D&D 4E Will I Be Able To Continue My Campaign In 4E?

[Glyfair]

Necromancer Games will be releasing an Advanced Player's Guide in August that will let you keep your gnome PCs going, and more easily translate character concepts that aren't covered by the core rules.

Gnomes are also one of the known "monsters" in the Monster Manual I that are going to be in the appendix with PC variations.

 

[Gundark]

That's how I felt. In fact, I took it for granted. But when Bill said "just start a new campaign" the warning bells went off.

How different must 4E be for him to say "don't even bother, just start a new game."

Well there will be the easy conversions. ie. player A is playing a 3e Cleric---> 4e Cleric.

Then there will be the harder conversions. Player A is playing a 3e Knight ---> a 4e fighter or Paladin.

Then there will be the hardest conversions. Player A is playing a 3e Dragon Shaman. Well that's harder to do definetly. Can you? Yeah, but the character may end up looking very different.

This issue gets more convoluted with character classes from 3rd party products.

 

[Lord Zack]

I'm not necessarily converting my current campaign to 4e (I hope to finish in time, as unlikely as that is). But one of my players has me concerned. He is playing a Sorcerer. Now as I see there's two choices that we know of so far. One is the wizard, but the current character has only an average Intelligence score, I don't know how much ability scores effect the classes or if
some Wizard spells are based on different ability scores. One option would be to use the PHB 2 rebuilding rules to modify the character's ability scores or something, but it would stretch suspension of disbelief to say "Oh, my character has always been this smart and not very charismatic". But the player in question may be ok with that. The other option might be the warlock. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with an Infernal pact, so if he does take this route he might be a fey or star pact Warlock, or I might design an entirely new pact for him. Another problem is that this will leave the party with out a controller, which among other things, will leave the more vulnerable to larger groups. Seeing as though one of they're main enemies is a Lich Necromancer (which may also present some problems) who will likely send some hordes of zombies after them, I think they'd miss having a controller.

 

[Rabelais]

This picture is so full of awesome that there are reports that other threads have become more cool just by being on the same board.

 

[Henry]

You're just inspired me to play a Displacer Beast Wizard.


As for mattcolville's question, I don't see why someone couldn't convert NPCs and PCs - it just takes looking at whatever new options there will be and making the closest fit you can. In fact, given what they've been saying about monsters, I'm guessing you'll probably be able to better pick and choose what your NPCs and critters have, and just kind of "wing it." It's not like every little thing, stat, and ability has to fit, because the players I find NEVER interact with even half of a monster's or NPC's stats in a meaningful way. Feats, class abilities, and templates hide a multitude of sins as it is, so I imagine it'll be the same way with the new edition, too.

 

[pemerton]

given what they've been saying about monsters, I'm guessing you'll probably be able to better pick and choose what your NPCs and critters have, and just kind of "wing it."

W&M indicates pretty clearly that they expect most NPCs to be built as monsters, not using the PC build rules (which would include PC classes).

They don't say it, but an obvious corollary of this is no more NPC classes.

 

[frankthedm]

While I see the PCs characters being translated, what about adventures? :\

Will all the pre-existing plots go out the window? Will the core assumptions of D&D get changed so much that a GM will have to completely re-think everything?

Re-think everything? Yes!
Change anything expressly built based on the old rules? Yes!
Knock out some dungeon walls and expand featureless 20' x 20' rooms to rubble strewn, crate chocked, multi elevation 40x50 rooms? Yes!
Throw out old plots? Not likely. Hell, older plots made unusable by 3E’s "spellcasters solve everything" will be viable again.

 

[frankthedm]

Then there will be the hardest conversions. Player A is playing a 3e Dragon Shaman. Well that's harder to do definetly. Can you? Yeah, but the character may end up looking very different.

Well, this time the dragon flavor will be coming from rhe racial side rather than class side. So maybe the Dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut or Tiamat won't be a perfect fit, the Character IS however getting a very nice portion of 'Dragon' from the start.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Direct from his Ampersand column (with added emphasis):

Conversion
The other issue that seems to have caused a stir revolves around the conversion of characters from 3rd Edition rules to 4th Edition rules. There are a few key concepts that need to be made crystal clear so that everyone understands them.

First, 4th Edition D&D is still powered by the d20 System. At its core, if you know how to play 3rd Edition D&D you’re going to know how to play 4th Edition.

Second, this is a new game. It uses all of the trappings of the current d20 System, but it approaches all of the rules from a new and exciting perspective. That means that while you’ll know how to make attack rolls, skill checks, and damage rolls (the broad concepts), you won’t necessarily know all of the nuances of the fighter class or the arcane power source, or the death and dying rules (the details).

Third, we can’t physically replicate eight years of products and options right out of the gate. It just can’t happen.

With these things in mind, straight-up character conversion won’t be possible. As James Wyatt so eloquently expressed it, however, you’ll have no problem expressing the concept and story of your 3rd Edition character within the framework of 4th Edition. As we’ve seen during playtesting, in many ways the new rules allow you to better match the rules to the character concept you had in mind than the 3E rules ever did.

In essence, using the 4th Edition rules, you’ll be able to rebuild your character around the same concept and backstory as before, but there won’t be a magic formula that says, “change this number to that number” or “this power to that power.”

Next time, maybe I’ll get to telling you about a typical day for me here at the office ... or we’ll talk about something more pertinent and interesting.

Keep playing!

--Bill Slavicsek

So, a campaign should not be all that dissimlar to the characters. Sure, you may need to change your BBEG if it is an NPC using classes not available in the PHB, and other encounters may need to be adjusted, but there should be no reason why the overall spirit and story of the campaign world cannot be recreated in 4e.

 

[Mistwell]

They are not publishing a "conversion kit" for 3e > 4e. However, many playtest session reports claim that the DM converting things over roughly.

So as far as continuing a campaign, you can do it (it seems). Your maps, your locations, or foes, your NPCs, and all that stuff should find an equvilent fit in 4e.

You just need to work with your players to find satisfactory replacement characters with the same names and backgrounds and essentially the same types of powers, though those powers will play out different and be tweaked here and there and may be replaced or modified.