D&D 5E Converting 3.xE adventures to 5E

[Olaf the Stout]

My group has been playing 5E for about 2 months now after about 10 years of playing 3.5E. Although I’m a player at the moment, I’m generally the primary DM of the group. I don’t really plan on going back to 3.5E (the cracks in the system have started to show), but I still have an absolute boatload of 3.xE adventures, from Dungeon Magazine and standalone adventures, that I haven’t run.

There are some really good adventures in there, so I’m wondering how hard or easy it is to convert adventures from 3.xE to 5E?

For those of you that have done it, how did you go about it? Are there some general rules or guidelines when converting? Any pitfalls to watch out for? Is there anything you need to change in the adventures to make them work?

Edit: Wow, I have a bad memory! Here's a similar thread I posted about a year ago here on ENWorld! - http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?425358-Converting-Older-Edition-Adventures-to-5E

Still interested in any new takes on converting though.

 

[discosoc]

5e is an easy enough system that conversions shouldn't take too much effort. The main pitfall to avoid is attempting to do a 1:1 conversion for everything. So if an encounter in the 3.5 adventure says it has 4 goblins and 1 worg, don't just try and throw 4 goblins and 1 worg with 5e stats at the group. Instead, look at what the purpose and intended challenge of the encounter was, and rebuild it with 5e using the CR table. So 4 goblins and 1 worg might work out to something like 3 goblins and no worg, or 6 goblins and 2 worgs or maybe 4 goblins and a worg using mastiff stats.

That's really the only "challenge" and it's not that bad as long as you have an understanding of how encounters are built in 5e.

Another thing that's useful is to take full advantage of 5e's monster flexibility. So maybe your 4 goblins are using stats for kobolds because they are more inline with the source adventure. You still present them as goblins to the players, but that's it.

 

[S'mon]

I'm running Shattered Star (Pathfinder) in 5e. Generally monster conversion is very easy. Attributes STR DEX CON mostly work as-is. The general rule if in doubt is "divide number above 10 by 2" - so AC 25 becomes AC 17 (or 18 if that looks better). Use attribute bonus for saves, only give Proficiency if it looks really necessary. Hit Points should normally be increased +50%. Damage is trickier, but +50% generally seems to work likewise. Abilities that disable PCs for the duration should generally become save-each-round. Recalculate Attack Bonus based on Profiency (derived from CR), and Attribute bonus.

 

[the Jester]

I've managed to wing a conversion of a 4e adventure on the fly with just a few notes (major npcs with custom stat blocks, for instance). It was sweet and easy. I can't see low- or mid-level 3e adventures being much harder, except that you might need to be ready to either swap in alternative monsters or wing the stats (possibly using the chart in the DM's Toolbox section of the DMG on monster creation as a baseline); there are a ton of 3e monsters that you just don't have in 5e, and probably never will due to the insane level of customization available (paragon half-troll vampiric elf druid/wizard/mystic theurge/master of many forms with racial substitution levels, I'm looking at you).

 

[thalmin]

Also, watch the treasure. Magical treasure is not normally as common in 5E, and +2 or higher (weapons or armor) would be much less common.

 

[S'mon]

Also, watch the treasure. Magical treasure is not normally as common in 5E, and +2 or higher (weapons or armor) would be much less common.

+2 weaponry is actually fairly high level in 3e/PF because of how NPC Wealth By Level works.
So far I've been going with:

+1 > 5e +1
+2 & +3 > 5e +2
+4 & +5 > 5e +3

For armour/shield it should be more like
+1 & +2 > 5e +1
+3 & +4 > 5e +2
+5 > 5e +3

Some +1 armour/shield bonuses may need to be removed entirely, but I've not done that yet.

 

[Kalshane]

I switched my Rise of the Runelords game over from Pathfinder to 5E at the start of Chapter 5. Doing a DC= 1/2(of PF DC)+5 seems to work pretty well for traps, hazards, skill checks, etc. Monsters I either try to find something close in the 5E MM and tweak from there, or just kind of eyeball it using MM stats of a similar CR as a guideline. The infamous "Boss Monster Alone in a Room" from PF APs get upgraded to Legendary creatures, often with Lair actions.

Treasure I cut way back on (and I even did a complete re-work of the PCs equipment in the conversion, ditching a lot of their generic "Just so the math works" items in favor of stuff that was more flavorful) and most enemies they encounter don't have the pile of +1/+2 equipment they did in PF. They either have nothing at all, or a couple of interesting items from their original PF inventory. If I feel they could use a plus here or there to keep their challenge level up, then I might give them a ring or cloak of protection or magical armor or whatever. When we were playing PF one of the players was actually using an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of all the equipment they found and the GP value to make sure everyone was getting a fair share. Now when they find stuff they decide who would get the most use out of it (taking attunement into account) and just keep a list of anything they're not using. I also don't need to waste time on book-keeping exercises during the game as they sell off the tons of unwanted +1 and +2 to gear in order to buy the next step up in their own gear.

 

[practicalm]

Reducing treasure is important. Direct conversion of spell casters will leave them weaker than expected. I tend to give spell casters some minions to help keep the party off them so they can cast spells.

 

[Kalshane]

Reducing treasure is important. Direct conversion of spell casters will leave them weaker than expected. I tend to give spell casters some minions to help keep the party off them so they can cast spells.

This is very true. The AP assumes that enemy spellcasters are able to buff themselves up substantially before fighting the PCs, which doesn't work in 5E because of both the Concentration mechanic and the fact they don't have nearly as many spell slots.

 

[ExploderWizard]

There has been much good advice given about converting monsters & treasures. Don't forget about exploration stuff and traps. 3E DCs are generally going to be much higher than a party can manage in 5E. A DC 15 standard lock should be around DC 10 in 5E. Likewise convert traps using the guidelines from the 5E DMG. I have converted the Goodman Games module The Mysterious Tower for my campaign and adjust the DCs was one of the first things that I did.