Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 kirbydude65 May 04, 2009 22:09:05	So I'm trying to convert The campaign, "The Speaker in the Dreams" from 3.XE to 4E. I'm very new to 4E so I realize that the same monsters and enemies copy pasted into 4E won't pose as much as a challenge as to 4E. Using the encounter builder, it seems the only thing I can really do in order to bring the encounters up to par with the correct level is to simply add more and more monsters and bump up the main enemy's stats some. Has anyone had any experience in switching pre-made campaigns over to 4E? If so does anyone have any tips so that the fights aren't too hard or too easy?
#2 gregt_314 May 05, 2009 3:23:53	It's almost like converting from Monopoly to Risk - an exercise in futility and frustration. They're fundamentally different games. If you must convert, you're going to have to repopulate every encounter with a new level-appropriate group of enemies, trying to recapture the flavour of the original design. Remember that 4E doesn't just like minions, it needs them in order for Warlocks and Wizards to be balanced. You'll typically end up with more enemies per encounter than you would have had in 3.5; that's not something to be worried about. Remember also that under 4E it's not desirable for PCs to fight anything more than about 4 levels higher than them, and certainly not in groups. Rather than single high level enemies, re-design encounters as groups of memorable same-level enemies. Remember also you need to mix up roles in monster groups so an encounter that previously had three blue slimes might now need to be one blue slime and, I don't know, some bats or something. It's almost as much work as building a new dungeon from the ground up so you'd better be sure your module is worth converting.
#3 itarakoturo May 05, 2009 3:27:00	I'll offer a dissenting viewpoint. I actively convert Paizo's Rise of the Runelords adventure path from 3.5 to 4th Edition for the community to use, and I have found it to be both fun and not difficult once you get the hang of it. If you'd like to take a look at the project, full conversion notes (including some explanations of why certain decisions were made) can be found at the project's blog (Tales from the Rusty Dragon).