Adapting a 1st ed D&D module to 5e -- maybe

[Cygnia]

My husband's niece and her boyfriend and their friends (high school age) are interested in D&D (we are assuming 5e at this point). Hubby wants to play, so I've offered my hat for GMing purposes. Now, obviously I want to ask these players what sort of game they want (hubby has said they are new to role playing in general and may just want to Kill Things & Take Their Stuff). But if they say they don't care, I'm considering adapting an old 1st edition module for them to sink their teeth into.

The module in question? Treasure Hunt. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Hunt_(module)) The original hook is, they start at Level ZERO and figure out what class they want to be through the course of surviving the adventure.

Any advice how to make it work?

[Argok]

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/248589/DDALELW00-Whats-Past-is-Prologue
Has some rules on making level 0 characters for 5e. I've never run it though. It was for Adventurers League

[Tanarii]

How close are the zero level rules to Greyhawk adventures? I'm seeing that you start off with 3 in all ability scores and 3 hit point. Note that in AD&D that's actually fantastic starting hit points for Magic-users and Illusionists :smallamused: But those ability scores would be killer to start with an have to earn off. Far worse than a 5e commoner.

[EggKookoo]

You could start them with d8 (or 5) + Con Mod HP, assuming they're all Medium. If there are Small PCs, use d6 (or 4). No class features, just racials. Go from there?

Maybe have them pick backgrounds so they can have some proficiencies.

Once they hit 1st Level, their HP gets replaced by the full class HP if it's higher, otherwise they keep their 0th Level HP.

I dunno. Never done this. Could be fun.

[KorvinStarmast]

Maybe have them pick backgrounds so they can have some proficiencies. Very much this. :smallsmile:

[Cygnia]

More and more, I'm probably going instead with the premade adventures in the ol' Essentials Kit. There's gonna be seven players and best to not have too many headaches for myself.