D&D 5E Monster conversion

[Nilbog]

Probably a little premature (story of my life!!) as we don't have all the tools available to us yet (DM's Guide)

But given users experience of 5e so far, what previous edition has been the most straight forward to port over to 5e?

I've a load of prior edition monster manuals and a little free time this weekend, and wanted to try a few , but I wanted to start with the easiest!

 

[Tormyr]

3.5 looks to be the most straightforward. Even then, you will want to get the number of the (correct size) hit dice from a similar CR monster; find appropriate 5e versions of traits from other monsters, copy over the resistances, vulnerabilities, ability scores, speed, etc. from the 3.5 stat block; and recalculate hp, attack bonus, damage and AC based on the ability scores and 5e versions of equipment. If you have any specific questions on a particular creature, there are lots of people, including me, who are willing to help.

I would not bother converting creatures unless you actually need them, however. The monster manual has a lot in it. In many cases you can just use a different creature and call it what you want.