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

[Plaguescarred]

ALso a useful thing that can help in adventure conversion and cut down work is reskinning. Bottom line is, monsters are just stat blocks that can be protrayed differently during roleplay.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I did not know that.

I find it natural to expect it to be new and uncertain DMs that asks questions like these.

I think an experienced DM would do well by saying so in his or her question in order to avoid the most basic answers, if that's an issue.

Yeah, I've been DM'ing for nearly 15 years and playing 20+, so I'm definitely not a new DM! I did say in the OP that we'd been playing 3.5E for 10 years though.

That said, I am completely new to 5E (we've played 4 sessions so far, and I have been a player for them, rather than a DM), so I am new in that regard.

Given my lack of 5E experience, I figured it was best to let people give whatever advice they thought was most useful. Plus I find taking other people's learning from the game to be quite useful as it helps me to avoid making the same basic mistakes.

So far all the advice, basic or more complex, has been very useful. So thanks all and keep it coming.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

ALso a useful thing that can help in adventure conversion and cut down work is reskinning. Bottom line is, monsters are just stat blocks that can be protrayed differently during roleplay.

Yeah, I've definitely done that before in 3.5E. It's funny seeing players react apprehensively to a re-skinned monster, especially when you as a DM know it has the stats of an ordinary giant or orc.

 

[AtomicPope]

I played in a 5e Conversion of I6 Ravenloft, and I've played the original. I have to say that 5e converts older 1e and 2e modules almost perfectly.

If you want to convert 3.x then there's a few things to keep in mind:
1. Magic Items - There's a tendency to have a bucket of +1 Longswords doled out like gift bags for completing an Adventure Path. It's much better to sift through the module and pick out the magic items that are useful for the story and keep/convert those. After that, focus on handing out consumables - potions, oils, elixirs, poisons, and powders.
2. Mobs vs Singles - The 3.x system assumed different things about combat, but like all D&D it tried to maintain a theme. Bounded Accuracy allows low-level monsters to remain relevant well beyond their time. It kind of solves the problem of 4e minions (low hp, low damage monsters to harass the PCs). Fighting mobs of creatures isn't a thing in 3.x after a few levels. This means you may need to sprinkle in a few low-level creatures that benefit from being in a mob (pack tactics, leadership, bless, martial advantage). Adding +1D4 from bless means a lowly Orc will be landing shots. Also, at least one of those lowly Orcs should be using the Help action to give a mini-boss Advantage on their next attack.
3. Traps - I've noticed the AP and most 3.x modules love to use traps. That's OK for 5e but traps don't give out experience points anymore. In 5e they're used as an encounter to possibly drain resources. In addition, traps give Rogues an opportunity to shine. If someone is playing a Rogue then it might benefit to have several traps. The most important reason for having traps in 5e is to set the mood for danger, and thematically introduce them to a type of danger. For example, Drow would have small x-bow launchers that fired poisoned darts.
4. Experience totals - The levels of experience changed dramatically in 5e. Rather than have a steady rise like in 4e or the screeching halt of 3.x, 5e slows the game down around 5th level to linger in the "sweet spot" then picks up the pace later. I'm running into this right now as the players haven't advanced a bit after hitting 5th level. Most modules have a soft calculation for exp totals. Pathfinder was pretty good at reminding the DM where the PCs should be and what they should have. Pay close attention to those sections.
5. Outline - I usually create an outline of the module I'm converting, or any adventure I'm DMing. I always cover the follow: setting, history, mood, theme, exp totals/levels. I try to keep it simple and reduce everything to a few words or a single sentence. From a current campaign I have - dwarven space port, famine and shortages, tense, unusual alliances, 5th level (hard). Now I can focus on the details. It's easy to know what level encounters and exp totals to work with, also what monsters to choose from.

 

[CapnZapp]

I played in a 5e Conversion of I6 Ravenloft, and I've played the original. I have to say that 5e converts older 1e and 2e modules almost perfectly.

If you want to convert 3.x then there's a few things to keep in mind:
1. Magic Items - There's a tendency to have a bucket of +1 Longswords doled out like gift bags for completing an Adventure Path. It's much better to sift through the module and pick out the magic items that are useful for the story and keep/convert those. After that, focus on handing out consumables - potions, oils, elixirs, poisons, and powders.

This is good advice, but like a mad man I want to make the advice super ultra clear:

Begin by having ZERO magic items. Then add back a select few, obviously keeping the most colorful, fun items.

That works much better and is much less work than considering each and every +1 Longsword in the old module. The hard truth is: they should probably ALL go.

 

[CapnZapp]

3. Traps - I've noticed the AP and most 3.x modules love to use traps. That's OK for 5e but traps don't give out experience points anymore. In 5e they're used as an encounter to possibly drain resources. In addition, traps give Rogues an opportunity to shine. If someone is playing a Rogue then it might benefit to have several traps. The most important reason for having traps in 5e is to set the mood for danger, and thematically introduce them to a type of danger. For example, Drow would have small x-bow launchers that fired poisoned darts.

Truth be told - I always sign with relief when nobody elects to play a Rogue.

Because that means I can simply drop traps almost entirely

 

[Kalshane]

For my ROTRL game, I'm leaving the various wizards as PC-class specialists (with some tweaks to represent their unusual nature), because it's actually part of the feel of the AP, though I am boosting their HP quite a bit so the party fighter can't just Action Surge and take them down in a single round. For more generic foes, I'd be more inclined to use the NPCs from the back of the MM.

I did switch over to Milestone leveling (based on the handy chart listed at the beginning of each chapter of the Anniversary Edition) following the conversion so I didn't have to worry about leveling speed vs. the speed of the plot or figuring out the exact CR of any converted monsters.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Truth be told - I always sign with relief when nobody elects to play a Rogue.

Because that means I can simply drop traps almost entirely

I love traps, such as the ones from Grimtooth's traps or the 3E Traps & Treachery books published by FFG.

However, I'd rather they work in-game more like little puzzles to solve than simply being a series or dice rolls or ability/skill checks.

So the players roleplay through the encounter more, trying to figure out how the trap works and how it might be disables or somehow circumnavigated. Depending on how much they can figure out about how the trap works or how it can be disabled, they get advantage or various plusses to their ability check/skill check to overcome the trap.

That's sort of how I'd like it to work in theory, but I'm not sure how to get it to work in practice.

 

[CapnZapp]

I love traps, such as the ones from Grimtooth's traps or the 3E Traps & Treachery books published by FFG.

However, I'd rather they work in-game more like little puzzles to solve than simply being a series or dice rolls or ability/skill checks.

So the players roleplay through the encounter more, trying to figure out how the trap works and how it might be disables or somehow circumnavigated. Depending on how much they can figure out about how the trap works or how it can be disabled, they get advantage or various plusses to their ability check/skill check to overcome the trap.

That's sort of how I'd like it to work in theory, but I'm not sure how to get it to work in practice.

This I can agree to.

Meaning traps are great in theory, but in practice traps means the threat of traps.

If the party falls into one hallway spiked pit trap, now they reasonably need to search every 10x10 square for traps. And that sucks. It sucks if there are more traps, but it blows especially hard if there are no more traps!

Also, the DMG traps are "make a Dex or Wis save and be done with it".

If you treat traps like you treat a BBEG, with story and terrain and encounter building, then yes, a trap could be memorable. If the trap is more like a maze or riddle.

But to sprinkle my dungeon with Dexterity DC 13 checks mostly to give the rogue something to do, yech!

In a video game like Baldur's Gate, traps are used to reinforce the sense that dungeons need to be cautiously sneaken through. It slows down the rate of advancement for great effect.

But in a tabletop rpg, you never want to slow down gameplay.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I love traps, such as the ones from Grimtooth's traps or the 3E Traps & Treachery books published by FFG.

However, I'd rather they work in-game more like little puzzles to solve than simply being a series or dice rolls or ability/skill checks.

So the players roleplay through the encounter more, trying to figure out how the trap works and how it might be disables or somehow circumnavigated. Depending on how much they can figure out about how the trap works or how it can be disabled, they get advantage or various plusses to their ability check/skill check to overcome the trap.

That's sort of how I'd like it to work in theory, but I'm not sure how to get it to work in practice.

In practice, design the trap like you want it to work,and provide means for the PCs to gather enough information to make avoiding or disabling the trap easier if they make the effort to do so.

You could have a complex mechanism that operates a two part trap. Just walking in it may take a little extra time for the PCs to figure out that they are dealing with a two part trap. Start with fairly high DCs and reduce the difficulty as players put more effort into figuring things out. This leaves players with options. Either engage with the setting and spend a bit of time to gain an easier check or just skill check their way through with a more difficult check.

This I can agree to.

Meaning traps are great in theory, but in practice traps means the threat of traps.

If the party falls into one hallway spiked pit trap, now they reasonably need to search every 10x10 square for traps. And that sucks. It sucks if there are more traps, but it blows especially hard if there are no more traps!

Also, the DMG traps are "make a Dex or Wis save and be done with it".

If you treat traps like you treat a BBEG, with story and terrain and encounter building, then yes, a trap could be memorable. If the trap is more like a maze or riddle.

But to sprinkle my dungeon with Dexterity DC 13 checks mostly to give the rogue something to do, yech!

In a video game like Baldur's Gate, traps are used to reinforce the sense that dungeons need to be cautiously sneaken through. It slows down the rate of advancement for great effect.

But in a tabletop rpg, you never want to slow down gameplay.

Tons of bland skill checks are boring. It helps when traps fit in with the setting. An ancient tomb that the PCs just opened might have many deadly traps but few monsters except undead.

The types of traps can be important too. A big bad might have a trap at the entrance to the hideout, but since not all of his flunkies are as bright as the boss a death or severe injury type of trap might not be the best idea. A simple alarm trap will do the trick. That way when a dumb minion triggers it by accident (and they will!) there won't be any mess to clean up.

As far as pace goes, in exploration game the players largely control pace. If they want to go slow and be cautious or run through without a care its up to them.