D&D 3E/3.5 Transfer 5e characters to 3.5e, is it possible?

[EdenNotRaven]

Dear everyone,
I want to learn how to transfer 5e characters to 3.5e,
Let's start with something simple, Arkhan the Cruel... Let's try to create his level 20.
He's a Dragonborn of Tiamat, a Paladin, and Lawful Evil,
I think this is his character page, maybe I mistake:

Arkhan the Cruel - DnD Wiki | Dungeons and Dragons (D&D 5E)

Arkhan the Cruel - DnD Wiki | Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (D&D 5E) Wiki

www.dndwiki.io

How we can transfer this into 3.5e?
Never seen any of the 3.5e versions... but let's create.

 

[payn]

Would need to convert Dragonborn to 3E because they didn't exist then. There was Dragonkin in 3E which could work, but they had a level adjustment which for this exercise might not matter because we are talking level 20.

So, off the top of my head, Id go Fighter or Barbarian 6 and Blackguard 10 along with the level 4 for Dragonkin.

 

[TwoSix]

Let's start with something simple, Arkhan the Cruel... Let's try to create his level 20.

Trying to recreate a well-known character at level 20 into a notoriously crunchy system is not something I would call "simple".

 

[Alzrius]

Would need to convert Dragonborn to 3E because they didn't exist then. There was Dragonkin in 3E which could work, but they had a level adjustment which for this exercise might not matter because we are talking level 20.

So, off the top of my head, Id go fighter 6 and Blackguard 10 along with the level 4 for Dragonkin.

Well, there are dragonborn in Races of the Dragon (affiliate link), but they're not really the same.

Instead, I'd recommend going with the dragonkin race anyway (from the Draconomicon if I recall correctly), and using the optional rules for reducing level adjustments from Unearthed Arcana.

 

[EdenNotRaven]

Trying to recreate a well-known character at level 20 into a notoriously crunchy system is not something I would call "simple".

Hey TwoSix,
I'm sure it doesn't really hard when you got the official character page with all the stats and equips
I don't understand 5e at all, it seems very difficult for me to understand how to transfer 5e characters into 3.5e
I choose Arkhan The Cruel because he's a well-known character.
3.5e got a lot of books.
By the way guys, Dragonkin is not necessary because it's not a Dragonborn at all.

 

[Dausuul]

There isn't a simple, mechanical way to translate a 5E character into 3E. The systems are too different. There's going to be a lot of adaptation and eyeballing involved.

In this case, the big issues you face are, first, finding 3E mechanics for dragonborn, and, second, 3E doesn't allow paladins to be any alignment except Lawful Good*. The most obvious solutions are to use the half-dragon template or dragonkin race (each of which, as @payn notes, packs a hefty level adjustment) and the blackguard prestige class. [Edit: Did not see the Races of the Dragon option, I thought there were no official dragonborn mechanics. Note however that the dragonborn of RotD are former humans transformed by magic, not a self-reproducing species as in 4E and 5E.]

Now, to be a blackguard, you need +6 base attack, 5 ranks in Hide, 2 ranks in Knowledge (Religion), and three feats: Cleave, Improved Sunder, and Power Attack. The simplest way to do this is with 7 levels of paladin, putting cross-class ranks in Hide. This lines up rather nicely for 20th level: 7 levels of paladin, 10 levels of blackguard, and +2 (dragonkin) or +3 (half-dragon) level adjustment. If you pick dragonkin, you can throw the leftover level into fighter or something.

However, if you try to replicate the 7th-level version, you're going to run into a number of problems. First and foremost, you have to be a minimum of 6th level before you can put any levels in blackguard, so if you want any blackguard abilities, you can't have a level adjustment as well. Furthermore, the requirement of 5 ranks in Hide cannot be achieved with six levels of paladin (you top out at 4), so you'd have to dip into some class that gets Hide as a class skill and also grants full BAB. Ranger is the obvious choice.

*You can be a paladin who used to be Lawful Good and no longer is; but none of your paladin abilities will work. You're basically a crappy fighter until you can qualify for blackguard.

 

[EdenNotRaven]

There isn't a simple, mechanical way to translate a 5E character into 3E. The systems are too different. There's going to be a lot of adaptation and eyeballing involved.

In this case, the big issues you face are, first, finding 3E mechanics for dragonborn, and, second, 3E doesn't allow paladins to be any alignment except Lawful Good*. The most obvious solutions are to use the half-dragon template or dragonkin race (each of which, as @payn notes, packs a hefty level adjustment) and the blackguard prestige class. [Edit: Did not see the Races of the Dragon option, I thought there were no official dragonborn mechanics. Note however that the dragonborn of RotD are former humans transformed by magic, not a self-reproducing species as in 4E and 5E.]

Now, to be a blackguard, you need +6 base attack, 5 ranks in Hide, 2 ranks in Knowledge (Religion), and three feats: Cleave, Improved Sunder, and Power Attack. The simplest way to do this is with 7 levels of paladin, putting cross-class ranks in Hide. This lines up rather nicely for 20th level: 7 levels of paladin, 10 levels of blackguard, and +2 (dragonkin) or +3 (half-dragon) level adjustment. If you pick dragonkin, you can throw the leftover level into fighter or something.

However, if you try to replicate the 7th-level version, you're going to run into a number of problems. First and foremost, you have to be a minimum of 6th level before you can put any levels in blackguard, so if you want any blackguard abilities, you can't have a level adjustment as well. Furthermore, the requirement of 5 ranks in Hide cannot be achieved with six levels of paladin (you top out at 4), so you'd have to dip into some class that gets Hide as a class skill and also grants full BAB. Ranger is the obvious choice.

*You can be a paladin who used to be Lawful Good and no longer is; but none of your paladin abilities will work. You're basically a crappy fighter until you can qualify for blackguard.

Nope, This is not right.
There are variants for any base class like Paladin.

Variant Character Classes :: d20srd.org

You can choose Paladin of Tyranny, It's not that hard, The DM of course approves it because the variant makes sense.

You can't be Blackguard from the start.
Dragonkin \ Half-Dragon is not fit for Arkhan The Cruel, Dragonborn is.
But Dragonborn is a Template... right? it's not a base race like a human.
Let's say, 3.5 and not 3, because 3 lacks a lot of things, unlike 3.5.

 

[payn]

You can't be Blackguard from the start.

Does that really matter?

 

[EdenNotRaven]

Does that really matter?

Yep,

 

[payn]

Good luck then.