Recent content by L R Ballard

Of the few 5e adventures that I own, only Erky Timbers from The Sunless Citadel comes to mind. But his build is low level and generic. Thanks. I'll keep looking as I acquire sources. The specialist wizard builds from Volo's sometimes borrow abilities from the various specializations described...

While we're on the subject, clerics and priests are also spellcasters. The Avatar Trilogy has bunches of clerics and priests. The official, final 5e stuff appears not yet to have improved cleric NPCs builds as they have for wizard NPCs in Volo's. Any suggestions on where to look for inspired...

Those estimates sound reasonable enough for me to consider undertaking analogous builds for Elminster, Khelben, the Simbul, and a few others. I'll prioritize unique builds for the end bosses before returning to the potentially friendly NPCs. There is no deadline for this version of the...

Thanks for the comment. I'm satisfied with the way the wizard NPCs will stat out. The conversion of Elminster linked to by dave2008 is agreeable to me. As I wrote earlier, I'm all for NPC builds of powerful NPCs that evoke respect, and even some healthy fear, from the players.

Agreed. My goal has been to learn the 5e way by doing the conversion. The 5e NPCs are simpler builds than the 3e NPC builds. The simplicity of 5e makes it easier for people to start designing and playing, which has probably contributed to the success of the fifth edition. That’s a reasonable...

For this conversion, I make mostly phrasing and formatting changes to 2e magic items. I made a checklist to use when editing and formatting the 2e magic items. It’s a work in progress: please feel free to critique. Please note: I am unable to use small capitals with the forum tools. The example...

I don’t dispute the claim. My remark was probably a non sequitur given the context of the discussion. It wasn’t a statement that 2e wizards had greater hit point maximums than wizard builds from subsequent editions. Our group played 2e regularly for five years. We understood the limitations of...

Thanks for the link. I like the build. If I may ask--you're, of course, under no obligation to reply--how long did it take to convert Elminster from 3e?

Yup. I’ve been using the NPC monster stat blocks as reference monsters whenever possible. Then I modify the stat blocks according to the NPC creation tables and guidelines in the MM and DMG. How about my using the epic boons previously mentioned? “Boon of Fortitude: Your hit point maximum...

Initially, my preference was to convert the NPCs using the same rules as those for PCs. Eventually, I decided to use the methods described in the Monster Manual. The modules are based on FR novels, and each module includes stats for the main characters. One of the pregenerated characters is...

Hey everyone, Thanks for the replies so far. I know that there's an unwritten rule in forumland that prompt replies are courteous replies. However, during the summer, I freelance edit for academics and am quoting a book manuscript edit today. So, please bear with me. The replies are helping me...

True. Creating unique abilities for NPCs sounds like fun. I’ll probably leave that to individual DMs, who can imagine precisely the kind of ability they’d like a certain NPC to have. However, I’ll include famous spells known by the powerful wizards. For example, Elminster’s Evasion is a spell...

Let me preface this reply by noting that this conversion refers to the revised edition of the 2nd edition Player’s Handbook. The revision, published in 1995, wasn’t something I ran or played anything in; the next session that I ran was in the 3rd edition. The revised 2nd edition seems to make...

Anything CR 17 or higher is deadly for a party of five 11th-level characters.

Okay, cool. I'll see if I can deduce a mathematical progression from the existing XP table, then offer a reasonable number of epic boons to each NPC.