Conversions and Gaming

Hey Game Fans, we’re going to try some a little more energetic than we normally do. Today we’re going to do a conversion of a fan favorite over to 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons, just to show you how easy it is. Today’s offering, funnily enough, is Burnt Offerings, the 1st book in the Rise of the Runelords adventure path from the fine folks at Paizo. This was originally written for the 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons, and this is based off of that version, not the Anniversary Edition that came out some time later. Now pull up your working table, and let’s get converting.



You can play this adventure as it sits in the Golarion setting and leave the names as they sit. This is the easiest conversion, and requires the least amount of conversion. If you’re going to drop it into your home game, you will need to file off the serial numbers and locate the right place to put it in your setting, but you know it’s along a coastal region near a reasonably large city. You will have to change the names of some of the deities and historicals to match your local history, but that’s not a hard sell.


If you wanted to run this in the forgotten realms, well, you can do that, but we need to redo some things. First up, the ancient magically powered nation of Thassilon is probably going to converted into lost Netheril. They are both ancient magical powers ruled by arcane power, and they both suffered terrible calamities that destroyed them utterly. Second, for at least this adventure, Nualia’s divine patron has to change. Lamashtu as featured in this story, doesn’t exist in the Realms, so you are going to have to swap gods. My suggestion is either Malar, god of bestial savagery, or Loviatar, the goddess of pain. Talona is also a dark horse candidate, but any of these three deities would be good for a divine patron of Nualia. The other deities with temples in Sandpoint will need to be replaced with appropriate choices from either your setting or from the Realms, and i suspect you can find good analogues. You should also grab the player’s guide so you can use it to guide your conversion.


Now, onto the show.

Part 1

The initial encounters are with relatively easy foes. Goblins are straight up 1:1 analogues between these two games, so any time you see a normal goblin, use the Monster Manual stats for a goblin. Now the Warchanter is a little more difficult, because Dungeons and Dragons works a little differently. I would grab the Booyagh caster out of Volo’s Guide and point the goblin at the PCs and let them go off. Alternatively, you could just swap him out for a DM Created Goblin Bard NPC and have the most faithful conversion.


Now we move on to the encounter with the goblin commando. This one’s a little different and requires a different sort of conversion. The potion of Rage that the Goblin drinks is not avaiable in 5th edition, nor is the spell effect it duplicates. So this conversion works out sort of like this. Take the Scout NPC sheet out of the Monster Manual. Add the goblin racial traits. Finally, give it the Barbarian Rage ability of a 1st level barbarian and let him run. Replace the Goblin Dog with a Worg, and you’re ready to run.


I would run Milestone XP awards with this adventure, and completing the first part of this adventure path should be enough to get the PCs to level 2.

Part 2

This is a series of short little vignettes to get the party rolling into the next step. Each has its own timing for when to run it, and what happens. These are generally easy conversions.


The Shopkeeper’s Daughter is an interesting social challenge. I would drop the DCs by 5, given the change in how skill modifiers are done in 5th edition, and apply disadvantage on affected checks if the PCs stumble face first into this one.


The Boar Hunt is likewise a social interaction primarily for the characters and gives them an opportunity to get acquainted with a new NPC that will be important later. Use the regular boar stats from the Monster manual though.


Monster in the Closet recycles the Goblin Commando you repurposed from part 1, so i would suggest using him again.


Grim News From Mosswood is an info-dump of things that will come up later and be very, very important for later parts of the AP.


Finally, the Missing Bartender leads into part 3. It’s a straightforward social interaction, and requires no direct conversion of its own.

Part 3

The Glassworks & the Catacombs of Wrath

This is the first dungeon crawl style, site based adventure in the adventure path. As the DM, read through this area several times and make sure you know what you’re running and take notes if you need to. Quick conversions i would make are as always, drop the skill DCs by 5 (except for the listen check, substitute a Perception check, same DC). Persuasion subs in for Diplomacy, Deception for Bluff, and Intimidation is universal. The Goblins are a straight conversion, but you need to adjust their weapon options. Tsuto is another matter entirely. I would use the Martial Arts Adept from Volo’s Guide, and give him 1D6 sneak attack, as well as a short bow. Otherwise he should play pretty much to type.


The Catacombs are going to be the first major trial of your conversion experience because you have the opportunity to convert your first monster. Sinspawn, (as detailed on Page 90 of Burnt Offerings) show up here first. Now there are any number of ways to convert the Sinspawn, but this is my take on the monster, yours may be different.

Sinspawn
Medium Aberration, Neutral Evil
Armor Class 13
Hit Points 19 (3d8 + 6)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 13 (+1) DEX 12 (+1) CON 14 (+2) INT 10 (0) WIS 13 (+1) CHA 12 (+1)
Damage Resistances: None
Damage Immunities: None
Condition Immunities: Mind Affecting Effects
Senses darkvision 60 ft., Sin Scent (scent for creatures in the throes of Wrath), Passive Perception 11
Languages Thassilonian (Netherese)
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Regeneration: As long as the Sin Spawn has at least 1 hp, at the start of its turn it gains 1 hit point.
Martial Proficiency: Sinspawn are proficient with all martial weapons, light, medium, and heavy armor, and shields.
Stealthy: Sinspawn have advantage on Stealth Checks.
Magic Resistance. The Sinspawn has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

ACTIONS
Multiattack( Bite and 2 Claws)

Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (ld6 + 1) piercing damage plus Wrathful bite.
Claw: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (ld4 + 1) slashing damage.
Wrathful Bite: A creature bitten by a sinspawn must make a DC 12 Wisdom save or become overwhelmed by feelings of wrath, anger, and rage. These emotions are so powerful that the affected creature finds it hard to do anything but rage impotently. For d6 minutes after succumbing to a sinspawn’s wrathful bite, the victim is effectively poisoned. A victim suffering from this effect who is bitten again by a sinspawn must make a DC 12 Wisdom save or the wrath increases, leaving him stunned. Further bites increase the duration of the effect, but not the magnitude.

That’s just my take, and you might rearrange a little to tailor it to your group.


Now, onto the Catacombs of Wrath

With appropriate modifications of the Sinspawn monster, you’re ready to populate the Catacombs. The Vargouille is a straight replacement with Volo’s guide. Korvus is a little trickier, but my suggestion for converting the mutant goblin is to take the Veteran NPC template and do some swappage. 

First, apply the Dragonborn racial traits to give it the breath weapon and acid immunity. You’ll also give it immunity to mind affecting effects, and conditional immunity to paralysis and poison. Remove his Splint Mail, and give him a natural armor effect (+5 AC) and swap out his weapons as indicated in the profile. He’s still a crazed goblin and looks and acts like one, so be ready for him to cut into a PC or two. Bear in mind he has multiple arms and can attack with all three of his melee weapons at the same time.


The Wand in B11 should be replaced with either a Wand of the War Mage +1 or a Rod of the Pact Keeper +1, (depending on your party breakdown). The scrolls are straight substitutions. In B12, the shrine of the dark deity is still filled with evil water. It runs a DC 14 Constitution save for anyone foolish enough to drink it. Success indicates that the drinker is Poisoned for 2d4 hours, failure indicates the intelligence damage listed. The cure for it works slightly differently, as it requires a Remove Curse spell cast using a 5th level spell slot (this is a new application of Remove Curse specifically for this problem.

The Runewell in area B13 is another sort of issue. It’s damage effect is resisted by a Wisdom save, and it applies the Barbarian Rage ability to anyone affected by it. The Quasit requires a little bit of adjustment too. My advice is take the Cult Fanatic NPC template, and stack it with the Quasit traits. Add all of the Quasit traits to the Fanatic template, and you’re going to get a rough approximation of the creature shown in Burnt Offerings. Most of the odd special abilities are easy to convert.

• Raspy voice gives advantage on Intimidation, Disadvantage on Charisma checks to sing or orate.
• Scaly Skin increases her AC to 18
• Hideous Breath: Disadvantage on Deception and Persuasion checks, allows the Hideous Phlegm action.
• Hideous Phlegm: As an action, Ranged attack (20 feet) +5 to hit, Targets hit by this attack must pass a DC 12 Constitution save or be Poisoned for 1d4 rounds. Usable 1/day

After the characters finish part 3, they have accomplished the level 3 Milestone.


We’re going to cover Part 4 Next time, because it’s a huge dungeon complex of its own, and we want to make sure we give it the time it’s due. Are these perfect conversions? No, but they should get you to a point where you can run Burnt Offerings using the D & D 5th edition Rules set. It’s not going to play exactly the same, but it should get the feeling right, and that’s what we consider to be the important aspect of a conversion. You’re not going to get it to be an exact match. That’s just not possible with the differences in the systems, and that’s ok.