D&D 4E Need help Converting Shut-In (Dungeon 128) to 4e

[zerotkatama]

(Cross posted to Paizo forums; long post)
Howdy folks, just thought I'd post here to show what I'm doing for this and to get some advice for how to proceed.

I'm going to be starting an Eberron Inquisitive campaign with two friends, starting this Saturday. The plan being to start with Shut-In, run through Murder in Oakbridge to Nick Logue's awesome Sant-Demain trilogy (Chimes at Midnight, Quoth the Raven, Hell's Heart). Possibly some adventures in the meantime - the hope is to wrap up at 10th on the cusp of Paragon.

The players are:
Human Warlord (father of rogue)
Half-Elf Rogue (the son of the warlord)

Anyway, to start with the first adventure, which only really has two main combat encounters, the rest being investigative and social-type stuff.

I figured I'd start out with the Death Dog. I started by trying to convert it straight over as an elite (effectively a solo for two players)

[b]Death Dog	Level 1 Elite Skirmisher[/b]
Medium Natural Magical Beast			XP 200
Initative +6	Senses Perception +6; Low-light vision
HP 60 Bloodied 30
AC 17, Fortitude 15, Reflex 15, Will 12
Saving Throws +2
Speed 8
Action Points 1
(BM) Bite (standard, at will)
   +6 vs. AC; 1d6+2 damage; 2d6+2 damage against a prone target
High and Low (standard, at will) 
   2 attacks against one target, +4 vs. Fort; 1d6+2 damage. If both
   attacks hit, target is knocked prone.
Worry Prey (Free)
  When adjacent to a prone enemy at the end of its turn, the death 
  dog may make a bite attack against that enemy
Alignment Unaligned    Languages -
Str 12 (+1)   Dex 14 (+2)   Wis 13 (+1)
Con 14 (+2) Int 4 (-3)	   Cha 10 (+0)

But it also occurred to me that a fight with two gray wolves re-purposed as "death dogs" might be better in the 4e paradigm. Thoughts?

Secondly is the second main fight, the confrontation with Auraluna and Peck.

For Lady Auraluna I used the Gnome Arcanist and fiddled around a bit.

[b]Lady Auraluna ir' Dromdal [/b]   Level 1 Controller 
Medium Natural Humanoid				  XP 100
Initiative +0                            Senses  Perception +0
HP 16    Bloodied 8
AC 15   Fort 12 Ref 14 Will 16
Speed 5
(BM) Dagger (Standard; at-will) * Weapon
+6 vs AC; 1d4 damage
(R) Scintillating Bolt (Standard; at-will) * Radiant
Ranged 10; +5 vs Fortitude; 1d6+3 Radiant damage, and the target
is dazed (save ends)
(R) Startling Glamor (minor; at-will) * Fear, Illusion
Ranged 10; +5 vs Will; the target slides 1 square
Alignment Evil		Languages Common, Elven
Skills  Diplomacy +9, Bluff +9, Insight +6, History +7

Str 10 (+0) 	Dex 10 (+0)     Wis 12 (+1)
Con 10 (+0)       Int   15 (+2)     Cha 18 (+4)

Peck (the crazy halfling) and Baron (her dog) were easier, just reflavored versions of the Halfling Thief and the Giant Rat from the MM, respectively.


The MAIN trip-up is the investigative and social parts of this. If you recall, there is a special system in the adventure that denote "triggers" that influence Auraluna and Ceseli's attitudes towards the PCs. I had thought making them two parallel skill challenges, but am unsure how to exactly do it, since with Auraluna, only an outcome is provided for a failure. Ceseli is easier, as the PCs get more dialogue hints from her as she warms to the them, as well as possibly influencing further plot threads based on how she takes the revelation at the end.

I had pondered making a third and fourth skill challenge; a minor one at the Dinner Party and a more substantial one for when (or if) the PCs investigate.

How should I handle presenting the "getting along" skill challenges? Should I just have them roll when they do stuff, as in the adventure, or should I actually delineate that these are skill challenges, the main skill is Diplomacy, yadda yadda?

Am I overthinking all this, and the simplest solution would be just to use the adventure as written?

Finally, the XP rewards, as they translate (with a Quest and Skill Challenge XP factored in) seem to come up short. It's alright to just say BAM you're 2nd level at the end of the adventure, regardless of XP, right?

I'd welcome any and all suggestions, please!

 

[zerotkatama]

Anyone? Do I have this in the right forum?

 

[Ingolf]

Anyone? Do I have this in the right forum?

I think so, the problem (I suspect) is that not everyone is as familiar with the source material you're converting.

With regard to converting the beasties, I'd say you're on the right track. I would probably go with a single opponent as opposed to two wolves as "death dogs." I agree that using two critters fits the design ideals of 4e a bit better, but I suspect that with only two PCs they will need a little bit of help. Being able to gang up on the lone "death dog" will probably help them.

You may want to look at the skill challenge presented in the "Heathen" adventure in the current online issue of Dungeon for some ideas. It's not applicable to your situation as written, but it is an interesting way to design one. However, with only 2 PCs, you might want to avoid the potential capriciousness of a skill-challenge and just adjudicate the NPC reactions with a minimum of die-rolling.

As far as leveling, you are of course free to just hand out however much XP you feel is right to keep the story going at the pace you need. The last 3.5e campaign I ran, the entire party got either 750 or 1000 XP every week depending on how rapidly I wanted them to advance at the moment.