Beginner Box / 2e Question - Just starting


Advice


Hi all! I'm not new to tabletop RPGs, but it's been a long time since I've played . A couple years ago I bought the Beginner Box in hopes of playing with my wife and kids. They didn't seem quite ready, so I set it aside. Now they all want to start playing, but.....2e has since come about. I'm just learning myself and have the mechanics down for playing them through the Beginner Box, but....is it a waste of time now? Is there a way to transition from the old Beginner Box to 2e when that time comes? Or will I need to start them over from scratch at that point? I do have the Starfinder Core Rulebook. Am I better off picking up that game's Beginner Box and playing that with them instead, and eating the cost I paid for the Pathfinder Beginner Box? Should I play them through the Beginner Box and then use the original rules through old copies? (We won't be playing with anyone other than ourselves) Any advice, insight, and suggestions are very welcome!


The 2e beginner box is right around the corner and is more fleshed out as far as beginner boxes go. I'd honestly recommend going with 2e because so many things are streamlined. Honestly, you could probably just hand them the 2e Iconic pregen characters and replace all the monsters in the 1e beginners box with their 2e version except for the dragon. I think the dragons bane sword would also give you a little bit of trouble converting. You could always pick up a pathfinder society mission to run in place of the beginner box adventure if you want a good 4 hour adventure and don't have to do any conversions. For a dungeon crawl Scenario 1-11 Flames of Rebellion is pretty good.


Zioalca wrote:
The 2e beginner box is right around the corner and is more fleshed out as far as beginner boxes go. I'd honestly recommend going with 2e because so many things are streamlined. Honestly, you could probably just hand them the 2e Iconic pregen characters and replace all the monsters in the 1e beginners box with their 2e version except for the dragon. I think the dragons bane sword would also give you a little bit of trouble converting. You could always pick up a pathfinder society mission to run in place of the beginner box adventure if you want a good 4 hour adventure and don't have to do any conversions. For a dungeon crawl Scenario 1-11 Flames of Rebellion is pretty good.

Awesome. Those are some great suggestions. I hate eating the cost of what I paid for, but it was also two years ago, so it's not like I'm really feeling that loss. Thanks for the input!


You can find all the resources you need for rules, character creation, and monsters at Archives of Nethys and here at Paizo. You can get a download here for all of the Iconics pregen character sheets. Nethys will have many of the monsters with stats as well as rules direct from the core rule book. Free RPG day is coming up soon and that will have a free adventure for 2e with it's own pregen characters you can use.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

If you like I can try to get you some information on what I did to convert the 'dungeon' that is in the 1e Beginner box to 2nd edition rules with monsters and such, if that would help you. You could use your flipmat and tokens then.

My family just started going through it. The kids did it as a P1 game some years ago, but I have tried to convert it and they are trying their Advance Players Guides Playtest characters through it now.


Loreguard wrote:

If you like I can try to get you some information on what I did to convert the 'dungeon' that is in the 1e Beginner box to 2nd edition rules with monsters and such, if that would help you. You could use your flipmat and tokens then.

My family just started going through it. The kids did it as a P1 game some years ago, but I have tried to convert it and they are trying their Advance Players Guides Playtest characters through it now.

That would be hugely helpful!


I would highly recommend not using 1st edition rules at all. 2nd Edition is far, far easier to pick up than 1st edition is, and if you plan on playing 2nd, anything you do with 1st edition is just going to cause eventual confusion when you do switch over.

I like the suggestion above to use a Pathfinder Society Adventure. Ultimately it is easy to convert 1st edition content to 2nd edition rules... but be kind to yourself. Play and GM 2nd Edition for a little while, using published adventures, before stepping into conversions or home brew content. Why work harder than you need to? After getting some experience you'll find conversion to be a snap.

Don’t look at your 1st Edition Beginner's Box as a waste of money. Look at it as an investment that is not yet realized, but will soon pay dividends after you have your feet under you in 2nd edition.


deliriummadness wrote:
I hate eating the cost of what I paid for, but it was also two years ago, so it's not like I'm really feeling that loss.

Fwiw, you can still use the dice, pawns, and flip-mat, which are probably some of the costliest components in the box. They're system-agnostic.


Joana wrote:
deliriummadness wrote:
I hate eating the cost of what I paid for, but it was also two years ago, so it's not like I'm really feeling that loss.
Fwiw, you can still use the dice, pawns, and flip-mat, which are probably some of the costliest components in the box. They're system-agnostic.

Great point; very true!


Joana wrote:
deliriummadness wrote:
I hate eating the cost of what I paid for, but it was also two years ago, so it's not like I'm really feeling that loss.
Fwiw, you can still use the dice, pawns, and flip-mat, which are probably some of the costliest components in the box. They're system-agnostic.

Good point; very true!


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Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

Built with spoilers to help keep details hidden from people who don't want to know.
Feel free to give me feedback. Note I have tried to tweak the treasure while keeping relevant parts. As the dungeon did before, it has higher amounts of treasure than usual, but I curbed pieces I felt I could without impacting design or flavor, but have left in more than the normal amount.

@deliriummadness please feel free to provide me feedback as someone new to Pathfinder second edition and First edition. I tried to make this conversion include some things to make the transition easier, but honestly don't know exactly how well I did. I spent a bit of time looking at the swimming rules for instance, and noted how the adventure was not intending to focus a log on them, or combat in water. So I tried to point out where the rules were and give some guidance on realizing what you shouldn't need to utilize. Maybe for instance I need some similar information on Poison rules or some other aspect? So, if you decide to recycle the Black Fang adventure with this, please let me know how it went.

Obviously anyone else using it or seeing something they think would be important, I am happy to get feedback.

Room #1:

Goblin Ambush [20x2=40xp]
Modifications wrote:

2x Goblin Warrior (p180: Creature -1)

Items: remove shortbow, arrows; add dead lizard, empty jug of wine, belt pouch 2sp
Actions: remove Ranged shortbow attack
Stat Block: GOBLIN WARRIOR CREATURE –1 wrote:

[CE] [Small] [Goblin] [Humanoid]

Perception +2; darkvision
Languages Goblin
Skills Acrobatics +5, Athletics +2, Nature +1, Stealth +5
Str +0, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +0, Wis –1, Cha +1
Items dogslicer, leather armor, dead lizard, empty jug of wine, belt pouch 2sp
AC 16; Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +3
HP 6

Goblin Scuttle [reaction] Trigger A goblin ally ends a move action adjacent to the warrior. Effect The goblin warrior Steps.
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] dogslicer +8 (agile, backstabber, finesse), Damage 1d6 slashing

Room #2:

Goblin Cave
Modifications wrote:

Perception (to find key) Easy Perception DC10

Chest: Thievery Pick locks DC15 with lockpicks, 1 success 20 or HP to break open, breaking potion vial.
Treasure wrote:
4sp; Dwarven Clan Dagger (1st; 2gp; p280); small ruby (2gp); healing potion, minor (1st; 3gp; p563)

Room #3:

Magical Fountain
Modifications wrote:

Religion (trained) DC15 [DC10 if a follower of Desna, or using Desna Lore] to decipher runes.

Perception DC15 to notice the Noises coming from NW.
+5 Bonus to roll on the chart tied to dropping 1sp or greater coin in the fountain instead of 1gp
Change bonuses to +1 status bonus/-1 status penalty instead of +2 bonus/ -2 penalties.

Room #4:

Gemstone Altar
Modifications wrote:

FIREFAN STATUES HAZARD 5

[Evocation] [Fire] [Magical] [Trap]
Stealth DC 20 (trained)
Description as per Adventure.
Disable Thievery DC 25 (trained) to manipulate either statue to stop the trap from triggering, or dispel magic (3rd level; counteract DC 20) to counteract the rune
Fan of Fire [reaction] (arcane, evocation, fire); Trigger A living individual enters protected squares. Effect flames fan out from statues, covering protected squares doing 3d4 fire damage (DC 14 basic Reflex save) to anyone in a protected square that is not kneeling or lower.
Treasure wrote:
Energy Heart (Approximately 100gp; custom; custom/rare) see conversion appendix

Room #5:

Spider Nest [40xp]
Modifications wrote:

1x Hunting Spider (p306: Creature 1)

Use the spider’s Stealth skill to determine initiative when the characters get close to the spider’s location.
Characters will use perception (or potentially stealth if they are moving stealthfully)
To exit a thick web square: they can use a STR check with DC12, or an Athletics check with DC15.
Failed checks, character’s action to leave the square is stopped, however they may use additional actions to attempt it again.
Stat Block: HUNTING SPIDER CREATURE 1 wrote:

[N] [Medium] [Animal]

Perception +7; darkvision, web sense
Skills Acrobatics +7, Athletics +5, Stealth +7
Str +2, Dex +4, Con +1, Int –5, Wis +2, Cha –4
Web Sense The spider has imprecise tremorsense to detect the vibrations of creatures touching its web.
AC 17; Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +5
HP 16

Spring Upon Prey [reaction] (attack); Requirement Initiative has not yet been rolled. Trigger A creature touches the hunting spider’s web while the spider is on it. Effect The hunting spider automatically notices the creature and Strides, Climbs, or Descends on a Web before it rolls initiative.
Speed 25 feet, climb 25 feet
Melee [one-action] fangs +9 (finesse), Damage 1d6+2 piercing plus hunting spider venom
Ranged [one-action] web +7 (range increment 30 feet), Effect web trap
Descend on a Web [one-action] (move) The hunting spider moves straight down up to 40 feet, suspended by a web line. It can hang from the web or drop off. The distance it Descends on a Web doesn’t count for falling damage. A creature that successfully Strikes the web (AC 20, Hardness 3, 5 HP) severs it, causing the spider to fall.
Hunting Spider Venom (poison); Saving Throw Fortitude DC 16; Maximum Duration 6 rounds; Stage 1 1d10 poison and flat-footed (1 round); Stage 2 1d12 poison, clumsy 1, and flat-footed (1 round); Stage 3 2d6 poison, clumsy 2, and flat-footed (1 round).
Web Trap A creature hit by the hunting spider’s web attack is immobilized and stuck to the nearest surface until it Escapes (DC 17).

Treasure wrote:
3sp, 2cp; wand of magic missile (); dragon toy (2gp)

Room #6:

Graffiti and Magic Pillar
Modifications wrote:

Identify symbol for water repeated on 4 sides of pillar. Arcana DC 15

Identify graffiti refers to Wyrm as referring to Dragon.
Lore History Untrained DC15 or Simple DC12 society check if proficient in elvish language.
Automatically (no check needed) known if skill at least trained including Lore Elf or Lore Dragons.
Also automatically known if an Elf ancestry, Elf trait, Adopted elf ancestry.

Room #7:

Deadly Pool [40xp]
Modifications wrote:

1x Reefclaw (p279: Creature 1)

Read drowning/holding breath rules In core rulebook p 478, and swimming rules on p243.
Water is considered still, but anyone encumbered will sink without successful check.
Unencumbered, without making a skill check, may move 5’ per swim move action without a check if no opponent is present.
(once monster becomes known about, characters must make swim checks due to stress/danger)
Note: instructions for the Reefclaw’s behavior indicate it does not attack creatures in the water, so referencing actual underwater combat rules aren’t really required, just swim and hold breath actions.
Stat Block: REEFCLAW CREATURE 1 wrote:


[CN] [Small] [Aberration] [Aquatic]
Perception +8; darkvision
Languages Common (can’t speak any language)
Skills Acrobatics +7, Athletics +4 (+8 to Swim)
Str +1, Dex +4, Con +2, Int –3, Wis +1, Cha +1
AC 20; Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +4
HP 17

Death Frenzy [reaction] Trigger The reefclaw is reduced to 0 Hit Points. Effect The reefclaw makes a claw Strike before dying.
Speed 5 feet, swim 30 feet
Melee [one-action] claw +9 (finesse), Damage 1d6+1 slashing plus reefclaw venom and Grab
Constrict [one-action] 1d6 bludgeoning, DC 17
Reefclaw Venom (poison) Saving Throw DC 17 Fortitude; Maximum Duration 4 rounds; Stage 1 1d6 poison damage and enfeebled 1 (1 round), Stage 2 1d6 poison damage and enfeebled 2 (1 round).

Treasure wrote:
35sp in leather sack; potion of invisibility (4th; 20gp; p563; uncommon); potion of levitate (6th; ~50gp; spell p348; custom\rare); +1 dragon-bane longsword (4th; ~65gp; custom; custom\rare)

Room #8:

Goblin Feud [20x4 = 80xp]
Modifications wrote:

Diplomacy (untrained) check DC 15 to avoid fight and start negotiation.

4x Goblin Warrior (p180: Creature -1)
Items: remove shortbow and arrows; add wooden shield (Hardness 5, HP 20, BT 10)
Actions: Add Shield Block reaction, Raise Shield action; remove Ranged shortbow attack
1x King Fatmouth (variant: Creature -1)
Based on Goblin Warchanter (p181)
Items: remove shortbow, add Fancy Goblin Crown
Actions: remove Ranged shortbow attack
replace standard 1st level spells memorized with Fear, Magic Missile instead

Stat Block: GOBLIN WARRIOR CREATURE –1 wrote:


[CE] [Small] [Goblin] [Humanoid]
Perception +2; darkvision
Languages Goblin
Skills Acrobatics +5, Athletics +2, Nature +1, Stealth +5
[b]Str +0, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +0, Wis –1, Cha +1

Items dogslicer, leather armor, wooden shield
AC 16(18 with shield raised); Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +3
HP 6

Goblin Scuttle [reaction] Trigger A goblin ally ends a move action adjacent to the warrior. Effect The goblin warrior Steps.
Shield Block [reaction] Trigger The monster has its shield raised and takes damage from a physical attack. Effect The monster snaps its shield into place to deflect a blow. The shield prevents the monster from taking an amount of damage up to the shield’s Hardness. The monster and the shield each take any remaining damage, possibly breaking or destroying the shield.
Raise Shield [one-action]
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] dogslicer +8 (agile, backstabber, finesse), Damage 1d6 slashing
Ranged [one-action] shortbow +8 (deadly 1d10, range increment 60 feet, reload 0), Damage[b] 1d6 piercing
[b]Melee [one-action] dogslicer +8
(agile, backstabber, finesse), Damage 1d6 slashing
Stat Block: KING FATMOUTH CREATURE 1 wrote:


[CE] [Small] [Goblin] [Humanoid]
Perception +5; darkvision
Languages Common, Goblin
Skills Acrobatics +6, Deception +7, Occultism +4, Performance +7, Stealth +6
Str +2, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +4
Items dogslicer, leather armor, shortbow (10 arrows)
AC 17; Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +5
HP 16

Goblin Scuttle [reaction] As goblin warrior.
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] dogslicer +8 (agile, backstabber, finesse), Damage 1d6+2 slashing
Ranged [one-action] shortbow +8 (deadly 1d10, range increment 60 feet, reload 0), Damage 1d6 piercing
Occult Spontaneous Spells DC 17, attack +7; 1st (2 slots) fear, magic missile; Cantrips (1st) ghost sound, inspire courage, mage hand, message, telekinetic projectile
Goblin Song [one-action] The war chanter sings annoying goblin songs, distracting foes with silly and repetitive lyrics. The chanter attempts a Performance check against the Will DCs of up to two enemies within 30 feet. This has the usual traits and restrictions for a Performance check.
Critical Success The target takes a –1 status penalty to Perception checks and Will saves for 1 minute.
Success As critical success, but the target is affected for only 1 round.
Critical Failure The target is temporarily immune to Goblin Song for 1 hour.
Treasure wrote:
3x pearls (2gp), Wand of Heal, 105sp

Room #9:

Haunted Crypt [20x3 = 60xp]

Modifications wrote:

Challenge: 20’ climb cracked vertical wall face DC20

With rope against wall, it becomes DC5
3x Skelton Guard
w/Collapse reaction (p298: Creature -1)
Items: remove the scimitar, shortbow, and arrows
Actions: remove Melee scimitar and Ranged shortbow attacks, leaving only the Melee claw attack.
Stat Block: SKELETON GUARD CREATURE –1 wrote:


[NE] [Medium] [Mindless] [Skeleton] [Undead]
Perception +2; darkvision
Skills Acrobatics +6, Athletics +3
Str +2, Dex +4, Con +0, Int –5, Wis +0, Cha +0
Items none
AC 16; Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +2
HP 4
, negative healing; Immunities death effects, disease, mental, paralyzed, poison, unconscious; Resistances cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5, piercing 5, slashing 5
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] claw +6 (agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+2 slashing
Collapse [reaction] Trigger The skeleton is critically hit. Effect The skeleton collapses into a pile of bones and the attack deals only normal damage. The skeleton can reform in a standing position as an action, but until it does, it is immobilized and flat-footed.

Room #10:

Dragon’s Den [80xp]
Modifications wrote:

1x Black Fang (Unique: Creature 3)

as Adolescent Black Dragon (Custom included below)
Treasure wrote:
150sp; Cold Iron Shield (Low Grade) (2nd, 34gp, p586); Half-plate armor (2nd, 18gp, p276); Bestial Mutagen, Moderate (3rd, 12gp, p546); scroll of fireball (5th, 30gp, p565); scroll of new life (potentially a talisman of Breath of Life)
Stat Block: ADOLECENT BLACK DRAGON CREATURE 3 wrote:


[NE] [Large] [Dragon]
Perception +9; darkvision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet
Languages Draconic
Skills Acrobatics +11, Athletics +10, Deception +8, Intimidation +8, Stealth +9, Survival +7
Str +3, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +1
AC 19; Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +7
HP 55
; Immunities acid, paralyzed, sleep
Tail Lash [reaction] Trigger A creature within reach of the dragon’s tail uses an action to Strike or attempt a skill check. Effect The dragon attempts to Strike the triggering creature with its tail. If it hits, the creature takes a –2 circumstance penalty to the triggering roll.
Speed 20 feet, fly 50 feet, swim 30 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +12 (reach 10 feet), Damage 1d10+3 piercing
Melee [one-action] claw +12 (agile), Damage 1d6+3 slashing
Melee [one-action] tail +10 (reach 10 feet), Damage 1d6+3 bludgeoning
Breath Weapon [two-actions] (acid, arcane, evocation); The dragon breathes a spray of acid that deals 3d6 acid damage in a 60-foot line (DC 19 basic Reflex save). It can’t use Breath Weapon again for 1d4 rounds.
Draconic Frenzy [two-actions] The dragon makes one tail Strike and claw Strikes in any order.
Draconic Momentum The dragon recharges its Breath Weapon whenever it scores a critical hit with a Strike. (Don't use during encounter).

Appendix/Items/Toolbox:

Stat Block: ENERGY HEART ITEM 6+ wrote:

ABJURATION CONSUMABLE MAGICAL POTION

Usage worn; Bulk —
This large, seemingly flawless ruby grants you the ability to activate its ability once per day, as a reaction.
Activate [reaction] envision;
Trigger You are targeted by something that would case energy damage of type acid, cold, electricity or fire;
Effect For the purposes of that attack, the damage caused by that effect which has acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage, the gem reduces the amount by specified by its type (minimum final damage is 0), as if you had the required form of energy resistance.
.
Type lesser; Level 6; Price 85 gp
You gain resistance 5 to the appropriate energy type.
Type greater; Level 10; Price 325 gp
You gain resistance 10 to the appropriate energy type.
Type major; Level 14; Price 1,400 gp
You gain resistance 15 to the appropriate energy type.
Stat Block: FIREFAN STATUES HAZARD 5 wrote:

[Evocation, Fire, Magical, Trap]

Stealth DC 20 (trained)
Description as per Adventure.
Disable Thievery DC 25 (trained) to manipulate either statue to stop the trap from triggering, or dispel magic (3rd level; counteract DC 20) to counteract the rune
Fan of Fire [reaction] (arcane, evocation, fire); Trigger A living individual enters protected squares. Effect flames fan out from statues, covering protected squares doing 3d4 fire damage (DC 14 basic Reflex save) to anyone in a protected square that is not kneeling or lower.
Stat Block: BANE RUNE 7 wrote:

MAGICAL NECROMANCY

Price 65 gp
Usage etched onto a melee or ranged weapon
Weapons with bane runes are said to thirst for blood. Bane weapons are attuned to a particular type of creature. When using a weapon with this rune against an opponent with that trait, the weapon acts as it has a couple extra properties. The weapon calculates its MAP penalty on attacks against a foe with its bane trait as if the weapon has the agile property. It does not actually make the weapon an agile weapon, nor does it enable any abilities that require agile weapons, it only cause the calculation of MAP to be done as if it were an agile weapon. When you hit a creature of the designated type with a bane weapon, you deal extra damage as if the weapon had a striking rune on it.


I only skimmed the details, but what I saw I like.

My only critique is "the sword," which I'll put in spoilers.

Gotta say though, when I converted it, I found it super easy except I did agonize over the sword, so by "critique" I really mean "this is how I did it, so I'll share my thought process as well."

Spoiler:

I used the Disrupting Rune (+1d6 damage to undead, on a crit the undead target is enfeebled 1) but changed the typing over to Dragon. I thought that was a pretty neat and tidy way to do it.

Prior to settling on that, I just copied the Dragon Bane property wholesale from PF1 - an extra +1 to attack and +2d6 to damage vs dragons. I decided not to do that because I bow to Paizo's superior game design skills and figured I shouldn't be making a rune that's more powerful than one they made.

Prior to THAT I tried to cobble together a similar effect to the PF1 Bane property using existing runes, but found it an unsatisfactory approach.

And in the end, it worked fine. You're really not expected to actually KILL Blackfang in that adventure, the trick is to land a hit with the sword before he mauls your party too badly. So it doesn't really matter that I'm stripping away 1d6 from the PF1 effect (unless the party actually gets him to within 1-6 HP of death, and you may have actually pulled off a kill).

Ok I guess I have two notes... On the Big Bad's stats:

Spoiler:

I think 55 HP may be too low, given the 19 AC you used.

I don't have any beef with 19 AC. May have used 20 myself, but we're talking shades of difference here.

Most martials will have a +7 to hit, meaning they're hitting on a 12. Close enough to 50/50 chance on the 1st attack. A fighter is hitting on 10 which is really accurate against a scary boss. BUT as Blackfang is a nasty bugger who is dealing accurate, devestating damage... you really need to be landing that Dragonbane Sword hit by turn 2 or the party's in big trouble, so I'm happy to see AC 19.

However, 55 HP is low for him if the AC is 19. Figure your typical martial will be doing something like 1d8+4 damage, that's about 9 damage on a hit. With the AC you have, it's safe to assume that Valeros will certainly hit once, Merisiel will as well, perhaps with sneak attack, and Ezren will land a cantrip for similar-ish damage. If all 3 of them hit at least once (likely.. may be it's Valeros twice and Merisiel misses, but still), that's approximately 27 damage, which will trigger Blackfang's morale retreat right then and there. I'd bump his HP up to around 70 and make them work for the half-damage retreat. If they miss, I'll have Blackfang use things like trip and shove mixed into his attack routine to give them the room they need to land a hit with The Sword.

But that's me. Having them face a dragon at level 1 is a tricky thing to balance, and temperament and expectations are different player to player, so my thoughts may not apply to your table.


I would just wait for the pf2e beginner box if you can ans use the upcoming month to read the core rules.

Maybe even run the free rpg day kobold adventure that is coming out soon or a pf society adventure or two.

The new beginners box is going to have a level 1-5 adventure, and the 1-10 adventure for next year is going to be set in the same location and represents parallel events. So it is going to be the best starting place imo.

I would probably get them to run the beginner box pregens too when it comes out, everyone wants to make a character but learning from the sheet will be smoother imo and you as a new GM won't have to worry about viable characters or weird feat choices so much.

Your old box will still be good for

1. Extra pawns

2. The battlemap (especially the blank side)

3. Another set of dice


Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

Beginner Box Big Bad fight:
When I ran that scenario, the party got wasted by Black Fang's acid breath.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

I will admit it was a while ago I did the monster conversion.

Spoiler:
I based it off of the seeing challenge rating that the adventure was presenting, and comparing Dragon and I believe a version of one of the drakes from the bestiary, to come up with most of it. As I recall, I believe I did struggle with the choice of HP some, so yes you could probably raise the HP some since.

The first time we ran the dungeon, in its original Pathfinder 1 form, my kids got lucky crits from more than one of them. They got Black fang down to low single digit HP, and did so relatively quickly, and the one who charged it got sprayed by breath but survived in part due to the item they picked up.

My daughter was so mad she didn't kill the dragon, but got close. In reality, if she had thought of it, I would have let her use the levitation potion to raise up and get off a parting shot with her bow. That might have given her a chance to have downed Black Fang. Instead, I had decided that one of the critical hits done to it had severed off the end of its tail.


About the item(s)
Spoiler:

Disrupting rune isn't a bad idea. Would have to decide what type of damage it did then though, as I'm not thinking that positive makes sense. Otherwise, it is simpler in a way than my piece affecting the MAP penalty.

I'll admit I agonized a bit over the Wands as well. It became clear that mostly spent wands were a common way of giving a treasure in first edition that was worth more than a scroll, but not a long term investment. Although actually, a wand with 1 charge was an opportunity to give them access to a single casting of a spell, but not allow them to learn it.

Anyway, I miss masterwork items and some of the more minor magics. Some of the minor magics might eventually get filled by talismans though. I had considered replacing a certain wand with a crying angel pendant. But decided a wand was worthwhile given how otherwise abundant healing resources are.

About scrolls as treasure

Spoiler:

I had an issue with the idea of giving two goblins a scroll or two instead of a wand to the two goblins (one living one dead) due to Goblin's in world lore about writing. I felt them having kept them would seem a breach of lore. Not that there can't be exceptions, such as goblin kings leading pumpkin kingdoms, but I didn't want a first introduction to goblins involve them using writing.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

Also, you might like to know that you, you should be able to get the following second edition adventure/encounter for free if you want to use it.
Pathfinder Second-Edition Demo Adventure: Torment and Legacy

It is very short, but gives you a couple encounters to use to get used to the game. As I recall, it also includes pre-generated characters for you so you can start very quickly if you want. I haven't actually run that one, so I can't tell you how good it is. It looked really short to me, but if that is what you are looking for, that can be a plus.

The following includes a couple very short encounters you could also choose to make use of to get used to the rules as well.
Sample Encounter: Badlands Ambush and Sample Encounter: The Foxs' Flames

And, yes, absolutely, the Free RPG Day adventure should be something you get as soon as you can after it comes out. But you'll have to wait for it.
Free RPG Day 2020: Little Trouble in Big Absalom

The good part of all those would be they should all be free and with the bonus it should not require any conversion.

I don't know if you can still get the playtest documents for free, but the first adventure in Doomsday Dawn was really a pretty fun little introductory adventure. It was called the Lost Star. But if people can still get the playtest materials for free, you could adapt it to second edition rules. [that was the first thing I ran that I'd adapted to second edition, since it was closer, starting using the playtest rules]
Playtest Rules Look for Doomsday Dawn, and you would also probably want to look at the flip-map. Since I got them already, I can't tell if they are still available to new individuals or not. Some of the other adventures in Doomsday dawn were designed more to test the system, than to specifically be a 'fun' story, so don't expect all the rest of them to be 'fun' adventures to convert. But I really enjoyed running Lost Star, both as part of the playtest, and then later on using actual 2nd edition rules.

Sovereign Court

There is also the PF2 playtest goblin adventure from last years Free RPG Day. Possibly a few bits need to change to fit the full rules, but should be mostly ok to run.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

@JDRipley I may add some notes about potentially raising the HP of the dragon, and potentially the possibility of re-naming/re-cycling the effects of the disrupting rune, but for bane effects against Draconic creatures, if I share it again. I think there is a Conversions Forum that it might make sense to post it in. If I do, I will happily mention you.

Out of curiosity, how do you think I did on the Gemstone conversion?

Gemstone thoughts:

I comparing the much stricter provisions for how much elemental resistance made the given around of resistance seem like a really high level item, so I really felt like I needed to lower it.

I'll confess I really seriously considered making it a once a day reduce the effect of an elemental attack by one tier. (saving throw/attack result) So a Critical fail save becomes a fail, fail, a success, success a crit success, but this seemed very powerful and hard to price. And then how would you deal with a produce flame attack. (reduce the tier of hit?) Which seems reasonable.

But, what do you do when you get hit by a weapon that does normal damage, plus elemental damage? That seems to make it would become really complicated to have it affect non-elemental damage, or to partially effect some of the damage by tier, but not others.

Yes, last years Free RPG Day adventure would certainly be one you could likely relatively quickly convert from playtest to second edition. If you are interested in doing such conversions, there are also the Pathfinder Society Adventures that were made for the Playtest that you could also potentially convert.

If people want more free adventures, and don't mind converting, there are also the Beginner Bash demo adventures for first edition. There were two sets of them. At some point in my non-existent free time, I want to convert these for fun as well. I'd started doing some of these with my kids before second edition came out and they had fun with one and we got stopped in the second adventure due to other activities eating up our free time.

Beginner Box: Bash Demos - Part 1
Beginner Box: Bash Demos - Part 2

You cold also presumably convert any number of the old We Be Goblins series of first edition Free RPG Day adventures as well.

Granted, I have plenty of material now in second edition, so it isn't like I'd need to convert them, but my kids have expressed an interest in running through the first of the Beginner Bash adventures again for the fun of it, and potentially some others, so I may do it simply due to their interest. Additionally, I think the process helps me understand the insides of the game better too, so it is potentially worth it for that.


@ Loreguard, I think you did a fine job on the gemstone. I'll admit I skimmed right past it the first time as the sword and Blackfang himself are, IMO, the clear challenges of converting Blackfang's Lair to 2E and I was curious about how you did both of those.

I like how you used the figures from the Potion of Resistance.

I have no idea how to price such an item, so no critique there...

If I were to get real nitpicky, there's a few typos, and I think I'd copy some of the wording directly from the Potion of Resistance instead of coming up with my own way to write it, but those are nitpicks really. If a GM gave me what you wrote I'd understand immediately how it works and would think it was an item worth having!

And, if you post these thoughts in the conversion forum, cool beans no issue from me, credit me or not, I'm not gonna get upset :D

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