OK, the conversion guide here on the site says there's only a few things I need to do to convert Monsters from 3.5 to Pathfinder. My question is: How true is that? Do I need to change any CR or anything? My whole goal is to convert some adventures from 2nd Edition to Pathfinder, but I'd like to not have to do a lot of Monster conversions, so if I can take them from, say, the Fiend Folio and make a tweak or two, that would be optimal. I'm trying to run a Planescape game, so those are the kind of Monsters I'm looking at, Cranium Rats, Demons, Devils and Deva of all kinds, etc., if that helps at. I just don't want to throw a Ultraloth (CR 13) at my players only to discover that in Pathfinder the CR should be higher. Or lower. Either way.
Anyway, any advice or help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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Your best bet is to find a similar monster in one of the Pathfinder Bestiary and tweak it to match the abilities of the one you want. 1st and 2nd ed had a lot of mechanical differences that don't transition smoothly, and it wouldn't do any good to use a 3,5 conversion, then convert again to Pathfinder. The Conversion from 3.5 to Pathfinder listed in the rules is a quick and dirty method that just boosted up the defense offense slightly to match the slightly stronger player characters
Mechanically it is very easy to convert with only needing some things like grapple mods, poison, and some creature type aspects to really change to be seamless in pathfinder.
CRs are a little variable though. Pathfinder monsters are a little tougher for their CR. Compare the succubus in 3.0 vs 3.5 vs PF. They worked to reduce a little bit of the swinginess as well though, such as turning the low CR allip's 3.5 ability drain into ability damage.
CR is a little more art than science throughout d20.
Check out d20pfsrd.com, it has a ton of OGC Pathfinder monsters including stuff from Tome of Horrors so a bunch of AD&D monsters are in there.
I love me some d20pfsrd! I don't think I could run my games without it. I'm for sure going to go with any Monster already converted, but I'm more thinking of those that won't ever be converted, like Yugoloths. If the CR is just a off a bit, I think it'll be fine. I'm going with a no xp route so I don't think it'll be that bad. I just don't want to throw anything at the players they couldn't take, but if, for the most part, the PCs are stronger, then it's all good. Thanks for input!
I love me some d20pfsrd! I don't think I could run my games without it. I'm for sure going to go with any Monster already converted, but I'm more thinking of those that won't ever be converted, like Yugoloths. If the CR is just a off a bit, I think it'll be fine. I'm going with a no xp route so I don't think it'll be that bad. I just don't want to throw anything at the players they couldn't take, but if, for the most part, the PCs are stronger, then it's all good. Thanks for input!
I remember some criticisms that Yugoloths were statted out to be lower power CRs in 3.0/3.5 compared to other fiends than they were in AD&D where lots of them were powerhouses. Also be aware that in 3e the spell like abilities and SR drove up the CR for a lot of outsiders way above what their HD would otherwise suggest, leaving them sometimes weak on attacks, saves, and hp for their CR despite their strong outsider HD type.
Also check for a bunch of yugoloths in the Tome of Horrors/d20pfsrd under their 1e designations as daemons.
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In general the CR is at least 1 lower in 3.x compared to Pathfinder IMO. There's a quick conversion rule in the Gamemastery Guide which I think is to add +2 to everything to a 3.x monster when using it in Pathfinder.
If your going to use the creature a lot in a home game, I'd rebuild it from scratch in particular adding more feats to larger hit dice creatures.
Mike
Yeah, if I use it as a recurring NPC, I'm stating them up. I'm just thinking quick and dirty. Like a random monster in an adventure, I'd rather just use the 3e version and be on my way. If it's more important than a fist fight then I'll put more into it. I just didn't want to throw something at my players that they couldn't take, but if the players a little more powerful in PF, it shouldn't be a problem right?
I just treat 3.5 critters as CR-1 in Pathfinder, use Grapple for CMB, and then add the Grapple bonus to Touch AC to get CMD. I ran Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave with all Pathfinder characters like this a few years back with no problem.