D&D 5E What Paizo Adventures (Paths or otherwise) Have You Run in 5E

[Voadam]

So I am thinking about this again.

I think I want to undertake a project to run a PF AP in 5E, BUT I want to do all the work ahead of time -- both mechanical conversion and process of collating, indexing, and where necessary revising the AP so that it is a more seamless whole with early views of villains, deeper connections throughout, and so on.

What AP do you think would be the best for this? What AP would work best converted to 5E with 5E's particular assumptions, and itself is a fun AP that could use some polishing?

Carrion Crown. It has a great 5e conversion for modules 1-3 and they make a completed AP on their own with a logical climax and BBEG flagged from the beginning. It is also pretty tight on the gothic horror themes with a four part themed sequence of ghosts, Frankenstein, werewolves, and zombie apocalypse.

Module 4 is Lovecraft themed (which can work or not with gothic horror themes depending on taste), 5 is sort of vampire politics, a bit more VtM adjacent than Dracula, and 6 is lich themed which is just powerful D&D undead and not really gothic except for the BBEG's story which did not seem to come out for the player's to discover a lot as written.

The conversion and the AP commentary on Paizo's board have great suggested revisions to have things make a more interconnected satisfying story from the start. Legendary Games has a couple 5e short modules designed to slot easily into the early AP as well though as I mentioned before adjusting the second module's BBEG to be an existing AP villain worked to integrate it much better and support the themes of the AP.

To get the full six AP you want the Paizo commentary on bringing the ultimate BBEG into the opening and possibilities for having them do stuff throughout.

As originally written the ultimate BBEG for AP 6 is pretty absent until 6 but there are a number of ways to have them more involved at various points. Watching from afar villain who taunts them with letters throughout is one method suggested on the Paizo boards. I went with creepy family friend and rich patron who shows up at the funeral offering aid to the bereaved whenever needed before leaving and then who hosts the party in Lepidstadt, and who was going to eventually do a heel turn reveal and use an NPC from module 1 as the intended climax sacrifice instead of the fairly out of nowhere NPC as written.

 

[Reynard]

Carrion Crown. It has a great 5e conversion for modules 1-3 and they make a completed AP on their own with a logical climax and BBEG flagged from the beginning. It is also pretty tight on the gothic horror themes with a four part themed sequence of ghosts, Frankenstein, werewolves, and zombie apocalypse.

Module 4 is Lovecraft themed (which can work or not with gothic horror themes depending on taste), 5 is sort of vampire politics, a bit more VtM adjacent than Dracula, and 6 is lich themed which is just powerful D&D undead and not really gothic except for the BBEG's story which did not seem to come out for the player's to discover a lot as written.

The conversion and the AP commentary on Paizo's board have great suggested revisions to have things make a more interconnected satisfying story from the start. Legendary Games has a couple 5e short modules designed to slot easily into the early AP as well though as I mentioned before adjusting the second module's BBEG to be an existing AP villain worked to integrate it much better and support the themes of the AP.

To get the full six AP you want the Paizo commentary on bringing the ultimate BBEG into the opening and possibilities for having them do stuff throughout.

As originally written the ultimate BBEG for AP 6 is pretty absent until 6 but there are a number of ways to have them more involved at various points. Watching from afar villain who taunts them with letters throughout is one method suggested on the Paizo boards. I went with creepy family friend and rich patron who shows up at the funeral offering aid to the bereaved whenever needed before leaving and then who hosts the party in Lepidstadt, and who was going to eventually do a heel turn reveal and use an NPC from module 1 as the intended climax sacrifice instead of the fairly out of nowhere NPC as written.

That sounds very cool. But to be clear,I am interested in doing the work myself. I'm not looking for one that is already done.

 

[FrozenNorth]

Legacy of Fire. It was fun, but you absolutely have to rip the guts out of the adventure to make it work. The ideas and the concepts are great, but there are just SO. MANY. FIGHTS. that are an everlasting slog if you don’t skip them.

 

[TheSword]

So I am thinking about this again.

I think I want to undertake a project to run a PF AP in 5E, BUT I want to do all the work ahead of time -- both mechanical conversion and process of collating, indexing, and where necessary revising the AP so that it is a more seamless whole with early views of villains, deeper connections throughout, and so on.

What AP do you think would be the best for this? What AP would work best converted to 5E with 5E's particular assumptions, and itself is a fun AP that could use some polishing?

Curse of the Crimson Throne would be my recommendation. It’s an excellent campaign for starters with some really interesting elements and a great premise

• Great adventure locations
• A very strong theme
• Cool long term NPCs
• A good balance of mystery/investigation and combat.

I’ve been a player in it all the way through and am currently DMing a 5e conversion of it.

It also has a single book compilation which is a really efficient and revised version of the full AP.

 

[Voadam]

That sounds very cool. But to be clear,I am interested in doing the work myself. I'm not looking for one that is already done.

Iron Gods from my experience worked great as is interconnected plot wise for the three modules I ran with tons of opportunities to riff any way you want (I used references from a ton of sci fi shows and RPGS and alterations to fit my homebrew setting) but a ton of the monsters and NPCs you are going to have to convert or come up with replacements. With its sci-fi in D&D theme new monsters are easy to justify fitting in though and if you have a deep 3rd party monster book collection it can be a great time to utilize that. Same for if you have 3rd party 5e tech stuff from sci fi, cyberpunk, or post apocalyptic sourcebooks. I had fun making up equivalents for the drugs found on one of the NPCs.

 

[Necropolitan]

So I am thinking about this again.

I think I want to undertake a project to run a PF AP in 5E, BUT I want to do all the work ahead of time -- both mechanical conversion and process of collating, indexing, and where necessary revising the AP so that it is a more seamless whole with early views of villains, deeper connections throughout, and so on.

What AP do you think would be the best for this? What AP would work best converted to 5E with 5E's particular assumptions, and itself is a fun AP that could use some polishing?

Way of the Wicked. It's a 3rd party adventure path taking the party from 1st to 20th level. It actively leans into the type of roleplaying that 5E does better than Pathfinder 1E (focusing on flavor as much as mechanics) and it doesn't feel like a disconnected set of dungeons like a whole lot of other adventure paths.

And someone did a conversion of the first part of it so all it needs is someone willing to do the remaining 5 (and the extra section with bonus options if they felt like it). "Way of the Wicked: Knot of Thorns" in D&D 5E

There's an issue with the PDF, but I've got it transcribed to a Word document if you want it.

It's an Evil campaign though.

 

[Zardnaar]

So I am thinking about this again.

I think I want to undertake a project to run a PF AP in 5E, BUT I want to do all the work ahead of time -- both mechanical conversion and process of collating, indexing, and where necessary revising the AP so that it is a more seamless whole with early views of villains, deeper connections throughout, and so on.

What AP do you think would be the best for this? What AP would work best converted to 5E with 5E's particular assumptions, and itself is a fun AP that could use some polishing?

I'm considering Rise of the Rune Lords.

I've used Sandpoint my other games and large chunks of it.

 

[FrozenNorth]

I second the idea of simply replacing the AP monsters with 5e equivalents rather than converting them (except maybe for a signature ability). The lift is generally not worth the time and effort.

 

[Reynard]

I second the idea of simply replacing the AP monsters with 5e equivalents rather than converting them (except maybe for a signature ability). The lift is generally not worth the time and effort.

5E and PF1E have different assumptions about encounters and difficulty and XP. It might be easier, but it won't create a satisfying experience.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

It might be easier, but it won't create a satisfying experience.

Could you elaborate?