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Hi guys, thanks to Hasbro's greed I am wanting to shift my campaigns over from DND 5th edition to Pathfinder 2nd Edition.
I can find guides to convert from 3.5 to 1st and also from 1st to 2nd, but is there anything to help conversion from DnD 5th to P2?
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Adrian
The short answer is no, we don't have guides to convert 5e to PF2. In many areas of the system it's not even possible due the game being based from scratch having only based in some D&D concepts and ideas.
That said. You still can convert many thing with some effort so OK let's try!
As GM:
If your adventure are made all by yourself or is an adaptation of an story or a book and you are constantly creating your DCs, opponents and applying the system game mechanics. You just need to read the core book to understand how the system works and do this. You will be surprised as with just one book you are able to make and GM adventures way more easier than in 5e.
If you want to start a new adventure but don't want to make your own from scratch PF2 already have a lot of long and short ready to play adventures.
If you already have a written adventure for 5e and like to play it without rewrite all mechanics here follow some tips that may help you:
- DC Checks: I strong recommend you to use Proficiency without Level variant rules from Gamemastery Guide. This way you can use the DCs from 5e with minor adjustments to compensate the difference between initial stats and proficiency and cap of 5e, basically do this (this increases are not cumulative):
- DC, LvL 1: Increase the DCs by 1 to compensate the min/max stats difference between games
- DC, LvL 2 to 3: Increase the DCs by 3 to compensate proficiency bonus difference
- DC, LvL 4: Increase the DCs by 2 due here the stat difference between game system diminish a little.
- DC, LvL 5 to 6: Increase the DCs by 1 because here the 5e proficiency bonus close to PF2
- DC, LvL 7: Increase the DCs by 3 due the PF2 skill proficiency increases in level 7
- DC, LVL 8: Increase the DCs by 2 due stat difference 5e usually increases to cap in this level for most classes.
- DC, LvL 9: Increase the DCs by 1 due the proficiency difference between games diminishes.
- DC, LvL 10-12: Increase the DCs by 2 due the stats improvements in PF2
- DC, LvL 13-14: Increase the DCs by 1 due the proficiency difference between games diminishes.
- DC, LvL 15-19: Increase the DCs by 3 due the legendary skill proficiency improvements in PF2.*
- DC, LvL 20: Increase the DCs by 4 due PF2 last stats improvements
* The APEX in PF2 and +6 proficiency improvement compensate each other so aren't counted.
Alternatively to make the thing easier you can just improve the DC by 2 to avoid to have to follow the "table" above, maybe can made the checks just a little easier or harder in some levels but it's general balanced.
- Skills: PF2 has way less skills than other D20 systems, specially if you count the tools proficiency (PF2 don't have tools proficiency, everything are skills). So here are the list from what skill check in PF2 substitute a skill check in 5e:
- Acrobatics: Acrobatics
- Arcana: Arcana, History (in topics related to Arcana)
- Athletics: Athletics
- Crafting: All Artisan’s Tools, Herbalism kit, Poisoner’s Kit
- Deception: Deception, Disguise kit
- Diplomacy: Persuasion
- Intimidation: Intimidation
- Medicine: Medicine
- Nature: Nature, Animal Handling, History (in topics related to Nature)
- Occultism: History (in topics related to supernatural)
- Performance: Performance, Musical Instrument
- Religion: Religion, History (in topics related to Religion)
- Society: History (in topics related to Society of any type), Survival (inside cities and all other settlement types), Forgery kit
- Stealth: Stealth
- Survival: Survival, Navigator’s Tools
- Thievery: Sleight of Hand, Thieves’ Tools
- Perception*: Perception, Insight, Investigation
* Perception is an "special skill" in PF2 that every character is at last trained.
Obs.: In addition to these skills PF2 also have Lore skills that usually are more specialized and may embrace some of other skills. For example, Navigation Lore could be used as alternative to Survival in checks related to navigation, Rabbit's Lore can be used in place of Nature checks in check related to a rabbit and so on. Lore skills usually are limited to not be so "large" than a normal skill but a lore can cross different skill areas (for example a Herbalism Lore can be used instead of Nature to identify plants/fungus and instead of Manufacture to craft something with them). Some class specific lores can ignore this general rule (like Thaumaturge Esoteric Lore)
Monsters: Here again I recommend the use of Proficiency without Level. This way you can simple search for the same or similar monster in PF2 to use in place of the 5e monster with minor or no adjustment. You just need to pay some attention to spell levels and monster HP in order to readjust the monster difficulty.
Hazards/Traps: Here I recommend to search a similar in Core Book. Yet if you need to use an adventure specific trap you can use the GMG Building Hazards to help you to adjust the trap to PF2.
NPC antagonists: This party is there's no simple way to convert. You need to recreate the NPC in PF2. If you want you may use GMG Building Creatures to do this faster but it's more creature oriented than NPC oriented guide.
As Player:
My main recomendation here is simple build a new char, don't try to convert. You can use
Gortle's document to Moving Characters from D&D 5th to Pathfinder 2nd Edition to try to make the same flavor of your character in 5e but mechanically the classes in PF2 are completely different from 5e classes even with same flavor. So if you choose a class due a specific mechanic like for example the Warlock's resourceless casting (at will Eldritch Invocations) you will notice that's the abilities are completely different from this (Witches in PF2 are basically a Familiar Thesis Wizard that can choose it's own magical tradition and have some unique cantrips) so simply "convert" based on flavor probably aren't the best choice for you if the mechanics matter to you.
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Using the proficiency without level rules really seems like a lot of effort to me.
Is it something directly opposed to something that has a level (like a creature, trap, or magic item)? Use the level-appropriate DC.
Is it something anyone who's kinda trained would find challenging, but an expert would be pretty confident about? Use the Trained DC.
Is it something that would challenge even an expert, but a master would scoff at it? Use the Expert DC.
And so on.
Also, it's generally okay to use the level-appropriate DC, but consider whether you should make it Hard (+2 DC) or Easy (-2 DC).
If it's the sort of check everyone can try and only one PC has to succeed, and you can try multiple times, then a Hard DC is reasonable.
If it's something everyone has to do, but maybe one person doing quite well can compensate for another one doing poorly, then the Easy DC is probably a good choice.
In general: the base level based DC is a challenging DC with about a 60% success rate. That's not actually a lot. You don't need to make it harder. When players are coming up with smart ideas to make it easier, you should probably let them.
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We kobolds are even more protective of our "dragon-people" copyrights than certain mighty nautical wizards.
I'm a bit shocked there's no Dragonkin in Pathfinder 2e. We have that in Starfinder.
Dragonkin live on another planet in Golarion's solar system, and other than Elves and Androids, we haven't had aliens playable in PF2. I'm really holding out hope for Lashunta, but Dragonkin would certainly be fun.
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So, the book I suggested earlier, Samurai Sheepdog's Ancestries of Omen: Drakorins, presents dragonkin as one of the three heritages for the drakorin race it creates. Other two being 'afflicted' drakorin who are humans turned into dragon people, and 'legacy' drakorin, who are kobolds or lizardfolk manifesting full draconic ancestry.
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I'm a bit shocked there's no Dragonkin in Pathfinder 2e. We have that in Starfinder.
In some part is because dragonkins would be a medium size kobolds in PF2.
Kobolds are linked to a dragon type, Dragonscaled Kobolds heritage (heritages are the equivalent to sub-races in 5e) have their dragon type resistance like desertborns dragonkins have in 5e, Spellscale Kobolds can cast a arcane cantrip of your choice as innate spell being an equivalent to seaborn dragonkins, Kobold Breath give you a breath weapon of the same type of your draconic exemplar like montainborn dragonkins but due it's an ancestry feat this don't lock you to a specific heritage making possible to you have at same draconic resistance or spellcasting while keep you breath weapon.
As other alternative if your GM allows 3rd party material, you can be an Aeternal dragons from Battlezoo Ancestries: Dragons and play as a real dragon who made the Lux Aeterna ritual in order to speed up it's evolution. This even a rare case of 3rd party material that includes a Foundry module to play fully integrated with the rest os PF2e system for Foundry.
Using the proficiency without level rules really seems like a lot of effort to me.
Is it something directly opposed to something that has a level (like a creature, trap, or magic item)? Use the level-appropriate DC.
Is it something anyone who's kinda trained would find challenging, but an expert would be pretty confident about? Use the Trained DC.
Is it something that would challenge even an expert, but a master would scoff at it? Use the Expert DC.
And so on.
Also, it's generally okay to use the level-appropriate DC, but consider whether you should make it Hard (+2 DC) or Easy (-2 DC).
If it's the sort of check everyone can try and only one PC has to succeed, and you can try multiple times, then a Hard DC is reasonable.
If it's something everyone has to do, but maybe one person doing quite well can compensate for another one doing poorly, then the Easy DC is probably a good choice.
In general: the base level based DC is a challenging DC with about a 60% success rate. That's not actually a lot. You don't need to make it harder. When players are coming up with smart ideas to make it easier, you should probably let them.
I disagree. The main problem of use the normal proficiency when you are converting an adventure from 5e aren't really the DCs but the monsters level differences between systems. This would force the GM to basically remade every encounter choosing different monsters to meet the players level or creating new-ones to put in place. This is far more work than simply remove level from proficiency. The DC are the easier part, just sum the level to it if you are not using proficiency without level rules.
I'm a bit shocked there's no Dragonkin in Pathfinder 2e. We have that in Starfinder.In some part is because dragonkins would be a medium size kobolds in PF2.
Dragonkin are a Large alien species introduced in PF1e and elaborated on in Starfinder. They aren't in 5e; you're thinking of Dragonborn.
Sorry I mixed them. I was talking about dragonborn.
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I do think that dragonborn represent a distinct player fantasy from kobolds or standard dragonkin in a way that justifies another ancestry being there. The trick is writing around the legal protections WotC have over them.
Automatons scratching basically the same niche that warforged do proves to me at least that paizo are capable of designing around trademarks when they feel like it. I suspect the reason why we don't have a medium dragon ancestry, or for that matter, why we don't have a giantkin stand in for the goliaths, is a conscious decision that's less about Paizo being worried about legal ramifications and more about perception; they don't want to look like they're aping everything WotC put out even if they could legally get away with it.