D&D 5E Which edition easiest to adapt to 5e?

[Bayonet]

I'd imagine you could simply keep a 5E MM nearby and tone down the loot. Adventure paths are honestly just Storytime + Stat blocks. Just switch out the Stat Blocks. If you don't have an MM on hand, the Creature stats from the PHB, or the enemy ones from the Starter Set would go a long way. Just refluff them as you wish.

 

[MechaPilot]

Adventures of just about any edition should be fairly easy to port over to any other edition because the plot and the dungeon map are things that can fit into any edition without change.

The major differences come down to monster/NPC stats, the DCs for skill/ability checks, the treasure given out, and the encounter design philosophy (some adventures were designed to be killers and not to be just challenging).

Monster/NPC stats are easily handled by using 5e's monster and NPC stat blocks instead of the prior edition ones. You can use either 5e's versions of the same monsters, or different monsters that fit with the plot (and whose CR fits with the level of the PCs, if you care about that). The damages for traps are also easy to replace by using the improvised damage table in the DMG.

Design philosophy is one of those things that you'll either just use use what you're given or you'll have to adjust the number of enemies and the CRs of the enemies to fit your desired level of challenge for the players.

DCs are also easily handled because they are pretty darn easy to implement on the fly. This covers skill checks, ability checks, as well finding traps.

Treasure is also quite easy to replace.

 

[AmerginLiath]

In terms of the 1st edition treasure questions, I think that the issue with the amount of gold, etc in the dungeons was a matter of how treasure impacted XP in that edition (I was a younger player and never actually a DM during my 1st edition days, so I forget the exact ratio, but wasn't about half a character's XP suppose to come from bringing treasure back from the wilds – hence why even magic items had XP awards attached to them in addition to their powers?)

In 5e, beyond even the matter of economy (AD&D didn't have a 3.x-style magic-item economy either, the downtime mechanics being similar to 5e's), I'd guess that the difference in gold accrued and spent is that difference in XP being gained from gold vs from monster/other threats/roleplay and situations. If you're using the gold as XP fodder, I'd say feel free to reduce the amount of it and other basic treasure (even beyond reducing magic treasure) so as to not overwhelm the players: yes, they don't need to take the entire hoard, but it sucks to defeat the monster and then not be able to bring home the reward because it's all in non-portable forms (which would have made it hard to accrue like that at first).

My suggestion, to fill up the space with treasure in lieu of more gold? Look at the trade goods section in the PHB: giant and humanoid raiders or evil slavers are unlikely to getting lots of coin from the common folks that they're raiding from, but their dungeons could easily be full of barrels of salt and preserved meats, spools of trade fabrics, even pens of livestock rustled in the night. That stuff is literally good as gold in this edition, designed to be portable by wagon (versus a wagon full of heavy metals), and can even be led – in the case of livestock – out under its own power.

 

[Ashoka]

Why would 4e adventures be harder to convert? Monster variation doesn't seem like a very big hurdle. Is there something else I'm missing?

 

[Inchoroi]

Why would 4e adventures be harder to convert? Monster variation doesn't seem like a very big hurdle. Is there something else I'm missing?

Probably because there aren't that many good 4e adventures...

In my campaigns, I always use random treasure tables, so the DMG pages with all of that for 5e are well used already. My players enjoy the randomness of the gold, and enjoy the roleplay element of finding the exciting with the less exciting.

Easiest question: Do you own a copy of the DMG? If not, I highly suggest you invest in one (only $32 US on Amazon.com; might be harder outside the US).

 

[Ashoka]

Probably because there aren't that many good 4e adventures...

Some of the later ones (especially in Dungeon) are pretty good. But, yeah, this was my first thought, too.

 

[aramis erak]

Why would 4e adventures be harder to convert? Monster variation doesn't seem like a very big hurdle. Is there something else I'm missing?

4E adventures have scheduled treasure packages including lots of magic items.
4E also has a very different flow and balance for NPCs, so keeping the intended levels in mind, rebalancing the encounters may involve doing a lot of damage to the encountered mix, while not rebalancing them can make them readily cross over into much harder than expected, especially since there's no minion standard in 5E. (you can make 1HP minion versions easily enough, tho' - it may change the CR's quite a bit. Usually, about half, rounded down...)

EG:
Orc 15 HP AC 13 DPR 9+2(Agressive)=11 AB +5 DCR 1/8 OCR 2 CR1/2 (by stepwise movement: 1/8 & 2, 1/4 & 1, 1/2 & 1/2)
Orc Minion: 1 HP AC13 DPR 9+2=11 AB +5 DCR 0 OCR 2 CR1/4

Otyugh HP 114 AC 14 DPR 26 AB +6 SDC 1@15 and 2@ 13 DCR 4 (SOmeone rounded up for the AC) OCR 5 (3 DPR +1 SDC and +1 AB) CR 5
Otyugh Minion HP 1... DCR 1/8 for AC. CR 2 (1/8 &5, 1/4 & 4, 1/2 & 3, 1 & 2, 2)

 

[Tormyr]

DnD Next.

True that. I have been working on a conversion document for Legacy of the Crystal Shard. It is done with proper 5e creatures, rules, etc. But I have realized in my conversion of the named NPCs and unique monsters that you can just multiply all the monsters hit points by 3 and be good enough.

 

[fletch137]

At first glance, 5e looks like 3e, but it plays more like 2e (particularly early 2e), IMO.

I confess, this is the answer I was expecting, but I'm honestly glad to hear that it also plays well with 3e.

On the one hand, it doesn't help me choose which adventure from my library to choose for adapting, but on the other it sounds like I don't have to stress the work too much.

If nothing else, I will probably cut the treasure listed by a full decimal and see where that goes. It's a lot easier to add treasure to a too-poor party than it is to remove it from a too-wealthy one.

 

[Ratskinner]

It's a lot easier to add treasure to a too-poor party than it is to remove it from a too-wealthy one.

That....is very true.