Adventures in Beginning, mk 2

[LibraryOgre]

So, I asked if folks had any suggestions for beginning adventures... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?576670-Adventures-in-Beginning)

How crazy would it be for a 5e-novice GM to just take, say, 1e's Keep on the Borderlands or Village of Hommlet, and use it for 5e?

[Lyracian]

Goodman Games have redone Borderlands for 5e. My friend grabbed a copy not sure how it plays yet...

http://goodman-games.com/blog/2018/01/10/the-latest-news-on-into-the-borderlands/

[RogueJK]

There are also other conversions available too:

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/177381/Classic-Modules-Today-B2-The-Keep-on-the-Borderlands-5e

[LibraryOgre]

Goodman Games have redone Borderlands for 5e. My friend grabbed a copy not sure how it plays yet...

http://goodman-games.com/blog/2018/01/10/the-latest-news-on-into-the-borderlands/

Yes, for $50. I am not dropping $50 for a redo of a module I own a few copies of.


There are also other conversions available too:

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/177381/Classic-Modules-Today-B2-The-Keep-on-the-Borderlands-5e

That I'll take a look at, when I'm not on a work computer.

[Lyracian]

Yes, for $50. I am not dropping $50 for a redo of a module I own a few copies of.r.shrug. Just letting you know it exists and others have thought of using the classic modules for 5e.




That I'll take a look at, when I'm not on a work computer.
I was quite excited to see something on DMs Guild and then read the review which sadly says it is a poor product.

[Yora]

I think when you run a module that is basically "Here is a dangerous place, try to get some treasure without dying", you can just replace the monster stats with those from the current monster manual and let the players loose.

I believe there's one or minotaurs in the Caves of Chaos that would be really tough, but a minotaur would have been a tough fight for 1st level BECMI characters as well.

What's the worst that could happen? :smallamused:

[LibraryOgre]

So, I'm looking through the Monster Manual... is it just more, or does pretty much everything in B2's bestiary have about double the HP it did in AD&D?

[Yora]

I believe so. But that also goes for PCs.

[LibraryOgre]

I believe so. But that also goes for PCs.

How do you figure? HP at level 1 is still equivalent of 1 HD, plus a bit more for lower Con thresholds.

[Tvtyrant]

How do you figure? HP at level 1 is still equivalent of 1 HD, plus a bit more for lower Con thresholds.

Maxed level 1 HP plus con mod to health plus half HD average thereafter I assume. 5E is definitely in the 3.0 family of lots of HP compared to rolling a d4 for a Wizard.

[LibraryOgre]

Maxed level 1 HP plus con mod to health plus half HD average thereafter I assume. 5E is definitely in the 3.0 family of lots of HP compared to rolling a d4 for a Wizard.

Eh, but "Higher than average" doesn't equal "literally double the HD."

But it should be relatively doable to throw some level 1 characters in and just use the MM?

[Trask]

Eh, but "Higher than average" doesn't equal "literally double the HD."

But it should be relatively doable to throw some level 1 characters in and just use the MM?

Totally. I've run the Caves of Chaos just straight drag and drop with 5e characters no problem. You might find yourself surprised at how resilient 5e characters are, as well as how much more damage they can do in a turn than BECMI characters.

But even regarding that disparity, the OSR personality Rob Conley claims that 5e has a very similar power curve to OD&D (not BECMI I know) having run the same campaign with both systems.

The only thing I would caution that is very different is that swarms of numbers are a lot more deadly in 5e than in BECMI, since armor class stays flat, magic items are supposed to be more rare, and there are very few ways for non magic users to clear groups of enemies.

[Tvtyrant]

Eh, but "Higher than average" doesn't equal "literally double the HD."

But it should be relatively doable to throw some level 1 characters in and just use the MM?

A wizard with a con mod of 2 has 5 HP per level in 5E, so twice what a d4 gives you.

[LibraryOgre]

And I suppose the relative ease and availability of healing contributes to that resiliency... if you can manage a short rest, you can spend a HD, and get back HP.

[jleonardwv]

I am currently running i3, i-4, i-5 series from first edition / second edition. I did buy a guide that someone published for the conversion. And it is pretty helpful I think the guide was only five bucks or so.

I also ran the u1, U2, u3 series without a conversion guide and it went fine.

As was mentioned, be very careful about multiple opponents. They are way more deadly than you might expect.

In my current adventure, I used a random encounter monster and powered it up just to see what my players could defeat. then I use that as kind of a guide to later encounters.

[noob]

And I suppose the relative ease and availability of healing contributes to that resiliency... if you can manage a short rest, you can spend a HD, and get back HP.

there is also dwarves who have a feat to regain hit dice by dodging no?

[KorvinStarmast]

So, I'm looking through the Monster Manual... is it just more, or does pretty much everything in B2's bestiary have about double the HP it did in AD&D? Yes. They do. They also do a bit more damage, since the +2 to dex for goblins also translates to more damage, which it didn't way back when. (Mind you, the first time I played in Keep on the Borderlands our DM ran it in AD&D 1e, not basic). Dex + for damage in ranged weapons wasn't a thing then.


It is now.

[LibraryOgre]

So, game is Saturday, I've got a few players lined up: T1 or B2? I could run either in my sleep, but anyone got a preference?

[LibraryOgre]

So, we finished up this week. We went with T1, but really only got to part of the first part of the moathouse.

Our party was:

Syellipsis, a Human Rogue
Aerinim, a Human Fighter
Drake, a Kobold Druid.
Brief appearance by two muleteers, since we had people stick their head in to learn.

The party started off by looking around town, trying to learn what they could. Drake, a LG Druid of Ilmater, determined quickly that the town was divided into Ilmater and Druidic followers. He spent a fair amount of time hopping in and out of different types of vestments, trying to get in good with both sides, and learning that the bandits we causing significant trouble, interrupting trade in the region. Sy noticed a fancy dagger on the belt of the head of the militia, and determined that she wanted to steal that. Aerinim started asking about, as well, and also learned about the bandits, picking up a job from the smith to get some coal that was stolen from the last raid. They then realized that OTHER people might have money, and so started hitting up various people of influence in town for money. Finally, they decided to head to the moathouse for recon.

Which goes horribly. The druid wants to do everything. He goes to investigate the moathouse, reasoning he has darkvision. He gets sidetracked and attacked by the giant frogs. He gets saved from that, then they climb the tower (for some reason), and he insists on going first, getting attacked by the spider. Having defeated the spider, their now-injured kobold decides he needs to be the one to stick his head in the door where the bandits hang out. He'd been screaming for something like half an hour at this point, so they shot him. The party ran away, but Sy decided to infiltrate the bandits to get the information they don't have... and she pulls it off. She inserts herself into their band, and goes to town the next day, along with a couple other bandits, making contact with the local traders/traitors, Rannos and Gremag. She agrees to meet the bandits at the inn at noon, since she's going to go try to steal that dagger.

Drake notes the bandits, and magically decides that they're bandits, so he follows them, then hangs around outside their place for hours, listening to them haggle over prices (actually, carry on a conversation in cant about information they've gathered), then chase them to their meeting with Sy (who has unsuccessfully tried to steal the constable's magic dagger), who is heading towards the inn ANYWAY, since Aerinim decided that the best way to get information was to first strongarm Elmo up to a room, then buy him a bunch of booze. When he strongarmed Elmo up to the room, someone went off for the constable. By the time the constable gets there, Aernim has switched to drinking with Elmo, and so the constable sits down to lunch. The bandits, seeing the constable there and having been followed by a creepy kobold, go up to meet with Sy in her room. They have a conversation, with Drake hiding in the hallway. He hears them talking about beans, and he starts getting mad that they're in there, and decides to fill the room with a Fog Cloud, then Thunderwave the door open. The door... makes its save. So, he filled the room with fog, made a colossal boom... and achieved nothing. The constable, eating lunch downstairs, runs upstairs. The bandits (and Sy) go out the window. The druid runs downstairs, gets stopped by the constable... and decides he doesn't want to stop. So he, a LG priest of Ilmater, decides to poison spray the constable. In the face. The constable, unsurprisingly, stabs the grappled kobold, and takes him downstairs to figure out what the heck is going on. Sy and the bandits slip out of town. The kobold is thrown in jail. Aerinim manages to save face, and decides to go meet the incoming caravan, that Sy and the bandits are going to raid. And the druid starts out after them, once he's released from prison.

So, the party comes together. Everyone is 2nd level. In an early attack, two gnolls started the fight, attacking some people who were coming to work on the castle. The bandits stayed in the woods, firing crossbows, with Sy having climbed a tree. She started using her crossbow to intentionally miss. Then, as the gnolls started to do well fighting Aerinim and Drake, she started shooting the gnolls (since some of the bandits were her friends). The druid, in wild shape, went down to the bandit leader. As Aerinim fought the bandit leader, she reluctantly began to shoot the bandit leader. Aerinim was ALMOST down... like, 1 HP, second wind and action surge used, when he critted the bandit leader and knocked him down... only to get taken down by two of the bandits next. Sy, up in her tree, decides to shoot the last remaining merchant, and fully join the bandits. She saved Aerinim, pointing out he might be worth a ransom. The druid died from failed death saving throws.

And the campaign ended. Technically not a TPK, because the rogue was TOTALLY fine. Not a single HP lost. But the rest of the party? The vagabond soldier and the druid? Not so much.