In an editorial once there was a promice made that past adventures would be updated. Now I'm sure that that promice was made before the enormity of the task was truely understood.
With that being said, Erik, Is there any official effort to update the past adventures?
If not, is there somewhere that fans/past authors could update adventures and post them on the site?
ASEO out
In an editorial once there was a promice made that past adventures would be updated. Now I'm sure that that promice was made before the enormity of the task was truely understood.
With that being said, Erik, Is there any official effort to update the past adventures?
If not, is there somewhere that fans/past authors could update adventures and post them on the site?
ASEO out
Well this question has been asked and left unaswred for a while. I'm interested in knowing the answer as I'm in the process of converting the Bunglewood adventure from issue #51 to D&D 3.5. If I follow the conversion guidelines from WoTC, the same one used for the conversions on ENWorld, can I post it on my website?
Actually, your 2nd Edition adventures will convert to 3.5 better than 3.0 adventures will convert to 3.5.
Don't ask why this is. We've tried it with EVERYTHING. Go back to everything that was 2ed, and make it 3.5. If you converted anything from 2 to 3, go back and do it again for 3.5.
If you do not do this, virtually every monster, character, and effect that takes place will be BROKEN.
I just started running "Glacier Season."
I converted Acessiwal from 3.0 to 3.5. The operative word is, once you add Draconomicon to this sheet? He's broken. Swapped out a few feats, and let him USE THE MAGIC ITEMS IN THE MODULE.
What kind of cuckoo gives a dragon access to a Black Robe of the Archmagi, and then has him keep it in a box? A genius level creature is not that stupid, boys and girls!!!!
So now, the PC's must face Jackboot White Dragon in a big black cape, with an AC of 46. This is a TPK if I ever saw one. The dragon is ridiculous. He GAINED a CR, bringing him up to a whopping 21. With Practiced Spellcaster, Suppress and Negate Weakness, and Hover, he's ridiculous. I don't think that 6 16th level PC's can beat this dragon.
On a general level, this is my biggest problem with Dungeon Adventures. Apparently it doesn't register, often enough, that if the monsters have items as part of their treasure, they should be using them against the PCs if it's possible. Players should earn their magic items. It should not be candy on a stick.
When I ran Prison of the Firebringer, it was the same thing. I killed five out of seven characters at various points during the battle with Bazim-Gorag because he USED the Cloak of Arachnidia in his treasure and hid on the ceiling with a 15' reach weapon!
Please, Paizo! Check the treasure carefully to make sure the monsters aren't overwhelming when you add it in.
Just a few days ago, a cousin of mine has given me some old adventure modules and boxed sets (Dragon Mountain, Planescape, etc). One of them sparked my interest. It is called "The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga." I intend to convert that one to 3.5E and run it for my players. I honestly think that adventure has the potential to be a total TPK if the party is careless or inept or plain unlucky. While it is not as frustrating as Labyrinth of Madness, it does contain a good dose of riddles and puzzles while at the same time providing a great amount of threat.
Does anyone remember Baba Yaga? She´ll be the hardest thing to convert because she got a disgusting load of special abilities. In 3.5E, she would be epic level. Hopefully I can find a way to tone her CR down without sacrificing too much of her power. Honestly, it seems like the easiest way to convert 1E and 2E multiclass pcs/npcs is by turning them into gestalt characters which lowers their total levels by a fair bit instead of converting them via the conversion rules provided by WoTC. Oh well, I´ll see what I can manage.
Does anyone remember Baba Yaga? She´ll be the hardest thing to convert because she got a disgusting load of special abilities. In 3.5E, she would be epic level. Hopefully I can find a way to tone her CR down without sacrificing too much of her power. Honestly, it seems like the easiest way to convert 1E and 2E multiclass pcs/npcs is by turning them into gestalt characters which lowers their total levels by a fair bit instead of converting them via the...
Baba Yaga is supposed to be disgustingly powerful. She is after all the archetypal witch in Russian folklore. I would suggest using the Dancing Hut for ideas, but going back a bit further to Dragon issue #83 and converting that version from 1st edition.
There is more of a possibility for TPK in Dancing Hut... if characters try to confront Baba Yaga directly, especially in the hut, they should have little chance of survival unless they're in the epic levels.
Oh, and remember, if they kill her off, that Russian folklore started with many Baba Yagas, not one, so you can always bring her back. She only became archetypal later.
- Ashavan
allo
Does anyone remember Baba Yaga? She´ll be the hardest thing to convert because she got a disgusting load of special abilities. In 3.5E, she would be epic level. Hopefully I can find a way to tone her CR down without sacrificing too much of her power. Honestly, it seems like the easiest way to convert 1E and 2E multiclass pcs/npcs is by turning them into gestalt characters which lowers their total levels by a fair bit instead of converting them via the...
just for fun, i created a version of Baba Yaga for 3rd edition. i tried my best to make her 21st level, but it was hard because she is sooo powerful! she ended up a wizard 7/ druid 3/ mystic theurge 7/ archmage 4.
i would love to see an "official" conversion of her. :-)
messy
What kind of cuckoo gives a dragon access to a Black Robe of the Archmagi, and then has him keep it in a box? A genius level creature is not that stupid, boys and girls!!!!
~~~
On a general level, this is my biggest problem with Dungeon Adventures. Apparently it doesn't register, often enough, that if the monsters have items as part of their treasure, they should be using them against the PCs if it's possible. Players should earn their magic items. It should not be candy on a stick.
When I ran Prison of the Firebringer, it was the same thing. I killed five out of seven characters at various points during the battle with Bazim-Gorag because he USED the Cloak of Arachnidia in his treasure and hid on the ceiling with a 15' reach weapon!
Speaking of...
Kudos to Mike for mentioning a small, but valuble DMing tidbit that doesn't get much press:
-Any truly effective or powerful magic item that a party might want, will only be found carried by those who last won them - and most likely will be used extensively on the party before they can have them!
I'm sure every DM can relate their horror story of a character who saves up a sackfull of gold and then expects a +5 Vorpal Sword to be sitting on a weaponsmith's shelf, awaiting purchase....
Umm.....no!
M
allo
just for fun, i created a version of Baba Yaga for 3rd edition. i tried my best to make her 21st level, but it was hard because she is sooo powerful! she ended up a wizard 7/ druid 3/ mystic theurge 7/ archmage 4.
i would love to see an "official" conversion of her. :-)
messy
I talked about this with another buddy of mine who has been dming for at least a decade more than me and he suggested the following conversion for Baba Yaga: Druid2/Wiz5/Mystic Theurge10/Loremaster10. I can see the reasoning behind the levels of druid but in the adventure module (The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga), it states that she can turn undead as well as casting divine spells as a 12th level cleric. So I thought the following conversion would make more sense: Clr2/Wiz5/Mystic Theurge10/Loremaster10. We both agreed that her bonus feat from her levels in Wizard would be Brew Potions.
I´m just not sure which way to go yet but if I know they´re putting out an *official* 3.5 update of Baba Yaga, I´ll gladly wait for it.
I talked about this with another buddy of mine who has been dming for at least a decade more than me and he suggested the following conversion for Baba Yaga: Druid2/Wiz5/Mystic Theurge10/Loremaster10. I can see the reasoning behind the levels of druid but in the adventure module (The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga), it states that she can turn undead as well as casting divine spells as a 12th level cleric. So I thought the following conversion would make more sense: Clr2/Wiz5/Mystic Theurge10/Loremaster10. We both agreed that her bonus feat from her levels in Wizard would be Brew Potions.
I´m just not sure which way to go yet but if I know they´re putting out an *official* 3.5 update of Baba...
hmmm... well i was basing my version on dragon magazine #83, where i don't believe she had cleric abilities; just druid.
after playing with the idea of giving her loremaster levels (or bard, even) i skipped it and just gave her ranks in lots of knowledge skills. seems ok to me.
btw, as a wiz7/drd3/mys7/arch4 her caster level is 18 for wizard, and 10 for druid.
oh hell, i should just post her entire stat block, hehe.
messy
hmmm... well i was basing my version on dragon magazine #83, where i don't believe she had cleric abilities; just druid.after playing with the idea of giving her loremaster levels (or bard, even) i skipped it and just gave her ranks in lots of knowledge skills. seems ok to...
Ah, now I see why folks thought druid was more appropriate. I do not have a copy of Dragon Magazine #83. The only reference to Baba Yaga´s statistics that I have is from the module (The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga). The reason why I thought druid was make sense as well as cleric was because it listed Baba Yaga as being able to shapechange into animals. I thought about making one of her domains the Animal domain (if I made her a cleric). I might have to compare her statistics from DM #83 and the module and maybe do a conversion based on a compromise between the two references.
Of course, I should also check out various websites on Russian folklore for background information. It would not hurt to look and I would get a better understanding of this interesting mythology.
I wouldn't mind seeing some of the better 1E and 2E adventures from Dungeon converted to 3.5. The list they had of the 10 greatest Dungeon adventures would be a nice place to start. I especially like all of the underdark advnentures.
Dave
Actually, your 2nd Edition adventures will convert to 3.5 better than 3.0 adventures will convert to 3.5.
This statement is ludicrous.
Converting adventures from 3.0 to 3.5 is way easier than converting from 1st or 2nd Edition to 3.5. Although there were some major changes from 3.0 to 3.5, you are still dealing with the same edition of the game. Some of the “hot spots” to watch out for would be npc Rangers, creatures with damage reduction, and monstrous races with class levels. At times like these, you might want to do a little research to insure that the challenge ratings are correct. But most of the time, you could crack open a 3.0 adventure and run it for a 3.5 game with no major problems.
Converting from early editions to 3.5 is a whole different ball game. If all of the creatures and items in the old adventure are present in 3.5, it should be fairly painless, but keep in mind that the final product might not be challenging enough, or too challenging, for the party level for which it was originally intended. If the adventure contains creatures and items that are not present in 3.5, you are going to have to convert them from scratch, and that can be a lot of work. Sometimes, the whole premise for an early edition adventure becomes impossible, because it hinges on the abilities of a creature or item that no longer functions the way it did in earlier editions.
If you converted anything from 2 to 3, go back and do it again for 3.5.
Now that is sound advice. If you have already converted an old adventure, and done it recently, it should be fresh in your mind, making it easy to go back and check each portion for differences between 3.0 and 3.5.
All in all, converting adventures is a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Some of the older material is fantastic, and it’s sad to see it lost to the evolution of the game. It would be nice to have some sort of “official” space where people could share their conversions.
Does anyone remember Baba Yaga?
Wasn't she the one with the hut that went around eating people...
...or maybe that was a gazebo.
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Converting from early editions to 3.5 is a whole different ball game. If all of the creatures and items in the old adventure are present in 3.5, it should be fairly painless, but keep in mind that the final product might not be challenging enough, or too challenging, for the party level for which it was originally intended.
I agree.
A DM in our group ran a conversion of the original 1e Spider Queen modules. There's an ambush that occurs early on involving something like 10 6th level fighters, a handful of rogues, and a spellcaster. The characters are only 6th level. Needless to say, that encounter had to be reworked.
Sebastian
I updated the old "Hunt for a Hierophant" adventure myself(added a few quirks, and expanded on the Bullywugs), but would always be interested in seeing what they could come up with. If they(the editor or whoever) are interested I can try to send a word version of my notes. I still think that that particular issue was the best ever published, though many recent ones have often come very darn close to taking that number 1 position. :)
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Seems as if this is fading idea for Dungeon's future. Although, it seems to me there was interest in conversions of past Dungeon Adventures. I would love to see it if anyone is counting the votes.
My "A" List: Mud Sorcerer's Tomb Issue #37 (This has been my favorite since I first got it, in the first issue I ever bought. I have played ever since...) Serpents of the Sands also Issue #37 and Dragon's Delve issue #62.
Maybe if the AP hardcover thing works out for Paizo they can do a best of Dungeon hardcover with adventures converted to 3.5 ed. I would pick that up in a heart beat.
Maybe if the AP hardcover thing works out for Paizo they can do a best of Dungeon hardcover with adventures converted to 3.5 ed. I would pick that up in a heart beat.
That would still put you in line behind me. But that would be a huge tome, or series of tomes, and the cost of each one (figure maybe 4 issues (12-16 adventures) to a book and they end up being the size of the AP hard back) would be fairly high (although they might not need to be the full color).
Still, Hardback, and making adventures that I already have useable again without convirting work on my end. I'd buy.
ASEO out
Yes, I'd buy that too....best of Dungeon converted to 3.5 and sold in hardback? Yes!! I'll also buy the AP hardback when it comes out, even though I have all the magazines.