D&D 4E 4E White Plume Mountain?

[Mercurius]

Has anyone run this in 4E? I came across this conversion (Part 1 and Part 2), which are more akin to advice than an actual conversion, and are based on the 3.5 version. The good thing is that the blogger recommends it as an 11th level adventure, which is perfect for my group right now. But I was wondering if anyone has run White Plume Mountain in 4E? Any thoughts? Advice?

I also came across these Blackrazor conversions.

 

[jcayer]

I hacked together a conversion for my gang. It's not bad, you do have to take some of the encounters out, and make some of the rooms bigger. The old AD&D 20x20 room doesn't work for tactical combat in 4E.

They did enjoy a lot of the "old school" elements that I left in.

 

[Dedekind]

You might want to look at the "Return to White Plume Mountain" 25th anniversary edition that came out for 2e for a slightly more modern treatment. Still would take some work to get to 4e...

 

[sigfile]

*Mmmmmm* I absolutely adore this adventure. Good times, good memories. Unfortunately, it's really not well-suited to 4E without a significant re-write. There are just too many threats to tackle without taking extended rests, and no particularly logical way to take an extended rest in the middle of an evil wizard's volcano lair.

My recommendation is to tweak the premise a bit - have the party come in seeking one of the three items at a time. Each branch could be converted to a reasonable series of encounters / challenges for a day's work. Get one item, get out, come back later to face bigger threats to claim another item. Wave is a good low-paragon item, Whelm for mid-tier, and Blackrazor fits just great at high paragon.

 

[Mercurius]

I'm thinking the map from Part 2 above will work well for 4E - the squares are 10', which means there should be plenty of tactical space.

I've already dropped the hook, which is the classic "A local wealthy merchant wants you to recover two items that were stolen from him for 10,000 GP each." This would be Wave and Whelm. The real treasure is Blackrazor.

BTW, if White Plume Mountain would work for 4E with the need for extended rests, I'm not sure how it worked for AD&D, especially when the magic-users ran out of spells and without healing surges. If anything I find that 4E better facilitates a longer day in that most powers are rejuvenated after an encounter and the PCs can heal themselves with surges (or healing potions, as before).

Dedekind, do you recommend Return to White Plume Mountain more than the 3.5 conversion linked to above?

 

[sigfile]

BTW, if White Plume Mountain would work for 4E with the need for extended rests, I'm not sure how it worked for AD&D, especially when the magic-users ran out of spells and without healing surges. If anything I find that 4E better facilitates a longer day in that most powers are rejuvenated after an encounter and the PCs can heal themselves with surges (or healing potions, as before).

In previous editions you had healing wands / rings / weapons / potions that didn't require any additional resource expenditure by the characters. In 4E there aren't magic healing sticks and healing potions burn a healing surge. In previous editions only the spellcasters had significantly limited resources. In 4E everybody is managing healing surges and daily powers.

While 4E certainly does lend itself to a longer day (what with all the refreshing encounter-level resources), no single day is long enough to smash all the way through Keraptis' lair and back out again.

Now, maybe the wizard is playing a little game with the PCs. Maybe he sets the rules up front, informing the heroes that he'll allow them to regain their strength unmolested if they can claim an item... in the spirit of keeping things interesting. This ought to be immediately suspicious, and will help set the stage for the screw-job ending with the efreets.

 

[GRStrayton]

I converted the module to 4th Edition for AnonyCon this past weekend. You can see the basics of my conversion at the link below. It's not much, but it might save you some time. Also note that I use an exploration-focused style of play, which you can read more about on the blog, so the encounter builds don't match the standard 4th Edition guidelines. It's definitely one of my favorite modules of all time!

Legends & Labyrinths

 

[UnknownAtThisTime]

I converted the module to 4th Edition for AnonyCon this past weekend. You can see the basics of my conversion at the link below. It's not much, but it might save you some time. Also note that I use an exploration-focused style of play, which you can read more about on the blog, so the encounter builds don't match the standard 4th Edition guidelines. It's definitely one of my favorite modules of all time!

Legends & Labyrinths

Web Site added to "Favorites" .... The first two modules you've listed on your wordpress site both fall in my top five.

 

[Ryujin]

Nevermind. Reading is fundamental

 

[GRStrayton]

Web Site added to "Favorites" .... The first two modules you've listed on your wordpress site both fall in my top five.

Thanks! I'll see you there!