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I'm having a hard time finding a quick and easy answer to this question, but when I'm running a 3.5 adventure, should I adjust the power of the monsters upward to account for the greater power of Pathfinder RPG characters compared to 3.5? And if I should, is there a set of guidelines somewhere?
I have found the following conversion guide on the web for the Pathfinder Adventure Paths: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/fan-conversions/paizo-adventure-paths
If there is a general set of guidelines I could find, that would be great. Thanks in advance!
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Try looking here OGL conversion guide.
That should give you a good start.
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Try looking here OGL conversion guide.
That should give you a good start.
I looked at that yesterday, and saw that it made 3.5 monsters compatible with the Pathfinder RPG rules. But I didn't find anything addressing the greater power of Pathfinder characters.
Perhaps I overlooked something?
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ronaldsf,
maybe this helps you a bit.
I presently dm the Rise of the Runelords AP (we are at Part 5 now). We use Pathfinder rules, and, just as a reminder, RotRL is 3.5.
I only did some conversions on opponents in "Bossfights". Otherwise I just gave all monsters max hps which worked out just fine.
Calculating CMB CMD you can do shortly befor the session, but normally, you can use stuff as given, if time is short.
I'm having a hard time finding a quick and easy answer to this question, but when I'm running a 3.5 adventure, should I adjust the power of the monsters upward to account for the greater power of Pathfinder RPG characters compared to 3.5? And if I should, is there a set of guidelines somewhere?
I have found the following conversion guide on the web for the Pathfinder Adventure Paths: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/fan-conversions/paizo-adventure-paths
If there is a general set of guidelines I could find, that would be great. Thanks in advance!
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/monsterCreation.html is a table that you can use.
The PRD also has pathfinder versions of 3.5. monsters, most of which will probably be here.
Tordek does about the same thing I am doing with Age of Worms right now. I'm converting some things (namely bosses), but otherwise I am using monsters from the PF Bestiary in place of the statblocks in the adventures themselves.
A few suggestions for places in which there aren't new PF version printing of monsters.
-Count the monsters as -1 CR as Gorbacz suggested. You can always apply the quick Simple Template to beef them up slightly and give back that point of CR you just subtracted. Basically, you'll end up with a monster with the same CR rating as listed in the adventure, except the monster now has a +2 on all rolls, +4 AC/CMD and +2 hp/HD. OR you can bump the monster's HP up to maximum for their HD. I've done both of these and both work pretty well at letting the monsters be a bit better off in comparison to PF characters.
-Substitute in a PF monster that fits the circumstance or theme of the encounter. I've done this a few times as well and not had any issues with the adventure as printer, provided I gave it some thought before doing so.
NOTE: Based on my personal experience, the CR -1 for monsters works for EARLIER 3.5 materials. But beware 3.5 power creep.
I did some conversions of monsters from the Monster Manual V and some other later-printed stuff--which tend to assume ownership/encourage use of various splatbooks, including the "Complete" series--and found that the monsters were best left at the same CR or even RAISING the CR +1 for using against PCs built from Pathfinder core (with a very few minor homebrew/splat PrCs or feats). A CR 13 monster in the first Monster Manual is generally much weaker than a CR 13 monster in the Monster Manual 4 or 5.
And speaking of which, if the OP or anyone in general is using a lot of supplementary material from 3.5 for the PCs, CR adjustments may need to be altered depending on that as well.
ronaldsf: IMO, the real "trick" to it all is: don't sweat it and adjust as you need to as you go along. My suggestion is play the first encounter or two as written, adjusting monsters only for "Pathfinderization" (calculate their CMB/CMD, give them more feats if need be, check skills for consolidation, etc.). If the first fight or two is too easy, increase the number of creatures per encounter, or buff up the monsters with the "Advanced" template in the Bestiary. If the first fight or two is too hard, then reduce the number of creatures and/or apply the "young" template from the Bestiary to tough looking monsters. Use common sense--if a "boss" looks like it's tough enough without boosting, even though the previous encounters did need a boost, then leave it alone.
ronaldsf,
maybe this helps you a bit.
I presently dm the Rise of the Runelords AP (we are at Part 5 now). We use Pathfinder rules, and, just as a reminder, RotRL is 3.5.
I only did some conversions on opponents in "Bossfights". Otherwise I just gave all monsters max hps which worked out just fine.
Calculating CMB CMD you can do shortly befor the session, but normally, you can use stuff as given, if time is short.
This is what I did and it worked just fine.
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-Count the monsters as -1 CR as Gorbacz suggested. You can always apply the quick Simple Template to beef them up slightly and give back that point of CR you just subtracted. Basically, you'll end up with a monster with the same CR rating as listed in the adventure, except the monster now has a +2 on all rolls, +4 AC/CMD and +2 hp/HD.
How would you respond to the "power creep" issue that's been raised in later 3.5 materials? Has that phenomenon come up in Paizo adventure paths?
Also, what has your experience been with the +4 AC? I'm concerned about some overly-high ACs for 1st level characters that might make a monster almost impossible to hit. Perhaps I should play that by ear...
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http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/monsterCreation.html is a table that you can use.
The PRD also has pathfinder versions of 3.5. monsters, most of which will probably be here.
I believe these charts are at the back of the Bestiary, yes? Yeah, I suppose they can serve as an "official" barometer to regulate the power of the monsters.
I would prefer to maintain the CRs of the encounters in RotRL as what they are, so that the characters can advance levels at a rate commensurate with what was originally intended. (I'll be using the fast XP path, by the way)
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/monsterCreation.html is a table that you can use.
The PRD also has pathfinder versions of 3.5. monsters, most of which will probably be here.
I believe these charts are at the back of the Bestiary, yes? Yeah, I suppose they can serve as an "official" barometer to regulate the power of the monsters.
I would prefer to maintain the CRs of the encounters in RotRL as what they are, so that the characters can advance levels at a rate commensurate with what was originally intended. (I'll be using the fast XP path, by the way)
Yeah, they are at the back of the bestiary. When running a 3.5 game the fast track is the closest fit.
I feel like I'm reading a thread from an alternate universe where everything is back to front.
The only time pathfinder characters are stronger than 3.5 characters is if you're playing core only with non-casters.
All the best spells got nerfed in pathfinder, and 3.5 had so many splat books that the power creep became a power sprint-off-a-cliff.
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Sorry, I've been sick and we had one of our computers break over the last week, so I've been mainly away.
My suggestion involving the Advanced Template is one I'd only suggest for singular encounters or BBEG monsters (not character villains) and only for some. In RotRL, the boss of volume 2 needs no beefing up thats for sure! I would suggest not using the Advanced template until the PCs are around 3rd or 4th level. The boosts are a bit much for 1st level characters.
Just take a good look at what your players have been dealing with up to that point. If you've been substituting in PF monsters and CR ratings instead (while using Fast XP track) you should have a good idea of how the monsters are matching up against your players and you'll be able to adjust as you see fit.
Deathquaker does raise a good point about later on 3.5 power creep...though as for Monster Manual IV and V, I never really had regular access to them. So I'm not the best person to ask in those cases.
Also, if you are running a specific adventure, it might be worth looking through the messageboards here and look for an Obituaries thread. Those can give you a really good idea which encounters in an adventure are the deadliest and which aren't. This only really applies to the PF APs or the Dungeon APs though, mainly.