Converting previous APs

2nd ed. is simply awesome... Now having collected all of th 1st ed. APs (even bought the APs in french ed. in Paris) what I would like to have is some stats for NPC's and monster for these APs so we can easily replay them with the 2nd ed. Maybe simply a website that offer this info.

I converted “The Haunting of Harrowstone” to playtest rules without Breaking a sweat. And to top it off I’ve never played PF1E and was coming out of a 15 year hiatus from GURPS.

The rule seemed to be, that if you can’t find the appropriate monster, then CR=Monster Level, and if it has a special skill (grab, laser etc.) get that/similar skill from another monster and slap it on there.

The only place I had issues was with the BBEG of the Harrowstone Ruins, as he turned out way easier than expected.

Even though people keep asking for an official conversion guide it really isn’t needed, as the conversion process is so fast. All you need is a little common sense, and you’re good to go.

I am honestly spending more time doing my Age of Ashes notes, than I did converting Haunting of Harrowstone.

For me, the tough part isn't the monsters. I'm fairly confident I can figure those out with some trial and error. The thing I'm concerned about is treasure. The two editions have very different assumptions about how treasure works, and I'm not really sure how to convert from one to the other.

For treasure, you're probably best off discarding most of the stuff in the AP, and rebuilding it from the ground up with 2e guidelines.

I am starting to convert the Ironfang Invasion adventure path to Pathfinder 2nd Edition. I hope to post my results somewhere, theorycraft in the Conversions subforum and gameplay stories in the Ironfang Invasion subforum.

Back when I ran the D&D 3.5 version of Rise of the Runelords under Pathfinder 1st Edition rules, I found conversions of the NPCs in www.d20pfsrd.com. I wonder whether they will continue that for Pathfinder 2nd Edition.

For treasure, you're probably best off discarding most of the stuff in the AP, and rebuilding it from the ground up with 2e guidelines.

When I converted Harrowstone, I spread out items and wealth according to the treasure charts/level in the book +10% (to account for not all items being found), and that seemed to work perfectly. The beauty of those charts are that you can adjust loot as you go, so if your party misses everything (because for some reason you’ve got a group that aren’t murder hobos) you can add in a little more later.

Not sure if it’s the best way to do it, but it worked great for me.

I started looking into Strange Aeons. 2e dopplegangers are no joke.

I started looking into Strange Aeons. 2e dopplegangers are no joke.

We’re early in book two right now, and I’m considering converting. I’d already brought in Unchained revised action economy and Automatic Bonus Progression, so the feel of action won’t be a sudden change. Classes and items are pretty different though...

If you're following this, I'm writing / refining my adventure conversion guide. I could use some feedback.

That link doesn't seem to go anywhere.

Indeed it did not, thanks. It's been fixed.

Has anyone been converting Rise of the Runelords yet? I’d like to see how it’s turning out…

Has anyone been converting Rise of the Runelords yet? I’d like to see how it’s turning out…

Yes and no. It's what I use as an example for my conversion guide, but I only use one of the dungeons for it (Catacombs of Wrath).

I converted book 2 of Reign of Winter and it went well, party is just about to take on the dragon. Holding off converting BBEG since I hope to have the witch playtest by then. Items have been the hard part though definitely. I don't think I did a great job with them, at level 6 my party all has roughly 1-2 magic items each and about 80 gold, so a bit behind on the wealth by level table (but the missing parts are just going to be added to the horde).

Oof. The hoard should be pretty substantial yeah.

Personally I always avise to follow the Party Treasure Per Level table and fill in using Treasure By Level as a list of options, it works well and keeps your players on a good pace. More on this in the guide. Really, loot is very straightforward.

I converted book 2 of Reign of Winter and it went well, party is just about to take on the dragon. Holding off converting BBEG since I hope to have the witch playtest by then. Items have been the hard part though definitely. I don't think I did a great job with them, at level 6 my party all has roughly 1-2 magic items each and about 80 gold, so a bit behind on the wealth by level table (but the missing parts are just going to be added to the horde).

When converting the PCs, how did you deal with the Mantle of the Black Rider, I.e. the ability gain it gives them?

I'm running a 2e conversion of book 1 of Hell's Rebels and so far so good.

Tikael wrote:

I converted book 2 of Reign of Winter and it went well, party is just about to take on the dragon. Holding off converting BBEG since I hope to have the witch playtest by then. Items have been the hard part though definitely. I don't think I did a great job with them, at level 6 my party all has roughly 1-2 magic items each and about 80 gold, so a bit behind on the wealth by level table (but the missing parts are just going to be added to the horde).

When converting the PCs, how did you deal with the Mantle of the Black Rider, I.e. the ability gain it gives them?

(Although as my party has a changeling and a dhampir any conversion will have to wait for the APG)

I'd imagine that would need its own little subsystem page, but having run the mantle in 1e and 5e, it'd be a mix of magic and physical powers, plus some story-specific interactions... I'd avoid stat boosts in 2e, you get plenty enough. I'd perhaps give some minor baseline benefits and make a few small lists of skill feats and focus powers, and let players pick from it each time they get a power.

I've been running Legacy of Fire in my 2e game. Thus far I've been using the EL in the published adventure as a guideline for the intended difficulty for a given encounter and I've been trying to keep the scale the same in terms of the number of combatants.

For instance in Howl of the Carrion King there are several encounters with groups of gnolls. In PF1 you could run a couple of gnolls at a 1st level party. In PF2 a gnoll is the CL 2 creature so 1 of them is a +1 opponent for a group of four. So I've been creating down scaled versions of some of these monsters to make the number of opponents in a given encounter work out right. The rules from the GMG they gave us have worked just fine. At this point it's almost like the 4e treatment for monsters, I can build a 'gnoll' of whatever level I need, they all get pack attack as the 'racial common denominator' and all attempt to gang up to get the bonus which defines how gnolls function in combat and give them a district racial identity.

Treasure has been a real issue and I'm not happy with the constraints 2e has for treasure. It doesn't feel the same as any other edition of D&D (4e aside). I'm ignoring alot of the treasure as written and am handing out what feels right. I know my groups is going to be over geared I just have to plan for it.

I think what 2e really needs are some magical traits that are minor in effect but useful, something that lets us hand out gear that is neat but not sufficiently game breaking to effect the math.

My PCs are approaching third level and the Battle Market so we'll see how that goes.

Tikael wrote:

I converted book 2 of Reign of Winter and it went well, party is just about to take on the dragon. Holding off converting BBEG since I hope to have the witch playtest by then. Items have been the hard part though definitely. I don't think I did a great job with them, at level 6 my party all has roughly 1-2 magic items each and about 80 gold, so a bit behind on the wealth by level table (but the missing parts are just going to be added to the horde).

When converting the PCs, how did you deal with the Mantle of the Black Rider, I.e. the ability gain it gives them?

(Although as my party has a changeling and a dhampir any conversion will have to wait for the APG)

I gave them one ability boost and I've been trying to come up with a black rider archetype they could pick feats from at the end of each book. Grad school has unfortunately left me with little time to plan anything, but at the it has also meant we haven't been able to play in 3 weeks so I can still come up with some basic feats before we resume this week.

Maybe hit me up on Discord if you’re around the Pathfinder server (discord.gg/pathfinder). RoW is a big favourite of mine and I might lend a hand inbetween things.