Updating classic 1E adventures

[BJP]

Hi,

Just thought I'd introduce myself - new to the site.

Have played D&D since - oh, somewhere around 84. Played the plethora of classic games that existed at that time, that have since disappeared - but it was always D&D that I came back to. Have had a hiatus away from the game (enough time to acquire some maturity, a wife and an emmigration). Am now returning to the fold...

Have just ebayed some of the classic 1e adventures that I have such fond memories of - in particular the Slavelords (A1-4) and the Giants / Underdark campaign (GDQ1-7). Am starting to do the conversions, just wanted some pointers / suggestions.

In particular - against the giants. I remember these as being levels 8-12 - starting at the low end of that range. Given the power of 3.5e giants, I see this as being a slaughter. I'm thinking of starting the Steading at around EL11 (the same as 4 hill giants), and progressing through EL12 for the Rift and 13-14 for the Halls. This should hopefully give the epic scope of the encounters I feel is deserved - heros against hordes of giants. As they progress (I always liked Erelhi-Cinlu and the Vault as a fantastic place for both role- and roll-playing - it's one of those totally open-ended areas with so many potential plot-hooks) I'm thinking around EL18 by the time they start an assault on the Fane of Lolth.

So - some questions. Do these levels sound about right? What about the assault of the demonweb pits? Isn't Lolth supposed to be some uber-goddess now?I assume she has more than 66hp and a couple of heal spells to take care of herself? If she is now way powerful (and I have no idea whether she is statted - although I've seen some mention of some of the other demonlords and they seem to be fairly high CR)? Any suggestions about how to end the campaign if the demonweb pits aren't an option? I was thinking either unseating her power on the prime (presumably through actions in Erelhi-Cinlu), or something more subterfuge based in the Abyss? Does anyone else have any thoughts / experiences / fond memories of these classics they would like to share?

All the best,
Jim.

 

[VorpalBunny]

Welcome to the community!

Before you spend the time and effort converting all those adventures take a look through EN World's conversion library - most of the adventures you mentioned are converted and posted there. Even if you decide not to use those conversions they're a good place to start your own.

Balancing a 1st editon adventure for 3.x D&D can be challenging, to say the least (particularily the GDQ series). In respect to to those adventures I'd suggest you use the 1st edition modules as guidelines, and add or remove encounters and creatures to fit the experience level you wish to run the adventures at.

The "Lolth problem" can be circumvented by using an "aspect" of the goddess (as written up in the Miniatures Handbook) and not an avatar. If you decide to forego the demonweb pits, the Vault of the Drow adventure can be run easily without the extraplanar gate, and will still make an excellent final chapter to the series.

 

[Treebore]

I'm converting the Sentinel and Gauntlet modules, I'm rewriting every word, and finding the monsters and then writing the stat blocks, including for the random encounters, is suprisingly time consuming. Since the monsters are in 4 different Manuals/books I felt I should just write and include the abbreviated stat blocks for them since I don't think many people own MM1, MM3, ToH 1, and ToH 2. Plus I could only get the xvarts and the Presences from on-line sources. I still haven't found sheet phantoms or sheet ghouls.


So definitely use the giants conversions already here on ENWorld, even if you don't use them "as is" I bet they'll still help you save a lot of time doing whatever conversion you decide to do.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Advice about the conversion library is good. Also, I suspect that in the coming years, Dungeon Magazine may be updating several classics. The Giants series certainly fits in that category. Maybe they'll do the work for you.

 

[johnsemlak]

A few general notes:

Pay close attention to CRs. Several monsters (Giants and Dragons most notably) have radically different power levels now).

Think about adding 3e concepts like PrCs. I actually like looking at 1e classics and thinking about what PrCs would be appropriate to add.

NPC mutliclass spellcasters (the iconic elf fighter/magic-user for example) may cause some issues.I would imagine the best way to convert such characters is to have such characters be single classed spellcasters.

 

[Piratecat]

I recently reworked D-2 (Blibdoolpoolp!) for my campaign, and it was an absolute blast. I've rerun the first two giant modules, too; as John says, you need to reduce treasure and keep a close eye on CRs. Personally, I think it's more fun to fight a whole lot of drunk (slightly nerfed in power) giants than fewer full strength ones.

 

[Akrasia]

Of course you could just use something like C&C and spend 5 minutes of time doing the 'conversion'. Indeed, this is one reason why I switched to C&C, as I have a huge pile of great O/AD&D stuff to use.

But if you like lots of work, have fun with the 3E conversion project.

 

[Chaldfont]

I've been looking over the hosted conversion for the Giants modules too, wanting to run my 12th level group through some classics. IMO, it's best to just take the module as a guideline and loosely rework it to fit your players/PCs. Its just as important to take your players' gaming style into account when adjusting these adventures (this is true for any published adventure, really). We've been playing so much Eberron lately that I need to spice up the combats to make them more exciting. I think use of combat maneuvers from The Book of Iron Might will be quite useful in this regard.

One big difference I've found is that low-level monsters in AD&D were still effective against mid-level PCs. Not so in 3.5, once PCs reach a certain level, increasing the number of 1/2 CR orcs just isn't going to make a difference. For this reason, I'm converting the bugbears in the dungeon level of the hill giant's lair to duergar with class levels (they'll be the masterminds behind the giants, since in this campaign, we've already done the drow thing).

Another thing to think about: Get Tome of Horrors. So many of the classic AD&D monsters were left out of 3rd Ed. and this book seems to have them all. It beats converting the monsters yourself!

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Of course you could just use something like C&C and spend 5 minutes of time doing the 'conversion'. Indeed, this is one reason why I switched to C&C, as I have a huge pile of great O/AD&D stuff to use.

But if you like lots of work, have fun with the 3E conversion project.

Didn't see that comment coming Akrasia.

Akrasia hat of e3 know no limit.

 

[Akrasia]

Akrasia hat of e3 know no limit.

Actually, I don't hat e3. While I don't Ike MD'ing it, I am happy to play e3 with a good MD.

But if you wanted to run a campaign using e1 Modules, I would either just use e1 or C&C.

Way less work that way. (I'm a lazy person ... very lazy.)