FrankinLondon
First Post
Hi everyone, first post to Enworld here.
I am in the process of converting Bastion of Broken Souls to 3.5 and am taking the opportunity to adjust the levels of each encounter as I go.
The three main reasons for adjusting levels are :-
a) I thought that some of the encounters in BoBS (3.0) were plain too weak - although some are horrifyingly high as well.
b) Conversion to 3.5 seriously nerfs some very common monster/NPC spells (e.g. Haste)
c) Conversion of Demons from 3.0 to 3.5 seriously powers up any encounter
Before I start, I better tell you something about my party. They consist of
12th/6th Cleric/Fighter
14th/3rd Fighter Rogue
17th Sorcerer
17th Cleric
17th Ranger (Arching variety)
We use the core rulebooks only and hence have no access to splatbook spells and feats. The party have reasonable levels of magic treasure for their level.
So, my thoughts so far on adjustments are
Cathezar Encounter(s)
I have made the following changes to the Cathezar :-
a) Increased Constitution to 32 (she is supposed to be more powerful than Balors) to give her a total of 310 hp, up from 250 hp.
b) Altered her DR to be DR 10/Good and Cold Iron and Silver to reflect her joint demon/devil heritage. Tough because it will require holy/blessed, cold iron weapons treated with silversheen to get through, but at least it's only 10 points off.
c) Reduced the summon fiends to be either a Marilith or a Horned Devil as the thought of the Cathezar AND a PitFiend/Balor for the first encounter a bit mindbogglingly rough.
Dreamer Prime Encounter
I have altered the Dreamborn Tigers to be Dreamborn Dire Tigers. I find the thought of CR 6 creatures in a 18th level adventure to be a little demeaning to both the DM and the players. Giving the Tigers 120hp as opposed to 45 should enable them to get a couple of hits in each before biting the dust. Other than that, I have left this encounter much as it was.
Pandemonium Encounter
I have left Eco and Bramam as per the 3.5 ed MM (+additional magic items).
Desayeus Encounter
The Lillends convert easily. Desayeus is now as per a 3.5 ed Titan with maximum hp and enhanced natural armour). This seriously increases his hp (from 280 to 440), but gives him much reduced spell usage.
Bastion Entrance Encounter
I have simply converted all of the demons to their 3.5 versions which seriously bumps them up, but I still believe that this would be a walkover for the party if it wasn't for the retriever. Under 3.5 ed, I make it that a 30th level Retriever has 405 hp (up from 165). This should give the encounter a bit more ooomph.
First Encounter Inside The Bastion
I have left the Dragonspawn here much as described. I have given Po Bracers of Health +6 to increase his hp as he was likely to not last too long.
Paraselson Encounter
I hope to get Po away from the last encounter to re-inforce Paraselson and Myra here. I believe that this encounter is underpowered anyway, so have bumped Myra up to 18th level Cleric (from 13th).
Main Demon Encounter
I intend to re-inforce the Demons with The Cathezar here. The thought of 2 3.5 Balors plus the Cathezar gives me the willies, so I have converted one of the Balors (Buphalthus) into a Marilith. I would be very interested in your thoughts on this.
Ashardalon
I don't know what to do here. It seems to me that Ashardalon as described is seriously nerfed for a Great Red Wyrm (but a Great Red Wyrm is a tough old encounter for a party of -I guess- 19th level characters). OK, the lack of mobility is pretty much central to the whole plot. However, I don't see why he hasn't learned any divine spells. I am tempted to redo his spell list to include Heal as a minimum. I am also considering giving him Mordenkainens Disjunction (I think the party will have this by then). I also am considering replacing the Timestop in the Ring of Greater Counterspelling with Otto's Irresistable Dance.
I am also considering upping the level of Pemoka, but don't want to overdo it.
The problem with this encounter is it could very easily be over in a couple of rounds either way.
Any thoughts from all you (much more experienced DMs out there (especially anyone who has run a converted BoBS themselves) ?
Thanks in anticipation.
Frank
I am in the process of converting Bastion of Broken Souls to 3.5 and am taking the opportunity to adjust the levels of each encounter as I go.
The three main reasons for adjusting levels are :-
a) I thought that some of the encounters in BoBS (3.0) were plain too weak - although some are horrifyingly high as well.
b) Conversion to 3.5 seriously nerfs some very common monster/NPC spells (e.g. Haste)
c) Conversion of Demons from 3.0 to 3.5 seriously powers up any encounter
Before I start, I better tell you something about my party. They consist of
12th/6th Cleric/Fighter
14th/3rd Fighter Rogue
17th Sorcerer
17th Cleric
17th Ranger (Arching variety)
We use the core rulebooks only and hence have no access to splatbook spells and feats. The party have reasonable levels of magic treasure for their level.
So, my thoughts so far on adjustments are
Cathezar Encounter(s)
I have made the following changes to the Cathezar :-
a) Increased Constitution to 32 (she is supposed to be more powerful than Balors) to give her a total of 310 hp, up from 250 hp.
b) Altered her DR to be DR 10/Good and Cold Iron and Silver to reflect her joint demon/devil heritage. Tough because it will require holy/blessed, cold iron weapons treated with silversheen to get through, but at least it's only 10 points off.
c) Reduced the summon fiends to be either a Marilith or a Horned Devil as the thought of the Cathezar AND a PitFiend/Balor for the first encounter a bit mindbogglingly rough.
Dreamer Prime Encounter
I have altered the Dreamborn Tigers to be Dreamborn Dire Tigers. I find the thought of CR 6 creatures in a 18th level adventure to be a little demeaning to both the DM and the players. Giving the Tigers 120hp as opposed to 45 should enable them to get a couple of hits in each before biting the dust. Other than that, I have left this encounter much as it was.
Pandemonium Encounter
I have left Eco and Bramam as per the 3.5 ed MM (+additional magic items).
Desayeus Encounter
The Lillends convert easily. Desayeus is now as per a 3.5 ed Titan with maximum hp and enhanced natural armour). This seriously increases his hp (from 280 to 440), but gives him much reduced spell usage.
Bastion Entrance Encounter
I have simply converted all of the demons to their 3.5 versions which seriously bumps them up, but I still believe that this would be a walkover for the party if it wasn't for the retriever. Under 3.5 ed, I make it that a 30th level Retriever has 405 hp (up from 165). This should give the encounter a bit more ooomph.
First Encounter Inside The Bastion
I have left the Dragonspawn here much as described. I have given Po Bracers of Health +6 to increase his hp as he was likely to not last too long.
Paraselson Encounter
I hope to get Po away from the last encounter to re-inforce Paraselson and Myra here. I believe that this encounter is underpowered anyway, so have bumped Myra up to 18th level Cleric (from 13th).
Main Demon Encounter
I intend to re-inforce the Demons with The Cathezar here. The thought of 2 3.5 Balors plus the Cathezar gives me the willies, so I have converted one of the Balors (Buphalthus) into a Marilith. I would be very interested in your thoughts on this.
Ashardalon
I don't know what to do here. It seems to me that Ashardalon as described is seriously nerfed for a Great Red Wyrm (but a Great Red Wyrm is a tough old encounter for a party of -I guess- 19th level characters). OK, the lack of mobility is pretty much central to the whole plot. However, I don't see why he hasn't learned any divine spells. I am tempted to redo his spell list to include Heal as a minimum. I am also considering giving him Mordenkainens Disjunction (I think the party will have this by then). I also am considering replacing the Timestop in the Ring of Greater Counterspelling with Otto's Irresistable Dance.
I am also considering upping the level of Pemoka, but don't want to overdo it.
The problem with this encounter is it could very easily be over in a couple of rounds either way.
Any thoughts from all you (much more experienced DMs out there (especially anyone who has run a converted BoBS themselves) ?
Thanks in anticipation.
Frank