DCs: 3.5 to 5?

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

solomani

Dec 12, 2014 22:58:25

Hi all,

 

I am converting a 3.5 edition adventure to 5e, mostly doing it on the fly.  Its generally straightforward but as the adventure and levels progress the DCs of various things have quickly become astronomical with basic stuff sitting at 25 or 30.  I can just cut them all in half is my first thought but I wondered what others thought before I did that?

 

#2

AaronOfBarbaria

Dec 13, 2014 10:53:08

Cutting the DCs in half might be a quick fix... I'd go with a different option personally.

 

In general, subtracing 5 from each DC hits the mark in most cases. The one area that, in my opinion, it doesn't work is in regards to any check related to picking a lock or dealing with a trap, where the DC should probably be reduced by 10 or more because 3.5 had ridiculously inflated DCs on any task of that sort... because the developers at the time seem to have been trying to model the AD&D rogue skill success rates (which were basically "you might get lucky sometimes.")

#3

Rhenny

Dec 13, 2014 11:37:40

I agree with Aaron.

 

Usually I just use description be my guide. 

 

Easy 10, Moderate 15, Hard 20, Very hard 25, nearly impossible 30.

 

(And, in lower tier games, at least, 80% of the checks are Easy, 15% are moderate, and only 5% are hard -- I did an informal study of the DCs in later Playtest and 5e adventures to pretty much come up with these numbers).

 

 

#4

ankiyavon

Dec 13, 2014 12:34:25

Another, probably more detailed but not necessarily better, option would be to look at the level the 3.5 adventure is intended for.

 

3.5 adventures have a bad habit of designing DCs for a specific success rate of party members.  So a lock intended for a 7th level rogue might be DC 23 (+10 ranks, +3 Dex, 10 average roll; designed for a 50% chance of success). 

 

To undo this, subtract out the ranks a character of the intended level would have (which is level + 3), then round to the nearest 5, and you should have a reasonable DC for 5E.  The DC 23 lock would become DC 15.

#5

Daydreamer80

Dec 13, 2014 23:11:57

Simple rule of thumb.

 

If its easy, Dc 10.

 

If its medium difficulty DC 15.

 

If its hard DC 20

 

IF your pcs are high level, and you want them to do some things that are really hard maybe DC 25.

 

#6

solomani

Dec 14, 2014 0:53:04

Thanks all for the advice!