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ieri
Memunite
(12/10/03 9:29 am)
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3.5 without conversion?
I'm taking another shot at DMing this wonderful adventure, but I'm still pretty much of a rookie DM and want to make this as easy on myself as possible. That said, I'm trying to avoid all the conversions to 3.5, while still encorporating most of the 3.5 rules. I have read the 3.5 PHB, but not the 3.5 DMG, yet. So here's my plan - what problems am I likely to encounter, or will this just not work?
I'm going to adopt 3.5 rules with a few exceptions. First of all, I'm sticking to 3.0's damage reduction. I like 3.5's, but it's too big of a change to use without doing conversions - and for something this large, that'd be a LOT of conversions. I realise there are a few spells that deal with damage reductions that I will have to either scrap, or use the 3.0 version of. I'll decide those on a case by case basis as they come up.
Secondly, I'm going to keep the 3.0 classes for any NPCs that already exist, while using 3.5 classes for new NPCs and for all PCs. I'm quite familiar with 3.0 classes, and as all the characters still using them will be ones I control, I don't forsee much confusion caused by this.
Basically, that's all it looks like it'll take, from what I've seen so far. So, what am I missing, and will this work?
-Ieri
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ZansForCans 
Cherub
(12/10/03 10:11 am)
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Re: 3.5 without conversion?
Quote:
I like 3.5's, but it's too big of a change to use without doing conversions - and for something this large, that'd be a LOT of conversions.
Are you aware of our work on a 3.5 conversion? A summary of the threads on the forum can be found here along with a nearly complete document near the bottom (should include all but the Recovered Temple and the Fire Node after today) that does most of the work for you.
As for DR, the revised MM does all the work for you on the creature side. The big issue you would need to consider is whether to insert some new item drops in treasure for the PCs to give them access to a few serendipitous DR breakers. Otherwise, they'll have to buy or make all the DR-busters they will need.
Tactically, there are a few spell changes that modify Monte's suggestions in the adventure--especially some of the higher level NPCs. haste is, of course, the biggie here, with so many BBEG's being spellcasters. Again, we try to alert you to these problem areas and even suggest some solutions in the conversion doc.
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ieri
Memunite
(12/10/03 7:27 pm)
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Re: 3.5 without conversion?
I had seen one or two posts of conversions, but I hadn't seen that page. I love the hive mind. :-)
I hadn't been to the boards in quite a few months, since my first campaign fell apart and I had no hopes of running another. This one just fell in my lap... I ran into a friend I hadn't seen since High School (class of '95) and he had a group of guys who wanted to play, but had nobody willing to DM.
-Ieri
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 Infiniti2000
Cherub
(12/10/03 8:55 pm)
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ezSupporter
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Re: 3.5 without conversion?
Well, welcome! Take a good long look at the sticky threads, and take as much time as you need going over Zans's site (such as Page 21).
I'm a big fan of session logs and we'd love to see you post 'em here.
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ieri
Memunite
(12/10/03 9:37 pm)
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Re: 3.5 without conversion?
Well, we'll be starting the second Friday of January, if all goes as planned, but we're starting at level 1 and running the Sunless Citadel first (I plan to add some random encounters to try to get them up to level 4 by the time they reach Hommlett). So it'll be a while before I start session logs for RttToEE.
-Ieri
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Infiniti2000
Brother of Venom
(12/11/03 7:02 am)
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ezSupporter
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Re: 3.5 without conversion?
Okay, no problem. Btw, Belak makes a great tie-in to Tarren. He might (if given the chance) mention his 'master' Tarren, and maybe his master's former mistress, that 'bitch Kella' who strayed from the path of fungi, lichens, vermin, and the other more interesting of plant and animal life. Another common idea is to use the name Thrommel in place of Gulthias. I would not change out Ashardalon, however.
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smetzger
Tolling Bell Cultist
(12/11/03 7:40 am)
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Re: 3.5 without conversion?
Since your just starting out I would recommend going straight 3.5. The conversion document is very good, you shouldn't need to lift a finger. Plus I think the conversion document will be easier to use than flipping back to the statblocks in the back of the adventure. I also think it will be less confusing if NPCs and PCs are all playing by the same rules. I don't think the DR change will be much of an issue, my guys are almost done with the CRM and it hasn't been an issue yet. If there is something you really don't like about 3.5 change those specific things.
If your going to do a mish mash of 3.0 and 3.5 I would higly recommend you spelling out explicetly what rules you will be using. This will go a long way to avoiding player/DM friction.
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Andorax
Brother of Venom
(12/11/03 8:30 am)
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Re: 3.5 without conversion?
I, too, would strongly recommend adopting 3.5 wholesale instead of piecemeal. Many bits and pieces that seem like independant changes are actually designed to work together in ways you might not always expect.
Also, if I may be so bold, I would like to suggest you take a peek at this:
www.firedragon.com/~andorax/d&d/RttToEE/Adventure Pack.zip
It is a zipped up package of WotC's "Free, Original Adventures" and "Cliffhangers" that I used to get one of my two parties from 1st to 4th in preparation for RttToEE, complete with relevant tie-ins. If you really want to run Sunless Citadel, then nevermind...but you might want to at least have a peek at it. It worked quite well for us, and it would probably be easier to give the 3.5 treatment to a group of individual short adventures than to a single full one.
"Whadda ya mean, Orcs get levels too?!?" |
ieri
Tolling Bell Cultist
(12/12/03 7:43 pm)
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Re: 3.5 without conversion?
I'm definitely doing 3.5. And I think I'm going to stick to Sunless Citadel to get things started. Honestly, I don't see where much conversion will be needed. I can only think of 4 classed characters at the moment, so that shouldn't be too hard to work with. I was thinking of having them run into a cultist from one of the elemental temples on the road to Oakhurst. (any suggestions as to which temple he should be from are welcome)
The cultist would be leading an enclosed cart hiding 4 twig blights - the idea being that the temple could use them to bolster their own forces, if these four proved worthwhile to the powers that be. Of course, when he sees a group of obvious adventurers heading towards Oakhurst, he realizes they must be heading to the Sunless Citadel and tries to dissuade them. There's going to be a Paladin in my campaign, so I expect detect evil will be going off and it'll probably end up with combat... which will provide a slight foreshadowing of what's to come, and a chance to get a little extra experience (since the module is designed to take them only to level 3, I plan to add a few things like that).
Of course, if they DON'T stop the cultist, I'll be adding some twig blights with advanced HD into the appropriate temple's territory.
In any case, I was going to leave some kind of note that references their "operations near Homlett" with Belak, as a hook to get the party in the right direction.
I also considered having Belak escape the battle somehow and come back to torment them later. Make him into a thorn in their side, if not a major threat.
-Ieri
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Roland the red
Tolling Bell Cultist
(12/12/03 7:55 pm)
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Thorn in the side
Belak a thorn in the party's side! Of course, thats what Twig Blights are for,  .
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