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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6703021" data-attributes="member: 12731">I worry about people's expectations here.When it comes to player characters, you're almost always better off by this three step guide:1) Write down a textual description of your character and what he's or she's known to be capable of. Use plain English, use no game term or numbers whatsoever (except possibly class and level). Only include actions you have actually used in play; the capabilities the character actually displays on a semi-regular basis.2) Throw away or hide your old character sheet. Only look at your notes.3) Create a completely new character using the new rules, where you use your notes to guide you.This guide is given to you completely free. It is guaranteed to work between ANY TWO systems in the whole hobby, no exceptions.What I'm saying is that detailed step-by-step procedures involving a lot of small details and fiddly bits (like <a href="http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Pathfinder_Roleplaying_Game_Conversion_Guide" target="_blank">http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Pathfinder_Roleplaying_Game_Conversion_Guide</a>) is really only possible for incredibly similar games (such as 3.5 to Pathfinder).Remember the insult that was WotC's guidelines for converting old characters into 4th ed? (It must really have pissed people off, because I can't even google it!)The best a conversion guide can do is be a matchmaker. For 1E thru 3E the focus needs to be on things like "the 1E owlbear is much stronger than the 5E one, use monster x instead" (made up example), or "The 3E Wand of Powers has been considerably weakened in 5E, use staff Y instead".The little things that could otherwise be a trap for DMs in a hurry when they sit at the 5E table with a 2E adventure in their hands.Problem is: that's a bitch to do right. Intensely time-consuming. And why would WotC do that, especially now, when 5E is a confirmed success. Sure, they made a promise during the dawn of time, but really. Any half-assed copy of my rules above prattled into more pages would fulfil that promise. Let's just say I'm sceptical.And even then: what will they do about 3E's magic item economy. To me, that's the largest piece missing if I want to run a 3E game with 5th edition. Nothing suggests they will patch this.For 4E, it's a whole new ball game entirely. If you want to run games with a 4E vibe, you want whole new rules subsystems. You can't really convert between 1/2/3/5E and 4E. You would need pages after pages of DMG inclusion-worthy rules systems to make the game work in the ways 4E adventures assume.And I would be very much surprised if WotC gave us anything even close to something that would transform 5E into a game with 4E:ish sensibilities. TL;DR: Have low expectations on these conversion guides. Very low expectations.</blockquote>

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