D&D 5E Converting from PF1

[Bacon Bits]

Skill Checks = 1/2 + 5. Use your best judgment what ability score or skill fits the situation best as per 5E rules.

I found that 1/2 + 4 tends to fit a little better, especially at low levels and very high levels. 5e PCs tend to advance quickly between levels 4 and 12 and rather slowly outside of that.

Overall, though, my advice would be to redesign every encounter and most magic items using the module as a rough guide. That gave me the most success, but it is a lot more work than running a 5e module directly. Especially difficult are the NPCs, which tend to be oddball things like Fighter/Monk/Sorcerer/Prestige Class affairs with specialized combat tricks that don't really translate well. The good news is that many Paizo modules have notes from other 5e DMs out there. For monsters, I tend to just find a similar CR creature that has close enough attacks and fudge it from there. Here it kinda helps that 5e monsters are all just bags of HP.

 

[Ancalagon]

2 pieces of advice:

1: there are some conversions out there - even a few "official" ones. they can save you a lot of time

2: Remember that monsters and NPCs don't have to "follow the rules" - if an NPC can do a cool thing that isn't "possible" in 5e, you can always just "wing it". Monsters are not PCs, they can "do things".