D&D 5E I have a hankering for freeing Phalan!

[Count_Zero]

One setting tweak I'd make with this - the River Lis, which connects the Moonsea with the Sea of Fallen Stars, in Setting As Written (SAW), is not generally navigable (for reasons unrelated to harassment from raiders along the shoreline - it's a shallow marshy river). Change that to make the river navigable, or at require someone who traveled it before to avoid obstacles. This means politically the players aren't stuck with dealing with Zhentil Keep (if set earlier in the timeline), Mulmaster, and Hillsfar in the Moonsea - giving them some more favorable options.

 

[Demetrios1453]

You could decrease the numbers appropriately. The FAQ actually has the 'party strength' calculation the game used to work out the party's overall ability and the way it plugs into encounter sizes, so you could figure out a conversion factor.

For Secret, you can similarly decrease the number of encounters--there's no reason you have to have more than two or three fights in the ice caves, for instance.

Pools of Darkness had a great post-apocalyptic-with-petty-warlords Realms setting I'm sorry we never saw more of and that would be great for a high-level party. You'd have to adjust encounter strength again, of course--5e stops at 20th level, whereas Pools lets your party get up to 40 (TBH, they had IP issues, but at that point you should be fighting gods, not demons...)

Heh, I know what to do with PoR, it's just a matter of sitting down and doing it!

There are three real problems with SotSB. 1. It doesn't fit in with the Tyranthraxus/Bane story line of the other three. Bane says at the start of PoD that he ordered the Dreadlord to fight the party, but that's really not brought up during SotSB, and it's an awkward fit. 2. It's very repetitious. Nine boringly similar levels of the mines, then multiple similar levels of the castle lower levels, and finally the endless glacial crevasses. And the monsters fought are usually from a small set of creatures. It's nice when something different like the lizardfolk section in the mines or the frost giant settlement come up, but these are rare events in comparison to the mind-numbing tedium of the rest. 3. It's very linear and railroaded. PoR gives you some choices between missions at any given time; CotAB has five main sections, but the middle three can be done in any order; and PoD allows you to go around the ruins of the Moonsea and visit pretty much anything at will. Obviously, there are optimal ways to go through the various areas in those three games, but you are certainly not beholden to do so. SotSB, outside random exploration of the ruins of Old Verdigris near the start, pretty much has to be done in a particular order. It really needs to have some work done to make it a proper and interesting Tier 3 adventure, and allow for greater player agency and choice.

PoD's levels really shouldn't be too much of an issue. In my rough work-throughs, the characters would reach level 20 around halfway through, but further advancement would still be possible using the Epic Boons section of the DMG. I would honestly end it all with an epic battle with an aspect of Bane himself instead of with just a balor (and what was LE Bane doing working with demons anyway? I'd probably turn Gothmenes, who would be the penultimate fight, into a pit fiend or unique archdevil). Since Kallistes is an obvious substitution for Lolth, that section would become the Demonweb Pits itself, while the dragon part would be run by Tiamat. Basically, it the events would be the result of a Bane-Tiamat-Lolth alliance, which of course would never hold and all three looking to backstab the other two as soon as they were able (the cultists of Moander are there as well, but the other three just humor their delusions of grandeur while they tap into the residual divine essence of Moander's body). I could even see Tiamat, after her forces were vanquished, using the party to wreck the plans of the other two in revenge...

(CotAB would probably be the most straightforward to adapt, other than making it so the Bonds don't take away player agency more than absolutely necessary. Luckily, it only happens a few times anyway...)

 

[cowpie]

Another Implementation of this that could serve as a campaign model is Chaosium's classic Runequest campaign set: Pavis+Big Rubble.
Pavis is a small Jerusalem-like city on frontier edge of the Lunar Empire. It serves as a home base for the PCs, as well as a source of city adventures. It's full of warring factions. The Lunar Governor wants a flashy success that he can report to the Capital so he can return home (since Pavis is as bad a posting for him, as Jerusalem was for Pontius Pilate). There are local rebels who want to kick out the Imperial Troops, and declare the place a free city state. There are criminals, merchant houses, desert tribes, Barbarian mercenaries who hate the Lunars for conquering their homeland (etc).
Then there's the "Big Rubble", the vast ruins of an ancient city built by giants, surrounded by enormous, near-unscalable walls, containing the remains of a fallen "kaiju-like" golem. Outlaws, exiles, mythical beasts, and strange phenomena populate the ruins, but are mostly contained within the walls. Pavis huddles next to the Big Rubble, but a gate manned by Lunars offers access to the ruins. PCs can purchase permits from the Lunars authorizing entry into the Big Rubble, with the stipulation that they have to pay a tax on all treasure they find. The Lunars are also interested in any magical artifacts the PCs recover. Of course, the PCs could find other ways in...
Finally there's the mythical "River of Cradles" that runs between Pavis and Big Rubble. It's a major trade route offering access to the rest of the frontier. When one of the legendary "Cradles", a huge ark-like vessel, is spotted coming down the river, rebels, Lunars, and bandits alike all race to board and loot it first, only to find that it has powerful magical defenses.

Even if I didn't use this setting, the basic ideas in it would work well for running Phlan as a TTRPG. Have warring city factions in a New City, next to the ruins of the Old City, which serves as an urban dungeon. Different factions offer faction play, and can serve as patrons hiring the players to go on specific missions into the ruins. Make the ruins hard to get in, and for monsters to get out of the Old City ruins, otherwise they would overrun Phlan. Very dangerous flying monsters should be dormant for the same reason -- it would be too dangerous to resettle New Phlan. PCs can use the new city as a home base to explore the ruins, or to range out into the wilderness to other adventuring sites.

 

[toucanbuzz]

My first 5E campaign was to convert Ruins of Adventure, combine it with the Gold Box game, and mix in some early 5E maps/adventure elements, trying to create a political and sandbox adventure.

My notes end at 99 pages because, through sheer mishap I lost about 50 pages (e.g. Valhingen Graveyard, Stojanow Gate, finale), and I was too angry about it that I didn't redo all the work. But, still plenty before that for your use. We completed it at 7th level and I had left the door open to continue the adventure with Curse of the Azure Bonds, but moved onto other things.

 

[Starfox]

Another Implementation of this that could serve as a campaign model is Chaosium's classic Runequest campaign set: Pavis+Big Rubble.

This is an interesting idea, but Pavis and the Big Rubble are hard to find. I actually owned both when they just came out, but had to sell them. Teenage bad economy - or early 20s.

 

[Starfox]

My first 5E campaign was to convert Ruins of Adventure, combine it with the Gold Box game, and mix in some early 5E maps/adventure elements, trying to create a political and sandbox adventure.

* Giggles with glee.

I'll look at this tomorrow, or actually later today, 8 AM here now after a sleepless night.

 

[Starfox]

Another Implementation of this that could serve as a campaign model is Chaosium's classic Runequest campaign set: Pavis+Big Rubble...

Also, this campaign would be interesting, but much more complex than the rather simple thing I had in mind. Complex is cool, simple is cheap. Sometimes I want cheap. Still, thanks for the input, its a really cool way way to use Pavis/The Big Rubble, which I found incomprehensible back then.

 

[cowpie]

Still not a bad source of material for such a campaign -- and yes, a much more complex alternative to the city with the megadungeon underneath. Incidentally, Chaosium has the originals, and the 1999 single book editions available on drivethrurpg.com.

 

[moochiepoochies]

My first 5E campaign was to convert Ruins of Adventure, combine it with the Gold Box game, and mix in some early 5E maps/adventure elements, trying to create a political and sandbox adventure.

My notes end at 99 pages because, through sheer mishap I lost about 50 pages (e.g. Valhingen Graveyard, Stojanow Gate, finale), and I was too angry about it that I didn't redo all the work. But, still plenty before that for your use. We completed it at 7th level and I had left the door open to continue the adventure with Curse of the Azure Bonds, but moved onto other things.

Awesome collection of your work...would have loved to have seen the lost pages but this is a great adaption! Any tips on the last parts at all that you can remember?

 

[moochiepoochies]

Double Post...sorry!