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41 posts. Alias of jasonm777.


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I believe that no matter how deeply you want people to play by the rules, you’re inevitably going to be disappointed.

I believe that a good pint of Guinness can go a long way toward counteracting that disappointment.

I believe that a sunset like the one in my neck of the woods tonight is also a good counterbalance.

And I believe that I’m really happy that today is the first day of Autumn!


I believe that after several weeks, I have now read every post in this thread!

I believe this thread has taught me many fun new words like FAWESOME, craptastic, and jackassery.

I believe that I accidentally flagged a post somewhere in this thread and didn’t know how to undo it, so if that post was yours, I sincerely apologize.

I believe this thread has really helped me take my mind off things and given me a reason to smile.

I believe a toast is in order for you all - CHEERS!


I echo all of the concerns that others have expressed. I hope you’re all able to stay safe and healthy through the heat. As a person of faith, my prayers are with you.


Reksew_Trebla wrote:

I don’t know how helpful this will be, but to add to the whole “how you present it will determine how age appropriate it is” thing, look at the cartoon Adventure Time. It is basically a D&D parody, and they made the bloody Nightosphere (basically their version of the Abyss, as it has demons, and the ruler is pure chaotic evil, by his own words,) a good time for child viewers (it was actually kind of messed up when they went there, from an IN universe prospective, but as a viewer, it was all fun and games).

So yeah, take notes from Adventure Time.

Thanks, I’ll take a look at it!


VoodistMonk wrote:

"Primary examples are demons, devils, gory / gruesome / grisly things, blood, torture, sacrifices, etc. As I hinted at above, I know I can modify things and tone them down, it just seems that an abundance of Pathfinder material is filled with things that I'm trying to avoid."

That is like a whole list of key elements used to establish tone. Those elements are what make the bad guys "bad". Some of it is necessary to properly motivate the good guys to take appropriate action against the bad guys in order to further the plot.

However, I see what you are saying. And you don't need preteen children contemplating things like human sacrifice before bed. A lot of occult and horrible things that are simply tone-setting details for desensatized adults, would create a lot of undue questions from an audience of children... and thus a lot of undue explanations... explanations to things you otherwise would not have to be explaining to these children... explanations that slow gameplay and distract the players from the story you are trying to tell.

With the plethora of diverse and completely made up monsters in Pathfinder... unless the demons/devils are thematically tied to their domain in Hell, just describe them in generic physical terms... leave all association with pure evil and Hell out of it. A barbed devil is just a skinny creature with spikes... absolutely no relation to anything found in any real religion... might as well be called Spine-man, or whatever.

You don't have to confuse anyone or make anyone uncomfortable just because the book calls for demons/devils... they are a stat block, with numbers... those numbers are what are important to encounter balance. How you describe what those numbers belong to is completely up to you. It is not required to make anyone question their faith or feel uncomfortable playing a game their pastor might not approve of.

I am driving that point home, because when I was a wee-lad... probably 5 or 6... my super religious mother threw my brand new DnD box set in the...

Sorry for the delayed reply, you wrote a lot of good things here and I wanted to let them sink in a little first.

You very eloquently made a case for both sides of the issue. Bad guys should be BAD, this is very important to the story we’re telling ... yet HOW that bad-ness is presented to the players is just as important to the story. If it’s done in a way that meets the players where they are, not just in relation to the game itself, but to where they are in life as a whole, then job well done. But if it acts as a distraction or even has a harmful effect, then it needs to be modified and adapted. You’ve given me a lot to think about.

And I’m glad you mentioned that last bit about faith and religion. I’m a Christian and a gamer, and a number of years ago I was pulled aside by my pastor and cautioned about playing D&D because of his (mis)understanding that it had demonic and evil influences. This was really confusing for me because I had been gaming for over 15 years at that point and never once sensed anything evil about D&D. It was a fun game set in a genre that appealed to me, and truthfully, my friends and I spent just as much time cracking jokes, quoting movies, eating food, and laughing with each other as we spent actually gaming. That’s what it’s always been about for me, so when I asked a friend at church if he wanted to join us in a game of D&D, and was cautioned by my pastor who overheard my inquiry, I was completely stunned and confused.

So I guess I’m trying to find the sweet spot that balances being a responsible parent and an honest gamer.

Thanks for your thought-provoking words!


PFRPGrognard wrote:

Based on your OP, I'll answer my own question as "homebrewed" and "what's a Golarion?"

I recommend the excellent third installment of the Ironfang Invasion "Assault on Longshadow" wherein the PCs try to warn the nearby town of Longshadow of impending invasion. The entire adventure is very sandboxy in how it can be run and offers a variety of challenges and ways to approach them.

Here is the book.

Here is the GM thread where you can read and ask for advice.

Thanks! I’ll definitely check that out.

We’ve done a mix of homebrew and published adventures. The party is based in Sandpoint. Here’s the list so far:

1. Black Fang’s Dungeon (beginner box)
2. The old mine adventure in the BB GM Kit
3. Into the Feyweald, A Feast of Flavor, and Crisis at Falling Spring Station by Legendary Games
4. Homebrew Minecraft-themed adventures (2)
5. Homebrew adventure using about 5 of the adventure hooks in the BB GM’s guide
6. Homebrew Christmas-themed adventure with Mr. Grinch, some misfit toys, and a nutcracker (this was a lot of fun to write!)

We’re now using the full rule set in the CRB.

My next homebrew will be a Ninjago-themed adventure into Tian Xia to return a daisho they found in a treasure haul from #5 above. But as I need to write the story and research Tian Xia, I’m looking for a published adventure or two that I can run in the meantime.


Sysryke wrote:
You could probably modify several adventures to be "kid friendly" depending on how you define the term.

So would anyone be able to name some specific adventures that might be easy(ish) to modify? The party is currently 8th level.


VoodistMonk wrote:
Overall, it's an insane fairy trying to put a huge chunk of land into a jar... and you happen to be building a brand new kingdom on this same chunk of land. Lots of wilderness adventures, animals, magical beasts, humanoid bandits, some undead but in no way focused on them, some outsiders but again not focused on it... nothing too adult, honestly. You can downplay some of the politics involving Pitax, but it helps if the players know that the ruling class of Pitax are bad people.

This sounds like a lot of fun! I really appreciate the summary. I think my only concern at this point would be the length of time needed to complete it. Our sessions are usually 2-3 hours, depending what my son's attention span can handle on any given day. :) But he's a very imaginative and creative kid, so I think he might really like the idea of building his own kingdom.


Sysryke wrote:
You could probably modify several adventures to be "kid friendly" depending on how you define the term.

This seems like the way I'll need to go, but it can be a little challenging sometimes. Some of the adventure summaries / synopses are helpful in that they clearly indicate the tone, monsters, etc. in the adventure, and I can easily determine if it's something I'll pursue or avoid. Others, however, aren't as clear. For example, I just bought a PFS scenario because it sounded like it would be a cool dungeon exploration that I could use in a non-PFS setting. Reading through it once so far, I think my initial impression is correct ... except that it also has a bunch of demons in it, which the synopsis said nothing about. I've already thought of some ways to describe them to my son that will tone down the demonic aspects, but I was a little bummed that I have to do that when the synopsis didn't say anything about it.

I understand that Pathfinder is targeted more toward a PG-13 level than an 8-year-old level, and I'm fine with that. It's just tough sometimes when I really want to run a published adventure and I can't find one that seems suitable.

Sysryke wrote:
I guess my question is, with absolutely no judgement, what are you not wanting your kid to encounter?

Primary examples are demons, devils, gory / gruesome / grisly things, blood, torture, sacrifices, etc. As I hinted at above, I know I can modify things and tone them down, it just seems that an abundance of Pathfinder material is filled with things that I'm trying to avoid.


Sysryke wrote:

You could probably modify several adventures to be "kid friendly" depending on how you define the term.

Depending on what you feel your child can and can't handle, you can change all damage to non-lethal, you don't have to describe bloody or gory bits. But, on the other hand, children used to get by just fine with Grimm's fairy tales. Even The Wizard of Oz is pretty straight forward about sometimes the good guys have to kill/destroy the bad guys, without being traumatic.

I guess my question is, with absolutely no judgement, what are you not wanting your kid to encounter?

Thanks for your feedback, Sysryke. Unfortunately I’m short on time at the moment, so I’ll respond later today.


VoodistMonk wrote:

Having recently finished Kingmaker, you could probably modify it to be all butterflies and bunnies pretty easily if you want a fairy tale forest adventure.

You could manage the kingdom building behind the scenes just asking their input on where they want cities and what those cities are named, maybe what buildings are where (to an extent). Soften the reasons some things are happening, maybe omit a few details here and there. But overall I think it could be done.

Running Kingmaker with a bunch of kids may actually make the whole sandbox thing easier to keep on track, honestly.

Thanks, I’ll look into it!

A couple questions in the meantime:

1) I’ve never played an AP before - about how long do they take to complete? Obviously it depends on how frequently we play, but would you be able to give an estimate based on comparison to an adventure module?

2) If I don’t make any adjustments or edits, what kind of monsters and details am I looking at? Is it dark and/or mature content? Demons and devils and bloody stuff? Those are the types of things I’m trying to steer clear of.


GeraintElberion wrote:

They are three, linked adventures from 0one Games that try to be usable with either the Beginner Box or the core rules.

They're a bit more serious/adult than the other BB stuff but they're well written: not surprising when those involved include Tito Leati, Tim Hitchcock and David Schwartz.

Thanks, I’ll check them out!


GeraintElberion wrote:

3. I have Into the Feyweald and the Basic Paths, plus the BB adventures in various Wayfinders. I am trying to save some for when my daughter manages to rope in a few friends (post-pandemic). Trail of the Apprentice looks...

I forgot to ask you, what are the Basic Paths?


GeraintElberion wrote:
LightSide wrote:
GeraintElberion wrote:
If anyone can add to that some kid-friendly one-on-one adventures (one kid PC; one adult GM) then that would be great.

A few options:

1. Have you tried using the Adventure Finder? I think it has a section for one-on-one adventures. I haven't looked at any of them, so I can’t make any recommendations, but it might be a good starting place. Go to Paizo > Store > Pathfinder > Adventures > First Edition Adventures. You should see a link for it there. (I’ve been looking around there, myself, but it’s sometimes hard to tell how kid-friendly an adventure is just by reading the synopsis.)

2. You could use some of the pre-generated iconic characters to fill out a party of 4 so you could then play the adventures that are designed for 4-6 characters. Of course, you’d then be in the same boat as me. I GM for my son, who plays a fighter, with me playing Merisiel, Kyra, and Ezren as GM “PC’s”. (I’m sure the pre-gen character sheets are on the Paizo website somewhere, but I can’t think of where at the moment. We started with the Beginner Box, which has them in it.)

3. Legendary Games has a few kid-friendly adventures for lower-level characters (1-3). These aren’t meant for one-on-one play, though. They are: Into the Feyweald, A Feast of Flavor, and Crisis at Falling Spring Station. We played all of them and really enjoyed them. There is also an adventure path called Trail of the Apprentice, but we haven’t played it yet. I believe it covers levels 1-5.

Yes, we are using the BB.

1. The adventure-finder has not been that useful, and all of the one-on-one adventures published under that name have not been kid friendly.

2. I tried that. She did not like having her character escorted around by an army of dad-bots.

3. I have Into the Feyweald and the Basic Paths, plus the BB adventures in various Wayfinders. I am trying to save some for when my daughter manages to rope in a few friends (post-pandemic). Trail of the Apprentice looks...

1. That’s too bad, though I guess not too surprising. Overall it seems like Pathfinder is more of a PG-13 level game than PG.

2. “Dad-bots”!

3. I’m saving Trail of the Apprentice for the same reason.


DeathlessOne wrote:
If you just want to have a lot of fun, you can check out 'We Be Dragons'. It is a short little adventure that lets the players take the role of some fairly young dragons with unique little twists on their abilities (to reflect class-like abilities).

Thanks, I’ll check that out! I think my son would have fun with that.


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GeraintElberion wrote:
If anyone can add to that some kid-friendly one-on-one adventures (one kid PC; one adult GM) then that would be great.

A few options:

1. Have you tried using the Adventure Finder? I think it has a section for one-on-one adventures. I haven't looked at any of them, so I can’t make any recommendations, but it might be a good starting place. Go to Paizo > Store > Pathfinder > Adventures > First Edition Adventures. You should see a link for it there. (I’ve been looking around there, myself, but it’s sometimes hard to tell how kid-friendly an adventure is just by reading the synopsis.)

2. You could use some of the pre-generated iconic characters to fill out a party of 4 so you could then play the adventures that are designed for 4-6 characters. Of course, you’d then be in the same boat as me. I GM for my son, who plays a fighter, with me playing Merisiel, Kyra, and Ezren as GM “PC’s”. (I’m sure the pre-gen character sheets are on the Paizo website somewhere, but I can’t think of where at the moment. We started with the Beginner Box, which has them in it.)

3. Legendary Games has a few kid-friendly adventures for lower-level characters (1-3). These aren’t meant for one-on-one play, though. They are: Into the Feyweald, A Feast of Flavor, and Crisis at Falling Spring Station. We played all of them and really enjoyed them. There is also an adventure path called Trail of the Apprentice, but we haven’t played it yet. I believe it covers levels 1-5.


I’m looking for published adventures that are kid-friendly, either intentionally written that way or with some editing/modification. I’m open to Paizo products and 3PP material. Target audience is 8 years old; current PC level is 8th. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated; I’ve been writing my own adventures but could use a break!


Ryze Kuja wrote:

Last time I saw my nephews (11 and 9 yrs old), they expressed interest in playing a Pathfinder game, to see if they'd like it. So I agreed to DM a one-shot adventure for them at Christmas (3 days away). My nieces from my other brother found out, and now they want to play too (10 and 7 yrs old).

I'm planning on keeping everything PG-rated. I'm going to hand out pre-gen character sheets. The Grinch will be the end boss, and they'll fight some animated toy soldiers and a couple of goblin henchmen.

I've never played the game with children this young though. Anyone have advice on keeping their attention? Pitfalls to avoid?

I GM for my 8yo son. He loves Pathfinder! I’m definitely still learning as a GM, but my advice is to plan on 2-3 hours, 4-5 encounters. That’s what my son’s limit usually is.

Btw, I’m in the middle of a Christmas adventure with him that features the Grinch as the boss. His cave is guarded by snow elementals in the form of mean-looking snowmen. His lair is populated with animated objects such as the misfit toys and Christmas presents, and there is a wood golem that looks like a nutcracker soldier.

Have fun, and merry Christmas!


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Scott Wilhelm wrote:
LightSide wrote:
Scott Wilhelm wrote:

I'm thinking magic rogue, Arcane Trickster, maybe. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch was mostly just industrious, managing to clean out every Who house, leaving crumbs much too small for all the Who mouses.

In When the Sweet-Sour Wind Blows, the Grinch was feared all over Whoville, and it seemed like he had powers of illusion.

In The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch opens up with a machine that silences everything. The machine suggests more Alchemy than magic, but my first thought is Wizard/rogue/Arcane Trickster with a specialty in Illusion.

I guess he has a Familiar, his dog Max. And his sleigh seems more than meets the eye.

Excellent, thank you! I assume the three references above are all books?

When the Sweet-Sour Wind Blows is how I know Halloween Night is Grinch Night. I know it as a video, but it might be a book. The same with The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat. I know How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a book, a cartoon, and a terrible live-action movie.

It might interest you to know I actually made a 3.5 character that was a Monk/Fist of the Forest/Bear Warrior under a Vow of Poverty named Wan Shu Lir, the last patriarch of the once mighty, rich Wan Shu Lir family that had huge logging and textile factories, but poor resource management led to overharvesting the truffula trees his family businesses shut down--no more trees, no more thneeds, no more work to be done. And after years of worrying and worrying and worrying away with all of his factories falling apart, worrying and worrying with all of his heart, he decided to abandon all his wealth and join the Holy Order of the Lorax and fight to protect the trees and plant new forests, sometimes entering a Rage and turning into a brown bar-ba-loot bear.

That is pure awesomeness!


So far I have a few suggestions for Rogue, along with some magic and Bard mixed in. I like where this is going!

The PC’s are currently 6th level. I’d like to make the Grinch encounter 1-2 CR’s higher to challenge them. What would be a good class and level mix for Wizard, Rogue, and Bard?

I should also mention that my kids are 8 and 4, and my wife has very little RPG experience. So, I’d like to keep things simple.


Scott Wilhelm wrote:

I'm thinking magic rogue, Arcane Trickster, maybe. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch was mostly just industrious, managing to clean out every Who house, leaving crumbs much too small for all the Who mouses.

In When the Sweet-Sour Wind Blows, the Grinch was feared all over Whoville, and it seemed like he had powers of illusion.

In The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch opens up with a machine that silences everything. The machine suggests more Alchemy than magic, but my first thought is Wizard/rogue/Arcane Trickster with a specialty in Illusion.

I guess he has a Familiar, his dog Max. And his sleigh seems more than meets the eye.

Excellent, thank you! I assume the three references above are all books?


Oli Ironbar wrote:

I love the idea.

High level adept. He seems like he is an evil boss, but he is a common person who simply misunderstands the magic of Christmas.

Intriguing ... I’ll definitely look into this!


Quixote wrote:
Ever see the Halloween special? "It's a wonderful night for eyebrows. It's a wonderful night for teeth!" --some kind of spellcaster with lots of mind-effecting stuff.

I had no idea there was a Halloween special! I’ll check it out. Thanks!


I’m thinking of writing a one-shot Christmas adventure for my family. I’m still working out the plot, but the villain will be Mr. Grinch.

Any advice on what race and class would best suit him?


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SunKing wrote:
It’s a little quieter, with considered, measured discussion around a system we love and aren’t giving up on yet. Sure - we know that PF1 has its failings. But it’s what we’ve invested so much time, energy and cash into. And I like this community as it is now: a little less noise than before. And I intend to share, borrow and steal from all of you for the indefinite future. Thanks

I agree. I started reading the forums when my son was born and I needed a way to get through the sleepless nights caused by his acid reflux. I really enjoyed the discussions and felt immersed in the community.

Then for some reason, the vibe in the forums seemed to change. So many of the threads felt very negative. Or maybe it was always that way and I was too sleep-deprived to notice. Whatever the case, I became increasingly turned off and eventually stopped paying attention.

I’ve recently come back because my son is old enough to join the Pathfinder ranks and I’ve needed some rules explanations and advice to help me as a new GM. I’ve read multiple threads/posts mentioning the fact that 1E is what it is now and won’t be changing or expanding, and that we can now spend our time exploring it to its fullest. This has reinvigorated my interest in reading and actively posting in the forums. And I’m liking the more relaxed atmosphere I’ve experienced.


My screen name is a reference to the Light side of the Force in Star Wars. It’s also meant to convey a positive vibe and be a guide to me when I post anything in these forums. I chose the icon because it resembles a Jedi holocron.

I’m from the USA.


Aaron Bitman wrote:
LightSide wrote:
Aaron Bitman wrote:
LightSide wrote:
Against the Cult of the Reptile God

Converting N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God
I’ll check it out, thank you!

Oops. That wasn't even the thread of which I was thinking. I was actually thinking of this one:

Old People! (Converting old AD&D material to Pathfinder)

Thanks for the correction, I’ll look that one up too!


Mudfoot wrote:
LightSide wrote:
I was just thinking about that this morning. With the crazy number of monsters in that place, how would the ones in an adjacent area NOT hear the sounds of battle and come join in the fight?
I think the idea was that ogres and giants are rowdy like that all the time, so a lot of fighting and yelling is just business as usual. The same sort of justification applied to most other humanoids from kobolds up.

Ah, that's a very good point. Though sooner or later I would have to imagine one of them would have enough wits to sound an alarm.


thejeff wrote:
To be honest, it was a pretty brutal module back in the day. I never ran it, but that was partly because I could never see how to do so without slaughtering a party - generally by raising an alert and bringing the entire fort down on top of you at once.

I was just thinking about that this morning. With the crazy number of monsters in that place, how would the ones in an adjacent area NOT hear the sounds of battle and come join in the fight?


WagnerSika wrote:
I wonder how the conversion of Throne of Bloodstone would go? The welcoming party to Orcus's layer consisted of one type V demon and 100 type III demons if I remember correctly. And you had to kill Tiamat to to win in the end.

Pfff, doesn’t sound too hard! (j/k)


Aaron Bitman wrote:
LightSide wrote:
Against the Cult of the Reptile God

Converting N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God

I’ll check it out, thank you!


Ryan Freire wrote:
I mean CR ratings aside, there's a room with two cloud giants, three stone giants 24 hill giants and a dozen ogres in that module. It was not designed for monsters to get + con

I glanced through the hill giant steading and those encounters are insane!


Ryan Freire wrote:

certain monsters are WAY tougher. Dragons and Giants stand out, but basically anything that was intended to be a big bruiser is a lot meaner converted directly to pathfinder than you'd expect.

I had a friend try to convert against the giants right when 3.0 came out and the damage output of those first few hill giant encounters was insane comparatively.

Did your friend change the number of hill giants from what it was in 1E to what it should be by the equivalent 3.0 CR? I guess that’s what I’m starting to question: can the basics of the encounters be maintained (for example, keeping the same monsters but modifying how many there are), but altered to fit PF’s CR rules? I’ve never converted anything from one system to another, so maybe that’s a silly question. But I think that’s how I would naturally approach it at first.


WagnerSika wrote:

Remember to check (for) the traps in the modules. Very often they either are save or die or just die (especially in Tomb of Horrors).

I ran Lost caverns of Tsojcanth ages ago converted to 3E. Only two deaths, one to a cursed item and another to a behir. They were about the same level as the module was written for.

That’s good to know, thanks!


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marcryser wrote:

The first 3.0 game I ever played was a direct translation of against the Giants.

So, nobody really knew the system that well and had built 8th level characters that were rebuilds of AD&D characters that had started the campaign years before.

2 frost giant sentries in the 'gatehouse' almost killed us all. We beat them and retreated into the wasteland to lick our wounds.

We went back the next day and tried again. 2 Replacement sentries in the same room resulted in the exact same 'butt-kicked-retreat-to hide' experience.

We hit the same room 4 times and leveled up twice before we made it into the next room on the map.

That is an epic story!


Thedmstrikes wrote:

That is quite the gift. Many of those individually would command excellent prices if still in good condition. I have been collecting game material for over 30 years and do not have everything on your list yet.

There are some conversions for a few of those to D&D 3.5 on the ENWorld site. They are a good start to get you in the ballpark for PF.

Thanks for the tip on ENWorld. I’ll definitely check that out!


Here is the list of 1E adventures I have. Took a little longer than I thought it would to compile it. I haven't looked at any of them in depth yet.

Slave Pits of the Undercity
Scourge of the Slavelords
Secret of the Slaver's Stockade
Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords
In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords
The Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan
The Ghost Tower of Inverness
The Lost Island of Castanamir
To Find A King
The Bane of Llywelyn
Descent into the Depths of the Earth
Shrine of the Kuo-Toa
Vault of the Drow
The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror
Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
Against the Giants
The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
Hall of the Fire Giant King
Queen of the Spiders
Bloodstone Pass
The Mines Of Bloodstone
The Bloodstone Wars
The Throne of Bloodstone
Dwellers of the Forbidden City
Needle
Swords of the Iron Legion
Tomb of the Lizard King
Pharaoh
Desert Of Desolation
Oasis of the White Palm
Lost Tomb of Martek
Baltron's Beacon
Ravager of Time
Day Of Al' Akbar
The Secret Of Bone Hill
The Assassin's Knot
Deep Dwarven Delve
Against the Cult of the Reptile God
The Forest Oracle
Destiny Of Kings
Treasure Hunt
Under Illefarn
Queen of the Demonweb Pits
To the Aid of Falx
The Investigation of Hydell
Egg of The Phoenix
Doc's Island
Tomb of Horrors
Realms of Horror
White Plume Mountain
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
The Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth
The Village of Hommlet
Temple Of Elemental Evil
Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
Danger at Dunwater
Final Enemy
Beyond The Crystal Cave
The Sentinel
The Gauntlet
When a Star Falls
Eye of the Serpent
All that Glitters
Dark Clouds Gather


Mudfoot wrote:

The relative levels of monsters compared to PCs can be very different. A decent 4th level fighter (or better, ranger) could take a hill giant fairly easily. Not so in PF.

1e and BECMI are also much simpler, so the combat goes a lot faster. And AoE spells like Fireball are vastly more effective in 1e, so you'd tend to have a 5th level party of 8 PCs facing something like a dozen ogres in one go. And the Against The Giants series has those sort of numbers of giants in multiple rooms at 9th level. Try that in PF and the result will be a TPK after about 6 hours.

Thanks Mudfoot. I guess that speaks to Bjorn's points above about CR's. I can see how 12 giants per encounter could result in a bloodbath, so I suppose I'd have to figure out the power level and CR and adjust accordingly.


Bjørn Røyrvik wrote:

There's a bit more to it.

Direct substitution can get you quite a ways but there are a few pitfalls to be aware of.

1) Earlier editions were often a bit more free with the power level of creatures in a module. Don't be surprised if you see a creature than in P1 terms is 4+ CR above the APL thrown in there randomly. Always try to make sure that creatures you put in will be appropriately challenging for the PCs.

2) Power levels in 3.x vary more than in earlier editions. The CR system is at best a vague approximation of what to use. Know how well optimized your party is because what would be a harsh TPK for one group might be barely a speed bump for another. You may have to adjust creatures significantly to make appropriate challenges.

3) Monsters were created differently back in the day. E.g. a 100 HD fire elemental in BECMI or 1e might just have a lot of HP but not deal more damage or hit better than one with 8 HD, but in P1 it will be immensely tougher, to the point you probably have to start making house rules to accurately show off how tough it is.

4) Treasure can be borked. Since GP was the primary XP source in 1e and B/X-BECMI, you get a lot more treasure than in 3.x. A short 1st level adventure can easily net PCs a couple hundred gp and some nifty magic items each. The most treasure I've seen in a module was "Sabre River" which gave a total of 5.5 million (or thereabouts).
When running BECMI modules I often just slash a 0 off the end of treasure found during the adventure. I haven't run any 1e modules but I would keep an eye on treasure in those too.

The most important thing to do is know the system well and know your players and their characters well to determine what is an accurate challenge. Since you're somewhat new there will be some mistakes so just make a note of what worked and what didn't and don't be afraid to experiment.

Which modules are you thinking of?

That’s fantastic advice, thank you! I have 2 Expert level adventures: Isle of Dread and The Duchy of Ten. I also have a lot of 1E adventures that a friend gave me; I’ll have to get the list later today.

I recently heard of the Basic Fantasy RPG, which seems geared toward the old school D&D style. I have no idea how similar that system is to the old D&D system, but I’m thinking of looking into converting those adventures as well. They’re free, so why not?


I’m a relatively new GM and would like to convert some D&D 1E adventures (including some from the Basic Rules boxed set) to PF 1E. Is it as simple as exchanging the D&D monsters, treasure, etc. for those from PF, or is there more to it?


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I've recently introduced my 7-year-old son to Pathfinder using the Beginner Box. He plays a Human fighter, and we use the other 3 iconic characters to round out the party. I've run Black Fang's Dungeon and The Deadly Mine from the BB books, and a trilogy of adventures from Legendary Games (Into the Feyweald, A Feast of Flavor, and Crisis at Falling Spring Station). I've also written a short homebrew dungeon crawl titled "Minecraft", which was (obviously) themed after the video game.

I'm currently running a hybrid homebrew / published adventure titled "Shadows in Sandpoint". I'm using several of the suggested adventure hooks from the GM's Guide (including Ruins of Raven's Watch) and stringing them together into a larger story arc. The mastermind behind the plot is a villain from a couple of the LG adventures (Yaldira the Forlarren), who is coordinating an assault on Sandpoint to exact revenge against the PCs for foiling her previous plans. At the end of this hybrid adventure the PCs should be 6th level, at which point I'm going to "graduate" my son up to the full rule set. I have a lot of published adventures we can use, along with 4-5 APs. I'll have to preview them all for age-appropriateness, but I'm excited. The party also has one pirate treasure map to follow up on, as well as another "treasure map" in the form of a local businesswoman's last will and testament.

I have a few PFS 1E characters that I like, though I haven't had a chance to play them in almost a year due to low local PFS activity and then COVID.

Halfling ranger (archer) 9
Half-Ord paladin of Sarenrae 12
Vishkanya ninja 3

I've played 2E one time (PFS) and I enjoyed it. I liked the action economy (from what I can remember - it was pre-COVID, and any memories before that are sometimes a bit fuzzy). This was also my son's first time playing PFS (either edition), so a large part of my enjoyment came from that. While I don't have anything against 2E at this point, the only condition on which I'm most likely to play it again (and more importantly, spend money on it) is if I and/or my son plan to play PFS 2E again. Like many others have said in this thread, I'm too financially and emotionally invested in 1E to want to buy and learn a new system. I also don't have a lot of available time to devote to gaming at this point, and I'd prefer to use the time I do have to play 1E.