D&D 4E My (brilliant?) Idea to Transition 4E to 5E

[Trit One-Ear]

As much as I've loved 4th edition, the few games of 5th my group has played has taken us all back to our respective D&D roots. So now I've been tasked with figuring out how to seamlessly transition us from one edition to the next.

Here's the catch: I don't like starting new editions at higher levels. I like to explore a system from the ground up. My players, however, are resistant to being leveled-down, and it messes with continuity etc...

Here was my solution.

My players are on the verge of a quest that will send them into the Feywild. They've already been discussing the possibility that time will pass differently, and they could potentially return to their world at a much later point than they think.
I've been thinking of the transition in terms of ending a TV season and beginning a new one.
After the Feywild adventure, they return to the material plane, to find a full year has passed. The kingdom is in turmoil. They quickly learn the king has died, and that a rebellion has divided the kingdom. They rush towards their home city, and see smoke, armies, destruction etc.
End of Season 1

Season 2 begins just days after the heroes depart into the Feywild. Our focus shifts to the kingdom's capitol. The young king (whose father has just died) has gathered a group of level one heroes (now in 5th edition) to help prevent a certain action from taking place (won't get into the details here), which he fears will divide the kingdom in civil war. The new heroes set off, and we now get to see how their actions will affect the outbreak of rebellion.

After a few quick levels, I plan on having the two groups cross paths, and the players will have a chance to pick which character they'd like to play. The others will become NPC's who may return later to be PC's again.

My hope is this will let us explore low-level play of the new edition, while not undoing the world-building we've done over the past few years.

Just wanted to share this idea. If you have thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear them as always.

Trit

 

[JamesonCourage]

It sounds alright to me It's not the style that I'd run, but I could see my brother doing it, and he's a great GM. I'd definitely go along with it as a player without any objections.

I want to point out, though, that level 1 is probably barely "hero" status in 5e. So I'd do something that pushes them into it rather than have the new king appoint them, unless he has a really good reason to. Which is totally doable. Maybe he knows and trusts them, so even though they aren't powerful (level 1 spells, etc.), he sends them. Or maybe all the big heroes are out or dead or on the other side, so he grabs what he can. Or maybe there's a cliche prophecy (and maybe that prophecy is a lie used by someone else to manipulate the new king into picking these heroes... the plot thickens).

The alternative is to start them at level 3, but I'd suggest against that if you like to build from level 1 up in new editions (I would, too). I'd just make sure they'd have a reason to be picked over anyone more capable.

But as far as your idea goes, I'd have no problem with it as a player. It sounds like it'd be fun.

 

[Trit One-Ear]

My current reasoning is that this initial mission will be something seemingly small, but still important. The tougher/real heroes are off handling the urgent missions and keeping the edges of the realm together, while this seems like a simple errand.
Essentially, a noble family has yet to support either the King or the rebellion. The rebellious nobles have sent a party to retrieve an old family heirloom from a haunted tomb (yay killing skeletons again) in order to gain their respect and support. Our heroes will be sent to stop the rebels/retrieve the heirloom themselves.

Thanks for the support!

Trit

 

[JamesonCourage]

Sounds reasonable! Looking forward to seeing how this goes.