Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

Hi everyone,

First post here. FWIW, I've been a fan since 2009, and I bought a copy of the rules from Lulu over two years ago. I'm getting ready to buy more copies from Amazon.

Anyway, I have quite a bit of stuff written for Swords and Wizardry. This includes Monstrosities, and various modules. Has anyone, anywhere, codified a quick list of conversion hints? The best I can find is Solomoriah's post here:

http://basicfantasy.org/blog/?p=103

... from which I gather that I add +1 to the S&W AAC to get the BFRPG AAC.

Any other ideas, particularly with respect to hit dice, damage, movement, and other monster stats? I'm not looking for an algorithm, just a fairly reliable set of rules of thumb for on-the-fly conversion.

Thanks.

Beren Belagund wrote:Hi everyone, First post here.

Hi!

... from which I gather that I add +1 to the S&W AAC to get the BFRPG AAC.

Directly, perhaps. But also depends on the setting/adventure. 1e adventures are 20-AC = AAC and B/X are 19-AC = AAC.

Any other ideas, particularly with respect to hit dice, damage, movement, and other monster stats?

Well, they are different:
- Encumbrance and movement are very different. BF maxes out around 150, S&W over 300 lbs.
- Stats are score-10/4 in S&W, score-10/3 in BF.
- BF uses old saves, S&W uses single save.
- BF XP for monsters is inflated 2 or 3 times. XP for GP is optional in BF.

Also...
- S&W duel wielding is +1 to-hit, BF supplement it's two attacks, -2, -5.
- S&W uses group init, BF uses individual init.
- Some spells are different. Common low level spells like sleep and web are different.
- BF uses user submitted supplement classes, S&W Complete uses more AD&D classes and abilities.
- spell acquisition is free w/ optional chance of learning in S&W; money per spell level in BF.

Overall S&W is like a mix of OD&D and AD&D; BF is more B/X with a couple 3.5 and AD&D ideas. Maybe not the answer you're looking for, but a few things to note.

Having said that, all the items above are interchangeable between BF and S&W.

First of all: Welcome to the forum!

The best way of converting W&W (or any other game) to BFRPG is to convert as little as possible.

For rules and monsters use the corebook or any of its supplements.
For monsters, rules, and everything that does not appear on BFRPG use your best judgement, use monster creation instead of monster conversion.

seandon4,

Thanks for your detailed reply!

You're right about the differences on the player side of things. I would continue to use the character and combat system from BFRPG (BF), even when using S&W (SW) materials. That includes encumbrance, saves, initiative, PC attack bonus, and spells. My main concern was getting the monster stats comparable through application of simple conversion guidelines: hit dice, AC, damage, XP, movement, saving throw, morale, and treasure type. Clearly I should increase XP when converting from SW to BF. I'm just trying to figure out the others.

However, I'm not sure what you mean when you say:

seandon4 wrote: - Stats are score-10/4 in S&W, score-10/3 in BF.

Are you talking about ability bonuses? The BF chart on p. 4 doesn't seem to match what you say above, and the SW charts differ by stat (at least, strength bonuses are different from the other charts)

Hi Dimirag,

Thanks for your help. You're probably right that this is a viable approach - just wing it according to the 'feel' of the conversion, and use your best judgment.

Beren Belagund wrote: My main concern was getting the monster stats comparable through application of simple conversion guidelines: hit dice, AC, damage, XP, movement, saving throw, morale, and treasure type. Clearly I should increase XP when converting from SW to BF. I'm just trying to figure out the others.

In that case I'd go with Dimirag's suggestion. Otherwise, we can compare:

S&W Goblin
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 1d6 hit points
Attacks: Weapon (1d6)
Saving Throw: 18
Special: -1 to hit in sunlight
Move: 9
Alignment: Chaos

BF Goblin
Armor Class: 14 (11) [your +1 rule works here]
Hit Dice: 1-1 [1-7 hp, keep; or make 1-6, depends on you]
No. of Attacks: 1 weapon [same]
Damage: 1d6 or by weapon [same]
Movement: 20' Unarmored 30'
[base rate/3x10 yards equals distance in one round where 1 round = 1 minute, unlike BF where 1 round = 10 seconds]
[9/3*30/6=15,err.. ya best to just use the core rules instead; doesn't really convert]
No. Appearing: 2d4 ,Wild 6d10, Lair 6d10
Save As: Fighter: 1 [lookup table]
Morale: 7 or see below [S&W doesn't have morale]
Treasure Type: R each; C in lair [Don't think S&W has this]

Beren Belagund wrote:

seandon4 wrote: - Stats are score-10/4 in S&W, score-10/3 in BF.

Are you talking about ability bonuses? The BF chart on p. 4 doesn't seem to match what you say above, and the SW charts differ by stat (at least, strength bonuses are different from the other charts)

Yes ability modifiers. You are correct. That does not fit the table exactly and SW charts vary. I was referring to the fact that S&W is often less generous with modifiers.