Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Converting 1st modules
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Arnwyn" data-source="post: 2630494" data-attributes="member: 7701"><p>Here are the (general) steps I go through when converting an older edition module for 3.xe (I've already converted every single Dungeon Magazine adventure, and a whole lot of 1e classics):</p><p></p><p>Step 1: Go through the module as-is and record the EL for each encounter as given in the original module. Keep an eye out for the "signature" encounters - these are the encounters that are vitally important to the module and 'make the module what it is' and generally aren't changeable (this is usually the BBEG).</p><p></p><p>Step 2: Look over all the recorded ELs, especially noting the signature encounters. With these EL numbers, determine what level of characters (eg. 4 characters of 6th level) this adventure would most likely be suitable for that results in the least amount of work. More often than not, this is determined by the EL(s) of the signature encounters.</p><p></p><p>Step 3: Go through the encounters again, and change the ELs of encounters that are inappropriate for the character level you've decided is best for the module (in Step 2). This is best (and easily) done by simply adding (or subtracting) the number of monsters in the encounter, or by tacking on class levels to the monster(s). Sometimes (though only very rarely) will you need to swap out a monster for a different one entirely. Spoiler: For example, in <em>Against the Cult of the Reptile God</em>, [spoiler]the spirit naga in the end is <em>way</em> too powerful compared to everything else encountered in that module... but it's a signature encounter. I solved this dilemma by changing the spirit naga (CR 9) to a water naga (CR 7) and ensured that one of it's spells known was <em>charm person</em>, which was necessary for the rest of the module. Then I changed the module's level to four 4th-level characters, and added monsters to the rest of the encounters to vary from EL 2 to EL 7[/spoiler]. This is one of the more extreme examples of a conversion - virtually every other one I did was much simpler.</p><p></p><p>Step 4: Traps and treasure can be done on an ad-hoc basis, based on how you run your campaigns. Setting DCs to match the module's level is a snap, and the amount of treasure is best determined by your individual campaign (though keep an eye out for any "signature items" that are required by the module).</p><p></p><p>That's about it. In all the conversions I've done, it's only rarely that I actually had to swap monsters out (and, with the plethora of monsters available in 3.xe, it's still pretty easy to do). I've also found that higher level adventures of previous editions are harder to convert than low-level ones, simply due to the different dynamics of higher-level characters in the different editions - however, the higher-level modules are <em>much</em> more satisfying and fun to convert, because of some of the niftier options available in 3.xe (monster prestige classes onto the Kuo-Toa of D1-2, for example. Fun!).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Arnwyn, post: 2630494, member: 7701"] Here are the (general) steps I go through when converting an older edition module for 3.xe (I've already converted every single Dungeon Magazine adventure, and a whole lot of 1e classics): Step 1: Go through the module as-is and record the EL for each encounter as given in the original module. Keep an eye out for the "signature" encounters - these are the encounters that are vitally important to the module and 'make the module what it is' and generally aren't changeable (this is usually the BBEG). Step 2: Look over all the recorded ELs, especially noting the signature encounters. With these EL numbers, determine what level of characters (eg. 4 characters of 6th level) this adventure would most likely be suitable for that results in the least amount of work. More often than not, this is determined by the EL(s) of the signature encounters. Step 3: Go through the encounters again, and change the ELs of encounters that are inappropriate for the character level you've decided is best for the module (in Step 2). This is best (and easily) done by simply adding (or subtracting) the number of monsters in the encounter, or by tacking on class levels to the monster(s). Sometimes (though only very rarely) will you need to swap out a monster for a different one entirely. Spoiler: For example, in [i]Against the Cult of the Reptile God[/i], [spoiler]the spirit naga in the end is [i]way[/i] too powerful compared to everything else encountered in that module... but it's a signature encounter. I solved this dilemma by changing the spirit naga (CR 9) to a water naga (CR 7) and ensured that one of it's spells known was [i]charm person[/i], which was necessary for the rest of the module. Then I changed the module's level to four 4th-level characters, and added monsters to the rest of the encounters to vary from EL 2 to EL 7[/spoiler]. This is one of the more extreme examples of a conversion - virtually every other one I did was much simpler. Step 4: Traps and treasure can be done on an ad-hoc basis, based on how you run your campaigns. Setting DCs to match the module's level is a snap, and the amount of treasure is best determined by your individual campaign (though keep an eye out for any "signature items" that are required by the module). That's about it. In all the conversions I've done, it's only rarely that I actually had to swap monsters out (and, with the plethora of monsters available in 3.xe, it's still pretty easy to do). I've also found that higher level adventures of previous editions are harder to convert than low-level ones, simply due to the different dynamics of higher-level characters in the different editions - however, the higher-level modules are [i]much[/i] more satisfying and fun to convert, because of some of the niftier options available in 3.xe (monster prestige classes onto the Kuo-Toa of D1-2, for example. Fun!). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Converting 1st modules
Top