D&D 4E Pre-4e adventures ripe for conversion?

[Cam Banks]

Among the many other things I've had running through my brain as I look forward to 4e's release are which pre-existing adventures would work well under 4e. I'm thinking particularly of low-level adventures, from the classic B series of OD&D to the 1st thru 5th level adventures in Dungeon.

Now, I think it's entirely possible that all pre-4e adventures could be converted without much trouble, but some are more interesting to me than others. 4e characters are capable of more things than 3e characters at 1st level, and we're also seeing a push toward larger areas in encounters that group clusters of dungeon rooms together. There are considerations like "how much is this based on 3e rules dynamics" and "will this monster ever be converted" that make the simpler adventures more appealing at first blush. Goblin raiders and human slavers make Night's Dark Terror a perfect candidate, for instance. But what else is out there?

Let me know what older adventures you plan on cannibalizing for your first 4e campaign. I'm keen to hear what other people think.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[HP Dreadnought]

I'm planning on doing a conversion of Keep on the Borderlands as my first 4E adventure.

. . . assuming I can convert it in any way that makes sense. Have to see the 4E books first.

 

[Darkwolf71]

My thouoghts at the moment are to run a campaign based almost entirely on the pre-3.x Dungeon magazines. Since they were all designed to be 'drop-in' adventures in the first place I'm hoping this will be very easy.

I'm considering using the Flame trilogy as the capstone adventures for each tier.

 

[Mercule]

Rappan Athuk. That'll let me know if 4e feels like the D&D I grew up with.

Maybe Savage Tides. That'd tell me if 4e allows swashbuckling action.

 

[invokethehojo]

One word: Dragon Mountain.

All the playtests for the "oakhust" talk about how fighting kobolds in 4e is actually fun and tactical and interesting. Can't wait to see out of the 20+ NPC's how many will make it to the end to fight the ancient red dragon. (my money is on evan)

 

[BASHMAN]

Escape from Zanzer's Dungeon from the Black D&D Boxed Set. I ran it, w/ no problems-- since most of the monsters in it are available from various leaked & preview materials. The only thing that I had to "make up" was unarmed fighting-- I declared a punch does 1d3 damage (the PCs have to fight their way out of the jail cell with no weapons or impliments)

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir

Ah, Castanamir and his portal-filled home...

I have been running this module, er adventure for all my newbie players since I started playing in the late eighties.

It is low on combat and high on problem-solving, so it's easy to convert...

 

[Kwalish Kid]

I'm converting Scourge of the Howling Horde and Rahasia.

Scourge requires a big increase in the number of creatures and a change to the maps as well, since the terrain is not quite dynamic enough and is a little too restrictive. I'm throwing in some extra staircases and ramps, widening the halls, and I'm adding some variety to the encounters.

For example, the absolutely bizarre encounter with a goblin druid and his wolf will be very different in the 4E version. I'm going to change it to a goblin wizard with a few animal familiars. The goblin wizard will stay hidden in the tree branches while the animals attack.

Rahasia is an interesting one, since as a Basic D&D adventure, it has a lot of aspects that are quite removed from most conversions. For example, there are elven monks who are effectively multiclass fighter/wizards. I'm thinking of keeping this aspect, combining elements of an elven NPC warrior with an elven NPC spellcaster. Rahasia is the original source for the skeletal tomb guardian, so that monster will be an easy conversion (and should be just tougher enough than the party to scare them away without instantly killing a PC, just like it's supposed to do). The water weird will probably be easily replaced by a small elemental critter. I worry about the gargoyle, since gargoyles are much tougher now.

Again, Rahasia needs some help in the dynamic terrain department. The teleportation aspects of the dungeon might be able to provide some of this.

One thing that I think will make every 4E game better: columns. Give those archers something to take cover behind.

I may also do the adventure from the last 2nd Ed dungeon magazine where the PCs have 3 real time hours to find four bombs planted around a city. I ran it for two 3E groups and I would like to see how it plays in 4E. Skill challenges are the bomb. In this case, literally.

 

[mhensley]

Escape from Zanzer's Dungeon from the Black D&D Boxed Set. I ran it, w/ no problems-- since most of the monsters in it are available from various leaked & preview materials. The only thing that I had to "make up" was unarmed fighting-- I declared a punch does 1d3 damage (the PCs have to fight their way out of the jail cell with no weapons or impliments)

IIRC, this module resorted to giving you healing potions as treasure after virtually every fight. 4e healing surges solve this problem of low level feebleness.

In general I think that it will be easier to convert older modules rather than 3e ones due to larger number of creatures in the fights. Many of the encounters in those old modules involve dozens of monsters. 4e handles that much better than 3e did.

 

[mhensley]

One word: Dragon Mountain.

All the playtests for the "oakhust" talk about how fighting kobolds in 4e is actually fun and tactical and interesting. Can't wait to see out of the 20+ NPC's how many will make it to the end to fight the ancient red dragon. (my money is on evan)

Wow, Dragon Mountain might actually be a good module under 4e rules.