D&D 5E SHORT conversion document up and monsters by type

[FormerlyHemlock]

The converted character can ALSO add their racial modifier. I am talking about the rolled stats, the base portion. They don't want you starting with more than 18 as a base stat. If you raise it outside of stat generation, such as through racial increases, that's fine (provided that part doesn't take it more than 20).

Not according to the conversion doc. You either port the ability scores over, or you regenerate the ability scores from scratch using Reassigning Ability Scores on page 2. There is no suggested method which equates to your suggestion of "port the scores over and then apply ability modifiers on top." That's part of why converting 18/00 to Str 20 makes more sense than converting to Str 18--both of them are ways to represent "the strongest possible (non-exotic) PC."

And you're too hung up on the 18/00 conversion--that's only a tiny piece of the picture. Str 19-25 are just as important, and so are other ability scores like Cha, at least if you're not doing the recreating-from-scratch thing. And far more important than converting PC ability scores is inferring monster ability scores.

 

[S'mon]

The converted character can ALSO add their racial modifier. I am talking about the rolled stats, the base portion. They don't want you starting with more than 18 as a base stat. If you raise it outside of stat generation, such as through racial increases, that's fine (provided that part doesn't take it more than 20).

AD&D character stats already have racial modifiers (which include caps/absence of caps), so it would be a really bad idea to double-dip by adding them again. I strongly recommend not doing that. A 1e STR 18/91 is the equivalent of a 5e STR 20, obviously you shouldn't then add on another +1 or +2 on
top.