just ran an old module as is swapping only monster stats
Grimstaff
Explorer
Quick Conversion on the fly:
AC: Subtract 1E/B/X AC from 20 for 5E AC (ie, AC 5 becomes 15)
To hit: HD+2 (ie. 5HD monster is +7 to hit with attacks)
HP: +2 per HD (ie 2HD 1e monster has 2HD+4 hp)
Damage: +1 per 2HD (ie 4HD 1e monster that does d10 dmg, does d10+2 for 5E)
This surprisingly hews pretty close to the actual 5E stats.
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