The Module I am converting first is Black Flames. It's a little rail-roady, but I like the fact that it has to do with Yaramuke and the Black Oasis, as well as Abalech-Re.
The obstacles I am running into is that the 2nd edition monsters vary greatly in level throughout this adventure.
The first session ran a little rough though. The party was too suspicious of Farcluun to drink the water. I was forced to throw them in a battle with 5 zombies, 5 skeletons, 10 decrepits and 10 rotters. The idea was that the zombies use their grab and the skeletons force feed them the water. The party was actually doing somewhat ok in the battle however (it being a 9th level encounter against a 2nd level party - It was called hopeless battle for a reason) I had to let Farcluun soften them up with an at will I got from Tecktuktitlay, since I didn't stat Farcluun out. Still, it looked like the party was going to escape so I had Farcluun get angry (seemed appropriate) and drop his illusion. The party acquiesced and was forced to drink the water to insure loyalty.
The problem I had with this was that it really screwed over the players and that Farcluun revealed himself early. I guess I will have to live with that.
Anyhow, I started the thread to see if I could get a discussion going on the topic of converting 2nd Edition modules.
All in all I am looking forward to running this because I remeber how awe struck I was with the original modules and how they really captured the essence of Dark Sun.
You could face a monster of +7 or +8 levels, at the boarder of "too hard".
You could face a hoard of level 1s at any level ; just get the exp right.
4e does have varying levels of Combat.
You could face a monster of +7 or +8 levels, at the boarder of "too hard".
You could face a hoard of level 1s at any level ; just get the exp right.
Doesn't mean that either are a good idea.
For sure, you can't use the encounters as they were in 2nd ed. They will need modification.
I have not attemted a Dark Sun module yet, but I "converted" the Pool of Radiance module and ended up re-writing most of the encounters, keeping only the essential creatures, sometimes disguised with the stats of lower monsters that fitted.
The original premise of 'psionics stops working' could be changed to pretty much anything psionics-oriented and still retain the story.
That would be paragon-tier, but an ambitious DM could convert Freedom and run all the way through Road to Urik, Arcane Shadows and Asticlian Gambit. They lead into Dragon's Crown.
I am working on converting some Dark Sun modules to 4th Edition. I have two Dark Sun groups (one which is using the printed 4th Edition stuff - Marauders and all that) and one which is adventuring in the old second edition stuff.
The Module I am converting first is Black Flames. It's a little rail-roady, but I like the fact that it has to do with Yaramuke and the Black Oasis, as well as Abalech-Re.
The obstacles I am running into is that the 2nd edition monsters vary greatly in level throughout this adventure.
The first session ran a little rough though. The party was too suspicious of Farcluun to drink the water. I was forced to throw them in a battle with 5 zombies, 5 skeletons, 10 decrepits and 10 rotters. The idea was that the zombies use their grab and the skeletons force feed them the water. The party was actually doing somewhat ok in the battle however (it being a 9th level encounter against a 2nd level party - It was called hopeless battle for a reason) I had to let Farcluun soften them up with an at will I got from Tecktuktitlay, since I didn't stat Farcluun out. Still, it looked like the party was going to escape so I had Farcluun get angry (seemed appropriate) and drop his illusion. The party acquiesced and was forced to drink the water to insure loyalty.
The problem I had with this was that it really screwed over the players and that Farcluun revealed himself early. I guess I will have to live with that.
Anyhow, I started the thread to see if I could get a discussion going on the topic of converting 2nd Edition modules.
This was a fun module to run. I heavily altered it, however, as I tend to with all official modules to fit my campaign. Players are suspicious creatures by nature. My group has been mislead and bamboozled by enemies of all stripes in the past, making it difficult to trick them in any capacity. Monsters like sand brides are almost useless to pit against my players - they just see right through the ruse.
However, I had set up an elaborate facade organized by Farcluun beforehand to deceive the players into thinking nothing was amiss. A small village spied by the players from afar was holding its yearly harvest festival. Drunken villagers dancing up to the players invited them to join them in their feast. This was all illusionary: the village was a ruin, the villagers were skeletons, etc. With enough descriptive text ensuring nothing is amiss you can put the players' mind at ease.
If you plan your campaign plot around the main events of the Prism Pentad novel series this is almost a "must run" adventure to introduce PC's to important NPC's and for ongoing story development.The events in freedom make their mark in the history books and by rewinding the clock a tad (Just before Kalak finishes the ziggarut) will surely make for an obnoxious yet thrilling experience in the city of Tyr and can tie in quite easily with almost anything your PC's have been up to lately if played early enough.
Where the trick comes in, is to replace a "scenario" and a die roll or two with a proper skill challenge.
eg. Where the mob advance, and the PC's need to stay afeet facing being trampled to death should they loose their footing or to be pressed down by brute strenght and numbers of the mob.
Its taking quite a bit of effort and time to properly build skill challenges for freedom.I feel that back in 2ed's days were I used to play, skill challenges were opposed to bull the DM by means of speech or to his descretion...mostly.
Skill challenges in 4E replaced that "talking bull" scenarios where you try to save your own ass vs the DM. which I do favour alot.
Can I post such conversions?
Are they worth getting for flavor?