Some Conversion Questions

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JenniferRPG
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Some Conversion Questions

Post by JenniferRPG »

Are all Classic D&D Monsters convertible to BFRPG with just an AC inversion and noting Attack Bonus for creatures with greater than 8 hit dice?

How about 1st edition AD&D creatures? Do they map well? 2nd Edition?

I glanced over the fine art of monster conversion and it was covering converting a later edition of D&D 3.0+, which is complicated and doesn't scale well I see.

But I see no guide for converting classic & 1st edition AD&D and 2nd edition AD&D monsters. Would be nice if there was a guide available for that.

How hard would it be to adapt 1st Edition (1985) TOEE to BFRPG?
Tree Ant
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by Tree Ant »

For AC, I generally use BFRPG AC= 20 - descending AC.

This works more or less perfect for basic and expert based games. You'll sometimes be off by one for the "advance" game. (Too low by 1 for ascending AC's of around 14 or lower.) You can either adjust the AC, or not worry about it.

I then typically use the monster HD to assign an attack bonus, hp and saves.

I usually just leave the special abilities alone and damage alone, or tweak them.

That's sort of the lazy man's 'how to convert basic/expert or advanced monsters in 30 seconds guide.'

It works for me at least.

You could also try to do a more comprehensive conversion, but the short answer to your final question is "very easy." Much easier than converting post 3E games. I would rank it trivial to easy depending on how thorough you want to be.
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Solomoriah
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by Solomoriah »

From 0E to 2E, low-level monsters are all nearly identical; higher-level monsters get progressively tougher (especially dragons). BFRPG monsters are scaled to the 1981-era rules.
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JenniferRPG
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by JenniferRPG »

So then I should be able to convert Temple of Elemental Evil fairly easily to BFRPG?
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SmootRK
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by SmootRK »

3.x edition low level creatures convert fairly easily, however the higher level things get wonky really quick. Conversion is definitely not something linear that can easily be accounted for. It really is an art. When I want something from later editions, I generally look first to see if the creature in question has a 2e or lower version that I might utilize as my starting point for reference... and even better is to simply write the monster entry from scratch, utilizing the other source ideas only for the inspiration points. This gives BFRPG creatures their own BFRPG vibe when possible.

Of course, a Goat is a Goat and a dog is a dog, so vibe is not so necessary in the most mundane of creatures. But, if you are investing the time to import in an idea from another source, it is going to be generally beneficial to all to make it "your own" both in terms of writing and for the game itself.
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Metroknight
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by Metroknight »

JenniferRPG wrote:So then I should be able to convert Temple of Elemental Evil fairly easily to BFRPG?
It is fairly easy to convert any monster in the ToEE to BFRPG if it is not already listed in the core rules or the additional monster supplement (I think it is in the download section).
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Dimirag
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by Dimirag »

Metroknight wrote:...if it is not already listed in the core rules or the additional monster supplement...
That's my recommendation, before engaging in any conversion look for the monsters created on those books, although some could be with totally different names.

Then you can ask help with any conversion, and finally, the best way to convert a monster is to not convert it, adapt it, create the monster from scratch basing on the monster and the BFRPG rules.
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seandon4
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by seandon4 »

The thing is, when referring to a module, it is much more convenient to convert stats on-the-fly then to try to find and replace.

I'm not sure if it's still available for download but Solo's "Oldschool Playbook" has a good section on on-the-fly conversion between OSRIC and BFRPG.

When I run B/X modules I simply flip the AC, generally use HD for Attack Bonus (except for higher level monsters), and I use the XP listed but count gold as XP as well.

Not sure if it's the same for 1e, but I know in 1e characters also get multiple attacks and a little more hit points too, see the word doc version of Labyrinth Lord's Advanced Edition Companion for details on those.

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Last edited by seandon4 on Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Dimirag
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by Dimirag »

I'm the kind of GM who likes to do all those things beforehand, and then just place the notes wherever needed.

For a better comparison check OSRIC as is more Advanced than the LL Advanced, excepting the MU every other class has its HD bumped one die higher, and fighters gets some extra attacks.
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dymondy2k
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Re: Some Conversion Questions

Post by dymondy2k »

I'm with Dimi on this one.. I actually started converting TOEE to BFRPG and all I did was create a page with the BFRPG monster stats for each of the encounters..

Here is the Moathouse..

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SZZ ... cenoM/edit
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