Post/Author/DateTime	Post
invisble1 01-27-05, 07:41 PM	hey all, quick question for ya. a group that i game in as a PC is having issues w/ the DM due to work schedule and the like, he has asked myself as well as another DM'er to step in and have stuff ready, so that A) he can also play and B) if he doesnt have time to prep -=- i've played many'a'2e game but never DMed one - i've DMed several 3.5e games -- is there a simple conversion formula or something to backward compile my games? i'd like to run using my exsisting stuff - and my lack of 2nd DMG/MM any ideas what would be the easiest way?
invisble1 01-27-05, 11:12 PM	hey all, quick question for ya. a group that i game in as a PC is having issues w/ the DM due to work schedule and the like, he has asked myself as well as another DM'er to step in and have stuff ready, so that A) he can also play and B) if he doesnt have time to prep -=- i've played many'a'2e game but never DMed one - i've DMed several 3.5e games -- is there a simple conversion formula or something to backward compile my games? i'd like to run using my exsisting stuff - and my lack of 2nd DMG/MM any ideas what would be the easiest way? nothing people? pls.
Melichor 01-28-05, 01:39 PM	nothing people? pls. There is no quick and easy way to recompile into 2E. Why don't you just run what you know 3.5?
Board_Rider 01-28-05, 01:55 PM	I agree there are simply too many variables to be backward compatible. I guess you could if you REALLY wanted to...but that is a tough road to hoe.
DeLoungeville 01-28-05, 02:07 PM	Man that has to be one of the strangest requests i've heard in quite a while. Converting from 3.x to 2nd. I don't really have any suggestions for you that are too amazing but, I do have a couple. First off look around on the Wizards web site and there is a conversion manual for 2nd edtion to 3.0. If you give it a good looking over and apply it in reverse it might help out some. Also I'll put in a plug for one of my favorite DND sites www.svgames.com they have everything (darn close anyway) pre-3.0 downloadable leagally as a pdf. you can get a cheap copy of the DMG and Players for 2nd there for around 10 bucks. Hope this at least helps some. I'll edit in the site for the conversion manual if I find it. -D
invisble1 01-28-05, 02:26 PM	There is no quick and easy way to recompile into 2E. Why don't you just run what you know 3.5? the original DM started a 2nd e game -=- 2 newbs who are just getting used to 2nd - i REALLY don't want to confuse the hell out of them. =-= thanks for your input - maybe i'll just have to start from scratch! lol :(
Warslayngawds 01-28-05, 03:31 PM	Here's an Idea, on the original character generation demo that came with the the original 3.0 PHB has on it, if you look, rules for converting 2.0 and 2.5 characters to 3.0. Explaining 3.0 to players that have even the most basic grasp of the concepts of 2.0 really isn't that difficult. Just take it slow and be forgiving of mistakes because of rules ignorance. Also if you have the Adventures box set or the new one you can run that for a session or 2 just to get them farmiliar with the new rules(at least more so), then convert. The conversion rules aren't great, but it's a starting point. In addition to that you can try to work backwards but it seems like a lot of work for not much payoff. I'm honestly suprised that there are still that many 2e games going on, but as a homebrew master I'm biased toward any system as easy to customize as 3e. Anywho take it for what it is.
Sildatorak 01-28-05, 09:07 PM	It is really tough to directly convert, so you are just going to have to improvise on a lot of stuff. I highly recommend spending $10 to get PDF's of the MM and DMG, with the MM being much more important than the DMG. Most magic items in 3e (that is what the DMG is most useful for) can be used in 2e with little trouble (though I recommend that flaming, frost, and shocking weapons be eliminated due to the difference in damage scales between 2e and 3e). Your experience as a player will probably be enough to guide you when it comes to other DMing issues like what sort of check might be called for, weapon and nonweapon proficiencies, etc. Monsters are a lot trickier, and if you aren't really familiar with both systems and the differences between mosters in the two, good conversions are tough to make. I highly recommend getting a 2e monster manual in paper form if you can. Look around for a used book store, they often have old D&D books for between $5 and $15. Once you become familiar with the differences between monsters that you have both editions stats for, you should be able to convert the monsters from 3e to 2e without much trouble.
invisble1 01-29-05, 08:47 PM	It is really tough to directly convert, so you are just going to have to improvise on a lot of stuff. I highly recommend spending $10 to get PDF's of the MM and DMG, with the MM being much more important than the DMG. Most magic items in 3e (that is what the DMG is most useful for) can be used in 2e with little trouble (though I recommend that flaming, frost, and shocking weapons be eliminated due to the difference in damage scales between 2e and 3e). Your experience as a player will probably be enough to guide you when it comes to other DMing issues like what sort of check might be called for, weapon and nonweapon proficiencies, etc. Monsters are a lot trickier, and if you aren't really familiar with both systems and the differences between mosters in the two, good conversions are tough to make. I highly recommend getting a 2e monster manual in paper form if you can. Look around for a used book store, they often have old D&D books for between $5 and $15. Once you become familiar with the differences between monsters that you have both editions stats for, you should be able to convert the monsters from 3e to 2e without much trouble. okay - i think i can handle most of it -=- except for the THAC0 we all know and love. i need to reverse engineer from d20 to thac0. ideas?
Sildatorak 01-29-05, 10:49 PM	d20 to THAC0 is the easiest part to reverse engineer once you've decided how many hit dice things are/what levels they have. Since you've played, I'm sure that you'll be able to handle THAC0 for humanoids with class levels with little difficulty. For monsters there is a chart in the DMG (and I think it is in the MM, too) that lists THAC0 based on HD. Anything with less than 1 HD has THAC0 20, 1 HD is 19, and it goes down by 2 at every odd HD after that. Most monsters don't have any attributes except intelligence, so they aren't getting strength bonuses to attack or damage. A few that sometimes use weapons have an effective str listed for when they are using manufactured weapons, but for the most part it is based purely on HD.
invisble1 01-29-05, 11:33 PM	d20 to THAC0 is the easiest part to reverse engineer once you've decided how many hit dice things are/what levels they have. Since you've played, I'm sure that you'll be able to handle THAC0 for humanoids with class levels with little difficulty. For monsters there is a chart in the DMG (and I think it is in the MM, too) that lists THAC0 based on HD. Anything with less than 1 HD has THAC0 20, 1 HD is 19, and it goes down by 2 at every odd HD after that. Most monsters don't have any attributes except intelligence, so they aren't getting strength bonuses to attack or damage. A few that sometimes use weapons have an effective str listed for when they are using manufactured weapons, but for the most part it is based purely on HD. thanks so much! to quote my favorite commercial right now 'BRILLIANT"
Fogel the Magical 01-29-05, 11:44 PM	Go back to THACO? Oh my gosh! :eek: