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View Full Version : Conversion, is there a point?



Sonofaspectre
2007-10-31, 09:53 PM
No, I'm not talking about 3rd to 4th. I'm actually talking 2nd to 3rd. I have a great series of modules that I picked up when I was going to DM for 2nd edition, but now we have switched and they have just been picking up dust. I really want to take four guys through these modules, but they have never played 2nd edition.

Is there is a simple 3rd edition conversion I can use to make these modules come up to the new standard? Or is there a point? Should I just try to teach them the new system (technically old) so that we can have a fun series of games.

What is you'se guys' opinions on this?

Zincorium
2007-10-31, 09:59 PM
Direct conversion is rarely satisfactory, it's a lot better to take the feel, the description and any unique qualities, and create a new monster under the 3.5 rules.

Homebrewing monsters is really incredibly easy, I can't recall the last time I actually ran something straight out of a monster manual. The last chapter of the 3.5 MM has a lot of good explanations for what should get what. Only hard part might be CR, but that's incredibly subjective even with official monsters.

Edit: I realize I'm only talking about monsters, but they're generally the only parts of modules that don't have straightforward conversion of stats. It's not like you have to do anything to a +2 longsword to make it 3.5 compatible. Traps and challenges (locks, puzzles, other skill check stuff) can be lifted wholesale out of the DMG for the most part.

And yes, I have actually done that.

Jack Mann
2007-10-31, 09:59 PM
Wizards had a 2nd-3rd conversion booklet, but it was pretty crappy. That's why they're not making one for 3.5-4th.

If they're good adventures, they might be worth converting on your own, but it's going to be near as much as making one from scratch.

AtomicKitKat
2007-11-01, 03:38 AM
It helps to get a 3.5 MM and an AD&D MM to compare. Then you'd get a rough idea how much the monster was scaled up/down.

Matthew
2007-11-01, 04:39 AM
Conversion is relatively easy, it's just a matter of exchanging X for Y. It may make the Module a good deal more or less difficult, though.

Personally, I wouldn't bother unless your players were dead set against playing AD&D and you really want to run the modules. There's not a whole world of difference between the core rules of 2e and 3e and you can import stuff that you like about 3e into 2e fairly easily.

MariettaGecko
2007-11-01, 07:13 AM
I'm actually looking at the same issue. I have an old boxed set called Dragon Mountain from AD&D days. I have never had an opportunity to truly run it, so I was thinking about setting up to try to convert it from 2e to 3.5. Some of it looks like it will translate quite well, but other bits are going to be rather a pain to translate.

Even so, I'm seriously considering doing so, if mostly so that it gets played. Any thoughts on this?

Swordguy
2007-11-01, 07:17 AM
I'm actually looking at the same issue. I have an old boxed set called Dragon Mountain from AD&D days. I have never had an opportunity to truly run it, so I was thinking about setting up to try to convert it from 2e to 3.5. Some of it looks like it will translate quite well, but other bits are going to be rather a pain to translate.

Even so, I'm seriously considering doing so, if mostly so that it gets played. Any thoughts on this?

Dragon Mountain is SERIOUSLY worth the trouble.

For what it's worth, it's on my top 5 adventure modules (and, IIRC was in Dragon Magazine's top 10).

Keld Denar
2007-11-01, 07:23 AM
I ran a group of players through the ol' 2nd Edition Boxed set "A Night Below". It was amazingly fun. A little prework for a few of the encounters, and I was able to run it almost seamlessly as a 3.5 game. Most of the monsters in it (orcs, svirfneblin, derro, illithid, koa-toa, aboliths, even a couple demons) are all easy, since they exist in the MM. The NPC type encounters took a little more work, but you can basically just throw together a group of NPCs in minutes. You can either port their stats (2nd ed to 3rd ed stats tend to be lower on average) or just assign them elite array. Their equipment should pretty much be the same (maybe give em a little more, since 3rd ed increases the power curve a little). For example. A 7th level death cult priest and some lackies attack the party

Cleric 7
(assign stats, pick spells)

3 Rogue 3s
(assign stats, equip with bows, armor)

2 Fighter 2s
(assign stats, equip with swords, armor)

Done. Tactics are already outlined in the module, equipment is already outlined in the module. Discriptions and RP is all discribed in the module. You now have a 3rd ed version of the module ready for play.

Alternately, if the mod was popular (A Night Below was) you can google online conversions. Some people may have already done what I just did above, and post their stats for the encounters. Great, even less work for you. Unless you want to do it yourself, in which case you can.

The advantage to running a module of this type is a great majority of the plot, significant NPCs, and areas of note are all ready made up for you, ready for you to use as written, or tweak to personal flavoring. Converting to 3rd falls into that tweaking.

If all else fails, and you need help converting, there are dozens (I dare say hundreds) of people on these and other forums who could help you out. Just ask.

Good luck and good gaming!

EDIT: One thing to be sure to change is treasure. There are about 10x more magic items in 3rd than there were in 2nd ed. A lot of things like stat enhancers and whatnot are pretty important to hand out. Also, spellbooks and scrolls with spells that are new from 2nd to 3rd ed. Use your DMs license to add/change/remove anything you feel appropriate.

MariettaGecko
2007-11-01, 07:28 AM
Dragon Mountain is SERIOUSLY worth the trouble.

For what it's worth, it's on my top 5 adventure modules (and, IIRC was in Dragon Magazine's top 10).

Have you played it since 3ed?

hamlet
2007-11-01, 07:41 AM
I'm actually looking at the same issue. I have an old boxed set called Dragon Mountain from AD&D days. I have never had an opportunity to truly run it, so I was thinking about setting up to try to convert it from 2e to 3.5. Some of it looks like it will translate quite well, but other bits are going to be rather a pain to translate.

Even so, I'm seriously considering doing so, if mostly so that it gets played. Any thoughts on this?

Dragon Mountain does not convert well into 3rd edition at all. There are hundreds of Kobolds in the mountain and some of the traps would have equivalent CR's in the 30's.

It just isn't worth a direct conversion.

You're better off taking the old module, getting the feel of the place, and then putting together your own version of it with new traps, new creatures, and probably new maps to fit in with the 3rd edition frame. All in all, Dragon Mountain is really a 1st edition adventure dressed up in newer clothes.

Hawriel
2007-11-01, 08:17 AM
My friend and I are in the middle of the bloodstone lands adventure set. He is converting them to 3.5 as we finish a modual for it. Its a four part campain. He is doing alot of work on it. some parts are easy to switch over like giants ok get the MM and put in X amount of hill giants needed for the encounter. Some of it is rather hard, but thats because he was converting entier dungeons and thoughs where big. The time it took for him to do it is the killer. Hedging the rules to convert the mass combat system was a chore but he got it done.