I was wondering if anyone has started converting anything of this great adventure over into the new 4th Edition rules. I will be running this adventure and plan on converting it over. If anyone does have some of it done and would like to share please feel free to email me. If anyone else would like to help again feel free to email me. I will gladly share anything that I have.
I present to you my conversions thus far. 1 monster and 1 NPC (classless). For Yargin, because I didn't want him to be a wizard or warlock, I just made him a generic artillery NPC and grabbed a couple powers from the Kobold entries in the MM that matched his 3.5 writeup. Also removed his crossbow (as he never uses it) and gave him a sling to chuck his alchemical items better.
The jigsaw shark is pretty weak on its own, but if you level it up to around 5th level and put 2 in each encounter, you get a level 1 encounter for 4 PC's. Or you can make it a solo if you have 5 PC's, or any combination thereof. This is just the basic stat block for the medium-sized shark really.
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Jigsaw Shark Level 1 Soldier
Medium natural beast (aquatic) XP 100
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Initiative +4 Senses Perception +6; blindsight 10
HP 29; Bloodied 14
AC 17; Fortitude 14, Reflex 13, Will 12
Speed swim 10
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[Melee basic] Bite (standard; at-will)
+8 vs. AC; 1d6+3 damage
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Frenzied Bite (immediate reaction, when an enemy
enters an adjacent square; at-will)
The jigsaw shark makes a melee basic attack against the
enemy, even if the enemy was shifting.
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Alignment Unaligned Languages -
Str 16 (+3) Dex 15 (+2) Wis 12 (+1)
Con 13 (+1) Int 1 (-5) Cha 2 (-4)
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Yargin Balko Level 2 Artillery
Medium natural humanoid, human XP 125
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Initiative +4 Senses Perception +1
HP 28; Bloodied 14
AC 17; Fortitude 16, Reflex 16, Will 13
Speed 6
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[Melee basic] Dagger (standard; at-will) * Weapon
+6 vs. AC; 1d4+2 damage
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[Ranged basic] Sling (standard; at-will) * Weapon
Ranged 10/20; +7 vs. AC; 1d6+4 damage
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[Ranged] Acid Splash (standard; at-will) * Acid, Arcane,
Implement
Ranged 10; +3 vs. Reflex; 1d10+2 acid damage.
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[Ranged] Alchemical Vial (standard; at-will)
Yargin can fire special ammunition from his sling. An
alchemical vial attack that hits deals normal damage and
has an additional effect depending on its type:
Thunderstone (Burst 2): The targets within the burst are
deafened (save ends).
Acid: The target takes ongoing 2 acid damage (save ends).
Gluepot: The target is immobilized (save ends).
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Alignment Evil Languages Common, Elven
Skills Arcana +7, Thievery +9
Str 12 (+2) Dex 16 (+4) Wis 11 (+1)
Con 16 (+4) Int 13 (+2) Cha 10 (+1)
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Equipment leather armor, dagger, sling with 10 bullets,
wand, 3 vials of acid, 2 gluepots, 1 thunderstone, key to
cabinet is area A7, garnet amulet worth 100 gp
Yargin's Tactics
Yargin prefers to use his wand with acid splash in
combat but each time he misses he erupts into a loud
burst of profanity, shaking the wand in frustration.
Once he fails the third time to use the wand, he gives up
and switches to slinging vials of acid and gluepots. He’s
deathly afraid of melee combat, and fights with his
dagger only if cornered. Once he’s used up his
alchemical items and his wand has failed him three
times (or as soon as he takes any melee damage at all)
Yargin shrieks in panic and attempts to flee to Gaedren’s
side to warn him. That he might inadvertently lead
Gaedren’s enemies right to him doesn’t cross his mind in
his panicked state.
I was wondering if anyone has started converting anything of this great adventure over into the new 4th Edition rules. I will be running this adventure and plan on converting it over. If anyone does have some of it done and would like to share please feel free to email me. If anyone else would like to help again feel free to email me. I will gladly share anything that I have.
I am extremely interested to see how someone balances treasure parcels and the 4e equivalent of "wealth by level" with the first three modules in CotCT. Korvosa is almost a polar opposite to the campaign setting set for in the "points of light" campaign-style in 4e.
I started doing conversion as a thought exercise, since most monsters are fairly common (mostly humans, classed humans and undead) until the BBEG in CotCT #3. I got hung up on trying to make the treasure parcel / wealth by level thing work.
So far I've only really looked at encounters, and XP. Haven't looked at treasure yet.
But thankfully most of the encounters can be combined into bigger encounters to offer more of a challenge for the PC's. A good example is the encounters in Gaedren's building.
Yeah I have not figured out the treasure portion of the adventure yet. I am still trying to decide if I want to end the adventure at 15th lv like the 3.5e or go with a 20th lv 4th.
Yeah I have not figured out the treasure portion of the adventure yet. I am still trying to decide if I want to end the adventure at 15th lv like the 3.5e or go with a 20th lv 4th.
I am about to sit down and start working through converting CotCT to 4th edition myself and have two immediate thoughts.
1) Since most of the encounters will have to be so drastically modified in order to be an appropriate challenge for the PCs, there is freedom to run the campaign to ANY level. I have noted that 1st level 4th ed. PCs are much better than 1st level 3.5 PCs, but then the advancement slope is less steep (i.e., an 8th level 4th ed. PC isn't much different in power than an 8th level 3.5 PC). However, when 4th ed. PCs cross from one tier to another, they seem to have a significant power jump again, so at 11th and 21st levels, PCs jump in mightiness. It seems, then, that I would want to avoid this sort of jump mid-adventure, just for theme and flavor reasons, so I should try to time those bumps to fall between adventures. Thus, the simplest conversion seems to involve setting each adventure to run for 5 levels, which means that the whole shebang ends at level 30. Does this make sense and what do others think?
2) If I remember correctly, at one point James Jacobs, in discussing the advent of the Pathfinder RPG, told us that Paizo didn't feel that 4th ed. would be a system that would allow them to write the kind of stories that they wanted, hence PFRPG. Now that I have the books, though, I'm wondering if James would still say that. Given that the role-playing aspect of the game hasn't been changed, and it seems like things like mood and theme are still unmodified, what is it about the actual rules of 4th ed. that prevent Paizonian stories from being told using them? I ask not to challenge Mr. Jacobs's opinion, but because I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing that will make this conversion impossible, or simply very, very dull. My players loved RotRL and their only demand regarding rule sets was that we continue to play Pathfinder APs. Therefore, I want to make sure that I'll be able to capture the Pathfinder feel with 4th ed. Otherwise, we'll come up with something else. Does anyone (including Mr. Jacobs) want to weigh in on this?
Thanks
O
Given that the role-playing aspect of the game hasn't been changed, and it seems like things like mood and theme are still unmodified, what is it about the actual rules of 4th ed. that prevent Paizonian stories from being told using them?
I think "No GSL" pretty much covers it. Without that, Paizo, or any other company, really can't do squat.
I think "No GSL" pretty much covers it. Without that, Paizo, or any other company, really can't do squat.
True, true ... but I got the sense from James's comments (and, of course, I can't find them anymore) that the Paizo staff was basing that feeling on some actual sense of the rules or direction that 4th ed. was headed. I'm also pretty sure that these comments were made prior to the release of the GSL announcement that companies had to publish 4th ed. exclusively.
Finally, to be clear, I'm not asking why Paizo doesn't publish Pathfinder in 4th ed. or provide conversions. I'm asking if Paizo employees or other bright folk out there think there is some element inherent to 4th ed. that prevents Pathfinder adventures from being effectively converted to it.
Anyone else have any ideas?
O
Chief Technical Officer
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I think some of our customers can tell you better than I can, but for one thing, it would require us to design a lot more stuff from the ground up to fill in the holes that Wizards left in their core rules (and some people think that the GSL may not allow us to fill some of those holes). For example, it might be hard to do an Adventure Path about drow if we're not allowed to have any drow in our game....
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Creative Director
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Vic's absolutely right. In order to have told the story we wanted to tell in Curse of the Crimson Throne... (spoiler for said AP coming up!)
All that said, I am certainly interested to hear reports back from reader conversions of Pathfinder adventures into 4th edition!
Vic's absolutely right. In order to have told the story we wanted to tell in Curse of the Crimson Throne... (spoiler for said AP coming up!)
** spoiler omitted **
All that said, I am certainly interested to hear reports back from reader conversions of Pathfinder adventures into 4th edition!
I should hope the GSL allows the design for such things... If not, they're really sticking a fork into Necromancer's eye.
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Chief Technical Officer
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We would have had to...
** rest of spoiler omitted **
With 3.5, we get to draw our palette from the big 128-count box of Crayolas—that is, we get to pull from the complete SRD *plus* a truly enormous pool of other OGL content. In that respect, going to 4.0 right now would be like limiting ourselves to a 16-crayon starter set—and one that doesn't even include all of the primary and secondary colors.
And even if it turns out that the GSL *would* let us fill in the missing content, it's still important to note that taking that effort—and page count—would take away from us doing *new* cool stuff. For example, if we had to spend one of our Pathfinder support articles to recreate a missing 4E class or race or monster, that means we wouldn't be able to spend those pages detailing some new aspect of Golarion that would help make our world a more interesting place.
So you'll leave all that work to your customers?
Just taking a light hearted stab at you guys. I LOVE the work you're doing here. The quality of the modules just blows what WOTC has been putting out away. But, because I REALLY like the 4E system, I do have high hopes for Dungeon on DDI and... hopes that Paizo does support 4E at some point in the future when WOTC gets the license in order.
That said, because I'm a total geek, I'm doing some work to convert Edge of Anarchy. I have one encounter done (whoppee), the top floor of the Old Fishery, and I think I'll work on some more today.
The big difficulties I have in design, though, are ones that people have already brought up...
1. How many levels should the whole arc take up? All 30? That would likely require addition of a LOT of encounters. I think what I'll do is recreate the encounters and see how much experience they result in, then, go back and re-assess what levels I want it to run through. This will likely require waiting until all 6 adventures are out so I can rough out encounters through all 6 books, refer back to the levels of typical monsters encountered, and then try to balance advancement so I can use as many monsters straight out of the DMG as possible. YIKES.
2. After the number of levels is figured out, the treasure will have to be totally redesigned, going back into
Thanks to Paizo's staff for their response. That's a relief. It means a lot of work on my part, but at least it's doable.
So you'll leave all that work to your customers?
Just taking a light hearted stab at you guys. I LOVE the work you're doing here. The quality of the modules just blows what WOTC has been putting out away. But, because I REALLY like the 4E system, I do have high hopes for Dungeon on DDI and... hopes that Paizo does support 4E at some point in the future when WOTC gets the license in order.
That said, because I'm a total geek, I'm doing some work to convert Edge of Anarchy. I have one encounter done (whoppee), the top floor of the Old Fishery, and I think I'll work on some more today.
The big difficulties I have in design, though, are ones that people have already brought up...
1. How many levels should the whole arc take up? All 30? That would likely require addition of a LOT of encounters. I think what I'll do is recreate the encounters and see how much experience they result in, then, go back and re-assess what levels I want it to run through. This will likely require waiting until all 6 adventures are out so I can rough out encounters through all 6 books, refer back to the levels of typical monsters encountered, and then try to balance advancement so I can use as many monsters straight out of the DMG as possible. YIKES.
2. After the number of levels is figured out, the treasure will have to be totally redesigned, going back into
In converting the fishery, did you find that you had to add a large number of creatures for the encounter to be challenging? Or did you bump up the levels of the NPCs present? I'm thinking about adding a clone of Giggles to the main room and another dog or two to the top floor. I also want to try to take advantage of the open pit in the work room and probably bring the jigsaw shark to play via throwing someone into the pit, so that adds another target or two. Also, I'm thinking about expanding the size of the fishery so there can be a bit more movement.
The previous paragraph should include the caveat that I usually have 6 PCs in my party.
Well, I haven't actually play tested it, so I don't know if it is a good challenge or not, but here's what I had for the first floor of the fishery. Note, based on running Keep on the Shadowfell for a whopping 2 weeks, I think this would be a good, tough encounter that should challenge the party enough that another good, tough encounter with Lamm will be sufficient. I set the shark encounter (level 4 elite brute) as "optional" and same with the drain spiders (5 level 1 soldiers), making them 350 xp and 500 xp encounters.
OLD FISHERY – GROUND LEVEL (750 XP)
This is a standard (level +1) encounter for 6 1st level characters. The encounter assumes that every enemy on the ground level of the old fishery participates in the encounter as warnings are shouted and other parties respond. Doors between rooms A7 and A4, A7 and A8, and A4 and A6 are open. If the party enters Area A4 or A7:
• Round 1 – Bloo
• Round 2 – Yargin Balko, Hookshanks Gruller, and 3 Lamm’s Lamms
• Round 4 – Giggles and 5 Lamm’s Lambs
If the party enters area A8:
• Round 1 – Giggles and 5 Lamm’s Lambs
• Round 2 – Bloo
• Round 4 – Yargin Balko, Hookshanks Gruller, and 3 Lamm’s Lamms
When a Lamm’s Lamb is “defeated” by taking 1 damage, he is not necessarily killed. He may be demoralized and run off, frightened and cower, etc. A Lamm’s Lamb can be “defeated” by a successful intimidate or diplomacy check, DC 15, as well as by taking 1 damage.
Creatures:
8 Lamm’s Lambs – Level 1 minions – 200 xp
Bloo – Level 1 skirmisher – 100 xp
Yargin Balko – Level 3 artillery – 150 xp
Hookshanks Gruller – Level 3 lurker – 150 xp
Giggles – Level 3 brute – 150 xp
Oh, yeah, this is based on 6 PCs as well.
I looked at adventure and decided that I will try and stick as close to what the encounters call for. I have been looking at it and I really do not see too much of a problem in converting it over. Oh I know it will take some changes and work but hey who doe not like a challenge  I went with for the first fight something like this.
Level 3 Encounter XP 850
1 Human Mage - Yargin
2 Human Bandits - Hookshanks & Giggles
1 Human Guard – Lamm
1 Spitting Drake- Gobbergut
4 Human Rabble – Minions
A nice encounter and just twisting it enough to make it still have the same feel to it. I plan on running the encounter by opening up the whole fishery as the encounter. In this way they have to deal with everyone and no just ok we got them now let’s get Lamm. This fits in with the whole 4e concept.
With 3.5, we get to draw our palette from the big 128-count box of Crayolas—that is, we get to pull from the complete SRD *plus* a truly enormous pool of other OGL content. In that respect, going to 4.0 right now would be like limiting ourselves to a 16-crayon starter set—and one that doesn't even include all of the primary and secondary colors.And even if it turns out that the GSL *would* let us fill in the missing content, it's still important to note that taking that effort—and page count—would take away from us doing *new* cool stuff. For example, if we had to spend one of our Pathfinder support articles to recreate a missing 4E class or race or monster, that means we wouldn't be able to spend those pages detailing some new aspect of Golarion that would help make our world a more interesting place.
I'm actually glad you guys didn't do this, as I enjoy reading all the fluff you put in your Pathfinder books. That being said, I am a firm 4e fan and am converting CotCT to 4e to run, and from the looks of things here, there are many other DM's doing the same. I think it is pretty amazing that so many people can change such simple encounters from 3.5 into dynamic encounters, encompassing multiple rooms and that fully utilize the terrain. All of this was present in 3.5, but honestly, I have never seen any of my 3.5 players use bull rush to do anything with the terrain. Now, when I see encounters that have burning ceilings, troughs full of fish guts, and bubbling cauldrons, I think about the creatures I can throw into those encounters and how they can use that to make the encounter even more fun and unique.
Ok now I really feel like a nerd. I called my wife to tell her James Jacobs just put in a response on a post I did. After a bit she goes I am glad but who’s James Jacobs? I told her he is kinda a big deal lol. All my celebrities write D&D.
I am trying to split the fishery into 4 discrete encounters:
1) The entryway. It is likely that the PCs will enter through the door that leads into A7. As battle erupts, the dog(s) and Yargin will join in the fray. I liked the conversion of Yargin posted above, but don't feel the need to keep the wand at all. I'll just have him fling acid until he runs out, then flee to Gaedren.
Bloo & Kripper - 2 gray wolves (250 XP)
Yargin Balko - kobold slinger (100 xp)
Hookshanks Gruller - gnome skulk (125 xp)
Lamm's Lambs - 3 human rabbles (75 xp)
- Total: 550 XP (level 1 encounter for 6 PCs)
- Treasure: Cabinet holds 2 100 gp garnets, 40 gp, and a +1 Wand of Chill Strike (3 parcels)
2) The Fishery Floor. I assume that the workers down here either won't hear the fisticuffs above or will ignore the barking of dogs as something they've heard before. If they do savvy to the assault, I imagine they'd rather defend their position than charge upstairs into a fight. I gave Giggles a couple of teenage Lambs as additional muscle. At some point, one of the baddies will try to bull rush a PC into the open pit to the hungry jigsaw shark waiting below. I might also make a couple squares around the vat slippery (start turn in square: Acrobatics check DC 10 to avoid falling prone. Also requires check if moving faster than half speed through square.)
Giggles - human berserker (175 xp)
Jo & Eddard - human bandits (250 xp)
Lamm's Lambs - 5 human rabbles (125 xp)
jigsaw shark - see post early in this thread (100 xp)
- Total: 650 xp [if they encounter the shark] (level 1 encounter)
3) Kraken's Folly Hold. This encounter might be skipped altogether, if the PCs climb down the ropes to the area below.
drain spiders - 3 deathjump spiders (525 xp)
terrain - the hold is full of spiderwebs (DMG p. 69)
- Total: 525 xp (level 1 encounter)
- Treasure: Wavestrider Boots on a dead body hanging in the webs (1 parcel)
4) Gaedren's Playground. I decided to go all nutty on the crocs, a la Disney's The Rescuers, and give Gaedran a family that bask in his basement. Gaedren will do his best to shift PCs (via Trick Strike) into the water and into the jaws of that pesky shark (if it hasn't been dealt with already).
Gobblegut & his kids - 3 visejaw crocodiles (525 xp)
Gaedren Lamm - see below (300 xp)
- Total: 825 xp (level 3 encounter)
- Treasure: (In Gaedren's Den) 190 gp, potion of healing, Bracers of Mighty Striking (with Gaedren's armor: 4 parcels)
Gaedren Lamm - Level 3 Rogue Elite (Striker) - XP 300
Initiative: +3
Senses: Perception +3
HP 86, Bloodied 43, 1 healing surge (21 HP)
AC 21, Ref 20, Fort 13, Will 17 (+2 when bloodied (Bloodthread))
Saving Throw +2
Action Points 1
Class Features: First Strike, Sneak Attack (+2d6)
R Sly Flourish (standard, at-will): +6 vs. AC, 1d6+7 dam)
R Trickster's Blade (standard, encounter, recharge: bloodied): +6 vs. AC, 2d6+3 dam, +4 to AC until start of next turn)
R Trick Strike (standard, daily): +6 vs. AC, 3d6+3 dam + slide target 1 square)
Master of Deceit
Alignment: Evil
Skills: Thievery +8, Bluff +9
Str 10 (+2), Con 11 (+2), Dex 13 (+3), Int 17 (+5), Wis 13 (+3), Cha 14 (+4)
Equipment: Hand crossbow, 20 bolts, +1 Cloth Bloodthread Armor
Notes:
1) I plan to expand the size of the all rooms to allow a bit more space for movement but intend to leave the catwalks/stairs in the fishery for exciting action.
2) I'm not sure I stated Lamm up correctly (esp. his HP). Feel free to critique.
Thoughts?
O
Hey Pop'N'Fresh, do you have any more stuff you've put together? I love seeing what other folks are doing.
Arcesilaus, do you think making the Fishery 4 encounters is a good idea? Meaning, do you think the characters will have the resources to get through all 4? I'm not sure, from my 2 weeks of running Keep of the Shadowfell, it seems like 2 or 3 encounters tends to drain the party, but maybe I'm wrong. I'll know more tomorrow after running the 3rd and 4th encounter in the dungeon of KotS. They'll likely be done after that and have to do an extended rest.
On the other hand... bumping up the number of encounters, and therefore the amount of XP is probably necessary. I went through Edge of Anarchy and built all of the encounters pretty much as is and came up with the party leveling twice, i.e. ending the adventure at roughly the beginning of 3rd level. But, I'd like them to be 4th level at the end of it. So, either I need to make each "Area" have more things going on and more encounters OR I need to add in some side adventures. I figure I'll read through the Guide to Korvosa to see if I can find any ideas for side adventures there. I guess I could peruse this section of the message boards, too.
Hey Pop'N'Fresh, do you have any more stuff you've put together? I love seeing what other folks are doing.
Yes but I'm just putting some finishing touches on my stats for the first part of EoA. I basically made the house into 4 encounters. The first is the shark, the second one is the main house, the 3rd is the spiders, the last is Gaedren and Gobblegut.
The shark is assumed to be optional unless your party slips into the water somehow.
It makes the most sense to have the entire house react to the PC's when they enter and raise the alarm. So my encounter will have Bloo, Yargin, Giggles, Hookshanks, and 8 Lamm's Lambs (human rabble). All of these NPC's will use the NPC creation rules to ensure they match the adventure as close as possible (except Bloo who will get his own monster stats similar to a hyena).
The spiders are assumed to be optional as well, but I'm just going to have one big encounter with the spider webs in the ship with a bunch of my own statted up spiders. Don't think the MM ones really fit.
Gaedren I think I made a 4th level rogue NPC, and Gobblegut is going to be an elite snapjaw crocodile. Gaedren's attacks will mostly be designed to push PC's into GG's pool. I was going to make Gaedren elite too, but he's pretty badass at 4th level as it is.
I'll post them all soon once I'm done.
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Love what you guys are doing here.
Arcesilaus I think you need to give Lamm a immediate reaction power when you are upgrading him to Elite. I am think of giving him the halfling Second Chance reaction power if I can't think of anything more interesting. I would consider upgrading Gobblegut to an elite as well as Pop n' Fresh has done (instead of adding the other crocs) to keep with the original encounter design. I am also consider making the Gaedren's playground difficult terrain because of the low roof (I think the floor is only 4 foot high) Dwarves and halflings can ignore the difficult terrian though.
Arkady: I do think that 4 encounters will work (I hope), but the spider encounter is optional and they might never see the shark (like Pop 'N Fresh). I would also like to see a bit more leveling than is likely with just a straight conversion (Ideally, 2nd level before the Butcher Shop encounter, 3rd before chasing Trinia, 4th at the end of the adventure). This will require more encounters and also some quest rewards, I think, which are easily placed given the natures of the first two adventures in this AP.
SW: I know Gaedren needs an interrupt power, but I couldn't think of a good one. Second Chance is okay, but I'm not sure I want to steal from the halflings here. I thought about just letting him make two attacks as a standard action, but he won't be able to reload fast enough. I also thought about leveling up a single croc, rather than going for multiples, but I like the idea of the PCs having to fight their way through the beastie to get to Lamm, who is peppering them with crossbow bolts. Let's face it, with Lamm stuck in the corner, he won't last long against the PCs' tanks. Since there are two paths to Lamm, I needed two crocs, and thus the multiples. I might come around at some point and agree that it is a cooler image with just one croc.
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With the layout of the room I dont think that Lamm is going to get surrounded, IIRC there is only a single square surrounding the croc pit in the centre of the room. If he positions himself along one of the edges at most he is going to get attacked by two PC's in melee and with his shifting powers those PC's are likely to be dumped into the croc pit.
Oh, one other thing I am doing is adding a skill challenge into the encounter with Lamm's Lambs.
Probably complexity 1 or 2, with a DC equal to the NPC's passive Intimidate checks, most likely Hookshanks' or Larkin's.
The obvious choice for a skill to use is Diplomacy, as it says in the adventure that Intimidate doesn't work, but you could also allow Bluff or History checks (with a harder DC) if the PC's try to convince the kids to help them. And as with all skill challenges, if your PC's come up with a really good skill usage, use the hard DC and let them try it once.
That will pack a bit more experience points into this section of the adventure too. Also, I don't believe that the PC's are supposed to hit level 2 until Part 3 of the module. Most of the encounters in Part 1 are pretty easy in 3.5 terms, having an EL of 1 or less. Only Gaedren and his croc are a large threat so I want to reinforce that here.
1. How many levels should the whole arc take up? All 30? That would likely require addition of a LOT of encounters. I think what I'll do is recreate the encounters and see how much experience they result in, then, go back and re-assess what levels I want it to run through. This will likely require waiting until all 6 adventures are out so I can rough out encounters through all 6 books, refer back to the levels of typical monsters encountered, and then try to balance advancement so I can use as many monsters straight out of the DMG as possible. YIKES.
See, if I end up doing this, I would take the opposite approach. I would look at the story and determine where the nature of the story changes.
For example, if I were converting Rise of the Runelords it would do it something like this:
* Heroic tier runs from the call to action in Sandpoint up until the taking of Fort Rannick. The PC are getting bossed around by the powers that be and are pretty much local/regional heroes.
* Paragon moves the PCs into larger and more world shaking events as they branch out from the fort and make an impact on the world. Paragon probably ends with the defeat of Makmurian or soon before that encounter. The PCs now are making their own way in the world and following their own paths.
* Epic would kick off as they face the world ending threat of the Runelords, using ancient magic and artifacts, and all around doing larger that life deeds. The game wouldn't necessarily go all the way to 30.
With the bumps the characters get in power going into each tier it should be meaningfully reflected in the story. As such I would modify encounters to grant them the experience necessary to achieve those tiers at the appropriate time. Remember, these encounters don't have to strictly be fights, they could be traps, or skill challenges as well.
I've noticed with both this thread and the RotRL conversion, no one has tried a bottom-up approach to determining the level range for the conversion... what I mean is this:
We know from the 4E DMG the typical party requires 8 or so encounters to level (assuming 1-2 quest rewards). Skill challenges can also count.
Maybe we need to develop outlines of each possible encounter for each AP book first. Example - if a book has 17-20 encounters as written, one could turn a few of the skill situations into skill challenges, add 4-6 quests (1-2 per arc in the book), and get up to the necessary encounters for hitting 3 levels per book.
I feel like the leveling, parcel, XP calculation system in 4E really lends itself to quickly evaluating this type of thing.
Anyway, I'm just kicking off the maps for my 4E game while we finish up a 3.5 game (Castle Whiterock) so I plan on tackling the conversion of Rise of the Runelords in the next few weeks; I've been getting CotCT as well and will likely convert it as well.
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I decided to take a stab at converting the encounter at All the World's Meat. I assume that the party will be level 2 at this time (but level conversion should be easy enough.) I break things down into 3 encounters.
The main encounter would be the gang members, minus Vancaskerkin. The fight would range through most of the lower floor of the building, but predominantly in the main floor. The pool with the reefclaws becomes a trap or hazard - the soldiers can raise the grate in one turn, and use it as cover to shoot from, while also luring the party closer.
The two boars remain as an encounter, one easily avoided, but one that gets them some evidence to use with Vancaskerkin.
Finally, the encounter with Vancaskerkin becomes a skill challenge. If the players fail, he will attack them wildly, and basically attempt to ensure he dies. Success gets him to surrender.
Human Korvosan Guard
Medium natural humanoid Level 3 Soldier
XP 150
Initiative +5
HP 47; Bloodied 23
AC 18; Fortitude 16, Reflex 15, Will 14
Speed 5 Senses Perception +6
Shortwsord (standard; at-will) * Weapon
+9 vs AC; 1d6 + 4 damage.
Shield Bash (standard; recharge 5-6) * Weapon
Requires shield; +6 vs Fort; 1d4 + 4 damage, dazes target. If target is dazed, push 1
Crossbow (standard; at-will) * Weapon
Ranged 15/30; +9 vs AC; 1d8+2 damage.
Alignment Any
Skills Streetwise +7
Str 16(+4) Dex 14(+3) Wis 11(+1)
Con 15(+3) Int 10(+1) Cha 12(+2) Languages Common
Equipment Chainmail, shortsword, shield, crossbow with 20 bolts
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Hidden Reefclaws
Trap Level 3 Lurker
XP 150
A dingy pool of water, blood, and viscera, with nasty reefclaw crabs hidden inside
Trap A trio of reefclaws will attack anyone who enters their pool
Perception
DC 20 Character notices something moving in the pool
DC 25 Character can count the number of reefclaws remaining
DC 25 Character can attempt to eliminate 1 reeflcaw this turn
Initiative +3
Trigger
The trap activates and rolls initiative when a character first steps in the pool. At the start, there are 3 reefclaws. They may make an opportunity attack whenever a character enters or moves through the pool, in addition to their normal attack. They may only make 1 opportunity attack, regardless of how many reefclaws are currently alive.
Attack
Standard Action
Target: Character in pool. There is a maximum number of targets equal to the number of current reefclaws.
Attack: 1d10 and ongoing 5 damage (save ends, but does 10 damage as reefclaw makes death clutch, or may remove with standard action for no damage, but reefclaw if back in pool), 1 reefclaw removed
Countermeasures
A character can move into the pool without drawing an opportunity attack with a DC 15 Athletics check
A character that has made a high enough perception roll can attack a reefclaw (All defenses 15). Any successful hit destroys 1 reefclaw.
A character can stay out of the pool.
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Boar
Medium natural beast Level 4 Brute
XP 175
Initiative +3
HP 65; Bloodied 32
AC 15; Fortitude 19, Reflex 15, Will 14
Speed 8 Senses Perception +2
Gore (standard; at-will)
+7 vs AC; 1d10 + 3 damage, or 1d10 + 8 against a prone opponent
Alignment Unaligned
Str 19(+6) Dex 10(+2) Wis 11(+1)
Con 15(+4) Int 2(-2) Cha 8(+1) Languages None
-----------------
Convincing Vancaskerkin
Level: 2 (DC 10/15/20)
Complexity: Special [500 xp]
At the start of each turn after the first, roll a d20. Add 2 for each success, subtract 4 for each failure, and add 1 for each such check after the first. If the result is 20 or more, Verik surrenders, and agrees to accompany the party. On a roll of 0 or less, Verik launches himself at the party, and kills himself if they don’t do it for him.
Primary Skills: Diplomacy, Insight, Intimidation
Diplomacy (DC 10/15): Characters can cooperate to aid a lead character using this skill. If players can present him with evidence of his bands’ wrong-doing, use the easy difficulty.
Insight (DC 15): The first successful use of this skill reveals the bonuses and penalties to intimidation.
Intimidate (DC15): Characters threatening Verik directly play into his martyr complex, and take a -5 to their roll. Threatening consequences to the poor of the area gives a +5 bonus to their roll.
Bluff (DC 20): Verik knows the area well, and is hard to bluff. Any failure counts as 3 failures.
Success: Verik agrees to surrender himself, surrendering his sword to the party and returning to the barracks for penalty.
Failure: Verik throws himself at the party, trying to die. Any attack on him will hit and kill, as he practically forces the weapon into his heart. If the party will not attack him, he falls on his own sword.
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Thought I would post my take on the Dream Spiders that feature in at least two major encounters in Edge of Anarchy. here ya go tell me what you think. Also as to the eel's end encounters I am going to use suggested level 4 Ettercap encounter in MM for the underneath of Eel's End with a few of the below dream spiders thrown in for for fun polly turn the sodden hold into one big webbed area with ankle deep water at the bottom.
Dream Spider Level 2 Minion
Small natural beast (spider) XP 31
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +6, tremorsense 5, Darkvision 5
HP 2; a missed attack never damages a minion
AC 13; Fortitude 13, Reflex 14, Will 13
Resist 5 poison
Speed 6, climb 6 (spider climb);
Bite (standard; at-will) Poison +5 vs. AC; 1d4 + 1 damage, and the target takes ongoing 4 poison damage and is stunned (save ends both).
Dream Web Any creature that moves into a square that is filled with a Dream spider’s web is immobilized (save ends)
Alignment: Unaligned; Languages
Skills Athletics +10, Stealth +10 Perception +6
Str 10 (+1) Dex 15 (+3) Wis 12 (+2) Con 12 (+2) Int - (-) Cha 11 (+1)
Dream Spider tactics
Dream spider try and lure opponents into their webbing before moving into bite them. Opponents dazed by the webbing are often wrapped in webbing to ensure they do not recover and are slowly devoured.
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Working on the derro from the dead warrens this is the first verision of them. I pretty much took the goblin stats and reworked them a bit, gave them poisoned weapons and made them more charismatic like they were in 3rd and a dave them +2 bonus to stealth. only thing I need to do is add a template to Vreeg so he has a few levels of mage so that can use shield and a fly like ability (and maybe make him an elite). I still need to prolly come up with a brute version of the derro but I think these will mostly cover all the derro I need for now. let me know what you guys think. I will repost a more complete Vreeg, Cabbagehead and the Carrion Golem I have mostly figured out later.
Dead Warren Derro
Derro Cutter Level 1 Minion
Small natural humanoid XP 25
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +1; low-light vision, darkvision
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 16; Fortitude 12, Reflex 14, Will 11
Speed 6; see also derro tactics
Short Sword (standard; at-will) Weapon +5 vs. AC; 4 damage + ongoing 5 poison damage (5 damage if the derro cutter has combat advantage against the target).
Derro Tactics (immediate reaction, when missed by a melee attack; at-will) the derro shifts 1 square.
Vulnerability: Radiant damage causes double damage to derro.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, dwarven
Skills Stealth +7, Thievery +5
Str 14 (+2) Dex 17 (+3) Wis 8 (+0) Con 13 (+1) Int 8 (+1) Cha 12 (+1)
Equipment leather armor, short sword, poison
Derro Sniper Level 2 Artillery
Small natural humanoid XP 125
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +2; low-light vision, darkvision
HP 31; Bloodied 15
AC 16; Fortitude 12, Reflex 14, Will 11
Speed 6; see also derro tactics
Short Sword (standard; at-will) Weapon +6 vs. AC; 1d6 + 2 damage and ongoing 5 poison damage (save ends)
Hand Crossbow (standard; at-will) Weapon Ranged 10/20; +9 vs. AC; 1d6 + 4 damage and ongoing 5 poison damage (save ends)
Sniper: When a Derro Sneak makes a ranged attack from hiding and misses, it is still considered to be hiding.
Combat Advantage
The Derro Sniper deals an extra 1d6 damage against any target it has combat advantage against.
Derro Tactics (immediate reaction, when missed by a melee attack; at-will) The Derro shifts 1 square.
Vulnerability: Radiant damage causes double damage to derro.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, dwarven
Skills Stealth +14, Thievery +12
Str 14 (+3) Dex 18 (+5) Wis 8 (+0) Con 13 (+2) Int 8 (+0) Cha 13 (+2)
Equipment leather armor, short sword, hand crossbow with 20 bolts, poison
Derro Sneak Level 1 Lurker
Small natural humanoid XP 100
Initiative +7 Senses Perception +1; low-light vision
HP 25; Bloodied 12
AC 16; Fortitude 12, Re ex 14, Will 11
Speed 6; see also derro tactics
Short Sword (standard; at-will) Weapon +5 vs. AC; 1d6 + 2 damage and ongoing 5 poison damage
Combat Advantage: The Derro Sneak deals an extra 1d6 damage against any target it has combat advantage against.
Derro Tactics (immediate reaction, when missed by a melee attack; at-will) The derro shifts 1 square.
Sneaky: When shifting, a Derro Sneak can move into a space occupied by an ally of its level or lower. The ally shifts into the Sneak’s previous space as a free action.
Vulnerability: Radiant damage causes double damage to derro.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, dwarven
Skills Stealth +10, Thievery +10
Str 14 (+2) Dex 17 (+3) Wis 8 (+0) Con 13 (+1) Int 8 (+1) Cha 12 (+1)
Equipment leather armor, short sword, poison
Vreeg
Derro Hexer Level 6 Controller (Leader)
Small natural humanoid XP
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +5; low-light vision, darkvision
HP 68; Bloodied 34
AC 20; Fortitude 14, Reflex 15, Will 16; see also lead from the rear
Speed 6; see also derro tactics
Hexer Rod (standard; at-will) Weapon +11 vs. AC; 1d6 + 1 damage.
Blinding Hex (standard; at-will) Ranged 10; +10 vs. Fortitude; 2d8 + 4 damage, and the target is blinded (save ends).
Stinging Hex (standard; recharge 5, 6) Ranged 10; +10 vs. Will; the target takes 3d6 + 4 damage if it moves during its turn (save ends).
Dark Cloud (standard; sustain minor; encounter) Zone Area burst 3 within 10; automatic hit; all enemies within the zone take a -2 penalty to attack rolls. The zone grants total concealment to the derro hexer and its allies. The derro hexer can sustain the zone as a minor action, moving it up to 5 squares.
Incite Bravery (immediate reaction, when an ally uses derro tactics; at-will) Range 10; the targeted ally can shift 2 more squares and make an attack.
Derro Tactics (immediate reaction, when missed by a melee attack; at-will)
The derro shifts 1 square.
The Derro hexer deals an extra 1d6 damage against any target it has combat advantage against.
Lead from the Rear (immediate interrupt, when targeted by a ranged attack; at-will)
The Derro hexer can change the attacks target to an adjacent ally of its level or lower.
Vulnerability: Radiant damage causes double damage to derro.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, dwarven
Skills Stealth +10, Thievery +8
Str 10 (+1) Dex 15 (+3) Wis 13 (+2) Con 14 (+3) Int 9 (+0) Cha 18 (+5)
Equipment leather robes, hexer rod
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On the dream spiders, if you're going to make them minions, I'd suggest having them do a flat amount of damage, rather than roll for each one. In any event, I took a different approach to the dream spiders, making them a swarm creature instead.
Dream Spider Swarm Level 2 Soldier
Medium natural beast (spider, swarm)
XP 125
Initiative +6
Senses Perception +3
Swarm Attack aura 1; the dream spider swarm makes a basic attack as a free action against each enemy that enters or starts its turn in the aura.
HP 38; Bloodied 19
AC 18; Fortitude 14, Reflex 15, Will 14
Resist 10 poison; half damage from melee and ranged attacks; Vulnerable 10 close and area attacks
Speed 5, climb 5 (spider climb); see web walker
Bite (standard; at-will) * Poison
+9 vs. AC; 1d10+3 damage and target is dazed (save ends)
Spin Web (standard; recharge 6) * Zone, Poison
Close blast 2; +7 vs. Reflex; the target is dazed (save ends). The zone is filled with spider webs and is considered difficult terrain for the encounter. Anyone entering or starting their turn in the zone receives the zone attack again.
Web Walker
A dream spider swarm ignores the movement effects of spider webs and difficult terrain related to spider swarms.
Alignment Unaligned
Skills Stealth +9
Str 8(+0) Dex 17(+4) Wis 14 (+3)
Con 14(+3) Int 3 (-3) Cha 8 (+0) Languages -
Dream Spider Swarm Tactics
Dream spider swarms try to daze as many opponents as possible, through bites or webs, and then concentrate on one victim at a time.
Ok now I really feel like a nerd. I called my wife to tell her James Jacobs just put in a response on a post I did. After a bit she goes I am glad but who’s James Jacobs? I told her he is kinda a big deal lol. All my celebrities write D&D.
Yeah, I've done that with EnWorld stuff. It feels weird, but if your SO doesn't know that about you by now...
OK, this is just my "originalish work." CHEAP appreciated.
Bloo, Attack Dog
Medium natural beast Level 1 Skirmisher
XP 100
Initiative +2 Senses Perception +9; Low-light vision
HP 30; Bloodied 15
AC 15; Fortitude 13, Reflex 13, Will 12
Speed 8
m Bite (standard; at-will)
+6 vs. AC; 1d6 + 2 damage, or 2d6 +2 damage against a prone target.
Combat Advantage
If Bloo has combat advantage against the target, the target is knocked prone on a hit.
Alignment Unaligned Languages --
Str 13 (+2) Dex 14 (+3) Wis 13 (+2)
Con 14 (+3) Int 2 (-3) Cha 10 (+1)
Yargin Balko
Medium natural humanoid Level 1 Skirmisher
XP 100
Initiative +6 Senses Perception +1
HP 29; Bloodied 14
AC 15; Fortitude 11, Reflex 12, Will 9
Speed 6
M Dagger (standard; at-will)
+3 vs. AC; 1d4 damage.
R Sling (standard; at-will)
Ranged 10/20; +4 vs. AC; 1d6+2 damage; see also special shot.
Special Shot
Yargin can fire special ammunition from his sling. He carries 2 stinkglobes, 2 fireglobes, and 2 glueglobes. Additional effect:
Stinkpot: The target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends).
Fireglobe (Fire): The target takes ongoing 2 fire damage (save ends).
Gluepot: The target is immobilized (save ends).
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Str 10 (+0) Dex 12 (+1) Wis 9( -1)
Con 13 (+1) Int 11 (+0) Cha 8 (-1)
Lamm’s Lambs
Medium natural humanoid Level 1 Minion
XP 25
Initiative +2 Senses Perception +5
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion
AC 12; Fortitude 10, Reflex 12, Will 10
Speed 6
M Dagger (standard; at-will)
+1 vs. AC; 4 damage.
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Str 7 (-2) Dex 15 (+2) Wis 8 (-1)
Con 10 (+0) Int 9 (-1) Cha 10 (+0)
Hookshanks Gruller
Small fey humanoid Level 1 Gnome Rogue
XP 100
Initiative +6 Senses Perception +1
HP 30; Bloodied 15
AC 15; Fortitude 12, Reflex 15, Will 11
Speed 5
Healing Surges 1
M Dagger (standard; at-will)
+5 vs. AC; 1d4 + 1 damage (+ 2d6 sneak attack).
R Hand Crossbow (standard; at-will)
Ranged 10/20; +5 vs. AC; 1d6 + 3 damage (+ 2d6 sneak attack).
m Piercing Strike (standard; at-will) • Martial, Weapon
+7 vs. Reflex; 1d4 + 3 damage (+ 2d6 sneak attack).
m Dazing Strike (Standard; encounter) •Martial, Weapon
+ 7 vs. AC; 1d4 +3 damage (+ 2d6 sneak attack), and the target is dazed until the end of Hookshank’s next turn.
c Blinding Barrage (Standard; daily) •Martial, Weapon
Close blast 3; targets enemies; + 6 vs. AC; 2d4 + 3 damage (+ 2d6 sneak attack) and the target is blinded until the end of hookshank’s next turn.
Rogue Class Features
First Strike, Rogue Weapon Mastery, Sneak Attack
Fade Away (immediate reaction, when Hookshanks takes damage; encounter) •Illusion
Hookshanks turns invisible until he attacks or until the end of his next turn.
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Str 12 (+1) Dex 16 (+3) Wis 13( +1)
Con 14 (+2) Int 13 (+1) Cha 10 (+0)
Giggles
Medium natural humanoid Level 1 Half- Orc Skirmisher
XP 100
Initiative +4 Senses Perception +1; low-light vision
HP 30; Bloodied 15
AC 16; Fortitude 14, Reflex 13, Will 11
Speed 6 (8 while charging)
M Greataxe (standard; at-will) • Weapon
+6 vs. AC; 1d12 + 2 damage (crit 1d12 + 14).
R Handaxe (standard; at-will) • Weapon
Ranged 10/20; +5 vs. AC; 1d6 + 3 damage (+ 2d6 sneak attack).
m Warrior’s Surge (standard; usable only while bloodied; encounter) • Weapon, Healing
Giggles makes a basic melee attack and regains).
Killer’s Eye
When making a ranged attack, Giggles ignores cover and concealment (but not total concealment) if the target is within 5 squares of it.
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Str 17 (+3) Dex 15 (+2) Wis 10( +0)
Con 14 (+2) Int 8 (-1) Cha 9 (-1)
Drain Spiders: Replace with Stirge x 3, MM 248
Gaedren Lamm
Medium natural humanoid Level 5 Old Human Rogue
XP 175
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +6
HP 47; Bloodied 23
AC 18; Fortitude 11, Reflex 18, Will 15
Speed 5
Healing Surges 1; 11
M Dagger (standard; at-will)
+8 vs. AC; 2 damage (+ 2d6 sneak attack).
R Hand Crossbow (standard; at-will)
Ranged 10/20; +7 vs. AC; 1d6 + 3 damage (+ 2d6 sneak attack).
mr Sly Flourish (standard; at-will) • Martial, Weapon
+9/+8 vs. AC; 1d4 + 5 damage melee, 1d6 + 5 ranged (+ 2d6 sneak attack).
mr Trickster’s Blade (Standard; encounter) •Martial, Weapon
+ 8/+7 vs. AC; 2d4 +3 damage melee, 2d6 + 3 ranged (+ 2d6 sneak attack), and +2 to AC until the end of Gaedren’s next turn.
Tumble (Move; encounter) •Martial
Gaedren shifts 2 squares.
mr Walking Wounded (Standard; daily) •Martial, Weapon
+8/+7 vs. Fortitude; 2d4 + 3 damage melee, 2d6 + 3 ranged, (+ 2d6 sneak attack) and the target is knocked prone. Until the end of the encounter, if the target moves more than half its movement in a single action, it falls prone at the end of its movement.
Rogue Class Features
First Strike, Rogue Weapon Mastery, Sneak Attack
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Str 5 (-1) Dex 17 (+5) Wis 12( +3)
Con 7 (+0) Int 16 (+5) Cha 14 (+4)
Gobblegut: Use crocodile in MM
Reefclaw Level 2 Lurker
Small aberrant natural beast (aquatic) XP 125
Initiative +7 Senses Perception +3
HP 40; Bloodied 20
AC 17; Fortitude 14, Reflex 16, Will 12
Speed 3; Swim 6
M Claw (standard; at-will)
+7 vs. AC; 1d6 + 3 damage and the target is grabbed.
Numbing Poison (against grabbed target only; standard; at-will) • Poison
+5 vs. Fortitude; target takes -2 to all attack rolls and -2 to athletics or acrobatic checks (save ends). Aftereffect: target takes -1 to all attack rolls and -1 to athletics or acrobatic checks (save ends).
Constriction (against grabbed target only; standard; at-will)
+6 vs. Fortitude; 1d8 + 3 damage.
Death Strike (free; when reduced to 0 hit points)
The reefclaw makes a claw or constriction attack.
Alignment Unaligned Languages --
Str 10 (+1) Dex 14 (+3) Wis 12 (+2)
Con 14 (+3) Int 5 (-2) Cha 13 (+2)
Wild Boar
Medium natural beast Level 3 Brute
XP 150
Initiative +1 Senses Perception +1
HP 54; Bloodied 27
AC 14; Fortitude 18, Reflex 14, Will 13
Speed 8
M Gore (standard; at-will)
+6 vs. AC; 1d8 + 3 damage, or 1d8 + 5 vs. a prone target.
Furious Charge
When a wild boar charges, its gore deals an extra 2 damage and knocks the target prone.
Alignment Unaligned Languages --
Str 18 (+5) Dex 10 (+1) Wis 9 (+0)
Con 14 (+5) Int 2 (-3) Cha 8 (+0)
Rogue Guardsman
Use human guard in MM
Parns
Medium natural humanoid Level 3 Brute
XP 150
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +2
HP 56; Bloodied 28; see also battle fury
AC 17; Fortitude 14, Reflex 13, Will 13
Speed 5
M Cow Hammer (standard; at-will) • Weapon
+6 vs. AC; 1d10 + 5 damage.
r Meat Cleaver (standard; at-will) • Weapon
Ranged 5/10; +4 vs. AC; 1d6 + 3 damage.
m Battle Fury (free, when first bloodied; encounter)
.Parns makes a melee basic attack with a +4 bonus to the attack roll and deals an extra 1d6 damage on a hit.
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Str 17 (+5) Dex 12 (+3) Wis 11( +2)
Con 16 (+5) Int 10 (+2) Cha 12 (+3)
Verrick Vancaskerkin
Medium natural humanoid Level 4 Artillery
XP 175
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +2
HP 51; Bloodied 25
AC 19 (21 vs. opportunity attacks); Fortitude 15, Reflex 16, Will 15
Speed 6
Healing Surges 1
M Spear (standard; at-will) • Weapon
+7 vs. AC; 1d8 + 5 damage (+1d6 hunter’s quarry).
R Frost Fang (standard; at-will) • Weapon
Ranged 20/40; +10 vs. AC (+11 with prime shot); 1d10 + 5 frost or normal damage (crit 1d6 cold + 15; +1d6 hunter’s quarry).
r Nimble Strike (standard; at-will) • Martial, Weapon
.As Frost Fang, but shift 1 square before or after the attack.
r Cut and Run (standard; encounter) • Martial, Weapon
As Frost Fang, but 2 attacks and shift 3 squares after the first or the second attack.
Yield Ground (immediate reaction; encounter) • Martial
Trigger: Verrick is damaged by a melee attack. Verrick can shift 2 squares and gains a +2 bonus to all of his defenses until the end of his next turn.
r Split the Tree (standard; daily) • Martial, Weapon
Two targets within 3 squares of each other; roll two attacks, take the higher and apply it to both; +10 vs. AC (+11 with prime shot); 2d10 + 5 damage (1d6 cold + 25 crit; +1d6 hunter’s quarry).
Frost Fang Bonus Damage (free; daily) • Cold
+1d8 + 1 cold damage
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Str 14 (+4) Dex 16 (+5) Wis 14( +4)
Con 12 (+3) Int 10 (+2) Cha 12 (+3)
Raktavarna Level 4 Lurker
Small immortal magical beast XP 175
Initiative +8 Senses Perception +5
HP 36; Bloodied 18
AC 18; Fortitude 12, Reflex 17, Will 19
Speed 5
M Bite (standard; at-will) • Poison, Charm, Psychic
+9 vs. AC;1d6 + 4 damage. Secondary Attack: +7 vs. Fortitude; the target is dazed (save ends) and forgets the events of the past ten minutes.
r Suggestion (standard; at-will) • Charm, Psychic
Ranged 10; +7 vs. Will; the target is dazed until the end of the Raktavarna’s next turn and the Raktavarna slides it 3 squares.
Change Shape (move; at-will)
.The Raktavarna can assume the shape of any object its size or smaller and can emit a magical aura.
Bound to the Master
The Raktavarna’s master perceives everything that the Raktavarna does. If the bond to the master is severed, the Raktavarna dies instantly.
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Str 8 (+1) Dex 14 (+4) Wis 16( +5)
Con 6 (+0) Int 10 (+2) Cha 14(+4)
Excellent thread guys!!
I haven't touched any of the Pathfinder stuff yet, as I am currently cutting my teeth of 3e->4e conversions with Age of Worms.
I have a question, how are you guys handling the slower character growth in 4E?
Excellent thread guys!!
I haven't touched any of the Pathfinder stuff yet, as I am currently cutting my teeth of 3e->4e conversions with Age of Worms.
I have a question, how are you guys handling the slower character growth in 4E?
Since this will be our first shot at 4th edition, my players all told me that they want the campaign to go from 1st to 30th level. Thus, I am devoting 5 levels per adventure. The only way to handle this, of course, is to lengthen each adventure with plenty of side quests and additional elements in each adventure. For example ...
O
Huge chunk of snipped text
Hmm I been thinbking about this for a while. Maybe we could return to give xps for magic items and treasure. That way we can keep the amount of encounters per adventure the same and mantain a similar character growth.
Hey it used to work fine , way back then.
Hmm I been thinbking about this for a while. Maybe we could return to give xps for magic items and treasure. That way we can keep the amount of encounters per adventure the same and mantain a similar character growth.
Hey it used to work fine , way back then.
I never really liked this idea. It always seemed like the heroes were being rewarded twice.
One nice thing is that the first two adventures in CotCT really lend themselves to additional quests and adventures, given the "Hey, we've got a job for you guys." structure. I imagine it will get trickier (although I'm already trying to figure out how to work Gallery of Evil into EfOK (with Salvatore Scream as the mad painter) and Seven Swords of Sin into the travel montage between Korvosa and the Shoanti encounters). All the travel during the second half of the AP should allow for some flexibility.
O
Arcesilaus, I think you have some good ideas there-- although I do think
I'll probably add a few encounters in a similar way-- I was going to have them have to do a favor for Devargo if they don't want to fight him; I haven't decided exactly, but maybe something involving the Rat's Teat Boys. Or maybe he sends them off to meet their ends at the hands of the Rat's Teat Boys if they fail at convincing him to help.
My only worry is that if there are too many side encounters, the players will lose focus on the core plot of the campaign. I don't know yet if my group wants to run up to level 30, but I would rather have this get them up to level 24 (about 4 levels per module) and then run a different adventure afterwards if they want to go to level 30 (the end of RoTR might do well for this purpose).
Another thing to keep in mind is that there are quest XP rewards already written into the rules, so the characters could, for example, get extra XP for completing the mission for Cressida as well as for convincing Barvasi through a skill challenge or beating him in a fight.
My only worry is that if there are too many side encounters, the players will lose focus on the core plot of the campaign. I don't know yet if my group wants to run up to level 30, but I would rather have this get them up to level 24 (about 4 levels per module) and then run a different adventure afterwards if they want to go to level 30 (the end of RoTR might do well for this purpose).
Yeah, this is a problem, but the opening adventures of this AP already have that feeling to them. The multiple seemingly-unrelated short quests don't really feel like they have much to do with the overarching plot, so the addition of a couple other side quests shouldn't dilute too much. Also, I am hoping to make my additions as related to individual PCs' backstories as possible. For example, I am changing some of the names and affiliations in the Heathen adventure to correlate to a religious order that one of my players established based out of Fort Rannick in RotRL. So, even though it's not directly related to this party, the players will feel a connection to the "side" quests that should keep everyone involved in the story.
O
Just thought I'd put out a followup to see how people are doing with this conversion. Has anyone run into any difficulties so far? How many are shooting for level 30 at completion and does it look like that is going to work out?
I'm going to be introducing a few friends to D&D later this week. We'll be playing 4th edition and I would love to get them involved in a story that has the kind of depth and intrigue for which Curse of the Crimson Throne has become famous but I'm concerned that a mis-step in the conversion could get them all killed early in the game, which is a horrible way to introduce new players to a fun experience.
Shannon
I hope to start running CotCT within a month in 4e, and I'm planning to start with Keep on the Shadowfell instead of anything from "Edge of Anarchy". Why?
- Shadowfell is an introductory module, which is good for me as a new DM.
- Shadowfell is an introductory module, which is good for the players, all of whom are new to 4e and most of whom are new to D&D.
- Logistical issues in converting the Lamm area, since the power curve in 4e isn't quite so curved anymore.
- I never actually liked the Lamm material all that much.
- I don't want to start converting material for 4e until I've got a good grasp on how it runs.
I plan on converting the death-cultists from Orcus to Zon-Kuthon; I can bring back the head priest in Skeletons of Skarwall, and the darkness motif converts easily.
Just thought I'd put out a followup to see how people are doing with this conversion. Has anyone run into any difficulties so far? How many are shooting for level 30 at completion and does it look like that is going to work out?
I'm going to be introducing a few friends to D&D later this week. We'll be playing 4th edition and I would love to get them involved in a story that has the kind of depth and intrigue for which Curse of the Crimson Throne has become famous but I'm concerned that a mis-step in the conversion could get them all killed early in the game, which is a horrible way to introduce new players to a fun experience.
Shannon
Well, we ran the first session of CotCT, 4th edition style, this afternoon ...
In the first, 4 PCs (of 6) faced off against 4 human bandits (who were interrupted while robbing a shop). The battle went more or less as expected, with the PCs having to work hard to overcome the slightly above-level encounter while simultaneously figuring out how their characters' powers work.
The second action scene, a chase across boats and piers chasing down the half-orc with the next clue was a bit harder to convert and run. The various barges and boats that the PCs run and jump across are covered with hazards and obstacles that would have required Reflex and Fort saves in 3.5, which I converted to acrobatics, athletics, and endurance skill checks for 4th, which was fine. The hard part was determining DCs. It seemed like the 3.5 DCs meshed pretty well, as this was written for 1st level PCs, until WotC erratad the heck out of the DC table in the 4th DMG (p. 42). Now, it seems like a 12 DC (to avoid becoming weakened by a barge full of rotten fruit) is a big deal (10 is a moderate DC, 15 is hard, according to new DMG for 1st level). So I guess I should have lowered the DCs for skill checks. That said, some DCs are static, like for swimming (DC 10 in calm water!?) and jumping. So, when one of the PCs failed his athletics roll to jump across a gap between boats (8 strength), he then was stuck for 3 rounds just trying to dog-paddle to the pier (and I had to fudge to keep him from drowning). So, long story short, the combat itself was fun and interesting, but I ended up just kind of 'winging' a lot of DCs, based on how the party was doing at the time. I never had a firm 'climb out of water onto a boat' DC, as I basically just let a half-way decent roll succeed at certain points.
So, even though we didn't really get to any CotCT material this session, I thought I would share my difficulty with converting skill DCs. This is something I'm definitely going to have to put more thought into as I move forward.
O
Thank you for reminding me of another bullet point:
Shadowfell lets me sidestep the logistical issues with "Here, let me give you a harrow reading with the deck I don't have."
Ok, since people have been so generous with their ideas, here are mine:
Harrow point uses:
Reroll initiative
+1 to reflex attacks for an encoutner
+1 to AC/Reflex defences for an encounter (max +3)
Add one to speed in an encounter (Max +2)
Drain spider (Deathjumps are too hard I would say)
Init: +7
HP27
Defences 13,14,14,12
Speed 6
Bite +7 vs. AC; 1d8+3; 3 ongoing poison (save ends)
Web spin; Minor; +7 vs. Reflex; Immobilise (save ends)
Gaedran Lamm
Init: +7 PER+3
HP: 56
Defences: 17,12,16,15
Speed 5
Sly flourish; +9 vs. AC; 1d6+7; +3 ongoing poison (save ends)
Crossbow +9 vs. AC; 1d10+3
Tanglefoot bag; Burst 1; +9 vs. Reflex; 1d4 constriction damage; Immobilise (save ends)
The crocodile is as per the MM (L4 soldier)
Hookshanks is a gnome skulk, as per MM
Giggles is an Orc Raider, as per MM
Yargin
Init: +4 PER+7
Def 16,14,15,12
Speed 6
Dagger +8 vs. AC; 1d4+4
Tanglefoot bag (as Lamm)
Acid Ampoule; Burst 1; +7 vs. Fort; 1d8+1 Acid damage; Ongoing 3 damage (save ends)
All the Lambs are human rabble, except they do only 2 damage.
Treasure - well you can almost use it as is, with the amounts cut down by about 50%. I will certainly use the oils as encounter items (to add crits on 19-20)
Jigsaw shark
Init +5 PER+1
HP 72
Defs 16,13,12,13
Speed Swim 8
Bite +8 vs. AC; 1d10+3 and grabbed
Clamping jaws +8 vs. AC; 1d10+9 (vs. grabbed opponent)
The dog was just a standard wolf. His presence causes the Lambs to do more damage (+1)
That's as far as I've got so far. I may ramp it up a bit, since we have 6 in the group.
Maps are cramped, but probably realistic.
Ok, so ...
we're 3 sessions into CotCT, 4th edition style, and things are actually going quite well.
Unfortunately, I'm starting to see an issue upcoming that I thought I would present to the masses for some advice.
I started converting the AP before I had PF #12. My players had already made it clear that, since this is our first shot at 4th edition, they wanted to run all the way to 30th level. This seemed simple enough, as there were 6 adventures, I would just convert them to 5 levels each. This also allowed for natural breaks at the beginning of each tier, which would fall between adventures.
Unfortunately, I'm starting to suspect that this won't work out the way I had hoped.
So, my options are:
1) Go ahead and continue as planned and run the whole thing up to level 30. This requires that a great deal of additional material be added to each adventure, but, given the number of Dragon magazines and other adventures I have lying around, as well as PC background plot material, that's not the end of the world. I fear, though, that the main plot itself won't feel "epic" enough.
2) Change my original plan and end the AP at 20th level. Then, I would put together additional quests (probably based on the artifacts of Kazavon article in PF #12) that would allow for a real epic throw down at 30th level that would feel truly momentous. This option has the added bonus of requiring much less insertion of side quests during the actual story, with the negative being that I (full-time teacher and new dad) would have to write 10 levels worth of campaign.
Are there any thoughts about this out there? Any suggestions for the epic campaign plot, other than the GI Joe mission (gather the pieces of the weather machine, before Cobra Commander and Destro get to them) involving the various pieces of Kazavon? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
O