I’ve recently got back into DnD after a gap of 35+ years, and have been ploughing through all my old WD, Imagine and TS magazines, and some other sources such as Thieves World, for scenarios . I’ve created a world map that consumes all the locations (it’s pretty huge) on Inkarnate, and am planning to convert the scenarios to 5e. Have people already done this with the old school material and if so, do they publish and share? I’m happy to share once I’ve converted them.
Finally this is a lot of pre-planning for a campaign to start around Spring or Summer 2024 in Woodford area of London. If anyone is interested in a regular session then happy to hear from you. Currently getting reacquainted with game at Mutant Freaks in London.
You may want to take a look at Classic Modules Today and Goodman Games's Original Adventures Reincarnated.
There is also a quite a fanbase for the old-school ways of playing, if that still interests you, with plenty of "retro-clones". The majority of systems seem to be based on B/X.
I second Goodman Games.
But also beware that the "pathos" of D&D has changed markedly since AD&D. If the new flavor doesn't work for you, I'd recommend an OSR ("Old School Revival") rpg such as Old School Essentials, Dungeon Crawl Classics (also from Goodman Games), or the new Shadowdark rpg.
LikelY to the shock of some, I shall proffer the following:
before you look into converting existing stuff, be sure that you understand the major differences between 5e (2014 and 2024) and the 2e you knew. They are very different games.
The "Old School Revival" stuff is mostly B/X, not AD&D, so I generally discourage folks from going there if they knew AD&D best (the two games are not compatible). It is my experience that the OSR folks can be really annoying.
Major differences:
combat is streamlined
they nerfed the monsters and upped the power level of the classes
class structures are very, very different
overall, the game is "simpler", with a lot less crunch. SO much less that in converting some of the old TW stuff you may have to create new rules and new systems.
Speaking of, thieves (rogues) are verydifferent than they used to be.
For me, I dropped out at 3.5/4.e period, went back to 2e, then moved back up to 5e. it was a major adjustment, and not always a happy one, but we added in our own crunch on top of the existing stuff and made our little changes as we figured things out and now we love it.
Overall, we like the modified way we do 5e. It is a lot more fun for our group of 30+ people, ages 12 to 60, in the US. I am polishing up a whole new campaign that revists a lot of core elements (re-does the classes, adds in a lot of the kind of crunch we like) I will be starting up in January so cheers.
Just avoid the 500 page lore book thing I did, lol.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I converted a older material a few times in the past and it's not too complicated the mechanic resolution in AD&D relied heavily on ability checks and saving throws which the latter differ quite a lot in that instead of saving against the source, you're saving with the attribute targeted by the effect. Traps and spells can always be used as inspiration for which ability score to use as saving throw. Except for contest, all ability checks are against a DC so you will have to set those following a Typical Difficulty Class number. The rest is navigated within 5E's three pillars most of the time.
For social encounters you'll see little difference if any as roleplay is roleplay except where ability checks of social nature are involved.
For exploration encounters they usually rely more on ability check than anything.
For combat encounters is where it gets trickier, older adventures tended to use a lot more monsters in some encounters and you can't necessarily use a ratio 1:1 for each. Some monsters can be used as published in 5E, some may need a tweak or done entirely from scratch. I suggest using reskin when possible, using a statblock for a mosnter as base start, perhaps with minor modification, and a different description when in doubt as it will be easier to use already created monsters with CR to give you a rough idea of the encounter difficulty for your party level.
For treasure, again coins and gems are much the same but magic items may vary wildly so you can look for match or replacement whenever needed.
For level progression you will have to also judge very loosely as power level back then and today are not exact match.
At the end, what matters most is FUN and i always try to update adventures with this mindset because no conversion will be perfect so the goal is not so much to align with precision, but to bring it to life within the current ruleset with the same goal of fun storytelling. It sound stupid, but it's easy to get lost in the details, loosing view of the bigger picture.
Appreciate all this advice. My main aim is to make use of the wonderful story lines that were created way back, that as teenagers we never got round to playing. Going to be careful about embarking on the conversion bearing in mind the comments, as still fair amount of planning of world basics. Thank you
The most important thing is to make sure that you are converting Hit Dice (HD) on your monsters to Challenge rating (CR) in a 1:1 ratio.
So let’s say a random encounter table calls for an encounter with 4-8 3HD ghouls, led by 1-3 4HD wraiths. In 5e you need to convert those to CR. Best way to do that would be to look up the monster and either buff it or nerf it accordingly. You will also need to get a feel for CR and what to expect from monsters of a given CR, generally speaking.
The monster encounters will be MUCH more dangerous when compared in a vacuum to their old school counterparts, but you are still keeping the same scale because PCs are so much more overpowered.
I like the idea(s) being given about adapting to the way of the groups preference. Im happy playing in 5e with expanded options but do have the feeling of DMing with more limited classes, races from earlier editions.
I like the idea(s) being given about adapting to the way of the groups preference. Im happy playing in 5e with expanded options but do have the feeling of DMing with more limited classes, races from earlier editions.
It's still not 100%, and doesn't have classes or races, but you can get a feel for how my groups opted to do things by checking the "Codexalia" link in my signature.
THe Lorebook is huge -- ignore a lot of it, lol.but there are some of the rules we use in the last third and in parts of the environment section.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I’ve recently got back into DnD after a gap of 35+ years, and have been ploughing through all my old WD, Imagine and TS magazines, and some other sources such as Thieves World, for scenarios . I’ve created a world map that consumes all the locations (it’s pretty huge) on Inkarnate, and am planning to convert the scenarios to 5e. Have people already done this with the old school material and if so, do they publish and share? I’m happy to share once I’ve converted them.
Finally this is a lot of pre-planning for a campaign to start around Spring or Summer 2024 in Woodford area of London. If anyone is interested in a regular session then happy to hear from you. Currently getting reacquainted with game at Mutant Freaks in London.
Today, quite literally, at some tables, the DM has to get PERMISSION from the players to say a PC is dead.
….
Hahahahahah!! No way, you are joking or exaggerating. There is nothing in the rules of 5e suggesting that, any more than old school rules.
Genuinely appreciate all the advice and comments. So far removed from the old days where you relied on letters page in magazines to get feedback. Going to check out all the links offered, and get to grips with changes that will or may be required. Guess I've got a bit of reading up to do.
I’ve recently got back into DnD after a gap of 35+ years, and have been ploughing through all my old WD, Imagine and TS magazines, and some other sources such as Thieves World, for scenarios . I’ve created a world map that consumes all the locations (it’s pretty huge) on Inkarnate, and am planning to convert the scenarios to 5e. Have people already done this with the old school material and if so, do they publish and share? I’m happy to share once I’ve converted them.
Finally this is a lot of pre-planning for a campaign to start around Spring or Summer 2024 in Woodford area of London. If anyone is interested in a regular session then happy to hear from you. Currently getting reacquainted with game at Mutant Freaks in London.
Today, quite literally, at some tables, the DM has to get PERMISSION from the players to say a PC is dead.
….
Hahahahahah!! No way, you are joking or exaggerating. There is nothing in the rules of 5e suggesting that, any more than old school rules.
Some people really have trouble with the idea of cooperative storytelling
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
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I’ve recently got back into DnD after a gap of 35+ years, and have been ploughing through all my old WD, Imagine and TS magazines, and some other sources such as Thieves World, for scenarios . I’ve created a world map that consumes all the locations (it’s pretty huge) on Inkarnate, and am planning to convert the scenarios to 5e. Have people already done this with the old school material and if so, do they publish and share? I’m happy to share once I’ve converted them.
Finally this is a lot of pre-planning for a campaign to start around Spring or Summer 2024 in Woodford area of London. If anyone is interested in a regular session then happy to hear from you. Currently getting reacquainted with game at Mutant Freaks in London.
I second Goodman Games.
But also beware that the "pathos" of D&D has changed markedly since AD&D. If the new flavor doesn't work for you, I'd recommend an OSR ("Old School Revival") rpg such as Old School Essentials, Dungeon Crawl Classics (also from Goodman Games), or the new Shadowdark rpg.
LikelY to the shock of some, I shall proffer the following:
before you look into converting existing stuff, be sure that you understand the major differences between 5e (2014 and 2024) and the 2e you knew. They are very different games.
The "Old School Revival" stuff is mostly B/X, not AD&D, so I generally discourage folks from going there if they knew AD&D best (the two games are not compatible). It is my experience that the OSR folks can be really annoying.
Major differences:
overall, the game is "simpler", with a lot less crunch. SO much less that in converting some of the old TW stuff you may have to create new rules and new systems.
Speaking of, thieves (rogues) are very different than they used to be.
For me, I dropped out at 3.5/4.e period, went back to 2e, then moved back up to 5e. it was a major adjustment, and not always a happy one, but we added in our own crunch on top of the existing stuff and made our little changes as we figured things out and now we love it.
Overall, we like the modified way we do 5e. It is a lot more fun for our group of 30+ people, ages 12 to 60, in the US. I am polishing up a whole new campaign that revists a lot of core elements (re-does the classes, adds in a lot of the kind of crunch we like) I will be starting up in January so cheers.
Just avoid the 500 page lore book thing I did, lol.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Welcome back to D&D GlydrLightwin!
I converted a older material a few times in the past and it's not too complicated the mechanic resolution in AD&D relied heavily on ability checks and saving throws which the latter differ quite a lot in that instead of saving against the source, you're saving with the attribute targeted by the effect. Traps and spells can always be used as inspiration for which ability score to use as saving throw. Except for contest, all ability checks are against a DC so you will have to set those following a Typical Difficulty Class number. The rest is navigated within 5E's three pillars most of the time.
For social encounters you'll see little difference if any as roleplay is roleplay except where ability checks of social nature are involved.
For exploration encounters they usually rely more on ability check than anything.
For combat encounters is where it gets trickier, older adventures tended to use a lot more monsters in some encounters and you can't necessarily use a ratio 1:1 for each. Some monsters can be used as published in 5E, some may need a tweak or done entirely from scratch. I suggest using reskin when possible, using a statblock for a mosnter as base start, perhaps with minor modification, and a different description when in doubt as it will be easier to use already created monsters with CR to give you a rough idea of the encounter difficulty for your party level.
For treasure, again coins and gems are much the same but magic items may vary wildly so you can look for match or replacement whenever needed.
For level progression you will have to also judge very loosely as power level back then and today are not exact match.
At the end, what matters most is FUN and i always try to update adventures with this mindset because no conversion will be perfect so the goal is not so much to align with precision, but to bring it to life within the current ruleset with the same goal of fun storytelling. It sound stupid, but it's easy to get lost in the details, loosing view of the bigger picture.
Thank you very much for the suggestions. I’ll take a look into those. Not played enough 5e to dislike it vs AD&D but happy to consider options
Appreciate all this advice. My main aim is to make use of the wonderful story lines that were created way back, that as teenagers we never got round to playing. Going to be careful about embarking on the conversion bearing in mind the comments, as still fair amount of planning of world basics. Thank you
The most important thing is to make sure that you are converting Hit Dice (HD) on your monsters to Challenge rating (CR) in a 1:1 ratio.
So let’s say a random encounter table calls for an encounter with 4-8 3HD ghouls, led by 1-3 4HD wraiths. In 5e you need to convert those to CR. Best way to do that would be to look up the monster and either buff it or nerf it accordingly. You will also need to get a feel for CR and what to expect from monsters of a given CR, generally speaking.
The monster encounters will be MUCH more dangerous when compared in a vacuum to their old school counterparts, but you are still keeping the same scale because PCs are so much more overpowered.
I like the idea(s) being given about adapting to the way of the groups preference. Im happy playing in 5e with expanded options but do have the feeling of DMing with more limited classes, races from earlier editions.
It's still not 100%, and doesn't have classes or races, but you can get a feel for how my groups opted to do things by checking the "Codexalia" link in my signature.
THe Lorebook is huge -- ignore a lot of it, lol.but there are some of the rules we use in the last third and in parts of the environment section.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
….
Hahahahahah!!
No way, you are joking or exaggerating. There is nothing in the rules of 5e suggesting that, any more than old school rules.
Genuinely appreciate all the advice and comments. So far removed from the old days where you relied on letters page in magazines to get feedback. Going to check out all the links offered, and get to grips with changes that will or may be required. Guess I've got a bit of reading up to do.
Some people really have trouble with the idea of cooperative storytelling
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)