ironregime said:
Does anyone have a set of guidelines for un-cheesing published D&D adventures?
This depends strongly on what you feel is "cheesy" about D&D.
For example, I find it relatively cheesy to have a 1001 different humanoid species. So for my current campaign world I started with just a handful of humanoid races:
Humans
Dwarves (and Dark Dwarves)
Elves (and Dark Elves)
Half-Elves
Orcs/Goblins/Ogres (all members of the same, highly diverse species)
Lizardfolk/Draconicans/Kobolds (all members of the same species)
Since then I've ended up adding giants, mind flayers, shapechangers, and a race of felinids from "across the Southern Sea". For a couple of campaigns I've allowed PC halflings from small isolated settlements (had a player who really loved halflings).
But for the most part I've found it relatively easy to convert published D&D adventures to match this. Any humanoid opponents usually end up being converted to orcs or adrak (the lizardfolk).
- Replace every other magic item listed with mundane items/valuables. This reduces the overall abundance of magic in the game. Careful consideration needs to be made in each case, because some modules are written with the intent that some of the items will be useful to the players later in the adventure.
- Replace renaissance technology with medieval technology. Rapiers become short sword, hand crossbows become short bows, etc.
- Replaced any exotic weapons (spiked chains included!) with the closest non-exotic fit for the milieu. (With only a few exceptions, I think spiked chains are pure cheese.)
- Wherever feasible, replace alchemical items with mundane items. Tindertwigs become bundles of oiled torches, or bullseye lanterns and spare oil flasks, etc. Again care is needed to take into account specific assumptions in the module, such as creature tactics.
- Replace any templated creature that seems pointless or over-the-top (i.e. a pack of fiendish werebadgers on a wandering monster table) with more reasonable creatures of equivalent CR.
- Personally, I think the default economic system is way out of whack. I like to replace all references to "gp" with "sp" in all rules used, which returns a feel of value to gold pieces. I would prefer some easy way to redo the whole wealth-by-level system so that it doesn't rise so quickly... and possibly unhooking prices from magic items.
- Replacing magic traps with believable mundane ones, wherever appropriate and/or possible.
Now, it sounds like what bugs you is primarily the commonplace nature of magical artifacts in the default D&D campaign setting: There are thousands upon thousands of spellcasters and they all tend to leave their mark on the world (and have been doing so for centuries).
This is more difficult. To "fix" this for you requires a bit more information, however: Is it what the magic allows the characters to do that bugs you or is it the fact that it's all being done with dozens of magical items that bugs you?
I can hear you on that one. There's something nice about a setting where King Arthur's Excalibur is notable. It's definitely a contrast to a setting where King Arthur has a magic sword, magic armor, a magic shield, a magic crown, a couple of magic rings, and a magic cloth to wipe his bum with.
But as long as you're still okay with heroes of legendary prowess who can tackle a bout of dragonslaying, then this is actually relatively easy to do:
1. Do you GP to SP conversion. Magic items other than scroll, potions, and wands keep their GP prices, making them exorbitantly expensive to construct.
2. Take a look at the WBL table. When a PC levels up, allow them to purchase abilities using, say, 75% of their WBL as if they were purchasing magic items. They don't actually purchase the magic items, but they get the ability. So a character may be able to climb on the walls -- but they'll be able to do it because they've bound the spirit of a spider to their chakra point (or whatever fluff text you prefer), not because they're wearing magical slippers. They'll be super-skilled with a blade because they've trained with it, not because they've got a
+5 sword.
(I'm presuming that the other 25% of their wealth will actually be accumulated in SP as part of the adventure: It will be spent on mundane equipment, potions, etc. Some of it will also be the rare magical item that turns up.)
3. When converting adventures, simply look at the NPC stat blocks: Wherever they have a magic item listed, it's actually an ability they've trained to do. Unless, of course, it's one of those rare magic items you want to actually fall into the PCs' hands. (This will neatly reduce treasure levels and makes for an easy conversion, since stats don't actually change. It can be mostly done on the fly, in fact.)
If your problem is in what the PCs are capable of doing, then you've got a more difficult task. Basically you're going to have to just throw the CR system out past 8th level or so. And around 10th level or so the casters are going to completely dominate the melee fighters. There will be no easy conversions, since you'l always have to be wary of an encounter which would have been easy (since a standard party could, for example, fly) but would now be almost impossible (since your PCs can't).
