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Using Old School Adventures in 5E - The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford
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<blockquote data-quote="Sparky McDibben" data-source="post: 9172390" data-attributes="member: 7041430"><p><strong>Appendix: Mechanical Conversions</strong></p><p></p><p>Alright, everybody. I'm dragging backside, but dammit, I'm here to finish this thing off. This post is going to be a little shorter, but that's OK because it's an appendix! </p><p></p><p>So there's typically a conversation that happens when a 5E DM looks at OSR-style statblocks and goes, "What the actual <em>hell</em>?" As an example, the statblock for the dragon in this adventure is this:</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/2hdrGH0.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>But where are the ability scores???</em></p><p></p><p>If you're a 5E DM, the first thought crossing your mind is "How do I run this?" The second thought is probably, "It's Armor Class is 1?" Well, after a good long bit of practice, I've got some decent rules of thumb for this. </p><p></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>Take 20 minus the listed AC. So this dragon would be AC 19 (B/X used descending armor class, which means that a lower number is better)</p><p><strong>Hit Points: </strong>Multiply by at least a factor of three (although that can go up to a factor of six, depending on how tough your party is). So the dragon has at least 96 hp.</p><p><strong>Attack Bonus:</strong> Number of hit dice (so the dragon has an attack bonus of +8)</p><p><strong>Attack Damage:</strong> Each slash separates an attack. Take each attack and add the HD as a damage modifier (so the dragon now does 1d6+8 / 1d6+8 / 1d8+8+venom or breath weapon).</p><p><strong>Save:</strong> If it's something the creature is good at, use the number of HD as the modifier. If it's something the creature is bad at, halve the HD (rounding down). </p><p><strong>Special Features:</strong> Typically you can run these as written. If it refers to a penalty for a called shot, just impose disadvantage. If something calls for a save due to an effect caused by the creature, the DC is just 8 + the creatures HD. If an ability does damage, but doesn't have a listed damage value, refer to a 5E spell that's pretty close in effect (in this case, probably <em>cloudkill</em>). Assume it discharges once per three rounds.</p><p></p><p>So for this dragon, we'd have AC 19, 96 hp, a +8 to attack, an estimated damage per round of 35.5 or (23 x 3)* = 69 damage for the breath weapon (140 hp of damage over three rounds, or about 47 hp of damage on an average round). Without accounting for the immunity to non-magical damage due to the invulnerable scales, that comes out to about a CR 10. </p><p></p><p>That's a hard fight, even for Tier 2 characters. This thing is hard to hit, hard to kill, and will likely take some characters with it when it goes. But, the catch is that you don't need to actually fight it. There are (as we've discussed) a bunch of ways to defeat this thing without fighting it. The other point is that if the PCs do their research, those 96 hit points are incredibly low, leading to a relatively short fight. And finally, I just think that monsters should punch above their weight. Enough with the frightened condition - make the actual monster scary. </p><p></p><p>Alright friends, I look forward to everyone telling me how wrong I am on the numbers here, but that's OK; it's how I learn. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p>In the meantime, I'm looking at <em>Grim Hollow Player's Guide</em> for my next review. I hope you all enjoy it!</p><p></p><p>*5d8 damage is about 23 poison damage if we're using <em>cloudkill</em> to model the poison breath, and then assuming it hits about three characters at a time (dealing a total of 23 x 3 = 69 damage).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sparky McDibben, post: 9172390, member: 7041430"] [B]Appendix: Mechanical Conversions[/B] Alright, everybody. I'm dragging backside, but dammit, I'm here to finish this thing off. This post is going to be a little shorter, but that's OK because it's an appendix! So there's typically a conversation that happens when a 5E DM looks at OSR-style statblocks and goes, "What the actual [I]hell[/I]?" As an example, the statblock for the dragon in this adventure is this: [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/2hdrGH0.png[/IMG] [I]But where are the ability scores???[/I][/CENTER] If you're a 5E DM, the first thought crossing your mind is "How do I run this?" The second thought is probably, "It's Armor Class is 1?" Well, after a good long bit of practice, I've got some decent rules of thumb for this. [B]AC: [/B]Take 20 minus the listed AC. So this dragon would be AC 19 (B/X used descending armor class, which means that a lower number is better) [B]Hit Points: [/B]Multiply by at least a factor of three (although that can go up to a factor of six, depending on how tough your party is). So the dragon has at least 96 hp. [B]Attack Bonus:[/B] Number of hit dice (so the dragon has an attack bonus of +8) [B]Attack Damage:[/B] Each slash separates an attack. Take each attack and add the HD as a damage modifier (so the dragon now does 1d6+8 / 1d6+8 / 1d8+8+venom or breath weapon). [B]Save:[/B] If it's something the creature is good at, use the number of HD as the modifier. If it's something the creature is bad at, halve the HD (rounding down). [B]Special Features:[/B] Typically you can run these as written. If it refers to a penalty for a called shot, just impose disadvantage. If something calls for a save due to an effect caused by the creature, the DC is just 8 + the creatures HD. If an ability does damage, but doesn't have a listed damage value, refer to a 5E spell that's pretty close in effect (in this case, probably [I]cloudkill[/I]). Assume it discharges once per three rounds. So for this dragon, we'd have AC 19, 96 hp, a +8 to attack, an estimated damage per round of 35.5 or (23 x 3)* = 69 damage for the breath weapon (140 hp of damage over three rounds, or about 47 hp of damage on an average round). Without accounting for the immunity to non-magical damage due to the invulnerable scales, that comes out to about a CR 10. That's a hard fight, even for Tier 2 characters. This thing is hard to hit, hard to kill, and will likely take some characters with it when it goes. But, the catch is that you don't need to actually fight it. There are (as we've discussed) a bunch of ways to defeat this thing without fighting it. The other point is that if the PCs do their research, those 96 hit points are incredibly low, leading to a relatively short fight. And finally, I just think that monsters should punch above their weight. Enough with the frightened condition - make the actual monster scary. Alright friends, I look forward to everyone telling me how wrong I am on the numbers here, but that's OK; it's how I learn. :D In the meantime, I'm looking at [I]Grim Hollow Player's Guide[/I] for my next review. I hope you all enjoy it! *5d8 damage is about 23 poison damage if we're using [I]cloudkill[/I] to model the poison breath, and then assuming it hits about three characters at a time (dealing a total of 23 x 3 = 69 damage). [/QUOTE]
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