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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Estlor" data-source="post: 1996959" data-attributes="member: 7261">I will readily admit there are certain conventions to the OD&D Known World setting that make it challenging to convert, but this is the same sort of hurdle you jump over with any setting when the rules change.  The problem is when you cling to the old rules and want to see the existing setting make the transition without any changes at all. Some things about the Known World stand out as OD&D assumptions.  Clerics don't have spells until 2nd level, every elf is partially a wizard, dwarves are resistant to magic, druids and paladins don't exist until higher levels, and so on.  If you try to carry each and every last one of these over, all you've done is create Castles & Crusades with a feat and skill system.  That's why it's a conversion of the setting; some things just have to change along the way, and you're forced to handle it one of two ways: 1) Retcon it so it was "always" that way or 2) Come up with a metaplot event that changes things. There's a lot you can do to reconcile the two systems by using prestige classes and regional feats.  Suddenly you can have elven wizards that can cast spells better in armor than other races because they took a regional feat.  Likewise, your dwarf can be resistant to magic but unable to become an arcane spellcaster because of a regional feat.  OD&D druids, paladins, and foresters can come back to life as prestige classes, and if you REALLY don't want to see them about before higher levels, just drop the base classes and adjust from there. The important thing is that the rules of 3.X are flexible enough and focused on presenting players with options, making them broad enough to fit Mystara in with only a few minor wiggling points.  It doesn't require reengineering races, altering classes, and forcing restrictions that existed solely for the purpose of balance, a purpose that is no longer necessary in a less off-kilter system. Why aren't there many dwarven wizards?  Because Kagyar taught them arcane magic was wicked, and it is a taboo among their people.  Dwarves can be wizards, but they're met with scorn, often exiled to the surface of Rockhome to prevent them from "infecting" other races.  Those dwarves that raise this superstition to near-religious belief take the regional feat that makes them more resistant to arcane spells but unable to learn them down the line.  Why are halflings "hobbit-like"?  They love to eat, drink, and dance in carefree ways.  They have the same statistics as every other halfling in the 3.X universe, they just look and act differently, especially when they get older.</blockquote>

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